5 wrestling rumors we hope are true and 5 we hope aren't: Vince McMahon's personal "Superstar ranking" list revealed, WWE has no plans for important babyface star?

Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. We're coming off the heels of SummerSlam 2020 and it was arguably the best WWE pay-per-view in the pandemic era.

Let's jump right into the aftermath and the rumors of the past week:

#5. Hope is true: Vince McMahon's "babyface rankings" on WWE SmackDown

This seems a bit timely given the return of Roman Reigns to WWE at SummerSlam 2020. However, before this, Fightful Select had reported that Vince McMahon has a "ranking" of three of SmackDown's top babyfaces.

According to Fightful, before SummerSlam, Braun Strowman was naturally ranked first given that he was the Universal Champion at the time. The second was Jeff Hardy, who recently defeated AJ Styles to win the Intercontinental Championship.

The third was a surprising name - Matt Riddle. The King of Bros joined the WWE SmackDown roster not too long ago and is still a relative newcomer to the scene.

Roman Reigns' arrival naturally makes him replace Braun Strowman at #1, and we hope this report is true because it's good to see Jeff Hardy and Matt Riddle looked upon so highly.

We're happier about Matt Riddle since many have dubbed him as the potential next face of SmackDown on FOX. WWE's King of Bros certainly has the potential for it. However, he appears to be the kind of star who WWE is going to give a slow-burn build to rather than push right away.

In all likeliness, it will work out much better that way anyway. While it would be nice to see an instant push for Matt Riddle, fans will always be more invested in a WWE Superstar when they see the journey they've been through to reach the top.

#5. Hope isn't true: WWE has no concrete plans for Otis' MITB cash-in?

Otis has been one of the most surprising WWE breakout stars of 2020. His WrestleMania feud against Dolph Ziggler and storyline romance with Mandy Rose would have been something that would likely have made him the most over WWE star in 2020.

However, there's nothing concrete to measure how over a Superstar is in WWE in 2020's COVID-era. With that said, Sportskeeda's own Tom Colohue revealed that WWE has no concrete plans at the moment for Otis' Money in the Bank cash-in:

Tom Colohue answered the question saying that he didn't know when Otis would cash in. He further stated that the Otis cashing in his MITB briefcase angle had been written at least three times to his knowledge. Colohue went on to say that WWE officials aren't sure how they would do it. So, it looks like Otis will hold on to the MITB briefcase for a while.

We hope this isn't true because it would be a waste of a MITB win if they had no actual plans for Otis.

#4. Hope is true: WWE reportedly interested in a role for Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier is a former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion who recently retired after his final fight. The MMA legend has been vocal about his WWE fandom for years now and outside of the Octagon, he has analyst roles in MMA.

He revealed that he's had offers from WWE and Dave Meltzer confirmed WWE's interest in former UFC Double Champion Daniel Cormier. Sportskeeda's Kishan Prasad wrote:

Dave Meltzer, on Sunday Night's Main Event Podcast, revealed that WWE is interested in signing Daniel Cormier to a contract. Not only WWE officials but also FOX has shown interest in bringing in the UFC legend to the WWE SmackDown announce team that comprises Michael Cole and Corey Graves.

Daniel Cormier has lots of employment opportunities, with offers from ESPN, FOX, and WWE. UFC likely wants to keep him around as well to continue his commentary role. We hope this is true because Daniel Cormier would be well-suited to being on the desk.

#4. Hope isn't true: Karrion Kross injured following his WWE NXT title win?

When we think of such situations, the first thing that comes to mind is SummerSlam 2016 - when Finn Balor finally had his pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam and toppled Seth Rollins to become the inaugural Universal Champion.

Unfortunately for him, he dislocated his shoulder during the match and had to sit out for nearly eight months before returning. It was frustrating because fans who followed him knew how hard he worked to reach where he did. His career was never the same after returning.

Something similar seems to have happened to Karrion Kross, who defeated Keith Lee to win the NXT title at NXT TakeOver: XXX. Triple H revealed in the post-TakeOver conference call that Karrion Kross may have separated his shoulder:

"As good as he is at his job, I wish I could say that he is really good at his job. I really wish I could say that. I am going to have to find out with the MRI and everything. It looks like he separated his shoulder. Somewhere in that match, I knew he was hurt, but he wanted to continue. The medical team was watching him continue with the match, and they felt like he has separated his shoulder. He is tough, man. There's not much more to say about that. To go through that with Keith Lee, who is a big boy. And you know, when your shoulder is separated, it is not easy to back and forth, but he got through it. It is bittersweet. I know he was ecstatic in the moment and he is excited in the moment because it is a dream come true for both him and Scarlett."

While it's not confirmed, we hope this isn't true because it would be heartbreaking for Karrion Kross to reach the top only to suffer an injury in the process.

#3. Hope is true: The reported amount WWE made from Brock Lesnar on YouTube

For those who question Brock Lesnar's drawing power and WWE's perception of him, the numbers don't lie. Tom Colohue was discussing WWE moving to the Amway Center for ThunderDome. While it's known that the cost of renting the venue for two months was $450,000, Colohue put it into perspective, revealing how much money WWE makes off Brock Lesnar alone on YouTube:

Yes, it's quite a larger amount of money, but for the WWE, it is quite a small amount of money. And to be fair, $500,000 is what they made from Brock Lesnar on YouTube alone, for example.

