Top SmackDown Rumors: Veteran Superstar confirms reason for leaving WWE; Backstage reaction to Champion's insensitive remarks on air; Roman Reigns'exit; Sheamus plans (25th September)

SmackDown continues to be the hottest weekly program on WWE thanks to the return of Roman Reigns, the fierce feud between Bayley and Sasha Banks and the intriguing angle between Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt.

We will see the fallout from Bayley's brutal attack on Banks last week and hopefully get some answers in regards to Alexa Bliss' peculiar new behavior. We will also get to see if Otis will retain the MITB contract or will have to relinquish it.

On today's edition of top SmackDown Backstage Rumors, we shall take a look at some of the biggest rumors and rumor killers affecting the blue brand.

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#5 SmackDown Superstar John Morrison confirms rumors about his reason for leaving WWE in 2011

John Morrison returned to WWE last year after being away for nearly 8 years. He has already won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships along with The Miz since returning.

When Morrison had left WWE in 2011 it was believed that he wanted to pursue a career in Hollywood. Morrison corroborated these rumors while talking to Chris Van Vliet by stating that he wanted to make a film after leaving WWE.

''When I first left WWE, I thought I was going to be back in a year or two. I left because I wanted to make a movie. Not just be in a movie, but I’m a film major. I went to UC Davis. That’s what I studied in school so I wanted to do the whole process. I wanted to write it, produce it, star in it and when I left I thought that was going to take a year or two. Nope.''

While SmackDown Superstar John Morrison did not quite make it big in the film industry, he did manage to make a name for himself as a pro wrestler in Mexico and in other promotions such as IMPACT Wrestling where he held the World title.

#4 Backstage reaction to SmackDown Tag Team Champion Shinsuke Nakamura saying 'cancer' on-air

A few weeks back on RAW, the SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura made their way to the red brand. During a battle of words with The Street Profits, the former US Champion Nakamura said something which drew the ire of some fans.

Here is what he said:

"If they want smoke, they will get cancer".

This came across as insensitive to some as WWE has always projected themselves as a company that always helps cancer patients. However, this wasn't a line that SmackDown's Nakamura came up with himself but was actually given a script to follow. The original plan was to give him a fresh script, but they didn't. Therefore there was no backstage heat on The Artist.

Here is what Dave Meltzer stated on WOR regarding the incident:

We were told that the cancer line was not supposed to make it onto the show but with so much happening behind the scenes someone simply forgot to use a different version of Nakamura’s promo.

#3 SmackDown Superstar Roman Reigns on when he would leave WWE

SmackDown Superstar Roman Reigns has been the focal point of WWE over the past few years. Despite attracting fan ire, he has continued to lead the locker room and be the face of WWE. SmackDown's Roman Reigns has made quite a few appearances in movies and there were rumors that The Big Dog is looking to follow John Cena's footsteps into Hollywood.

The WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns addressed these concerns while talking to Corey Graves on After the Bell and revealed when he would exit WWE.

"When they are really doing their job, that's when I won't have to do mine anymore. Just like kinda what John Cena, John said the same thing to me in one of his promos. We ain't seen him in a while right? We rarely see him, and when he does, it's just what he does, and he is gone. In order for me to leave, someone has to really come and hold it down."

#2 Plans for SmackDown Superstar Sheamus

While Speaking about SmackDown's Big E and Sheamus, PWTorch's Wade Keller and Brandon LeClair talked about WWE's booking of the two men.

LeClair stated that even though he felt like Big E is being held back in a feud with Sheamus, last week's angle was pretty well executed. He also talked about Sheamus' current role in WWE and how WWE don't have any major plans for the SmackDown Superstar.

''I've been a little bit skeptical of keeping Big E embroiled with Sheamus for so long. It's pretty clear that they don't have huge plans for Sheamus. He is the King Corbin role where he just fights babyfaces on the way up. And he is going to serve as a stepping stone. He's sort of the Gatekeeper.''

It is quite surprising that WWE have decided to use a former multi-time WWE Champion like Sheamus in a gatekeeper's role. Hopefully, he will get a legit push sometime soon where he can establish himself as SmackDown's Celtic Warrior again.

(Please interlink the article and give H/T credit on using the quotes)

#1 WWE's actual plans for MITB holder Otis on SmackDown

SmackDown Superstar Otis won the MITB contract this year, much to the surprise of WWE fans. There is no doubt that Otis was one of the hottest acts coming out of WrestleMania but it seems like his period of fame might soon be over.

Although WWE did put the MITB on SmackDown Superstar Otis, it is quite evident that Otis is neither ready nor quite capable of being a top card player. As per Dave Meltzer of WON, WWE have no idea how to take the MITB off Otis but they don't want him to continue being SmackDown's Mr. MITB anymore.

'So The Miz and [John] Morrison are doing the 'Dirtsheet' and Otis comes out and beats them both up and they're trying to rile up Otis by saying 'Mandy Rose is on RAW and all those RAW guys are going to be after her and she's going to drop Otis. And Dolph is on RAW, and they used to date' and so Otis comes out and beats the s**t out of both of them. And Morrison is just looking at Miz, who's like "Yeah he fell into our plan!", and Morrison obviously didn't know what the plan was. But the plan is that between the first segment and the fifth segment, The Miz had a lawyer draft a lawsuit for unsafe working conditions, which is the old Shawn Michaels gimmick. They're suing Otis but they'll drop the lawsuit if he gives up the briefcase. Either they're going to sue or the deal here is "We got no idea how to get the briefcase off Otis, so this is how we're going to get it off him. And that's what it is'.