Three Worst Booking Mistakes in WWE Royal Rumble History
WWE is known for a lot of great things in professional wrestling. They have countless memories and have entertained millions of fans for over 50 years, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t mess up. In fact, one could argue that they mess up somewhat often.
One decision they didn’t mess up though, was making the Royal Rumble match an annual event. There have been 35 Royal Rumble matches throughout the years, some good, others very, very bad.
The Royal Rumble has been a staple of WWE ever since it started. It’s one of the most exciting events of the year due to the surprise returns and debuts. But sometimes the Royal Rumble disappoints the fans.
Here are three worst booking mistakes in the WWE Royal Rumble History.
Vince McMahon Wins the 1999 Royal Rumble
The late ’90s were some of the most iconic years for the WWE. During that time, countless wrestlers made history and changed the landscape of the sport. One of the most heated rivalries was between Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
This rivalry thrived in the late ’90s and became of the most historic feuds ever. However, the rivalry would take a turn in the 1999 Royal Rumble match. After winning the match the previous two years, Stone Cold was looking to win his third straight Royal Rumble.
But after he started the match as the first entrant, his chances grew thin. McMahon entered the match as the second entrant. McMahon went on to win the whole thing, eliminating one person in the entire match, Stone Cold.
McMahon barely spent any time in the ring and was just running away from Stone Cold. He didn’t even make it to the main event of WrestleMania that year since the Rock was the champion. This is by far one of the worst booking decisions in the Royal Rumble history.
Roman Reigns vs. Everybody
There was a time when wrestling fans absolutely hated Roman Reigns. Literally everything about him, fans couldn’t stand. So when it was announced that Roman Reigns was going to put his WWE Championship on the line in the 2016 Royal Rumble match, wrestling fans were shocked.
During the time, Reigns was feuding with The Authority, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. What better way to stack the odds against Reigns than have him defend his championship against 29 other superstars? Reigns entered the match as the first entrant; however, he didn’t win. Triple H won the match after entering as the 30th entrant.
Every time Reigns eliminated someone the crowd booed him out of the stadium. But once he was eliminated, the place erupted. This decision showed just how ignorant WWE can be toward the fans. The fans are booing Reigns week-in and week-out and WWE tries to fix that by giving them more Roman Reigns?
It didn’t work at all and the Royal Rumble match as a whole will go down as one of the worst ever.
The Greatest Royal Rumble Match
If WWE loves one thing, it’s money. So that’s why they started holding events in Saudi Arabia. This started in 2018 and has been an annual thing every year since.
The events held in Saudi Arabia usually feature the biggest stars in the company, but the matches and results aren’t the best. One of the worst matches was the Greatest Royal Rumble. WWE decided to take the Royal Rumble match and make it bigger. Typically, the match features 30 superstars, but WWE decided to make it 50 this time.
Why they decided to do this I’ll never know. What made it worse was that Braun Strowman was the winner. On top of that, WWE awarded him a championship belt and trophy. Strowman carried the belt around for a little bit and quietly just stopped.
It’s clear this match was just a cash grab, and it very well could be the worst Royal Rumble match ever.
