5 biggest rumors that didn't come true at WWE Royal Rumble

#2. Cody Rhodes did not show up as a surprise entrant

Talks of WWE possibly walking through the Forbidden Door have been in the news ever since AEW began working with other wrestling promotions. WWE added more fuel to the fire by announcing that the IMPACT Knockouts Champion Mickie James would appear in the Women's Rumble Match.

The move hinted at Vince McMahon finally joining hands with other companies for the benefit of the whole industry.

The rumor mill was full of speculation that AEW star Cody Rhodes would take advantage of the Forbidden Door to return to WWE. Cody's contractual status with AEW is up in the air as he is presumably a free agent right now. Unfortunately, people's fantasy of witnessing the grand return of The American Nightmare didn't become a reality at Royal Rumble.

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#1. Jon Moxley also didn't return to WWE for Saturday's premium live event.

Like Cody, Jon Moxley is another AEW star who was rumored to appear at the Royal Rumble. Addressing those rumors, Renne Paquette claimed that people would lose their minds if the former AEW Champion entered the 30 Men Battle Royal:

"We don’t live that far from St. Louis…We’re within driving distance…It would melt people’s brains. People would lose their minds! What music does he come out to? Does he get to come out to Wild Thing? He has to, right? You know what? I actually like the 'Lunatic Fringe' music. I actually liked that, I thought it was pretty good."

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins also mentioned the former Lunatic Fringe a couple of times during their segments.

All these indications led people to believe that Moxley was indeed coming back to settle his scores with his former Shield buddies. Sadly, it all turned out to be nothing more than false speculation.