Missed opportunities at the Rumble

[cero2k]

looking back at this year's Rumble, what missed opportunities do you think WWE failed at just to have it their way. Let's get the Daniel Bryan out now, but other ideas that while still ending with the same finish, could have worked.

some i've heard this last days:

1. Since Daniel Bryan was not included in the Rumble, Rey Mysterio comes out, gets in the ring and immediately unmasks to reveal Daniel Bryan, imagine the heat -to- pop reaction!

2. Many people are suggesting they should have sent out Bad News Barret as #30 with some bad news for everyone to get nuclear heat.

can you guys think of other things that would had been awesome to see at the rumble?

[Big Red Machine]

Punk in at #1
The Shield in at 2,3,4
I thought they missed a huge opportunity for an awesome story about the Shield dominating the entire Rumble match.


As for other things... a Kane-Batista big-man standoff would have been awesome.

[e-moose]

I wuz expecting Jake Roberts to be in the rumble. I hear he'z in reazonable shape now. I think the fanz would have loved that. He could've run in and DDT'd somebody but then been quickly eliminated and I think that would've worked just great.

[e-moose]

Punk in at #1
The Shield in at 2,3,4
I thought they missed a huge opportunity for an awesome story about the Shield dominating the entire Rumble match.

I have to agree with this. I don't think it's necessary to have them come in at 2,3,4. The numberz they actually did have were adequate. I remember thinking through most of the match: "What are you guyz doing? U need to get rid of the Shield guyz!" The focus of the other participants should have been more on this. It could have made Dean Ambrose look really good too. They could have had people desparately trying to get rid of him several timez and had him keep hanging on several timez over. Then once there were at least 2 in there, and then 3, they should clearly have been working together and eliminating a whole lot of people together throughout the rest of the rumble.

[Big Red Machine]

Punk in at #1
The Shield in at 2,3,4
I thought they missed a huge opportunity for an awesome story about the Shield dominating the entire Rumble match.

I have to agree with this. I don't think it's necessary to have them come in at 2,3,4. The numberz they actually did have were adequate. I remember thinking through most of the match: "What are you guyz doing? U need to get rid of the Shield guyz!" The focus of the other participants should have been more on this. It could have made Dean Ambrose look really good too. They could have had people desparately trying to get rid of him several timez and had him keep hanging on several timez over. Then once there were at least 2 in there, and then 3, they should clearly have been working together and eliminating a whole lot of people together throughout the rest of the rumble.

Having them as 2,3,4 would seem like it was done specifically to screw Punk over. It would be more fuel for Punk vs. the Authority.

[badnewzxl]

The BNB idea would have gone MILES in helping Barrett get that gimmick over! That would have been awesome!

[Big Red Machine]

The BNB idea would have gone MILES in helping Barrett get that gimmick over! That would have been awesome!

Or caused a riot.

That really would have seemed like deliberate trolling, IMO, and would have hurt the relationship with the fans even more.

[Bob-O]

Not just Barrett (although, that would have been perfect), but all things considered, after the poor reception of Orton/Cena they should have had a heel come out at #30. Maybe they didn't realize what a big deal it was going to be going into Sunday night, but as the night progressed it became apparent to EVERYONE watching that this was gonna be a big deal. Why not shuffle the order last minute to bring out Del Rio or Ryback at #30 to save Rey Mysterio from getting boo'd out of the building?

This is the Royal Rumble we're talking about here, most likely the most re-watched single match they've got. Rey getting boo'd was awkward and will continue to be for years to come. Could have been easily avoided.

[badnewzxl]

Bob-O said it perfect.

I don't think having Barrett come out and antagonize the crowd would have legit pissed people off as much is the actual events that took place at the Rumble angered people. At least if they sent a heel out they could have SHOWN us that the authority purposely kept Bryan out to keep him away from the title picture. The 'Authority' ruled that Punk had to be #1, how is Bryan not important enough to have his Rumble situation explained? Why didn't they drive home the fact that Bryan would NOT be in the Rumble? esp since it was OBVIOUS that the fans were expecting him to win the damn thing! See this seems as though the actual folks running the company (not just the on-air authority) either don't care to give the fans what they've been begging for or they are insanely stupid.

