4 Wrestling rumors we hope are true and 4 we hope aren't: Major change in plans for Brock Lesnar, Former UFC Champion could return at Royal Rumble

Things have been a little quieter than usual in the world of pro-wrestling this week, thanks to Christmas and the holiday season. However, we've still had our fair share of rumors to look at including a WWE veteran who is no longer allowed to be a part of in-ring action as well as a major change to WWE's plans for Brock Lesnar. We take a look at these rumors and a whole lot more.

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#4 Hope is true: Jerry Lawler is on WWE's “no-touch” list

Jerry Lawler

On a recent episode of RAW, the Authors of Pain attacked Samoa Joe while he was at the commentary desk. Fans noticed 70-year-old WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler walking away as soon as Rezar and Akam approached the commentary table.

This is because WWE reportedly have put Lawler on a “no-touch” list meaning that he isn't allowed to take any bumps. This is a good decision by WWE seeing that Lawler is 70 now. The King himself spoke about it in his podcast:

“Still, to this day, the people in WWE still feel like that’s not the case [Lawler being cleared to wrestle]. They keep me on the no-touch list and all of that kind of thing. We’ve talked about this before on the podcast. The doctors told Lauren, ‘We can’t clear him to go back in the ring because he’s a liability to the company. If they grant my request and they say, ‘Okay, we’ll let you decide what you think is best,’ and they let me go out there and wrestle again, and then something did happen again, it would be a PR disaster for the company.” H/T: Danny Hart of Sportskeeda

#4 Hope isn't true: Fandango's injury could keep him out of action for up to six months

Another setback for Breezango

One Superstar who has had a lot of bad luck with injury issues in recent times is former Intercontinental Champion Fandango. The Breezango member returned from injury earlier this year as he joined Tyler Breeze on WWE NXT. This will be another major setback for Breezango.

Fandango picked up an elbow injury at a recent NXT event where Breezango faced the Singh Brothers. Fandango took to Instagram to reveal that he'd undergone surgery:

The “Tommy John” surgery which Fandango underwent keeps baseball pitchers out of action for anywhere between 12 to 15 months. However, it takes less time for a pro wrestler to recover from this surgery. Dave Meltzer posted an update regarding Fandango's injury on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, stating that he expected Fandango to be out for around six months.

This looks like another setback for Fandango's career in WWE. We hope that rumors of how long he will be out aren't true and that he can make it back sooner.

#3 Hope is true: Dash Wilder's injury isn't as serious as previously thought

Dash Wilder's injury isn't as serious as previously thought

While Breezango suffered a major setback after Fandango's injury, we have better news regarding another top WWE Tag-Team. Reports surfaced after WWE's Live Event in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 26th, that Dash Wilder had to be replaced in a tag-team match after picking up an injury. Scott Dawson ended up teaming with Curtis Axel as the took on The New Day and Lucha House Party.

Wilder's injury doesn't look serious and he returned to action in a dark match ahead of this week's episode of SmackDown on FOX. The Revival faced Gran Metalik and Kalisto in the dark match and picked up the win with a Shatter Machine. We had reports coming out after SmackDown that Wilder was fine and his injury wasn't bothering him.

We hope the rumors of Wilder being fine are true. Despite WWE seemingly planning to turn the duo into a comedy act, the company just can't afford to have another top tag-team out of action right now with WrestleMania season looming.

#3 Hope isn't true: More main roster stars could be headed to NXT

Will we see Shinsuke Nakamura back in NXT soon?

It looks like we could see more main roster stars heading over to the black and yellow brand on Wednesday nights. Romo Colohue and Korey Gunz discussed this possibility on a recent episode of Dropkick DiSKussions. Tom Colohue said that WWE NXT wants to reach out to the casual WWE fans and bringing back Superstars who have already had exposure on RAW and SmackDown could be a way to do it. Tom said it was more likely that we would see Superstars like Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura heading down to NXT than Roman Reigns:

“When it comes to who we’re going to get [moving to NXT], I definitely don’t see a Roman Reigns figure going. It’s been said to me that changes will be keeping in the spirit of NXT. I think it’ll be that underground feeling. I think we’re looking more at, for example, a Sami Zayn. Sami Zayn would be a perfect figure to come back to NXT for a year or so. Nakamura – perfect example of someone who could come back to NXT for a little while.” H/T: Danny Hart of Sportskeeda

We hope that WWE reverse this potential decision made by them because this could end up diluting the NXT product. It would be so much better if WWE just used Superstars like Shinsuke Nakamura better on the main roster.

