WWE Rumor Roundup: Former Intercontinental Champion's name banned in commentary, Braun Strowman injured and more

In today's roundup, we take a look at how WWE managed to hide Luke Harper from everyone backstage, a status update on Daniel Bryan and the former Intercontinental Champion whose name is banned in commentary!

Let's kick off with some injury news coming out of Clash of Champions:

Braun Strowman injured at Clash of Champions

Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins put in a double shift at WWE Clash of Champions last night and they did an excellent job in both matches. The duo lost their tag-team titles to Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode at the start of the show and ended with Rollins retaining his Universal title against Braun.

Rumours now suggest that Strowman got injured during the WWE Universal title match. The Monster Among Men got busted open during the match and suffered a facial injury.

He was also seen favoring his knee during the match after he hit his splash from the top rope. The extent of the injury is unknown as of this moment.

Chris Jericho's name banned in commentary?

The Miz took on Shinsuke Nakamura at Clash of Champions last night with an eye to win the Intercontinental Championship for a record-equalling 9th time! However, he ended up on the losing side and remains on 8 reigns right now.

Rumours spread that the commentators were banned from mentioning Chris Jericho's name as he's the one who holds the record for most reigns as Intercontinental Champion. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained that it did not make sense for WWE to take such a decision, saying:

“The one thing I thought was funny was when I mean not funny but because it was expected is, they were pushing that if Miz won that he would tie the record for most Intercontinental Championships of all time but they could not say Chris Jericho holds the record. It’s kind of like (if you can’t say it why bother saying it), especially the key why since he didn’t win. Like if he won, if he was going to win you can say that but the fact that he isn’t going to win and you can’t say Chris Jericho’s name why bring it up? It doesn’t even make any sense to bring it up.”

Update on Daniel Bryan after he missed Clash of Champions

Daniel Bryan was expected to join Erick Rowan in his match against Roman Reigns but it turned out to be Luke Harper instead. The former WWE champion was not involved in any way at the Clash of Champions pay-per-view and some of the fans were concerned.

Given that Bryan returned to the ring after a long time and considering other injury issues he's had, it was normal for fans to think in this direction. He last competed in a singles match back in August when he took on WWE champion, Kofi Kingston.

Fightful Select now have an update on Daniel Bryan's situation and report that he was 'fine' and was backstage during the pay-per-view. The former Champion was just not involved because of storyline and will be back in action as soon as required.

Bryan was believed to be the mastermind behind the attacks on Roman Reigns but he distanced himself from it several times. Rowan has taken responsibility for them and the tag-team between him and Bryan seems to have ended.

How WWE hid Luke Harper before his return

The WWE Universe was stunned when Luke Harper attacked Roman Reigns during his match against Erick Rowan. The former tag-team champion was off WWE TV for a long time as he had asked for his release.

There was no hint whatsoever about his return and the move was executed to perfection. Reports suggest that Harper was contacted about this on Friday and everything was sorted very quickly.

According to PWInsider, WWE managed to hide Harper from the locker room until the very end. Nobody backstage had a clue about his return and only the top officials knew about it until it was time for Harper to go out and attack Reigns.

There is no update on his contract situation just yet and this could be just a temporary move by WWE to surprise the fans. Reports now suggest that he will be teaming up with Rowan again to take on Reigns. Daniel Bryan is expected to be the partner for Reigns but that is also just speculation at this point.