Royal Rumble 2017 Results: Fans Disappointed, Underwhelmed As Randy Orton Wins One Of The Worst 30-Man Matches In WWE History

The 2017 Royal Rumble PPV was great overall. It had some of the best title matches in recent months, with John Cena taking the WWE Title for the 16th time. Ironically, it was the actual Royal Rumble match that actually managed to severely underwhelm and disappoint wrestling fans, as Randy Orton eliminated Roman Reigns (yes, the same Roman Reigns that lost earlier in the night) to become the headliner for Wrestlemania 33.

The 2017 Royal Rumble started off on a high note, with WWE Superstars Big Cass and Chris Jericho duking it out in the ring. The entrance of favorites such as Mark Henry and Braun Stowman, who entered at No.6 and No.7, respectively, added a good deal of tension to the match. Braun was especially excellent, eliminating seven Superstars before being eliminated by Baron Corbin, according to a Forbes report.

The Royal Rumble match picked up after that, with big Superstars from both WWE’s RAW and Smackdown brands entering the ring. Most notable was entrant No.10, Tye Dillinger, who came to the match amid cheers from the tens of thousands of fans in the arena. While Dillinger did eventually get eliminated by Braun Stowman, the upstart wrestler’s entrance to the main WWE roster was appreciated by fans.

It was not until the fodder was cleared out that alarming signs began to emerge in the match. Speculations were high among fans and wrestling aficionados alike that WWE Superstars Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker would play a big role in the Royal Rumble match. As much as the three Superstars did enter the ring with much impact, however, Goldberg and Lesnar were eventually ticked off the list.

With Goldberg and Brock Lesnar out of the match, all eyes were on The Undertaker. However, fans’ hopes of having The Deadman headline Wrestlemania 33 were quickly dashed as entrant No.30, Roman Reigns, eventually eliminated The Phenom. Considering that the Superstar was already featured in a match against Kevin Owens earlier on in the night, and considering that the WWE Universe was expecting a surprise entrant for the 30th slot of the match, it was no surprise that thousands of the audience booed audibly once Roman Reigns entered the Royal Rumble.

Reigns’ entrance in the 2017 Royal Rumble match was arguably the lowest point of the entire match, as the wrestler who appears to be Vince McMahon’s favorite eliminated The Undertaker. Reigns didn’t really do much after that, practically throwing the match and walking in on Randy Orton’s offensive. It did not take long before The Viper was considered as the winner of the 2017 Royal Rumble.

The results of the 2017 Royal Rumble match were highly disappointing. Over the last few weeks, expectations for the upcoming grand match were at an all-time high. Rumors were even high that this year’s surprise entrant might be Hall of Famer Kurt Angle or even WWE Legend Samoa Joe. Unfortunately, it seems like Vince McMahon was setting up the franchise’s fans for disappointment all along, as the highly anticipated “Samoan” turned out to be none other than Roman Reigns. The fans’ loud boos, as well as chants of “This is b***s***!” were audible proof of the WWE Universe’s disappointment at Reigns’ inclusion into the Rumble match.

It’s not the fact that Randy Orton won the 2017 Royal Rumble that really ticked off wrestling fans all over. The Viper did fight a very hard-earned battle to bag the rights to headline WM33 in a few months. However, the fact that there were far too many insignificant entrants wasting a good number of the 30 slots in the 2017 Royal Rumble match brought the whole event down.

This not to say that the 2017 Royal Rumble PPV was a bad event, however. The Pay-Per-View on its own was pretty entertaining, and the John Cena vs AJ Styles match in particular was practically a surefire classic. It was just unfortunate that despite the 2017 Royal Rumble match having the perfect ingredients to be a massively entertaining event, it had to end on a terribly underwhelming, disappointing note.

[Featured Image by WWE]