On Monday, WWE teased a resolution to Brock Lesnar‘s Royal Rumble mystery and it seemed like by the end of RAW we’d finally have Universal Championship contender. Well, thanks to Braun Strowman and Kane’s anticlimactic draw, we were left scratching our heads. However, a spoiler has leaked.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE has decided that Brock Lesnar will defend his big red belt at Philadelphia’s Royal Rumble in a triple threat match at against Kane and Strowman. Apparently, a number of options were discussed but the triple threat was Vince McMahon’s personal preference. Barring Vince changing his mind, that’s what we’ll be getting on January 28th.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Lesnar himself will be at next week’s RAW, likely to be challenged by Kane and Strowman followed by Kurt Angle making the match official.
It’s likely that his decision will not go over well with many WWE fans. Given Kane’s lack of significance over the years and that Strowman was already slain by Lesnar this year, this feels like a bit of a letdown. Even more, many fans have been crying out for Finn Balor to get his opportunity at Lesnar. Citing Balor never got his rematch after being forced to relinquish the Universal Championship during the Summer of 2016, fans believe that Finn is the rightful challenger. But that’s not happening.
In reality, it never mattered who emerged as Lesnar’s opponent at the Rumble as they all would have the same fate. Brock Lesnar will be winning that match, likely in a decisive manner. Kane is involved because it keeps Braun from taking a high profile pin.
So even though the Rumble is one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year, the Philadelphia show will merely be a pitstop for Lesnar’s march to WrestleMania. The worst-kept secret in WWE is that Vince McMahon and Co. have been planning for Reigns to challenge Lesnar at New Orleans’ WrestleMania 34 for nearly a year. Outside of a few exceptions, protecting that match has been the top priority for WWE.