#2 Hope is true: 3 RAW stars to get a big push

What is Erick Rowan bringing down to the ring with him every week on RAW?

We've seen a number of positive changes on WWE RAW since Paul Heyman took charge backstage. Dave Meltzer is reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that 3 Superstars are getting heavily pushed and they are Drew McIntyre, Erick Rowan, and Aleister Black.

It's well known that Paul Heyman is a big fan of Aleister Black and he's personally behind the former NXT Champion's push on RAW. As for Erick Rowan, Meltzer is reporting that Vince McMahon is personally behind his recent push. Rowan has come down to the ring with a mysterious covered object in recent weeks. We're still waiting to see what the big reveal will be.

Drew McIntyre is someone who Vince McMahon sees as a top star in the future. However, 2019 was a quiet year for McIntyre and he didn't really have any memorable storylines and his push was pretty hot and cold at times. However, Meltzer is reporting that McIntyre is set for a major push in 2020.

#2 Hope isn't true: Strange stipulation revealed for future Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin match

Baron Corbin and Roman Reigns' feud hasn't been going particularly well so far, with the guy in the Big Dog costume and dog food being a part of the feud so far. However, it looks like this feud could get even more ridiculous in the near future.

According to local advertisements of WWE SmackDown for the tapings on 7th February and 14th February, Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin are set to face in a match which will see the loser eat dog food. Just when you thought that we could leave the dog food part out of the angle, there it pops up again. We really hope WWE don't go through with this and end this feud as soon as possible.

At this point, thankfully for fans at home, both matches are expected to be dark matches for the fans in the building. Roman Reigns is set to get a big push in 2020 and could be pushed as WWE's top babyface once again. Reigns is also currently the early favorite to win the 2020 men's Royal Rumble.

#1 Hope is true: Brock Lesnar will not be facing Cain Velazquez or Tyson Fury at the Royal Rumble

Who will Brock Lesnar face at the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble?

There were rumors earlier this month that WWE was planning a massive showdown between WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and either Cain Velazquez or Tyson Fury at the Royal Rumble. Thankfully, it looks like these rumors are not true. Brock versus Cain Velazquez in Saudi Arabia wasn't a great match and a possible match with Fury would be a terrible idea because of how inexperienced and green he is inside a wrestling ring. It would be far more exciting to see Lesnar facing someone like Drew McIntyre or AJ Styles instead.

At this point, we don't know who Lesnar will face at the first PPV of 2020. Dave Meltzer, who reported on this, also said that it hasn't been confirmed whether or not Brock will defend the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. However, he confirmed that the Royal Rumble match itself would not be for the WWE Championship.

#1 Hope isn't true: Cain Velazquez could be a surprise entrant in the 2020 men's Royal Rumble match

Will Cain Velazquez be in the men's Royal Rumble match?

This opinion could be a little controversial. Recent reports suggest that after plans for Cain Velasquez vs Brock Lesnar at the Rumble were shelved, WWE moved on to the idea of former UFC champ Cain Velazquez making his televised WWE return at the Royal Rumble. His last televised match was an unimpressive showing against Lesnar at Super ShowDown, although we have to point out that Velazquez was injured going into the match.

Despite having Cain return at the Royal Rumble match is a big moment, we think that that wouldn't be the best plan for him. For one, Cain wouldn't win the match (because that would be a terrible idea) which won't work well for Velazquez after the comprehensive defeat to Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

However, WWE can't book Velazquez too strongly in the match either because it would make the regular roster look weak. In our opinion, it would be best if WWE find some other storyline to bring Velazquez back.