Was Roman Reigns supposed to win the recently held Royal Rumble 2020 match?

WWE sprung some last-minute surprises on fans as Drew McIntyre and Charlotte Flair won the Rumble matches over favourites Roman Reigns and Shayna Baszler. According to Dave Meltzer, the changes were made by Paul Heyman who decided to push Drew McIntyre for the win. It was earlier believed that Roman Reigns would win his second rumble. Meanwhile, whoever eliminated Brock Lesnar would face The Beast at WrestleMania 36.

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Meltzer speculated that Paul Heyman’s decision could have been based on giving more importance to the WrestleMania match. The main event of WrestleMania 36 is expected to be between Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.

Brock Lesnar vs Drew Mclntyre at WrestleMania 36

Meltzer explained that WWE went all the way to hype the Brock Lesnar vs Drew McIntyre clash. He said that the entire purpose of Rumble was to position Lesnar as a monster and Drew McIntyre was the hero who defeated The Beast. Meltzer said that while that task was accomplished when McIntyre eliminated Brock Lesnar with a Claymore Kick at the Rumble, Paul Heyman must have convinced Vince McMahon that the magnitude of WrestleMania event merited a change in victors. Hence, instead of Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre went all the way and won the Rumble. He eliminated the Big Dog on his way to victory.  

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Industry experts also stated that by allowing McIntyre to win the Rumble, WWE avoided getting unnecessary criticism over Roman Reigns winning his second Rumble. Roman Reigns had pissed off fans when he dumped Edge during the Rumble. Meltzer also said that Edge eliminating Randy Orton has set up the stage for a match between the two veterans at WrestleMania 36.

On the women’s side, there are reports that a large sum of money was placed on The Queen. It led WWE to switch its decision to go with Charlotte Flair instead of Shayna Baszler. Sources say the decision was made around January 14, before which, most of the money was placed on Baszler. 

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