The reason there was confusion regarding Alex Riley’s elimination is that he was not supposed to go out when he did. He was told to hang on when thrown over, which is why the announcers were confused and didn’t call his elimination. Wrestleview.com’s Managing Editor Hunter Golden, who attended the show live in Boston, noted to us on our “Royal Rumble PPV Post-Show” on the Wrestleview Radio Network last night that Riley’s elimination came off confusing live as well. Golden added, “We were watching live and Alex Riley got eliminated early. The referees went bonkers, like screaming at him. You could see guys in the ring having a ‘what are you doing?’ look as well. We then saw discussion at the announce table and one of the referees went over to the timekeepers table and you could visibly see them talking to someone in the back. At the time I was talking with other people thinking wow, they are pissed.”
Both David Hart Smith and Darren Young were originally announced as participants in the 40 man Royal Rumble, but were not at the show and it turns out they weren’t scheduled to be despite WWE.com listing their names. Both were told last week they were out of the match.
While not completely confirmed, during the Rumble when Kevin Nash as Diesel was getting up, one of the referees told him something and at that point they did the stare down with the Big Show spot. The belief is that it could have been a backstage audible based on how over he was during his entrance.