WWE Royal Rumble 2016: How to Fix Least Promising Storylines so Far

WWE's Royal Rumble event is coming up and promises to be a very intriguing night. Roman Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line in the Rumble match itself, and that fact alone is enough to generate interest among many fans.

But not every storyline heading into January 24 looks that promising. WWE has some work to do in order to get the rest of the card up to that main event level.

That may be easier said than done at this point, as many of the top guys are on the shelf due to injury. John Cena, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro and Sting are all out of the equation, while Undertaker is nowhere to be found.

The Royal Rumble is essentially the start of WrestleMania season, and the fact that the company is this light on top talent right now is very disturbing indeed. What will WWE do to fill the gaps on the card? Will former Superstars be approached for help or will NXT's top guys be called up soon?

Despite what happens, it's obvious that some of the Rumble's angles must be addressed now before going further.

Chris Jericho and The New Day

Chris Jericho's recent return to WWE has not exactly been the stuff that dreams are made of. It's not that he's lost any entertainment value or lost a step in the ring.  

But Y2J is suffering from a bad booking hangover, one that has been going on for quite some time. Instead of being very well received by the WWE faithful, Jericho is struggling to get a pop right now. Combined with the fact that The New Day is essentially a babyface faction, suddenly Jericho seems to be a man out of place.

If WWE truly wants Jericho to get over, then he either must be separated from The New Day or be destroyed by it.

One beatdown on Raw is all it would take to get Y2J going in the right direction. The New Day is over and fans love its antics, but when put to the test, will they still show support when Kofi, Big E and Xavier are pummeling a legend?

The Usos are involved here as well, and that's a good thing for Jericho because the three of them together are an entertaining force to be reckoned with.

If a mauling is not in Jericho's future, then perhaps it's time for him to truly cut loose on the mic against The New Day. This would not be the silly and lighthearted Jericho fans see now. This would be the razor-tongued and quick-witted Y2J who ripped on Stephanie McMahon and left fans laughing until it hurt.

If WWE goes that route, then Jericho will regain his pop, and any interaction he has with The New Day will be easy to bounce back from.

Whether this is all heading toward a six-man tag team match before the January 24 event or not, the truth is Jericho needs more than what he's getting here, and WWE should either change it or just make it work.

The Social Outcasts Unite

Heath Slater has another new stable, as Adam Rose, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel joined him to form The Social Outcasts. The gimmick is an obvious reference to their shared similarities of being hard-working guys who just cannot seem to break through to the next level.

For many fans, this is just a throwaway faction, one that is meant only to give these guys something to do. It puts four Superstars on TV at once and allows them to stretch their wings and see if they can actually establish a connection to the crowd.

But the gimmick is really nothing but a comedy act, and that was very apparent from the beginning.

However, it does not have to be that way. This is WWE's opportunity to really create something of value for these four, and every avenue should be explored for them. They should be the link between the audience and social media. They should be on their phones every time they're on camera.

They should be tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, Snapchatting, constantly putting over the idea to fans that they are connected.

They should do all of this in spite of whether or not they're cheered or booed, and they should do this during matches as well. It would provide comic relief, which is what WWE obviously wants them for, but it would also be something different.

The Royal Rumble would be a great place for that particular idea to be used, as one by one, The Social Outcasts could stop in the middle of the match to tweet.

The Rumble is supposed to be fun and exciting, so there's always room for crazy antics like this.

Rather than being thrown out of the Rumble within moments of entering, The Social Outcasts should make a statement and actually stay in for a good period of time. It would only add to their visibility as a team and cause more fans to take notice of them.

The Social Outcasts need to stand out and not become another version of 3MB. The best way to do that is to keep putting them in unique spots on TV as well as giving each one a unique personality.

Fans cannot invest in them if there's no reason to. It's not enough that all four are job guys who are now working together.

The idea that The Social Outcasts belong together and have a purpose will cause fans to buy in, and that's what will keep them afloat. If they can catch fire like The New Day did, then they will become another breakout faction that WWE can use to entertain fans.

They may not be the next Shield, but they don't have to be. Just because WWE wants clowns here does not mean The Social Outcasts need to be morons. It can be fun but still get over at the same time.

The Dudley Boyz vs. The Wyatt Family

Much like Chris Jericho, The Dudley Boyz should be over to the moon right now. But after an unsuccessful bid to win the WWE Tag Team Championships, the ECW legends have lost a bit of steam.

Fans wanted to see them get one more run, but it hasn't happened yet and now they're at a standstill.

Feuding with The Wyatt Family was the key to get them on track, but thus far, that hasn't helped much either. Bubba Ray and D-Von are spinning their wheels in a rivalry that's hard-hitting and action-packed yet really going nowhere. What this needs is a little more of what makes The Dudleys click.

This feud needs Extreme Rules, and there's no better place than The Royal Rumble for it to go down. 

Tables matches are fine—they're what The Dudleys do best. But an Extreme Rules match is the one that will bring all the animosity, all the rage and all the fun to the forefront.

Though WWE may be PG now, that should not stop The Dudley Boyz from going full throttle on the family that has tried to take them out on more than one occasion.

Once the no-holds-barred Extreme Rules match is done, the next move should be Bubba Ray working solo against Bray Wyatt.

Fans who followed Bubba Ray in TNA know exactly what he can do as a heel, as he was the top heel in that company at one time. He took the Bully Ray gimmick farther than perhaps anyone thought he could, and if WWE allowed him to work similarly now, then he could become a top guy.

Considering how many Superstars are out of commission right now, the timing could not be better for someone else to rise up and get a shot.

This would not only give Bubba a renewed singles career, it would also give Bray a relevant feud to work. It would be beneficial for both men, as it would cultivate two main event stars.

Tom's work can regularly be found on Bleacher Report and his podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online here.