WWE Rumor Roundup - Another major sign of company losing faith in RAW Superstar; Last-minute change of plans involving Lesnar; Unfortunate update for 3-time US Champion - 5th February 2020

Welcome to another edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup where we try and bring you the biggest and most interesting stories from the day.

On today's edition of the roundup we will talk about WWE's plans for a former multi-time US Champion, reason for Superstars debut, and why WWE had to rush their plans involving Brock Lesnar.

With WrestleMania just a few months away, there has been a lot of buzz regarding what will happen in WWE in the coming weeks. So without any further ado, let us look at the biggest rumours and news from today.

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#5 WWE abandon EC3 trademark

Former Impact World Champion EC3 has been one of the biggest disasters on the WWE main roster ever since he made his debut. While the Superstar was initially given a push, it was reported that Vince McMahon was not too happy with his inability to gain heat and decided to shelve his push.

Another update by PWInsider indicates the lack of interest WWE has in EC3, the company has apparently abandoned the attempt to trademark 'EC3' on January 25th. The company did not respond to the refusal to be given the trademark indicating they have lost interest in acquiring the trademark.

It had been reported earlier by Dave Meltzer of WON, that Vince McMahon had given up on EC3 and was not interested in pushing the injured superstar.

"I think that Vince (McMahon) pretty much gave up on EC3 real fast…They did a try out in April of EC3 with Drake Maverick and putting them back together like they were in TNA, and Vince hated that too so I don’t think this one is a Paul (Heyman) call.” H/t Credit: Cultaholic

EC3 was last seen in action in September, and even though he has held the 24/7 Championship in the past, EC3 is yet to make a major statement on WWE, something which unfortunately might never happen.

#4 Last-minute changes made to ending on RAW

This week on RAW, Bobby Lashley faced Ricochet and Seth Rollins in the main event to determine who will face Brock Lesnar at the upcoming WWE Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia. The match was won by former US Champion Ricochet but as per backstage rumours, the ending was rushed and Ricochet and Lashley had to whisper the ending to each other.

It was revealed on WON, that Lashley and Ricochet might have been told to hurry up the ending sequence of the match as the show would have gone into overtime otherwise, jeopardizing Lesnar's appearance.

Here is what Bryan Alvarez stated:

They're just doing this match, they do the stacked up Superplex, and all of a sudden, Seth vanished off the face of the earth. Ricochet and Lashley start whispering to each other for about five seconds, and then Ricochet just goes up top, hits the 630 and wins. I think they must have been told that you got to go home right now. So they had to figure out what to do because Brock wind sprints down the ramp, F5, show goes off the air. They were very rushed there at the end.

(H/T: SportsKeeda)

#3 Backstage details on plans for Rusev

It had been reported that Vince McMahon was a fan of the Rusev vs Bobby Lashley storyline on RAW. However, it looks like the story came to an abrupt halt this week on RAW as Lashley was seen facing Seth Rollins and Ricochet for a chance to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship, while Rusev was absent from the show.

Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez of WON discussed what WWE could be planning for Rusev and Meltzer noted that they don't have anything for him as of now.

Alvarez: Where the hell has Rusev been?

Meltzer: They don’t have anything for him right now.

Alvarez: So you’re telling me he did that whole storyline and divorcing his wife and this whole deal and now they got nothing for the guy?

Meltzer: Yeah! What do you do with him, I mean, what have you got? I mean, they may bring him back for Lashley but it’s kind of, that’s started to run its course.

Alvarez: Wasn’t like the whole idea like to sort of, get him over?

Meltzer: Yeah, but I don’t know for what.

Alvarez: So now you can’t figure what to do with a guy that your goal was to get him over?

Meltzer: Maybe they have an idea and this wasn’t the week for it because Lashley is in this other match and Lana is in this other direction. But yeah, hopefully, there is something for him at some point. I would hope.

(H/T: Sportskeeda)

#2 Reason why Zelina Vega became Garza's manager

While current US Champion Andrade is currently out of action after being suspended by WWE for violating the wellness policy, Zelina Vega was still a major part of RAW this week. Vega, who is Andrade's manager, introduced the WWE Universe to NXT Superstar Angel Garza this week who made his RAW debut against Rey Mysterio.

As per Dave Meltzer of WON, Garza will continue to feature on RAW and NXT up until Andrade makes his return. The reason for Vega becoming his manager is merely to prolong Andrade's feud with Humberto Carrillo for the time being.

He's got such a great look and he can go. I mean he's really good. So this guy, now the deal here is, okay, he is an NXT guy who has been on NXT TV. So the rules, and rules are meant to be broken, so the rules are that you can't bring up an NXT guy unless it has been planned way in advance and this hasn't. So what it is, is right now, he is here because Andrade failed a drug test and they needed something so, that's what he's here for.

I know he should stay, but, and he may, I mean, there's not like this rule that he's going to have to go back but right now the idea is that he's going to be on both shows and that he's still an NXT but he is a fill-in for 30 days. When I watched my first thought was like, they need to reevaluate that line of thinking, because this guy, so you know Zelina Vega managing those two as a stable. because Andrade is really good too, that starting to be a winning combination.

(H/T: SportsKeeda)

#1 Buddy Murphy praises Roman Reigns

One half of the RAW Tag Team Champions Buddy Murphy was recently part of a conference call where he talked about multiple topics. On being asked about his experience of working with Roman Reigns, The best-kept secret stated that he believed Reigns is ' the best of the best'.

Murphy was part of the 'mystery attacker' storyline involving Daniel Bryan, Rowan and Roman Reigns last year. The Australian Superstar had some amazing matches with The Big Dog and Daniel Bryan during the story which helped put him on the map.

Here is what Buddy Murphy said:

Roman’s probably the best of the best. It was awesome to kind of get in there and at that time I was on SmackDown, I wasn’t really, I was kind of thrown into the deep end, so as to speak. So I was out there to make a statement and to prove that I can go with the best. You know, I feel on that night in Canada we made magic. It was one of those things where I couldn’t really look back at it and say I would change anything or couldn’t really critique it that much, I thought it was pretty much where we were at the time we had, it was perfect.