Has the Royal Rumble Ran its Course?

[Milkyway!]

My question is this: When was the last time the Rumble was even remotely good?

The last Rumble winner I actually remember was Batista, and that's only because of the segment in which Triple H and Ric Flair were trying to talk him into signing with SmackDown; then Batista proceeded to simply destroy Triple H and Flair after throwing down the SmackDown clipboard.

We've seen decent performances by Rey Mystero, Randy Orton, and a few others since then but I still can't help but feel that the Royal Rumble has ran it's course. Yes it builds up to WrestleMania. I simply don't feel like "Tradition" results in buyrates, and I've not been remotely interested in buying the Royal Rumble for a good 6-7 years now.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

I don't think it has ran its course. Some years ago Royal Rumble used to be exciting until WWE started using Royal Rumble as a way to push new talent who aren't even established yet. Example : Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus. Alberto Del Rio won the Royal Rumble just 6 months after debuting and the 2012 Royal Rumble was the worst Royal Rumble ever. Most of the entrants were jobbers. Nothing exciting.

 

[ccotreau1]

I don't think the Rumble has run its course. I find it helps gauge some of the guys in the ME, like ADR or Sheamus, who are newer guys in the business, and gives them something that they can be put in the same breathe as current Hall of Famers like Edge, Stone Cold, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, HBK, etc as well as future Hall of Famers like Taker, Hogan, Cena, Rock. HHH

Sometimes it helps an established star like Edge, Cena, HHH, who were recovering from injury, to get themselves back into the title hunt once again, where they belong, whether we liked it or not. For the most part, I think the Rumble, as exciting as it may not be to some, still has its purpose to me, and I find it exciting every year.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Absolutely not!

The Royal Rumble has not run its course, quite the contrary, because is an annual tradition that fans look forward to each year. It will not have run its course until fans stop caring about it, which I do not see happening anytime soon. The only problem I have with it are that the last string of champions (other than Sheamus) had all lost their Wrestlemania match. Well, that and the fact that the last two winners have OPENED Wrestlemania, although that is a topic for another thread. With Sheamus winning this year the feeling of importance that comes with winning the Royal Rumble has finally returned. The match is always enjoyable, unpredictable, a chance for a large number of wrestlers to make it onto the card, a chance for cameos, surprise returns (some which are better kept secret than others), just to name a few. The tradition has lived on for over 20 years and it's not going away anytime soon. A case could be argued for Survivor Series perhaps, but the Royal Rumble is alive and well. Future WWE/World Champions will be using Rumble victories to go on to win at Wrestlemania for many more years to come.

 

[DDelaware2009]

From a purely business standpoint, the 2012 Royal Rumble received 443,000 pay-per-view buys...the standard PPV is happy to be around half that, in the 200-250 range, and above that is very good. Other than WrestleMania of course. So to say its "run its course" its just ignorant of the facts.

That said, I'd say the last couple winners have been underwhelming, but mostly due to poor booking. Sheamus COULD have come off strong; instead the WWE said we don't care enough about you as our Rumble winner to give you more than 18 seconds at WM. Del Rio has been lukewarm since winning it, although having him "showdown" with freaking Santino at the end doesn't help. And in '10, Edge won but couldn't get over as a face, lost at WM to Jericho, and turned heel again.

The most memorable RR to me are ones that feature true star power - Austin/McMahon, Triple H/Angle, Batista/Cena, Undertaker/Michaels, etc. I think thats the dynamic you may be missing.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

My question is this: When was the last time the Rumble was even remotely good?

The last Rumble winner I actually remember was Batista, and that's only because of the segment in which Triple H and Ric Flair were trying to talk him into signing with SmackDown; then Batista proceeded to simply destroy Triple H and Flair after throwing down the SmackDown clipboard.

We've seen decent performances by Rey Mystero, Randy Orton, and a few others since then but I still can't help but feel that the Royal Rumble has ran it's course. Yes it builds up to WrestleMania. I simply don't feel like "Tradition" results in buyrates, and I've not been remotely interested in buying the Royal Rumble for a good 6-7 years now.

Then you're a fool. The Rumble is the single most fun event of the year because of all the randomness and the possibility that lots of different people could win.

A main issue that WWE has been facing is that since they incorporated the brand split into the mix, you have a lot of guys that are becoming world champions when they should have had a midcard belt. So, the winner of the Rumble has already won a world title...and thus, it's not that big of a deal.

