10 Big Talking Points From WWE Royal Rumble 2017

Another talking point that couldn’t be ignored is the story of the night; Randy Orton won the 2017 Royal Rumble and will challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania as a result.

Orton had been the favourite heading into the match after a late odds swing at the beginning of the weekend, but even so this still felt like a surprising victory in 2017. When you consider the wider WrestleMania plans though, it’s another development that makes perfect sense.

As it stands, Orton would be set to face John Cena at WrestleMania—a pairing that was exhausted a long time ago. Thankfully though, Cena still has to defend his title inside the Elimination Chamber, and so the odds would suggest that Cena won’t be heading into ‘Mania as champion. Fingers crossed, and according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, that man is going to be Bray Wyatt, setting up a mouth-watering Wyatt Family meltdown in the co-main event of WrestleMania.

If that proves to be the case, you could argue that maybe Brat should have won the Rumble, what with being seven years Randy’s junior—but if the alternative is to have Bray leave the Elimination Chamber with the belt, you’ll find no complaints from me.

In a Rumble that was brimming with possibilities, this was a fairly welcome outcome, and one that engineers an intriguing meeting for WrestleMania, meaning that ultimately it’s a case of mission accomplished at the 2017 Royal Rumble.