There's been a lot of speculation about Braun Strowman no longer facing Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble and some new details have now been revealed about why he's been replaced. According to PW Insider's Mike Johnson, the Monster Among Men simply hasn't been cleared by WWE's medical staff to do a "heavy duty match" with The Beast at the upcoming PPV.
"However, they also didn’t want Braun to get beaten by Brock and they were not planning on putting the belt on Braun Strowman at the Royal Rumble," he continued. "So they kind of painted themselves into a corner and then they painted themselves out of that corner somehow."
This could be a sign that Lesnar will retain the title when he faces Finn Balor at the show, especially as rumours are swirling that he's set to defend the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. Dave Meltzer has been saying for weeks now that WWE is trying to make Balor look strong and that was presumably done to set the stage for him replacing Strowman in this match.