Image Courtesy of Official WWE Facebook Page
There is some speculation that Batista will be the 2014 Royal Rumble winner, which is not good for business in the WWE‘s long-term future.
Historically, the Royal Rumble has been used as a stepping stone for new stars to break out and become champions. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rey Mysterio and even Batista himself became huge stars once they won the Royal Rumble, and then became World Champion at WrestleMania.
Recently, however, the WWE has been reluctant to build new stars for the far future and the same old stars have won the Royal Rumble. Apart from maybe Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus, guys like John Cena and Edge didn’t really need to win the Royal Rumble; they were already established stars and didn’t really need the extra push.
If Batista wins the 2014 Royal Rumble, it will be another old star taking the spotlight off of a younger star. Batista will be 45 years old next year, and I don’t see him wrestling for too much longer. He already “retired” in 2010, so it’s very likely that he won’t be wrestling full-time for very much longer.
I do admit that Batista facing Randy Orton is somewhat interesting, considering they were both in Evolution. Still, WWE really needs to get behind younger stars as soon as possible, because older stars like Batista won’t be around in WWE’s far future.
I would like to see someone like Roman Reigns break out, or maybe give a proper push to Dolph Ziggler. Batista is a huge star, but he doesn’t need to be headline WrestleMania again, as he’s already popular with many fans.
