Road Dogg Recalls Putting Together WWE's Greatest Royal Rumble, Says Rey Mysterio Almost Won

While WWE has been running shows in Saudi Arabia since April 2014, their first premium live event didn't come to the country until April 2018, when the Greatest Royal Rumble arrived featuring seven championship matches as well as a 50-Man Royal Rumble Match. Braun Strowman emerged victorious in the main event, but according to WWE's Senior Vice President of Live Events Brian "Road Dogg" James, that call could've gone Rey Mysterio's way instead.

"Yeah, it's incredibly difficult," he said on "Oh You Didn't Know" regarding putting together the match itself. "But it really lends to the producers and the talent, to the ability they have."

A typical Royal Rumble match features 30 superstars, so an additional 20 could complicate things in a hurry. What can be fun for the average viewer, if not a little chaotic, made things a little more frantic than usual backstage. Everything had to be right, from timing to compact storytelling, which caused James to reiterate his praise for the talent. "It speaks volumes to how good the producers and the talent are that they can go out there and do that with very little communication," he continued.

The match itself lasted nearly 80 minutes, with Daniel Bryan (AEW's Bryan Danielson) competing for over an hour before being eliminated second-last by Big Cass (AEW's Big Bill). And in the lead-up, Mysterio's name was mentioned, although he ended up being eliminated nearly 20 minutes before the match had even concluded. "I know there was talk of Rey winning just because he was coming back..." James suggested. "But Braun was kind of the guy we were running with and pushing as a big, big monster."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Oh You Didn't Know" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.