The WWE "Greatest Royal Rumble 2018" event will once again feature Rusev taking on The Undertaker in a Casket Match. Just last week it seemed like the "SmackDown Live" star was having issues with the company based on a series of strange incidents, including an interview, tweets, and his removal from the match. Chris Jericho was announced as his replacement late last week but now it seems that "Y2J" has been replaced by Rusev thanks to Lana.
Lana OKs the match
The reason given last week by WWE for Rusev being replaced in the Casket Match against Taker later this month was due to Lana's concern.
Lana, real name CJ Perry, is Rusev's real-life wife who has been involved in WWE storylines with him since his arrival to the main roster. She sent out a tweet saying she didn't want Rusev in jeopardy in the match. WWE cited that as the reason they were replacing Rusev in the match with Chris Jericho.
However, WWE fans and various websites seemed to think something else was going on. An interview on TMZ involving Rusev and Lana seemed to be claiming that the "Bulgarian Brute" would crush the Deadman, who is past his prime. Undertaker's wife Michelle McCool tweeted about the interview, seeming frustrated with how it was worded or presented. Not long after that piece, the news of Jericho's insertion into the match came about.
Rusev had cryptic tweets on his social media and even removed references to WWE.
Those particular incidents and the removal from the match had plenty of people thinking that "Rusev Day" was ending in the WWE and that he would be headed for a different organization. However, other sites reported it was all a work. That said, it makes this swapping of Jericho and Rusev seem bizarre, although it could all just be a scheduling issue.
On Monday, WWE's website issued a new report that Rusev is back in the big match. This time around they posted another tweet from Lana suggesting she is now OK with the matchup.
'Greatest Royal Rumble'
Fans can see the two WWE superstars battle at the WWE's first-ever "Greatest Royal Rumble" event. This special event will take place in Saudi Arabia and have coverage on the WWE Network starting at 12 p.m.
Eastern Time on Friday, April 27th. The event also features a steel cage match in which Roman Reigns challenges Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title, as well as a first-ever 50-man Royal Rumble match, in addition to others.
There are still 11 days until the event takes place and based on the back-and-forth movement with this match, that gives plenty of time for other strange things to happen. Could fans eventually see Rusev vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Undertaker in the first-ever Triple Threat Casket Match? Stay tuned!