Daniel Bryan to Face Jeff Hardy After Big Cass' Injury, Winner Faces Samoa Joe

An injury to Big Cass has led to a significant shakeup for several wrestlers leading up to WWE Money in the Bank. SmackDown general manager Paige explained the changes Monday: 

Big Cass was injured Sunday during a match in Munich, Germany, as the WWE account showed:

He had only recently returned from the torn ACL that required surgery on his left knee in August and appears to have suffered a setback on the same knee.

While Big Cass was originally slated to face Samoa Joe in a Money in the Bank qualifying match Tuesday, it appears he will miss his chance to compete in the pay-per-view event.

This opens things up for Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy to enter the competition, first battling each other with the winner then facing Samoa Joe in the qualifier next week. Eventually, a lone qualifier will be determined to compete in the ladder match on June 17 at Allstate Arena in Illinois.

The winner of this series of matches will join The Miz and Rusev as entries to the ladder match from SmackDown. Braun Strowman, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens are among the other challengers in the highly anticipated battle.

Whoever then survives the ladder match will win a contract for a World Championship opportunity in the coming year.