10 Most Overrated (And Overused) WWE Gimmick Matches
5. The Royal Rumble
A highlight of every wrestling fan's calendar, the Royal Rumble is a generally considered a post-Christmas gift, wrapping the promise of a new number one contender in with a selection of great surprises and potential storylines aplenty as WWE kicks off the 'Road to WrestleMania'.
Functionally, the thirty-man elimination brawl still performs its duty, but creatively, the match is on life support.
The Royal Rumble match used to competently set the stage for countless programmes in the midcard and main event, foster inventive self-contained stories, and find ways to leave several of the combatants looking far better on exit than they did on arrival.
In a modern Rumble, WWE often delivers a hugely dissatisfying number one contender with their winner, uses a surprise entrant's pop to justify two minutes of action, and relies on Kofi Kingston to avoid killing himself for a memorable moment.
Inter-match stories are replaced with long stall-sessions including wrestlers laying sloth-like along the outskirts of the ring waiting for a big star to despatch them for the night.
The Royal Rumble is still an awfully fun time, but critically great versions of the battle royal are a thing of the past.