Which Royal Rumble was worse?

[Starshine]

I've been mulling it over in my head since the show ended. It's easy to compare the two since they happened in consecutive years, and had other similar factors which affected the overall reaction. So which Royal Rumble worse, or more frustrating?

Please note: We're only considering and comparing the matches themselves as well as the situations surrounding and leading up to the show. Do not take into consideration the changes that led to the Mania 30 main event being changed.

2014
Pros
Arguably better booked than the 2015 one
Final 2 included a pretty over Roman Reigns
Surprise appearance by Kevin Nash

Cons
Negative reaction to the winner
The winner was 45 years old
Bryan wasn't in it, despite being the most over guy during the match

2015
Pros
Bryan was in it
The winner was someone the company is strongly behind
Surprise appearances by DDP, Bubba Ray Dudley, The Boogeyman, and The Rock

Cons
Negative reaction to the winner
Very badly booked and didn't play to a lot of the wrestlers strengths
Bryan eliminated early and without much fanfare, despite arguably being the most over guy in the match

[Deleted]

Bryan getting knocked off actually killed the crowd.
People did not care for a very long time after he was pushed out - and in such a cheap way too..

Tonight was 1000% worse than last year.
Winner of the Rumble can, in NO REALISTIC WAY, touch Brock Lesnar.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jan 26, 2015 2:15:47 GMT -5 @legendstar said:

Bryan getting knocked off actually killed the crowd.
People did not care for a very long time after he was pushed out - and in such a cheap way too..

Tonight was 1000% worse than last year.
Winner of the Rumble can, in NO REALISTIC WAY, touch Brock Lesnar.

The funniest part of Bryan's elimination was how you could tell the office new how much people would take it out on the next few entrants so they sent out people nobody would give a shit about. Also, Kofi Kingston since he can never be damaged too bad just like how WWE never pushes him too high.

[mizerable]

2015 on the basis that you'd think they'd have learned their lesson.

Fool me once..

[chazraps]

So glad this wasn't another thread talking smack about the 2012 Royal Rumble, one of the most underrated of all time.

[MolotovMocktail]

While the 2014 result pissed me off more (I've said in previous threads, I don't have a problem with Reigns, while I do hate Batista), the match itself was better.

[kidglov3s]

Punk/Torito was amazing, so 2015 is worse.

[Mochi Lone Wolf]

2015 because a normal, sane person or institution is supposed to learn their lesson the first time.


Not to mention that the moment Bryan went out, you knew EXACTLY who was going to win so the drama died. At least 2014 had some drama in that the final two had someone you were rooting for. Ironically, that person from last year is the person everyone was rooting against this year. He ended up not winning when everyone most wanted him to and winning when everyone least wanted him to.

[Jonathan Michaels]

Jan 26, 2015 2:15:47 GMT -5 @legendstar said:

Bryan getting knocked off actually killed the crowd.
People did not care for a very long time after he was pushed out - and in such a cheap way too..

Tonight was 1000% worse than last year.
Winner of the Rumble can, in NO REALISTIC WAY, touch Brock Lesnar.

And Daniel Bryan could?

A Daniel Bryan that may not be 100% yet?

After tonight, who the hell COULD touch Brock Lesnar?

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I'll vote for the 2014 Rumble, because at they didn't show their bad hand until everyone was out.

Here, they killed the match at #15, and then actively threw away whatever good will they had left, when they had the chance to call an audible and have someone else win.

[freeze Austin]

'14 because I went into it with hope and optimism and really bought in to the story that I thought WWE was trying to tell.

I went into this Rumble match with no expectations and as a result I wasn't disappointed. Maybe I'd be more upset if I was more invested in the product as a whole but WWE has really turned me off with "reality era" and all the inside baseball "He's a draw, but you're not a draw!" stuff that's been going on with the never ending Authority storyline. All I really want is for the guys I enjoy to be placed in entertaining feuds that they can also have really good matches from, but that probably isn't going to happen as long as that storyline is still in existence and Stephanie and Triple H are on air characters getting cheap heat by targeting fan favorites that aren't "big enough" or don't "have the right look."

