WWE brought back several stars from the past for the women’s Royal Rumble, and one of the most noteworthy was Melina. She would enter the match at number two, and it was evident she was delighted to be returning to the company after a decade away. However, she wouldn’t last in the ring long and was eliminated by Sasha Banks within seconds. While it appeared to have been a botch as it appeared Melina was meant to land on the ring apron, her longtime friend Gail Kim has since called out the company on Twitter. Seemingly being disappointed at how they used the former WWE Women’s Champion and Divas Champion.

This was Melina’s first time wrestling for WWE since 2011, having been released at the time due to creative not having anything for her. Yet, the big rumor at the time was she had significant backstage heat. WWE did almost rehire her full-time in 2020 to work in NXT. Sadly though, an injury would put WWE off signing her, and prior to her Rumble appearance, she has been wrestling for both Impact Wrestling and Billy Corgan’s NWA.

Just four months on from becoming a mother, Ronda Rousey has made her return to the WWE, winning the Royal Rumble. She would enter at number 28 to a thunderous ovation and eliminated Nikki ASH, Brie Bella, Shotzi Blackheart, and finally Charlotte Flair to secure a championship match at WrestleMania 38.

The exact details surrounding Rousey’s WWE deal aren’t currently known. Although it is assumed her contract was previously frozen due to her having considerable time remaining, having stepped away from wrestling following WrestleMania 35. Initially, she would say her hiatus was due to wanting to start a family but later told Steve-O on his podcast that she was disgruntled with how many dates shows she had to work. Furthermore, she’d tell the Jackass star she’d never wrestle a full-time schedule again and called WWE fans ungrateful.

It’s been reported that Mustafa Ali had a heated argument with Vince McMahon while discussing a potential new gimmick. This led to Ali requesting his WWE release, and so far, the company has refused this. Now, in a tweet just before the Royal Rumble, Ali has seemingly revealed that the company presented him an olive branch by offering a spot in the Rumble match. Nevertheless, he appears to have rejected this and doubled down on his desire to leave the company.

Considering Ali’s position on the card, it is somewhat surprising WWE hasn’t let him out of his contract. Especially when they have been releasing so many talents to save money. However, the company has a history of asserting dominance over wrestlers, only allowing them out of contracts on their terms. This was recently evident with Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, who were made to wait two months to be granted their releases, despite not even being used.

Two weeks ago, it was revealed that Cody Rhodes is working without for AEW contract. This has prompted many fans to speculate that he may be returning to WWE. Now, seemingly playing into this, Cody has trolled fans by posting an image on his Instagram showing him on a plane headed to St Louis, Missouri, where the Royal Rumble is taking place. He would subsequently delete this, but not before fans captured it.

While there are likely to be several cool surprises in the Royal Rumble, it’s highly doubtful Cody will be among them. This is because while not officially signed to AEW, he is still very much part of the company, and with the second series of his reality TV series show Rhodes to the Top commissioned for TNT, it’s clear he isn’t leaving anytime soon.

Peter Dinklage recently made headlines when he criticized Disney’s planned live animation remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Specifically calling it a “f*cking backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.” Subsequently, Disney representatives would say they are looking to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from their animated version resulting in some fans fearing the dwarfs may no longer be included.

Now, former WWE star and actor Dylan Post, who is best known under the name Hornswoggle, has shared his opinion on the controversy with DailyMail. Explicitly calling the Game of Thrones star selfish and saying he is trying to take jobs away from the community.

The live-action version of the film was actually announced years ago, and it is believed it was planning to go into production later this year. Whether it still does remains to be seen given Dinklage’s comments. However, if the project ends up canceled, it will undoubtedly disappoint Disney fans.

Last week the news broke that Sami Zayn has re-signed with WWE, which disappointed some fans who were hoping he would join AEW instead. Now speaking on Pat Laprade and Kevin Raphael’s podcast on les Anti-Pods de la Lutte, Zayn has commented on his decision to stay with WWE. Explaining he is happy with his role in the company and feels management shows confidence in him by allowing him opportunities on the mic.

Zayn has been with WWE since January 2013, and he held the NXT Championship and Intercontinental Championship during this time. While never pushed as a top star, recently, he has worked with celebrities Logan Paul and Johnny Knoxville, showing how highly management value and trust him. Therefore his re-signing makes total sense, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it turns out he also received a significant pay increase.

During the 21st of Jan episode of SmackDown, Seth Rollins, who is wrestling Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble, name-dropped his former Shield stablemate, Dean Ambrose. However, he wouldn’t use his WWE name but instead called him “Mox” in reference to Jon Moxley. This resulted in a lot of conversation on social media, and now speaking to TalkSPORT, Rollins has clarified why he did this.

