WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Undercard Matches Fans Deserve to See
Only two matches have been announced so far for the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, but that means the card is almost entirely filled up already.
Typically, there are only about five or six matches on this event every year as there is not a lot of time to go around for much else.
The Royal Rumble match itself takes up over an hour's worth of time, and Brock Lesnar's title defense against John Cena and Seth Rollins should take up at least 30 minutes, if not more.
When factoring in commercial breaks, backstage interviews, entrances and more, that leaves just about an hour-and-a-half's worth of time to be divvied up amongst anything else added.
WWE needs to make sure there is a balance between bouts that serve a purpose and are entertaining, but it also can't overload the show too much for fear of taking away from what could happen at Fast Lane.
Which matches can fulfill both qualities and should be added to the card?
How does WWE give the audience the most bang for its buck while keeping the focus on the two main events?
Although not all of them could be chosen, let's look at some potential candidates of matches that may wind up on the card that would please the WWE Universe.
5. United States Championship: Rusev vs. Ryback
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The powers that be in WWE are clearly big fans of Rusev, and that won't be changing any time soon.
It can be assumed that he will dominate at least a portion of the Royal Rumble, but that isn't set in stone, either.
WWE could just as easily wish to keep him out of the match to avoid having to eliminate him.
If that is the case, or if WWE wishes for him to both have a title defense and compete in the Royal Rumble, his obvious challenger is going to be Ryback.
These two might end up not being able to gel well together, but fans are high enough on both of the big men to justify putting them together and seeing what happens.
It's not the highest-profile match that Rusev has ever had nor is it a good idea to job Ryback out considering how he would obviously lose. But any sting that the fans feel from Rusev retaining can be fixed if Ryback eliminates him from the Royal Rumble.
That is a situation where WWE can both have its cake and eat it, too.
A big enough Superstar eliminating Rusev will not make him look too weak, and it could be just the thing to keep this feud going for Fast Lane before Rusev's big WrestleMania opponent is built up for him.
4. WWE Tag Team Championship: The Usos vs. the Miz and Damien Mizdow
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Both of these teams have the stamina to wrestle a solid match early on and, after resting up a bit, fill out four of the spots in the Royal Rumble.
It's unlikely that any of them will be primary focal points in the Battle Royal, so it would be a shame if this whole event went by and they were nothing but footnotes.
On top of this, The Usos have only just recently won the titles back, so obligatory rematches are commonplace.
There isn't enough time to set up other challengers without rushing it a bit, and any new matches for The Usos would be better served to take place at Fast Lane anyway.
Perhaps most importantly, it would be a solid match that would deliver on being worthy of the time it was given.
This would be the end of their feud together, and all four men could move on to different things starting with the Rumble match.
3. The Ascension vs. Los Matadores
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While The Ascension were mainstays on the NXT brand, they are brand new to the main roster and not immune to failure.
Whether they will succeed or not in this bigger environment greatly depends on how WWE handles them in the lead-up to WrestleMania.
They could easily be lost in the shuffle and, come March, be left off the card and look like nothing but afterthoughts to the WWE Universe.
This would kill their chances before they even got started, so it is a must that they have some kind of appearance at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
If they were to take up two spots in the elimination match itself, their performances would either be forgettable, or they would rob two men more worthy of a prominent spotlight.
Thus, the only way around this problem is to give them a match against sacrificial lambs that they can defeat.
Diego and Fernando are two people who aren't necessary for the Royal Rumble. Nobody will miss them if they aren't in the match and their spots go to two other Superstars.
Plus, they have the skills necessary to put Konnor and Viktor over while allowing for things to progress to more important matches.
It would be too much of a rush for The Ascension to get title shots against The Usos so quickly, and it would be a shame for The New Day to have to take the fall.
The fans deserve to see The Ascension get the treatment they need by showing off their skills to a wider audience than just those who tune in to NXT, SmackDown and Raw.
2. Intercontinental Championship: Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler
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If anybody on the roster has proved that he is a workhorse, it is Dolph Ziggler.
After his performance at Survivor Series, wrestling two matches on this event should be no problem for The Showoff.
Not only that, but another reason why this should happen is the sheer quality of it, as Ziggler nearly always delivers with one of the best matches of the night.
Since Bad News Barrett stole the title on Raw, Ziggler will be entitled to his standard rematch at some point.
Although this could happen on free television, having it take place during a pay-per-view would be a more ideal setting.
These two have chemistry together and should put on a series of great matches, so if it doesn't happen at the Royal Rumble event itself, it will still be entertaining on any show in which it does appear.
1. Divas Championship: Nikki Bella vs. Natalya
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Since there are no Divas in the Royal Rumble match, it should go without saying that their inclusion on this pay-per-view would require a match on the undercard.
At the moment, there is no better match to put together than Natalya getting a title shot against Nikki Bella.
The seeds have been planted and not much more work needs to be done to set it up.
For the next two weeks on Raw, these two could continue to cross paths and build up this feud with relative ease.
Now that Paige seems to be getting involved, this match could even possibly include her or have her replace Natalya, although Neidhart would be better served as the sacrificial lamb with Paige getting her shot at Fast Lane.
Naturally, Natalya will come up short, as the story of Nikki's title reign just doesn't seem to be building to that conclusion. The same would likely apply to Paige.
Fans wanting a Divas match on the card will be happy to see these two face off, and it will do nothing but help the title's credibility in the process.
The worst-case scenario for anybody not too interested in this match is that it would serve its purpose as a bathroom break between the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout and the Royal Rumble match itself.
So what matches would you like to see added to the card?
Are there any not listed here that stand out to you?
Leave your thoughts and predictions in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner-operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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