wrestling / News

Note On Why WWE Didn’t Keep Edge’s Royal Rumble Return A Surprise

January 26, 2021 | Posted by Blake Lovell

Edge returned to WWE television on Monday’s edition of RAW, with the Rated-R Superstar announcing his intentions to enter the Men’s Royal Rumble Match this Sunday. Fightful Select has more details on the decision to announce his return on RAW rather than keep it a surprise.

According to Fightful, the thought process in WWE was that the company likely would’ve held off the announcement if there was an actual crowd at the Royal Rumble. So, instead, WWE chose to try to create buzz for the show by announcing Edge’s return in advance.

Fightful also notes that WWE’s decision to announce the No. 30 entrant for the men’s match and No. 1 and No. 2 entrants for the women’s match was simply based on the company and FOX wanting to boost their viewership in order to maximize the partnership between the two parties.

Here’s the current card for the Royal Rumble:

* WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg
* WWE Universal Championship Last Man Standing Match: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Charlotte Flair and Asuka vs. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler
* Men’s Royal Rumble Match: Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, The Miz, Jey Uso, Cesaro, Jeff Hardy, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Big E, Sheamus, John Morrison, Edge, Elias, Mustafa Ali, 12 More TBA
* Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss, Shayna Baszler, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Tamina Snuka, 18 More TBA