Had Batista not been announced to return a month in advance, and was a genuinely shocking surprise for the rumble in 2014 would he still have been booed after he won it?
For Reigns in 2015. Had Daniel Bryan won the rumble in 2014 would Roman still have been booed in the rumble in 2015?
Fans were so crazy for Bryan that they would have shitted on any other szenario than Bryan winning basically both Rumbles back to back.
In 2014 they made a stupid mistake by letting Batista's return happen a week before the Rumble. Everybody knew he was going to win, and his comeback was one of the most meaningless i ever saw for such a big name like he used to be and still.
In 2015 they had no choice. The thought was that Bryan getting eliminated soon in the match would cool done the situation of Roman winning later but it obviously didn't work out. I will never forget the picture of Bryan sitting on the ground and behind him the Shattered Dreams image is on the Scream and Goldust comes out, they really dissed the fans there, i don't think this was not planned.
But the Starpower in the 2015 Rumble Match was a freaking joke. The dudley Boys were the only attraction in the whole Match.
The 2015 Royal Rumble was one of the biggest f*** you's to the fans by any promotion in the history of professional wrestling. We needn't relitigate the whole thing, but the spiteful early elimination of Bryan, the shattered dreams nonsense, and Big Show and Kane eliminating all the fan favorites in embarrassing fashion remains a black mark on WWE.
Yep, this is when the rot truly started to set in. They were seeing a slight rejuvenation in 2014 with new talent etc. then towards the end of 2014 a few elements occurred which didn’t make sense. Authority was on the war path burying everybody (even their own members). The Rumble match 2015 was the gigantic turd on the icing on the cake.
I love watching old Rumbles to pass the time but this is one of the very very few I will probably never watch again.
Nobody cared to see Batista in 2014. I think he came back just to help promote Guardians of the Galaxy. That was Bryan's year.
As for 2015, people booed the goldenboy because it was clear as day that he was gonna be shoved in our faces just like Cena was for the 10 years before that. Even cousin Dwayne wasn't getting that clown over then.
As for 2015, people booed the goldenboy because it was clear as day that he was gonna be shoved in our faces just like Cena was for the 10 years before that. Even cousin Dwayne wasn't getting that clown over then.
In regards to 2015, I disagree somewhat that the fans would not have accepted anyone but Bryan. Yes he was the favorite, but there were still other over guys in that match that fans probably could have lived with winning.
WWE did everything to turn fans off by not only unceremoniously eliminating Bryan. But then they had old men Kane and Big Show literally dump all of the other favorite (Ambrose, Ziggler, Bray, etc) out like garbage.
It was blatant that they were trying to FORCE fans to cheer Roman as the only face left. And fans saw right through it and were having none of it.
Reigns’ reactions were already weakening before RR 2015. The horrendous promo he did when he returned the weeks/month before didn’t help things. As a singles talent he was the drizzling shits in all regards at the time, only getting over in the first place due to The Shield hiding his limitations (similar to now with the Bloodline, although now Reigns has some level of talent even if not up to the level of his push).
But Roman was always going to get booed at the Rumble/whenever they really started booking him towards the main event. Bryan had 0 to do with that. Now Bryan’s elimination did have a negative effect on that match as a whole, and it wasn’t until red-hot Mizdow came out and gave something for people to cheer did the match sort of get back on track. Roman though wasn’t ready for the spot, and it made him a complete failure in the long run and he was forced to turn heel to get some goodwill from the fans (something Vince never did with Cena). But even if Bryan won in 2014, Reigns would’ve been booed out of the building in 2015.
With regards to 2014, I do think Batista’s return being a surprise may have helped tame the negative reaction, but ultimately I think it would’ve ended up being more mixed than anything.
But Roman was always going to get booed at the Rumble/whenever they really started booking him towards the main event. Bryan had 0 to do with that. Now Bryan’s elimination did have a negative effect on that match as a whole, and it wasn’t until red-hot Mizdow came out and gave something for people to cheer did the match sort of get back on track. Roman though wasn’t ready for the spot, and it made him a complete failure in the long run and he was forced to turn heel to get some goodwill from the fans (something Vince never did with Cena). But even if Bryan won in 2014, Reigns would’ve been booed out of the building in 2015.
