Rumoured Reason Why Charlotte Flair Won WWE's Royal Rumble

Was this more than a last-minute decision?

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WWE.com

The latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio continued to speculate on why Charlotte Flair won the women's 2020 Royal Rumble.

According to Observer chief Dave Meltzer, WWE booked the result to "pay a debt" to Charlotte that had been hanging over them for a while. This apparently relates to promises that were made but weren't kept by the promotion over the past few years.

If true, that's quite revealing. It suggests that WWE had major plans for Flair (title runs, perhaps, or maybe she was the original winner at WrestleMania 35?) and didn't come through on them. Seeking an easy solution to make things up to her, the company then changed their mind on Shayna Baszler winning the Rumble and gave the match to Charlotte instead.

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Interesting.

There was no word from Meltzer on what this debt included, but it's easy to let one's mind go wild here. It's also true that Charlotte hasn't exactly been starved of success during her WWE run; she's held the Raw Women's Title four times, the SmackDown belt five times, won the NXT Title early on and even bagged the old Divas belt back in 2015.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.