WWE Rumor Roundup: 4-time Intercontinental Champion not cleared for in-ring return, Major update on Asuka's push and more - 18 June 2020

Welcome to another edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup where we bring you the best stories related to the WWE Superstars. From the rumor mill to the official statements, we have gone through all the posts of the day to bring you just the top 5 that everyone must-read.

Have WWE quietly shifted a storyline from SmackDown to Monday Night RAW? Randy Orton reveals why he cried after watching a particular documentary involving an NXT Superstar and more.

Before we get to all that, let us get past the two headline-makers of the day:

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4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion not cleared for in-ring return

Christian made a stunning return to the ring on Monday Night RAW, but before he could do anything, he was attacked by Ric Flair from behind before Randy Orton punted him to end the match.

With the 4-time Intercontinental Champion making his return in the unsanctioned match, WWE Universe have been wondering if he would be making an in-ring return like his best friend, Edge.

Tom Colohue has an update on the same and has claimed that Christian has not been cleared for an in-ring return. There is no update on if he could make a return in the future, but for now, he is still on the sidelines.

"Christian is not cleared to return to wrestling. Cannot stress that enough."

Talking about the in-ring return information leaking ahead of Monday Night RAW, Colohue noted that it might be a planned leak to increase the WWE RAW TV ratings. He said:

"Also another one of Vince's go-to's is leaking information. The Christian information was leaked early in the day and almost everybody had it. In the hours preceding RAW, almost every wrestling journalist was talking about Christian... and they weren't being subtle about it. At all. I'm confident that information was meant to get out, to get the ratings going. And by the look of it, it did pay off."

Vince McMahon high on Asuka as RAW Champion

Asuka

With Paul Heyman being removed from his backstage position on Monday Night RAW, there were doubts in the minds of the WWE Universe about the push of several Superstars. One such Superstar was the current WWE RAW Women's Champion, Asuka.

She has defended the title twice in 2 days but has managed to retain the title on both occasions, even though both weren't clean finishes. She managed to retain after a double count out at Backlash and then a fast count by John Cone helped her pin Nia Jax.

WrestleTalk are now reporting that despite all rumours, Asuka's push is safe right now as Vince McMahon himself is high on her. Reporting on the push for Asuka, they reported:

“He [Vince] is still high on Asuka, she won’t be hurt with Heyman gone”.

She won the title after Becky Lynch relinquished the title as she was taking a break from WWE. The Man is set to become a mother in December and is not expected back in the WWE ring for some time.

Why Bianca Belair is off WWE TV

Bianca Belair

Bianca Belair made her debut on Monday Night RAW right after WrestleMania but has not been on TV for a few weeks now. She was involved in a few backstage segments with The Street Profits before disappearing from the scene completely.

Dave Meltzer had an update on this on Wrestling Observer Radio recently and reported that she is not on TV just because she isn't in any storyline. He adds that they decided not to include her in the 'skits' backstage and this pulled her from those.

She is expected to be back on WWE TV once they have a good spot for her in a storyline and not as a small part of anything else. Meltzer said:

“She was introduced. Then somebody decided on wacky skits she didn’t fit in. So they didn’t put her on TV because she wasn’t in any program. Now it’s a new cycle and we’ll see.”

The EST of WWE has been with the company since 2016 but has not managed to get her hands on a title just yet.

Storyline shifted from SmackDown to RAW?

ꀤ ꌚꏂꏂ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꒒ꀤꏂꌚ pic.twitter.com/ncHZVbbkTM

— The Message (@TheMessageWWE) May 28, 2020

Mustafa Ali has been moved from WWE SmackDown to Monday Night RAW according to PWInsider. They report that the move has been done quietly despite him appearing in many segments on SmackDown.

Adding to this, WrestleVotes have reported that Dolph Ziggler has been moved to the Red Brand as well. The Show-Off and Mustafa Ali were rumored to collide on SmackDwon after the former 205 Live champion was revealed as the Hacker on the Blue Brand.

However, with both of them moving to the Monday Nights, it is very likely that they will collide on WWE RAW if they are still a part of the storyline. Ali has already confirmed that he is frustrated about being away from WWE TV right now by tweeting:

"Yeah man. It's real nice to be in your prime and wanting to use the exposure you get to bring light to serious topics, but instead forced to the sidelines for reasons beyond your control. Real nice to not be allowed to do what you're passionate about."

Randy Orton cried after watching WWE documentary

Looks like I hurt the feelings of the self appointed lockeroom leader of a wrestling school. Let me know what time #legslap class starts so I can take my game to the next level. https://t.co/c2ECCKL44f

— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) June 8, 2020

Randy Orton and Tommaso Ciampa were involved in a Twitter feud recently but that seems to be just a one-off thing. The Viper revealed in a recent interview with CBS Sports that he was moved by the WWE Documentary on Ciampa.

He claims that the moment when former NXT Champion opened his eyes after his neck surgery to see his daughter on his chest was extremely moving. He said:

"That man has got a little baby. Just this morning I watched his 'Black Heart' documentary on WWE Network that followed him around after his neck surgery. I'll admit, I welled up and got a little tear in my eye when he woke up from the neck surgery and his beautiful little daughter was sitting on his lap and he was touching her face and just happy to see her and his wife. That's heartwarming.

"I would love nothing more than to see Tommaso have a long, healthy career and retire and not need to go learn a new trade or go work at the local whatever the f**k to make ends meet and put food on the table. I want to see all these guys succeed. When you're talking about that? Making money. It's a business. It's a business. You've got to make money."