WWE Originally Had Different Plans For Royal Rumble And Raw XXX

As the old adage goes, the card is always subject to change, and that was evident in the lead-up to WWE's 2023 Royal Rumble.

According to Fightful Select, several creative shifts unfolded in WWE throughout the months of December and January. As previously reported, Charlotte Flair's return on December 30 proved to be a last-minute decision. There, Flair unseated Ronda Rousey for the "SmackDown" Women's Championship just moments after Rousey had already successfully defended the title against Raquel Rodriguez. Originally the bout between Rousey and Rodriguez was penciled in to take place at the Royal Rumble, a whole month later. Due to her interest in pivoting to the tag team division, though, Rousey dropped the title to "The Queen."

Another interesting matchup involving Edge and Finn Balor was also initially slated to culminate at the Royal Rumble. Continuing their extensive rivalry, Balor was set to unleash his "demon" form inside a Hell in a Cell match against "The Rated R Superstar." However, Edge was preoccupied with filming for the Disney+ series "Percy Jackson and The Olympian." The report also noted that several internal figures felt the feud needed "the buzz of Demon Balor and Hell in a Cell" to perhaps keep it afloat, but questions emerged on how the Demon Balor character would've worked against Edge.

The week before the Royal Rumble, WWE held a special 30th-anniversary episode of "Raw," set to feature a steel cage match between Bayley and Becky Lynch. The match was delayed due to the "Tribal Court" segment with The Bloodline going over its allocated time. Lynch and Bayley deepened their story when they finally clashed two weeks later, and also made way for Lita to make a surprise appearance. Despite the initial disappointment from many fans with the setback, many backstage felt it was a "blessing in disguise."