Royal Rumble Qualifier Madness

Much has been made recently over WWE's lack of inconsistent booking regarding the Royal Rumble. Even former talent and writers commented on how illogical it is. Talent such as Drew Gulak had to qualify for the rumble, while guys like The Miz could just declare themselves as entering the rumble. Edge returned on RAW and declared himself for the Royal Rumble. Over on the women's side the same thing Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose took it upon themselves to declare they're entering the rumble.

Now WWE has always been back and forth and have 50/50 booking on exactly how folks enter the rumble. If they set a standard that former champions do not need to qualify and can declare themselves, it would make sense and the audience would accept it. Instead they roll with a convivent for them logic which ends up making no sense. 

 At times like this with the general consensus being Smackdown and NXT are watchable, while RAW has been unbearable with the exception of the Hurt Business and Drew McIntyre. Why wouldn't the WWE incorporate more qualifying matches into their shows?

One of the biggest issues affecting all of wrestling storytelling right now is lack of stakes. Even with championships, it often seems like no one is really competing for anything. Winning the Royal Rumble guarantees a title shot at Wrestlemania and every match held on RAW and Smackdown this past month, should have been Royal Rumble qualifying matches or some type of implication. 

Not just qualifying matches, but have entry implications to the matches as well. Win xyz match and your the 30th person in. Hell trickle it down to NXT and have a underdog like Leon Ruff qualify for the Royal Rumble. I'm sure fans would have preferred that as opposed to the Backstage special airing Saturday Night, or maybe not either way it would have gotten people invested. 

Something to raise the stakes and get people invested. Royal Rumble is an event fans love to see each year, between the match itself and surprise entrants. It's also the official kickoff on the Road to Wrestlemania. So let's reward fans and the wrestlers alike by showingjust how important winning the Royal Rumble can be to one's career.