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We welcome you all to another stacked edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup. Today's lineup kicks off with a big update regarding WWE's plans for Becky Lynch's in-ring return.
The former RAW Women's Champion was also spotted at a WWE show recently, and there is a lot of speculation about her future.
Details of a surprising story involving Vince McMahon and CM Punk have also come to light. WWE might have also managed to pull off a major signing of a wrestler who recently had his breakout moment in All Elite Wrestling.
A top Superstar from SmackDown is also in line for a character change, and a major singles push going forward. Finally, WWE has made a decision regarding RAW Underground's future.
On that note, here is the latest edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup:
#5 WWE's plans for Becky Lynch, WrestleMania 37 opponent, recent spotting at SmackDown, Ronda Rousey training, and more
Becky Lynch's due date is in December, and the former RAW Women's Champion is not expected to return before next year's WrestleMania.
However, a new report from WrestlingNews.co has revealed that Vince McMahon is hoping for 'The Man' to be ready to return by January or February. The company still plans to book a Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch singles feud when they are set to return to action. The match between the two former RAW Women's Champions is also expected to main event WrestleMania 37.
A WWE source also told WrestlingNews.co that Vince McMahon wants to have the fans back for WrestleMania 37, with Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey being one of the marquee matches on the card.
The source revealed the following:
"Vince is hoping for Becky to be back in January or February to start the one on one feud with Ronda. Vince wants WrestleMania to be the show that says 'WWE is back. We can't do Becky vs. Ronda in the Thunderdome with no fans. He wants the fans back, and they will be back by the time Mania rolls around."
RingSideNews also reported that Becky Lynch was backstage with Seth Rollins on the most recent episode of SmackDown.
As noted, Becky Lynch is expected to give birth in December, and we should get a fair idea of her possible in-ring return by early 2021. Regarding Ronda Rousey's status, the former UFC Champion was spotted training in the ring with Travis Browne and former IMPACT Wrestling/TNA veteran James Storm.
The latest updates hint towards Ronda Rousey returning to action much earlier than expected.
#4 Vince McMahon tried to force former WWE Champion CM Punk to drink alcohol
Vince McMahon has different versions of himself, and various stories have revealed a lighter side of the WWE boss.
Chris Masters was a guest on Hannibal TV, and the former WWE Superstar revealed details of a wild flight from back in the day when the stars were traveling for a WWE Tribute to the Troops event.
Masters revealed that Vince McMahon has always had a knack of getting drunk and playfully instigating fights during such planned rides and this one was no different. Vince McMahon apparently tried to 'peer pressure' former WWE Champion CM Punk into drinking alcohol. As we all know, Punk follows a straight-edge lifestyle and he didn't give into Vince McMahon's demands.
Vince McMahon then moved on to instigate a fight between CM Punk and Carlito. Masters revealed the following about the WWE Boss' antics during the flight:
"Vince was trying to peer pressure CM Punk into having a drink and I would not really know what to do either if I was CM Punk. Maybe Vince is testing him if he can get CM Punk to break his will. That will make Vince lose respect for him or whatever, you know what I'm saying. CM Punk wouldn't drink. And eventually, it went from CM Punk drinking to 'hey, if you're such a shooter, CM Punk, How about you take on..?' I think it was first Shelton Benjamin. And after that, it was Carly (Carlito) because Carly would flirt with Maria and I'm pretty sure CM Punk and Maria were together at the time or together at that point. So, I think the boys really instigated that. Because CM was kind of annoyed with Carlito, you know, trying to mess with him and trying to mess with...you know, kind of work-flirt with Maria, not shoot-flirt with her. So, I don't even remember what happened."
#3 Former AEW Dark competitor Ben Carter may have signed with WWE
Ben Carter has emerged to be one of the 2020's breakout talents owing to his performances on AEW Dark. Fightful Select recently reported that the talented wrestler had drawn interest from WWE as his impressive matches for AEW were the talk of the town.
Miro might have now revealed the news of Ben Carter's WWE signing. Miro, formerly known as Rusev from his WWE days, spoke about Ben Carter during one of his recent Twitch streams, and the former WWE Superstar claimed that 'they had lost Carter to the dark side'.
"We lost Ben Carter. Ben Carter is lost. He's gone to the dark side. Good luck to Ben Carter. All the best to him, I was really impressed with his stuff."
Ben Carter's match against Lee Johnson is regarded to be the best match in AEW Dark's short history. Carter even wrestled Scorpio Sky on the Late Night Dynamite edition, and it was believed that Tony Khan and co. would try to get him on board for a full-time deal.
Carter reportedly worked for free, as it would have been illegal for AEW to pay him due to a visa issue. Ben Carter had also spoken about his desire to work for the WWE in the past. All signs now point towards his dream coming true.
#2 Big E to get a serious character during his singles push in WWE
The New Day officially disbanded on the season premiere of WWE SmackDown on FOX. Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods wrestled and won a six-man tag team match against Sheamus, Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura.
The New Day shared an emotional moment after the match that signified the end of the trio's run together. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods would continue to be a team on RAW as they are the tag team champions on the Red brand while Big E will resume his singles run on SmackDown.
WWE might also have a significant change in store for Big E's character.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the idea is for Big E to get away from the New Day and become more serious in the future. The New Day has been one of the most incredible comedic acts of the past decade and WWE felt the need to change up Big E's character and prepare him for a major singles push on the Blue brand.
Meltzer noted the following in the Newsletter:
The idea is to get Big E away from the act and make him more serious for a singles push. Historically, WWE has broken up tag team acts in the draft before and while there are exceptions, most of the time they find out the combination of parts was more effective than the parts individually. One would suspect E getting a major singles push, which was talked about weeks ago and somewhat started. The idea is to get him out of the comedic mode. There is a logic to it even though, because the New Day has been established together for so many years and have been popular, there was going to be a negative reaction breaking them up without a storyline leading to it.
#1 RAW Underground considered 'done' backstage in WWE
If Dave Meltzer's latest update is to be believed, WWE could very well be done with RAW Underground.
The fans have not seen any segments of the shoot-style wrestling project over the past few weeks. WWE chose not to film more RAW Underground segments due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak within the company. There was a fear that the extras being used in RAW Underground would spread the virus to talent from RAW and SmackDown.
It was noted that almost everyone kept away since the outbreak came back, but there are still no signs of RAW Underground returning to be a part of WWE programming. As things stand, WWE seems to have pulled the plug on RAW Underground.
Meltzer revealed the following:
Raw Underground for right now is considered done. At first it was dropped because of the COVID breakout and fear the extras who are in the crowd may have been exposed so it was shut down for a few weeks. But almost everyone who was part of that breakup is now back. Then again most were back either this week or last and this week with the draft it wouldn't have fit as easily. There was fear that bringing all those people, both the wrestlers and the people they used as the audience, to Raw tapings could start a spread to the Raw roster and the idea is to keep NXT talent away from Raw and Smackdown talent as much as possible
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
