WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Created Massive Momentum for The Wyatt Family

Giants fell and monsters succumbed, as WWE Royal Rumble 2016 saw The Wyatt Family yield the destruction Bray Wyatt has long vowed to inflict.

The faction made a lasting impact on the 30-man match, despite none of its members tasting victory. In lieu of acquiring the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, The Wyatt Family laid out large men, stood on a prominent part of the stage and teased big opportunities ahead.

WWE booked Wyatt's clan like the bringers of ruin they have always claimed to be. 

Credit: WWE.com

Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan could have easily been Brock Lesnar's meal at the Royal Rumble. The Eater of Worlds didn't look very scary when The Brothers of Destruction ran him and Harper over at Survivor Series. Wyatt has failed to stomp out Undertaker, John Cena and Roman Reigns. 

Sunday night featured a different narrative. In WWE's best usage of The Wyatt Family in a long while, it let the four predators loose on the Battle Royal field.

Wreaking Havoc

Even with as flush with factions as the roster is right now, The Wyatt Family stood out in a crowded battle on Sunday's pay-per-view.

The New Day only had one member (Kofi Kingston) representing it. He had his annual "creatively avoiding elimination" highlight, but little else. The Social Outcasts chose Curtis Axel to fight for the group. He lasted just over a minute in the match.

The League of Nations essentially served as the bowling pins Roman Reigns knocked over. That foursome notched just one elimination total.

The Wyatt Family meanwhile, worked well as a group. They looked like jackals converging on fallen prey. They were the stars of the bout during several stretches.

PWTorch's Greg Parks pointed out how much better The Wyatt Family looked compared to The League of Nations:

The Rumble's numbers bear out the gap in booking. The League of Nations focused on Reigns, battering him to the point where he needed to be helped to the back.

But it was Wyatt and his followers who had the wider-ranging influence on the bout. 

Wrestler	No. of Eliminations	Time in Rumble match
Braun Strowman	5	16:44
Bray Wyatt	0	10:46
Erick Rowan	2	4:14
Luke Harper	4	23:40

Harper lasted a significant amount of time, surviving longer than the entire League of Nations combined. 

WWE gave Strowman the most opportunities to flex his muscles. He eliminated Mark Henry, Big Show and Kane. Even as low as those wrestlers sit on the card these days, having the powerhouse dispose of three men that immense forces one to take notice.

Those are powerful images for WWE to call back on. Announcers can boast about how many warriors Strowman tossed from the ring, playing him up as the king of the colossi.

The Wyatt Family's teaming up to take out Lesnar, though, was the quartet's crowning achievement of the night.

Preying on The Beast

Since his return in 2012, WWE has portrayed Lesnar as a different species than the rest of the roster. He's been the overpowering monster on the hunt, the beast one can only take down by underhanded means.

Downing him is one of the biggest victories one can achieve in WWE today. 

And after devouring a number of Rumble hopefuls, The Wyatt Family had a chance to pursue that. As pro wrestling writer Kevin Berge pointed out, the company crafted a perfect transition between The Wyatt Family's laying waste to everyone and Lesnar's arrival:

Strowman stood toe-to-toe with The Beast Incarnate early on.

Lesnar got smashed by the big man as much as he issued a smashing. Strowman didn't go down after several flying knees to the face.

WWE presented Strowman as a titan on an exclusive tier.

And then The Wyatt Family took out one of the favorites to win the whole thing. Harper, Strowman and Rowan were all officially eliminated but came back to swarm Lesnar and fling him from the battle. 

Wyatt simply gave the orders. His followers swallowed up the powerhouse.

Even though the clan used a numbers advantage to eliminate Lesnar, the clout achieved by beating him is notable. It gives Wyatt something to brag about in the weeks to come. It assures The Wyatt Family will be clashing with Lesnar, basking in all the added spotlight that matchup brings.

Precursors for the Future

WWE made a statement about how it views Wyatt by having him make it to the final six wrestlers.

The field at that point included Chris Jericho, Sheamus, Reigns, Ambrose, Triple H and The New Face of Fear. Other than Ambrose and Wyatt, all of those men have won the world title. Jericho, Sheamus, Reigns and Triple H have also previously won the Rumble.

Credit: WWE.com

That's good company to be in.

And while in that company, Wyatt generated a thunderous reaction during a subtle moment. He and The Game stared each other down, and Orlando ate it up.

Former WWE Creative member Alex Greenfield commented on the intensity of that scene:

WWE officials had to hear that and start envisioning scenarios where that matchup takes place at some point. Strowman had his own version of that moment with Lesnar. Just being face-to-face with stars of that magnitude is huge for this group.

The Wyatt Family is fresh off throttling The Dudley Boyz over the past few weeks, and it now it looks clear that it will collide with Lesnar at WrestleMania.

The Beast Incarnate will surely strike back for what happened at the Rumble. And so, Wyatt looks poised to get the coveted spot across the ring from a megastar at WWE's biggest event of the year. 

If that is indeed the plan, it's no wonder WWE booked Wyatt to lead his gang of bruisers to such resounding success at the Royal Rumble.

Royal Rumble statistics courtesy of WWE.com.