WWE News: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane announced for Royal Rumble
WWE Raw started with the General Manager coming out to address the situation regarding the No.1 Contender for Lesnar’s Universal Championship. Last week’s Raw featured a No.1 Contenders’ match between Strowman and Kane, but the match ended in no contest.
After Strowman, Kane, Paul Heyman, and Lesnar all made their way to the ring, Angle immediately announced the triple threat Universal Championship match for the Royal Rumble.
This confirms the reports from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter who originally reported that a triple threat match between all three men was expected for the 2018 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
The reason this match was made into a triple threat was rumoured to be due to Vince McMahon wanting to protect Strowman and not force him to take to pinfall losses to Lesnar. The belief for the Royal Rumble match is that Lesnar will retain by pinning Kane.
Strowman received his first Universal Championship opportunity at SummerSlam in the Fatal 4way match with Lesnar, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns, but came up short. His next title match at No Mercy lasted 9 minutes and ended when Lesnar hit Strowman with one F-5.
Former Universal Champion Finn Bálor was originally rumoured to wrestle Lesnar at the Royal Rumble and receive a one-on-one rematch for the title he never lost, but those plans changed. The reason behind those changes was due to Vince McMahon allegedly believing Bálor wasn’t over enough.
The announcement of this match decreases the likeliness of Strowman and Kane appearing in the Royal Rumble match, but the possibility is still there.