WWE still doesn’t get it

Another year, another Royal Rumble event that leaves everyone with a bad taste in their mouth that not even a huge indie signing could change.

The Royal Rumble pay-per-view itself was a solid show overall. Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens were outstanding in their Last Man Standing match. The New Day were delightful as always, introducing the world to Francesca 2 in the wake of the original Francesca’s untimely demise. Even the divas and United States title matches were a fun watch.

Hell, things even seemed great as the Rumble unfolded. The crowd went berserk when the buzzer hit and entrant No. 3 was revealed: “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles. For those unfamiliar, Styles has spent the last 15 years as the face of TNA, WWE’s “rival,” as well as enjoying a torrid run the last couple of years in New Japan Pro Wrestling. His appearance at a WWE event is one of those things that many thought would never happen.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take much time for the Rumble match to unravel. The entire gala was built around WWE champion Roman Reigns and his forced title defense against the other 29 men in the Rumble match. As the contest unfolded, Vince McMahon and the League of Nations showed up to take Reigns out of the match.

There are two problems with that last bit. The first is that it was meant to make Roman into an underdog, to stack the odds against him in a way that is supposed to make the WWE Universe sympathize with, and ultimately get behind, him. Unfortunately for WWE, Reigns looks like as much of an underdog as a healthy John Cena. It’s simply the wrong approach to take and a tired one at that.

The second problem is the execution. Following their attack, the League and McMahon exited while congratulating each other on their handiwork. Reigns “valiantly” ignored the stretcher that was brought out for him, gimping his way to the back.

Let me expand on this a bit. Reigns was supposed to be the valiant hero in all of this. But how is leaving the match at all valiant? It would have been infuriating if he had laid outside the ring the entire time, but at least it would have been understandable. I mean Kevin Owens (a heel, mind you) limped his way into the match after having endured a war earlier, only to battle Styles blood rival Sami Zayn. Way to understand the dynamics of your characters, WWE.

But that’s not even the worst of it. Reigns, naturally, returned to the match after entrant No. 29 (Sheamus) entered, and he immediately looked like a dominant force once again. Keep on telling that underdog story, WWE.

And with the 30th entrant, the entire viewing audience could sniff out that Triple H’s music would hit. This is a problem for two reasons. First, the last time we saw Triple H, he was being beaten mercilessly by Reigns for screwing the latter out of the title. Triple H was called “helpless” at the time. So how could someone who is helpless not only enter the rumble, but be expected to be a threat?

The second problem is what wound up happening: Triple H threw out Reigns and finished it off by eliminating Dean Ambrose to win the WWE title. This clearly sets the table for Reigns vs Triple H at WrestleMania for the title. It doesn’t make this forced underdog story anymore palatable, instead it merely paved the way for Triple H to once again put himself in the limelight and have one last title run. If anything, it’s just one of the many reminders from Triple H and the WWE that we should all think he is the coolest and best.

Yet again, the WWE takes one step forward and two steps back. We’ll be given another high profile match featuring the thought-to-be-retired Triple H. We’ll be given Roman Reigns on top yet again, which is what 2015 as a whole was. And when it’s all said and done, the WWE will stand around wondering why their ratings continue to decline.