Spoiling returns

hi scott,

How much different would the last two years be if the return of Batista wasnt spoiled and he was just an uber surprise entrant in the royal rumble who won?  i understand why they announce returns ahead of time trying to spike ratings, but it gives fans too much time to pick things apart instead of just being generally surprised and you know let things play out and see where they go.  would fans have booed Batista if they weren't prepared for him? and IIRC he was spoiled by some arena marketing his return was wwe original plan have him be a surprise or were they going to announce? thanks

​The problem is that you can have an "uber surprise" entrant in the Rumble and even have him win (like Edge) but at some point if you're factoring a guy into Wrestlemania plans and making him World champion, there are people who need to know well in advance for marketing and merch purposes.  And then it becomes extremely difficult to cover that up.  Not to mention that you're already wasting the entire point of bringing him back if you don't tell people about it.  

Yeah, the dynamic was really messed up, but the problem was that Daniel Bryan was too popular and the promotion wouldn't acknowledge it, not that Batista wasn't a good choice to win and go to WM.  He was just the wrong guy in that particular unique situation.​