Lack of Royal Rumble Feuds Will Hurt Pay-Per-View

The WWE Royal Rumble is just over one week away.

That statement can almost be taken literally. Other than the Royal Rumble match itself, WWE is currently advertising very little in terms of an undercard.

As of this writing, only two matches are advertised. The individual feuds are stagnant at best. Hyping the Royal Rumble match itself took a backseat to the ongoing feud between The Authority and John Cena.

WWE is resting on its laurels for one of its biggest pay-per-view franchises, and this is a mistake.

WWE's pattern of underdeveloped pay-per-views headed go-home shows leads to overproduced Raws. These shows cram weeks of booking into one show.

Come Monday night, WWE has to announce more Battle Royal entrants in addition to more matches for its undercard. It'll be difficult to sell fans on any non-Royal Rumble match given the lack of consistent feuds between midcard wrestlers over the past month.

The Royal Rumble is one of the few pay-per-views capable of selling the WWE Network by itself. It behooves WWE to make this event must-see programming. To this point, that has not been the case.

Big Four pay-per-views tend to showcase all WWE championships. WWE effectively booked feuds for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the tag team championships, but that's about it.

Paige vs. Nikki Bella is a developing feud that will likely culminate in a Divas championship match at the Royal Rumble. But Paige, who abruptly turned face in recent week,s lost to Brie Bella on Raw. After slapping Tyson Kidd, who cost her the match, it's unclear whom she has a bigger feud with.

Intercontinental champion Bad News Barrett recently exchanged a random pair of wins and losses with Sin Cara. Sin Cara has reinvented himself as of late but as a tag team performer in NXT. Even if this does develop into a feud, it has no redeeming value.

United States champion Rusev is in limbo. Currently, his chief rival is Ryback, but Ryback is currently unemployed per storylines. Ryback's feud with The Authority makes a potential championship match against Rusev seem minor-league.

In fact, it's possible that Raw features the return of Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback. That has the makings of a potentially forced, hotshot show.

The television leading up to a pay-per-view event is imperative for drawing audiences to the WWE Network. With just days left until the Royal Rumble, the promotion's buildup to the Royal Rumble is underwhelming.

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