10 Awful WWE Match Finishes That Ruined Everything

Recent and controversial enough that everyone still remembers it almost perfectly, the Royal Rumble last year was actually the second such event that the wrestling public had comprehensively crapped on from a great height – the previous year, John Cena had won the Rumble itself, gearing up to meet the WWE champion at Wrestlemania. Since everyone and his monkey knew that it’d be Cena and The Rock at ‘Mania in 2013, that effectively telegraphed the ending of the Punk vs. Rock match in the main event of the same pay-per-view, which we’ve already discussed. Fans were unthrilled.

Of course, this negative reaction didn’t sway Vince McMahon, and he positioned the forty-something Batista to return to massive babyface pops and win the Royal Rumble in 2014. Daniel Bryan, however, wasn’t even in the Rumble. Despite being the most popular wrestler in the company and the face of the main event for half of 2013, he wasn’t in contention for the title anymore and had already lost to Bray Wyatt to blow off their feud earlier on the card.

When fans realised that Bryan wouldn’t be coming out to compete in the Rumble, the rumblings of discontent, already loud and objectionable throughout the show, became shouts and jeers. Babyface star Rey Mysterio came out at number 30 and was roundly booed, as was Batista himself (also a babyface). When Rey was eliminated, the crowd popped: when Batista squared off against Roman Reigns in the final two, it would be the heel Reigns who scored the cheers. Batista was so nettled about the terrible reaction to his win that he needled the crowd in classic heel style, mocking Bryan.

The vehemence of the fans in attendance at the Royal Rumble 2014 was so strong that it was all people were talking about for days. Batista’s win horrified longterm WWE fans, who found themselves faced with a Wrestlemania main event between the Animal and Randy Orton, possibly one of the dullest potential championship matches conceivable.

For days, fans plagued WWE via social media with vociferous objections to the Rumble’s finish. Mick Foley had such an extreme reaction to Bryan’s exclusion (writing on his Facebook page, “does WWE actually hate its own audience? I’ve never been so disgusted with a PPV”) that he videoed himself busting his television wide open with an autographed Sal Fasano baseball bat.

With condemnation continuing to build, and Batista continuing to get heel reactions at live events (and, not handling it too well, responding with heel taunts once again), the decision was made to officially turn the Animal and to shoehorn Daniel Bryan into the main event at Wrestlemania… a match he would win, when he pinned Batista in a triple threat match to win the WWE world heavyweight championship. This time it wouldn’t be kayfabe politicking that would lose him the title: rather, a neck injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year, forcing him to vacate the championship.

Never knowingly learning from their mistakes, WWE tried to push their latest little project on fans in 2015, having a babyface Roman Reigns win the Royal Rumble. Fans hated this nearly as much as 2014’s finish, feeling that Reigns had been forced on them as Batista had been the year before, and Cena for years before that. The Rock would assist his cousin Reigns in fending off the Big Show and Kane, but incredibly, both babyfaces would be booed when celebrating the win at the end of the event. WWE would once again amend the Wrestlemania main event in line with the negative crowd reaction. That’s three Royal Rumbles in a row that have played out like a turd barbecue. Here’s hoping that 2016’s event is properly thought out.

What’s the worst reaction you’ve ever seen to a match’s finish? If you have something we’ve not mentioned, tell us all about it in the comments!