WWE Rumors: Original Plans For ‘Royal Rumble’ Ending Revealed — WWE Called An Audible Mid-Match
WWE has announced their main event match for Fastlane next month, and it is leading the way to WrestleMania 32. The Royal Rumble is what really set off the road to early April, but things had to be changed up a little. Everyone knows the way the Rumble match ended, but that’s not how it was supposed to go. The original plans have now been revealed, and it seems as if something caused WWE to call an audible mid-match.
As recapped by WWE.com, Triple H entered the match unexpectedly (kind of) at number 30 and ended up winning the whole thing. He did eliminate Roman Reigns before being one of the final two with Dean Ambrose.
While it was apparently always the plan of WWE to have Triple H win the Royal Rumble, having Ambrose as one of the final two is not what the company had planned. Ambrose in the final two was the “audible” that WWE called halfway through the match.
According to Cageside Seats, one of the last two with Triple H was meant to be Roman Reigns, not Dean Ambrose. The crowd reaction to Reigns throughout the match is what caused WWE to change things up from the original plans and replace Reigns with Ambrose.
Remember last year at the Royal Rumble when Reigns won the whole thing and was booed out of the building? Remember how he was booed out of the building even though The Rock came out to the ring to celebrate with him?
Well, WWE did better with Reigns’ mega-push this time around and got some of the crowd behind him. Still, things deteriorated when he won the WWE Title — twice. Then, things actually got worse when The Authority made him the number one entrant in the Royal Rumble.
Vince McMahon was trying to make him the underdog, but everyone knew he was either going to win it or be around until the very end. No one believed that Roman Reigns could enter at number one and outlast everyone else to be, at least, in the final two.
Well, neither did WWE.
Halfway through the match, the League of Nations came out to the ring and decimated Reigns at ringside. Did they pull him out over the top rope? Nope. Did they beat him up and then throw him back in the ring to be eliminated? Nope.
They beat him up and then allowed him to go backstage with EMTs, but every fan in attendance and watching at home knew he would be back. That’s exactly what happened later when he reappeared after Sheamus entered the match at number 29.
Reigns was taken out of the match right after Luke Harper entered the match at number 13. He missed more than half of the entire match. The crowd didn’t do Reigns any favors either, as he never got much of a pop and was still booed countless times.
Well, that led to WWE calling the audible and not having Reigns vs. Triple H in the final two because the roles would have been reversed from what they actually want. Reigns would have been the heel and Triple H would have become the babyface.
In steps Dean Ambrose.
Now, that makes it seem then that the main event for Fastlane was going to be Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WrestleMania 32 spot. With Ambrose being one of the final two in the Rumble, though, it makes sense to add him in since he had a right to it.
WWE does appear to have some thinking to do here. If Reigns goes on to win at Fastlane, then WrestleMania 32 could have a disaster for a main event. If Brock Lesnar wins, what happens to his feud with The Wyatt Family? If Dean Ambrose wins, he will have to drop the Intercontinental Title soon.
There are so many options. WWE needs to figure out which one is going to be best for business. The original plans for the Royal Rumble really would have been met with some backlash, and calling the audible to have Dean Ambrose replace Roman Reigns in the final two was a smart one, but now what?
[Image via WWE]
