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Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true, and those we hope aren't! It's been an action-packed week in the world of wrestling and WWE, so let's jump right into the rumors of the week:
#5. Hope is true: WWE constantly making changes to WrestleMania 37 main event
WrestleMania 37 is now getting closer and closer, and this is normally the time when WWE starts or has already started long-term storylines to culminate at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the circumstances surrounding it, many things are uncertain for WrestleMania 37, including the venue (which we'll get to later).
Edge was a name who was in the original plans for the WrestleMania 37 main event. If reports are to be believed, the idea was for Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship eventually and hold on to it until WrestleMania, with Edge expected to return and win the 2021 Royal Rumble.
However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated that there's still a lot of uncertainty as to when Edge could return. Given that recovery from a major tricep injury can take six to eight months, Edge could possibly return only in February.
As a result, WWE has had to constantly shift plans for the WrestleMania 37 main event, as per WON. Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:
WWE has changed the plans for the main event of WrestleMania 37 several times, as reported by Meltzer. As of this writing, there is no definite plan.
We hope the part about the constantly changing plans is true because it's good for WWE to have back-up plans just in case. With so much uncertainty, who can blame them?
#5. Hope isn't true: WWE planning to move Chad Gable back to NXT?
Chad Gable/Shorty G hasn't had the most fulfilling WWE career. In the eyes of many, he has a lot of potential - more than what Jason Jordan had when he was getting pushed in the summer of 2017.
However, things have never gone his way, and he's never been a priority among the WWE higher-ups to push. Lately, he's been in a storyline where he has been the lackey of King Corbin.
However, with several rumors about who the NXT mystery person could be, Dave Meltzer spoke about it and stated that there's a far higher chance of Chad Gable being the mystery man rather than Bo Dallas:
"But Dallas would be such a nothing because of how he’s been portrayed for years. If you include tag champs, this would open it up to Chad Gable, who has been abused badly on the main roster but is so great enough that he could pull it off."
We hope this isn't true because WWE moving Gable to NXT would be a short-term beneficial move, but they could be doing so much more with him, especially in the COVID-era.
Meltzer spoke about the possibility of Gable leaving WWE and stated that he doubts AEW would be very interested:
"If Gable can keep his main roster contract and come here it would be a win across the board. If not, I’d say he needs to get out, but until after the pandemic, I’m not sure how aggressively AEW will be going for people who do have good contracts in WWE who aren’t proven like a Rey Mysterio."
Chad Gable should be utilized on the main roster rather than getting shifted anywhere.
#4. Hope is true: Peyton Royce impressing WWE officials and Vince McMahon
Peyton Royce is a singles star after spending years teaming up with Billie Kay as The IIconic duo and later, The IIconics. After spending over two years together on the main roster, WWE made the decision to abruptly split them without any explanation whatsoever.
Ultimately, it was clear that the objective was to turn Peyton Royce into a singles star, and she will be benefiting in a big way from the break-up. According to WrestleTalk, Peyton Royce has been impressing everyone backstage, from Vince McMahon to WWE officials to her fellow Superstars:
"Wrestlers within WWE have told us that Peyton has clearly been working hard on her in-ring work recently, and this has led to many backstage within the company becoming increasingly impressed with her work and attitude. The feeling is that Peyton has been putting in a lot of work into improving her in-ring work, likely at her husband Shawn Spears and Tyler Breeze’s Florida based wrestling school, that she also helps coach at. One WWE star we spoke to noted that the Australian has a “tremendous attitude” and deserved the opportunities she’ll reportedly be getting as a singles star over the coming weeks and months."
We hope this is true because Peyton Royce deserves a push, and it's good to see fresh faces getting pushed in WWE.
#4. Hope isn't true: Reason why RETRIBUTION has been absent from WWE this past week
RETRIBUTION has taken WWE by storm, vowing to destroy the promotion. The anti-establishment faction was supposed to appear at WWE Clash of Champions 2020, but fans were surprised to see the faction miss their third WWE pay-per-view in a row since their formation.
According to Ryan Satin, the main reason why RETRIBUTION was pulled from their recent appearance was a COVID-related one. While none of the five core members tested positive for COVID-19, they were reportedly in close proximity to someone who did:
This likely means that RETRIBUTION will be off RAW this coming week as well. The surge of COVID-19 positive cases within WWE even led to RAW Underground getting canned due to the lack of personnel available.
We hope this isn't true, especially since there has been a lot of speculation about NXT Superstars reportedly attending a party that resulted in the surge of cases. It seems irresponsible to put many at risk rather than staying in a bubble to prevent the COVID spread within WWE.
#3. Hope is true: WWE planning a big change to WrestleMania 37?
As mentioned earlier, WWE has had to make a lot of changes and do a lot of advance-planning for WrestleMania 37. Unlike last time where they hardly had two to three weeks to make a drastic change to WrestleMania 36, there is a lot more anticipation this time around.
WWE will be hoping that the pandemic cools down by April 2021, but they're also aware of the reality that it may not be going away any time soon. WWE originally planned to have WrestleMania 37 in the newly-created SoFi stadium in Inglewood, California, but things seem to have changed.
