As noted in the previous slide, the huge storm of negativity within the company started the day before Punk left, the Royal Rumble. Since its arrival, the Royal Rumble has been utilized for one major thing: the start of the Road to Wrestlemania. At this event, we see the layout of Wrestlemania start to unfold. We get to see just who will be fighting for the championship at the event with the winner of the Royal Rumble. We see feuds start to build and major players start to rise. At this year's Royal Rumble, we saw all of that. However, it just wasn't the wrestlers or feuds the people wanted to see. Starting first with the only match that gained some praise, Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan was a lose/lose match. The problem with it was that neither of them should be losing at this point. Bray Wyatt is the highest rising heel in the company. It is very evident that he is a key player in the company's future and has the people in the back backing every move he does. Daniel Bryan, meanwhile, is the most over wrestler currently. Every time he comes out, his reaction beats everyone else's. With Daniel Bryan and his fans still pushing him towards the title, he could not of afforded a lose at this junction. However, he lost and that is in the history books of the WWE now, but no one even mentioned it because of the crowd during the Royal Rumble Match. The match itself is where the negativity springs mostly from. From this match, it was made clear that the WWE was going with the Wrestlemania card THEY wanted and not the one the people wanted. With the entrance from Batista and Randy Orton retaining his title, we all knew what we were in for. Still we hoped and prayed for Bryan to come out at the number 30 position, but when Rey Mysterio came out, the reaction turned from hope to despair. They brutally booed the rest of the match, until Reigns and Batista were left. Here we had a returning babyface versus a heel in a big faction and we cheered the heel. Sure, Roman Reigns had and still has been build steam and a fanbase from his work, but when a superstar returns as a babyface, they aren't know to get such a negative reaction. The problem here is that while the powers of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Vince McMahon tell us they give the fans what the fans want, they instead keep giving us what they want. We wanted Daniel Bryan, we got Batista. We wanted CM Punk, we got Kane. We wanted to be excited following the Royal Rumble for the Road to Wrestlemania, we got disappointment for the months to come.
I am a recent college graduate who loves everything about sports and look to spread my opinions to those who will listen. My passion for the art of pro wrestling has been vast ever since 2011 when C.M. Punk dropped his "Pipebomb" in Las Vegas and hasn't dropped since.
