Original Plan for 'Royal Rumble' United States Title Match

Many were surprised that Mojo Rawley was chosen as the challenger for Bobby Roode’s United States Championship Open Challenge on the ‘Royal Rumble’ pre-show last night.

We have some backstage news on what the original plans were for the match that was seemingly discarded amidst the hype of the ‘Royal Rumble‘ event.

According to PWInsider, the original match plan was for Dolph Ziggler to make his return to the ring and face his former rival in Roode for the Championship.

However, this match was changed on the night and Rawley was instead chosen for the opponent so Ziggler could appear and make a shock return as the 30th entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble match.

This was Ziggler’s first appearance with WWE since he vacated the Championship on the December 19, 2017, edition of ‘Smackdown Live.’

This was in an angle where it was to be believed he left the company. Ziggler had even been taken off live events to make the angle more realistic.

It has been noted Ziggler will be back with ‘Smackdown Live’ tonight.

Take a look at the match Roode had against Rawley on the ‘Royal Rumble’ pre-show below.

Mojo Rawley drives U.S. Champion Bobby Roode into the ringside barrier: Royal Rumble 2018 Kickoff

Were you excited to see Ziggler back? Who should Roode feud with?

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