We hope this is true because it's good to see that WWE gets back an incredible amount that they invest in Brock Lesnar. He's the highest-paid Superstar on the WWE roster and for a good reason. In all likeliness, they make up a large chunk of what they pay him from merchandise sales alone. That aside, one can't deny the drawing power he brings to programming.

#3. Hope isn't true: Reported reason behind Renee Young leaving WWE

It's truly one of the biggest losses that WWE has had in recent times. Renee Young has been with WWE for close to eight years and rumors recently emerged that she was set to depart WWE and had given her notice in.

At the SummerSlam 2020 kickoff show, Renee Young confirmed that it would be her "last hurrah" with WWE. She even put a post confirming that her time with WWE has come to an end.

The big question, however, is after all these years, why has she chosen to leave now? Does it have to do with the COVID-19 pandemic? It reportedly does. You probably know that Renee Young had tested positive for COVID-19 before isolating for two weeks and then recovering. Dave Meltzer on WOR said:

As far as the reason, I mean, if you look at the timing, I think it's pretty safe to say that the whole COVID thing is probably a huge part of this, just you know, again, she wasn't the only one. There were a lot of people who got COVID and a lot of people never got calls from the top people in the company and several of them were unhappy.

We hope this isn't true because we wouldn't be able to blame Renee Young for leaving WWE. However, it could be true, but we may never know.

#2. Hope is true: Backstage details on Rey Mysterio's clever negotiation tactic before signing a new WWE contract

Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio at SummerSlam 2020

Dominik Mysterio made his highly-anticipated WWE debut at SummerSlam 2020, facing Seth Rollins in a Street Fight. In the eyes of many fans, it was the match of the night - a simply fantastic piece of storytelling all around.

There were rumors in this very series every week on updates of Rey Mysterio's WWE contract status. The latest update is that he signed a three-year contract with WWE. But he did so only after a clever negotiation tactic.

Tom Colohue revealed that Rey Mysterio pushed for WWE to put Dominik in a singles match before he officially signed his WWE contract:

"I really can't see this as anything but a message from Vince McMahon to Rey Mysterio. Something like, if your son gets hurt that's on you for pushing us to get him involved too early because the WWE did not want Dominik debuting in a solo match at this point, but that's what Rey wanted, and Rey wanted to make sure they did what he wanted before he would look at signing a new contract."

We hope this is true because it's a great way for Rey Mysterio to look after his son and guide him going forward. Dominik's debut at SummerSlam proved that he's ready for WWE.

#2. Hope isn't true: WWE cut portions of the Randy Orton-Ric Flair segment

Ric Flair wasn't particularly happy about being written off from WWE television. However, the segment on RAW where he was assaulted was undoubtedly one of the best segments of the year, and the intensity of it all made for a magical moment.

However, there was a lot more to the promo than what we saw. According to Fightful Select, WWE chopped off parts of the segment. Sportskeeda's Kishan Prasad wrote:

Fightful Select has reported that the segment between Randy Orton and Ric Flair that aired last week was edited. A few moments from the segment were shot but didn't make it broadcast television.

It was revealed that there were minutes that ended up getting wasted.

The report states that Randy Orton's segment was longer than what was televised. Many people who were in attendance have told the site that "minutes" of material ended up not getting used in the final cut that was shown last week. The reason for the edit reported wasn't the quality of the promo but was the fact that the show was running out of time.

We hope this isn't true because it was a great segment and fans should've got to watch the full version.

#1. Hope is true: WWE's plans for Roman Reigns' character

Roman Reigns' return to WWE after the main event of SummerSlam 2020 caused a lot of buzz, with fans now thrilled to see The Big Dog back in WWE after five months away.

Upon his return, he targeted newly-crowned Universal Champion 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt as well as Braun Strowman, indicating that he's getting right back into the title picture.

According to Wrestlingnews.co, WWE is planning a slight character adjustment for Roman Reigns upon his return. Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:

Sources in the company also told WrestlingNews.co that Vince McMahon reportedly wants The Big Dog to have an 'edge' to him. The plan to introduce the new and 'edgy' Roman Reigns was chalked up for before WrestleMania 36, where he was scheduled to defeat Goldberg and become the new Universal Champion

We hope this is true because this is the side of Roman Reigns that was needed years ago. Granted, Roman Reigns was cheered a lot between 2019-2020. But an adjustment of character to a more edgy version would be perfectly suited to him and he should be able to take it to the next level in WWE.

#1. Hope isn't true: Backstage reason behind Matt Riddle being absent from WWE SummerSlam

Not only did AJ Styles miss SummerSlam for the first time in his WWE career, but WWE also missed the opportunity of putting Matt Riddle on the SummerSlam card. While it appeared as though AJ Styles vs Matt Riddle was the direction that WWE planned for SummerSlam, they canned it in favor of Matt Riddle vs King Corbin.

Despite the fact that it's a far more underwhelming feud, the least that WWE could have done is to give Matt Riddle a platform and a big win at his pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam.

Instead, WWE opted to keep the card limited to eight matches as a whole. According to Fightful Select, WWE pushed Riddle vs Corbin off SummerSlam in favor of the Payback pay-per-view:

Fightful Select has reported the reason for the match not making the WWE SummerSlam card. According to the report, the company's tentative plan for Matt Riddle's match against King Corbin will take place at the next PPV. WWE's next PPV is just a week away as the company announced WWE Payback would take place on 30th August, which is a week after WWE SummerSlam.

We hope this isn't true, but given that Matt Riddle didn't get his SummerSlam moment, it probably is.

Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.