WWE Royal Rumble 2017: 5 Mistakes the Company Must Avoid
By Adam O'Brien
Credit: WWE.com
1. Roman Reigns Wins the WWE Universal Championship
So here we stand, looking down a long, albeit hopefully gratifying road to WrestleMania as we gear up for the Royal Rumble – and Roman Reigns is once again right at the frontlines with a chance to waltz into Orlando as the headliner.
If Roman Reigns defeats Kevin Owens in San Antonio, the odds will lean heavily in favor of “The Big Dog” closing out the 33rd annual Showcase of the Immortals in April – and although it will be the first time he actually enters a WrestleMania main event with the championship in tow, it still feels like we’ve done this dance before.
For the last two years in a row, Reigns has entered the Royal Rumble with big implications already foreshadowing his high-profile role at the big event just three months later. This year, Reigns finds himself with the opportunity to go to WrestleMania already as “The Guy”, whom the winner of the Royal Rumble match could potentially opt towards facing with the lights on bright.
If the last two years are anything to go by, this is a very bad idea.
If you thought Roman Reigns got heat before, wait until they up the ante and shift the Rumble into a building of 72,000 fans. You can edit footage after the fact – hell, you can even try to mute the live crowd reaction if needs be – but there is still going to be no escaping the overwhelming chorus of boos that awaits Reigns as he attempts to capture the WWE Universal Championship from Kevin Owens.
It’s not something the WWE isn’t going to heavily consider, however, and that’s the annoying thing. The Roman Reigns experiment might be about to continue for its third year, and the reaction has remained the same throughout.
It’s over. It’s done. Try something new.
Unless they intend on having Reigns turn heel, there’s no earthly reason to justify finishing off yet another WrestleMania with the hero being booed out of the arena.
Make no mistake; Roman Reigns is going to win the WWE Universal Championship at some stage, but history has proven that WrestleMania is just not the ideal place for it to happen if you don’t want people to reign down upon the event.
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Surely a non-title mid-card clash with a behemoth like Braun Strowman would be enough to hold them over while the real built-up feud between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho can actually deliver something special without much backlash. There is plenty of potential heading into WrestleMania season – it would be wise not to sully that sense of excitement with another forced Roman Reigns championship match.