WWE Knew HOFer Was Interested In Surprise Royal Rumble Return

WWE Hall Of Famer Sean Waltman recently spoke with Sports Illustrated ahead of his upcoming return to the ring. Because fans know he is wrestling again soon, there had been speculation that he'd be in the Royal Rumble this year. However, that wasn't for a lack of trying. The former D-Generation X star revealed he told WWE he would be ready if needed.

"As far as the Royal Rumble, I gave them a heads up I'd be ready if they wanted me," Waltman says. "I wasn't actively campaigning for it. I wasn't going to do that. But I let them know, and I guess they weren't interested."

Ultimately, Sean Waltman was not part of the Rumble this year. The men's match did have a lack of surprises overall, which was one of the complaints that fans had. Shane McMahon and Bad Bunny were the two non-roster members to make appearances in the main event. Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre returned from injury, and Brock Lesnar appeared unannounced in the #30 slot to actually win.

During his recent Hall Of Fame podcast, Booker T spoke about the lack of surprises on Saturday. He admitted that not having them was something that the match was missing.

"I think the men's Royal Rumble was missing those organic surprises," Booker admitted. "I think that's what it was missing, I think it was missing, for instance, 'one of a kind, RVD' showing up. That's what the Royal Rumble was pretty much built upon. Who are we going to see that we totally didn't expect to see, but man we are so happy to see him. One of those types of moments. I think we missed out on that, I think the Royal Rumble this year was about the finish."

For Sean Waltman, he will be soon lacing up his boots once again, but not for WWE. He will be competing in his first match since 2019 later on this month. The 49-year-old will be teaming up with AEW's Joey Janela to take on Matt Cardona and Brian Myers. The tag team match will happen at GCW's Welcome to Heartbreak on February 25 in Los Angeles.