Drew McIntyre’s Rumble Return, Former Superstar Almost Came Back

After Saturday’s big show, we’ve got some news behind Drew McIntyre’s Rumble return. And, a former Superstar almost came back at the event too.

Drew McIntyre’s Rumble Return

There weren’t many surprises on Saturday, but we’ve got some news on one we did have: Drew McIntyre’s Rumble return.

The former champion was written off television following Day 1, due to a reported neck injury.

And while fans might have questioned if the injury was legit, or if it was a way for WWE to give themselves an easy surprise return…doesn’t much matter.

During the lead up to both the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches, a lot of the surprise entrants got spoiled…or were flat out announced.

Not this one.

source: @DMcintyreWWE, Twitter, Screenshot

McIntyre’s Rumble return was kept a surprise to almost everyone. And, it worked out.

According to PWInsider, Drew McIntyre went the extra mile to make sure his Rumble return caught as many people by surprise as possible.

While many Superstars arrive to the arena hours before the opening bell, Drew did not.

McIntyre arrived after the show had started, and stayed as far away from the rest of the roster as possible.

Per the report, some did not even know McIntyre was returning in the Rumble until he showed up at the Gorilla position.

In the grand scheme of things, provided his neck injuries were not that severe, his return made some sense.

Still, on a premium live event where most surprises were spoiled or underwhelmed, McIntyre’s was pretty enjoyable.

The fans in St. Louis loved it, as once his music hit, he received one of the night’s biggest pops.

Former Superstar Almost Came Back

The Royal Rumble is often the scene for many returns, and one former Superstar almost came back on Saturday.

For whatever reason, the stars didn’t align and we are talking about how this former Superstar almost came back…rather than discussing her appearance.

In this specific instance, we are talking about Lana.

source: @WrestlingNewsCo, Twitter, Screenshot

Released during one of WWE’s many rounds of releases in 2021, the company was working to bring her back for the Rumble.

If you watched the show, you’d know we did not see Lana in the match. Things did not come together, and she was not in the match.

Of course, that we didn’t get her surprise return during the Rumble might not be that notable.

As we approached Saturday, plenty of names were rumored for the men’s and women’s matches…not all of them appeared.

Heck, some rumored names were even backstage in St. Louis on Saturday…but were not called upon.

PWInsider’s report mentioned that the company was working hard to get Lana back for the match. However, things did not work out.

It will be interesting to see if the company’s interest in Lana was strictly in a Rumble cameo, or if things might get revisited soon enough.

Relative to those other rumored returns we didn’t get? PWInsider implied that WWE had more talent on hand than slots for both the men’s and women’s matches.

In other words, some of them were insurance plans, should someone be unable to get cleared to go, or should someone change his mind.