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We're back with another edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup. As always, today's roundup also features some of the biggest names in the business.
A legendary star revealed on Twitter that he is rethinking retirement after reading about the recent John Cena rumors. A veteran personality also shared his intentions to work with Bray Wyatt. He also gave a damning verdict on WWE's treatment of the former Universal Champion.
A popular SmackDown superstar also revealed details of a nixed Sasha Banks storyline. WWE recently announced the date for SummerSlam, and we have the latest update on the reported marquee match for the pay-per-view.
As many as 60 WWE employees lost their jobs this past week, and all the notes regarding WWE's latest round of cuts have also been covered in the roundup.
#5. Kurt Angle teases in-ring return amidst rumors of John Cena's WWE comeback
Kurt Angle is consistently in the news for his podcast content, but the WWE Hall of Famer is also quite active on social media, and he knows exactly how to stir up the pot.
The Olympic gold medalist took to Twitter to tease an in-ring return by reacting to an ongoing John Cena rumor. There is widespread speculation about WWE setting the stage for a significant SummerSlam return for Cena, and Kurt Angle sounds interested in a potential matchup by the looks of it.
Hearing rumors about @JohnCena going back to @wwe - got me rethinking about my retirement match, like............
Kurt Angle wrestled his retirement match at WrestleMania 35, where Baron Corbin beat him. It's a widely-known fact that Kurt Angle originally wanted John Cena in his final professional wrestling match, but Vince McMahon and the WWE had different ideas.
While Kurt Angle has been happy with his retirement life, the former WWE Champion has also dropped a few hints about ending his retirement in the recent past.
Several physical issues hampered Kurt Angle's final WWE run, but the 52-year-old WWE legend has been working on his body since being released in April last year.
Angle looks really lean these days as you can see in the short clip above, and he may have enough in the gas tank to compete again.
#4. Former WWE head writer wants to work with Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt has not been seen on WWE TV since WrestleMania 37, where Randy Orton beat him. Wyatt's WWE career has been one topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride filled with many highs and lows.
Bray Wyatt's 'Fiend' gimmick has also sadly lost a lot of momentum ever since WWE introduced it way back in 2019.
During a recent Q&A session on the Two Men Power Trip of Wrestling's Patreon page, former WWE head writer Vince Russo expressed his desire to work with Bray Wyatt and help the revival of Wyatt's great character.
The veteran wrestling personality bluntly stated that the system had failed Bray Wyatt and that a superstar of his caliber deserved better treatment.
Russo has stayed away from the business for almost ten years, but he would take up the opportunity to do creative business with Bray Wyatt in a heartbeat.
"I've been out of the business now; it's going on about 10 years that I've been out of the business," said Russo. "I would give anything to work one on one with Bray Wyatt. See now, if Vince McMahon was to offer me money as a consultant, 'You work with Bray, you guys do whatever you want, you tell us every week what this character is doing.' Bro, I would do that in a heartbeat because getting to work with somebody like that would be like an absolute honor. What they have done with that talent literally, it breaks my heart. I feel so bad for the guy because the system has failed him. The system should not be failing you. The system should be helping you." H/t Pratyay Ghosh of Sportskeeda Wrestling
Bray Wyatt has been absent for a while now, and while there aren't many details available on his status at the moment, fans should expect to see him back on RAW soon.
#3. WWE planning a massive match for SummerSlam 2021
As announced by WWE, SummerSlam 2021 will take place on Saturday, August 21st, and speculation about the company's plans for the massive event are already starting to do the rounds on the internet.
Andrew Zarian of Mat Men was the first to reveal that WWE could be planning a significant match for John Cena.
Dave Meltzer addressed the rumors in a recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter, where he confirmed that there are indeed talks to have John Cena vs. Roman Reigns in a Universal title match for SummerSlam.
Of course, a clash of such magnitude will be the marquee main event of the pay-per-view if it ends up getting booked. However, WWE has not locked in on the match just yet as there is still a long way to go before a final call is made.
"The leading rumor is Roman Reigns vs. John Cena for the Universal title. We do know that as of last week, they were in talks with Cena, that were not finalized, to appear on the 7/16 Smackdown show in Houston," Meltzer noted.
John Cena and Roman Reigns have had a brief program in the past, but the storyline and character dynamics are entirely different this time around. John Cena last appeared at WrestleMania 36, and the Cenation Leader is admittedly eager to make his WWE return.
A massive SummerSlam 2021 main event in front of fans against Roman Reigns sounds like the best possible scenario for John Cena's comeback. What do you think?
#2. WWE nixed a title feud between Sasha Banks and Natalya
Sasha Banks enjoyed a remarkable reign as the WWE SmackDown Women's Champion before she dropped the title to Bianca Belair in a memorable WrestleMania 37 match.
Sasha Banks, however, was initially slated to have a program with Natalya before Belair's Royal Rumble win changed WWE's plans.
During a recent appearance on Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions podcast, Natalya opened up about the nixed storyline. The Queen of Harts revealed that she was scheduled to begin a rivalry with Sasha Banks earlier in the year revolving around the SmackDown Women's Championship.
While Natalya was excited to work a high-profile title match with Sasha Banks - who she considered one of the world's best female talents - the storyline couldn't come to fruition due to Bianca Belair's rise.
Natalya credited her husband, TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd), for coming up with the idea of forming a tag team with Tamina. Natalya was unsurprisingly dejected over losing a lucrative WWE SmackDown Women's title feud with Sasha Banks, but the alliance with Tamina lifted her spirits.
"I was supposed to go into a rivalry with Sasha Banks earlier this year, and everything changed when Bianca won the Rumble. I was so excited about wrestling Sasha because I think she's one of the greatest women's wrestlers in the world, if not the best. TJ said to me, 'You and Tamina need to be a team. You would be perfect together.' He pulled up a picture and showed the family history, Owen with Yokozuna, the Headshrinkers, the Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation. 'Look at all the greatness your families have done together. You guys should be a team. You should pitch it.' I went from being sad not working Sasha because I had all these ideas, and we were training together, and Sasha lit this fire in me. Then I had this new fire in me of teaming with Tamina. TJ was the inspiration behind it," said Natalya. (h/t Fightful)
Natalya and Tamina recently won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, and their decision to tag together turned out to be a great call in hindsight.
#1. More than 60 WWE employees released, people stunned over a respected name's departure
WWE's extensive budget cuts continued this week as 60 or more employees lost their jobs, according to Wrestlenomics. While several departments were covered as part of the cuts, the digital team was the worst affected.
Many members of the 'WWE Network' and 'WWE Studios' divisions were released. As reported by PWInsider, Giancarlo Dittamo's departure 'stunned' many people behind the scenes. Dittamo was a respected figure backstage who was signed by the company in 2018 and has directed several critically-acclaimed WWE documentaries.
Dittamo was called a genius by one WWE employee who managed to retain his job during the recent cuts.
In addition to Dittamo, Susan Levison was another high-ranking official let go by WWE. Levison was the Senior Vice President & Head of WWE Studios and was with the promotion since 2019.
WWE's commentary team also witnessed an unforeseen shakeup as Adnan Virk was released just weeks after getting hired. Jimmy Smith was announced as Virk's replacement.
Elsewhere, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp confirmed the WWE exit of longtime announcer Tom Phillips.
We haven't received any more updates on additional releases, and it looks like Vince McMahon and co. are done with their latest round of budget cuts.