WrestleVotes reported that WWE is looking into Tampa and possibly booking the Raymond James Stadium - the original venue for WrestleMania 36. However, they also noted that there is a contractual obligation towards California:
We hope this is true because it would be a good way for WWE to get back to their 2020 plans. Raymond James Stadium in 2021 would mean that the SoFi stadium would be a lock for 2022. It's better that way since a stadium of that magnitude deserves fans.
#3. Hope isn't true: WWE making a big change for The Undisputed Era
The entire landscape of WWE NXT changed when The Undisputed Era arrived in 2017. They've been nothing short of dominant in their three-year run in NXT, with Adam Cole holding the record for the longest individual reign in the title's lineage.
The whole group has found success and has captured every Championship there is to in NXT. While many WWE fans feel that a RAW or SmackDown move would be best for the faction, it appears that the company could have different plans.
Kyle O'Reilly's entry into the NXT Championship picture was a big change as well, and according to PWInsider, Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly are set for big babyface roles while Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish will remain heels:
"Adam Cole wrestling Austin Theory tonight is indeed the beginning of Cole being shifted into a babyface role for the brand. WWE began slowly teasing it after his loss to Finn Balor."
While a character change is nice, a move to RAW or SmackDown as heels would be a better option at this stage, which is why we hope it isn't true.
#2. Hope is true: Brock Lesnar is being considered for a big fight outside of WWE
It's been four years now since Brock Lesnar briefly stepped away from WWE to fight in the UFC. He was victorious, but his win was overturned after he tested positive for a banned substance.
There have been rumors of Brock Lesnar leaving WWE for a UFC contract for a while now, but as it turns out, he was simply using both companies to leverage a better deal - which Vince McMahon was eventually willing to give.
Brock Lesnar's WWE obligations for 2020 seem to have ended at WrestleMania 36. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of crowd, he has been kept sidelined.
According to Dave Meltzer of WON, Brock Lesnar is being considered as an opponent for former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, who vacated his title in favor of a move to Heavyweight:
"Jones did tease about going back down to light heavyweight and reclaiming the title after Blachowicz got the win, which just shows how it was more about not defending against Reyes than it was actually wanting to vacate the title. He isn't going to, because he is serious about moving to heavyweight and is actively taking the steps to gain weight to compete there, knowing his big money fights are against Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and, even though it is a huge longshot but also a never-say-never situation, Brock Lesnar."
We hope this is true because it would be a good move for Brock Lesnar to make while he eventually waits out the situation with WWE. Jon Jones seems ready to go but will have to wait for a while to fight.
#2. Hope isn't true: WWE taking control of Superstars' Twitch and making it a work obligation
WWE has put itself in a bad position from a publicity and backstage morale standpoint recently. After implementing the rule where they will take control of Superstars' Twitch and other third-party accounts, it's clear that many of the talent backstage are furious.
As we know, there are many Superstars who are active on Twitch, such as AJ Styles, Zelina Vega, Paige, Adam Cole, and Dakota Kai, among others. A talent had reached out to former US Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, stating the extreme measures that WWE has gone to. Andrew Yang has been vocal about his issues against WWE and their labeling of talent as independent contractors while also taking full control of them. A talent had reached out to Yang, revealing what WWE did:
We hope this isn't true because the independent contractor status puts the practice into question, and it's going to do a lot of damage to backstage morale if it hasn't already.
#1. Hope is true: The reason why WWE had Roman Reigns destroy Jey Uso at Clash of Champions
It's hard to argue that Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso has been the best storyline WWE has had in a while. What makes it better is how it's being used to set up a version of Roman Reigns' character that we've never seen before.
While Roman Reigns has been a heel in WWE for less than one-and-a-half years, WWE finally went ahead with his heel turn upon his return at SummerSlam 2020. According to Dave Meltzer of WON, the Clash of Champions match had the brutality and one-sidedness to set-up Roman Reigns' new heel character.
"In fact the entire Reigns vs. Uso match was one-sided with the storyline that it wasn’t like Uso was ever going to win, but you hoped he would get out of there not being hurt badly. That said, in that case, it worked the way it played out because of the unique story of the big bad older cousin and the somewhat naive underdog younger cousin not in his league, but refusing to be humiliated and would rather take that beating even though it was only making things worse."
We hope this is true, and given how the match played out, it likely is. We love this version of Roman Reigns and are excited to see what lies ahead for him.
#1. Hope isn't true: Complications with The Rock's return to WWE
While The Rock quietly retired from WWE and wrestling after WrestleMania 29 in 2013, the idea of him returning to the ring was never off the cards. For example, The Rock revealed himself that there were plans to have a match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30. Then, Triple H admitted that there were plans for him to face The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 32 in front of the biggest crowd in WWE history.
There were then plans for The Rock to team up with Ronda Rousey in her WWE debut at WrestleMania 34. Now, Dave Meltzer of WON stated that there have been talks of a potential match for The Rock against Roman Reigns. Unfortunately, the complications of COVID-19 and uncertainty over the return of crowds makes his return complicated. Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:
However, Meltzer noted that he doesn't see The Rock wrestling without a big crowd, and considering the unrelenting nature of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is no certainty on when WWE could get the fans back in full capacity at its shows.
We hope this isn't true, but that's only from the optimistic lens of crowds returning by WrestleMania 37. It's an understandable and realistic complication. Why would WWE want to bring back The Rock for an empty arena show?
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
