5 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 16 - Review)

Downs…

7. Who Is Supposed To Qualify For Rumble?

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This is a perpetual problem during Royal Rumble season, but can anyone shed light on this? Why do some wrestlers simply declare for the Rumble, while others have to qualify?

Cody Rhodes is in the Rumble despite not wrestling in more than six months. Omos was entered because his manager MVP negotiated it. Akira Tozawa, however, asked to be in the Rumble, and he was stuck in a match with Bronson Reed – which he lost. Others will undoubtedly just declare for the Rumble, and still more will just show up in the match the night of the event. (There’s a chance Tozawa will end up in it as filler anyway.)

What are the criteria here? Is it wins/losses? Or just Adam Pearce’s whims? Yes, we know this isn’t a “real sport,” but if it’s supposed to be the emulation of a sport, then it should try to adhere to basic rules and principles. Having two systems of getting into a major match like the Royal Rumble is pretty shoddy.

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Contributor
Contributor

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.