The WWE usually plan their shows ahead of time. However, anything can be changed at any point of time. Announced matches and segments can always be changed for various reasons, such as an emergency forcing their hands or the WWE simply feeling they have something better in store. The same happened with the Royal Rumble and RAW is XXX.
According to Fightful Select, the WWE underwent several changes in their plans during the months of December and January, which had major impacts on their 30th anniversary show for Monday Night RAW and the Royal Rumble after that.
WWE’s original plans for WWE Royal Rumble and RAW is XXX revealed
It was previously reported that Ronda Rousey was penciled in for a title defense against Raquel Rodriguez at the Royal Rumble. However, this match was pushed up after the WWE decided to crown Charlotte Flair the new SmackDown Women’s Champion instead.
This change took place due to Rousey’s interest in pursuing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships with real life friend Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 39.
Speaking of the Women’s tag team championship, one of the current titleholders, Becky Lynch, was originally scheduled to face Bayley in a steel cage match at RAW is XXX. However, the match was postponed because of the Tribal court segment going over the allocated time.
The WWE were criticized for this before. However, in the days since, the postponement allowed the promotion to build the story between the two and bring more heat to their match. This also paved Lita’s comeback that has since culminated in her winning the tag titles with Lynch.
Another match that was supposed to happen at the Royal Rumble nut didn’t is Finn Balor vs Edge. The Judgment Day leader was supposed to face the man he replaced in a Hell in a Cell match. He was also going to bring back his Demon persona for what was going to be a blow-off match.
However, Edge’s filming schedule forced them to extend the feud. The WWE Hall of Famer couldn’t make time for the Royal Rumble as he was busy shooting “Percy Jackson and The Olympian.”
Interestingly, several internal figures believed that the Demon and Hell in a Cell were required to keep the match afloat. There were also questions regarding how the Demon would have worked against Edge,
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