What’s the story?
While it was earlier noted that Zack Sabre Jr.’s name was spotted in a Royal Rumble graphic, it was pointed out by a twitter user that Sting’s name was mentioned in a graphic in the NXT Takeover: San Antonio pre-show
Iwnerd.com noted that Fabian Aichner, who competed in the first round of the Cruiserweight Classic was said to be spotted as well.
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In case you didn’t know...
Zack Sabre Jr. was first involved with WWE when he participated in the Cruiserweight Classic. He made it to the semi-finals until he was eliminated by tournament runner-up Gran Metalik. He is one name WWE have been rumoured to be pursuing to sign a deal, but Sabre Jr. has stated that he wants to accomplish a lot outside WWE before making the eventual switch.
Sting had the last match of his career against Seth Rollins at Night Of Champions in 2015, where he got injured, thus ending his in-ring career. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2016.
The heart of the matter
It is not clear whether WWE intends to use these names for the Royal Rumble, or it was just something done by the video editing team. From the look of it, it may just be the latter. WWE will very unlikely sacrifice one of the 8 spots remaining in the Royal Rumble match to someone not signed, and someone who is not cleared to compete in the ring anymore.
However, it does lead to a lot of speculation, especially since the 2017 Royal Rumble is one of the most unpredictable Rumble matches in years. It is also said to be one of the most star-studded Rumble matches since 1992.
What’s next?
While the names might be there on the graphics, it is very unlikely that any of them will have a spot on the Royal Rumble card.
Sportskeeda’s take
The names on the graphic may have just put in by the editors. Whether it was to fill in space or just out of personal amusement is not known. However, it is highly unlikely these names will have a spot in the Rumble, and they should not either. The remaining spots should go to returning legends, current superstars and NXT call-ups.
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