Royce Keys, the previous Powerhouse Hobbs in AEW, made his WWE debut in a giant way, entering the Royal Rumble match at #14. While he didn’t emerge from the 30-man battle victorious, he still had a very good showing, and he eliminated former World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest from the match. Following his arrival to the corporate, WWE posted a video to its YouTube channel of Keys backstage ahead of the match. He was shown soaking all of it in before fans filled the world.
“That is wild. That is something like out of a movie, man,” he said. “This whole set-up. Walking out on this aisle and into the ring and the background. It’s pretty amazing, man. Just getting goosebumps under this sweatshirt. It’s crazy… Never thought I’d be a part of something this big. This is large. Resulting in the granddaddy of all of them, you realize. WrestleMania. So this starts tonight.”
Cody Rhodes made an appearance within the video. He joked that it wasn’t Keys’ music he hoped to listen to on the Rumble. Keys said Rhodes didn’t understand how special he was to him, and explained Rhodes was there for him through the hardest time of his life, when his mother passed away. Keys said it was special to see familiar faces backstage, and the video showed him interacting with each Carmelo Hayes and CM Punk, who wished him well.
Keys Able to Make Impact in WWE
Keys, a former AEW TNT and World Trios Champion, said that growing up a wrestling fan, being on the Royal Rumble was a dream for him. He said growing up, he wrestled in loads of backyard Royal Rumbles. He said he got goosebumps and butterflies just talking about all of it.
“It’s one in every of those things, like, you are realizing your dreams are like, right there,” Keys explained. “Just gotta reach out and grab it and also you’re here. I’m a believer that things occur and the universe plays out every little thing. So you don’t need to have any regrets. I personally don’t love looking back at things in life. I don’t love second guessing myself or, ‘What if I had done this? Possibly I must have done that? What if?’ Every part lined up and made sense to be here.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque was also seen within the video, telling Keys they will get him in “a very good place.” Keys explained that the COO also told him that he’s there for a reason, which helped ease his nerves. While he didn’t find yourself winning the Rumble, Keys said he was in WWE to “show up and show out.”
“We will do 100 [mph] straight ahead,” he said. “That is what I’m here for. That is the job I even have tonight and that is what I plan on doing.”
If you happen to use any quotes from this text, please credit WWE and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.