10 Times WWE Got The Royal Rumble Winner Wrong
2. Batista (2014)
As far as universally rejected Royal Rumble winners go, few can top Batista. Big Dave was booked incredibly poorly upon returning to the company, and while almost none of it was his fault, his comeback remains a low-point in WWE’s recent history.
The 2014 Royal Rumble should have belonged to Daniel Bryan. The Yes! Movement was at its most popular, and fans were screaming out for the plucky underdog to finally be elevated as WWE’s top guy. From his heinous firing following the Nexus’ debut angle to his 18-second loss to Sheamus, Bryan had been continually humiliated, embarrassed, and swept under the rug throughout his run, but the fans rallied around him like none other.
Bryan was the most popular wrestler in the company, and after being wasted in a match with Bray Wyatt earlier in the evening, he seemed a dead cert to enter the Rumble. The clock ticked down, countless wrestlers entered the match, and by the time Rumble hit number 30, anticipation was through the roof.
What happened? Rey Mysterio’s music hit, he suddenly became the most hated man in the city, and Bryan was nowhere to be found.
WWE fortunately realised their gargantuan error and eventually gave Bryan his career-defining moment at WrestleMania 30, but that doesn’t right the Rumble’s wrongs. This was one occasion where listening to the fans was absolutely the right thing for WWE to do, and their actions in the aftermath prove it. Unfortunately, this snub closed the 2014 Royal Rumble in depressing fashion, and set the year off to a terrible start.