No surprise: Christian pulled from weekend show

Today's news is little more than a formality. Christian had been advertised in a house show match against Sheamus this weekend for over a month; however, The Cow Palace in San Francisco has officially announced that the match has been changed to Sheamus against returning star, Alberto Del Rio.

Christian suffered a severe high ankle sprain in November. Reports began surfacing in late January that he has been cleared to compete again. That continues to be the word now based on the most recent reports featuring backstage WWE sources. It may seem a little concerning that not only was Christian pulled from this weekend's match, he was pulled for a fellow Superstar who has also been out with an injury: Del Rio. However, this should provide for little surprise. Del Rio has been out for less time than Christian and, due to the budding feud between CM Punk and Chris Jericho, Del Rio is much less likely to get a main event push on the Road to Wrestlemania.

Christian is no lock for a push either, but with the main event scene on SmackDown possibly changing drastically in the next two weeks (particularly following the Elimination Chamber), you never know what kind of impact a returning competitor of Christian's magnitude can have. As already noted, SmackDown is set to have another live episode on February 21st - right off the heels of the Chamber match. Peeps everywhere are pegging that as the date of Captain Charisma's return and hopefully the beginning of a Wrestlemania push.