WWE Rumors: Cain Velasquez Booked for Royal Rumble in Houston

Even though WWE has yet to announce any matches for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Cain Velasquez will reportedly be part of the show. 

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc.'s Kellie Haulotte), the former UFC heavyweight champion is booked for the Jan. 26 event from Minute Maid Park in Houston. 

It's unclear at this point what role Velasquez will play on the show. One idea would be for him to enter the Royal Rumble, which would allow him to ease back into the swing of things without having to push himself as hard as he would doing a standard match. 

Melzter reported (h/t Steve Russell of SEScoops.com) in November that Velasquez's knee was in "poor condition" and would require surgery to correct the problem. 

Velasquez debuted in WWE on Oct. 4 during the first episode of SmackDown on Fox. He attacked Brock Lesnar, who just won the WWE championship from Kofi Kingston. The two men had a match at Crown Jewel on Oct. 31 that ended in less than two minutes when Velasquez submitted to a kimura. 

That was the last time Velasquez appeared on WWE television to this point.