7 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 20)

3. Rumble Build Lacking

Brock Lesnar Paul Heyman
WWE.com

Pop quiz: Who’s going to win Sunday’s Royal Rumble matches? Who’s a favorite? Who has the most compelling reason to win the Rumble?

Aside from a very small handful of people, there aren’t many names that drop from people’s mouths. Sure, Brock Lesnar is entering at #1 in the men’s Rumble. Charlotte Flair announced a few weeks ago for the women’s Rumble. A bunch of others have declared themselves to be in the Rumble, but that’s really about it.

No one is making a compelling case that they need to win (picture Shawn Michaels in 2010, when he was desperate to win so he could challenge then World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker to a rematch at WrestleMania), and the Rumble itself seems to just be a big thing that’s there.

Drew McIntyre actually has made a decent case, pointing out that he’s never had a one-on-one world title shot, but really, the build for the actual Rumble matches really feels lame this time around overall.

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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.