Details on what changed due to CM Punk's injury, top merch sellers, more (Patreon)

There's a lot of discourse around CM Punk's triceps injury and what was planned for the WWE Royal Rumble.

A popular conspiracy theory among fans that they've inquired to Fightful about is the idea that CM Punk was actually supposed to win the WWE Royal Rumble, knew he sustained an injury, and an audible was called. However, we're told that wasn't true. Cody Rhodes was scheduled to win the WWE Royal Rumble, and things unfolded as they were intended to.

However, the creative on WWE Raw adjusted from what was planned as of Saturday night at the WWE Royal Rumble. We're told that is directly tied to CM Punk's injury, and that the Seth Rollins/Cody segment was added as a result of Punk's injury. 

It was a big merchandise weekend for Cody Rhodes, as internal memos also indicated that he was the top selling superstar at the WWE Superstore, at Tropicana Field, and the "Rumble Winner" shirt was the top seller on WWE Shop.