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In today's WWE Rumour roundup, we take a look at the former WWE Champion who is being protected by the creative team and Vince McMahon. Rumors suggest there will be one big interference in a match at the Elimination Chamber, as well as Goldberg talking about himself possibly being a heel.
Before we get to all that, let's get the two headline-makers of the day out of the way:
Jeff Hardy wants to return and face Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is set to battle it out at WrestleMania 36 for Goldberg's Universal Title. However, there is another Superstar waiting on the wings to face Reigns at the show of shows.
Jeff Hardy has been cleared to return to the WWE ring and has already set his sights on the Big Dog. Talking on WWE Backstage, Hardy said:
"Oh, gosh, more than anything, I would probably have to say, I feel like that there's a huge moment between me and Roman Reigns. So, yeah, I can kind of see that happening. I think there's one thing, just to be involved in something cool and important at WrestleMania in the next few years, if I can fight back into that zone, I think that's my biggest goal."
WWE are yet to bring Hardy back on WWE TV but he has been backstage as per reports. He is very likely to be brought back at the Elimination Chamber on Sunday.
PPV date to be changed
WWE Super ShowDown is done and dusted but the plans for the next pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia are already in the pipeline. The early reports suggest that a date in August is being planned but that seems to be changing constantly.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that WWE are now looking to move it away from that planned date in August as it is very close to SummerSlam.
WWE is already working on their return to Saudi Arabia, PWInsider.com has confirmed. At one point, a date of Thursday 8/20 was pitched (believed to be for an event in Jeddah) but with the close proximity to Summerslam weekend and the likelihood that temperatures would soar into the 100-120 degree range, that idea was shot down. Currently, they are looking at a return in late October or early November.
WWE's recently concluded Super ShowDown was held just over a week before Elimination Chamber and it gave the creative team very little time to build things up for the upcoming pay-per-view.
Vince McMahon protecting AJ Styles?
AJ Styles is just back from his shoulder injury and has not been competing in full-fledged singles matches. He has been protected a little by the creative team and now Wrestling Observer Radio has confirmed it.
The issue here is that Vince, I don't know if AJ is hurt, because if you notice AJ has done nothing of late, you know I mean he hurt his shoulder but since he's come back he hasn't worked house shows, in Saudi Arabia he really did nothing. You know if you think back at those two matches, I mean the one match was one bump and that was it, and the match with R-Truth he did absolutely nothing, so, yeah I think they are protecting him.
Styles injured his shoulder while selling a spear from Edge at the Royal Rumble. He was swiftly eliminated and rumours suggested that he was out for a long time. However, he has made it back to the ring quickly and is now set to be involved in a feud with The Undertaker leading to WrestleMania.
Goldberg as a heel?
Goldberg stunned the WWE Universe by claiming the Universal title from The Fiend Bray Wyatt at WWE Super ShowDown last Thursday. He defeated the unstoppable force within minutes and that was not well received by the WWE Universe.
Many saw him as the heel in this storyline and that was expected to continue with his upcoming feud with Roman Reigns. Goldberg, however, has denied that he is the 'bad guy' in this storyline and that he is just being himself.
He appeared on the latest episode of WWE The Bump and rebuffed the speculation around his role now.
“They [fans] have kind of painted me in the corner of being a heel on this one, but I’m just me. It is what it is.”
Goldberg vs The Fiend Bray Wyatt was not what the fans expected to see at a pay-per-view this year but that's surprisingly what we got. Now, we are set to see Roman Reigns vs Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 and rumors suggest that the former Shield member will win the Universal title.
The Undertaker to interfere in Black vs Styles?
As mentioned before in the roundup, WWE are slowly and steadily bringing AJ Styles back to the ring after his injury. Now, Wrestling Observer add that there is a very good chance of The Undertaker interfering in the AJ Styles vs Aleister Black match at the Elimination Chamber.
Vince isn't going to let Aleister Black, I don't think Vince will let Aleister Black beat AJ clean right now. If he was wrestling someone other than The Undertaker, maybe, you know what's funny? It seems like almost every babyface because it was the case with Ricochet, with Cedric, with Humberto, it's like they are put in a position, and AJ is the guy who is going to be the big win to set them up to be the star and every case AJ ends up not losing to them.
Black and Styles were set to go one-on-one on Monday Night RAW but it became a gauntlet match in the end. Aleister had to go through Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows before he was defeated by Styles.
Vince McMahon removed the ban on Canadian destroyer
WWE have a lot of 'dangerous' moves banned and one of them was the Canadian Destroyer. The finisher was banned by Vince McMahon as it was a dangerous one if not executed to perfection.
However, recently that has been used by Rey Mysterio and reports suggest that the ban has been removed. Wrestling Observer covered it on the latest episode and Dave Meltzer said:
Because you know that the Piledriver is completely banned in the WWE unless you're The Undertaker or Kane where you are allowed to do the Tombstone, but the regular Piledriver the move that Bill Longson or whoever it was who developed it first but he was the first one to popularize it that a million of guys from Orndorff and Harley Race and everybody else did.
You know, it's like a banned move in the WWE, but then there are guys doing this Canadian Destroyer and it's like, I mean it makes the same sense as in Mexico that the Piledriver is banned and everyone does it.
Alvarez added an interesting twist to the story and claimed that McMahon removed the ban because he loved it on a NXT show.
Apparently there was some NXT match, it was a Takeover or something and Vince was there. Somebody did a Destroyer, and Vince was like, 'Go*****, why don't we do those mad moves on the main roster, something like that and then it was allowed on the main roster.
