WWE Rumor Roundup: Returning Superstar to become Strowman's tag-team partner, 10-time Champion planned to lead bizarre faction

Welcome to another edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup where we try to bring you the best and most interesting backstage stories and news from the day. On today's edition, we will talk about the possibilities of two former WWE Champions returning to the company as well as a veteran WWE Superstar leaving for AEW.

We will also take a look at future plans for The Monster Among Men and the chance of a former World Champion being sent back to NXT. So without further ado, let us begin:

#5 Braun Strowman to get a new partner

The Monster Among Men has not been booked strongly on SmackDown. While Braun Strowman features regularly on the Blue brand, he has been relegated to a mid-card act who can be found either competing against enhancement talent or shaking his hips with The New Day.

SportsKeeda's Tom Colohue has reported that WWE could be planning to team him up with Tyson Fury when the latter returns, and the two might perform as a team at WrestleMania 36.

Colohue also notes that the reason behind this pairing would be to protect Fury so that he can learn before he is turned into a major singles star.

Now when he was in Manchester for the SmackDown taping, he did form the beginnings of a tag team with Braun Strowman. And I think the idea there is that they'll protect how green and inexperienced he is in this field - as well as help potentially get him over.

That's a key thing they're going to be targeting right now - how to get Tyson Fury over. Which is why I think if he's at WrestleMania, which is very likely, he'll be facing high-quality heels on his own brand - which is SmackDown. So I suspect we're going to see him face King Corbin or some combination of Fury/Strowman-Corbin/Ziggler or Corbin/Ziggler/Roode."

#4 Matt Hardy to leave WWE and join AEW's Dark Order

It is no secret that Matt Hardy is not happy with his current position in WWE. Ever since his brother Jeff Hardy suffered an injury and was shelved, the elder Hardy brother has been stuck in limbo.

As per The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the 10-time Tag Team Champion is likely heading to AEW once his contract with WWE is up in March. Not only that, there is a high chance that the former US Champion will become the new leader of the bizarre faction known as Dark Order in AEW.

Dark Order made a major mark when they attacked and laid out the members of The Elite on the last episode of AEW in 2019. However, while the act itself is very intriguing, they lack star power and Matt Hardy would be the perfect fit for the stable in his 'Broken' persona.

With Jeff Hardy unlikely to leave WWE until 2021, this will be a great opportunity for 'The Deleter' to regain his prominence in the world of wrestling.

#3 John Cena to not compete at WrestleMania 36

There has been a lot of speculation regarding John Cena making a comeback for WrestleMania this year. Unfortunately for the Cenation, SK's Tom Colohue has reported that there are no such plans for the 16-time World Champion.

However, this wasn't the only bad news for fans of John Cena. Colohue has also reported that with Cena's schedule being as packed as it is, we should start to expect less and less of John Cena on WWE in the coming time.

We are not expecting to see him at this year's WrestleMania. He's currently filming with DC for the new Suicide Squad. He's not expected to be back. He may make a late appearance but he's not expected to be wrestling. Much similar to last year, we may see John Cena again, but it's more likely to be later in the year when he's finished filming and he believes he is necessary.

There is some discussion as to how much John Cena will be involved in the future. It looks like his full-time schedule is very much done. It looks like his part-time schedule is very much done and he will be approaching closer to a 'non-contract' contract where he appears for one-off paydays, one-off big shows.

#2 More details regarding Edge's possible return

PWInsider has reported that Edge has signed a new deal with the company. They state that this new deal is considerably higher than his previous deal so we can expect to be doing more than just segments and promos in the coming time.

We’ve been told that Edge signed a new deal. We’ve been told that it has a very nice upside to it financially and you have to think it’s not just a legends deal where they just have him show up and have him do promos. So, I think there’s more smoke to the fire with Edge than there is with Paige as we record this.” (H/T WrestlingNews)

There have been numerous reports suggesting that Edge has been cleared to compete and may be making his in-ring return this year. While that may or may not happen, one thing is for sure - we will be seeing more of the Rated R Superstar this year.

Do you think Edge should return at Royal Rumble? Tell us in the comments!

#1 Kevin Owens heading to NXT?

SportsKeeda's Tom Colohue had reported that Asuka is on the list of Superstars that want to go back to NXT. He has now revealed that former Universal Champion Kevin Owens is also a part of this list of Superstars who could be moved to NXT by Vince McMahon and Triple H.

Kevin Owens recently said that he values the NXT World Championship as much as the WWE or Universal Championship, and this is something he genuinely believes, and rightly so. We are at a point where NXT is the third brand and their championship is a world Championship.

There was a short list of people, in fact, there is a short list of people discussed between Triple H and Vince McMahon as to what superstars from raw/sd want to come to NXT. Asuka is someone I've mentioned to be on the list. She has been having a discussion on visiting or being involved in NXT. Kevin Owens is also on that list, someone who is interested in returning to NXT and that could happen at the next shakeup.

He also stated that considering the fact that Kevin Owens is currently getting a major push on RAW, the company might have been able to convice him to reconsider.