10 Most Wasted WWE Royal Rumble Spots

For anyone wondering if WWE would end its streak of poorly received Royal Rumble matches in 2016, the answer was absolutely not.

Continuing with Roman Reign's all-guns-blazing push, WWE decided to put his belt on the line during the battle royal, which placed the attention squarely on the champion instead of the next contender. When 'The Big Dog' was massacred ringside, it felt as though he would return later in the Rumble to make a triumphant comeback. However, the schtick ended up being more of an homage to Steve Austin in '99 than anyone realized.

At this point, for the large majority of fans who booed Reigns, only something like Triple H entering at #30 and winning the whole darn shooting match could have been worse than once again giving the W to 'The Guy.'

Then, the COO entered last and captured the WWE Championship.

Several current stars would have made suitable victors, such as the debuting AJ Styles. Instead, WWE went with an ageing part-timer in a superfluous attempt to further push 'The Big Dog.' Obviously, fans didn't get behind Reigns because management didn't push him hard enough.

Perhaps the one silver lining besides seeing 'The Phenomenal One' was R-Truth confusing the Royal Rumble for Money in a Bank, as he brought a ladder into the ring and created a brief moment of relief during an increasingly bleak match.