10 Controversial Wrestling Matches You'll Never See Again

5. Royal Rumble 2015

Maryse Mickie James
WWE.com

Roman Reigns will never again generate the sort of response he did after last eliminating Rusev from the horrendously booked and significantly damaging 2015 Royal Rumble.

Nothing the 'Tribal Chief' will ever do as a heel or babyface will create such fury in a building or stadium, not least because the fans that might once have fumed are simply no longer there. Many lifelong pro wrestling fans very literally took their business elsewhere when AEW showed itself as the provider of the content they desired, resulting in 2022 WWE crowds that mostly respond as requested to anything they're served, if they're making noise at all.

Reigns being mercilessly abused throughout, Big Show and Kane limply lifting out all the perennial favourites like sacks of sh*t, 'The Bulgarian Brute' being presented as the final boss heel but received as the last babyface hope - every single steer at the climax of this match was a bum one. As if it could have gone any other way after Daniel Bryan's earlier elimination.

Like the part-time 'Head Of The Table', the Royal Rumble doesn't always deliver a match of the year candidate. But it'll never be this bad again.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett