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What's the story?
Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble against Braun Strowman in late January. We're almost into WrestleMania season at this point and even though the Rumble isn't here, the WrestleMania rumour mill has already begun.
In case you didn't know...
Roman Reigns vacated the WWE Universal Championship after announcing a remission of his leukaemia. The title was later won by Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel after Braun Strowman got screwed over by acting General Manager Baron Corbin, who attacked Strowman from behind with the title belt even before the match had begun.
Strowman beat Corbin with a little help at WWE TLC to earn another shot at the WWE Universal Championship at the WWE Royal Rumble. It's worth noting that Strowman has been out injured since undergoing surgery in November.
The heart of the matter
On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez gave his take on current plans for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35, saying that although Rollins vs Lesnar is currently the planned match, it could all change:
“I mean as far as I know Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins for the Universal Title although that could change. I am not confident about that for a lot of reasons. Let’s see what happens at the Royal Rumble and then we’ll talk more about that after a while.”
If Alvarez's prediction is accurate, that would mean that the 'Monster Among Men' will be unsuccessful at the Royal Rumble.
What's next?
Braun Strowman will challenge Brock Lesnar at the WWE Royal Rumble in Phoenix, Arizona on 27th January. That match will give us a much better idea regarding what direction WWE will go regarding the WWE Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 35.
