10 Times The Wrong Wrestler Won
9. Roman Reigns Over Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble 2015)
After eight long months of inaction, Daniel Bryan had finally returned to the ring and announced his entry into the 2015 Royal Rumble. Many fans were ecstatic and the prospect of a Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan main event at WrestleMania excited many. What followed during the actual match has to be one of WWE’s biggest booking blunders in recent years.
Bryan entered the match early and was swiftly eliminated by Bray Wyatt. It left the rowdy Philadelphia crowd in a state of shock, which quickly turned to outrage. Fans proceeded to dump all over the match relentlessly, booing, jeering and even demanding refunds. When Roman Reigns’ music hit, the boos went into overdrive. Before his hernia related absence in late 2014, Reigns had been a popular babyface and rising star among fans. Upon returning, badly scripted promos had soured some of this goodwill though he was still a popular act.
His painfully obvious coronation at the expense of Bryan caused fans to treat him like HBK in Montreal and the jeering of Reigns would continue for years. Despite Reigns’ improvements as a promo and as a wrestler, his chances of being top face have seemingly been scuppered irreparably.
It would be more than three and a half years until the Lesnar/Bryan dream match occurred. Roman Reigns is yet to have a lengthy run with a world title. One can’t help but feel that all parties involved would’ve been better off had Bryan and Reigns switched places all those years ago.