12 Wrestlers Who Had ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS Being In WWE Royal Rumble
3. Michael Cole (2012)
Michael Cole was a symptom of the problem rather than the problem himself, but observe above the commentator taking off his suit and tie to enter the bout in 2012 alongside co-commentators Jerry Lawler and Booker T. What else sticks out as odd about this image?
If you're not quite able to put your finger on it and/or wondering why Jerry Lawler and Booker T look like video game versions of themselves, it's because both men were also in the Royal Rumble that year alongside the company's lead announcer. Flippant comedy was the theme of the match, with a field absolutely stacked with unserious entrants as opposed to eventual winner Sheamus, shocking returnee Chris Jericho. Ricardo Rodriguez entered so they could do a joke about him having a banged up car, The Great Khali entered years after his divisive prime, Santino Marella and Mick Foley had a sock puppet fight in the latter's final ever WWE match, and even Road Dogg got a spot.
Ultimately, Cole's minute and twenty-three seconds was just that little bit more time wasted during a period where the company thought they had it to burn. Sheamus winning resulted in the Daniel Bryan WrestleMania XVIII squash, which resulted in the Yes Movement which resulted in two years of the Rumble being reflective of WWE's broken relationship with their audience. But years before the fraction, the market leader was too arrogant or ignorant to see the problem.