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Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. We're a night removed from Hell in a Cell 2021, the final pay-per-view of WWE"s pandemic era.
Crowds are set to return to WWE in less than a month, turning things back to "normal" after more than a year. With a lot to look forward to, this week's edition includes the return of special events, superstars, big plans for The Rock, and more:
#4. Hope is true: Vince McMahon impressed by a surprising WWE superstar
Vince McMahon is not easily impressed. The WWE Chairman has seen generations of superstars come and go, including many of the greatest stars the industry has ever seen.
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There seems to be a different approach and perception in modern times, with no superstar becoming bigger than the WWE brand name. Either way, there are a few stars who stand out, and some, surprisingly so.
Perhaps one example of a surprising Vince McMahon favorite was Otis, who received a huge push in 2020. Not only did he get over his romantic storyline alongside Mandy Rose, but he emerged as one of the most shocking Men's Money in the Bank winners ever.
Recently, however, another name has reportedly received praise from Vince McMahon. RAW Superstar Reginald has impressed the WWE Chairman, as per Fightful.
Sportskeeda's Daniel Wood wrote:
Fightful reports that Vince McMahon is a big fan of Reginald. He has been impressed by everything about him from his presentation and delivery to his skill set in the ring. Reginald also received praise for being extremely easy to work with and for being very open when it comes to ideas that are pitched for his character on television.
We hope this is true because Reginald is a good talent who does his job well. He's thrived in WWE so far, and it will be interesting to see how he is utilized in the future. He doesn't appear to be a main event-level star, but not everybody needs to be.
#4. Hope isn't true: WWE planning The Rock's in-ring return sooner than expected?
The Rock has been away from WWE for a long time now. He revealed that he "quietly" retired from wrestling, the platform that propelled him to Hollywood megastardom.
There have been rumors about The Rock's return to WWE at Survivor Series, potentially setting up a WrestleMania dream match against Roman Reigns in 2022.
According to a report from Wrestlingnews.co, WWE is hopeful that The Rock will make his in-ring return at Survivor Series - 25 years after he made his WWE debut:
WrestlingNews.co was told that there was some hope that The Rock would actually wrestle at Survivor Series. The reason why WWE wants The Rock on that show is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his debut. The Rock debuted in a traditional Survivor Series match in 1996.
While we hope that The Rock returns, we only hope this isn't true because his first in-ring appearance since 2013 (minus his six-second clash with Erick Rowan in 2016) should happen at the grandest stage of them all.
An appearance without wrestling would be ideal for The Rock upon his WWE return.
#3. Hope is true: WWE bringing back King Of The Ring and Cyber Sunday?
2021 is set to become even more interesting in the world of WWE once crowds return. There have been reports about WWE facing pressure from the USA Network and FOX to have more "themed" shows to increase ratings.
Like many of the in-ring returns, some of the best things in WWE will be held back for when the crowds return. This reportedly includes King Of The Ring and Cyber Sunday, as per WrestleVotes:
While King Of The Ring was last held in 2019, it's been an extremely long time since the last Cyber Sunday. Unlike the Ruthless Aggression Era, however, WWE won't make it a separate pay-per-view.
Due to the lucrative nature of broadcasting contracts, WWE will be obligated to pull out more specials. We hope this is true because it's a good time for WWE to bring back themed episodes to add more interest. Similarly, repetitive programming can quickly become monotonous as we've seen time and again in WWE.
#3. Hope isn't true: Shawn Michaels behind WWE superstars' entrance time getting cut in NXT
Shawn Michaels has been a backstage figure in WWE NXT for a while now, and he seems to have an influence, especially with one recent example. NXT moved from Wednesday Nights, essentially ending the mid-week "war" between the yellow and gold brand and All Elite Wrestling.
While many consider it as WWE being defeated, it shouldn't come as a surprise that AEW won the ratings war. Interestingly enough, NXT superstars had their ring entrances cut back and that was because of Shawn Michaels, who reportedly believes that it gives time for viewers to switch to AEW, per Dave Meltzer of WON:
"One of the reasons the ring entrances have been cut back on as far as time on the NXT TV show is Shawn Michaels felt that long ring entrances gave the viewers more time to check out AEW," Dave Meltzer reported.
Meltzer added that it was the WWE legend's wife who got this idea:
"Even though that's no longer an issue, because Michaels is Paul Levesque's main guy, they have done it with the idea of getting more time for in-ring and angles. Whether this is true or not, within the company the story that has gone around is that it was Rebecca, Shawn's wife, who was watching the show and told him she thought the ring entrances were too long and giving people too much time to switch stations, and he brought that up to Levesque," Meltzer added.
