Brock Lesnar won't defend his WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble... because he's going to be competing in the Rumble match itself!
To kick off the first Monday Night Raw of the new decade, Paul Heyman made the unprecedented announcement that his client would willingly enter the Royal Rumble at No. 1. The reason given was that nobody was worthy of facing The Beast for the title, and that could be an example of art (okay, we're using the term loosely but you get the idea) imitating life.
Rumors have been doing the rounds that Vince McMahon hasn't been able to settle on an opponent for Lesnar at The Rumble, and that may be how this development came about.