WWE Rumor Roundup: Top Champion to return for Royal Rumble, Backstage request to add Braun Strowman to top faction - 29th November 2019

We're back again and you know the drill!

The latest edition of the rumor roundup has ten newsworthy stories of WWE. We have it all today!

Our roundups, most often than not, have at least one story featuring Vince McMahon as the boss just can't stay out of the news. It's his company! Today, he's reportedly furious about a recent match that happened.

We also have an unsurprising and possibly disappointing update about Brock Lesnar.

Remember EC3? Yes, we now know the reason behind his sudden disappearance.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Mauro Ranallo - there were interesting speculations about all of the aforementioned names.

So without any further delay, let's get right into today's rumor roundup.

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#1 Brock Lesnar going on another hiatus, will return for Royal Rumble

Not surprised, eh? We don't blame you as the fans are now conditioned to not seeing Brock Lesnar.

As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the WWE Champion is off on another short break which will end when he returns for the build-up towards his Royal Rumble match.

Lesnar last wrestled and successfully defended the WWE Championship against Rey Mysterio at Survivor Series. WWE will have the TLC PPV on 15th December before beginning the extensive road to the Royal Rumble.

The Beast Incarnate is surely not needed for TLC and he should ideally be back in January to get involved in his programme for the Rumble, which is scheduled to take place on January 26th, 2020.

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#2 Bray Wyatt requested WWE to let Braun Strowman join the Wyatt Family

Bray Wyatt is a genius and you won't find many people who would argue against it.

However, beyond Wyatt's prolific mind for the business, the WWE Universal Champion is also an ideal colleague to have who stands up for his co-workers and vouches for them.

Tom Colohue revealed in the latest edition of Dropkick DiSKussions that Bray Wyatt himself requested the WWE to call up Braun Strowman to the main roster and to add him to the Wyatt Family.

Here's what Tom shared:

"The man behind the mask, he’s a very strong proponent for people. He stands by people, he stands up for people. He has a very strong record. He was encouraging the WWE to put Braun Strowman in the Wyatt Family. To debut him in the Wyatt Family. He wants to work with people he likes and I know Harper is one of those, and I know Strowman is one of the those."

#3 The reason behind EC3's absence

The last time we saw EC3 on RAW was when he lost to Rusev on the episode of September 23rd. His last official match was on the Main Event Tapings of September 30th.

Dave Meltzer provided the reason behind EC3's disappearance from WWE TV in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Carter is currently out of action with a concussion that he suffered at the end of September and no further details were given regarding his return to action.

The former NXT Superstar's main roster stint hasn't gone according to plan thus far and we hope his fortunes improve when he makes his TV comeback.

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#4 Seth Rollins' future with his new character

The WWE Universe is still confused after what happened on the most recent episode of RAW. Is Seth Rollins a heel? Has the Beastslatyer completed his transformation into being Roman Reigns 2.0? The latter is what seems likely at this point.

Seth Rollins' new character was discussed on Sportskeeda's Dropkick DiSKussions with host Korey Gunz and WWE insider Tom Colohue.

As revealed by Tom, Rollins' turn isn't a full-fledged one and his situation has been described as 'complicated' backstage.

The former Universal Champion is expected to work a few feuds as a heel and the rest as a babyface going in the future, quite similar to the old Roman Reigns.

Here's what Tom said on the podcast:

"I’m not entirely sure it’s a full heel turn, anybody I’ve spoken to and asked about this has been quite clear that it’s complicated. That we may see Seth be a heel in one feud, and a face in another feud, much like Roman Reigns has been. Like he was a heel against AJ Styles and then he was a face against Seth Rollins for a brief time and back after he beat Triple H at WrestleMania 32. So I wouldn’t call it a full-fledged heel turn but there are certainly a lot of heel elements and Seth himself is definitely playing up to it including with the way he has been challenging CM Punk."

#5 Bray Wyatt is the top merchandise seller in WWE

Bray Wyatt isn't just the Champion of the Universe anymore, he is also now the champion of merchandise sales in the WWE.

Dave Meltzer revealed the news of Wyatt becoming the company's top merch seller in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Sean Ross Sapp had reported back in March that Becky Lynch had taken the top spot when it came to the merchandise figures.

Bray Wyatt's return and the introduction of The Fiend character has now catapulted him above The Man and he should ideally maintain his place as long as he is booked well going forward.

