What if the Runner Ups Won the 2024 Royal Rumble? (CM Punk and Liv Morgan)

What if…the runners up of the 2024 Royal Rumble were actually the winners?

Royal Rumble

Because of the knowledge of Liv Morgan winning the Royal Rumble, the Logan Paul and Kevin Owens US Title Match gets removed from the card. This is a match WWE wanted to do for a while, and with Becky Lynch’s contract running up at this time, the Royal Rumble would be the best place to put it.

Logan Paul and Kevin Owens get added into the Royal Rumble match (I’d have them replace Pat McAfee and JD McDonagh) to get extra star power in there. With Becky Lynch gone, Isla Dawn takes her spot in the match but doesn’t make it as far as her. In the Royal Rumble, Logan Paul gets eliminated by Kevin Owens, while KO is out by Drew McIntyre (right by Sami comes in at number 30). Kevin encourages Sami as he returns at number 30.

1. Women’s Royal Rumble -> Winner Liv Morgan 
2. Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles vs LA Knight vs Randy Orton (WWE Title) -> Winner Roman Reigns
3. Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch (Women’s World Title) -> Winner Rhea Ripley 
4. Men’s Royal Rumble -> Winner CM Punk 

Champions:

• WWE Title -> Roman Reigns 
• World Title -> Seth Rollins 
• Women’s Title -> IYO Sky 
• Women’s World Title -> Rhea Ripley 
• IC Title -> Gunther 
• US Title -> Logan Paul 
• Tag Titles -> Finn Balor and Damien Priest
• Women’s Tag Titles -> Kabuki Warriors

CM Punk remains injured during the Royal Rumble as usual and cannot compete at WrestleMania. This becomes a major problem as both World Titles do not have challengers heading into Mania 40. General Managers discuss on the Raw after the Rumble what they’d do in this situation.

The Smackdown afterwards, The Rock confronts Roman Reigns, wanting a Title match. During the Press conference, a major change happens when CM Punk gets more involved. He tells The Rock that he doesn’t deserve a title match, and that he’s just another part-timer, taking a spot away from the roster.

Punk and Rock have a staredown, until Drew McIntyre takes him out from behind. This is where he gets injured in kayfabe. Cody Rhodes comes to his rescue and stares down Roman Reigns and The Rock. The Bloodline walk off, where Seth Rollins gets into Cody Rhodes’s face. He tells Cody that if anyone chooses to help CM Punk, doesn’t need mine.

Friendships

In this situation, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes do not team up against the Rock and Roman Reigns, due to his friendship with CM Punk. Deep down he wants to take down Roman Reigns, but doesn’t want to align with Punk.

Adam Pierce and Nick Adis both decide that they will hold 3 Elimination Chamber matches for the first time ever in Perth. One for the winner to face Roman Reigns, one for Seth Rollins, and one for IYO SKY. Liv Morgan decides to challenge Rhea Ripley and wants to seek revenge for taking her out months ago. In this early portion, Liv Morgan is the babyface, while Rhea Ripley is the heel.

With Cody Rhodes being the runner-up in the Royal Rumble, both general managers decide that Cody Rhodes can choose which Elimination Chamber match he wants to be in. He decides to challenge in the WWE Title Chamber match, being the first member added.

Also, due to negotiations, Logan Paul is able to convince his way into the Elimination Chamber match without having to qualify. This gets heat on him, despite him not lasting all too long in the Royal Rumble. The other four spots for the WWE Title Chamber match follow like this:

1. Randy Orton vs AJ Styles -> Winner Randy Orton
2. LA Knight vs Santos Escobar -> Winner LA Knight
3. Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory -> Winner Kevin Owens
4. Bobby Lashley vs Karrion Kross -> Winner Bobby Lashley

WOrld Title

For the World Heavyweight Title, Drew McIntyre gets added without qualifying as he was the last non-champion (outside of Cody Rhodes) to be eliminated from the Royal Rumble. Jey Uso lasted the longest amount of time in the Rumble, giving him a spot as well. Gunther decides to focus on defending the IC title at Mania, not wanting to be an animal locked in a cage (it’s mainly due to him not being able to travel, but that’s my kayfabe reason).

The Judgement Day discuss which among them should qualify, where Rhea speaks up for Dominik Mysterio to be in there. Since he’s the only one without a title, Rhea believes that he could complete the Judgement Day’s look as the World Champion. This annoys Finn Balor, but he bottles that inside. The other four spots for the World Title Chamber match follow as this:

1. Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura -> Winner Sami Zayn
2. Dominik Mysterio vs The Miz -> Winner Dominik Mysterio
3. Ricochet vs Chad Gable -> Winner Ricochet
4. Bronson Reed vs Ivar -> Winner Bronson Reed

The Women’s Elimination Chamber match stays pretty similar, but with Bayley taking Liv Morgan’s spot. All of the qualifiers for these were

1. Becky Lynch vs Shanya Baszler -> Winner Becky Lynch
2. Raquel Rodriquez vs Zoey Stark -> Winner Raquel Rodiquez
3. Bianca Belair vs Michin -> Winner Bianca Belair
4. Tiffany Stratton vs Zelina Vega -> Winner Tiffany Stratton
5. Naomi vs Alba Fyre -> Winner Naomi
6. Last Chance Battle Royale -> Winner Bayley

Bayley in the Royal Rumble got betrayed by Damage CTRL during the Royal Rumble and cost her the match. Because of them not working together in the match, none of them won, leading to Liv Morgan getting the win.