I'd rather have had a storyline explanation for Bryan's absence than no explanation at all (which is what we got)....

[Big Red Machine]

Bob-O said it perfect.

I don't think having Barrett come out and antagonize the crowd would have legit pissed people off as much is the actual events that took place at the Rumble angered people. At least if they sent a heel out they could have SHOWN us that the authority purposely kept Bryan out to keep him away from the title picture. The 'Authority' ruled that Punk had to be #1, how is Bryan not important enough to have his Rumble situation explained? Why didn't they drive home the fact that Bryan would NOT be in the Rumble? esp since it was OBVIOUS that the fans were expecting him to win the damn thing! See this seems as though the actual folks running the company (not just the on-air authority) either don't care to give the fans what they've been begging for or they are insanely stupid.

I'd rather have had a storyline explanation for Bryan's absence than no explanation at all (which is what we got)....

There was an explanation. They gave it in retrospect, but at least there was an explanation.

[badnewzxl]

Bob-O said it perfect.

I don't think having Barrett come out and antagonize the crowd would have legit pissed people off as much is the actual events that took place at the Rumble angered people. At least if they sent a heel out they could have SHOWN us that the authority purposely kept Bryan out to keep him away from the title picture. The 'Authority' ruled that Punk had to be #1, how is Bryan not important enough to have his Rumble situation explained? Why didn't they drive home the fact that Bryan would NOT be in the Rumble? esp since it was OBVIOUS that the fans were expecting him to win the damn thing! See this seems as though the actual folks running the company (not just the on-air authority) either don't care to give the fans what they've been begging for or they are insanely stupid.

I'd rather have had a storyline explanation for Bryan's absence than no explanation at all (which is what we got)....

There was an explanation. They gave it in retrospect, but at least there was an explanation.

translation: they made something up to cover their ass. They had a lot of opportunities to do a lot of cool things during the Rumble and they did only about one (get Reigns even more over). It seems as if they relied totally on Batista being over, and when he got booed it changed the entire complexion of the match. Poor Rey got the heat someone like Barrett really coulda used constructively; to me THAT'S bad booking. Not putting D Bry in the match when the entire arena is chanting his name is absolutely incompetent. And giving an explanation after the fact is a bogus cop-out bc we know that if WWE did it on purpose they' would not have had Rey come out and take all that heat.

[Big Red Machine]

Bob-O said it perfect.

I don't think having Barrett come out and antagonize the crowd would have legit pissed people off as much is the actual events that took place at the Rumble angered people. At least if they sent a heel out they could have SHOWN us that the authority purposely kept Bryan out to keep him away from the title picture. The 'Authority' ruled that Punk had to be #1, how is Bryan not important enough to have his Rumble situation explained? Why didn't they drive home the fact that Bryan would NOT be in the Rumble? esp since it was OBVIOUS that the fans were expecting him to win the damn thing! See this seems as though the actual folks running the company (not just the on-air authority) either don't care to give the fans what they've been begging for or they are insanely stupid.

I'd rather have had a storyline explanation for Bryan's absence than no explanation at all (which is what we got)....

There was an explanation. They gave it in retrospect, but at least there was an explanation.

translation: they made something up to cover their ass. They had a lot of opportunities to do a lot of cool things during the Rumble and they did only about one (get Reigns even more over). It seems as if they relied totally on Batista being over, and when he got booed it changed the entire complexion of the match. Poor Rey got the heat someone like Barrett really coulda used constructively; to me THAT'S bad booking. Not putting D Bry in the match when the entire arena is chanting his name is absolutely incompetent. And giving an explanation after the fact is a bogus cop-out bc we know that if WWE did it on purpose they' would not have had Rey come out and take all that heat.

Yes. It's a post-facto cop-out. But it is still an explanation. Don't get me wrong. I'm saying this thing was well-booked. I'm saying that at least we got one, as opposed to Woods, who was advertised as being in the match, wasn't in it, and this fact was never mentioned once, even by Woods himself on Raw.

[badnewzxl]

that is true