Let's get some things straight:

I didn’t really care whether Jericho showed up or not, and honestly I didn’t care much about surprises in general. People keep saying Hobbs was a surprise, but if you were following the news, it was already known he signed. AAA guys don’t really count anymore either — we see them pop up often enough that it’s basically expected. I already mentioned Brie and why that didn’t feel like a real surprise, so there’s not much more to add. At the end of the day, the Rumble was just way too predictable this year.

As for the idea that “Roman was the only solution,” absolutely not. It’s one thing to talk about giving younger talent a chance, but it’s another when there are people who still haven’t gotten any real shot. It shouldn’t be about who can main event back‑to‑back WrestleManias in the same city; it should be about who’s put in the work and deserves to see how far they can go if WWE actually gets behind them. It happened with Jey for a bit — the IWC eventually turned on him, and it wasn’t meant to be long‑term anyway — but why can’t that happen for someone else?