The Royal Rumble typically is a high point for many wrestling fans. Its a unique event that often tells several interesting stories, while 30 men compete in a battle royal-style match. If done well, it can kick off the Road to WrestleMania on a high note. Regardless of what happens Sunday night, WWE will make history when the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is defended in the Royal Rumble match for the first time. The Rumble typically crowns the #1 contender for the world title at Mania. In that regard, the Rumble is a critical part of the success of WWEs biggest event of the year. But for the first time since that custom was put in place in 1993, the winner of the Rumble will emerge world champ. Current title-holder Roman Reigns will enter #1 in the latest effort from Vince and Stephanie McMahon to stack the deck against him. While the Rumble will take on a different mission this year, its still no less important: the Rumble serves to continue the rehabilitation of Reigns as a top-level star for the company. Romans crowd support took a huge hit during the past year, and many fans are just starting to come back to him and start showing him more universal support. The stacked Rumble is one way to help build sympathy and support for him. Whether that works remains to be seen. With four other title matches on the card, lets take a look the big questions facing WWE that need some answering before the Royal Rumble goes off the air Sunday.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
