10 Wrestlers Who Hated WWE Royal Rumble Spots

4. The Women's Roster Hated The Santina Marella Spot - 2020

WWE Royal Rumble 2005 Vince McMahon
WWE.com

The introduction of a women’s Royal Rumble match was long overdue, but it has also laid bare one of the issues the company has with the format. Put simply, WWE is only capable of focusing on two or three female feuds at a time, and creating depth in the division is an alien concept. Finding 30 people for a battle royal, therefore, is a struggle.

Still, did WWE really need to trot out Santina Marella in 2020? Entering at 29, the former Miss WrestleMania (eurgh) spent most of their time in the ringing staring and gesturing at Beth Phoenix before administering a self-cobra and flopping over the top rope. A total waste of time.

A waste of a spot, too. It was reported soon after the show that several female performers were unhappy with the decision to put Santina into the match, feeling that there were a whole host of new stars who would benefit from such a spot. At the very least, someone from the new generation should have eliminated Santina, marking a clear line between the desperate disrespect of the past and the more measured modern outlook. Shotzi Blackheart? Xia Li? Tegan Nox? Zelina Vega? No, Santina Marella.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.