By Joseph Zucker,
syndicated from bleacherreport,
Randy Orton is a two-time Royal Rumble winner after eliminating Roman Reigns in Sunday's match in San Antonio's Alamodome.
Orton delivered an RKO to Reigns, which stunned the former Shield member. The Viper then clotheslined Reigns over the top rope, which WWE shared on Twitter:
#TheViper #RKOs @WWERomanReigns and ELIMINATES him!!! @RandyOrton wins the 30th #RoyalRumble Match!!
Prowrestling.net's Will Pruett felt somewhat underwhelmed by the match as a whole:
Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report had the same attitude and wanted instead to see Chris Jericho check off one more landmark achievement:
Orton winning is so meh to me. I think Jericho would've been a far better moment and story #WWE #RoyalRumble
B/R's Chris Mueller, on the other hand, was pleased to see Reigns come out on the losing end:
Thank god WWE made the right move. Another Reigns win would have been too much. #RoyalRumble
Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin thought the WWE did well to create a positive reaction for Orton's win:
Cheers to the genius in WWE creative who realized the only way fans would cheer for an Orton #RoyalRumble win was if he eliminated Reigns.
With his Rumble victory, Orton earns a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33 on April 2 in Orlando, Florida. He may rekindle his rivalry with John Cena, who beat AJ Styles on Sunday night to begin his record-tying 16th world title reign.
Cena may not be the champion by the time WrestleMania arrives, though. He'll have to defend the WWE title at Elimination Chamber on Feb. 12.
Wrestling Inc isn't convinced Cena's reign will make it through Elimination Chamber:
For those asking, I don't see Orton going after Cena. Not exactly sure which way it goes. Reigns also has 2 potential feuds. #RoyalRumble
Cena vs. Orton would be a lackluster match on any pay-per-view card and even more so at WrestleMania—the biggest show of the year. While Orton's involvement with The Wyatt Family adds a different dimension to their feud, fans grew tired of seeing the two stars clash years ago. There are only so many ways to tell a story built around Cena and Orton.
Fans were similarly disappointed after the 2014 Royal Rumble, when it appeared Batista was on a collision course with Orton at WrestleMania XXX. WWE then masterfully turned the main event of WrestleMania XXX into the culmination of Daniel Bryan's battle with The Authority.
WWE could have a similar change of gears in store for WrestleMania 33. The company will have plenty of star power on the card, with Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker almost certainly involved in some form.
Unlike in other years, WWE doesn't necessarily need a top star like Cena to be the champion going into WrestleMania to draw in fans. As a result, it may feel more comfortable giving the belt to Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, The Miz or Dolph Ziggler at Elimination Chamber.
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