The winner of the Royal Rumble, Batista, was not too pleased with the negative reaction he received during and following his Royal Rumble appearance/win. Fans in general were disinterested in Batista’s appearance, but the very moment #30 was announced as Rey Mysterio instead of Daniel Bryan, well, let’s just say the WWE Universe made it clear they weren’t happy. Not only was Mysterio booed unmercifully throughout his entire stint in the match, the moment Rey was eliminated there was a giant pop from the fans. Even though Rey was announced for the match, and Daniel was not, pretty much everyone on Earth expected Bryan to draw #30, and when that didn’t happen, the fans made sure to let the WWE know what they thought about it.
The crowd continued to crap on the majority of the rest of the finish, including when Sheamus pointed to the WrestleMania XXX banner. At the point it came down to Batista & Roman Reigns, the fans stop booing long enough to favor Reigns, cheering Roman’s name and begging for him to win over the corporate machine Batista. The moment Batista won the match, the fans went into full jeering mode, crapping all over the finish and the booking.
While on camera, Batista ignored the jeers and celebrated as the fans ripped him apart, but once the cameras went off it’s said Batista was calling fans names, flipping them off, and then went to the top of the ramp, turned to face the fans, and mimicked Daniel Bryan’s “YES!” signature back at the Universe. Batista had been so disgusted with the fans that he went full heel and gave it right back. This was said to have upset officials who did not want Batista representing the company, nor his baby face status in that matter.
Tonight, Raw is in Cleveland, another town very similar to Pittsburgh and with the same type of fans. It’ll be interesting to see what happens tonight as part of the Rumble fallout and how the fans react.
Wrestlers, currently employed, and formerly employed by the WWE have come out of the woodwork since last night Tweeting about WWE’s failure to give Bryan the ball. Mick Foley even wrote an uncharacteristically profane blog about the entire situation, stating he’s never been so let down by a PPV ever.
It’s become blatantly obvious to everyone but WWE officials, THIS IS NOT GOING AWAY. WWE needs to address the Universe they claim they listen to and do what’s right for business.
