The most prominent rumours surrounding the Royal Rumble recently would be that Roman Reigns is going to win and go on to face Brock at WrestleMania. However, I personally don’t think that Reigns is ready to be at the top of the card at Mania. In this article I’ll tell you why I think that, and what I think they should do instead with regards to booking Reigns going forward and with that I’ll cover a list of guys who I think should win the Rumble instead and why. At the end I’ll write about what I think they should do if they DO have Reigns win the Rumble. Also, I’ll write this with the mindset that Brock will be champion, or at least that’s what I’m hoping for at WrestleMania, if it is Cena it still sort of works too.
First of all it’s probably good of me to point out that I do actually like Reigns for the most part, he’s quite athletic for his size and a lot of his move set is quite unique and original, I know this is sort of an overused phrase but I genuinely do think that if he was on the indies using these moves that people would be calling for him to be signed. With that being said, I think I’m in the same boat as most people when I say that he isn’t ready to be pushed to the moon. Recently, his promo quality has come into question and I have to agree that bar the odd line, his promos appear so scripted that he can’t flow naturally with them. To me, his character would be cooler if he didn’t talk much anyway and just showed up and speared guys out of nowhere. Anyway, that’s not the point, it seems obvious to me and the majority of fans that Reigns is going to be pushed to being one of the top guys because he has that ‘look’ and you can’t deny that, he definitely does have the look and the physicality to be a top guy but I think he needs another year to get his promo ability, confidence and to be booked in the right way to becoming the champion. At the minute, because of his injury it seems that he hasn’t really done much since breaking up with The Shield, he hasn’t been booked or positioned in anyway for the fans to get behind him as a singles star in my opinion. The recent criticism of Reigns as well might leave yet another Rumble with a sour taste with the majority of fans.
Anyway, Because of this I think that Reigns’ inevitable push should be held off till next Rumble so he has more experience and has that time to slowly get more over. Instead, I think this is what they should do with Reigns at the Rumble. First you have the guy come out and annihilate a good chunk of the roster, eliminating Big Show or Kane and a few jobbers. Meanwhile, I would have Rusev acting in a similar way and together (not as a team, just individually) they clear the ring and are left the only two standing facing each other. No doubt this would cause the crowd to go into the “This is Awesome” mode. Then I’d have the two be broken up by the next guy or whatever who jumps on them both and then have Reigns eliminate Rusev in a way that doesn’t make Reigns look too dominant over him. This would set up the feud between them both and I think would escalate Reigns as a character and get more of the crowd behind him, also you have the combination of that and the fact that Rusev is still unbeaten. Then, I’d stretch this out till Mania and maybe have a match at, what WWE are now calling, ‘Fast Lane’. Maybe, have Rusev beat down Reigns or do a double count out or what might be even better is keeping them away from each other so that the first time they have a proper match and properly get to fight is at Mania. I think this way it would help Reigns get over by beating Rusev and becoming US champion, it would probably bring more prestige to the belt which we all know it needs (although I think it’s improved since Rusev has had the belt). Rusev at the minute is probably the third best heel in the company just below Lesnar and Rollins but with Lesnar being used sparingly, he really seems the second most prominent heel. Rusev will also probably feel even bigger if he beats Ryback in what feud he seems to be at the minute. Tell me what you guys think of what they should do with Reigns and how you would book it, or, do you want him to win the Rumble? Leave a comment or something.
So, if Reigns isn’t going to be the Rumble winner then it raises the question who should be? I’ve got a few guys I can think of which, to me, all should be winning it above Reigns at this point and I’ll go through them one by one.
Daniel Bryan
First, of course there is Daniel Bryan, I know he’s not back yet but there is no question that when does get back he’ll be the most over guy on the show. Rumours at the minute are that Bryan will be back in the summer but we’ve seen WWE release that kind of information to only spin that and have Cena turn up as a surprise in the past. I don’t really know whether I have to go through the reasons of why it should be Bryan because it’s pretty obvious. The MMA style of match the two would have would be great and seeing Bryan get thrown around by a monster only to turn round and pin him would be the ultimate underdog story. Perhaps, the ultimate underdog story which we should have been given last year when Bryan should have won the Rumble instead of Batista. I think because of the risk that Bryan not turning up they should have him come out on RAW and tell the crowd he won’t be showing up or even advertise him for the pre-show panel. That way it’ll let any sour fans of Bryan not boo Reigns if he wins.