Heading into the Elimination Chamber, to make room for the 3rd Chamber match, there is no Tag Title Match or Grayson Waller Effect. There will be a backstage segment with Waller, but that’s about it on the show

Elimination Chamber

Bayley vs Becky Lynch vs Bianca Belair vs Naomi vs Raquel Rodriquez vs Tiffany Stratton (Winner Faces Women’s Champ at WrestleMania) -> Winner Bayley 

1. Kabuki Warriors vs Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell (Women’s Tag Titles) -> Winners Kabuki Warriors 
2. Drew McIntyre vs Jey Uso vs Sami Zayn vs Dominik Mysterio vs Bronson Reed vs Ricochet (Elimination Chamber for World Title Match) -> Winner Drew McIntyre 
3. Rhea Ripley vs Nia Jax (Women’s World Title) -> Winner Rhea Ripley 
4. Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton vs Logan Paul vs LA Knight vs Bobby Lashley vs Kevin Owens (Elimination Chamber for WWE Title Match) -> Winner Cody Rhodes 

Champions:

• WWE Title -> Roman Reigns 
• World Title -> Seth Rollins 
• Women’s Title -> IYO Sky 
• Women’s World Title -> Rhea Ripley 
• IC Title -> Gunther 
• US Title -> Logan Paul 
• Tag Titles -> Finn Balor and Damien Priest
• Women’s Tag Titles -> Kabuki Warriors

The Rock comes out after the WWE Title Elimination Chamber match and hits a Rock Bottom on Cody Rhodes. He demands that Cody goes One on One with the Great One at WrestleMania. With this in mind, Nick Aldis makes the Main Event of night one Cody Rhodes vs The Rock at WrestleMania. The winner of this match would challenge Roman Reigns at Night 2 at Mania.

With Becky Lynch not having a World Title Match on the card, she gets involved with Damage CTRL and Nia Jax. Jax and Damage CTRL form an alliance to take out her, as well as Bianca and Naomi. Jade Cargill debuts to join them in fighting off these foes

WrestleMania 40 Night 1 

Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan (Women’s World Title) -> Winner Rhea Ripley 

1. A-Town Down Under vs Awesome Truth vs Judgement Day vs New Day vs New Catch Republic vs DIY (Tag Titles) -> Winners A-Town Down Under (Smackdown) Awesome Truth (Raw) 
2. Rey Mysterio and Andrade vs Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio -> Winners Rey Mysterio and Andrade 
3. Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso -> Winner Jey Uso
4. Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargil, and Naomi vs Nia Jax and Damage CTRL -> Winners Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargil, and Naomi 
5. Sami Zayn vs Gunther (IC Title) -> Winner Sami Zayn 
6. The Rock vs Cody Rhodes (Winner Faces Roman Reigns Night 2) -> Winner Cody Rhodes (CM Punk Interference) 

WrestleMania Night 2

1. Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins (World Title) -> Winner Drew McIntyre 
2. Damien Priest vs Drew McIntyre (World Title Cash In) -> Winner Damien Priest 
3. The Pride vs The Final Testament -> Winner The Pride 
4. Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton (US Title) -> Winner Logan Paul 
5. Bayley vs IYO Sky (Women’s Title) -> Winner Bayley 
6. Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns (WWE Title) -> Winner Cody Rhodes  

Champions:

• WWE Title -> Cody Rhodes 
• World Title -> Damien Priest
• Women’s Title -> Bayley
• Women’s World Title -> Rhea Ripley 
• IC Title -> Sami Zayn
• US Title -> Logan Paul 
• WWE Tag Titles -> A-Town Down Under
• World Tag Titles -> Awesome Truth 
• Women’s Tag Titles -> Kabuki Warriors

During the Bloodline Rules match, one major change would be the involvement of CM Punk. Punk would be involved in both the cash-in for Drew and later be there to help Cody Rhodes fight the Bloodline. In order of entrances, it would be Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso to fight him off, Solo Sikoa, John Cena, The Rock, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and then finally the Undertaker. The Rock and Cena would have their stare down, and then hit the Rock Bottom on Cena. From there, CM

At the end of this experiment, the results of WrestleMania pretty much stay the same, but future storylines get impacted

Credit: JM710