What if Bryan held the World Title from WM 30 to Summerslam, and taken the convincing loss to Brock that Cena ended up taking? How would've the fans perceived him after a loss like that? Do you think fans would've been as hostile to Reigns at the 2015 Royal Rumble? Part of the reason fans booed him was because they felt Bryan should've been the one to beat Brock. That idea would've been crushed if Bryan got destroyed at Summerslam 2014.
They missed a trick. The heat Seth would’ve got for cashing in on Bryan/Brock would’ve been nuclear. Especially if you position the match so that Bryan got his ass whooped and was on the verge of a comeback before Seth arrived.
But had to get “suffering succotash” golden boy in there.
Seth arrived because both guys were worn out from beating he hell out of each other. You needed both guys laid out to make the cash in believable. How would you have booked this ending sequence with Bryan? I guess he hits a desperation running knee and the ref starts the count with both guys laid out?
If Batista was a complete surprise appearance at RR 14, the fans would have cheered, however as the weeks progressed building up to Mania, I think they still would have turned on Batista in favor of Bryan.
As for 2015. The booking of that Rumble was so poor. WWE eliminating Bryan the way they did so early before Roman was in the ring was cowardly.
They should of had Roman start as number 1 and Bryan number 2 and they last all the way to the end as the last two, overcoming all The Authorties goons. Then even though there would have been a few boos when Roman wins, for the most part there would have been respect gained and Bryan Reigns shake hands to end the PPV.
1. I think if Batista had been a surprise entrant it would help a bit, but in the end, yes still booed. Remember, crowd booed a face Rey Mysterio at #30 because he wasn't Bryan. They wanted him and no one else. One of the biggest fails in WWE history.
2. Yes, I think so. Because in the end, Bryan still did main event in WM30, even though he didn't win rumble. In 2015, fans wanted more of Bryan. Fans hated the idea of Reigns winning. But I do think the biggest issue with 2015 isn't so much that Reigns won, but HOW he won, and especially how Bryan lost. Here's what you do to not get Reigns booed (at least, not nearly as much). Have Bryan & Reigns as final two, have them engage in an epic back and forth with Reigns coming out on top. Fans could have respected that - booked the way it was, it was horrendous.
In 2014 smarks were making it a point to spite WWE, a shock and a quick win would get a pop, but once it sinks in they'll feel bitter, remorseful, and will start booing the next night on Raw; however, he's be perfectly safe at the rumble especially if he was #30 and won in a quick fashion.
As for the Reigns situation, had they given Bryan the standard babyface booking a year prior (winning the Rumble then WM, which would be very unrewarding in pay-off) they'd be less bitter and more calm probably. It might've braced the impact more, but they'll still boo any guy who WWE sees as a main event prospect, especially a well-built guy who has no indy-flippy background, didn't wrestle for the 23 people who watched ROH, and didn't have a submission hold for a finisher. And while Reigns has his flaws undeniably, He has that main event look which apparently is problematic for the smarts in the audience, who believe a 170lb guys look believable in main eventing WM with Brock Lesnar. It was obvious as day that WWE was pushing Reigns to the moon unorganically and without him proving himself to the crowd before his rise like his predecessors did (Austin, Rock, Cena, Orton, Batista, etc..). That wouldn't have flown with the smarks regardless of what happened with Bryan, since the main reason they cheered Bryan - and this is just my opinion - is that they want to challenge the WWE formula, as evident as how Bryan's reactions cooled down once they finally gave him his big moment at WM30.
IIRC When it came down to reigns and batista, the crowd, by default, were rooting for reigns. That’s how much they didn’t want batista to win. I thought they may have called an audible and changed the winner.
Then they over corrected (predictably) when they gave reigns the win the following year.
That's a good question because people are suckers for surprises. Even Cena got a great pop for his return from injury in 2008. It certainly wouldn't last though.
They missed a trick. The heat Seth would’ve got for cashing in on Bryan/Brock would’ve been nuclear. Especially if you position the match so that Bryan got his ass whooped and was on the verge of a comeback before Seth arrived.
But had to get “suffering succotash” golden boy in there.
