WWE Royal Rumble 2021: 3 wrestlers who need to win the men’s RR

2. Daniel Bryan

That embedded video above from the Dec. 26 episode of Talking Smack should serve as all the evidence you need that a Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns match at WrestleMania has to happen. Everything about this segment, from Bryan switching off his naturally affable demeanor to alert Reigns’ “special counsel”, Paul Heyman, that he’s coming for the Univeral Champion to Heyman’s silent concern over the threat Bryan poses from his meal ticket, should sell fans on this being the main event of Wrestle Mania.

A Rumble win for the 21-year veteran is the easiest path to that match.

With Bryan already declaring himself for the Rumble, fans already expect him to last a fair amount of time in the match anyway, and given how he’s spent most of his time in the midcard since returning in September, few fans have the same high expectations for him in the Rumble that they did during the height of “The Yes Movement”.

That, coupled with the side note of him never winning a battle royal of any kind in his career, could set the stage for a story where he enters the Rumble early and continues to plug away until he finally wins and gets the match that some are speculating that he’s in line to get.

Of course, it would be very on-brand for WWE to give Byan a Rumble win now rather than when he was the most popular wrestler on the roster in 2014 and 2015. But, as the saying goes, better late than never.