WWE's Female Roster Didn't Know About The Women's Royal Rumble
Those surprised reactions? They were genuine...
According to the Pro Wrestling Sheet, WWE kept their female roster in the dark before Stephanie McMahon's historic announcement on this week's episode of Raw.
When McMahon revealed that the first ever all-female Royal Rumble match would take place at the long-running pay-per-view of the same name on January 28, wrestlers including Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Mickie James were left looking shocked.
It turns out they didn't know about the announcement beforehand, so their reactions were genuine.
WWE kept the news quiet behind the scenes before Steph gave the game away on live TV. Most on the production team were even out of the loop; just like the talent who are likely to work in the first ever women's Rumble, those backstage didn't have a clue it was happening.
This was obviously done to stop the news from leaking to the media. The announcement of a female Royal Rumble is huge (and makes perfect sense, especially following similar women's wrestling firsts at Hell In A Cell 2016 and this year's Money In The Bank), so it's hardly surprising WWE wanted to keep it under wraps.