Backstage Update On Original RETRIBUTION WWE Royal Rumble 2021 Plans

New update on what WWE originally had planned for RETRIBUTION and Ricochet at the Royal Rumble.

by Andrew Pollard
Ricochet RETRIBUTION
WWE.com

With the 2021 Royal Rumble PPV now in our rear-view mirrors, there were certain Rumble plans that ultimately didn’t come to fruition.

In a new report from Fightful Select, there was at one point a plan for Ricochet to be one of the later entrants in the men’s Rumble bout. Instead though, the One and Only ended up coming out in the #12 spot, having an 11-minute run with zero eliminations to his name, before eventually being dumped by Kane.

Elsewhere, there was also talk of having three RETRIBUTION members – presumably T-Bar, Mace and Slapjack – around ringside to cause chaos during the Rumble contest. Rather than that, all we saw from RETRIBUTION on 31 January was Mustafa Ali having a 13-minute stint in the men’s over-the-top extravaganza, entering at #4, chucking out Xavier Woods, then being tossed out himself by Big E.

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In one other RETRIBUTION note, Reckoning was originally booked to be in the women’s Royal Rumble match, but that obviously couldn’t happen once Mia Yim tested positive for COVID-19. For those wondering, it was Toni Storm who took her spot in the Rumble.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.