Furthermore, the world championships have meant less in the last several years. Unless John Cena is holding the belt or unless Triple H and/or Taker are on the card...the WWE Championship might not be the main event and often is not.

I see your overall point...but it can be easily rectified by unifying the belts and making the wwe title the greatest accolade in WWE.

 

[WunNightStan619]

The rumble hasn't run its coarse at all. I think that if anything, since the WWE championships have taken on less meaning, the rumble itself has too. The Rumble winner doesnt even main event Wrestlemania and thats the ONLY reason why its meaning has diminished...

 

[daddyJ_t]

i love the rr, but to some degree it has run its course. the point is that the winner is to get a title shot and headline wrestlemania, not open it like sheamus did. unless they make good on their promise and put the winner back if not at the head of the card but towards the top. i have to say the match itself has run its course.

 

[scomvp316]

I think it has run its course from a philosophy standpoint. They need to tweak it a little to something new to decide who the #1 Contender could be. The idea I have is the final six would compete for the #1 Contender's Match at EC. At the RR if you are the first one of the six to be eliminated then you start the match at the EC. So if you win the RR you are the final participant in the EC match.

 

[taylor360unc]

I don't think so. The Royal Rumble needs more star power though. The winner should be in the final match on the card more often then not. I want to see huge surprise entrants, and I want to see them win. Sure I would love to see a young star win it, but I feel like a huge mega star should be the one to win.

 

[Lee]

This is just plain silly. Seriously. It's one of the big time PPV's that's very enjoyable. Everyone loves the countdown and seeing who will pop up. This is a ridiculous thread, sorry to say.

I agree with this 100% the Royal Rumble is one of those things that offeres an upredictability that few other WWE events offer. Rememebr when RVD appeared? Mr Perfect? Road Dogg? Booker T? Diesel? Khama? Exactly.

The thing is with the Rumble you can not watch wrestling for a year and watch the rumble match as the match is not really about the winner but the anticipation of the countdown, the who's next, the how can the fat guy be eliminated. Every man for himself.

I love the Royal Rumble.

 

[Kizzani]

I don;t think it has ran it course because it is the only event that is like it. when WCW had their 2 ring battle royal it was really good and looked nice. Now the WWE has no real competition to compare it against.

The rumble is currently being done wrong, there should be more a suprise, there should be more of a build up like selection of numbers. Truly make it random and have stars draw their numbers. (ex. If you want sheamus to win, then fine. But if he draw 1 make him work for it. If he draws 30 well easier for him)

I to think the RR has gotten boring and doesn't really have a surprise outside some entrants. But over all the winner is pretty much secure at about 6 stars left.

 

[King26J]

Just my opinion but if the Rumble were to replaced then I think the King of the Ring should replace it. Think about. 16 superstars, major stars & young talents that are on a roll competing in a tournament for a shot to main event the grand daddy of them all. Plus it could help a young talent get a huge push, knowing he won a tournament that involve main event players.

 

[CleverName51]

Absolutely not, the Royal Rumble has began the push of many wrestlers to superstardom...1998 Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Rumble, and the WWE began fighting back vs WCW

2000: The Rock won the Rumble, stepped up, and finished off WCW despite a complete lack of Austin, Undertaker and a retiring Foley

2005: Dave Batista: Ends Evolution, turns Batista from Generic Big Bodyguard #25133532 to legit superstar

2006: Rey Mysterio: turns Rey from Cruiserweight to legit main eventer

now, Sheamus and Del Rio can go either way...but the Rumble needs to be booked RIGHT

Since then, established stars have won the Rumble, now it's time to SWITCH FORMULAS

Best way to do it, have Mark Henry be the one who returns and takes the title from CM Punk. Have Henry run roughshod over the roster including clean wins over Punk, Bryan AND Cena from his return til Mania.

At the Rumble, have your next star (who's a face) enter early, say 3-7, and have them survive and overcome the odds...challenge Henry and beat him at Mania.

