As the Royal Rumble wrapped up last night, one would suspect that there would be a certain amount of concern within the walls of Titan Towers. The WWE have for months been criticised for not listening to the fans' opinions and instead attempting to shove their idea of good wrestling down our throats. Last night, the audience simply would not comply. Their chants, boos and otherwise dead silence in the later stages of the Rumble would be a big worry for the WWE as they commence the Road to Wrestlemania. They were angry with the way that the WWE was going and they were letting them know in no uncertain terms. But was the 2014 Royal Rumble as bad as all that, or was the audience overeacting? In this article I will examine 4 reasons for the case that the audience had every right to be annoyed, as well as 4 reasons against.
For: The Use Of Daniel Bryan
The WWE's biggest rising asset has in a way become their biggest liability. This is not Bryan's fault- he continues to have excellent matches that are gripping viewing. The match between himself and Bray Wyatt was match of the night by a country mile in a PPV that offered little in the way of anything new. However, because the WWE are stubbornly keeping him away from anything of importance, the rest of the roster is now bearing the brunt of the audience's feelings (I bet it's the first time that Rey Mysterio came out to a chorus of boos like that...). Some may say this is the IWC just having a tantrum, but when Wyatt beat Bryan the crowd was relatively happy. Sure, the cheers were somewhat subdued because Bryan didn't win, but they were prepared to acknowledge the fact that Wyatt had helped put on a hell of a match (more on it later). What annoyed them was the fact that Bryan was not in the Rumble which, although it was advertised not to happen, is still a massive slap in the face of the best performer in the past 12 months. So when the Wyatts moved on to target John Cena later that evening, it merely looked like Bryan had done the job to elevate the Wyatts to 'the John Cena' level. The rumours going around at the moment is that Bryan is going to be taking on Sheamus at Wrestlemania. I truly hope that this night has showed them that they cannot have Bryan just in a 15-20 mins match with nothing on the line. No disrespect to Sheamus, but he is just back from injury and needs momentum coming in to Wrestlemania. Since the title is now off the table, the WWE have to send Bryan up against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30 where win or lose, he gains the Deadman's respect. Because if the WWE do not show their audience that they have the same faith in Bryan that the fans do, we can expect a lot more of the same.