Bron Breakker replaced Brock Lesnar in the 2024 men's Royal Rumble match.
Lesnar had been scheduled to return to WWE on Saturday's show. However, following allegations involving the 46-year-old listed in the recent lawsuit filed against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis, the decision was made to remove him from the Rumble.
Our own Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez addressed the situation on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said:
I think most people know this but Brock Lesnar was scheduled to return at the Rumble and this was a change, obviously, that was made because of the lawsuit. So, the change was made probably Friday, most likely, perhaps Saturday morning.
Bron Breakker, because of that, and the fact that the match was pretty much scripted out already, Bron Breakker essentially fulfilled the Brock Lesnar role. He came in when Brock Lesnar was going to come in, he threw out the guys Brock Lesnar was going to throw out, he got thrown out exactly how Brock Lesnar was going to get thrown out.
Meltzer later added that Breakker had not originally been planned for the match.
Brock was going to be in their looking impressive so they needed someone to fill those shoes. There weren't a lot of guys that they would give that spot to.
Breakker entered the match at number twenty and eliminated Omos, Ivar, Finn Balor, and Jimmy Uso. He lasted just over 5 minutes before being eliminated by Dominik Mysterio.
Controversy surrounding Lesnar began on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal broke the story of former WWE employee Janel Grant's lawsuit accusing McMahon of sexual abuse and exploitation. The lawsuit states McMahon used a sexual encounter with Grant as a bargaining chip during contract negotiations with Lesnar.
The lawsuit reads:
That December, McMahon gave Grant’s personal cellphone number to the WWE star, the lawsuit said. The wrestler asked her to send a video of herself urinating, the suit said, and after she did, he called her a “b—.” That same month, the suit said, the star expressed a desire to “set a play date,” but a snowstorm disrupted his travel plans.
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