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.

WWE Royal Rumble 2012

It’s not very often that a Royal Rumble event comes across as not being of any real significance when you look back at it. Given what is at stake in the main event of the show each year, its status as the most commercially successful gimmick match in pro wrestling and its position in the calendar coming just a couple of months prior to Wrestlemania, the Royal Rumble usually has a major part to play in the shaping of the year ahead- whether it be for the better or worse. In 2012 however, WWE was entering the finishing straight of a 1 year build to the main event of Wrestlemania 28 between John Cena and The Rock and as a consequence, the Rumble would play little, or no part in shaping the match between the two. Of course, there was still the small matter of two World Title matches to take place, and the rumble match itself which would determine a challenger for one of those belts at ‘Mania, but the Rumble’s abiding value was already being undermined by the coming Cena/Rock contest as it was clear that this year’s winner would not be earning themselves a main event spot at ‘The Showcase of the Immortals’.  What’s more, a cursory glance through the field of potential participants for the Rumble exposed just how low on likely winners the match was.