10 Things WWE Regrets About The Royal Rumble

4. Buyer's Remorse

Cm Punk
WWE.com

"Eddie's dead. Right before 'Mania, too. Typical! Who plays his ghost?"

"That's insensitive, Vince."

"Damnit, you're right. Have Randy say he's in hell, and have Rey Mysterio effectively inhabit his body for a few months."

"That's better."

The ballad of Rey Mysterio, 2006, painted WWE as a ruthlessly disgusting conglomerate that used a death - a death they were arguably complicit in - as sweet sweet hot hot heat. The beneficiary of the push, Rey Mysterio, won that year's Royal Rumble match after entering at #2 in a spot of poor luck Michael Cole optimistically suggested was the work of that posthumous prankster, the deceased Eddie Guerrero, for f*ck's f*cking sake.

Rey won the big one at WrestleMania 22: Big Time, following which Vince demonstrably regretted the whole affair. Were all those countless, humiliating defeats - at the hands of Mark Henry (05:18), The Great Khali (03:29), Finlay (06:00) - manifestations of McMahon's internal guilt over exploiting Eddie's death, or did he really just not want this tiny Cruiserweight to go over? At all?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!