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WWE continues to provide its fans with quality action each week on Monday Night RAW. With SmackDown having a stellar storyline involving Roman Reigns, the flagship show of WWE will look to give fans a brilliant show as well.
With Randy Orton all set to face Drew McIntyre at Clash of Champions, speculation is that The Viper will be walking out as the new WWE Champion. However, the plan for him is to not feud with Drew McIntyre but another top RAW Superstar.
There have also been rumors surrounding the future of 'The Beast Incarnate' Brock Lesnar in WWE. So without further ado, let us jump into the 5 biggest RAW backstage rumors:
#5 Brock Lesnar to return and face top RAW Superstar
There has been a lot of speculation on whether or not Brock Lesnar will return to WWE now that his contract with the company has expired. Dave Meltzer of WON has noted that it is just a matter of time before Lesnar makes his way back to WWE.
He stated that Brock Lesnar will likely return for a match against RAW Superstar Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania. However, he did add that plans would change if Randy Orton wins the WWE Championship as that would lead to Randy Orton vs Edge.
"It was said that for Lesnar, like for Tyson Fury (who issued a challenge to Drew McIntyre this past week for a match), that it's at this point Saudi Arabia and WrestleMania as the only shows that make sense right now and the belief right now is Saudi Arabia won't happen this year. Lesnar's name had been talked about in WWE in reference to a Drew McIntyre rematch for this coming WrestleMania, but that was if McIntyre was to retain the title, which has also been considered to go to Randy Orton, who in theory would be earmarked for Edge and not Lesnar. But nothing in that direction is close to being decided."
#4 Vince McMahon was not a fan of recently fired RAW Superstars AOP
As reported before, Akam and Rezar have been released by the company after the two had been absent from WWE programming for a long time. The former RAW Tag Team Champions had been associated with Seth Rollins before injury issues forced WWE to bench them.
The Authors of Pain (AOP) had previously won the NXT Tag Team Championships as well and were reportedly in-line for a major push. As per Dave Meltzer, Paul Heyman and Triple H were high on the team and wanted to make them the next Road Warriors. However, Vince McMahon was not very fond of them.
''When Paul Heyman was there, Paul Heyman wanted to make them his Road Warriors and Levesque did too because he even brought in Ellering for them and they were total Road Warrior rip-offs. It’s interesting that those two wanted to make them into Road Warriors and then Vince just decided whatever… H/T: WrestlingNewsCo''
The former RAW Superstars made a promising start on the main roster but their stint on was hindered by injury issues and lack of concrete creative direction.
#3 Plans for RAW Superstar Randy Orton after he wins the WWE Championship
As reported previously, there is a strong chance that Randy Orton may walk out of WWE Clash of Champions as the next WWE Champion. While the long-term plan is for him to have a WWE Championship match against Edge at WrestleMania, he will likely feud with RAW's newest acquisition, Keith Lee first.
Keith Lee defeated Randy Orton clean at Payback. While Orton won the triple threat match to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship on RAW, he did so by pinning Seth Rollins and not Keith Lee, thus protecting The Limitless One.
Here is what Dave Meltzer has stated about a possible feud between Randy Orton and RAW Superstar Keith Lee:
"The only upset was Keith Lee's quick win over Orton, and I thought that result just made sense. I think that the one thing is that, to me, as soon as I saw that result, I was like, 'Orton is winning the title from Drew McIntyre after all. I don't know that, but that was the immediate conclusion I came to. And they are setting up for Orton vs. Keith Lee title matches as well. So, if Orton is going to win the title, him losing to Keith Lee, I wouldn't say it was a no-brainer; it's WWE, they could have easily not done it, but they did it, and it wasn't a great match at all, you know six minutes and just a pin out of nowhere but just him winning, from a storyline standpoint, everything like that and a star-creating standpoint, it was a good move."
#2 Vince McMahon cancels original plans for RAW Superstar Rey Mysterio and his son
Dave Meltzer of WON reported that RAW Superstar Rey Mysterio had originally planned for his son Dominik to wrestle under the name Principe Mysterio. Rey in Spanish means 'king' and Principe means 'prince'. However, Vince McMahon did not let this idea come to fruition as he wanted to go in a different direction.
It is also reported that Rey Mysterio has the name Principe Mysterio trademarked to be used by his son. RAW legend Rey Mysterio allegedly still hopes that this idea will be allowed in WWE soon.
''The word backstage is that Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio are hopeful of Vince McMahon approving the initial idea some time down the line.''
While there is a chance that Dominik might get a new name and possibly a mask down the line, it would not really make much sense as he has gained a lot of popularity with his current name and attire. Hence, getting him to perform under a new name could prove to be detrimental to his development.
#1 More details regarding RAW Underground
RAW Underground has consistently been one of the more exciting parts of Monday Night RAW ever since its debut. The brainchild of Shane McMahon has fighters brawl in a ring without ropes to see who comes out on top.
Dave Meltzer of WON reported on who is truly behind the concept.
"Umm, I mean, partially yeah, yeah. There are a lot of things it came from. I mean, it came from, I mean, it came from the promotion in, where is that promotion that did something like this in Michigan. And then Harry Smith told Shane a concept which was pretty close to this. But, it is Shane's idea, yeah."
Shane McMahon was reportedly unhappy recently when WWE decided to cut parts from the pre-taped RAW Underground segments. It is believed that Shane McMahon is completely invested in this project and wants to make it work.
There have even been some rumors suggesting a new Championship belt for RAW Underground. It will be interesting to see how WWE continues with RAW Underground once the initial excitement for the new concept wears off.
