WWE Rumor Roundup: Forgotten Superstar returning after over a decade, New tag team to debut on TV, Conor McGregor - 19th January 2020

It's time for another edition of our daily WWE Rumor Roundup.

Despite being a relatively slow news day, we've somehow managed to get five rumors for you today.

There was a time not too long ago when the backstage morale in the WWE was not too great, however, we have a positive update on the situation ever since Paul Heyman has taken over the reins on RAW.

A former tag team Champion confirmed his WWE return after 13 years. A new Tag Team was tested out at a live event before it potentially debuts on TV.

Regarding the Royal Rumble, the fans can expect the company to make a few big additions to the two Rumble matches this week.

Conor McGregor is one of the most trending names at the moment and a former WWE Champion commented on the UFC megastar possibly appearing for the WWE.

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#5 New tag team gets a test run

NXT organized a house show in Melbourne, Florida last Friday and a new tag team was introduced to the fans at the show.

Tony Nese teamed up with Mike Kanellis in winning effort against Nick Ogarelli and Mohamed Fahim.

PWinsider reports that the match was a test run as the company may want the tag team to be featured on NXT programming.

It's interesting to note that this was Mike Kanellis' first match since he requested his release from WWE. The company seems to have rejected the request and have come up with a new direction for the Superstar.

Kanellis has also never competed in NXT and him being on the Black and Gold brand can revitalize his WWE career.

We still don't know when we may see the new alliance of Nese and Kanellis debut on NXT TV but that may only happen after the officials are happy with the dynamic.

#4 Former Tag Team Champion returns to WWE for the first time since 2007

Sylvain Grenier, better known as part of the Le Resistance tag team, announced that he has been rehired by the WWE as a backstage agent.

Grenier spoke to TVASports.ca and revealed how he caught up with Kevin Dunn during WWE's visit to Montreal last year. He was also invited for the SmackDown premiere on FOX and had discussions with WWE officials regarding coming back for a backstage role.

He also stated that his training has started and that he expects to be assigned to a brand soon.

When WWE came to Montreal in April 2019, I went to meet Kevin Dunn to ask him for pictures of the time I won the team titles at the Bell Center. I needed it for the intro to my new fitness TV show. We started talking about things and others and he told me that the company was looking for agents.

I had just had a child, I was working on my show, I didn't want to end up on the road as much as before. But he told me that things had changed. The company then invited me to the premiere of SmackDown on FOX in Los Angeles and a few exchanges later, we had an agreement."

For the moment, I'm in training. But eventually, I will be assigned to the red team or the blue team, RAW or SmackDown. I'm going to do a TV show a week, every PPV and once a month, I'm going to tour house shows."

Grenier was with the WWE from 2003 to 2007 during which he won the tag team titles four times. He was in the Le Resistance team along with Rene Dupree and Rob Conway and was released from the company in 2007. He worked for TNA for a couple of years after his release before becoming an active competitor in the independent scene.

The 42-year-old Canadian is experienced and has worked in different systems, including WWE, which will help as he embarks on a new journey.

#3 Sheamus on Conor McGregor possibly coming to the WWE

🗣 Will we ever see Conor McGregor in @WWE? I asked his fellow Irishman, ‘The Fella’ @WWESheamus! 🇮🇪@SKProWrestling // @btsportwwe // @TheNotoriousMMA // #WWEonBT pic.twitter.com/qKXPzmDGHh

— Gary Cassidy (@consciousgary) January 19, 2020

For a change, Conor McGregor is in the news for all the right reasons. The Irishman returned to the Octagon at the recently concluded UFC 246 event and finished Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in the main event of the show.

While McGregor is looking to get back to the top of the UFC in 2020, the Notorious is a businessman who will surely entertain offers if the money is right.

Sportskeeda's very own Gary Cassidy spoke to Sheamus on BT Sport's WWE Media Bus and he asked the former WWE Champion about McGregor possibly coming to the WWE for an appearance or two.

Sheamus felt that his fellow countryman may not be ready for the rigorous WWE schedule and believed that doing a few appearances for the sake of creating a spectacle is the ideal way to go.

He added that if someone is serious about pro wrestling and isn't in it just for the money, then that person should go through the grind, travel on the road and be a part of the complete WWE process.

"I don't know. Does he want to do the schedule? Right now, UFC fighters fight once a year, maybe twice a year. We're on the road all the time. You get people like Tyson Fury who came in for a little bit, but my theory is this - you come in for one show, a spectacle or two, but if you're serious about doing this, if you're not just here for the money, and you want to be here to get stuck in, come on the road with us every week, do you know what I mean? Do the live events, don't just do the big shows, do the small ones too." H/t Credit: Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda

#2 Positive news on the backstage morale on RAW

Things are finally looking up on RAW, both from a programming perspective as well as the morale in the locker room.

Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue's exclusive report revealed that the Superstars are much happier ever since Paul Heyman was made the Executive Director.

The talents feel wanted and have also been given the freedom and time to build on their characters. 'Management approachability' has been attributed as the reason behind the increased positivity in the locker room, and many talents now feel optimistic about the state of the product and the direction it's heading in.

A certain harmony has settled in backstage with the likes of Luke Harper, Mike Kanellis and The Revival now being out of the picture.

Seth Rollins is also not under pressure to carry the burden of leading the roster alone as Randy Orton's arrival on RAW has given the talents a veteran to look up to.

The talents who come from the independent circuit turn towards AJ Styles and overall, the mood is much better now compared to how it was a couple of months ago.

As it's often said, a happy workforce is a productive workforce and Paul Heyman has a motivated bunch of talents working under him.

#1 Update on NXT Superstars at Royal Rumble

Isn't it odd that the WWE hasn't announced a single name from NXT for the Royal Rumble matches? Does it mean that NXT talents won't be used at the PPV?

Dave Meltzer provided an update on the speculation around NXT's involvement at the Rumble on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. The plan is still to use NXT Superstars in the Royal Rumble matches, especially in the women's match, which has many spots to fill.

The announcements could be made on the go-home episodes of RAW, SmackDown and NXT this week.

I wish I could tell you, I know, what was it? A couple of weeks ago? And the story actually broke that there would be a lot of NXT people in the Rumble and I checked and that was absolutely the plan and I’m sure there would be in the women’s side because how are they going to get 30 women without using NXT talent and I think Shayna Baszler is probably, I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me if she wins the Rumble but she is going to be one of the favourites to win.

I don’t know but yes, we still got Monday, we still got Wednesday and we still got Friday to make these announcements. You know, you would want, I would think that if NXT talent was in the Rumble that on this week’s NXT show they should have been doing promos, talking about winning the Rumble and they should have been attacked by guys because we know, like, they know the formula to get the ratings up, we know how to do it now. It’s not like a shot in the dark. And now that they are not doing it, the numbers are down. H/T Credit: Sportskeeda