WWE Rumor Roundup: Reason why 6-time World Champion refused to 'job' to Brock Lesnar, Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins' secret  (December 23rd, 2019) 

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

On yesterday's roundup, we talked about Edge's possible in-ring return, and a SmackDown Superstar getting a new gimmick upon his return among other things. Today we will cover some interesting topics including 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's explanation about his controversial actions in 2002, an AEW Superstar's response to Roman Reigns' jibe, and more.

Let us take a look at the biggest stories from today:

---

#5 Why 'Stone Cold' refused to lose to Brock Lesnar

There is no person in the world of pro-wrestling who can question the professionalism of 'The Rattlesnake' Steve Austin. However, in one of the most infamous incidents in WWE history, 'Stone Cold' refused to lose to Brock Lesnar in 2002 and ended up no-showing on Monday Night RAW.

While the former 6-time WWE Champion has stated on many occasions that he regrets walking out on the company because of this, Austin bared all on the Pardon My Take podcast and revealed why he refused to do a job for 'The Beast Incarnate.'

They wanted me to fly down to Atlanta for Monday Night RAW and put over Brock Lesnar. The night before, I was working in Columbus, Georgia working with Ric Flair in a cage, so I was like a kid in a candy store working with the GOAT, so of course I didn’t show up because it wasn’t time for me to do the favors yet for Brock in an unadvertised match in a tournament style TV match whereas, hey man, I love Brock Lesnar, I’d lose to him any day of the week, but build it up so we can all make money off of it and it’s going to mean something.”

(H/T: Sportskeeda)

While fans did not get to see these two men square off, Lesnar went on to become one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time in his own right, and will most likely join 'Stone Cold' in the WWE Hall of Fame one day.

#4 Seth Rollins reveals he and Becky Lynch's secret

It has been quite a roller coaster year for Seth Rollins, as the former WWE Champion won the Universal Championship this year and recently went from being the top babyface to the biggest heel in WWE.

2019 has been an interesting year for Rollins, not just on the professional front, but in his personal life as well. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch made their relationship public in May of this year and were engaged by August.

On the recent 365 Documentary, Seth Rollins spilled the beans on an interesting secret regarding he and 'The Man':

“I hit it off with Rebecca towards the end of January. Actually, the first time we kissed was Royal Rumble weekend. Little-known secret!”

Further talking about his dynamics with Lynch:

That was interesting because I’ve known her for such a long time, never really even thought about the other one in that way, and so even when we sort of started hanging out as more than friends, it felt really nice, but it was also like, ‘Ah, maybe we shouldn’t do this.’ But after a couple of weeks, it was pretty obvious that there was no way we were going to end. Things started to turn around for me.”

#3 Roderick Strong wanted to retire 10 years ago

Current NXT North American Champion and key member of The Undisputed Era, Roderick Strong, was recently part of the After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves and talked about why he wanted to retire 10 years ago.

'The Messiah of the Backbreaker' stated that the reason why he wanted to call it a day in the world of pro-wrestling was that he felt he would never make it big in the industry.

I think it was about 2008 into 2009 a little bit, I kind of contemplated, ‘I don’t know if I necessarily really want to do this anymore.’ Not like I was jealous of all the other guys’ success; I just felt personally that I’m in the same league as them, and I wanted the opportunity to show the world.

And you know, it was a small stretch of time, I’d say just a few months, but after that, I kind of had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting with myself, and looked in the mirror and said, ‘You know, your path has always been different, and it’s going to continue to be different. And eventually, when you get the opportunity, you’re going to make the most of it.’ And here I am today.”

#2 Seth Rollins reveals how he felt on being asked to lose to Bray Wyatt

'The Architect' made some interesting claims about how he felt when WWE made the call to put the Universal title on Bray Wyatt at Crown Jewel. Speaking on the 365 Documentary, the former Universal Champion stated that he understood the logic behind WWE's decision.

Yeah, just like that, there's a new flavor of ice cream right next to me. They had me consistently. Meanwhile, Bray Watt has been on the shelf for awhile, now he's back, he's cool and he's spooky, and he's doing new things. That's exciting. People like new, whether it's a toothbrush or a favorite wrestler, they like new. So, I understand, but I'm not going anywhere. It's a very interesting time to be in our industry. I wish I had the answers, but I think I have more questions.

Soon after losing to The Fiend at Crown Jewel, Bray Wyatt took the Universal Championship to SmackDown while 'The Architect' stayed on RAW. So any hopes for a rematch between the two will have to be put on hold at least until the next WWE Draft.

#1 Cody responds to Roman Reigns' jibe

'The Big Dog' Roman Reigns made some controversial remarks when he suggested that Seth Rollins was being generous in calling AEW their competition. The former WWE Champion made it clear that he doesn't see AEW as a threat.

The EVP of AEW, Cody Rhodes, spoke to Sport 1 in Germany, and had an interesting response on being asked to comment on Roman Reigns' jibe:

To Roman's point: He is very, very smart, he has WrestleMania main event under his belt, he has incredible talent. I think at the time, a lot of people were … I don't wanna say naive. People were turning away from it, but there's no turning away now."

Cody further talked about AEW and WWE:

"WWE's on a 49 year head start and I tip my hat for that. But what we're doing is to build upon what fans have been talking about for 20 years, what they want from a wrestling product and what perhaps wasn't delivered to them. We want to be the alternative. If that means stepping into competition, so be it. It's better to have competition for me, for Roman, for everybody."