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Welcome to another edition of Sportskeeda's Daily Rumor Roundup.
As always, we've put together a lineup featuring the biggest rumors and speculation that are doing the rounds in the WWE.
Lars Sullivan is in the news again for all the wrong reason and backstage updates about his current status were revealed.
A tag team is also heading towards splitsville with one of the Superstars from the team in line for a singles push.
The reason behind Rey Mysterio's United States title loss was also finally revealed. With Royal Rumble coming up next, the plans for the card were also brought to light.
Finally, a top WWE Superstar may have injured himself at a recent live event.
As you now have the overview of what to expect, here is the latest edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup:
#5 Randy Orton suffers a potentially serious injury
In what could come as a massive blow to the WWE, Randy Orton reportedly injured his knee during a match against AJ Styles at the Live Event in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The disconcerting news here is that the injury could be potentially serious as Orton wasn't in the condition to finish the match.
The WWE medical officials rushed to the ring and checked on him, before helping him return backstage.
The match was stopped mid-way and Orton looked to be in a considerable amount of discomfort.
Given below are a few photos and videos from the show:
Randy Orton is one of the biggest faces in the WWE and not having him for the Royal Rumble is exactly what the company have wanted to avoid.
We still don't know the extent and nature of Orton's reported knee injury and how long it could keep him on the shelf. We'll keep you updated as we get more information, for now, let's hope that the injury is not as serious as it looks.
#4 Backstage news on Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville spitting up
If you've been religiously watching SmackDown over the past few months, then you would know that Fire and Desire are all set to be broken up soon.
The seeds of a split have already been planted on TV and it is reportedly all part of the plan.
Dave Meltzer revealed in the Wrestling Observer Radio that the plan to split up Rose and Deville was actually set to happen before WrestleMania.
However, the idea was dropped then and it has been revived now as we approach another WrestleMania.
Meltzer also stated that while he sees Rose getting a singles push, Deville faces the prospect of disappearing after the split.
Here is what he said:
It feels again like they are starting to break up with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, which, if that happens I feel very sorry for Sonya Deville because I can just see her disappearing after the programme’s over. Well, they were going to do it, they were going to do it before WrestleMania. They had the whole thing planned, and then they just dropped it.
You know it’s like one of those things where again, sometimes you do stuff, you break up a team, and not that they are a hot team, because they are really not, they are just there, I mean if you break them up it’s just whatever, It’s not like a big deal one way or the other. Sometimes like, with Rusev and Lana, if you remember when they broke them up, there were like no plans on making it better, they just decided it was time to do it. With this one, it’s like, if you do it or you don’t do it, it’s a storyline, I think they will push Mandy Rose no matter what because of her look.
Rose and Deville have been a team since 2017 and a split could be the need of the hour with WWE needing more depth in the singles department of the Women's division on SmackDown.
#3 Lars Sullivan update
Lars Sullivan is in trouble yet again after adult film videos from the past featuring him surfaced online.
Sullivan went by the name Mitch Bennett in the adult videos that were put out much before he signed up with the WWE.
For the fans that are speculating that the videos can be doctored, there are enough signs that prove that it is indeed him in the videos.
It's highly unfortunate as the former NXT Superstar was scheduled to return soon from a lengthy injury lay-off.
As of this writing, we don't know how the latest setback will affect Sullivan's WWE career. The Superstar has also deleted his Twitter account.
Sullivan had a lot of heat in recently when old controversial comments of his from a bodybuilding message board were unearthed. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful had reported that Sullivan was quite apologetic about the message board comments and described it as stupid and just a result of being a troll on the internet.
"We don't have any insight on that, but several wrestlers told Fightful that Lars was incredibly apologetic when message board posts from him emerged. Lars also allegedly sought out family members that were around backstage or on the roster of those he commented on or could have affected and apologized to them, too. Those we spoke to said that when he apologized, he attributed it to him "being stupid and trolling on the internet," noting that he didn't believe the things he wrote."
Will the discovery of his adult film past affect Sullivan's WWE career?
#2 The reason why Rey Mysterio lost the United States title to Andrade at the MSG live event
The recent Madison Square Garden Live Event saw a rare title change as Andrade defeated Rey Mysterio to win the United States title for the first time in his career.
Dave Meltzer revealed the reason behind the unlikely title change on the recent Wrestling Observer Radio.
The decision to have a title change at a live event was taken some time ago as the company wants to build up house shows again.
MSG was the first show of the Holiday Tour and beginning with a title change would increase the hype around the following events. Live event attendance has dipped in recent months and having a big title change will help get more fans to these shows.
It was also revealed that the long-term plan for the US title is to have a programme between Andrade and Humberto Carrillo. Rey Mysterio will be in the US title scene for some time while also being an active character in the main event angle, in which he will team up with Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens against Seth Rollins and the AOP.
Meltzer said the following:
This is like a plan, to do title changes at the house shows to help build up the house shows again. Kind of wish maybe like it was not in the Garden, maybe it was like in Baltimore, where are they tonight? RAW crew tonight was in, umm, what’s it? Baltimore? Advertisement And there was Toronto, and umm, let me see. Baltimore was the RAW. So yeah, tonight like in Baltimore, they could have done it. A part of me was like, well, the Garden to them is special, the show the day after Christmas at the Garden is a big one, they had a big crowd. 12,000 people. And, they gave them that (title change). This is long-term stuff.
#1 Royal Rumble match card updates
Royal Rumble is set to go live on January 26th, 2020 from the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas and there are just three matches that are confirmed to take place at the moment.
The men's and women's Royal Rumble matches along with a Universal Championship match between The Fiend and Daniel Bryan are currently slated for the show.
Dave Meltzer reported on the Wrestling Observer Radio that Lacey Evans vs. Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship will also be on the show. The match was originally scheduled to happen at TLC, however, WWE cancelled the match and intended to have it on the next PPV.
Brock Lesnar is expected to defend his WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble show and he won't be facing Cain Velasquez, as previously speculated.
Becky Lynch vs. Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship and Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship are the other two matches that seem like a lock for the Rumble.
Andrade could defend the US title against Humberto Carrillo as well at the show. WWE also seems to be building up to a Rey Mysterio, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain six-man tag team match
We should have more updates regarding the card as we enter the new year and we're hoping it lives up to all the expectations.
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