Speculation On The Impact Of CM Punk's Injury On WWE WrestleMania 2024 Plans

CM Punk revealed on this week's "WWE Raw" that he tore his right triceps during Saturday's 30-man Royal Rumble match. The former WWE Champion will now be out of action for several months. Meanwhile, Brock Lesnar's WWE future is up in the air after he was seemingly implicated in Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lesnar's absence has had a "domino effect" on creative plans, while Punk's injury forced WWE to change plans even more heading into WrestleMania 40.

As per the report, going into the Royal Rumble, the WrestleMania 40 card featured Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, and GUNTHER vs. Brock Lesnar — although it's unclear if that clash would have been for the Intercontinental Championship. With Punk ruled out of WrestleMania, the Observer's Dave Meltzer speculated that Rollins' opponent would either be GUNTHER, Drew McIntyre, or Cody Rhodes — depending on how "The American Nightmare's" scenario unfolds following his interaction with Rollins on "Raw" this week. Monday night, Rollins told the 2024 men's Royal Rumble winner that he should challenge him for his title at WrestleMania instead of going after Reigns.

Furthermore, Meltzer put forward the idea of Rollins vs. Rhodes for the world title on the first night of WrestleMania, with Reigns vs. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson headlining the second night of "The Show of Shows." Reigns-Johnson has been rumored for April. Although he was unable to confirm anything as of this writing, it was noted that a decision to lock in those two title matches would have been made after Punk got injured. Meltzer wrote that fans will find out what direction WWE will go in "sooner rather than later," with Rhodes and Reigns set to appear on "WWE SmackDown" tonight.