#4. Batista Was the Wrong Person to Win the 2014 Men’s Rumble
The curious case of the debacle that was the 2014 Men’s Royal Rumble demands explanation. In terms of the in-ring quality and surprises, there were few complaints. However, the Rumble was universally panned because WWE made the controversial decision of keeping crowd favorite Daniel Bryan out of the match.
To be fair, anyone not named Daniel Bryan would have been booed out of the building as the winner, but the live crowd loudly rejected Batista. This was meant to be the Animal’s grand homecoming. The successful actor was returning after 4 years for one last glorious run. Unfortunately, his comeback came during the peak of the Yes Movement.
By all means, Bryan should have competed in the Rumble and won the thing to book his ticket at Mania. Batista had already had his days of glory, and WWE should have seen the negative reaction coming.
