WWE Rumor Roundup - AEW Star's meeting with Vince McMahon, Former World Champion to be RETRIBUTION leader? Renee Young's next move and more - 22nd August 2020

Vince McMahon, RETRIBUTION attacking Braun Strowman on SmackDown.
Vince McMahon, RETRIBUTION attacking Braun Strowman on SmackDown.

Welcome to another edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup. On Friday night, the company wrapped up its final episode of SmackDown before WWE SummerSlam and it was no ordinary edition of the show. WWE introduced the "ThunderDome" and the show kicked off with a major angle featuring RETRIBUTION, which may have also given away the identity of the leader of the faction.

There are also rumors regarding which top champion will drop their title at SummerSlam. Also, more details emerged about Renee Young's future after her departure for WWE.

Randy Orton's recent interview revealed various previously unknown details about the veteran WWE Superstar, including his admission that he can't work well with a top SmackDown star. A popular AEW star also spoke about the time when he had a meeting with WWE CEO, Vince McMahon.

That's the gist of what to expect in today's WWE Rumor Roundup. On that note, here are the top stories of the day.


#5. Sammy Guevara reveals details of his meeting with WWE CEO Vince McMahon

Sammy Guevara has been at the center of his fair share of controversy as of late, but the 27-year-old "Spanish God" is still earmarked to be a top talent with AEW. Like most wrestlers, Sammy Guevara also worked several dark matches for WWE. He even had the opportunity to meet Vince Mcmahon.

On the latest episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Sammy Guevara revealed an incredible story of how he was hell-bent on meeting Vince McMahon, and he was successful.

Guevara had done several dark matches for WWE for almost two years, and he realized that it was time to make a more prominent name for himself. Guevara felt that going up to McMahon's office would help him stand out in the eyes of management.

As the story goes, Sammy Guevara went up to McMahon's office but instead of meeting the WWE CEO, the AEW star came across Road Dogg. Guevara's ambitious attempt to interact with McMahon impressed the former DX member and he advised him to do it again some other time when he would be around.

"I had the idea that I was going to go to Vince's office. Screw it, I'm going to Vince's office and at least introduce myself. I've never met this dude, and I've been here and doing extra work for the past two years. I went up to the door. It's always crowded, and I thought it's not going to clear out. It did clear out, and I have to do this now. My heart starts racing. I knock on his door. I hear a loud, come in. I opened the door, and Vince was not there. It was some dude on the computer, and there was Road Dogg. I thought, where is Vince? Road Dog is looking at me like, what the hell is this guy doing in here? I said my name is Sammy Guevara. I've been here many times, and I came here to meet the boss man himself. Road Dogg, without saying a word, gets up out of his chair and walks up to me in front of my face and says, the balls on you kid. I like your moxie. Vince isn't here today, but I strongly recommend you do this the next time we are here."

Guevara did get lucky the next time as he was able to introduce himself to WWE's head honcho. He confidently told McMahon that he would make the business a lot of money and Vince reacted with a chuckle. While the interaction was pretty cordial, Guevara noted that nothing came out of it and once he got a preview of the WWE system during a tryout, the Inner Circle member decided that the company wasn't for him.

"The next time we were there, I was prepared for that to be my last one. I knock on the door. This time, HHH answers the door. He opened the door a little bit to show Vince, and I squeezed myself through the door. I went up to Vince and shook his hand. I did my spiel to both of them. I told them I want to let you know I'm going to make this business a lot of money. Vince chuckled and asked me my name and said it was nice to meet me. Nothing came from it. I ended up getting a tryout later that year. I don't know if that was the reason or not. I got the tryout, and it didn't work out. When I was at the tryout, I saw a bunch of things where I realized this is not where I want to be right now or maybe ever. I saw the way things were done. I realized if you are not a model or a pro football player, it's like screw you so I'm like, Nah, I don't want to be here right now." H/t WrestlingNews

#4. Is The Miz the leader of RETRIBUTION in WWE?

The week's edition of WWE SmackDown in the "ThunderDome" opened with Vince McMahon. After a brief confrontation with The Fiend, a brawl broke out between RETRIBUTION and the members of the SmackDown roster.

Two groups of Superstars rushed out to fight off RETRIBUTION. WWE also continued to tease the possibility that The Miz is the leader or one of the top members of the faction.

On last week's show, The Miz was the first to inform the WWE roster that RETRIBUTION were backstage. However, he never participated in the fight, potentially foreshadowing his involvement with the faction.

