3 Things The Royal Rumble Got Right

The 35th annual Royal Rumble has come and gone, and now the Wrestlemania picture is a little less blurry. Your Royal Rumble winners are Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar respectively. Despite how some may feel about the endings of both Royal Rumble matches, there were positives throughout the show. Here’s what the WWE got right.

The Royal Rumble created multiple possibilities for Wrestlemania

Fantasy booking will be rampant between now up until Wrestlemania. The main events at the showcase of immortals can go a number of ways. The booking at the Royal Rumble, while controversial, accomplished that.

Bad Bunny returning

In what was a rather dull men’s Royal Rumble match, global superstar, Bad Bunny emerged to a major pop. The build-up to the Rumble highlighted the celebrity appearance of Johnny Knoxville to a large degree. But after Wrestlemania 37 a star was born with the performance Bad Bunny displayed. It’s on record how much Bunny respects the industry, and how much work he puts in the ring. Giving him a couple of eliminations in this year’s Rumble could set up for another Wrestlemania feud. Getting more eyes on the product is never a bad idea, and Bad Bunny was undoubtedly the bigger celebrity appearance.

Bobby Lashley winning the WWE title

The All-Mighty is now a 2x WWE World champion. In an era where representation is tantamount, this is a good look. Despite the finish not being clean, the matchup between the two titans was a pleasure to watch and Lashley was booked strong against Lesnar. The two-decade in the making feud could also have long-term storytelling with Lashley now holding a 1-0 lead on Brock. There are now a number of roads to Wrestlemania for Lashley. The odds are favored, however, with him heading into the showcase of the immortals as champion.

The Roman versus Seth finish

This was a bit of a curveball to start the show. Yet, everything from start to finish was perfect. The troll job from Rollins to enter the arena with a full-fledged Shield tribute, from music to wardrobe set the tone. The action in-ring showcased exactly why Reigns and Rollins are two of the top performers in the entire company.

The key here was the storytelling of Roman being unable to beat Seth on a big stage, and the mind games finally getting to Roman. To the point where Reigns snapped when the guillotine was applied to Rollins. You could hear Reigns audibly shout “he made me this way.” Non-finishes are usually met with a ton of criticism but this was the right call here. Roman blasting Rollins in the back with a chair was another call back to when the Shield was broken up. Rollins fell to his knees the exact way Roman did. Writers can run this rivalry back again anytime this year cause the story is already built. Despite Reigns screwing Lesnar, and realigning with Heyman, Rollins will still be there. There is a bevy of scenarios that can play out for Wrestlemania main events. At moments Reigns ego looked fragile and still left the Rumble looking like the ultimate villain.