After the roaring success of WWE Backlash in France, which broke the record of the highest gate of any arena PLE in the history of the company, WWE is gearing up to host their next Premium Live Event “WWE King and Queen of the Ring” in May which will emanate from the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on May 25th, 2024.
The tournament is a very successful concept that WWE came into inception in the 1990s and has been able to be the stepping for future main event players. WWE is looking to do the same with this year’s tournaments for both men and women, but the injury bug has affected lots of WWE superstars in the company resulting in them being pulled out of the WWE King and Queen of the Ring tournament.
Let us take a look at the 4 WWE superstars who had to withdraw from the WWE King and Queen of the Ring Tournament due to injury:
1. Zelina Vega missed her opportunity to create history at WWE King and Queen of the Ring
Zelina Vega was crowned as the first-ever WWE Queen of the Ring in 2021 when she defeated Piper Niven, formerly known as Doudrop, in the finals of the Queen’s Crown tournament at the WWE Premium Live Event, Crown Jewel after hitting a cross red on the former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion.
The LWO member was all set to face the Submission Magician, Shayna Baszler in a one-on-one battle to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the Queen of the Ring Tournament at a recent WWE Live Event but had to withdraw herself due to an undisclosed injury at last minute and was replaced by Maxxine Dupri.
2. Bobby Lashley had to exit the tournament last minute
WWE Smackdown had one of the most star-studded lineups of matches for the WWE King and Queen of the Ring Tournament but a series of injuries forced WWE to alter the matches last minute and Bobby Lashley was a name that found himself on that list.
The Almighty, Leader of The Pride, was supposed to face the new member of The Bloodline, Tama Tonga in a singles match in the first round of the WWE King of the Ring tournament but the former WWE Champion’s injury forced WWE to replace Lashley with his fellow stable mate, Angelo Dawkins who further lost to Tonga in his match.
3. The Empress of Tomorrow had a chance to redeem herself
Asuka will go down as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, male or female, bar none. The once undefeated Empress of Tomorrow was set to face the newest WWE Monday Night RAW, Lyra Valkyria in a first-round match to advance in the WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament.
Right before that, Asuka and Kairi Sane lost the coveted WWE Women’s Tag Titles to Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair at WWE Backlash France in a very competitive match. Asuka had an opportunity to redeem her loss at Backlash but unfortunately had to forfeit the opportunity due to an injury as disclosed by her Damage CTRL cohort, Dakota Kai.
4. The Scottish Warrior would have become The King of the Ring
Perhaps the biggest favorite on this list who was expected to win the entire WWE King of the Ring Tournament but had to back out of the tournament is Drew McIntyre. The Scottish Warrior was expected to become The King of the Ring by many WWE fans but an injury halted those plans.
Drew McIntyre was penciled in to face Finn Balor in the first round of the WWE King of the Ring tournament but RAW GM Adam Pearce announced that the former WWE Champion was not cleared to compete due to his hyperextended injury and hence was dropped from the tournament. McIntyre fractured his elbow after being attacked by his arch-rival CM Punk at WrestleMania 40 which led to his withdrawal and miss out on a huge opportunity in WWE.
What do you think about the WWE Superstars who had to withdraw from the Tournament because of the injuries? Share your thoughts in the comments!