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Last night at the Royal Rumble PPV, the men and women of WWE competed in 2 Royal Rumble matches in order to decide which superstar will earn a title at WrestleMania. Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins emerged as the winners of the two matches. However, a lot of NXT stars made their presence felt in both the matches.
While the women's Royal Rumble had a total of 6 participants (Xia Li, Kairi Sane, Candice LeRae, Kacy Catanzaro, Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley) from NXT and NXT UK, the men's Royal Rumble match featured 3 superstars (Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black and Pete Dunne) from the developmental brands.
A lot of fans are confused why WWE chose to have these superstars in the match and so, here are the 3 potential reasons why WWE used so many NXT stars in Royal Rumble 2019-
#3 To get the new subscribers subscribe to the WWE Network
The WWE Network is one of the most important sources of income for WWE. NXT and NXT UK are the shows which air exclusively on the network unlike RAW and SmackDown Live. So, by showcasing the better part of the show's rosters on a grand PPV in front of a grand audience, the WWE made an attempt to get the non-subscribers as well as the new subscribers to join the WWE Network permanently.
We all know how smart Vince McMahon is as a businessman, and so, instead of having the legends participate in the Royal Rumble match, he decided to have his new and upcoming superstars get some exposure to the bigger audience. Bringing back the legends for a one-off appearance would not have provided the long-term benefits that these superstars' appearances will do.
#2 - To introduce the next NXT call-ups to the WWE Universe
Last year, WWE had very few NXT superstars in the Royal Rumble match and thus, they had to promote the upcoming stars' main roster arrival for a long time before their debuts took place. In the past few weeks, WWE heavily promoted the 6 new NXT call-ups before using them on the main roster, so as to give their proper introduction to the WWE Universe.
If we look at the superstars used in the 2 Royal Rumble matches, all of them will be on the main roster before 2019 ends. So, the Royal Rumble was the best stage to give the WWE Universe a glimpse of what is to come on the main roster. Also, this has opened up an opportunity of using any of these superstars this week on RAW or SmackDown Live, with some background.
#1 - To keep the legends away from the show
The only legendary superstar who was a part of the Royal Rumble match was Jeff Jarrett, who entered the men's match at #2. Apart from him, there were no Attitude Era stars who made their returns. 2 years ago, WWE had the likes of Goldberg and The Undertaker in the Royal Rumble match. The two legends were next used at WrestleMania 33, and their bookings drew strong criticism towards the WWE Creative.
Also Read - 3 tag teams WWE should form in 2019 and 3 that they should not
So, this year they decided to do away with that tradition and instead used NXT stars in the match. Also, WWE has plans of launching NXT as their third main brand and that could also be one of the reasons behind the NXT superstars' presence.
Which NXT superstar impressed you at Royal Rumble 2019? Share your answers in the comments box below.
