One of WWE‘s top stars on Raw won’t be participating in King of the Ring.
In early April, it was reported that King and Queen of the Ring would be returning in May of 2024. This year, the new King and Queen will be crowned in Saudi Arabia when the finals take place on May 25th at the eponymous event.
The entrants for both King and Queen of the Ring were revealed on May 4th, but an unfortunate update from Raw GM Adam Pearce makes a major change to the proceedings. Drew McIntyre was scheduled to face Finn Balor in round one, but is not medically cleared to compete and has been pulled from the tournament. Pearce said:
WWE Universe, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce here from beautiful Hartford, CT, where Raw will emanate tonight with King and Queen of the Ring qualifying matches. On that note, a bit of unfortunate breaking news as Drew McIntyre is not medically able to compete tonight. That’s right, Drew McIntyre medically disqualified from competition tonight here in Hartford.
As a result, will be pulled from the King of the Ring tournament. More news as it becomes available. Raw tonight at 8/7 Central live on USA. Unfortunately, that’s official.
🚨 🚨 🚨 @ScrapDaddyAP has some MASSIVE news regarding @DMcIntyreWWE and the King of the Ring tournament for tonight's #WWERaw…
📺 8/7c on @USANetworkpic.twitter.com/4uCCrDt16b
— WWE (@WWE) May 6, 2024
According to an update from Fightful Select, Jey Uso is set to replace McIntyre and will face Finn Balor on Monday Night Raw.
Drew McIntyre Injured At WrestleMania 40
At WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, PA, McIntyre faced off against Seth Rollins and captured the World Heavyweight Championship. His victory was short-lived, however, as an attack from CM Punk allowed Damian Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win the title for himself.
It later emerged that McIntyre suffered an elbow injury during his match with Rollins, and he’s been working hurt since early April. There is no word at this time as to whether his not being able to compete in King of the Ring is related to this injury or the result of something else.
On WWE Raw, the full King of the Ring bracket was announced.
Following CM Punk’s promo, Drew McIntyre has responded and issued a warning.
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