Major Royal Rumble news: Shane McMahon, Riddle, Drew, extra names, more

With the Royal Rumble now having come and gone, we've got lots of news on the show.

There were tons of extras and backups in town who were not used. Apollo Crews, R-Truth Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, Aksana, Jillian Hall were all in town for the show, and served to do media events or backup work. Kaitlyn was also around but we're not told if she was an alternate. The NXT talent that was in Kansas City for dark matches were not brought to St. Louis for the Royal Rumble. We were told by NXT talent as far as three weeks before the Royal Rumble that some of them were tipped off that they likely wouldn't be used, and that WWE wanted to lean away from using NXT 2.0 talent. No reason why was given.

From a producer standpoint, Shane McMahon wasn't listed internally as a producer for the match, but to confirm Ringside News' report, we're told that he was heavily involved the match, particularly a lot of the late changes that happened. One source indicated that even separate of that, it was the most frustrating and stressful experience of their WWE careers, and things were changing right up to the minute people would go through the curtain. Specifically, we're told Vince McMahon changed the order of the men's Royal Rumble, and there were a few times where people going out didn't know who they were eliminating.

As published earlier, regarding PWInsider's report that Riddle was set to win the Royal Rumble until a last minute change, top talent and longtime names in the company claim that isn't true, with multiple noting that they've been hearing that Brock Lesnar has been penciled in to be the winner at least two weeks prior. People close to Riddle say that he was never told that he'd be winning the match, and another person wouldn't reveal who a previously discussed winner was, but said only one was heard about before Lesnar, and it wasn't Riddle. 

Fit Finlay was brought in, as Tyson Kidd has not been producing matches for WWE for several weeks now, with several stars saying the reason was actually tied to this Royal Rumble. We've confirmed with the company Kidd is still there as a producer technically, but his absence was felt on Saturday. Those who participated in the match said it was a mess, and the morale was already low. One talent noted that they should have had more main roster or contracted talent than veterans on hand for the Royal Rumble match. It was called "complete chaos" by one talent. We've heard of at least one women's talent that passed on doing the Royal Rumble because they learned TJ Wilson wasn't producing.

We heard from several talent that grew increasingly frustrated over the fact that so many on screen pairings, whether they be teams or feuds were not paid off. Many pointed to the Mysterios and Street Profits being used to promote the Rumble match, with no furthering or interaction between them. We'll have more on this this week. 

Regarding several of the names discussed, we're told that Asuka and Kairi Sane's names were brought up, but WWE didn't feel Asuka was physically ready, and that it was easier to bring in other talent than Kairi Sane.

Drew McIntyre's appearance was kept very quiet, and him even being able to appear wasn't a sure thing. We've been told that he's not quite 100 percent, and is continuing to rehabilitate his neck. He first sustained his injury in 2016, and has been working around it ever since. There were many within the company that had no idea Drew McIntyre was back until he appeared at Gorilla position.

After the show to help get the audience happy, Randy Orton posed for the hometown crowd. The WrestleMania sign caught on fire multiple times, and fans were evacuated from the area twice. Those near Gorilla Position didn't know until it was already being lowered. Before Brock Lesnar's win, the audience was evacuated from there again, and it caught fire again.