"Who's this skinny guy?" - Wrestling veteran on Riddle being originally planned to win the Royal Rumble (Exclusive)

The Original Bro was originally scheduled to win the Royal Rumble

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo recently discussed the rumors about Riddle winning the Royal Rumble.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider recently reported that Riddle was pegged as the winner of the Royal Rumble match and plans were later changed to have Brock Lesnar win it as a surprise entrant.

Speaking with Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW, Russo addressed the rumors of the RK-Bro member originally being set up to win the Royal Rumble.

Here's what Russo had to say about the rumors:

"You got to understand the casual wrestling fans. In their mind, because they were trained for decades and decades and decades, a professional wrestler looks a certain way. Riddle's got a great personality, he's over with the young crowd, there's no doubt about that. But to the casual fan, you're seeing a guy like Riddle and you're saying, who's this skinny guy?" [29:15-29:52]

You can watch the full video here:

Vince Russo believes WWE chose Lesnar ahead of Riddle because they are playing safe

Vince Russo detailed that WWE wanted to play it safe with big names winning the men's and women's Rumble matches rather than pushing up-and-comers. However, Russo noted that WWE's risk-averse tendencies might catch up with them in the long run.

"Bro, they're playing it safe right now. They're going with the big draws. You can keep playing it safe, it's going to catch up with you. And I think it has. Because when you look at it, what do we got after the Royal Rumble? We got the same players in the same positions. Nobody has gotten in a better spot. What do you have after the Royal Rumble?" Russo said. [28:00-28:46]

#TheBeast punches his ticket to #WrestleMania!

#RoyalRumble @BrockLesnar https://t.co/mYX6h0pPyP

Do you agree with Vince Russo? Should we have seen an unexpected winner in the 2022 Royal Rumble? Sound off in the comments.

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