Women's Royal Rumble

[Hanley!]

I had this idea a little earlier, and I wanted to get people's thoughts on it. I'm not 100% sold on it myself yet, but overall I think it could really do wonders for the division and the company in general.

What if they had a women's Royal Rumble match this year in addition to the regular Royal Rumble match? I'm not necessarily suggesting that they establish it as a yearly tradition, but they could just try it out this year as something different. Similar to when they bumped the Rumble match up to 40 men back in 2011.

The match wouldn't have to be as long as the men's match. I'd suggest somewhere between 10 and 20 participants. I'd go with less than 20 though, unless they were able to get a couple of surprise legend appearances on board for the show. Either way I'd limit the match to 30-45 minutes, and have it kick off the show. It'd whet people's appetites for the main event Royal Rumble match, and it'd be a great showcase for the women's division.

I can't think of another match off the top of my head that has the potential to legitamise their current "Diva Revolution" in the same way. This is a major stipulation that's almost solely been used to name Wrestlemania main eventers in the past. Having the women compete in one would be a big deal. Also having a woman win a match in January, and that establishing her as the #1 contender for Wrestlemania would be huge for that particular performer, for the prestige of the Diva's championship and for the division in general. It would make people take the division more seriously, given it'd lead to a two month build to a serious one on one championship match at Wrestlemania.

They'd also get to show off the new depth to their women's division. It's easy for us to complain about the women on WWE at the moment due to how badly they're often booked, but their female roster is looking better than it has in some time. It actually has a little depth for a change. This kind of match would be an opportunity to make a few of their women look good - like Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, etc. They could have a couple of cool old school surprise entrants. I'm sure Lita could get in there for a few spots, given she works so much with the company nowadays.

It'd also be a good opportunity to give the pay per view audience a taster of Bayley and Asuka. I imagine the reactions that they'd get would sell them very quickly to those who don't bother watching NXT.

Doing this for the upcoming Royal Rumble could benefit the guys too. WWE's star power sucked before all these wrestlers started getting injured. They don't have a particularly good roster right now, and if the women can take up a bunch of time on the show, it means that they don't have to worry about making too many other matches for the guys, outside of the Rumble match itself. They can focus on having a good WWE championship match and put all their other biggest names in the Rumble match.

The only reason I'm thinking this might not be a great idea is that I don't generally like it when WWE does the same gimmick twice on the one pay per view. However, I'd make an exception on this occasion, particularly given that this is a habit that WWE indulges in all the time anyway. We often see two Hell in a Cell matches on the same show, etc. At least I feel by having one of the matches with men and one with women, they'll feel substantially different.

My final point is that I'd HATE for them to half-ass an idea like this and announce some kind of Diva Battle Royal. Battle Royal's suck. They're garbage until we get down to the last few people. With the Rumble format, the women are going to look like much bigger stars. They get their entrance music, they get time for people to react to them and acknowledge they're there. It's just a much better presentation.

Curious to hear people's thoughts. I'm sure some of you will probably think this is an insane idea, but I don't think there's ever been a better time for them to try something like this.

[Str8Shooter]

I'm not entirely sold for a couple of reasons:

1) Divas are shorter then the men and in past Battle Royale's, they always go with them being eliminated when they are thrown out of the ring, whether it's over the top, or under the ropes, through the ropes, etc. And it doesn't look nearly as difficult, or impressive, when some Diva falls through the middle rope and is out. Maybe with the new crop of athletic Divas they could go over the top, but not all of them. The last thing I want is them to try and go over the top and have it look awkward as hell.

2) What you mentioned, with the burnout of having two in one night. The men's Rumble goes right around an hour usually. If you even have a half hour Women's Rumble, that's a lot of watching the same thing in a night. It might hurt the Women's Rumble and the Men's Rumble.

I'm not against the idea completely. But I almost would rather them do it on Raw leading up to the Rumble or something. They could give it a lot of time and time the commercials for the lesser Divas entrances. They could hype it up in advance too if they wanted.

[Hanley!]

I dunno, I think doing it on Raw makes it look second rate to be honest. Half-assing things like this almost defeats the purpose. I'd rather see them really throw themselves at an idea.

I reckon most of the athletic women won't have any problem bumping out of the ring, and there are creative ways to knock out some of the more useless ones. We've had all sorts eliminated from the men's Royal Rumble over the years. Midgets, broken down old timers ... even women. I don't think that'd pose any problem realistically. They have often allowed women to be eliminated through the middle rope, but the roster was weaker back then. And those were meaningless, time wasting matches, where very little planning went into them. A Royal Rumble match would be a big deal, and the big spots and eliminations would be planned in advance.

[Str8Shooter]

I dunno, I think doing it on Raw makes it look second rate to be honest. Half-assing things like this almost defeats the purpose. I'd rather see them really throw themselves at an idea.

I reckon most of the athletic women won't have any problem bumping out of the ring, and there are creative ways to knock out some of the more useless ones. We've had all sorts eliminated from the men's Royal Rumble over the years. Midgets, broken down old timers ... even women. I don't think that'd pose any problem realistically. They have often allowed women to be eliminated through the middle rope, but the roster was weaker back then. And those were meaningless, time wasting matches, where very little planning went into them. A Royal Rumble match would be a big deal, and the big spots and eliminations would be planned in advance.

