WWE News and Rumor Roundup: 5-time champion teases gimmick change, Former world champion to target Roman Reigns after Draft, backstage reason behind Goldberg’s early return on RAW (29th September, 2021)

We are back with another exciting edition of WWE News and Rumor Roundup. Things have been particularly interesting since the controversial Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Between the biggest championship feuds and potential changes in top superstar gimmicks, there's a lot that has surfaced over the last 24 hours.

Here, we look at some of the biggest news and rumors that have dominated headlines over the last few weeks. So, without further ado, let's begin.

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#5 Alexa Bliss teases potential change in gimmick after loss at WWE Extreme Rules

Alexa Bliss recently challenged Charlotte Flair for the RAW Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules 2021. Their title bout eventually ended with The Queen retaining her gold, but that was not all.

Flair ripped Bliss’ doll Lilly into pieces following the match and left the parts inside the ring. Alexa Bliss was devasted following the champion’s actions and mourned over her lost friend before exiting the arena.

She recently took to Twitter and used Albert Einstein’s infamous quote to suggest a potential change in her current gimmick that was inspired by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. “Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be changed from one form to another”, said Bliss hinting at her future on the Red brand.

After the pay-per-view, Charlotte Flair also explained her actions and said that she wanted to get rid of Lilly because she only wanted to face the original Lexi. The Queen feels that the five-time women’s champion should take that as a wake-up call before saying that hailing her as ‘champion at heart.’

"The Alexa I faced tonight was the old Alexa. It was the Alexa I saw when she held the RAW Women’s Championship multiple times. Tonight, she fought me and faced me. Yes, I’m still the Queen, but that’s the Lexi we all want to see. I don’t want to hear about Lilly. Ripping up Lilly was a wakeup call. A wakeup call to remind her that she’s still a champion at heart,” said Charlotte Flair.

It is interesting to note that several backstage reports recently claimed that Alexa Bliss could potentially be off television for a few months. While no specific reason has been stated in that regard, the report suggests that she will be moving on from the “Lilly” storyline in the near future.

#4 Former world champion teases potential feud with Roman Reigns after WWE Draft 2021

Former WWE Champion Drew McIntrye finally has the opportunity to enter the world championship picture again. He was restricted from challenging for the WWE title until it rested on Bobby Lashley’s shoulders. Now that Big E has dethroned The All Mighty, McIntyre is once again ready to hunt for the gold.

He even teased a championship feud with Big E on the latest episode of RAW right after the spectacular main event in which the New Day member defeated Lashley in a Steel Cage match.

McIntyre discussed his next plan of action in the company in a recent interview and said:

"If you remember Hell in a Cell, I faced Lashley, was screwed over by Lashley and MVP and per stipulation of that match, I could no longer challenge for the WWE title so long as Lashley was WWE Champion,” said McIntyre. “He finally lost it. He lost it to Big E a couple of weeks ago. Big E absolutely deserves this moment. He deserves to be WWE Champion. He has paid his dues. I've watched him through FCW, NXT, New Day, and it's really cool that Big E is WWE Champion. It's just unfortunate he's WWE Champion because I want my title back. Big E, I'm sorry mate, you're WWE Champion and I'm coming for you."

The Scottish Warrior made it clear that he would go after Roman Reigns' Universal Championship when asked what he would do if he was moved to SmackDown as part of the Draft.

"Then I'm coming for the Universal Champion," said Drew McIntyre.

Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns last met at Survivor Series pay-per-view when The Tribal Chief held the Universal Championship and McIntyre was the WWE Champion.

The two superstars had less time to build up their feud, but they did a great job in developing an intense rivalry while representing RAW and SmackDown, respectively. It will be interesting to see how they will work if they are both on the same brand.

#3 Backstage reason why Goldberg returned early on WWE RAW

Goldberg recently returned on WWE RAW as a part of a segment in which he sent a stern message to Bobby Lashley. Both superstars faced each other for the WWE Championship, with Lashley retaining his title after Goldberg sustained a knee injury. This further led to The All Mighty viciously attacking the Hall of Famer's son, Gage.

He has now returned with a vengeance on his mind against Lashley. The latest backstage reports suggest that the company wants Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley at Crown Jewel next month. Apart from Lashley, Big E also hinted at a potential championship match against the former Universal Champion.

"It's nice that, you know, there are a bunch of things that I never... you know, like the Goldberg match. When I was making my stupid little comments about 'big, meaty men', I never really thought I'd get the Goldberg match. But now I sit in a position where if I can make enough noise, he's still under contract, we can get that done," said Big E.

The WWE Champion recently defended his title against Bobby Lashley in a brutal Steel Cage match. The show also witnessed the return of The Hurt Business as Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander came out to help Lashley but were taken out of the equation by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

#2 Interesting detail about Randy Orton’s absence from WWE TV

Randy Orton missed WWE RAW earlier this week and fans are curious to know his whereabouts. Before that, he had challenged Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship and faced AJ Styles in a singles match.

He has had great bouts over the last few months but was unexpectedly absent from television this week. RK-Bro didn't have a match at Extreme Rules and in Orton's absence, Riddle faced Styles to deliver an epic in-ring clash on the following episode of the Red brand. It's not just RAW that The Viper missed.

The latest reports suggest that there's 'something up' with his absence as he also missed a WWE house show for which he was advertised. Here's what Dave Meltzer had to say about Randy Orton's unexplained absence from recent shows:

“He wasn’t booked on the pay-per-view but he was booked on the house show and he wasn’t at the house show either so there’s something up,” said Meltzer.

Although Orton has not done much on WWE TV this week, one-half of the reigning RAW Tag Team Champions is active on Twitter. He recently took to the social media platform to subtly declare that he was aiming to win Royal Rumble for the third time.

In his absence, Riddle is seemingly continuing his feud with former tag team champions AJ Styles and Omos. The last match between The Original Bro and Styles was widely hailed as one of the best WWE matches this year, and it will be interesting to see how things will work out once Randy Orton returns.

#1 Former Universal Champion reveals Vince McMahon was surprised with his early WWE gimmick

Braun Strowman recently revealed that Vince McMahon was surprised to see his first gimmick in WWE when he worked as a 'rosebud' for Adam Rose.

McMahon felt Strowman should be doing better, which eventually helped move him into donning a monstrous gimmick. He revealed the backstage details in a recent interview and said:

"I was a Rosebud. That’s what got me seen. Vince [McMahon] himself saw me doing the Rosebud gimmick, he goes, ‘Why is this guy doing this?'" said Adam Scherr f.k.a Braun Strowman.

Strowman also talked about how busy he was while working with the company. But now, he has more opportunities to explore and can invest time into other projects that he wanted to pursue earlier. Here's what he had to say:

"It’s kind of cool to have the opportunity just to do stuff. I was very fortunate in my time with WWE but it was very, very time consuming. I didn’t have a lot of time to do other things so now during my downtime when I’m trying to figure out what I wanna do when I grow up, I get an opportunity to go out and, you know, explore different avenues, try different things and I’m enjoying it. I definitely miss being in the squared circle though. I promise you that," said the former WWE star.

Braun Strowman is one of the several superstars who were released by WWE earlier this year. He has been active on social media ever since and has taken up multiple new exciting projects at the moment.