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Welcome to the latest WWE News & Rumor Roundup. Besides John Cena and Alexa Bliss, today's edition also features stories about other major stars following the conclusion of Payback 2023.
Many names in the wrestling world have shared tributes after the recent passing of Windham Rotunda (aka Bray Wyatt), including Alexa Bliss. Interestingly, there were reportedly creative plans for her and Wyatt that never came to fruition.
Not too long ago, another report highlighted that people backstage expect a Hall of Famer to join AEW. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at the topics in this Roundup:
#5 WWE Payback 2023 (ft. John Cena) match results
Although John Cena did not wrestle at this year's Payback event, he appeared as the host in different roles. The top star served as the special guest referee for LA Knight vs. The Miz and showed respect to both competitors.
Cena also became a backstage interviewer, temporarily, for a hilarious segment with new Undisputed Tag Team Champions Finn Balor and Damian Priest. While no other names won titles, the event had more newsworthy moments between the scheduled matches.
Zoey Stark and Trish Stratus' alliance finally ended after an excellent opening contest featuring Becky Lynch. Also, Jey Uso made his on-screen return to the company as the latest addition to the WWE RAW roster.
You can check out the match results from Payback 2023 below:
- Steel Cage match: Becky Lynch defeated Trish Stratus
- LA Knight defeated The Miz [John Cena was the special guest referee]
- WWE United States Championship match: Rey Mysterio (c) defeated Austin Theory
- Steel City Street Fight for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Damian Priest and Finn Balor defeated Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens (c)
- WWE Women's World Championship match: Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Raquel Rodriguez
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship match: Seth Rollins (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura
#4 What happened to Seth Rollins right after WWE Payback 2023?
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins was indeed a grueling encounter, as expected. The buildup to the main event of Payback revolved around Rollins' back — his major weakness — and how Nakamura had his sights set on targeting it.
Despite the World Heavyweight Champion emerging victorious from the match, he did not leave the arena unscathed. After the event went off the air, Rollins was on his way to the backstage area. However, Nakamura would attack him from behind in front of the Pittsburgh crowd.
You can see what happened between the two opponents in the video above.
#3 Report on nixed plans for Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt
Among the many intriguing highlights from Bray Wyatt's wrestling career, his on-screen alliances with Alexa Bliss and Uncle Howdy happened in recent years. Per reports, some creative plans were dropped for all three stars before Wyatt's unexpected death.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, here is why those plans never came to fruition:
"Taylor Rotunda [Bo Dallas] had returned to WWE as Uncle Howdy. At first, the idea was for [Bray] Wyatt to build to a match with Howdy at WrestleMania [39], but that plan ended up changing, and Howdy was not being pushed at that level, and the character dropped. Alexa Bliss, who was associated with Wyatt years earlier in doing a female monster gimmick, was about to go back to the gimmick when he became ill. She later got pregnant, so the plans never developed."
#2 Backstage note on Edge possibly heading to AEW
WWE Hall of Famer Edge has got the wrestling world talking lately, all because of uncertainty over his future in this business. The veteran previously clarified that he is contracted to World Wrestling Entertainment till the end of September 2023.
Behind the scenes, people seemingly expect that he could join All Elite Wrestling after becoming a free agent. Dave Meltzer recently stated:
"Those in WWE have noted that they expect Edge to go to AEW."
It remains to be seen if Edge actually heads to AEW, especially after CM Punk — one of All Elite Wrestling's biggest stars — has been fired from the company.
#1 Raquel Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley's rivalry is far from over
A confident Raquel Rodriguez wanted to defeat Rhea Ripley at Payback. However, at the end of their bout, Ripley retained her Women's World Championship with some help from Dominik Mysterio.
Speaking in a WWE interview after the match, Rodriguez seemed confident about crossing paths with the Judgment Day members again:
"It's not over. Tonight was just a little taste. Dom [Dominik Mysterio] will get his, even if I have to give it to him. And Rhea [Ripley], she's gonna get hers too."
It should be interesting to see how Rodriguez handles the Dominik Mysterio problem, with many more battles between her and Ripley likely to come after Payback.
Can Raquel Rodriguez eventually dethrone Rhea Ripley? Let us know in the comments section below.
