Backstage News On Top WrestleMania Matches, WWE Royal Rumble Plans Changing
At the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night, Drew McIntyre won the men's Royal Rumble match while Charlotte Flair won the women's Rumble.
McIntyre and Flair were not originally scheduled to win their respective Rumble matches. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the original plans were for Roman Reigns to win the men's Rumble, while Shayna Baszler was slated to win the women's Rumble match.
Meltzer noted that the decision to go with McIntyre and Flair was probably made around January 14th, as the smart money betting odds shifted from Baszler to Flair then.
The current plan is for McIntyre to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, while Reigns will challenge Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship. Another big match scheduled for the event is Edge facing Randy Orton. Edge and Orton had joined forces during the men's Rumble match, which eventually led to Edge eliminating Orton from the match.