WWE Royal Rumble 2017: 3 Reasons Randy Orton Should Not Have Won
By Dean Siemon
1. Concerns with Main Event Opponent
There’s still a long time between now and WrestleMania 33. Based on that, who knows what the WWE is planning to do with Randy Orton’s title match. Different storyline options will be teased for several weeks and it might become clearer after the SmackDown Live exclusive Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
But let’s go through the list of potential main event opponents for Randy Orton. Let’s say that John Cena retains the WWE Championship. This would possibly set up a match between two WWE veterans that we have seen numerous times through the Ruthless Aggression era. It’s the kind of match that has been done a lot. This match is synonymous with that song that was once good at first but has been overplayed on the radio for the last 10 years.
If the WWE decides to have Cena lose the championship to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber, it just means they are forcing a rivalry that isn’t going to feel natural. It’s okay to book Orton and Wyatt having a match. But their story doesn’t seem to have an avenue towards a match that will flow well with everything else that has happened.
The poor reception goes beyond the concerns over his opponent, the fact he didn’t need this win and the young stars who did need it. Overall, Randy Orton might have been one of the worst possible choices to win the WWE Royal Rumble match.