WWE WrestleMania 28: Why Christian Was Removed from Team Laurinaitis

When it was announced on last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw that Christian would face WWE Champion CM Punk later in the show, I, like, many others was excited about the possibility of seeing a great match. 

But before the match could get started, Punk and Christian found themselves brawling outside of the ring, Punk lost his cool and put a world-class beatdown on Captain Charisma. As a result, Christian was injured once again, removed from John Laurinaitis’ team at WrestleMania 28 and replaced by Drew McIntyre. 

Why did that happen? Why was Christian taken off the WrestleMania card and left without a Mania match for the second year in a row? 

Let’s find out. 

From F4Wonline.com (via WrestleNewz.com): 

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F4Wonline.com reports that Christian was pulled from WrestleMania because his ankle is not 100%. When WWE put the match together, they thought Christian would be ready to go but he’s not. 

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I think this is just about what everyone assumed was going on. You don’t remove a guy like Christian from the WrestleMania card without having a valid reason for doing so, and this is certainly one. 

While I’m sure that Christian isn’t thrilled about missing Mania and the huge payday that comes along with it, the WWE simply can’t afford to risk having another superstar get injured for the long term. There have been a boatload of injuries over the last year or so, and the last thing the WWE needs is a reliable star like Christian to be out for another five months. 

Plus, this could set up a potentially great storyline for Christian’s return. 

Christian was promised a World title match if Team Laurinaitis wins at WrestleMania (which is likely), so perhaps Christian will argue that he’s still entitled to that match even though he didn’t compete for Team Laurinaitis at WrestleMania. And if Christian ends up on Raw or SmackDown along with WWE Champion CM Punk, then this might lead to a WWE title feud between the two. 

I was amped to see Christian vs. Punk last night, but I’d be even more excited to see an extended feud between them that involves a World title.

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.