It’s safe to say that the Men’s Royal Rumble match was rather underwhelming, both in terms of surprises and how it was booked. Since the Rumble happened reports have come out that indicate Shane McMahon as part of the reason the Rumble was less than memorable, revealing there was confusion backstage and during the planning of the event that stemmed from Shane’s desire to highlight himself in the match. A new report from Fightful Select has revealed several more details, including a switch-up with music that caused a swap with Randy Orton.
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Fightful spoke to several people close to the Rumble match that offered some insight into Shane’s pitches, with several sources saying that Shane specifically wanted to go in a spot that would highlight him, and someone mentioned that he even pitched going in the number one spot at one point.
Vince McMahon reportedly said that he would be making changes to the match and would not be doing much of what Shane had previously planned, and he wasn’t happy when he first learned of Shane’s plans either. The report also states that Brock Lesnar was unhappy with those plans as well.
As for the Orton situation, Shane was supposed to be number 29 in the Rumble, and Orton was going to be 28. Those ended up getting reversed, and while Shane was said to react hastily to the mix-up, Orton informed him that he would in fact not be entering to Shane’s theme, so Shane needed to go out when that number was called.
Previous rumors and reports said that Shane was going to be back for a program through Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, but those plans were scrapped after the Rumble, and WWE quietly let Shane go from the company.
It seems the Rumble was quite chaotic behind the scenes, and hopefully, things will be a bit less so when Elimination Chamber comes around.
As for the Rumble, Lesnar would enter at no. 30 and would eliminate Drew McIntyre to win it, and he subsequently challenged Roman Reigns to a match at WrestleMania.
What did you think of the Royal Rumble and all the fallout since? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
