Alexa Bliss had heads turned and tongues wagging with her dramatic return to WWE at Royal Rumble earlier this month.
The multi-time former world champion had been out of action for the last two years but made a stunning comeback in the women’s Rumble match.
Her outing was a short one – she was soon eliminated from the affair – but her comeback proved to be one of the huge hits of the night for the 70,000 strong crowd and those watching at home.
The call to have Bliss feature appears to have been a late one. Reports had noted that the star and WWE were ‘far apart’ in talks over a new contract with the company, leading many to wonder if she would come back at all.
She did, though, and blew the roof of the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in the process.
Coming out of the Rumble, Fightful in the US detailed just how close a call it had been in terms of timing – and that one WWE superstar in particular had missed out as a result.
Shotzi, a star on NXT, had been lined up to feature in the women’s Rumble match but, owing to the return of Bliss, looks to have been axed from the high-profile appearance.
The energetic grappler had herself not long returned from a long-term injury, having torn her ACL during a match on NXT in February, forcing her to miss months of action.
She made a return just in time to close out 2024, and had been wrestling again on what is WWE’s developmental brand ahead of the epic show on February 1 in which a string of other NXT stars were called upon to feature.
The 32-year-old missed out, though, with Fightful noting: “[As of] of the start of Saturday, other participants had no idea that Alexa Bliss would be in the Royal Rumble, and she wasn’t at the Friday rehearsals. In fact, originally another person was slated for the spot that Alexa was in.
“Shotzi was originally planned for the Royal Rumble, making her first main roster appearance since last year’s Royal Rumble.”
They later added: “[Alexa’s] deal was signed on Saturday, and Bliss was flown into Indianapolis for the WWE Royal Rumble the same day. Prior, Shotzi was going to be in the Rumble.”
4
4
4
Shotzi is undoubtedly highly thought of in WWE and, given the circumstances of Bliss’ long-awaited comeback, her Rumble axing will, while painful, have to be chalked up to being just one of those things.
Fightful added there were reportedly no hard feelings towards the multi-time former world champion for edging out her colleague, though many understandably felt bad for Shotzi.
In a backstage photo from the event, the livewire WWE Performance Center graduate can be seen sat alone in the dressing room, part ready for action, as fellow stars pose in the foreground.
“Heartbreaking,” said one reply to the image, while another read: “That’s actually really sad.”
A third added: “Poor Shotzi, she didn’t deserve to be sidelined,” but another balanced the sentiment with the valid observation: “If you all knew how many extra people they bring to the rumble every year for things like this + potential injuries, you’d all be very very sad.”
Bliss will now settle into her comeback to WWE after her lengthy spell away, while Shotzi, Fightful said, could soon be primed for a return to main roster action in any case.
As they say, as one door closes…