If retail isn’t ready then WoTLK that is already “done” can be used as a stop gap. If there would be no release in 2022 then by the end the WoW population could be lower than New World and very bad investor call 
WoTLK will bring a lot of players and generate sales.
This is all speculation odds are well get a eta release date on the 19 2023 seems a bit too long.