[kidglov3s]

Jan 26, 2015 4:09:09 GMT -5 freeze Austin said:

'14 because I went into it with hope and optimism and really bought in to the story that I thought WWE was trying to tell.

I went into this Rumble match with no expectations and as a result I wasn't disappointed. Maybe I'd be more upset if I was more invested in the product as a whole but WWE has really turned me off with "reality era" and all the inside baseball "He's a draw, but you're not a draw!" stuff that's been going on with the never ending Authority storyline. All I really want is for the guys I enjoy to be placed in entertaining feuds that they can also have really good matches from, but that probably isn't going to happen as long as that storyline is still in existence and Stephanie and Triple H are on air characters getting cheap heat by targeting fan favorites that aren't "big enough" or don't "have the right look."

I hate how all the main event angles pivot around who Stephanie and HHH like or don't like. It sucks. It sucks. It sucks.

Even the Rumble can't end until those two come out.

[Nic Nemeth]

How the hell was 2014 worse than 2015? At least 2014 never promised Bryan would be in it and the actual match itself was better.

Tonight's PPV was far worse because they wasted spots (Boogeyman, Axel, Ryder, R-Truth, Sin Cara, Titus), didn't bother debuting anyone from NXT, had no returns (well except Ryder...), Bray Wyatt made the entire first 10 entrants look like crap, Bryan was the 10th entrant btw, hell the entire middle section was completely forgettable since the only people that mattered were Bray/Rusev/Reigns, they put everyone that mattered in the final 10, more than half lasted less than five minutes, and they decided to just bury everyone toward the end.

The most disgusting part was Authority tossing out Ryback, Ziggler, Bray, and Ambrose like they were jobbers. Then Reigns had to look strong by eliminating both at once and tossing out Rusev who did a sneak attack.

[kingbookermark]

2015 because they should have known better.

[Deleted]

This year's was hot garbage with like one great moment (Bubba)

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

2015. It's one thing to get caught off guard but they made every mistake that they did last year and then some.

[SUPES]

2014 was a great show. An excellent opener that allowed D-Bry to do his thing, Wyatt and Lesnar looking strong for their WM30 programs, a good title match, and a Rumble that did a great job of showing off the Shield. Sure, the crowd was hostile. That made the show even more interesting, as that's much better than apathy and sitting on their hands.

[Dang!]

I was going into this thread expecting a variety of Rumbles that have sucked major balls (1999 and 2002 come to mind) and ready to say that it's too early to say because we are all still under the impression of yesterday's shitfest, but I like Douchetista is so much more enjoyable than cringy Roman Reigns, so...yes yesterday's was worse because LOLWWE has proven twice in a row that they are f***ing retards that don't listen to their fans. I really hope a lot of people cancelled their subscriptions to the suckwork (I know I wouldn't even remotely consider ordering that) and that WWE will continue to lose lots of money.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 4:20:15 GMT -5 Nic Nemeth said:

How the hell was 2014 worse than 2015? At least 2014 never promised Bryan would be in it and the actual match itself was better.

Tonight's PPV was far worse because they wasted spots (Boogeyman, Axel, Ryder, R-Truth, Sin Cara, Titus), didn't bother debuting anyone from NXT, had no returns (well except Ryder...), Bray Wyatt made the entire first 10 entrants look like crap, Bryan was the 10th entrant btw, hell the entire middle section was completely forgettable since the only people that mattered were Bray/Rusev/Reigns, they put everyone that mattered in the final 10, more than half lasted less than five minutes, and they decided to just bury everyone toward the end.

The most disgusting part was Authority tossing out Ryback, Ziggler, Bray, and Ambrose like they were jobbers. Then Reigns had to look strong by eliminating both at once and tossing out Rusev who did a sneak attack.

This.

You can't compare the Rumbles at all.

[audiencewatching]

They should've known better.


...and at the very least had Bryan eliminated last so it didn't stink up the entire Rumble after.