I dunno, if they built it up on Raw it could work. I'm not sure I like the idea of two on the same event. If they did it on the PPV itself it would look second rate anyway because it would be shorter with less people compared to the men's one.

I'm not sure if they could pull off throwing people over the top. I suppose if they picked someone up they could dump them over. But I'm not sure they're capable of doing some of the more creative eliminations or near misses we've seen in the main Rumble. If they can't then that would make it look second rate as well.

[The Legend]

If I'm being honest, I don't love this idea. I'm a rare breed of wrestling fan that doesn't find the Rumble all that interesting (probably the least interesting gimmick match they have). I mean don't get me wrong there's entertaining moments in the Rumble, but for the most part there's like 5 good minutes in an hour wrestling match. Having two Rumbles on the same card would be repetitive and boring to me. My favorite Rumble ever was the one where Austin chased Vince around the whole backstage area, mostly because it cut down on the actual Rumble itself.

[VaderBomb]

I personally think it's an awesome idea and I don't see any reason not to do it.

[Everlong]

I'm actually surprised I've never heard this idea brought up before. I'd be all for it. The Royal Rumble is the most fun event of the year in the WWE, and people's rumble itch can always be scratched a little more. Definitely would legitimize the division and add a lot more excitement to the event. And if it's also for a title shot at WrestleMania, that'd be a big spotlight for the division.

I say go for it.

[VaderBomb]

It would also add to the importance of the Women's championship match at WM. Usually the build for the women's match at Mania is underwhelming due to lack of effort in making the match seem important. A women's Rumble would solve half of that problem.

[DBSoT]

I don't dislike the idea, but I do see one major issue. One of the best parts of the Rumble is that you get to see a wide variety of characters displayed at different times of the match. It's the thing that breaks up the repetitive nature of the Rumble. They can bring a new character in every few minutes that changes the match. The Divas division however doesn't have that many different gimmicks. So the match will feel like a repetitive hour long match.

[VaderBomb]

I don't dislike the idea, but I do see one major issue. One of the best parts of the Rumble is that you get to see a wide variety of characters displayed at different times of the match. It's the thing that breaks up the repetitive nature of the Rumble. They can bring a new character in every few minutes that changes the match. The Divas division however doesn't have that many different gimmicks. So the match will feel like a repetitive hour long match.

It wouldn't have to be an hour long though. Fifteen to twenty female wrestlers coming out at one minute or minute and a half intervals could work within a half hour.

I also don't agree that the Royal Rumble is dependent on a vast variety of gimmicks. As long as there are good wrestlers and new and familiar faces, it'll work.

[Hanley!]

I don't think the Royal Rumble has such a wide variety of gimmicks now generally anyway. Back in the 90s it sure did, but there's only a couple of really distinct gimmicks for the guys these days. Most of them are pretty similar. And I think there's at least enough diversity in the division now for people to tell all the female performers apart and for them to get an individual reaction. Look at Bayley, and then Sasha Banks, and then Asuka. There is quite a range on the roster now.

If I'm being honest, I don't love this idea. I'm a rare breed of wrestling fan that doesn't find the Rumble all that interesting (probably the least interesting gimmick match they have).

That's interesting, most wrestling fans I know love the Rumble and think it's one of their best gimmicks. Though if you don't love the Rumble, that pay per view probably isn't one you're going to be sold on anyway.

I dunno, if they built it up on Raw it could work. I'm not sure I like the idea of two on the same event. If they did it on the PPV itself it would look second rate anyway because it would be shorter with less people compared to the men's one.

I'm not sure if they could pull off throwing people over the top. I suppose if they picked someone up they could dump them over. But I'm not sure they're capable of doing some of the more creative eliminations or near misses we've seen in the main Rumble. If they can't then that would make it look second rate as well.

I don't think it having less people would make it look second rate compared to the men's match. It's a smaller division, so people would expect a shorter match.

And a lot of the women have taken some pretty major spills outside the ring in matches over the last year. The majority of the roster are very much capable of taking these moves. And even if there are a couple who couldn't be knocked straight out of the ring, they could be thrown just out to the apron and then knocked to the floor from there to make the landing easier.

I think you're underestimating what the women in the division are capable of anyway though. I'd say that the fact that people might not think they can do the things that the men can do just because they're women is maybe the best reason to have a match like this. WWE should be trying to get their fans to stop thinking like that about women's wrestling. I understand why people would: they've been trained to by the company basically forever. But if the WWE really cares about pushing this division, they need to show people that the women are just as capable as the men.

It would also add to the importance of the Women's championship match at WM. Usually the build for the women's match at Mania is underwhelming due to lack of effort in making the match seem important. A women's Rumble would solve half of that problem.

This is the big thing for me. I think the match would be a bunch of fun to watch, but more importantly, it would really make the women's title match at Wrestlemania seem like a big deal. They could start hyping it up a couple of months in advance and make it a genuine highlight on the card. It'd make the women's division seem a lot less low rent, and it'd make the title seem worth fighting over.

The more I think about this idea, the more I like it.