As seen at the WWE Royal Rumble PPV on Sunday night, Bobby Roode resurrected The United States Title Open Challenge, and former Hype Bros member Mojo Rawley answered the challenge in a losing effort to Roode.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, two other names were penciled in at one point to challenge Roode at the PPV, and one was Dolph Ziggler, who ended up making his WWE TV return as entrant number 30 in the Men’s Royal Rumble match.
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Meltzer also noted that at one point NXT star Adam Cole was scheduled to challenge Bobby Roode, but those plans were changed when WWE officials felt Cole did not need to lose an under 10 minute match to Roode, as he had just lost his Extreme Rules match the night before at NXT Takeover.
Cole ended up making his presence felt at the PPV, however, as he entered the Royal Rumble match at number 23 and was eventually eliminated by Rey Mysterio. Other notable NXT stars who made surprise appearances in the Royal Rumble match include NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas, and Kairi Sane made an appearance in the Women’s Royal Rumble match.
Wrestling Observer Radio