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#6 Vince was really mad during the Survivor Series main event

The Survivor Series main event between Becky Lynch, Bayley and Shayna Baszler didn't live up its buildup. It was a disappointment and nothing more can be said about it. Vince McMahon too, as one would expect, was not too pleased with how the match went down.

Dave Meltzer reported in the WON that McMahon was really mad backstage while the match was underway. Meltzer also commented on a story that circulated about the match which stated that McMahon sent a message to the referee about having a few high spots in the match.

Meltzer was told that there may not be any truth to the story, however, it was stressed that McMahon was unhappy during the match.

What's even more surprising is that the match failed to impress even though it was practised and well-rehearsed before the show.

After all, Triple Threat matches can be a tricky affair.

#7 Vince McMahon's Survivor Series vision

NXT surprisingly came up trumps at Survivor Series with the most wins on the show. It was revealed by Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue that the idea to put over NXT on the PPV actually came from Vince McMahon.

The WWE boss wanted the yellow brand to be portrayed strongly at the show and the executive directors of RAW, SmackDown and NXT worked towards fulfilling his vision.

Here's what Tom said regarding WWE's booking of NXT at Survivor Series on Dropkick DiSKussions:

"There is no doubt that Triple H did a lot of prodding and poking and a lot of encouragement but he said himself it is a collaborative effort. The three Executive Directors in charge of each brand got together and decided how we were going to do this. But when it comes to the decision to put NXT over this strong, that comes down to Vince McMahon.

Vince McMahon wanted NXT to look strong, and he was also the deciding factor behind, for example, Adam Cole beating Daniel Bryan, a lot of moments along the way, tag team looking good, Shayna Baszler looking fantastic coming in to attack, Rhea Ripley and Tegan Nox getting a tag team win. These were Vince McMahon decisions. He was the one who wanted NXT put over this strong. I don’t know how strong of an influence Triple H had on that, but the three executive Directors got together to execute Vince McMahon’s vision. So Vince said, this is what I want, they went away and decided how they were going to make that happen."

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#8 Will RAW and SmackDown Superstars show up on NXT in the near future?

NXT won the battle for brand supremacy at Survivor Series, however, everyone's still wondering, will WWE be tempted to get Superstars from the main roster for special appearances on NXT for a quick ratings boost?

Dave Meltzer stated in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the idea, for now, is that the company won't feature RAW and SmackDown Superstars on NXT programming as much going forward.

WWE is committed to putting over NXT on a long-term basis and they have done a great job of legitimizing Triple H's brand by the solid Survivor Series booking.

#9 WWE to have another Brand vs. Brand show

Survivor Series may be in the books but WWE may not be done with the brand wars just yet.

The upcoming Worlds Collide event that is scheduled to take place on the night before Royal Rumble in January next year will see NXT go up against NXT UK.

WWE sources have told the Wrestling Observer that the company plans on featuring matches that have never been seen before at the NXT vs. NXT UK themed show next year.

Top champions from the brands such as Kay Lee Ree, Shayna Baszler, Adam Cole, WALTER have already been advertised for the show.

It was also revealed in the WON by Meltzer that WWE plans on a Brand vs. Brand Worlds Collide event on the Saturdays of every major PPV weekend.

The plan, however, is still considered to be in the experimental stage and a final call will be taken in a few months. It was also revealed that the World Collide event for January 25th, 2020 was pitched much before the brand wars plan for Survivor Series was chalked out.

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#10 Mauro Ranallo update

We end this week's roundup with an update on Mauro Ranallo's status.

As revealed by Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio yesterday, the NXT commentator is in rough shape and at the moment, it has been described as a 'day by day' situation.

Ranallo's manager Frank Shamrock was contacted by the WWE and the company was told that the commentator will return once he gets better.

In the latest WON, it was revealed that Ranallo informed WWE that he won't be able to appear on the most recent episode of NXT a day before the show.

Corey Graves has already apologized for his tweet on the After The Bell podcast. It was also added that Graves may not have been fully aware of Ranallo's mental health struggles when he tweeted out the offensive comments.

Ranallo is expected to be back but we still don't know when that may happen. We at Sportskeeda' pray that Ranallo gets the fortitude to get out this situation and hope that he gets back to the commentary booth soon enough.