In general, I
really don’t care if WWE pay-per-view results are spoiled to me.
Except for the Royal Rumble. I still don’t mind being spoiled, but with
this one pay-per-view, I prefer to go watch it knowing as little as possible
what’s going to happen. This year’s winner
was spoiled to me in my Facebook newsfeed, which I thought was going to be
drowned by Miss Universe posts last Monday.
Anyway, I proceeded to watch it on Tuesday, aware of only two things:
John Cena won his 16th world championship (might write my thoughts
on this later, but this post is all about the Royal Rumble match), and that
Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble.
I tremendously
enjoyed Royal Rumble 2017 as a whole,
but most especially how the Royal Rumble match turned out. And not only because of the fact that Randy
Orton – who is probably my most favorite wrestler currently working in the WWE
– won it, but because I genuinely think it was a well-thought-out booking.
The match
started and progressed solidly – featuring a couple of cool, exciting moments
spread out across the match. No.2
entrant Chris Jericho slithered out of the ring, seemingly intending to wait it
out till the latter minutes – a cowardly but sly strategy, which is simply typical
of Jericho. This guy named Jack
Gallagher – who I had no idea exists in the WWE (since I’m no regular viewer)
prior this – came out at no. 5, and I found him a lot of fun, with his
utilization of an umbrella as weapon, his “extraordinary gentleman” gimmick,
and having “Les Toréadors” as theme song – he was like a character straight out
of a Tom & Jerry cartoon. Braun Strowman did some dominating early
on. There was a minor surprise at number
ten, as a NXT talent made an appearance (someone I honestly didn’t recognize
and appreciate since, again, I’m no regular WWE viewer). RKO fest.
Luke Harper turned on Bray Wyatt.
So far, so good; entertaining, but no big surprises yet. Down the stretch, the legendary “part-timers”
finally made their entrances. First came
Brock Lesnar at no. 26. Then Goldberg at
no. 28 – who swiftly eliminated Lesnar! Undertaker came out at no. 29. After some skirmishes, Undertaker eliminated
Goldberg. At this point, everything seemed to be picking up towards an epic end, and with each new entry only escalating the match, there was
white-knuckled, lofty anticipation for the last entrant. So when the clock began its countdown to the
no. 30 entrant, everybody was expecting to have their minds blown. TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR!
THREE! TWO! ONE! BZZZT! AND IT WAS… Roman
Reigns.
I understand why
many fans thought it was disappointing.
It’s the 30th Royal Rumble after all. There was hype that it was going to be the
best ever. Heading towards that no. 30 spot,
the match was solid and entertaining, but not exactly the “best Rumble ever”
kind that everyone was expecting. Thus,
everyone was thinking that the bombshell was finally going to happen at no. 30
– a shocking entrant that nobody would see coming. An entry that would ensure that it was the
“best Rumble ever.” Could it be The
Rock, maybe? Or, at least, Kurt Angle,
who was heavily rumored.
But it turned out being Roman Reigns. Now, I personally don’t
hate Reigns. I think his Superman Punch
is pretty cool, and he delivers some of the most incredibly believable fake-punches
I’ve seen in the WWE these days.
However, I understand that the fan consensus is that Reigns sucks. There’s a lot of hate for him – probably as
much as the peak of John Cena hate. Fans feel that there’s nothing organic about his meteoric rise, that he’s something that the WWE is forcibly pushing down their throats.
Bringing Reigns
at no. 30 was such a shocking letdown for many fans. And I personally find it hilarious. I laughed so hard when Reigns’ music hit
after the countdown, realizing immediately that die-hard fans will lose their
heads. It was fantastic trolling in WWE’s part. I laughed some more when I
watched several live-reaction videos at Youtube afterwards.
And, oh, it just
kept getting better. WWE was not yet
done trolling its fans. Reigns then
eliminated the Undertaker! Some people
from the crowd started chanting “Bullshit.”
So it came down to Reigns, Orton, Wyatt, and Jericho. At that point, considering Jericho’s
“lie-low” strategy, there might have been heavy assumption among fans that he
would win. But that hope was soon taken
when Reigns eliminated him.
I could sense
the fans were angrily panicking out of their minds (verified this afterwards by
watching those live-reaction Youtube videos).
So with Bray, Orton, and Reigns as final three, it might be an
indication that Bray was going to win it since Orton and Reigns had won it
before already. But, noooo, Reigns
eliminated Bray. The horror and rage of
the WWE fans of the likelihood of the hated Reigns winning again was a moment
of pure awesomeness.
So when Randy
Orton won, the cheers were thunderous.
Now, Orton has always been cheered, even when he’s a heel. But the cheers he received after winning was
likely more enthusiastic than what he usually receives at this point of his
career. The crowd was just too relieved
it wasn’t Reigns.
WWE fans may have
felt cheated of Reigns at no. 30.
But if they set aside their blind dislike for him, and reflect on it, they
might realize that WWE had actually done something remarkable. It created a heluva emotional roller coaster
ride, and brilliantly played with expectations.
It was a
calculated decision in WWE’s part to put Reigns at 30. Sure, it might felt underwhelming. But that’s just the thing: by letting Lesnar,
Goldberg, and Undertaker herald the 30th spot, the hype was
heightened into an extent where fans were looking forward to have their minds
blown. Instead, what they got is Roman
Reigns. Literally nobody was expecting
him. After all, he just had a match
early in the night. Most importantly,
he’s the most hated wrestler in the roster.
The thought of giving him that hallowed no. 30 spot is atrocious. So when he came out at no. 30, isn’t that one
heck of a Shyamalan plot twist?
The fans were
brought to such euphoric emotional height while waiting for no. 30… then the
rug was rudely pulled under them when it turned out being Reigns. And just when the momentum of the match was seemingly
heading towards the inevitability of him winning again, the fans were saved from
a devastating outcome. “Outta nowhere.”
So into its home
stretch, the match elicited a spectrum of emotions in such a short period of
time. Bliss. Heightened anticipation. Disappointment. Disbelief.
Loathing. Dread. Relief.
Exhilaration. WWE exploited the
hatred for Reigns to bring that about.
And, thus, regardless of his or her opinion of Orton, a fan is
manipulated into celebrating his win as if it’s the best thing ever.
Royal Rumble 2017 may not
have delivered the fans’ expected surprise, but it delivered a surprise
nonetheless – and a more effective one at that (besides, isn’t “expected
surprise” an oxymoron?). It was genius
booking.
That, or I’m just too happy Orton is being pushed to the top again.
That, or I’m just too happy Orton is being pushed to the top again.
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