Image: WWE

According to Dave Meltzer on Sunday’s Wrestling Observer Radio (sub needed), the evolution of this year’s WWE WrestleMania card caused the winners of both Royal Rumble matches to be changed.

Meltzer said that Shayna Baszler and Roman Reigns were slated to win their respective Rumbles but as planning for the top matches at WrestleMania played out, the decision was made to go with Charlotte Flair and Drew McIntyre instead.

He believes the change was made on or around January 14th as betting money changed drastically in favor of Flair winning.

Baszler entered the women’s Rumble 30th and survived until the end when she was eliminated by Flair to end the match. Similarly, Reigns entered 26th in the men’s Rumble and was eliminated by McIntyre to end the match. 

Meltzer said as of now, the Mania card is as follows:

– WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
– WWE Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns
– Edge vs. Randy Orton