by Hanley! » Jan 05, '18, 6:28 pm
I've long been in favour of a Rumble match for the women, but I think including 30 women was a big mistake.
There's less than 20 active competitors on the main roster, two of those are champions and one or both of those might also have matches at the Rumble pay per view (though both seems unlikely) which would take even more people out of contention. Which means they need to fill up half of the match with NXT competitors or "legends".
The only competitors from NXT who could realistically make any sort of impact in a Rumble match would be Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay and Shayna Bayzler. And even most of those wouldn't get much of a reaction.
That leaves probably 10 spots to fill with either complete unknowns or "legends", but I'm guessing there are a limited number of former "WWE Divas" who could get a real reaction, and who knows how many of those WWE would be able to pin down. Sure, Trish and Lita would get big pops. Phoenix, Molly Holly or Victoria would get a reaction. So would AJ Lee. But WWE will be lucky to get a couple of those names. They won't get all of them.
Ironically, despite this Royal Rumble being part of this so-called evolution of women's wrestling in WWE, it could wind up featuring a host of the kind of swimsuit model wrestlers that they've been patting themselves on the back for moving away from. I could see a lot of Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, Ashley Massaro being very eager to make this show. I hope I'm wrong on this. I'm not sure these types would get much of a reaction, and they sure as hell won't lead to any compelling action.
Even the talent on the main roster is a bit limited, when you think about some of the names that are being included there. Paige and Ruby Riot's stable mates are nondescript, untalented and not over. Lana has no business in the ring under any circumstances.
I think limiting this match to 20 names - though it sounds like a small move - could have made a big difference to the quality here. They could use most of the main roster, but leave out those who just aren't ready. Then a 2-3 talents from NXT and 2-3 former stars and you've got yourself a match. I fear that they'll struggle to fill that last 10 spots and it won't lead to anything good.
The big concerns for me here are:
1) The crowd will turn on the match due to a lack of star power
2) The match will fall apart due to some potentially unsuitable entrants
3) Someone rusty or green will hurt themselves bumping over the top rope
I do really hope this delivers though, because I like to see women's wrestling done well and it's the one thing WWE has over other major promotions at the moment. And I'm an advocate for the women's Rumble in general. I just worry that they've gone for too much too soon here.