The Royal Rumble is almost here as we’re less than a week away from the highly anticipated event. This year’s 30 man Royal Rumble match is loaded with stars such as Brock Lesnar, Goldberg and The Undertaker, and there are still open spots meaning more big stars could be joining the match as well.
The Royal Rumble pay-per-view will also feature several title matches, and the show will play a big role in shaping the rivalries that will keep fans entertained throughout WrestleMania season. WWE officials are still putting the pieces in place for the WrestleMania 33 card, and the Royal Rumble is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable pay-per-views in recent memory. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross commented on the booking of the event in his most recent blog, and he praised WWE for putting together a solid card.
“This Rumble event is one of the best booked WWE events in a good while in my opinion. There should be some outstanding developments occurring Sunday night to continue to build and forward the planned, Wrestlemania storylines. There are really no reasons why this event Sunday should not be a strong night of pro wrestling entertainment. Hopefully the talents will be of a “I’m stealing the show” mindset.”
With all of the big stars returning for the Royal Rumble, WWE’s reliance on old stars has been somewhat of a hot topic in the wrestling community of late. Although it’s nice to see familiar names that are already established, WWE seems to be having a tough time creating new mainstream stars.
When it comes to getting fans to invest in a wrestler there are a lot of factors that come into play. Aspiring wrestlers need to be good in the ring, on the microphone and they need to be able to make a connection with the crowd. But in the end it doesn’t matter how strong a wrestler’s connection with the crowd is if they aren’t booked right.
Jim Ross also weighed in on today’s booking philosophies and what does and doesn’t work. The WWE Hall of Famer wrote about 50-50 booking, and why it takes consistent wins to get talent over with the crowd.
“Making stars in wrestling in today’s marketplace can be done via winning consistently and not by wining one, losing one, etc. Talents getting “on a roll’ is a simple concept that all fans can relate to and the much maligned, 50-50 booking concept simply won’t work no matter what any proponent of that philosophy may say. Trust me.”
You can hear Jim Ross call the action for NJPW with Josh Barnett every Friday night on AXS. This Friday night’s episode will be week three of the four weeks of Wrestle Kingdom 11 and the show is set to star at 8/7 pm CT.
