Roman Reigns, The Rock, and 2 other WWE Superstars who were initially scheduled to win the Royal Rumble

With WWE's Royal Rumble event just right around the corner, one might start to recollect all the past superstars who've successfully won the event's namesake.

Alas, this article pertains to a different bunch.

This piece serves as a brief look back at some of WWE's potentially missed opportunities in regards to the Royal Rumble match as well as the superstars who were snubbed out of the opportunity.

Here are a few WWE Superstars who were scheduled to win the Royal Rumble, but didn't.

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#4. The Queen of Spades, Shayna Baszler (In 2020)

Although she may be playing sidekick to Ronda Rousey at the moment, let's not forget the destructively dominant run Shayna Baszler was on upon her initial main roster call-up.

Before her rise to prominence on the Raw/SmackDown brands, Baszler proved to be next to unbeatable in NXT; things didn't change after she left.

The Queen of Spades laid waste to nearly every opponent that stood in her path and despite not winning the 2020 Royal Rumble, she avenged this setback via powering her way through 5 other competitors inside the Elimination Chamber for a shot at Becky Lynch's WWE Raw Women's Title.

What some may not know is that Baszler was set to win the Rumble that year, according to WrestleTalk via Fightful.

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#3. The Second City Saint, CM Punk (In 2008)

It's no secret that CM Punk and Vince McMahon didn't always see eye to eye during his tenure with the company.

Their disputes ranged from WrestleMania opponents to main-event matches. We can now add a snubbed Royal Rumble victory to that list, as Punk stated that he was scheduled to win the match in 2008 in lieu of John Cena.

If you're a sucker for statistics, The former Doctor of Thuganomics has won the Royal Rumble a total of two times to date. His most recent victory occurred in 2013; the first pertains to the previous entry.

While Punk didn't win the 2008 Royal Rumble match, he was successful in winning the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at that year's WrestleMania; no harm, no foul?

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#2. The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment, The Rock (In 2019)

The Rock vs. Roman Reigns has been a dream bout that many fans have been wanting for quite a while. As of 2022, the match is yet to take place despite rumors that there's still a chance the two could duke it out within the next couple of WrestleManias.

Interestingly enough, WWE may already have plans to book this showdown, as WrestleVotes tweeted that The Rock was scheduled to win the 2019 Men's Royal Rumble match; subsequently facing The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 35.

While this never happened, it might have been for the best; as Reigns was still considered a polarizing figure at the time and was over a year away from the heel turn that many consider to be his turning point.

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#1. The current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns (In 2020)

While Reigns started 2020 off the same way he ended 2019, the latter part of that year marked the end of Roman's days as The Big Dog and the subsequent rise of The Tribal Chief.

Then, Covid struck us all, and Reigns understandably decided to step away.

Following his return, Reigns entered a feud with Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman that resulted in The Head of the Table capturing the WWE Universal Championship; a title he still holds to this very day.

According to Dave Meltzer (by way of WhatCultue), The Tribal Chief's 2020 was initially scheduled to start off differently, as he was slated to win that year's Royal Rumble bout instead of Drew McIntyre.

All in all, the change worked well for both men, as Drew solidified himself as a bonafide main attraction and Roman Reigns would soon reestablish himself as the man we've come to know: The longest-reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion of all time.