Over 33% of the 2021 Women's Royal Rumble Lineup Is Gone From WWE

By Connor Casey

Ever since the Women's Royal Rumble match was first introduced back in 2018, WWE has run into the challenge of filling all 30 spots in the annual match. Because the company keeps the Women's Division on both brands smaller than the Men's, the promotion has consistently needed to rely on former stars and members of the NXT roster to fill those spots. Such is the case once again this year, as seven stars of the past have already been confirmed for the show (including Mickie James, despite her being Knockouts Champion in Impact Wrestling) and there was reportedly an attempt to bring in at least two more but they declined. 

But the challenge is even bigger this year thanks to WWE's pattern of releases over the past two years. We've talked before about what it (and last year's Draft) did to the Women's Tag Team Division in the past, but when you look at last year's Royal Rumble lineup you see just big of a hit the Women's Division has taken. 

The 2021 Women's Rumble featured 26 full-time wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown and NXT. Nine of those women (34% of the lineup) have since been let go — both of The IIconics, Toni Storm, Santana Garrett, James, Ember Moon, Nia Jax and Lana. By contrast, of the 26 full-time wrestlers in the Men's Rumble, only four (15%) have been released — Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, John Morrison and Jeff Hardy.

Check out the lineup (so far) for this year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view in the list below! And stay tuned for full coverage of the event this Saturday. 

  • WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
  • WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
  • Raw Women's Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Doudrop
  • Men's Royal Rumble (Johnny Knoxville, Big E, AJ Styles, Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, Sheamus, Damian Priest, Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss, Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens, TBA)
  • Women's Royal Rumble (Charlotte Flair, Mickie James, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Dana Brooke, Carmella, Queen Zelina, Shotzi, Natalya, Aliyah, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Lita, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Summer Rae, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, TBA)
  • Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz & Maryse
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