10 Big Questions Ahead Of WWE Royal Rumble 2017
The road to San Antonio is paved with uncertainty.
The Royal Rumble is an annual highlight on many a wrestling fan's calendar. Its uniqueness and excitement cannot be recreated elsewhere, and it's one of the few gimmick matches that WWE haven't completely ran into the ground over the past few decades. The winner is usually a pre-existing main-eventer, but the Rumble always kicks-off multiple storylines on the road to WrestleMania, and its thrills and spills are second to none.
This year's event takes place in San Antonio's gargantuan Alamodome on January 29th, and a number of huge entrants have already been confirmed. The Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and Chris Jericho find themselves among a stacked list of participants, and with 12 spots still up for grabs, there's a strong chance that 2017 could be the most star-studded Royal Rumble of all time.
The best part about this year's Rumble build is the unpredictability. A big chunk of the current participants will walk into San Antonio with a legitimate chance of winning, and interest levels are higher than they've been in years. The Rumble loses all intrigue when you know what's going to happen, but 2017 should see WWE avoid that problem after the disappointments of the past few years.
The 2017 Royal Rumble is full of intrigue, and the unpredictability leaves WWE with a number of big questions to answer by the time the show goes off the air. Let's take a look at them.
10. Can WWE Fill The Alamodome?
More than a few eyebrows were raised when WWE announced this year’s Royal Rumble location. The bulk of WWE’s pay-per-views are held in sub-20,000 capacity basketball arenas, with last year’s Rumble taking place in Orlando’s 18,846-seater Amway Center. This year, WWE have decided to host the event at the San Antonio Alamodome - a building that holds up to 65,000 people.
WWE have held the Rumble in San Antonio twice before, with the 1997 event drawing more than 60,000 fans to the same building. That particular card was bolstered by hometown hero Shawn Michaels challenging for Sycho Sid’s WWE Championship, however, and while HBK is expected to appear in a non-wrestling capacity on this year’s show, WWE haven’t drawn 60k+ to a non-WrestleMania PPV since then.
Regardless of whether Michaels appears or not, WWE have a huge task on their hands. The last thing they want is the embarrassment of empty seats at one of their biggest shows of the year, which is a real possibility at the moment. Fair play to them for showing such ambition, and the current level of unpredictability surrounding the event definitely helps build intrigue, but is the Alamodome a step too far? We’ll find out next weekend.