The WWE title will not be defended at the Royal Rumble as the current champion, Brock Lesnar, was announced as one of the 30 Superstars who will be part of the Royal Rumble over-the-top rope elimination match.
Lesnar, who appeared on Raw last night for the first time since the Survivor Series, was accompanied as always by Paul Heyman. Heyman said that they’re ready to make history as his client will be entering the Royal Rumble as entrant number one and said that when the match is over, the reigning champion will be crowned the winner of the Royal Rumble.
Usually, winners of the Royal Rumble get to wrestle for the WWE or Universal title at WrestleMania but nothing was discussed about what will happen if Brock wins. Heyman said that Brock would not be defending the title at the Rumble because there’s no one on Raw, Smackdown, or NXT who is worthy enough to challenge for the gold.
Others who have been confirmed for the Rumble match so far are AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, and Eric Rowan.
On a related note, Brock Lesnar was also announced to be appearing on next week’s Raw.
