10 Times WWE Totally BOTCHED The Royal Rumble

4. 2016

Royal Rumble 2012 Michael Cole
WWE.com

The promotion centred around the 2016 Royal Rumble was based on Roman Reigns being at such a disadvantage that he stood absolutely no chance of keeping the WWE Championship he was being forced to defend in the titluar battle royal.

Not bad, on paper. Gimmicked into the Number One position by the evil Vince McMahon-led Authority, Reigns needed to go the distance or lose the strap. This was doubly exciting for how it mimicked the drama of the classic 1992 edition - literally anybody who outlasted 'The Big Dog' could and would win the big one.

Inexplicably, with the run-up so well established, WWE tripped at the very first hurdle by taking him out of the bulk of the match with a beatdown less than halfway through. This was as absurd as it was stupid - the League Of Nations and Vince McMahon were thick enough to beat the sh*t out of him without throwing him over the top rope, but outside of kayfabe it gave him a rest and recovery time to be fresh rather than fried in the closing stretch.

Desperately chasing sympathy for the character, they instead took some away before he was thrown out by eventual winner Triple H.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett