WWE Originally Planned For Another Superstar To Enter The Royal Rumble At #4 Instead Of Kurt Angle

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle made a surprise entrance into the 2019 Royal Rumble when he entered at the number 4 spot. The crowd popped hard for the nostalgia of seeing the Olympic Champion enter this year’s Rumble, however Angle was apparently not the original plan for that spot in the Royal Rumble.

On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talks about WWE placing Kurt Angle into the Rumble and he reveals what the company’s original plan was. According to the report the #4 spot in the Rumble was originally planned for Zack Ryder, but instead Kurt Angle was put in the match on short notice.

Regarding Kurt Angle replacing Zack Ryder in the Royal Rumble, Meltzer said:

“By the way, so Ryder for people who don’t know — here’s the situation with Ryder and actually Kurt Angle for that matter. In the Rumble, the idea was… the spot that Kurt Angle had in the Rumble was originally when they laid out and scripted the Rumble Zack Ryder was in that spot and it wasn’t until the day before of the day of the Rumble where somebody came up with the idea that I guess to bring him in.”

It was reported that WWE brought Kurt Angle to Phoenix on Saturday the day before the Rumble. However, it is said that WWE didn’t make the call to actually use Angle in the match until close to showtime.

In addition, all of the spots that Kurt Angle did during the match, were supposed to be for Zack Ryder. This is said to be the reason that Angle was in such a “nothing happening place” during the Men’s Rumble, according Meltzer.

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(Thanks to our friends at Ringsidenews.com for the transcriptions.)