Road Dogg Reflects On How The First WWE Women's Royal Rumble Came About

With the fifth annual Women's Royal Rumble match quickly approaching, "Road Dogg" Brian James has revealed what led to the creation of the inaugural match in 2018.

"I don't think it was one person," James said on his podcast, "Oh You Didn't Know." "I thought it was a collaborative decision, and I really don't know who the first person to think of it was, you know what I mean? You'd have to go back pretty far, but it was time and everybody knew it." James further elaborated on the planning of the match, expressing that there were questions about whether or not it would have 30 women, but that the decision was ultimately made to close the gap in equality that had been present previously.

In one of the most memorable moments in recent WWE history, Ronda Rousey made her debut in the company after Asuka took home the inaugural victory in the match. Rousey put both "Raw" Women's Champion Alexa Bliss and "SmackDown" Women's Champion Charlotte Flair on notice ahead of WrestleMania 34, where she made her WWE debut in a mixed tag match.

"To me, [signing Ronda Rousey] was the icing on the cake," James said. "[It was like] 'Holy mackerel.' You can think what you want to think, but it feels good to be an employee there and do something like this ... I think there was definitely hesitation in putting her in it and having her just beat everybody. I think there's also hesitation in, does she come out afterwards or does she just step on that?"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Oh You Didn't Know" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.