WWE To Address Wrestlemania Main Event Following Negative Social Media Reaction
Disgruntled WWE fans took to Twitter late Sunday evening to show their distaste with the finish to the annual Royal Rumble main event. The 30 man Royal Rumble match was scripted to have WWE Superstar Roman Reigns win the event and be assisted by his real-life cousin Dwayne âThe Rockâ Johnson in the final moments. At various points during the contest, it was clear the fans were behind WWE Superstars Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose and even villain Alexander Rusev. However, when it became painfully obvious that Reigns was set to win the match the crowd erupted in boos. Not even the surprise appearance of perennial âfan favoriteâ Johnson could sway the crowd to mercilessly boo Reignsâs victory. The WWE, a company that traditionally has prided itself on being social media wary, was unable to ignore the disappointment from their fan base. Within hours of the eventâs climax, #CancelWWENetwork was trending worldwide; including many tweets of fans taking screen shots of their confirmed cancellation of WWEâs network service. Also trending was the tag #RoyalRumbleIn5Words which was loaded with sarcastic and unfavorable tweets about the event. Word began to leak out of WWE Headquarters early Monday morning that enough members had unsubscribed from the WWE Network to force the writing team and Chairman Vince McMahon to address the outcome of the Royal Rumble event. Specifically the fact that as of now, Roman Reigns is slated to face current WWE Champion and MMA star Brock LesnarÂ in the Wrestlemania 31 main event on March 29th, 2015. Last year, after returning WWE Superstar Dave Batista won the Royal Rumble event, the WWE fanbase loudly revolted on social media and WWE quietly inserted internet darling Daniel Bryan into the Wrestlemania main event in the following weeks. Not usually one to admit his mistakes in public, Vince McMahon appears to have been shocked by the backlash to the 2015 Royal Rumble and allegedly plans to âspeak to the fans soonâ to âaddress changes that will be made to the Wrestlemania 31 main eventâ. Exactly how McMahon plans to change the event card and when this reported announcement will be made is not certain. What is certain is that this is a complete character 180 degree turn from the same Vince McMahon who came off, as recently as December 2014, as publicly stating he didnât feel the majority of the companyâs roster was willing to step up and âgrab the proverbial brass ringâ. Pro wrestling insider, Wayne J. Lucas, stated on his âRoyal Rumble 2015 Reactionâ podcast that he feels, âHe (McMahon) finally saw the light on this one. It had to have blown his mind to see one of his few bankable stars (The Rock), get completely booed out of the arena after coming to the aid of the guy (Reigns) that no one wanted to see win the match. McMahon being willing to publicly admit he is wrong on this one is this business turning the corner to being a fan friendly entity once again. I think Vince finally realized heâs the proverbial Icarus in this case and heâs flown too close to the sun for too long. You, the fans, showed him this by cancelling your WWE Network subscription and likely impacting the WWE stock for days and weeks to come.â Many suspect McMahon could address the fans as early as the WWE Monday Night Raw program on January 26th, however others think it may fall closer to the WWE Fast Lane event scheduled for February 22nd. WWE fan Amber Leflore speculated on one of several Facebook pro wrestling discussion groups that, âI think heâll do it closer to Fast Lane if heâs really going to do it (change the Wrestlemania main event). That way they can rebook that event to set up a better Wrestlemania card. I donât think theyâre going to call a mulligan just twenty-four hours after royally, pun intended, screwing up the night before.â UPDATE 1/26/2015 17:21 PST :: McMahon will NOT be addressing the situation tonight as the planned live Raw event has been postponed due to the storm set to hit the East Coast.Â