Imagine being someone like Je’Von Evans, or LA Knight, or Penta, or Randy Orton, who is looking for his 15th championship victory before he calls it a career, or even GUNTHER who has been put over strong by being involved in the retirement matches of top talent. And then, you get to the Royal Rumble, looking to punch your ticket to WrestleMania 41, and Roman Reigns, who declared himself for the match in a video package instead of showing up for work, waltzes in at #26, after not being on WWE TV since Survivor Series, and just wins the match. Oh, and this all happens after he ran down WWE creative and the company’s younger stars just the day before on “The Pat McAfee Show.” I can’t imagine it feels too great.

Maybe those were worked comments, and Reigns is going to dive into that all further in storyline now that he might be back in the fold, for now, but it’s still, in my humble opinion, awful booking on WWE’s part. It’s not an interesting story whatsoever, as there are plenty of young guys, like Evans, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and more, who are busting their butts doing well in the company. There are plenty of older guys, like Penta and Knight, who are plenty over with fans, looking for their first championship. And there’s of course Orton, who has a story built in right now.

It just doesn’t feel like a landscape where Reigns needed to win the Rumble. He’s still a mega star and a huge draw, and I don’t think he needs to be in the main event scene at WrestleMania anymore. Have him open the show to get crowds excited, but maybe that’s not what WWE wants to do with him if they’re paying him the big bucks.

Reigns also doesn’t exactly look too strong coming in the match at #26, and he won by throwing an exhausted GUNTHER, who had already fought an incredible match earlier in the night, over the top rope.

With his part time schedule, it also doesn’t seem like Reigns is winning another big title anytime soon. I don’t want to say it feels like a waste of a ‘Mania match, and I could be wrong, but there just isn’t much thrilling about this. And, if Reigns plays off the “I gave you guys a chance, and you couldn’t do it and still needed me” thing, it’s really going to feel like he’s burying all of the talent who are there week in and week out. I obviously was not a fan of Reigns’ win at all, and I’m not looking forward to what this means for WrestleMania.

Written by Daisy Ruth