We hope this isn't true because ring entrances are an important part of WWE programming. They're a part of what makes superstars look big and taking them away takes away from the program as well. Several NXT Superstars have spectacular entrances, and it would be a waste to see them pushed to the wayside, for whatever reason.
#2. Hope is true: WWE planning to forgoe the no-compete clause?
WWE released a lot of superstars recently - all of whom are currently serving the 90-day no-compete clause before being free to move to another promotion. There seems to be a change in approach happening backstage in WWE, as they're reportedly becoming more receptive to the idea of forgoing this clause for superstars who request it.
According to a report from Fightful, multiple recently-released superstars have applied to WWE to have their release clause done away with, and the company seems open to the idea. Sportskeeda's Daniel Wood wrote:
It has been reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select that we may see some former WWE Superstars turning up for other promotions before those 90 days have elapsed because many of the released names have requested to forego that part of their contracts
He added that John Laurinaitis is leading the way with this. For superstars like Aleister Black and Braun Strowman, it's a huge benefit:
Fightful goes on to add that WWE are said to be receptive to this, with Johnny Ace taking the lead in communicating with former talent. It seems that WWE are happy to grant requests to leave the company and even to allow them to appear for a competitor without waiting for the 90 days.
We hope this is true because it's likely more important for released WWE superstars to find new employment rather than sitting for three months and collecting a paycheck.
#2. Hope isn't true: The reason why WWE moved Roman Reigns' match to SmackDown
Roman Reigns was supposed to face Rey Mysterio at Hell in a Cell, but WWE moved it two days earlier to SmackDown. It was an odd decision, since Hell in a Cell was a pay-per-view short on big names.
In hindsight, the absence of Roman Reigns was felt. But the big question is as to why WWE decided to move the Hell in a Cell match to SmackDown. As per Dave Meltzer of WON, WWE reportedly had no concrete reason for taking Roman Reigns off the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view:
''As far as what happened, there’s no involved reason that made any sense. The word we were told is that you can’t describe why, there were just a bunch of discussions on Thursday and the discussions ended up with 'Let’s do it on Smackdown.' As of press time, the plans were for Reigns to not be wrestling on the pay-per-view,'' said Meltzer.
We hope this isn't true because it was a bad decision to make, since the ratings for SmackDown only got a slight bump up. While the weekly television deal for SmackDown is far bigger than their pay-per-view revenue, it's still important to have big stars like Roman Reigns present.
#1. Hope is true: A positive update on Becky Lynch's WWE return
It's been well over 13 months now since Becky Lynch was seen in WWE. She concluded a year-long reign as the RAW Women's Champion by vacating the title and crowning Money in the Bank winner Asuka as the new Champion.
According to reports from PWInsider and Fightful, Becky Lynch was present at the WWE Performance Center this past week, taking part in live matches:
As per PWInsider and Fightful Select, Becky Lynch made an appearance at the Performance Center this week. However, she was not involved in any training but took part in Live Matches. Fightful added that WWE's Women's division hopes the return of Becky Lynch sees the booking improved for all. They also report the former champion looked "jacked" and "like she never left."
We hope this is true because the WWE Women's division needs Becky Lynch back. She was the centerpiece of the RAW Women's division for over a year, and never lost the title.
#1. Hope isn't true: WWE's plans to return to Saudi Arabia
WWE hasn't been back to Saudi Arabia since February 2020- a month before the global lockdown began. To begin with, WWE's deal with Saudi Arabia seems to be clouded in controversy.
There aren't much details known about the nature of the lucrative deal, but it's enough for WWE to host massive stadium shows twice a year and even bring back several legends such as The Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, etc.
Now that the world is slowly opening up again, WWE is going to start a tour. However, with regards to the Saudi Arabia deal, WWE is reportedly expected to return this fall, per Mike Johnson of PWInsider:
"With the world starting to open up and World Wrestling Entertainment beginning to tour again, we have been asked by several readers if and when the company might resume doing their Saudi Arabia events. We are told by company sources that the early expectation is that they will finally return to Saudi Arabia this fall, but an official date has not been locked in yet. The expectation is that they will run one event there before the end of the year."
We hope this isn't true because it seems to be a bit too early to return. We're curious as to whether WWE will be open about the details of their deal in Saudi Arabia, but it seems unlikely to happen.
Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE
