9-time WWE champion injured ahead of King of the Ring match; replacement revealed
WWE will crown the new King and Queen of the Ring winners in Saudi Arabia later this month. Unfortunately, Nick Aldis revealed that a nine-time WWE champion is injured ahead of his match on Friday Night SmackDown.
Last year, Bobby Lashley was drafted to WWE SmackDown during the two-night Draft. The All Mighty nearly spent a year forming a new faction when he aligned with the Street Profits and B-Fab on the blue brand.
The star was finally picking up momentum on the brand after a win over The Final Testament in Philadelphia last month. Earlier this week, it was announced that Lashley was set to enter the upcoming King of the Ring tournament in a first-round battle against Tama Tonga.
Today, Nick Aldis revealed that the former multi-time champion got injured while training ahead of Friday Night SmackDown. The nature of the injury was not revealed, but the star was ruled out of the tournament's first round.
"Unfortunately, Bobby Lashley was set to take on Tama Tonga. But, I've been informed that Bobby has suffered an injury in training and he's going to be unable to compete. He's not going to be medically cleared to compete in that match," announced Aldis.
Aldis also announced that Angelo Dawkins of the Street Profits will replace the star and face Tama Tonga in the first round on Friday Night SmackDown.
Three Superstars from WWE RAW have qualified for the next round of the King of the Ring tournament
Monday Night RAW kicked off with the King and Queen of the Ring tournament matches after Backlash France. Jey Uso qualified for the next round after he replaced Drew McIntyre and defeated The Judgment Day's Finn Balor.
Later, Ilja Dragunov had his second match in the company's main roster as he went head-to-head with WWE Speed Champion, Ricochet. After two H-Bombs, Dragunov qualified for the next round.
In the main event of the night, Gunther and Sheamus completed their trilogy in another first-round match where The Ring General made the Celtic Warrior tap out in the middle of the ring. Elsewhere, Lyra Valkyria, IYO SKY, and Zoey Stark moved on to the next round of the Queen of the Ring tournament.
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