It’s also understood that the line was approved by management, so Rollins didn’t go into business for himself. Seemingly this shows WWE is now more open to acknowledging wrestling outside the company, as previously they went out of their way to change history. Once going as far as to even remove Moxley from a video of The Shield’s debut.

Back in December, Jeff Hardy was released by WWE after he walked out during a house show match. Exact details explaining why he did this haven’t yet been revealed, although it was speculated his past addiction issues may have resurfaced. However, his brother Matt would say that Jeff was drug tested at the time and would be shown to be clean.

Now, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE’s John Laurinaitis contacted Jeff a few weeks ago and tried to have him return. Yet, despite WWE also offering to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, he would decline their offer. While not confirmed, this certainly makes it appear his drugs test came back negative.

The popular belief is Jeff, who is still one of the most popular wrestlers in the business, will end up alongside his brother Matt in AEW. However, no deal can be agreed upon until his WWE non-compete expires in March. It should, though, be noted the duo are booked for a Big Time Wrestling show on March 12th, with it promised to just be the start of what is being promoted as the Hardy Boyz 22 tour.

WWE has already announced several former talents set to return for the women’s Royal Rumble match, including Lita, Michelle McCool, and Mickie James. While revealing these ahead of time has resulted in some criticism, WWE still intends to have some unannounced wrestlers participate as, according to PWInsider.com, Melina, Cameron, and Aksana will all be entrants.

Melina is the biggest name of the trio, having been a WWE Women’s Champion three times and Divas Champion twice. She was released back in 2011 after being told creative had nothing for her, although it was believed to be due to having backstage heat. WWE did plan to bring her back to the company in 2020, yet, an injury prevented this.

Cameron, formerly of The Funkadactyls, was also spoken to about a potential return in 2020 to appear with Naomi at WrestleMania 36. Plans, though, would change, and the idea was dropped. She would, though, go on to appear for AEW under her real name of Ariane Andrew, teaming with Nyla Rose against Tay Conti and Anna Jay. Since then, she has been inactive in wrestling but has continued her music career.

The most surprising of all three returns is Aksana’s, as she hasn’t wrestled since 2014. She is probably best remembered for appearing on the third season of NXT when it was a faux competition and marrying Goldust in a storyline to prevent herself from being deported. Following her WWE departure, the former bodybuilder effectively left the business and began working as a fitness trainer.

So far, it has been revealed that both Shane McMahon and Bad Bunny are planned to make surprise appearances during the Royal Rumble match, and now there is a belief Kurt Angle could be joining them. This is because, according to a report by Fightful Select, the Olympic gold medalist has been booked by WWE to be in St. Louis, where the Royal Rumble is taking place, to participate in community and media events.

With there still being a number of the 30 slots in the Rumble match unaccounted for, speculation has commenced that Angle may be about to return to the ring. It should, though, be noted the initial report doesn’t state Angle will be competing, and Angle is known to be physically in a bad way.

Previously Angle has stated that his wife of ten years, Giovanna Yannotti, would kick his ass if he ever came out of retirement, and therefore he has turned down AEW on three occasions. However, considering he has publicly stated he was unhappy that his final match came across as an afterthought with him wrestling Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35, he may want one last hurrah.

Shane McMahon last wrestled at WrestleMania 37 when he put over Braun Strowman during the event’s first night. Now with WrestleMania 38 approaching and WWE needing their biggest stars, it’s been reported by Steve Carrier of Ringside News that in addition to Bad Bunny, Shane McMahon is also scheduled to be a surprise participant in the Royal Rumble match.

As of writing, 22 out of the 30 entrants have been announced for the match, and with both Bad Buddy and Shane expected, there remains the possibility of 6 more surprises. Despite not yet being confirmed, the betting odds currently have Brock Lesnar as the favorite to win. Many fans believe he will be victorious and set up a match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Next in the betting are AJ Styles and Big E, while Shane is a massive 500/1, but those odds will likely shorten significantly when the news of his participation reaches the bookmakers.

Bad Bunny was a WWE regular at the start of 2021, where he’d win the 24/7 Title Championship and go on to wrestle on Night 1 of WrestleMania, teaming with Damian Priest against The Miz and John Morrison. Now, it has been reported by Steve Carrier of Ringside News that the Puerto Rican rapper is set to be a surprise participant in the Royal Rumble match.

Bad Bunny brought WWE a lot of mainstream publicity, even appearing with the 24/7 Championship during multiple public appearances, and was featured prominently on WWE’s promotional material. Given this, it is somewhat surprising that WWE planned to have him as a surprise entrant; however, it isn’t beyond the company to purposely leak news to create buzz.