Jimmy Korderas defends lack of surprise entrants in WWE Royal Rumble

With the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble officially in the rearview mirror, one widespread criticism online is the fact that there were not many surprise entrants for both the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches.

On the most recent edition of Reffin Rant, former WWE official Jimmy Korderas spoke about the lack of surprises in this year's Royal Rumble matches and how it is not the company's fault.

"I thought the Royal Rumble matches were entertaining in themselves ... the story at the end of the main event between Roman and KO was amazing. But people were saying not enough surprises. Look, if you were concentrating on surprises in the Royal Rumble matches, and you were disappointed by there not being a Rock or whoever it may be, that's on you because they were never advertised." (H/T WrestlingInc)

Fans had many ideas regarding potential surprise entrants for the match, ranging from The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to Jay White and The Great Muta. However, WWE announced 27 men and 18 women for the Royal Rumble match before the event began in a way to deter fans' expectations for major surprises.

The Royal Rumble match has always been a way to debut or re-introduce wrestlers to the audience, and 2023 saw people like Nia Jax, Chelsea Green, Logan Paul, Edge, and Booker T all be surprise Rumble participants trying to earn a title shot at Wrestlemania 39.

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What is next for some of the surprise entrants from the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble?

There are some Wrestlemania 39 plans for a few surprises at this year's Royal Rumble, like Logan Paul. It was rumored that he wanted to face John Cena at this year's event, but it looks like WWE decided otherwise and could have a match against the likes of Ricochet with their interactions during the men's Rumble match. Paul could even face Seth Rollins, having been the one to make the huge elimination of the latter in the Rumble match.

There were surprise entrants that also have an interesting road ahead of them, such as Chelsea Green, who made her re-debut at the event and now holds the record for the quickest elimination in a Women's Royal Rumble match with five seconds.

What surprise entrant from this year's Royal Rumble would you like to see wrestle at Wrestlemania 39? Let us know in the comments section below.