WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Worst Booking Decisions from the PPV

Sunday night's Royal Rumble pay-per-view was a rather controversial show that left many fans deeply unhappy and frustrated with the company and its creative direction. Alas, WWE made several crucial errors when scripting the show, and it appears Vince McMahon and his gaggle of writers are woefully out of touch with what their fanbase wants in 2015.

Daniel Bryan's Early Elimination 

After entering at No. 11, fan favorite Daniel Bryan was eliminated absurdly early by Bray Wyatt. This was a terrible decision on the booking team's part.

Following the star's enthralling comeback storyline—which was one of WWE's big angles heading into the pay-per-view—this came off anticlimactically and arguably took the entire bout down a few notches.

Credit: WWE.com

Let's make it clear: The booking didn’t make Bryan look bad; it made WWE look bad. It showed the company doesn't truly know what it is doing anymore.  

The people in the arena weren't too happy about how things turned out, unsurprisingly—and they came off as very deflated following his exit. It really sucked the life out of the match.

A fan on Twitter summed up the situation entirely:

"

When Daniel Bryan got eliminated pic.twitter.com/CJ7hJPJHh1

— Tyrrelle Blakely (@tblake412) January 26, 2015"

Roman Reigns' Win

Yes, for the second year in a row, WWE appears to have made a colossal error in picking its Royal Rumble winner. Roman Reigns’ victory was viciously booed and jeered by the fans in the arena.  Reigns may have a decent amount of talent and charisma, but his current babyface character just isn't working. Nor is he anything close to as popular as Bryan.

Credit: WWE.com

Even The Rock, who came out to give the star his seal of approval and endorse him, couldn’t save this.  Indeed, the fans then turned around and booed the Hollywood star for getting behind Reigns. Oh, dear.

Fans on Twitter were highly critical of the result, too:

"

Batista is watching this and saying to himself "and you guys thought my win was bad?!"

— W (@Theratedws) January 26, 2015"

Brock Lesnar Retaining 

The Triple Treat bout for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was undoubtedly fantastic. Filled with amazing spots, excellent in-ring exchanges and gusty performances—particularly from Seth Rollins—it easily cemented itself as a 2015 Match of the Year candidate.

Credit: WWE.com

However, it does seem that WWE made a mistake in allowing Brock Lesnar to leave Wells Fargo Center with the title. Lesnar, who had the full support of the crowd, losing the belt to Rollins would have surely solidified his face turn.

The pay-per-view marked the best time and place for Rollins to finally break through and win the title. Rollins still has his Money in the Bank title shot and will presumably cash in soon—maybe even in the next week or so. But, really, the writers probably robbed the wrestler of his big star-making moment by declining to award him the belt here.

Zack Ryder's Return  

Credit: WWE.com

Zack Ryder returned from injury to compete in the 30-man Battle Royal—and was speedily eliminated after getting in barely any offense.

This was a frustrating development but not a surprising one based on the company's past treatment of the star. The Royal Rumble could have marked not only Ryder's return but his career revival as well. He's still as talented as ever and obviously has a decent fanbase. Sadly, the writers seem determined to ensure that the performer remains a lower-card joke. 

Really, this may have very well been the story of the show: The fans are making it clear to WWE what they want...but the McMahons don't seem to be listening.