As noted by WrestlingNews.co, while the SmackDown Superstars hit the ring to fend off RETRIBUTION on the latest episode of SmackDown, The Miz only appeared after the fight was already over.

The Miz has formed an entertaining alliance with John Morrison over the past few months, but the former WWE Champion has been primed for another run as a top star.

The revelation that he is the leader of RETRIBUTION could be a great way to push him back to the top of the card but is that the direction WWE is heading in or is it all just a red herring?

#3. Renee Young move to AEW is reportedly inevitable following her exit from WWE

Renee Young will end her tenure with WWE after this weekend. SummerSlam will be her final pay-per-view event with the company. However, everyone wants to know what is the next step in her career.

Dave Meltzer shed some light on Renee Young's future in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

He revealed that one person close to the situation said that Renee Young will inevitably work with AEW in the future. However, there is no deal in place between AEW and Young. Jon Moxley's close ties with the new company could undoubtedly play a significant role in Young potentially move to AEW.

Meltzer noted that Renee Young's WWE contract has a "serious no-compete clause," which would prevent her from working for another company anytime soon.

Young has put together an impressive resume, and various top media companies would love to bring her on board. ESPN had some interest in acquiring Renee Young years ago, but it's unclear whether the offer still stands. FOX is also said to be high on Renee Young's work.

With all said and done, Young will land on her feet after she leaves WWE. She should have a decent amount of options on the table.

Meltzer stated the following:

Exactly what she does next is anyone's guess. We had known years ago that ESPN had interest in her, and some in WWE had thought at the time she might leave the company for ESPN, but that didn't happen. FOX is also high on her, and she may do some things for them here and there. From an AEW standpoint, even though Jonathan Good (Jon Moxley), her husband, is AEW champion, we were told AEW was unaware she was leaving WWE until after the news broke. This is not to say that is or isn't an option and what her legal limitations and time frames would be.
One person close to the situation said it's inevitable she hosts something or does something for AEW but there is not deal at the present time for anything. Everyone in the company knows her. But it probably won't be soon since her WWE announcing deal does have a serious non compete clause.

#2. Randy Orton reveals why he can't work well with Bray Wyatt in WWE

Randy Orton isn't one to mince words. During a recent interview before WWE SummerSlam, Sportskeeda's Riju Dasgupta had the opportunity to ask Randy Orton about possibly working with Bray Wyatt again.

Orton gave his honest opinions. He revealed that his best work comes when he works with certain types of characters and Bray Wyatt's on-screen WWE persona doesn't fit the mold.

"Personally, I think I tend to perform the best with a certain type of character, type of WWE Superstar and Bray Wyatt doesn't really fit that mould. But I think with his ability to tell a story, his ability to portray the characters he's come up with so well, I think that it's something that we would have to do in the future. Hopefully, The Fiend is around for a long time, and he's the new Undertaker, and I can't see how we'd miss each other if that is the case"

Riju Dasgupta also asked the 13-time WWE Champion whether he would be up for a Legend Killer vs. The Fiend storyline.

Here's what Orton had to say:

"The story's there because I think it was 2017, maybe 2016 that I was actually in the Wyatt Family. I got to wrestle Bray at WrestleMania. Beat him for the title. If The Fiend has a bone to pick with anybody, it will be the Legend Killer. It will be very interesting.
I think the potential would be there for it to be a good feud. The Fiend is a character that's really hard to figure out because I know at first he was supposed to be comparable to The Devil, a bad guy through and through. Obviously, the times have changed, and I really think that a lot of people really enjoy the Undertaker-like madness that The Fiend brought to the table."

Randy Orton had a lot more to say about Bray Wyatt in the interview. You can view the in the full video above.

#1. Possible title change at WWE SummerSlam

Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship is one of the top matches on the SummerSlam card. There has been speculation for some time that "The Legend Killer" could defeat "The Scottish Psychopath" to become a 14-time WWE Champion.

Dave Meltzer revealed more details on the possible direction for the match in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

He noted that there was an idea on board for Randy Orton to win the title to set up a WWE Championship match against Edge at WrestleMania 37.

However, there is reportedly also a contingent backstage who is behind Drew McIntyre. There is a feeling that the company needs to push a fresh face as its top star instead of the tried-and-tested names. McIntyre has been protected during his title reign, which is a positive sign.

Meltzer noted the following:

The line-up has Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title in a significantly huge match as far as the future direction goes. Orton winning, leading to a title defense against Edge at WrestleMania was an idea on the board. But others have been behind McIntyre with the idea the company needs a different star rather than someone who has been around a long time in the top spot, and McIntyre has been protected strongly.