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Welcome to the latest edition of WWE Rumor Review. Here, we take a deep dive into some of the top rumors from a few months ago and discuss how they have fared so far.
This week, we'll take a look at why WWE held back the clash between Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley. Becky Lynch made her stunning return to in-ring competition at SummerSlam last year but was potentially set to appear at another premium live event before that.
The Rock was heavily rumored to be making his long-awaited return to set up a dream match against his cousin, Roman Reigns. We'll check out the plans that were discussed for The Great One. Check out the top five rumors below.
#5 Reason why WWE held back Brock Lesnar vs Bobby Lashley
After years of waiting, the WWE Universe finally got the dream clash they wanted at the Royal Rumble premium live event when Brock Lesnar battled Bobby Lashley.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported in July last year that the match was discussed for SummerSlam, but the idea was soon dropped to prevent Lesnar from looking weak ahead of a feud with Roman Reigns.
"The Lesnar match was talked about a lot but constantly denied. The feeling was that Lesnar isn’t coming back for a number of shows right now, so he’d have to lose. And those in the Reigns camp see Reigns vs. Lesnar with the Heyman history as a big program not to be weakened by Lesnar doing a job or doing a non-finish with Lashley right now. Like I’ve said before, in 1985 that would be how I’d see it, but today I don’t see a Lesnar lost to Lashley this year hurting a 2023 program with Reigns vs. Lesnar," stated Meltzer.
The report turned out to be true as they pushed the Lashley-Lesnar bout to January 2022. The Beast Incarnate and The Tribal Chief started their feud at The Biggest Party of the Summer that culminated at WrestleMania 38.
#4 Additions to Money In The Bank card
Money In The Bank 2021 was the first premium live event after fans returned to the arena. The show was stacked, featuring two ladder matches and the main event featuring Roman Reigns and Edge for the Universal Championship.
A couple of weeks before the event, Cageside Seats reported that two more title matches would be added to the card.
"The expectation is there will be a Raw Tag Team title match added to Money in the Bank, and a women’s tag title match may also be scheduled for the show."
The RAW Tag Team Championship match was added to the card as AJ Styles and Omos defended their titles against the Viking Raiders. However, the Women's Tag Team Championship match did not feature on the show.
#3 Canyon Ceman's WWE status
Former WWE executive Canyon Ceman was rumored to have left the company back in July after being associated with it for close to a decade.
However, Sean Ross Sapp cleared the rumors by reporting that Ceman had not parted ways with the promotion.
"WWE reached out and they stated that Canyon Ceman has NOT been let go by WWE. There have been rumors circulating within WWE and the wrestling world over the last two days. We reached out to Canyon last night, as well as two WWE sources, and did not get a response until just now. We've been contacted by at least two dozen people in the industry speculating about Canyon Ceman in the last 24 hours, across all major companies. Ceman still scouts for WWE and is in charge of handling a lot of contract negotiations as well."
The report turned out to be accurate as Ceman worked until January 2022 before his eventual departure from the company.
#2 Rumors on Becky Lynch's return
Former RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch returned to WWE at SummerSlam last year and went on to defeat Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
However, ahead of the Money In The Bank premium live event, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that Lynch was scheduled to be present at the show.
"Becky Lynch is scheduled to be at this Sunday's Money in the Bank PPV, PWInsider.com has confirmed. There is no word yet whether Lynch will be appearing on camera but as of this morning, she is slated to be in attendance at the PPV."
The Man was indeed present at the arena for the show and even teased an appearance but eventually did not show up.
#1 Cancelled plans for The Rock
The Rock's rumored return to WWE was one of the hottest topics doing the rounds last year. Many expected him to show up at Survivor Series and set up a mega clash against Roman Reigns.
Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast reported that if The Great One returned to the company, he would feature on both RAW and SmackDown as a free agent, pretty similar to how John Cena was used.
“I can tell you, USA Network tentatively wants him on that Monday. By the way, he’s gonna go everywhere. This isn’t like a RAW storyline. He’s going to be on everything,” said Andrew Zarian.
However, The Rock did not return at Survivor Series, and Reigns went on to feud with Brock Lesnar instead. The Tribal Chief eventually triumphed in the main event of WrestleMania, involving both WWE and Universal Championships.
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