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WWE Royal Rumble (1/29/22)

If you were among those disenchanted with the WWE Royal Rumble PPV, you were not alone.

We've heard from a number of sources in the company who were frustrated with the constant changes in the Rumble matches over the course of the last week and felt that was a direct cause for the quality (or lack of) for the Rumble matches themselves. As we reported earlier, one source noted the Men's Rumble alone changed "20 times" over the course of the days leading to the Rumble matches between spots that were devised, changed and discarded, changes in eliminations, order of entrances and even interactions between talents. We have since heard that was the experience for the Women's Rumble match as well. All of the changes led to a frustrating day for talents with a lot of moving parts that kept shifting, so for some, it just turned into a confusing hodgepodge of things they needed to remember or dispose of mentally. It all came down from Vince McMahon as he had his fingers deep in every aspect of the PPV.

The morale after the show was very down compared to most recent WWE PPVs because as one talent (who commented under condition of anonymity) stated, "We were all in a whirlwind. Just as you had your role and spots down, everything started over and over and now most of us were back to square one. It changed again and again and again. It wasn't an easy night even before we hit the ring."

WWE President Nick Khan was at the Rumble, arriving to the building with Shane McMahon.

Ben LeDoux sent word in his live report from the Royal Rumble that the Wrestlemania sign was burning AGAIN after the pyro for Brock Lesnar's Rumble win.

A number of readers, including Tim Windhalm, noted that overhead spotlight that WWE used around the ring last night in St. Louis was blinding fans in the audience and there was a consistent “turn the light off” chant that keep popping up between Rumble entrants.

We've been asked if Johnny Knoxville's ring gear was a tribute to Andy Kaufman. I haven't heard that was the case, but I could certainly see the similarities.
 
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The fact she came out to Harcore Country was awesome.
 
As we have noted over the last several days, the morale with the WWE locker room among talents was down following the Royal Rumble PPV, in great part due to the whirlwind of changes made to the Rumble matches in the days and hours leading up to the PPV. We have had several sources within the company point to two major differences this year vs. previous Rumbles.

*Several pointed to the fact that Paul Levesque, for the first time in many years, was not involved and not present as he's dealing with his health issues. In the past, Levesque would be involved with in an advisory role of sorts, often making Rumble changes to accentuate certain talents and make sure there were little "moments" or highlights after the grand scheme for the Rumble had been locked in. His absence was absolutely felt this past Saturday.

*The other major absence this year was WWE Producer TJ Wilson aka Tyson Kidd who usually takea a massive leading role in producing the women's division in general and would have been a general in putting together the Rumble match. Wilson was not at the Rumble and was not involved in putting the bout together. We are told Wilson, who has not been around in recent weeks, is still officially with the company. With Wilson not there, Dave Finlay was brought up from NXT to help produce the Rumble, in part because he had worked with so many of the returning women who were coming back for Rumble appearances.
 
The original plan for the Men's Rumble winner was Riddle, PWInsider.com has learned. Plans were changed over the course of the week a ton of times with the final decision to have Brock Lesnar enter and win as a surprise. At one point, there was a pitch for Randy Orton to win as well, but Riddle was the frontrunner until the switch to Brock was made.
 
The original plan for the Men's Rumble winner was Riddle, PWInsider.com has learned. Plans were changed over the course of the week a ton of times with the final decision to have Brock Lesnar enter and win as a surprise. At one point, there was a pitch for Randy Orton to win as well, but Riddle was the frontrunner until the switch to Brock was made.
Thank god they didnt. It wasnt his time and im a big fan of Riddle.
 
The original plan for the Men's Rumble winner was Riddle, PWInsider.com has learned. Plans were changed over the course of the week a ton of times with the final decision to have Brock Lesnar enter and win as a surprise. At one point, there was a pitch for Randy Orton to win as well, but Riddle was the frontrunner until the switch to Brock was made.

I think Riddle will eventually win the Royal Rumble in another year or two.
 
Riddle not ready for that. So I’m glad they didn’t go that route. Would have been a curve ball & not sure how that would have worked out
 
niggas talk about Big E clowning

Riddle is portrayed as the biggest fucking goofball on television

but i know both of them can be main eventers if they were portrayed differently
 
niggas talk about Big E clowning

Riddle is portrayed as the biggest fucking goofball on television

but i know both of them can be main eventers if they were portrayed differently
I used to love watching Riddle matches from MLW. Dude was presented perfectly.
 
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