The fact that beloved almost career-long babyface Rey Mysterio received boos after coming out at 30 answers it for me. Any scenario not involving Bryan coming out and winning it was gonna get shat on.
Batista would've been booed as for Reigns, he would still be booed because Reigns wasn't booed because of Bryan, he was booed because everybody knew he was going to be the new Cena and the crowd didn't want that so unless it was someone they picked, it would not work.
But the WWE's bad luck was really Bryan getting injured. The best way to deal with popular figures is to give them a shitty title run with barely anything to do and that did wonders for Kofi.
The WWE live arena fanbase had changed significantly by 2014 when Batista came back than when he left in 2010. It was a lot more smark and indy-ish. People want to say no one cared about Batista in 2014, but that isn't true. His come back to Raw did a massive number, 4.86 million people watched Raw that night, hour one which his segment was on did 5.25 million. There was always huge interest in Batista, the smark crowds hijacking the shows gave the perception that there wasn't.
Batista isn't the Rock, but no one outside of Austin and Hogan have been near the level of the Rock, not even Cena. Batista is still the second biggest star wrestling has produced since the end of the Monday Night Wars. They had every right to figure that it would have been a big deal. And if they went through with it, it still would have been. But the optics of the smarks shitting on it would have made for bad optics.
Those smark audiences would have booed the Rock if he interfered with Bryan's run. Does that mean he was anywhere near the star, or as over as Rock was? Not even in the same universe. People tend to overstate the importance of crowd reaction in this era when it comes to star power and genuine over-ness. The people acting like Bryan was the second coming in early 2014 were the same people going nuts for Orange Cassidy in his first AEW show despite never having any previous national exposure. Bryan was over and was a star in 2014, but he wasn't nearly as big as most internet fans think. CM Punk wasn't either.
Fans rejected Roman because they could see how desperately WWE wanted him to be the new Cena. But he lacked Cena’s charisma.
It’s very telling that what finally got Roman truly over, was turning him heel. The very thing fans had practically been screaming at WWE to do for 5 freaking years,
2014 was Bryan's time and he should have deservedly won the Rumble 2014. He and Punk were the most over people in the company and yet Batista got the nod because Vince wanted Batista with the gold when he attends a Marvel movie premiere.
2015 was Bryan's year too, and he should have won the Rumble. Instead they gave it to an untalented second rate hack who wasn't even over with the audience and whose only plus point is that he looks good.
Both Rumbles were utter disasters because the guy who should have won the Rumble was just screwed over; Bryan wasn't even in 2014 RR and he was utterly buried in 2015 RR. There is also another common denominator in these 2 Rumbles; both Rumbles were booked by that idiotic son-in-law; Triple HGH. This was confirmed in Austin's podcast.
For number 1... Probably not. Depends when he comes out though. If he comes out as number 30 then no way he is getting boo'd. If he's been out for half an hour... Maybe.
For 2... That's interesting... It might not have been so bad, but I feel like it still would have happened. They never should have put him in the match to begin with if they had absolutely nothing for him coming out of it (AND THEY SHOULD HAVE MADE THIS CLEAR BEFOREHAND, UNLIKE IN 2014 )
I have a different scenario, what if C.M.Punk had won the Rumble in 2014?? He gets the chokeslam threw the table, but just as Batista is celebrating, PUnk crawls back into the ring, and after a back and forth eliminates Batista.
He would go on to challenge Randy ORton for the title then, and Batista could have faced Alberto Del Rio here instead of FastLane.
The Cena on top years were a really interesting time in WWE's history
I personally, and many others disliked the character immensiy.
You could argue it changed the target audience and forced the die hards who were still hanging on to go to ultra smark mode and worship any wrestler with any indie buzz about him
Enter CM Punk.
Then Daniel Bryan
Wrestlers who, with all due respect to their talents, couldn't draw a tenth of what the likes of Cena or Batista or a properly booked Reigns could, but were propelled to the top due to the changing of the fan base.
I don't think wrestling has ever truly recovered.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Wrestling Forum
23.4M posts
266.5K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to all Wrestling enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about WWE, AEW, Ring of Honor, Impact and all forms of professional and amateur wrestling.