'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It's the first WWE News Roundup of 2021 and it's quite a big one. We have news on Vince McMahon rejecting plans for a RAW Superstar to win the men's Royal Rumble, the latest on Goldberg's match against Drew McIntyre at the Rumble pay-per-view, and more.
#6 Vince McMahon rejected plans for Keith Lee to win the Royal Rumble
The 2021 WWE Royal Rumble is only weeks away and the big question going around is who will win the Rumble matches this year. There are quite a few contenders for the men’s Royal Rumble matches this year and among them is RAW Superstar Keith Lee.
Sources in WWE recently told SK Wrestling that some within the company wanted Keith Lee to win the Royal Rumble. However, Vince McMahon rejected the plans:
WWE was strongly considering Keith Lee winning it (Royal Rumble) due to his popularity with WWE fans, but Vince McMahon threw the wrench into that idea. His input has been kind of shaded by underlings lately due to his age, but his thoughts on Lee make sense. Lee would be exposed as not being ready for the main roster, especially if he started early. Starting much later in the Rumble would confirm he wasn't ready. H/T: SK Wrestling
#5 Backstage update on Goldberg's return on WWE RAW
Goldberg challenged Drew McIntyre on RAW last night and the WWE Champion quickly accepted. Goldberg had been teasing a match against Roman Reigns last year but it looks like WWE quickly changed plans and decided to go with Goldberg vs. McIntyre instead.
Dave Meltzer gave an update on the situation an on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, revealing why WWE decided to have Goldberg return now and challenge Drew McIntyre instead of Roman Reigns. He said that the plan for Goldberg to face Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble was only finalized on Saturday and Goldberg was chosen because 'they had nobody ready for anything':
The Goldberg thing, so Bill Goldberg vs Drew McIntyre is going to be the main event of the Royal Rumble. So this was decided on Saturday. So if you're wondering why Goldberg did all this buildup with Roman Reigns if he's going to wrestle Drew McIntyre and it's like, that is your answer. It wasn't a swerve. It wasn't to throw people off. It was because they had nobody ready for anything. H/T: SK
Meltzer said that WWE decided to go with Goldberg vs. Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble because 'they had nobody ready for anything' as far as a potential challenger for The Scottish Warrior.
#4 Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy calls out Vince McMahon over The Hardy Bros
WWE recently filed a trademark for The Hardy Bros and is currently pushing Jeff Hardy and Riddle as a tag team. One person who is not happy with this is Jeff Hardy’s brother Matt Hardy who is currently signed to AEW.
Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy reacted to Riddle and Jeff Hardy being pushed as The Hardy Bros in a video posted on his YouTube channel. Matt Hardy called out WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and accused him of trying to recreate the magic of The Hardy Boyz and trying to 'confuse the marketplace':
There is no doubt, if someone ever asked you who the greatest tag team of all time is, it is The Hardy Boy. As a matter of fact, Vince McMahon is so obsessed with the greatness and popularity of The Hardy Boyz, he's created the Hardy Bros. And he's put together another guy named Matt with my brother, to try and recreate the magic that we once had.
He's [McMahon] trying to confuse the marketplace because he's so vicious, he still wishes he had the Hardy Boyz. The Hardy Bros? That's not gonna work. You would have had a better chance with fake Razor and fake Diesel. H/T: WINC
Matt Hardy is currently the mentor of Private Party in AEW.
#3 Big E possibly a favorite to win the men’s WWE Royal Rumble match
The New Day went their separate ways last year in the WWE Draft with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods heading to WWE RAW and Big E staying on SmackDown. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were RAW Tag Team Champions until recently when they lost the titles to The Hurt Business. Big E has been pushed as a singles star since then and recently beat Sami Zayn to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
It now looks like Big E could possibly be one of the favorites to win the men’s Royal Rumble later this month. According to a source who spoke to SK Wrestling, Big E is one of the favorites this year and is someone Vince McMahon likes:
Another big favorite at the moment is Big E because he's had years of exposure in WWE, and 2021 could be his year. Vince likes him. H/T: SK Wrestling
You can check out our original story about Big E being a Royal Rumble favorite HERE.
#2 Mustafa Ali takes a shot at the WWE legends following RAW Legends Night
Mustafa Ali was a guest on RAW Talk last night and the leader of the anti-WWE faction, RETRIBUTION, was not happy. Ali was not a fan of Legends Night and the stars of yesterday like Hulk Hogan coming in again. Ali took a shot at the how the cheers inside the ThunderDome had been pumped up for them. The leader of RETRIBUTION was not happy with how Superstars like himself and his faction were not on RAW because of Legends Night:
Guys like Drew Gulak, Akira Tozawa, myself, all of RETRIBUTION not on the show. Why? Because we need to hear, ‘Whatcha gonna do, brother?’ again for the seven millionth time? They pumped them up real good, the cheers, they pumped them up real good for them, huh? They were cheering, I’m sure they were.
Ali went on to take a shot at WWE, saying that instead of giving younger stars chance, they spent three hours showcasing people could 'barely walk':
Why don’t you give us a chance? People that can contribute to this business, further this company, but no, no, no, no, let’s push them all aside and let’s give three hours to people who need… they could barely walk!
RETRIBUTION have recently been feuding with Ricochet on WWE RAW.
#1 WWE SmackDown Superstar Sasha Banks' impressive run ends at 119 days
2020 was an incredible year for WWE's 'The Boss' Sasha Banks. She had a fantastic year, holding three titles over the course of the year - the RAW Women's Championship, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, and the SmackDown Women's Championship (which she's holding right now). At one point, Banks was a double champion with her and Bayley holding all the women's gold on the main roster.
The New Year's Day episode of SmackDown on FOX saw Sasha Banks teaming up with Bianca Belair to take on Carmella and Bayley. A distraction by Carmella's sommelier Reginald towards the end of the match saw Carmella pin Sasha Banks to win the match for her team.
This was the first time Sasha Banks has been pinned or submitted in a match for 119 days, bringing an end to an impressive record. Sasha Banks went nine matches without being pinned or submitted.
The last time Sasha Banks was pinned before this came on the September 4, 2020 episode of SmackDown. Banks teamed up with Bayley on the night to take on Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Banks and Bayley were both pinned by Nia Jax at the same time.
