WWE's Adam Pearce Clarifies Bizarre New Rule About the Royal Rumble

01/20/2021 07:29 pm EST

WWE official Adam Pearce took to Twitter on Wednesday to clear up an odd rule that's been popping up on WWE television lately. For nearly every wrestler on the roster (and for most of WWE's recent history) all it takes to earn a spot in the Royal Rumble is to declare that you're going to participate in the Royal Rumble. But certain stars — Ricochet and Drew Gulak being two examples over the past two weeks — have needed to "prove" themselves worthy of a spot by winning a match. Those aforementioned cases both resulted in loses to AJ Styles.

So why the change? Pearce explained, "It's actually pretty simple: Those that have been granted the ability to simply declare entry into the Royal Rumble *by management* are free to do so. Those that haven't must qualify. I don't write the rules, I enforce them."

While it may seem like a hand-wave, at least Pearce gave an explanation. The former NWA World Heavyweight Champion nearly found himself booked on the Royal Rumble card a week ago when Roman Reigns tried to bully him into a Universal Championship match, but Pearce used to "card subject to change" clause in the contract and replaced himself with Kevin Owens. KO and "The Tribal Chief" will now meet in a Last Man Standing match at the show.

Check out the updated card for the Royal Rumble below:

• WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing)
• WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg
• Men's Royal Rumble: Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, The Miz, Jey Uso, Cesaro, Jeff Hardy, TBA
• Women's Royal Rumble: Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Beliar, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss, Shayna Baszler, TBA

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