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It's a big roundup today with so many exciting rumors covered. We have a major update on the WrestleMania card, Paul Heyman's 2 crazy decisions that made Royal Rumble epic and more!
As usual, we will kick things off with the two headline-makers of the day:
7-time champion rejects AEW
Edge made his stunning return at Royal Rumble on Sunday after a 9-year absence. The Rated R Superstar was rumored to be in the Rumble but still received the biggest pop of the night when his music hit.
He lasted until the very end of the match and was the 2nd last Superstar to be eliminated. Reports have since emerged that he has signed a 3-year deal with WWE and will be competing in a few matches every year while making many TV appearances.
Further details are now slowly emerging that Edge rejected an offer from All Elite Wrestling before making his return to WWE. Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin has revealed that AEW offered the Hall of Famer a deal to work a few matches while also acting as an agent and a backstage producer.
However, Edge rejected the offer as soon as WWE made a favourable one. He is now expected to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania.
Major plan for RAW Superstar cancelled
WWE changed plans to have Humberto Carrillo win the United States title twice as per Dave Meltzer. He reports that Carrillo was supposed to win the title initially from AJ Styles, but the company dropped the plan.
He adds that Carrillo was then supposed to win the title from Andrade, but that plan was scrapped too. Meltzer said:
It wouldn't surprise me that this thing continues and Carrillo gets it back soon enough. The original booking was that Carrillo was going to become the US Champion and things kept getting in the way of that. He originally supposed to win it from AJ. But, you know, things happened and things changed and that's how things happen. This is supposed to be a lengthy programme, so they didn't want to change the title.
And again, I don't know if you're booking this, if you are relegating this match to the pre-show, even though it is at the Rumble and all that, I don't know if I'd want to change the title because the reaction wouldn't be that good. It would probably be better to do it at the TV tapings. So, there you go.
Why did WWE not take the title away from Andrade despite his suspension? Details up next!
But before we head into the next slide, gear up by listening to how Paige wants WWE to book the female talents en route to WrestleMania 36!
Backstage update on Andrade and why he didn't drop the title
Andrade was brutally attacked by Humberto Carrillo on Monday Night RAW after Royal Rumble and that left the WWE Universe stunned. However, news broke after the show that Andrade was suspended for 30 days for violating the company's wellness policy.
However, unlike other champions who were suspended or injured, Andrade was not made to drop the title before leaving. Dave Meltzer reports that it was a decision taken by Paul Heyman as he did not feel it was the right time to take the US title off El Idolo.
Yes, he’s suspended, which is why they did the angle tonight. That was not in the script where Humberto Carrillo DDTed him on the concrete to explain him being out for 30 days. The decision was made, it was a Paul Heyman decision to keep the title on Andrade. The usual protocol would be for him to lose the title as well. But Heyman is very high on Andrade and felt that it was too early to put the title on Carrillo.
He added that Carrillo will be getting his hands on the title sooner rather than later but for now, Heyman was not going to make Andrade drop the title.
Big WrestleMania plans for the Women's division
Shayna Baszler was expected to win the Women's Royal Rumble on Sunday but Charlotte Flair ended up picking up the win. Dave Meltzer now claims that the plan is to add three major Women's singles title matches to the WrestleMania card.
He reports that Charlotte Flair will be clashing with Rhea Ripley for the NXT title at Mania. The Wrestling Observer Radio journalist adds that Shayna Baszler will be facing Becky Lynch for the RAW Women's title while Sasha Banks and Bayley are expected to face off for the SmackDown Women's title. He said:
Looking at the card, the other winner was Charlotte Flair, so basically, Charlotte Flair will either face Bayley or Becky Lynch. And I don't know, Becky Lynch is a far more high profile of the two, but they could put Charlotte Flair against Bayley somehow, that would be a letdown, and then go with Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch. That's a possibility. Shayna Baszler was the last person in, and they pushed her like a monster, so she's clearly going to get a major spot on the WrestleMania card.
And I mean, she also perhaps could face Bayley, if that's the direction they want to go. So yeah, those were the big things. In the Women's Royal Rumble, the ones that they wanted to promote were Bianca Belair, who is going to face Rhea Ripley for the NXT Championship. Shayna and Charlotte Flair, of course, by winning. That was the key stuff on the show.
Paul Heyman changed the initial pick to win Royal Rumble
Paul Heyman's decision making is something that the WWE Universe loves as he never thinks about just the short term. He has been spot on with his decisions lately and the latest one, the Royal Rumble winner, has also been well received by the fans.
Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio reports that Heyman was the one who convinced Vince McMahon and the WWE Creative team to make Drew McIntyre the winner of the Men's Rumble match. He claims that the initial plan was to have Roman Reigns win it once again.
So obviously, one main event at WrestleMania, perhaps the main event of WrestleMania is going to be Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre and they went all the way to build that and Drew McIntyre is the guy. Obviously this is a Paul Heyman decision that was made sometime back, I presume Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns is the other main event. They could have had Roman Reigns win the Royal Rumble because McIntyre was made when he eliminated Lesnar, but it was one of those things where Heyman probably got the main event and everything for that main event.
He must have talked to Vince McMahon, 'We've got to make the main event as strong as we can and it's WrestleMania and all that and they didn't have any dream match out there, so this was it and you know, the whole Rumble was to make Brock into this unbeatable monster, I mean the Rumble told a good story. It was actually a very good Rumble and the story was that Brock is this monster and then Ricochet gave Brock a low blow and that led to Drew McIntyre giving Lesnar the Claymore kick and eliminating him and then, McIntyre went all the way, including throwing out Roman Reigns to win the whole thing.
Backstage news on MVP's future with WWE
Edge was not the only former WWE Superstar to make his return at Royal Rumble last night. MVP also made his return to the company but it was not as celebrated as the return of the Rated R Superstar.
While Edge has signed a new 3-year deal with WWE, MVP seems to be back for just a few nights. Dave Meltzer reported on the Wrestling Observer Radio that MVP has only signed for a few appearances and isn't expected to be back for long. He said:
MVP is in for a couple of nights but he's not long-term.
Major WrestleMania plans leaked
Wrestling Observer Radio are reporting that WWE already have a lot of plans set for WrestleMania. Dave Meltzer reports that Edge will be facing Randy Orton as expected after RAW while Roman Reigns is set to clash with Bray Wyatt.
Drew McIntyre has already confirmed that he will be going after Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Meltzer confirmed that too and said:
Edge is wrestling Randy Orton. Roman Reigns is wrestling Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar is wrestling Drew McIntyre.
