-- As reported before, WWE brought in several extras for the recently completed Royal Rumble in case some of the booked talent were unable to compete or weren't able to clear medical protocols. Fightfulselect.com reports that some of the names backstage that were not used include Apollo Crews, R-Truth, Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, Aksana and Jillian Hall. Kaitlyn was also in town but it's unclear if she was brought in to be backup.
-- As far as the lack of NXT talent in the Rumble, none of the talent that were at Smackdown for dark matches were brought into St. Louis for the PPV and some talent were already tipped off that they wouldn't be used. WWE reportedly wanted to "lean away" from using NXT talent though no reason was given why.
-- One wrestler who was rumored to be making her return but didn't was Asuka. Fightfulselect.com reports that the reason WWE didn't use her is because they felt she wasn't physically ready to compete. Her fellow countrywoman Kairi Sane was also a name rumored, but WWE shied away from using her because the feeling was it simply easier to bring in other talent than to fly Sane in from Japan.
