WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Roman Reigns wins to earn title shot at Wrestlemania 31

After fans in Pittsburgh left last year’s Royal Rumble more than a little upset, fans in Philadelphia expected more from WWE this time around.

Boy, were they wrong.

Many felt that Daniel Bryan would win -- or at least that’s what they wanted to see happen. In the end, however, there was more heartbreak … and a lot more booing as Roman Reigns took home the title of Royal Rumble champ.

Not even The Rock, who ruined his surprise appearance by posting a photo at Geno’s Steaks on Saturday night, could prevent fans from showering Reigns with boos as he held his hand up in victory.

Shortly after the match, #CancelWWENetwork was trending higher on Twitter than #RoyalRumble, #RomanReigns, or anything else for that matter.

But it wasn’t just a PR hit on Twitter for WWE. It got so bad that fans all over the country were complaining that the page to unsubscribe from WWE Network, their digital-only platform that launched last year, had crashed, presumably from higher than normal traffic.

The match got off to a good start, with the return of Bubba Ray Dudley from TNA and an appearance by Diamond Dallas Page, who threw in a Diamond Cutter for good measure.

Bray Wyatt, the No. 5 entry, was owning the match early on, eliminating at least six other wrestlers by my count, including crowd favorite Daniel Bryan, before being tossed out of the ring by Kane and The Big Show.

Once Daniel Bryan had been eliminated, especially so quickly, there was no saving the eventual winner from the wrath of the fans.

Rusev, from the No. 15 spot, owned the middle of the match.

He, along with The Big Show and Kane, were the others in there at the end, and while any of them would have gotten a better reception than Reigns, it still would’ve been underwhelming.

In the end, however, it was the hand-picked Roman Reigns that was the last man standing. And that’s when the wrestling world went crazy.

And those are some of the ones that are safe to print.

The crowd chanted “Bulls—-t! Bulls—-t! Bulls—-t!” as The Rock, who received a hell of an ovation in his return despite only spending a few minutes in the ring, paraded Reigns around the ring.

Now, after the second subpar Rumble in as many years, Vince McMahon is going to have to make things right at Wrestlemania, just like last year.

Here’s the full entry order for the Rumble:

1.     The Miz
2.     R-Truth
3.     Bubba Ray Dudley
4.     Luke Harper
5.     Bray Wyatt
6.     Curtis Axel (jumped by Erick Rowan)
7.     The Boogeyman
8.     Sin Cara
9.     Zack Ryder
10.     Daniel Bryan
11.     Fandango
12.     Tyson Kidd
13.     Stardust
14.     Diamond Dallas Page
15.     Rusev
16.     Goldust
17.     Kofi Kingston
18.     Adam Rose
19.     Roman Reigns
20.     Big E
21.     Damien Mizdow
22.     Jack Swagger
23.     Ryback
24.     Kane
25.     Dean Ambrose
26.     Titus O’Neil
27.     Bad News Barrett
28.     Cesaro
29.     Big Show
30.     Dolph Ziggler

And here’s the order in which they were eliminated (and who eliminated them):

1.     The Miz (Bubba Ray Dudley)
2.     R-Truth (Bubba Ray Dudley)
3.     Bubba Ray Dudley (Bray Wyatt)
4.     Luke Harper (Bray Wyatt)
5.     The Boogeyman (Bray Wyatt)
6.     Sin Cara (Bray Wyatt)
7.     Zack Ryder (Bray Wyatt)
8.     Tyson Kidd (Daniel Bryan)
9.     Diamond Dallas Page (Rusev)
10.     Fandango (Rusev)
11.     Daniel Bryan (Bray Wyatt)
12.     Adam Rose (Rusev)
13.     Kofi Kingston (Rusev)
14.     Goldust (Roman Reigns)
15.     Stardust (Roman Reigns)
16.     Damien Mizdow (Rusev)
17.     Titus O’Neil (Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose)
18.     Big E (Rusev)
19.     Ryback (Kane/Big Show)
20.     Jack Swagger (Kane/Big Show)
21.     Bad News Barrett (Dolph Ziggler)
22.     Cesaro (Dolph Ziggler)
23.     Dolph Ziggler (Kane/Big Show)
24.     Bray Wyatt (Kane/Big Show)
25.     Dean Ambrose (Kane/Big Show)
26.     Kane (Roman Reigns)
27.     Big Show (Roman Reigns)
28.     Rusev (Roman Reigns)