One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every WWE Royal Rumble

2016 - "The Boys" Thought Daniel Bryan Was Coming Back

WWE WrestleMania 34 Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

The 2016 Royal Rumble wasn’t as egregious as the prior two events - or maybe that’s because fury had mutated into apathy.

For the third year in a row, the match was pitched to ultimately put over a musclebound office favourite in an age of the hardcore darling going mainstream. Triple H won the match, and the WWE championship, with the very predictable and even more unpopular aim of putting Roman Reigns over at WrestleMania 32. The Big Dog Era continued. This was quite literally a punishing time to be a WWE fan: you could not have been more vocal or explicit in telling the company what you did not want to see, and not only did you get it anyway, you got it in the least dramatic and most insulting way imaginable. Roman Reigns, the ultimate WWE project, going up against the Authority?

What?

A rather cruel rumour surfaced - thankfully - after the Rumble. If it had made the rounds before the PLE itself, Roman would have been even less popular. He was already the 2016 Josh Briggs.

As Dave Meltzer wrote in the February 1 Observer, “at least some of the talent was expecting Bryan to return at the Rumble”.

People jumped to conclusions here based on the idea that Bryan had just been cleared by UCLA doctors. WWE and Dr. Joseph Maroon would not clear him until, in a medical miracle, he was good to go in 2018, when NJPW got hot stateside and the inaugural All In had been announced.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!