50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE Royal Rumble
5. ThunderDome Dampens 2021’s Thrills
WWE were still behind closed doors when the 2021 Rumble came around. On the whole, the promotion had done a solid enough job of keeping everyone entertained during an uncertain (and often downright scary) time for many, but it'd be a lie to say the ThunderDome era will be missed. That was never more true than when the Rumble PLE happened in front of those LED screens.
Replacing a live crowd counting down from 10-1 with canned noise was never going to work. It was all the group could do to add any sort of atmosphere for fans watching at home, but it's impossible to enjoy properly when watching back. Again, in fairness, WWE were doing the best they could with what was available to them. That piped-in crowd was used in other live events/sports too.
Bianca Belair going 56 minutes en route to winning the women’s match and Edge winning the men’s Rumble were both stellar WWE moments. The same could be said for Edge sharing an in-ring hug with the returning Christian. Unfortunately, as great as the work from all concerned was, it was too much to expect them to overcome the presentation's shortcomings.
There's something altogether sad about seeing Edge and Christian reunite in front of glorified TV screens with delayed fan reactions. It's so surreal. Imagine travelling back in time to show someone from 2010 that - they'd rightly wonder what the hell was going on, and why WWE had to run shows in front of punters on Zoom. Or Skype, in-keeping with the 2010 vibes.
Rather depressing.