10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Facts
Cena and Styles steal the show, while the part-timers take the Rumble spotlight.
It's hard to really pick the best WWE pay-per-view of 2017, as a number of shows didn't really do a whole lot to stand out from the pack. WrestleMania 33 was pretty good, Elimination Chamber was an underrated event, and the Royal Rumble was mostly enjoyable. At the very least, it's two straight years that the Rumble didn't piss off much of the vocal fanbase, so it has that going for it.
The event will be most remembered for three things: the interminable walk to the ring down the lengthy Alamodome entrance way, a Rumble match that featured some confrontations among iconic figures, and a borderline five-star World title match between AJ Styles and John Cena. As far as WWE's 2017 fare goes, it's definitely one of the more memorable cards of the lot.
Sure, there were some issues, like late in the Rumble match when so many full-time performers had to lay down and play dead while Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and The Undertaker got to stand tall, but that's modern WWE for you. Established iconography will always take precedent.
But hey, at least there were no Punjabi Prison matches or This Is Your Life segments, right? The 2017 Royal Rumble was free from most forms of WrestleCrap, which sometimes is all you can ask.
Here are ten facts about the 2017 Royal Rumble you may not have known.
10. Every Tenth Rumble Has Been In San Antonio
San Antonio is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, yet it's not often regarded as one of WWE's top locales. The city is more known for their NBA dominance over the past few decades with Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and coach Gregg Popovich than it is a hotbed of historic sports-entertainment activity.
Yet in every year that ends in a seven, WWE brings the Royal Rumble to town. The 1997, 2007, and 2017 Rumbles (the tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth incarnations, it should be noted), have all taken place in "The Alamo City".
The 2017 event, just like 1997, was held in the spacious Alamodome, lending a bit of a WrestleMania-esque feel. In 2007, however, the event took place in the smaller AT&T Center, where Popovich's San Antonio Spurs have played since the building opened in 2002.