Did CM Punk's Injury Change WWE Royal Rumble Plans?

Prior to his triceps injury, was CM Punk meant to win the Royal Rumble?

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Royal Rumble Cody Rhodes CM Punk
WWE

With CM Punk having suffered a triceps tear at WWE Royal Rumble last weekend, some have questioned whether that led to an audible being called where it pertains to the winner of the men's Rumble.

Of course, Cody Rhodes was the man who emerged victorious in that match, with he and Punk being the final two left to duke it out in the over-the-top spectacular. Going in to the PLE, both men were huge favourites to win the Rumble; Punk to cement a shot at Seth Rollins' World Heavyweight Champion and finally main event a WrestleMania, Cody to "finish his story" and once again face Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

So, was the Second City Saint actually supposed to win the Royal Rumble, only to see his triceps injury force an on-the-fly change where Cody Rhodes was instead given the victory? In a word, no.

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Per Fightful Select, no changes were made, Rhodes was due to win the Rumble, and things played out exactly as they were supposed to. However, this report does note that obviously creative plans for Monday's Raw were changed, with the fantastic Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins segment added as a direct result of CM Punk's injury.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.