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This week of WWE has been quite surprising for all the fans, as some unexpected major returns occurred on both brands.
Batista made an unexpected return on Raw by attacking Ric Flair backstage before his 70th birthday celebration and Kevin Owens returned to SmackDown and replaced Kofi Kingston in the WWE Title Match against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane
Aside from this, Roman Reigns announced that he was healthy again, and then later in the night, joined Rollins to save Ambrose from a 4-on-1 beatdown, teasing a possible Shield reunion. Matt Hardy also returned to reunite with his brother Jeff Hardy to defeat The Bar.
While we are preparing for WrestleMania, so major returns and angles will definitely happen, but we shouldn't forget about WWE's next pay-per-view, Fastlane, which will be the final stop before the show of shows.
Throughout this week, there are many rumors the fans may have missed, so here are this week's seven biggest rumors.
#7 WrestleMania 36 will be held in Tampa, Florida
We begin with a big rumor regarding where next year's WrestleMania might take place, as it is rumored that the show will take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
According to the PWInsider; the word that has been making the rounds behind the scenes is that the show will be held in Tampa, Florida at Raymond James Stadium. This is the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
WWE is yet to confirm the location for WrestleMania 36 but in the past, many WrestleMania locations have been rumored before being made official by WWE. So this location can also possibly be true and it might be confirmed in the weeks before WrestleMania 35.
This will be the fourth time Florida will host a WrestleMania, as they have hosted WrestleMania 24 which took place at Citrus Bowl in Orlando, WrestleMania 28 which took place at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, and WrestleMania 33 which took place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
#6 The Hardy Boyz are expected to remain with WWE for another year
This past week on SmackDown, Matt Hardy returned to reunite with Jeff Hardy and defeated The Bar. Hardy's return was quite unexpected, but just last week it was informed The Hardy Boyz's WWE contracts were expected to expire soon. It is rumored that WWE has extended their contracts for another year.
According to PWInsider, Hardys’ contract had an option to extend the deal for a year with a significant pay raise and WWE chose to invoke this clause.
We can expect The Hardy Boyz to stay with the company for the foreseeable future and they could possibly be the top tag team of SmackDown. WWE can also build a feud between SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos and the Hardy Boyz for WrestleMania season.
Before taking a hiatus, Matt Hardy used the "Woken" gimmick and teamed up with Bray Wyatt as The Deleters of Worlds, they also became Raw Tag Team Champions until losing the titles to the B-Team. It looks like Hardy will not use the "Woken" gimmick anymore but WWE can bring back the character anytime they want.
#5 Reason for Kevin Owens replacing Kofi Kingston at Fastlane
This past week on SmackDown, Kevin Owens made a shocking return to WWE by replacing Kofi Kingston in the WWE Title Match against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. This change in the match was done by Vince McMahon during the contract signing between Bryan and Kingston. The rumored reason for the change was later addressed by Dave Meltzer.
It appears that they flip-flopped Kevin Owens and Kofi Kingston. Because it was very clear that they’re going to do Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston and if they’re not gonna do it at Fastlane and Kevin Owens is getting the shot at Fastlane then that probably means that Kofi Kingston is getting the shot at Mania.”
Meltzer went on to say that originally Kevin Owens was slated to face WWE Champion Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 and the decision to switch Kingston with Owens was just made last week to protect Kingston from another loss.
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston doesn't sound a WrestleMania caliber match, but it would definitely give Kingston his big moment after 11 years of his WWE career. The fans have shown support for Kingston, so winning the WWE Championship for the first time on the grandest stage of them all would be definitely appreciated by his fans.
#4 John Cena and Roman Reigns' opponents for WrestleMania 35 are unknown
This past week on Raw, Roman Reigns announced that he was on remission and fans have begun predicting his WrestleMania opponents. As for John Cena, he missed the Royal Rumble match due to a "storyline" injury that took place one week before the event. WWE is still not clear on who will face these two top stars on the show of shows.
According to WrestleVotes, there are a number of options for the potential opponents for WWE's top two stars on the grandest stage of them all:
WWE usually plans the entire WrestleMania card months before the event, but this year it seems WWE is still figuring out its major matches for WrestleMania 35. Now, we are just a month away from the showcase of the immortals
If WWE wants both of their top stars, Roman Reigns, and John Cena, to be part of this year's WrestleMania card, then they need to finalize their opponents as soon as possible.
#3 The Animal to battle The Game at WrestleMania 35
This past week on Raw, another major return occurred during Ric Flair's 70th Birthday Celebration. Batista returned for the first time since the SmackDown 1000 episode last year and attacked Ric Flair. He then asked Triple H;
"Do I have your attention now?"
According to PWMania, The Animal will indeed battle The Game at WrestleMania 35:
This angle is supposed to lead to a match between Batista and Triple H at WrestleMania 35. The person with knowledge of the match was not certain on the length of Batista’s return but thinks it would just be for the April 7 event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Batista was rumored to face Triple H since he took a shot at him on SmackDown 1000. But Triple H suffered an injury during the tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, where he teamed with Shawn Michaels to defeat The Brothers of Destruction.
Batista has said in several interviews that he desperately wanted a final match with Triple H before he ends his in-ring career. He also was in WWE Headquarters a few weeks back to discuss his in-ring return, WWE also considered various other opponents for The Animal, such as Randy Orton or The Undertaker.
Now, it looks like Triple H might be ready to compete on the show of shows and his opponent will be Batista. This could turn out to be the final time we see The Animal compete in the WWE before he retires as an in-ring performer.
#2 Bray Wyatt and Sami Zayn are ready to return
Both Bray Wyatt and Sami Zayn are set to return to WWE very soon, WWE is currently figuring out of what storylines they can possibly use for both superstars, and also which brand they should return to, whether on Raw or SmackDown.
Zayn injured both of his rotator cuffs which led to him being off for nearly six months, whereas, Bray Wyatt has not been involved due to WWE not having any storyline for the superstar. He last teamed up with Matt Hardy for a run with the Raw Tag Team Titles.
After Hardy took a hiatus from WWE due to his back injuries, Wyatt was also removed from TV and since then he has been sidelined. However, Hardy returned on SmackDown last week to reunite with his brother Jeff Hardy to defeat The Bar.
A possible scenario for both returns can be answering R-Truth's United States Open Challenge, as just last week Truth began open challenges which were answered by Andrade and Rey Mysterio. Truth was able to retain his title in a good triple threat match.
Bray Wyatt and Sami Zayn can possibly answer Truth's open challenge next and either could even become the new United States Champion. Already, Truth doesn't require any title and it should be given to a worthy WWE Superstar who needs it.
#1 WWE reuniting The Shield at Fastlane
As soon as Roman Reigns announced that he was on remission on Raw, later in the night, he returned to action along with Seth Rollins to save their Shield-brother, Dean Ambrose, from a 4-on-1 beatdown by Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Elias. Now it is rumored that a Shield reunion might happen at Fastlane pay-per-view.
According to multiple reports, "There are plans in place that will see to some degree a reunion of The Shield at Fastlane" following Roman Reigns' announcement on Raw that he was officially leukemia-free. Though it isn't clear exactly what the match will entail, it was teased on Raw that the bout would pit Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose against Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin.
Another report also says there could be involvement from Braun Strowman and Elias as well, to make it an eight-man tag team match at the event. Right now, WWE is advertising Reigns and Rollins against McIntyre, Lashley, and Corbin in a 3-on-2 handicap match.
But they are also planning a major angle to reunite The Shield on Raw. With Ambrose leaving WWE after his contract expires in April, WWE needs to utilize this moment to create one final Shield reunion.
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