10 WWE Superstars that were replaced in storylines and the reasons why 

#8 Elias replaces Samoa Joe in WWE Mixed Match Challenge

.@CatherineKelley provides an injury update on @SamoaJoe and reveals who will replace The #SamoanSubmissionMachine in the @WWE Mixed Match Challenge. #WWEMMC pic.twitter.com/LnyMlbsw1N

— WWE (@WWE) January 10, 2018

Samoa Joe is a former NXT Champion who had a wealth of experience before he came to WWE, but his time on the main roster has been plagued by injuries. This run on both Raw and SmackDown has seen WWE scrap a number of original storyline ideas as well as replace him in intended feuds.

One of the best-known switches came back in January 2018, the Mixed Match Challenge was hit by so many injuries throughout that many teams were completely different by the end. One of these teams was Samoa Joe and Bayley since Elias had to step in when it was reported that The Samoan Submission Machine suffered an injured foot.

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#7 Mickie James replaces Trish Stratus

Mickie James left WWE back in 2010 but returned just six years later when WWE called the former Women's Champion back to the company to compete on the NXT brand. James went one-on-one with Women's Champion Asuka at NXT Takeover: Toronto, but as you can imagine, she wasn't the company's first choice for an opponent.

In Toronto, there is only one woman that WWE would have been looking to bring back, but at the time Trish Stratus was pregnant with her second child, a daughter whom she later called Madison. This allowed James to make her way back to the company and the Virginia native later returned to the company on a full-time basis at the beginning of 2017.