I think most people will think I’m crazy for saying the next guy has a chance of winning but THAT is what it makes it even more likely
Dolph Ziggler
Now, I know what you’re thinking “WWE wants to keep him down” and that is precisely why I think that he might be able to put on, again, the ultimate underdog story. If you think of how this guy has been pushed recently, he’s the number 2 guy in the company without a doubt. I’ve seen people saying that they aren’t crediting him on RAW with Survivor Series but I think that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. I mean, first of all he beats 3 major guys in one match, BY HIMSELF. I think people forget that Ziggler had the match won before Sting came out, Sting only came out to reverse the damage that HHH had done interfering. Since then, Cena has credited Ziggler which is a big deal and perhaps, what means more is that Ziggler has done run ins to help Cena on RAW which you don’t see often. They’ve positioned Ziggler in a spot that he is both a main event guy AND he is more over with the fans now than he ever has been. Another reason to do this is because it’ll be such good storytelling, it’d be such an underdog story and he’s so over that EVERYTHING that Ziggler does towards Lesnar will get a pop and every near fall the fans will believe. On top of that you’ve also got the fact that Ziggler will SELL so much for Lesnar that it’ll look like Lesnar is going to kill him. Both guys also have that amateur wrestling background which could make for a really good match. I think another thing to note is that this guy has been consistently stealing the show (pun intended) for the last couple of years and he’s developed a fan base single handedly pretty much, at one point he was finished and relegated to jobber but to get enough fans to follow and support him without the company necessarily wanting too, to me, that deserves a reward. Maybe he should be winning the Rumble more so than Bryan.
My final guy who I think should win the Rumble match is THE BIG GUY
Ryback
The Big Guy, Ryback, I think it’s pretty obvious why I think he should be winning the Rumble. As a face, Ryback is probably the number 3 guy on the roster currently and he is JACKED which we all know that WWE likes. This guy always gets a pop and the crowd ALWAYS chants FEED ME MORE to his music and shoulder pumps. The obvious thing is to play up the monster v monster angle and if booked right, the match doesn’t even need to be good technically to be the most over thing at WrestleMania. I know it’s not on the same level but what I mean is similar to Hogan and Rock at WM18 (again, I’d like to reiterate, Ryback and Lesnar are NOT on the level of Rock and Hogan, I know) but if booked right the crowd could be into it enough for the match quality to not matter. With this as well it means that Ryback would still remain face if facing Lesnar which he obviously performs better at. Ryback as an option mostly comes from if WWE don’t want Lesnar to lose to a ‘smaller guy’. Ryback at the minute, in my opinion is more of a crowd favourite that Reigns too. It seems that Reigns is over with the kids and women mostly whereas Ryback caters to ALL of the sub-audiences.
Finally, if WWE must have Reigns win it to ensure that he is recognised as a top guy, this is what I would propose:
It seems that Rollins, by last weeks RAW, will be eventually the new Paul Heyman guy. Now, if I was booking at WWE (which I should be, Vince, if you see this, drop me an email or a tweet, we’ll talk figures, I’ll look forward to it) I would have Reigns win the Rumble and Lesnar beat Cena again and have Rollins stay involved in and around the feud. For example, when Reigns and Lesnar are having a stand off, have Rollins jump him from behind and then have Lesnar F5 Reigns, things like that, even to the point of where you get Reigns and Rollins facing off on RAW and have them reach a DQ finish or something. Then, after Fast Lane, segue Rollins into another feud - maybe Chris Jericho, something important and rememberable.Then at Mania you have Reigns beat Lesnar and have the confetti and all the crowd is going wild. The next night on RAW, I would have Reigns come out beaten up, selling an injury and start cutting a promo and then just have Seth cash in the MITB briefcase and beat him for it and then have Heyman doing the evil genius smile and the clapping because he’s still won with PLAN B (pun intended). This way, it pushes Reigns into that main event spot by beating Lesnar but also allows Rollins to become the biggest heel in the company. By doing this you make 2 main event stars out of Lesnar’s title run.
Let me know what you guys think, follow me on twitter or leave a comment.
Carl
@curbstxmp - twitter.
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