The Royal Rumble is one of the biggest shows of the year as it sets the stage for WrestleMania season. Back in 2021 it was Edge that won the men’s Royal Rumble match, and Bianca Belair won the women’s Royal Rumble match. However, it seems that WWE originally had different plans.
Former WWE writer Chris Dunn recently appeared on the Public Enemies Podcast and noted that originally the match had been rehearsed with Charlotte Flair picking up the victory. Originally Bianca Belair was supposed to be eliminated halfway through, but plans changed when Ryan Ward pointed out that the company wasn’t making any new stars.
“I was in a Tampa Hotel room and we were watching some sort of football game and an assistant had just left the Royal Rumble (2021) night-before meeting and they changed the finish and Charlotte [Flair] was going to go over and they rehearsed Charlotte going over and Bianca [Belair] was going to get eliminated like midway through the match and it got changed to Bianca going over and I think a lot of people voiced it but this guy, Ryan Ward, he’s been there for like 14 years, he was [John] Cena’s writer and probably, for my money, I think has had the biggest hand in the women’s revolution. He was lead writer in the golden days of NXT with Kevin [Owens] and Sami [Zayn] and The Four Horsewomen, all that stuff.
From my understanding, what I heard, he kind of said something to Vince [McMahon] to the effect of, ‘Vince, if you look at the Royal Rumble tomorrow, you have Edge winning and Charlotte winning. We’re not making any new stars’ and I think that really resonated and Bianca was on such a roll where it kind of made sense and she also had to, again, right after that match, really nail that post-match promo and she did it and she was just awesome and great.”
The 2023 Royal Rumble will air live on Saturday, January 28th. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
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