Rumour Killer On AEW Wrestlers In WWE Royal Rumble 2022
No, that rumoured "Forbidden Door" WWE Royal Rumble entrant won't come from AEW...
As if there was ever any doubt, the rumoured 'Forbidden Door' entrant in this year's men's Royal Rumble won't come from AEW.
Dave Meltzer dropped a rumour killer in today's Figure Four Online/Wrestling Observer Daily Update stating, categorically, that there won't be any AEW involvement on the 29 January WWE show. He added that Jon Moxley specifically won't be present.
A 10 January WrestleVotes report stating that WWE was interested in securing "an 'unexpected' forbidden door entrant" for the men's match sent the rumour mill into overdrive, with fantasy bookers immediately speculating names from AEW, IMPACT Wrestling, and other promotions. This followed WWE's own announcement that Mickie James would be entering the women's match as IMPACT Knockouts Champion in an unprecedented crossover.
Given the circumstances, AEW participation was never realistic. Though the likes of Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, and Moxley all have history with WWE, a full-on collaboration between America's two biggest promotions, who have now spent three years competing with one another, was never more than pure speculation.
Jericho's spring 2021 appearance on Peacock/WWE Network's Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions show preceded a wave of interest in the AEW product, with Dynamite soaring to an overall viewership of 1.219 million a few days later (14 April 2021).