Note On Decision For WWE To Reveal Women’s Royal Rumble Participants, Mickie James’ Involvement

As previously reported, WWE has announced already a lot of participants for the Women’s Royal Rumble, including current Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James. Fightful Select has more details on the company’s decision to reveal some of the surprises and James’ involvement in the match.

According to Fightful, WWE began reaching out to talent “earlier than usual” regarding their availability for the match. However, the report mentions that most who were contacted were under the impression their participation in the match wouldn’t be revealed ahead of time.

Fightful notes that the company’s decision to announce the participants was done to boost ticket sales and “increase buzz” for the event, with the thought that there are “plenty of room for more surprises, and likely will be.”

Additionally, the report states that though the late scripts for SmackDown included the names of the announced participants, sources inside the company were not aware earlier on Friday that the announcements would take place.

Another interesting note is that the word backstage at Impact Hard to Kill was that the Impact Knockouts title was part of the agreement to have James included in the Women’s Royal Rumble, though that has not been confirmed by James or WWE. Impact was reportedly happy with the buzz the announcement received.

It’s also mentioned that there have been pitches for “interesting” and “big” names outside the company to participate in the match, though there are no specifics on whether WWE will pursue those options.