WWE Rumor Roundup - Canceled plans for a major CM Punk match, Superstar's wife re-signed after 10 years, Popular gimmick confirmed to return - 14th February 2021

We're inching closer towards the Elimination Chamber, and the match card for the pay-per-view is slowly taking shape on WWE TV. Roman Reigns will not be defending the Universal Championship inside the Elimination Chamber but in a singles match, and we now know the reason behind WWE's move.

WWE has also reportedly signed a seasoned IMPACT Wrestling star, who is also interestingly the wife of a current WWE RAW Superstar.

A popular former WWE personality also revealed a significant issue he encountered while working with Christian.

CM Punk commented on the nixed plans for his match against Chris Benoit while answering several questions during a Q&A session. Today's lineup also has a story about the return of Finn Balor's Demon King persona.

---

#5. CM Punk comments on the nixed Chris Benoit match in WWE and more

CM Punk answered several fan questions during his latest Q&A session on Twitter. The former WWE Superstar was asked about the plans for the nixed match against Chris Benoit.

CM Punk was scheduled to face Chris Benoit at the Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view for the vacant ECW Championship in 2007. As you might know, the original plan was for Chris Benoit to win the ECW title at the show. Unfortunately, the double-murder and suicide happened that week.

Johnny Nitro, aka John Morrison, would eventually beat CM Punk on the show to win the ECW title.

According to CM Punk, all he knew was that they had talked about having a very physical match. CM Punk wrote:

"No idea. All we talked about was beating the piss out of each other."

CM Punk's response to the question.

Punk also reacted to Edge's Royal Rumble victory and said he was pleased to see The Rated-R Superstar embark on another in-ring run. Punk cheekily added that he was jealous of Edge's abs.

"Super stoked for him to get a second act. And jealous of his abs."

Super stoked for him to get a second act. And jealous of his abs.

— player/coach (@CMPunk) February 12, 2021

CM Punk also claimed that he would have squashed Stone Cold Steve Austin in a match, and he even received a reaction from the Texas Rattlesnake. CM Punk surely does know how to have newsworthy Q&A sessions.

#4. Taya Valkyrie reportedly signs with WWE

PWInsider reports that Taya Valkyrie has signed with WWE. Valkyrie will join NXT, and she is expected to be revealed as a WWE Superstar during the next class of signings.

Taya Valkyrie began wrestling in 2010 and was trained by Lance Storm. Valkyrie, who is married to RAW's John Morrison, was briefly signed to a developmental WWE contract in 2011. She never officially made her WWE debut and would later turn to the independent circuit.

Valkyrie would make a name for herself in Mexico while wrestling for AAA, where she is the reigning AAA Reina de Reinas Champion. Valkyrie, however, is also remembered for her work in IMPACT Wrestling.

Taya Valkyrie signed with IMPACT in 2017, and she rose to become one of the most prominent faces in the Knockouts division. Valkyrie has the longest Knockouts Championship reign at 377 days.

Taya Valkyrie and John Morrison were an on-screen couple in Lucha Underground and IMPACT Wrestling. While Valkyrie will be featured on NXT, there is a possibility that she gets moved up to the main roster to reunite with her husband.

Would you like to see Taya Valkyrie join Morrison and Miz on RAW?

#3. Finn Balor confirms that The Demon King persona will be used again in WWE

Finn Balor is The Prince of NXT now, and he is clearly cherishing the spotlight on WWE's Black and Gold brand.

WWE fans have not seen The Demon King persona since the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view in 2019, where Balor beat Andrade in an Intercontinental Championship match.

Will we ever see The Demon King again in WWE? Finn Balor believes that if the moment is right, then the gimmick will most certainly make its return.

During a recent interview with NYPost, Finn Balor explained that now doesn't feel like The Demon's time to show up. However, the former WWE Universal Champion was confident that there would come a day when The Demon would have to rise again.

"Definitely. Obviously, there are moments in time for everything. Right now, it doesn't feel like the time for The Demon, but I'm sure there will be a moment where I go OK now it's time to rock."

Balor also teased the possibility of The Demon King's arrival during the program with Karrion Kross.

"You know, Karrion might be that time, but we will have to see how events kind of develop. But his character is definitely something that is very intriguing to the audience. Whether The Demon can add another element to that kind of situation when it arises will be interesting."

Should WWE get The Demon King back for Balor's feud with Karrion Kross?

#2. The reason why Roman Reigns is not defending his title inside the WWE Elimination Chamber

Elimination Chamber is scheduled to occur on February 21st, 2021, and WWE has announced five matches for the show.

Drew McIntyre will defend the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. WWE has also announced a No. 1 contender's Elimination Chamber match to determine Roman Reigns' opponent for later on in the night.

During a recent Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that the original plan was for Roman Reigns to be in the Elimination Chamber match. However, WWE changed the plan to possibly get more heat on Reigns. WWE officials might not have wanted two similar Elimination Chamber title matches on the card and decided to alter the lineup.

Meltzer noted the following:

"It's a way to get heat on Reigns. Originally, Reigns was going to be in the chamber match. That was the original idea, and then I guess they didn't want to do it on both shows or something. Whatever…they wanted to tweak it, so they tweaked it."

The SmackDown Elimination Chamber match would see Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, King Corbin, and Sami Zayn compete for a title shot. Who do you think should be booked to win?

#1. Former WWE writer Vince Russo reveals working with Christian 'drove him crazy'

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo was at his honest and insightful best during the first episode of SK Wrestling's new show, Writing with Russo.

The former WWE employee recalled when he worked with Christian and how he faced one very annoying problem. Russo and Christian were in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling together, and it's safe to say they didn't have the smoothest of working relationships.

Russo said that Christian's overanalysis would be a hindrance during the tapings, which would go on for hours. Vince Russo said they had to tape various shows throughout the day in TNA. While Russo appreciated Christian's professionalism, it irritated him as they had to complete a grueling shooting schedule.

Russo revealed:

"First of all, I worked with Christian. Christian and I didn't have a wonderful marriage, and I'll tell you why. When I worked with Christian… when you do pre-tapes, especially when you're taping various shows in a day - and we had to do that with TNA because they didn't have the money, so sometimes we would have to tape four or five shows a day, Ok? - When I had to do pre-tapes with Christian, he would overanalyze and practice… Bro, for hours. For hours! It's like, you know, yeah, I appreciate the professionalism, but bro, we gotta go! We gotta get this sh*t done! We've gotta go. So, it drove me freaking crazy!" H/t James Sullivan of SK Wrestling

Vince Russo also spoke about the chaos surrounding Christian's WWE Royal Rumble return during the debut episode of Writing with Russo.