10 Times WWE Totally BOTCHED The Royal Rumble
7. 2013
It’s harder to craft a bad Royal Rumble than a good one, and if you’re reading this article there’s a good chance you know this based on the ones you’ve fantasy booked over the years.
It is a feast of golden opportunities, of huge pops and of shocking twists and blood feuds spun from nothing more than one or more bodies sailing over the top rope.
And yet, WWE was an organisation so badly, badly lacking in good ideas by 2013 that it was incapable of a applying genuine thought to a company cornerstone.
Beyond their big play - John Cena had supposedly had a terrible year since losing to The Rock and winning the titular battle royal was going to turn it around and guide him to a ‘Grandest Stage’ rematch with ‘The Great One’ - the rest of the promotion was on pause and entirely reliant on a kick-ass title reign by a physically and mentally broken down CM Punk.
The match was reflective of the malaise, drab beyond belief, and saved only by a surprise Chris Jericho appearance (and his even more surprising iron man run) that was ultimately for nothing more than a one-night extended pop.
This is a given from a Rumble returnee, but carrying the entire match with no storyline coming out the other side is anything but.