5 Biggest questions from this week’s WWE RAW, NXT, and SmackDown

#3 Why was Ricochet denied entry into the 2021 WWE Royal Rumble?

Can @KingRicochet get into the #RoyalRumble on the Road to #WrestleMania? pic.twitter.com/p0tRG6SyXR

— WWE (@WWE) January 19, 2021

Ricochet has been a consistent performer on WWE RAW. Not only is Ricochet a former United States Champion, but he is also one of the best high-flying wrestlers in the company today. Keeping in mind how Riccohet performed in last year’s Royal Rumble match, why was he denied entry into the 2021 WWE Royal Rumble?

Superstars of both WWE RAW and SmackDown have been declaring their entry into the Royal Rumble on a daily basis. However, Drew Gulak was the first man who was denied entry when he lost a match to AJ Styles.

While Gulak has a mountain to climb ahead of him to come across as a legitimate threat, Ricochet has managed to climb that mountain before.

Last year, Ricochet was instrumental in getting the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar eliminated from the Royal Rumble. Ricochet also earned a WWE Championship match against Lesnar soon after.

GIF reacts only to this #RoyalRumble 2020 elimination ⤵️@DMcIntyreWWE @BrockLesnar pic.twitter.com/DG5WLNKVMa

— WWE (@WWE) January 14, 2021

However, having him compete against Styles on WWE RAW in an attempt to qualify for the Royal Rumble match did not make much sense. Had Ricochet still been in the storyline with RETRIBUTION, where Mustafa Ali kept questioning his position on the card, wouldn't the loss have made more sense?

It’s actually pretty simple: Those that have been granted the ability to simply declare entry into the Royal Rumble *by management* are free to do so. Those that haven’t must qualify. I don’t write the rules, I enforce them. 🤷‍♂️

— Adam Pearce (@ScrapDaddyAP) January 20, 2021

Now that Ricochet seems to be past his rivalry against RETRIBUTION, WWE should have allowed The One and Only to enter the Rumble match.