10 WWE Moments So Awful That They Made You Stop Watching Wrestling (Until You Started Again...)
2. The 2015 Royal Rumble
It's debatable just how impactful a hashtag or Twitterstorm can be on the decisions of a company that usually only needs a change in the breeze to cause a change of direction half the time, but the #CancelWWENetwork catcall from the online 'WWE Universe' after Royal Rumble 2015 was undoubtedly the community's most prominent protest.
It was a match booked so aggressively against the wishes of a loud portion of the fanbase, that it almost felt combative by design.
Failing to learn from their mistakes the prior year, WWE misread the room in announcing Daniel Bryan's participation in the contest having lost most of his post-WrestleMania 2014 to injury. From that moment, fans only had eyes for one winner.
Meanwhile, Roman Reigns' 'mixed' reactions were becoming increasingly hostile, and the Rumble match would mark the first major opportunity for WWE to see and hear how clearly their new guy was not 'The Guy' to the audience at large.
Entering at #10 to a thunderous response, Bryan joined the fray with only Bray Wyatt as an obstacle. 'The Eater of Worlds' would end up as that year's 'Iron Man', and eventually eliminate Bryan ten minutes later in WWE's first major misplaced assumption that he'd be forgiven.
As fans heaped scorn on the contest, virtually nothing was booked to satiate their rage. Reigns entered and dominated to derision, whilst The Big Show and Kane were despatched late to literally dump Wyatt and fellow favourites Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler over the top rope with patronising ease.