One of the reasons the 2017 Royal Rumble match is more unpredictable than the last three years is that the WWE is back to having two top titles. Even if you want to argue that the WWE is telegraphing what the Wrestlemania title match will be for one brand, what about the other brand? There are now two Wrestlemania title matches to build, and which one will involve the Royal Rumble winner this Sunday?
Even before Raw ended this week with Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker in the ring, I was going to say that these three look like the "Big 3" right now. I am not just talking about their size. These are the top part-timers being featured right now that will be in the Royal Rumble match. These were three names I just had to look at.
I'll start with Lesnar. He is probably the least likely to win the Royal Rumble match of the three. Do they really want to do Reigns vs. Lesnar again? That sounds like something they might want to do, but I don't see them doing it here.
Goldberg is pretty likely to get a title match. He just returned to the WWE a few months ago. Promotions typically like to give titles to people that have some hype around them. TNA (Impact Wrestling) usually gives former WWE guys title reigns when they come over. Even independent promotions have been known to put titles on former WWE guys. They have that notoriety. While Goldberg is still hot and the WWE doesn't look interested in booking him as poorly as they did Sting, I wouldn't be surprised if he wins the Royal Rumble and headlines Wrestlemania.
And then there is The Undertaker. He doesn't have many years left and one more title reign before he does retire would be fitting. I could see him facing John Cena at Wrestlemania for the WWE Championship. But does he need the Royal Rumble victory to get this match?
The problem with these three guys is that they are all part-timers. What about the guys on the full-time roster? I should at least mention a few names. I'll go with Seth Rollins for Raw and Miz for Smackdown.
I have seen some fans say that the WWE will pull some kind of swerve and Seth Rollins will find himself in the Royal Rumble match and win it. He has shown an obsession with title matches. Even more than being worried about Triple H. More than likely, Seth Rollins will find some way to get into the Royal Rumble match, but then Triple H will screw him out of it. Or maybe Stephanie will screw Rollins, cause him to go crazy, and Triple H will have to come back to protect his wife. Either way, I don't see Seth Rollins winning this Royal Rumble.
Why bring up The Miz? After that promo he gave against Daniel Bryan a few months ago, his value rose. People were expecting big things with him. Nothing really happened. The time just wasn't right. Is the time right now? A Royal Rumble victory would be huge for him. If AJ Styles ends up turning face in the near future, the WWE will need a top heel. Miz could be groomed to take that place.
Of the names I brought up, I am going to go with The Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble. He should get one more title win before he retires and a Royal Rumble win would just be a classic way to set up his final title win at Wrestlemania. As for Goldberg, he could find some other way into the title picture on Raw. The Undertaker will go after Smackdown's title.
Let me go back to that segment on Raw I mentioned. I noticed the fans were pretty flat for most of it. Maybe they were wondering why Goldberg's head was bleeding. The Undertaker appearing got a nice pop.
Point is, the ring contained the WWE's top 3 part-timers that will be in the Royal Rumble. They are not paid what they are paid and pushed and hyped the way they are pushed and hyped just to get a great reaction from the crowd. These guys are counted on to be draws. Short of putting The Rock in the Royal Rumble, the WWE has put together a big Royal Rumble match this year. Looking at certain indicators, I would say they are underachieving.
Start with ratings. It is bad enough that Raw has not seen a great ratings boost. This week's Raw, the last Raw heading into a big PPV, only say about 20,000 more viewers from the previous week, averaging 3,292,000. With so many big guns being pulled out, you should expect better.
Look at the Royal Rumble itself. It is still not sold out. I remember a time when WWE PPVs would sell out so quickly it would leave me shocked. These days, WWE PPVs, even the big ones, can't get sold out two days before the event, and that is leaving me shocked. The Royal Rumble is one of the WWE's biggest PPVs. It features 3 big part-timers. It also features guys like John Cena and AJ Styles. And it still has a lot of floor seats available. It isn't like they have 100,000 seats to fill.
I am not saying they should fire Goldberg, Lesnar, and Taker. But relying on them obviously is not getting the job done. Ratings are not great. The WWE is struggling to sell tickets. You can't say no one goes to any events anymore. I mentioned in the past that ratings for the NFL were down this past season. Looking at a chart, I noticed attendance actually improved this same past season, so it isn't that people stopped caring. What does the WWE do when they're draws stop being draws?
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