PROPER BOOKING is the key...something only runs it's course when there's no options left, but creating new stars

Right now, create a completely new star with the rumble using proper logical booking

 

[thebowtiekiller]

i dont think its run its course its always fun to watch but i think the reward for winning the rumble needs to be updated or made more of a bigger deal again it just doesnt seem that huge a thing nemore Before to win the royal rumble and headline mania was the biggest thing in wwe you could accomplish it was also the main storyline leading up to mania but now its not main priorty and its usually not the main event and obviously theres two titles which means two title matches which i think takes a lot away from the prestige of winning

but i think the match itself is what it needs to be some years it can be a bit underwhelming but generally its entertaining winning it just seems less of a big deal now

 

[HBsam31]

No it hasn't ran its course. I was not a fan of the 40 man rumble, but other than that it is something I look forward to every year. Almost if not as much as Wrestlemania. It's one of the more successful ppvs too, so from that standpoint it has also not ran its course. I will admit that the fact that the winner's matches have gone on first at mania the last 2 years, and the fact that the 2 winners lost their matches at Manias 26 and 27 put a damper on the rumbles importance. Even with that though Sheamus has brought the importance back to it, and it will be something I continue to look forward to.

 

[Fansince1992]

I became a fan of Wrestling because of the Royal Rumble. The 1992 Royal Rumble was the best ever and was filled with huge Stars. British Bulldog drew No.1 and Million Dollar Man No.2, Ric Flair came out third and won the whole thing and the WWF Title. (Title was Vacant at this time) Other well known wrestlers who participated were Hulk Hogan, Sid Justice, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Big Boss Man, Seargent Slaughter, The Undertaker, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Shawn Michaels, and Jake the Snake Roberts.

Now i think if WWE ever feel like "The Royal Rumble has ran it's Course" they could do what they did in 1992. Create a storyline of Controversy involving the current WWE Champ. The current GM should somehow strip the Champion of the Title around Survivor Series and Vacate it for the winner of The Royal Rumble in January. Pack the Royal Rumble full of all the top stars like John Cena, Orton, Punk, Sheamus, Big Show, Ziggler, hell even throw in guys like The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H and Austin. Have the undercard matches Title matches for the IC, Tag, Diva and US belts. This would be one hell of an interesting Royal Rumble in my opinion.

After The Royal Rumble build it like they did in 1992 have 4 Contenders who want a shot at the title for Wrestlemania. (In 1992 it was Hogan, Sid, Undertaker, and Macho Man wanting a shot at Flair)

So to summarise, The Royal Rumble has not ran out of steam, there are so many options available for the Creative team to play with to make this event stay as one of the most interesting and fun PPV's of the year.

 

[The Hillside]

To be honest I have not enjoyed Royal Rumble ever since 2005.

Reason? After that most of them were either predictable or had already established superstars win the event.

 

[GameOver]

as others said it would never run it's course, it's a one off match that happens only once a year, but the last 3 years have been pretty horrible, then again WrestleMania hasn't been WrestleMania quality in over 6years so has that ran it's course aswell?.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I don't think the Rumble has run its course. I find it helps gauge some of the guys in the ME, like ADR or Sheamus, who are newer guys in the business, and gives them something that they can be put in the same breathe as current Hall of Famers like Edge, Stone Cold, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, HBK, etc as well as future Hall of Famers like Taker, Hogan, Cena, Rock. HHH

Hogan is in the HOF already. But, I think this is a good point. It puts non-main eventers in the "main event" and, since only a handful are in at a time, it lets the powers that be gauge the crowd's reaction to them without "risking" a PPV main event on them, so to speak. They are involved, but the PPV isn't riding on their performance.

As an old school fan, I only watch or read about WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam (This is no longer your daddy's Survivor Series). Some years you know who will win (HHH in 2002, Orton in 2009, etc.); but, things like Andre eliminating himself due to a fear of snakes, Bushwhacker Luke never breaking stride and heading to the back, Maven dropkicking Taker out--these are little things that the Rumble provides that really make it entertaining.

If the Rumble has run its course, then so has my time as a fan. You guys can have today's product of glorified RAWs being shown on PPV every few weeks. Give me the gimmick-heavy, tag team-stacked, kayfabe days of yesteryear!

 

[MCMG]

NO. The rumble is unique, historic, exciting and is the perfect way to lay the foundations for the year ahead. It creates stars and builds feuds. It is significant in how the WWE go about their calendar year.

It is my most anticipated match. I can't wait to know who wins this match every year and it would be a travesty if it disappeared.

