Should Royal Rumble Winners Ever Challenge For Midcard/Other Titles? | Question Of The Day

01/27/2025 08:30 AM

Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day!

Over the years, the Money in the Bank briefcase has eventually been changed to include midcard titles up for grabs, fulfilling the “any title” element of the winner’s future title shot opportunity. Some aren’t a big fan of it, saying that it cheapens the gimmick, and that it isn’t logical that wrestlers would try to steal the Intercontinental or United States Championships when the world titles are right there.

The Royal Rumble acts similarly, but we’ve never seen this happen. Technically speaking, the same wording applies that it’s frequently stated “the winner gets to challenge the champion of their choosing in the main event of WrestleMania.” This has had different definitions, wherein the “main event” isn’t the headliner, sometimes they can or can’t cross their brands, NXT has been up for grabs in the past and ignored other years, it used to apply to the ECW Championship as well, and we’ve had people either win a title at Royal Rumble or use their title shot before WrestleMania. Suffice it to say, WWE saying that the winner can challenge any champion they choose means that if they ever wanted to, they could have someone say they want the Intercontinental, United States, NXT, NXT North American, NXT Heritage Cup, or maybe even the tag team titles as their option.

But should they?

My question for you today is “Would you ever be fond or okay with a Royal Rumble winner challenging for a tag team, midcard, or otherwise non Raw/SmackDown world title?”

Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.

As far as my answer…

Despite posing the question and being a proponent that the Money in the Bank should remain open to any title, including midcard and tag championships, I can’t really defend that case when it comes to Royal Rumble winners.

Frankly, I hate it when WWE does anything other than the straightforward “I win, I challenge the WWE/World champion at Mania itself and no one else is allowed in the match” idea. No defending the title shot and losing it so someone else gets in a Triple Threat, no cashing it in for Elimination Chamber and wasting it, none of that.

I can’t see any scenario—not even Sheamus with the Intercontinental Championship that I broke down in yesterday’s EWN QOTD—warranting the midcard title getting this much focus. Look at John Cena as an example. He’s never won the Intercontinental Championship. If he won the Royal Rumble and said “I’ve been world champion, but I’ve never been IC champ, so that’s what I’m challenging for”, people wouldn’t support it because he should be fighting for the world title and trying to get #17.

I would be open to the idea of someone challenging for the NXT Championship some year, but even that is a bit of a hard sell for me, and I can’t think of anyone in any scenario who would do it. WWE did that with Rhea Ripley as champion goading Charlotte Flair to beat her and make her cry (ugh I hated that pandemic Mania and its booking decisions). That ended up being a mistake in many ways. But maybe in the future, at some point, there’s only one world title across Raw and SmackDown once more and the NXT Championship is the only other “world title” option. Then, maybe someone wins the Royal Rumble and challenges for that if you want to set up a different story for the WWE Championship.

All in all, mostly no, Royal Rumble shouldn’t be used for anything but challenging for a Raw or SmackDown world title, strictly at WrestleMania, ideally in the main event finale closure match of the evening.

What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!

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