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Welcome to today's edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup, where we try and bring you the best stories of the day. We have news about what Chris Benoit told his final opponent to do in the ring, and also Dominik talking about facing his father Rey Mysterio one day.
Before we get to all that, let us get past the two headline-makers of the day:
Samoa Joe comments on his WWE in-ring future
Samoa Joe has been a commentator on Monday Night RAW for some time now and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The former NXT champion has not wrestled in the ring since February because of various reasons.
One important reason was his concussion, and the repeated impact it had on his career recently saw doubts raised over his WWE in-ring future. Joe, however, has not ruled out a return to the ring and said that he is far done with in-ring action.
He talked on the Taylor Wilde's podcast, 'Wilde On' when he spoke about his experiences as a commentator. He said:
"Right now, I'm enjoying commentary on Raw. It's been a fun challenge. Obviously, I'm not done in the ring by no means. I think right now; I'm exploring things. Aside from that, I'm doing voice acting, which is fun and very cool. It's a very enjoyable thing. I have a project coming up with Warner Brothers. I'm very fortunate, and I'm very happy that I'm doing the things I'm doing right now."
Dave Meltzer also spoke about Samoa Joe's WWE future in the recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio and said that he is expected to be back in the ring soon. He said:
"Probably not, but for now, he does such a great job with announcing, and he's had a lot of concussions, but for now, he's doing this. I know that when he first did the announcing, and of course, things changed, I was told that it was temporary because he's too valuable as a talent to have him as an announcer. But obviously, minds changed from when I was told that to when they decided to revamp it, and he is great as an announcer. In theory, he's supposed to wrestle again, but who knows."
Samoa Joe is easily one of the best in-ring performers in WWE, and a return to the ring is something the WWE Universe is eagerly waiting to see.
Big title change after WWE Draft?
The WWE Draft is set to start on SmackDown tonight, and a lot of changes are expected. The roster reshuffle will happen tonight and next week on Monday Night RAW.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has hinted that there could be a big title change soon. He added that the chances of Drew McIntyre dropping the title to Randy Orton is more likely to happen than Roman Reigns losing and moving to the Red brand. He said:
"The key to these names is obviously McIntyre and Reigns. As the two brand champions, one would expect they would be put on different brands. It is possible they could end up on the same brand but then quickly switch one of the titles. Reigns losing right now would be a surprise and a bad idea. McIntyre losing to Randy Orton is obviously very much in play."
Rumors suggested that Roman Reigns was going to take on The Fiend Bray Wyatt after he is done with Jey Uso, but it looks like things have changed. With the WWE Draft taking place, Drew McIntyre could be his next big opponent.
Bobby Lashley on why he did the WWE storyline with Lana
The Bobby Lashley-Lana-Rusev storyline was easily one of the worst in recent times. The WWE Universe was just not into it, and from the looks of things, neither were the ones involved in the storyline.
Bobby Lashley spoke about the storyline on WWE After The Bell after Corey Graves asked him. He said that he was curious as to why he was being put in such a storyline, and revealed the reasons WWE made him do the storyline. He said:
"For me, I had to figure out the 'why'. A lot of times people don't want to know the 'why'. And I think part of the 'why' for me was, when I came back... here are a couple of things - One, they were like 'well, we want people to hate you'. That's a good way (chuckles). But, two, also I think it was getting me to loosen up a little bit. I trained so long with wrestling, and with wrestling, it was always 'shut up and train'."
Miro, fka Rusev, has left the company, while Lana and Bobby Lashley are on their separate paths in WWE.
Dominik on his WWE bucket list and facing Rey Mysterio
Dominik Mysterio has joked that he would love to face his father, Rey Mysterio, just to get revenge for all the spankings he got. The newest WWE Superstar was talking in an interview with Chris Van Vliet when he spoke about his dream match in WWE.
"Yes, most definitely. I think that's still a long time from now, but I remember all the spankings he gave me as a kid. So I'm sure our match will come."
In an interview with talkSPORT, Dominik confirmed that his wish was to face Rey Mysterio in a one-on-one match at WrestleMania, but the item on top of his bucket list was winning the tag-team titles with his dad. he said:
"I think bucket list wise with my dad would be winning some Tag Team titles. Definitely having a pay-per-view match with him at WrestleMania, just one-on-one. I think maybe the last bucket list would be being able to induct him into the Hall of Fame as a WWE Superstar. That would be out of this world amazing."
Dominik Mysterio is still involved in a feud with Murphy and Seth Rollins, and that is expected to go on for some time, with his sister getting involved.
What Chris Benoit told his final WWE opponent
Chris Benoit was on his way to gain legendary status in WWE when it all came to a screeching - and gruesome - halt in 2007. The controversial nature of his death death has resulted in a majority of fans forgetting how good he was in the ring.
Chris Benoit's final match in WWE was against Elijah Burke – just 5 days before he died. Burke has never spoken about what Benoit talked to him in the ring but has broken his silence now.
In a recent interview with Wrestling Epicenter, Elijah Burke said that the former WWE Superstar asked him to keep communicating during the match. He said:
"One thing Chris was big on, and hindsight is 20/20 on this if I could say, ‘oh, that kind of makes sense’, is just the fact that he said, ‘talk to me out there. I might forget.’ So, after everything that happened, when it came back that he had like the brain of an 80 year old with Alzheimer’s. That was like, ‘hmm, that is interesting’. In this business, I was always taught that we should communicate in rings. So, I didn’t think anything of it. That could have been a sign. Chris Benoit asking me to talk to him? (H/T talkSPORT)
However, Burke made it clear that there was no indication of anything that was to happen, during the match or after it.
