Professional wrestling is scripted. It is a soap opera of sorts. It can be predictable. But, no matter how much we read online about who's in town, what makes sense and what rumor is being spread, we still crave the surprise outcome.

At the Royal Rumble Sunday night, the widely expected happened. Batista won. It was logical considering he just made his return and has something to promote. Just because we all knew this was the most likely outcome (unless, of course, John Cena found his ways into this match), it doesn't mean we wanted it to happen.

We wanted Daniel Bryan. He is on top right now, and he should be in the main event of WrestleMania. But, just because he is our favorite does not mean he will win that ticket, as has been proven in past Royal Rumble matches. However, many were disappointed he didn't even get the chance to be in the Royal Rumble. We may have been temporarily appeased last night with Bryan's inclusion in the Elimination Chamber, but that is also a match where anything can happen and it's easy for minds to be changed last minute.

(Other crowd-pleasers thrown at us on Raw were the announcements that Jake the Snake Roberts is going into the Hall of Fame and that Christian is returning on Smackdown.)

When 30 came and passed, hope shifted to Roman Reigns, who has been proving himself lately as the standout from the Shield. He broke the record for most eliminations, but that apparently was the only bone he was going to be thrown. He would have certainly would have breathed new life into the main event of WrestleMania, since I think he is most likely to succeed.

Now, everyone will wait to see if Bryan can win the Elimination Chamber match. WWE's writers and executives certainly have some questions to ask themselves- Will Bryan not going to WrestleMania's main event affect WWE Network sales? How will Bryan v. Batista affect Batista's ability to promote his summer non-mainstream superhero movie? If they do Bryan v. Batista, can they turn Batista into a face before summer so the fans will back his movie? Will they just chicken out and give us yet another triple threat match at WrestleMania? Do they believe enough fans will care enough to make difference in WWE's profits?

Truthfully, I don't think I'd complain about a Batista v. Orton match. It can be a great story, and it could be a great match.

By the way, remember this?

That being said, WrestleMania is the finale of the year and the start of the new year for our "stories." Guys like Bryan and Reigns who have won us over so much that chants for them are amazing and are truly the future of the company should be featured. The backlash from last year's WrestleMania created a big night for Dolph Ziggler on the following Raw. Will WWE continue the trend and wait to please the fans on Raw, or will they make sure getting PPVs- even at $10 a month- is worth it?