2023 WWE Royal Rumble surprise entrant was asked to appear nine days before the event

During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Michelle McCool talked about being a surprise entrant in the 2023 women’s WWE Royal Rumble match…

“There was a little bit of uproar on the internet which, power to the people, they kept guessing if I was going to be there, and I was not lying. I was like, ‘Nope, I mean, I’ll be there, but I’ll be there with my daughter watching like I normally do because she loves it.’ It’s right down the road. We planned on going anyway. My husband’s show was the night before.’ I wasn’t lying. I was like, ‘They didn’t call me.’ I would have loved to, obviously being in Texas, home state, whatever. So it was Thursday night and I got a call. I’m like, ‘Seriously, nine days before the Rumble you’re asking me to wrestle? I can’t even get ring gear made. I can’t get in ring shape.’ That’s a whole different ballgame. Y’all know, you can be in decent shape but ring shape is different. I was like, I can’t get gear made. The guy that called me said, ‘Just pull out some old ring gear.’ I’m like, ‘No, that’s kind of all we have when we come back is try to make a statement with your ring gear.’ I was like, ‘Let me think about it.’ So he’s like,’Just sleep on.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t know.’ Then I was like, you know, my daughter, she still likes to see it every once in a while. So I said, ‘Okay, I can’t get ring gear made. What if I come out of the audience?’ He’s like, ‘Oh, I like that.’ I go, ‘Can I wear my Uggs and my sweatpants?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, done.’ So I was like, ‘Alright good. If I get to wrestle in my sweats and Uggs, I’m in.’ So, I took some crosses off my old gear, put them on my sweatpants, and literally, that’s how that happened. So I didn’t lie to the people though.” (quote courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)