Brock Lesnar Among Six Absent WWE Stars Scheduled For Royal Rumble Amid Chris Jericho Rumors

The Rumble will kick off the Road to WrestleMania 42 and is often an event full of surprises. Jericho might be one of them and he is expected to return to WWE, perhaps as early as Monday (January 5th), on the RAW on Netflix anniversary show.

Reports claim he is set to sign with the company, and there has long been talk of him participating in the men's Rumble. The 55-year-old could square off with Lesnar, with whom he has a history, following a backstage altercation between the pair back in 2016.

Lesnar isn't the only currently absent member of WWE's roster who looks set to be in action in Riyadh at the end of the month. WrestleVotes reports on Fightful Select that LA Knight, Chad Gable, Tiffany Stratton, Jacob Fatu and Dominik Mysterio are all scheduled for the PLE.

Knight has been absent since early December, when he was written off TV after The Vision attacked him. Gable has been recovering from a rotator cuff injury suffered in June and is expected to return as the "top heel in AAA" and feud with Ludwig Kaiser.

Tiffany Stratton hasn't been seen since losing the WWE Women's Championship to Jade Cargill at Saturday Night's Main Event in November. Fatu underwent dental work in October and there are hopes for him to have a breakthrough year.

Dominik Mysterio suffered a shoulder injury at AAA Guerra de Titanes in December but isn't expected to be out of action for too long. It remains to be seen whether all of those names return at the Rumble itself or beforehand.

Randy Orton was included in the report but the Viper is already back on TV after returning on SmackDown last night (January 2nd). He interrupted The Miz to open the show before warning Cody Rhodes that he is coming for his WWE Championship.

What Happened Between Jericho and Lesnar?

Orton was actually the subject of a fierce altercation between Jericho and Lesnar backstage at Summerslam in 2016. The Beast seriously injured the Viper in a bloody match, and the now-former AEW star took issue with this.

Jericho is believed to have confronted Lesnar about potentially "taking liberties" and breaching professional wrestling rules. The former UFC heavyweight is said to have told him to "shut up" and called him a "p*ssy* before they went face-to-face in gorilla position.

Somehow, Jericho reportedly shoved Lesnar against a wall, and the 286-pounder teased the legendary wrestler with provoking comments. It took Triple H to break up the scuffle and former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to play peacemaker and inform Jericho that the angle was planned.

Jericho has since revealed that the pair made amends and that it was "water under the bridge", which will be beneficial, given they look set to be sharing a ring later this month. Lesnar is known for being one of the safest big man workers in history but Orton's injury concerned his close friend.