8 Things 2021 WWE Royal Rumble Lifted From 2020
Roman Reigns' arena brawls, The Hurricane, and other examples of Rumble déjà vu...
WWE fans eagerly await the Royal Rumble event every January, ready for all the exciting moments and surprises in store at the year's most shock-laden event.
From special appearances to major championship matches, the pay-per-view offers a lot to anticipate, even if the sports entertainment company has inevitably made a few misfires along the way.
Given that the event is based around a long-running gimmick battle royal (or two), many ideas have been reproduced, some of those evolving into match tropes. While not every Rumble offers the most original moments, WWE tends to entertain its audiences with its second-biggest event of the year more often than not. But when Royal Rumble history rehashes itself a little too often, it will often frustrate fans with the repetition.
Although it was well-received by many, the 2021 Royal Rumble wasn't exactly the most original event at times. Not only did it revisit tropes from the past, it specifically lifted several elements from the 2020 edition of the event. Some of these moments were amusing enough to ignore the repetition, while many others should have never made it past one writer's meeting, let alone two...
8. Opening Arena Fight
Many things have changed for Roman Reigns since he was last spotted at a Royal Rumble event, but he still encountered a flash of deja vu in 2021. 'The Big Dog' not only found himself opening the Big Four PPV but also competing in a very similar stipulation match.
In 2020, a babyface Reigns battled with King Corbin in a Falls Count Anywhere match, which saw the bitter foes duke it out all across an empty arena until 'The Guy' got the upper hand (and some toilet humour in).
One year later, 'The Head of the Table' defended the Universal Championship against 'Mr. Jump Off Everything' Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match.
The decisive decision might have been based on a knockout instead of a pin or submission, but the contest was much the same as the year before. Rather quickly, Reigns and his opponent left the ring and fought tooth-and-nail around a crowd-less venue.
There's nothing inherently wrong about gimmicky No DQ matches, but perhaps WWE could do better by not placing them in the same place on the card multiple years in a row. If Reigns' new thing isn't going to be opening arena fights every year at the Rumble, maybe creative could, you know... at least use different performers.