WWE Royal Rumble comment: Vince McMahon's decision to have Roman Reigns defend his title goes against everything the Rumble stands for

Reigns's heavyweight title will be on the line at the event

Vince McMahon delivers the news to WWE champion Roman Reigns (WWE.com)

With the beginning of a new year, WWE Superstars will undoubtedly be contemplating some New Year’s resolutions. While some of their resolutions may differ - like starring in 12 Rounds 4, that monster push they were hoping for, or becoming the newest face on the cover of the WWE 2K17 video game – they will all unite in raising their glasses to their dreams of winning the Royal Rumble match and going on to headline WrestleMania 32 in Dallas.

The 30-man-bout is a unique spectacle that has always provided memories that will last a lifetime. Whether it’s the debut of a promising NXT competitor, the return of a beloved WWE superstar, a Hall of Famer nailing an iconic signature move, or Kofi Kingston’s annual cool spot, the Royal Rumble match always triggers a thunderous atmosphere from the WWE Universe.

Over the course of its 28-year history, the Rumble has turned men into superstars and many of those who have prevailed have gone on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but in recent years that hasn’t been the case.

The WWE never fails to remind its fans that the Royal Rumble is all about the numbers, but since 2008, six of the eight victors have failed to win the big one. Therefore, winning the match doesn’t necessarily guarantee that a superstar will walk out of WrestleMania as the champion. However, there will be no need to worry about this particular statistic at this year’s event.

That’s because the chairman of the board and special guest referee Vince McMahon shook things up again following Roman Reigns successful title defence against Sheamus on the first Raw of 2016. The boss informed the world that “The Big Dog” will now have to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the 30-man melee later this month. This means that the winner of this year’s match will walk into the main event match at WrestleMania with the title around their waist.

This creative decision is quite baffling and takes away everything that the Royal Rumble stands for, and that’s to wrestle for the right to headline WrestleMania and challenge the champion. So much for tradition huh.

This will be just the second time that sports entertainment’s grandest prize will be on the line in the Rumble match. The last time it was defended in the match was back in 1992, when “Nature Boy” Ric Flair won the vacant championship.

A whole host of superstars were announced for the Rumble on Raw, including the entire Wyatt Family, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and of course Reigns as the defending champion. Let’s also not forget the Big Show and Curtis Axel (who claims he was never eliminated in last year’s match) who became the first superstars to publicly declare that they will compete in the contest last week.

What’s more, “Y2J” Chris Jericho made his return to WWE television by interrupting the New Day and following a few vintage catchphrases, he also confirmed that he will enter his ninth Rumble.

From time to time, WWE books a winner that the fans completely disagree with when they expect superstars deserving of a main-event opportunity to be involved in the finish and emerge victorious. For example, the last two Rumble events were engulfed in controversy after Daniel Bryan was overlooked to win the match in favour of Roman Reigns and “The Animal” Batista - who both fell short on their quest to capture championship gold on the “Grandest Stage of them All”. On both occasions, protests from the audience could be summed up in one word: pandemonium.

To avoid further uproar in 2016 there are a few things that creative must consider when booking the match. Firstly, the winner needs to be a superstar that the WWE Universe can devote enough time, energy and money in to moving towards WrestleMania. It also has to be someone credible, a competitor that is legitimately capable of outlasting 30 superstars, and finally, it has to be someone that is capable of representing the company as the World Champion in the main-event of WWE’s biggest pay-per-view.

The latter has been even more important since the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were unified in 2013 - so the fact there is only one major title means that the Rumble winner cannot be kept in the shadows and contest the opening match like Alberto Del Rio did in a losing effort to Edge at WrestleMania 27. They will defend the industry’s biggest prize at “The Showcase of the Immortals”, which is a responsibility that only a handful of superstars can live up to.

Roman Reigns’ unexpected championship victory against Sheamus on Raw the night after the TLC pay-per-view changed the entire complexion of WWE. Many fans expected Reigns to win the title at this year’s WrestleMania, but the change happened much sooner and with this new and unexpected Rumble stipulation, it’s no longer guaranteed that Reigns will walk into AT&T Stadium as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. So who will?

Unlike previous years when the winner has been easier to foresee, predicting this year’s Rumble victor is no easy task.

Serious injuries to both Seth Rollins and Randy Orton will rule them out from this year’s Royal Rumble match and it is unlikely they will recover in time to compete at WrestleMania either. On the other hand, fans will be hopeful that Daniel Bryan will be cleared from a “career threatening” concussion in time make his return as a surprise entrant in the Rumble and revive the Yes Movement.

In addition, John Cena returned to action on the final Raw of 2015, where he failed to recapture the United States Championship from Alberto Del Rio. “The Cenation Leader” should announce his intention to compete in the Rumble match in the coming weeks, although, it’s unlikely that the 15-time World Champion will win the match amid rife speculation that he will wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania. However, if the company’s mission is to mould Reigns into their biggest babyface, who better for him to face than the “face that runs the place”? This would be the perfect scenario for Cena to finally pass the torch to WWE’s next top star by putting him over at “The Show of Shows”. One way of achieving this would be for him to win the Royal Rumble for a record equalling third time and once again become WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Let’s also not forget Brock Lesnar. “The Beast Incarnate” made a rare appearance at a house show in California on 19 December, single-handedly obliterating the League of Nations. A video package aired on Raw hyping his return to television next week and there is no doubt that he will be hungry for blood. He is widely expected to enter himself in the Royal Rumble match and if he does, there will be plenty of suplexes to go around for all the other 29 participants and multiple F5s too. Moreover, should he conquer his second Rumble, it could set up a rematch against Reigns from last year’s WrestleMania at Levi’s Stadium with Lesnar defending the gold once again – the main event failed to reach a conclusion after “The Architect” Seth Rollins successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

But considering what has transpired in recent weeks, the overwhelming favourite to face Reigns at the “Granddaddy of Them All” has to be Triple H. The moment the WWE World Heavyweight Champion annihilated “The Game” at TLC, it triggered a feud with The Authority that is widely expected to culminate at WrestleMania. Whether that means he will win the Royal Rumble match again is another question, but if Hunter reigns supreme, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative could find himself in an excellent position to topple “The Roman Empire” once and for all. But will the “King of Kings” return to reclaim his throne and become a 14-time World Champion?

While it’s certain that the winner will go on to main event WrestleMania as the champion, many will wonder how and when a number one contender will be determined. Well, although the exact scenario is difficult to predict it’s most likely that a challenger will be in place at the conclusion of the Fastlane pay-per-view in February.

Wrestling fans worldwide are counting down the days to arguably the biggest Royal Rumble event in history, and when the dust settles in Orlando’s Amway Center, the WrestleMania main event may become a little clearer. However, until then, the WWE Universe will continue to speculate as to who will be the one. Reigns recently stated that it’s “one versus all” in WWE, and after this bombshell was made known, it’s evident that never have wiser words been uttered.