WWE Royal Rumble: The Right Decision To Focus On Young Stars

WWE Creative made the right decision to focus on younger talent rather than featuring stars from the past in both editions of the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble.

On Sunday, WWE fans from around the world enjoyed one of the most important annual events on the schedule; the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins walked out of the showcase with their tickets punched to important matches in April. But there’s some complaints about the men and women included in this year’s rumble. However, we should praise WWE Creative for leveraging the youthful talent on their roster rather than reaching back to the past for momentary pops from the crowd.

Looking at the list of the 60 competitors that took part in the Rumble, one thing immediately jumps out; only one “veteran” could be listed as a special return. WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett walked out to the ring on Sunday as the second entrant into the Rumble – to a rather big pop and hilarious moment with Elias. News broke on Monday that Jarrett is now a member of the WWE backstage staff, so it makes more sense as to why he was a part of this card. But the question is why any other legends weren’t included in either Rumble and the answer is because those spaces went to those that will lead into the “New Era” and beyond.

Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, Aleister Black, Lacey Evans, Xia Li, Kairi Sane, Candice LaRae, Kacy Catanzaro, Io Shirai, and Rhea Ripley are names that may be familiar to those that frequent the WWE Network beyond PPVs, but those that watch only the main roster content will not recognize those names. In past years, the spots that these men and women occupied in both Rumbles would have gone to surprise returns of fan favorites. While that’s a strategy to create excitement around the event as a whole; it does little to help establish wrestlers that fans can support in the future.

Take the 2018 women’s Rumble as an example. Eight legends took part in that event. Even though some of them took part in the WWE Evolution Women’s Battle Royale; none of them have a place in storylines today. If that would have occurred this year, that would have cut out space for the women’s talent that will be featured prominently soon.

Ripley is the former NXT UK Women’s champion – a wrestler that has impressed many at only 22-years of age. Catanzaro brings mainstream recognition for her success on American Ninja Warrior and that is sure to garner some attention from fans as she continues to build her catalog of work in NXT. The same could be said for the other women if aren’t on the main roster but have important placements on other brands.

Then you have the men’s Rumble where Gargano received a loud ovation as he entered as number six; one night after stealing the show at NXT TakeOver where he took the North American title from Ricochet. Plus, you have Black, who is rumored to be making a move to the main roster soon, getting a huge elimination as he put former champion, Dean Ambrose out of the event. And don’t forget about Pete Dunne, who is the longest reigning WWE champion of the modern era, but still widely unrecognizable to fans who don’t watch brands only on the network.

Could there have been some special entrants into this year’s Rumble that would have created a burst of excitement? Yes, names like Batista and Victoria quickly come to mind. But their placement in the event would have taken attention away from the new faces that need the valuable exposure that comes with a strong performance in the Royal Rumble.

The question as to whether WWE Creative continues to properly build around those men and women is one thing, but as it stands, fans should not be so upset with the Rumble because it didn’t allow them to enjoy many faces of yester-year.