10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Facts
You might have heard of this one.
Whether it's political affiliation, or religion, or even just a general worldview, there are enough differences among ourselves that we allow to divide us. Through the rise of social media, we have more access to people who share our philosophies and, as such, people who strongly oppose them. With enough galvanization among differing parties and factions, compromise seemingly becomes harder to reach.
For the millions of wrestling fans across the globe that come from different backgrounds and have different tastes, there was one night when it seemed as though everybody came together with one shared objective: to hate the hell out of the 2015 Royal Rumble booking.
There had never been a stronger negative reaction to one wrestling match that anybody could recall. All of the acrimonious weight fell on the shoulders of one Roman Reigns, who had done nothing wrong except catch Vince McMahon's fancy. When Roman was stuck above Daniel Bryan on the depth chart, with a WrestleMania 31 coronation in sight, the fans expressed a seething anger that was as stunning as it was captivating. Not even John Cena had drawn this type of ire.
Even three years later, Reigns still finds it hard to shake off the effects of the strange culture war between the WWE office and the most vocal fans. He is as much a success as he is unfortunate collateral damage.
Here are ten facts about the 2015 Royal Rumble you may not have known.
10. Xavier Woods Was Pulled From The Pre-Show Match
Seems like forever ago that The New Day were a hated group of repulsively-cheerful "babyfaces" that came off about as sincere as an infomercial host. It wasn't until later in 2015 that the trio found new life through their genuinely-witty personalities and irreverent behavior, but until then, they had to grin through the irritated booing.
As part of their initial run, Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were supposed to take on Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose in a six-man elimination match on the Royal Rumble's Kickoff show. The match would be turned into a standard tag bout with Woods and Rose removed, due to Woods still ailing from an ankle injury. The other five men would also all take part in the Rumble match later in the night.