Summer Rae Was Worried Before WWE Royal Rumble

Wrestlers who return for Royal Rumble matches are often met with positive reactions from fans who enjoy taking a trip down memory lane. However, that doesn't stop the talent from worrying about how the WWE Universe will react to them, which is what Summer Rae felt before her 2022 appearance in the women's Royal Rumble match.

"I was like, 'Maybe they won't recognize me, maybe they won't care,'" she said on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet." "Then I got a really big reaction and I was like, 'Well that's really cool.'"

Rae admitted to being nervous ahead of time when she was backstage going over the match, particularly because it was her first Royal Rumble. While she only got limited time in the ring, she admitted that it ends up leading to people wanting more.

"I'll show up and do what you want, but I'm going to get my stuff over character-wise online and I'm going to get myself over," she said. "You don't go in there and mess up a 10-minute thing and then they never want to see you again."

WWE decided to pre-announce the non-WWE competitors in the women's match that year which Rae admitted she was bummed out about. However, she did build up her appearance online ahead of time by trading shots with Natalya.

"I knew what I was given was two minutes and I was going to make the best of it, so it definitely wasn't the, 'F you.' Nattie and I milked our storyline," she said. "I felt like no one thought I was going to come back ever and I'm so good at hiding stuff, like pretending that I'm somewhere else. I was like, 'Ah, I'm going to pretend I'm in Dubai or something.'"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc.