WWE Royal Rumble 2020

The WWE’s critical fanbase (by which I mean the members of its audience who actively enjoy wrestling with a critical eye) is roughly split down the middle on one key element of WWE’s presentation- the use, promotion and dominance of Brock Lesnar. For every fan that thinks Lesnar brings a much needed shot of legitimacy and crossover appeal to proceedings there is another who believes that Lesnar’s positioning has come at the detriment of the rest of WWE’s roster and precluded others from breaking through in a major way with a larger audience. As a consequence of this split, your opinion of this year’s Royal Rumble event is likely in large part coloured by your general opinion of ‘The Beast’, thanks to the solo show that Lesnar put on in the first 20-25 minutes of the men’s Royal Rumble match. It was Lesnar’s attempt to win the Rumble by entering in the number 1 spot that was the main selling point of what many consider to be the most anticipated match of the year and therefore massively played into the perception of a show that actually, contained a whole lot more than just the WWE Champion’s exploits.