 

[Larry]

My answer is a bold and resounding NO. The Royal Rumble will never "run its course". It's one of the single biggest events in the wrestling world, taking place every year, granting one superstar the opportunity to headline WrestleMania. That my friend, never "runs its course". I can't speak for all of the folks here on WZ, but as far as I'm concerned the Royal Rumble is the best PPV of the year with exception to WrestleMania, but that kind of goes without saying. The Royal Rumble match to me, is the most fun, the most unpredictable, and the biggest challenge any superstar could ever face. 30 men, 1 ring, 1 winner. It doesn't get much better than that, and on top it all, ANYBODY can win it. Now of course over the years as many of us become "smart" to the wrestling game, it becomes a little less unpredictable and the sense that anybody can win it may vanish to some degree, but all in all the Royal Rumble always holds it own mystique that can never really be diminished. Some of us may be able to narrow it down to a couple guys that are likely winners, and sometimes we may be right, but ultimately no one really knows who is going to win until the last man is out of the ring, leaving only one.

The Rumble is my favorite PPV of the year. I get as excited for it as most get for WrestleMania. Over the years it's always been a PPV where big things happen, unexpected things. Just the surprise entrants alone over the years has made it worth the price of admission. I mean take a look at last year. I don't know where everyone was when they were watching it, but I can pretty well bet that when Diesel came out, wherever you were, whoever you were with, the whole place erupted. That moment alone is a small signification of what the Rumble means and how big a deal it is. You don't get moments like that all the time or at any other point in the year. The Royal Rumble is here to stay, and damn the day that it ever leaves.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

I think it's a redundant event with the fact that you have Money In The Bank and all that stuff, but it still makes WWE money, so they are going to stick with it. It's unfortunate but from a commercial aspect of things the WWE can't go wrong by keeping it. Creatively speaking though, the event has lost its luster, with a myriad of other events on the PPV calendar it's sad to have seen the Royal Rumble not mean the same thing it once did years and years ago.

Keep in mind this event was known for solidifying the rise of Yokozuna, backing up Ric Flair's claims of being the Real World's Champion, Bret Hart's re-entry into the title scene and his redemption against Yokozuna at WrestleMania X. Let us also not forget that the boyhood dream of Shawn Michaels was also realized via the Royal Rumble. Then there was also Steve Austin's 1998 victory that propelled him to megastardom, not that he wasn't huge already but his Royal Rumble 1998 victory was the exclamation point.

Then we can't discount Chris Benoit (his crimes and my personal opinion of him even before that aside) and his 2004 victory which led to his World Title win.

Now with there being a Money In The Bank Pay Per View, this just waters down the concept of the Royal Rumble completely. Had Money In The Bank remained as a WrestleMania match itself and it only involved one match and not one for each brand, then maybe I wouldn't be saying this.

But anyway, that's my two cents, however as long as WWE keeps racking up dollars from folks for these events, they'll keep on running and the quality control will remain stagnant, even if commercially things continue to go well.

 

[bittermang]

The Rumble is still a fun match, and I'm still surprised by it and enjoy it every year.

My only problems with the Rumble are twofold.

1. It's one of the seventeen hundred ways to get a guaranteed title shot in the WWE right now. I feel like this is impacting options for angles, because there's so many guaranteed shot stips floating around throughout the year, that you can't do too many other plots with the titles.

2. It grinds the WWE to a dead still halt, as we begin the Trail of Tears to Wrestlemania. Everything that was happening leading up to the Rumble will be hot shotted, abruptly ended, or flat out dropped in order to make room for the bigger 'Mania feuds.

 

[Why Always Me]

No but I can see why this is being discussed.

Winning the Royal Rumble used to mean you main evented WrestleMania (main evented = closing the show, last match on the card, feature match).

The last two years the Royal Rumble winner has opened the show. Having two World Titles and doesn't help either. Someone else mentioned Money In The Bank, having 2 MITB matches doesn't help either.

I don't want to argue too much about having one World Title, but if that was the case then the Royal Rumble winner would probably be in the main event. How many times recently has someone come close to winning the Rumble, lost and then still got a Wretlemania title shot at the Elimination Chamber/No Way Out the following month? Jericho, Cena, HBK spring to mind.

To me, it seems that championships are taking a back seat. World Title matches opening shows, WWE Title matches in the mid-card, John Cena main-eventing every show. Its a shame, but nowadays the WWE is more concerned with John Cena than the WWE and World Titles. Being champion used to be the pinnacle, now to me it just doesn't seem the same anymore. So winning the Royal Rumble used to mean main-eventing the biggest PPV of the year for the WWF Title, then the Undisputed Title, then for either the WWE or World Title to now, opening WrestleMania for the World Title or being the penultimate match for the WWE Title, not the same anymore is it?