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Welcome back to another edition of our daily WWE rumor roundup. As always, we have a stacked lineup in store for you today.
WWE is gearing up for the final PPV of the year, TLC, and there were a host of rumors revolving around the show.
The recent suspensions of Robert Roode and Primo Colon were also a topic of major discussion amongst the WWE Universe and we have a few much-needed updates about the story.
WWE even made a few big changes on the most recent episode of RAW that may have negatively affected two Superstars.
Interesting backstage details about the recent WWE releases also feature in today's rumor roundup.
A top champion could also be booked to lose soon to facilitate a big feud.
That's pretty much the gist of what to expect today and on that note, let's take a detailed look at the most noteworthy rumors being talked about in the world of WWE:
#6. Shayna Baszler could drop the title and move up to the main roster to face Becky Lynch
The title above says it all, doesn't it?
As brought to light by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, strong rumors are going around for quite some time now about WWE wanting Shayna Baszler to drop the NXT Women's title to Rhea Ripley before she moves to RAW.
The plan has always been to get the Queen of Spades to the main roster for a title feud against Becky Lynch. However, with NXT now being an important brand with AEW's emergence, the company wouldn't want to take away NXT's top stars, which could, in turn, decrease the value of the brand in the eyes of the fans.
Baszler, however, has been groomed for a top spot on the main roster and it has been reported in the past that the WWE management is very high on the former UFC fighter.
Shayna will defend the NXT Women's title against Ripley on the next NXT episode on December 18th and many believe that we could see the end of her second title reign.
It was added that Baszler's move to the main roster has been in the works for a long time and the timing may finally be right to pull the trigger.
With Royal Rumble and WrestleMania fast approaching, WWE needs a credible title contender for The Man and the seeds of a feud have already been planted through their Survivor Series programme that also included Bayley.
Meltzer stated:
There have been rumors for some time of Baszler losing to Ripley and moving to the main roster for a feud with Becky Lynch, and what happened leading to Survivor Series and at Survivor Series certainly built that. The only question regards if they want to move top stars off NXT for the main roster because that tells people NXT is lesser, a message they’ve been trying to tell the opposite of. Survivor Series itself was booked to tell people the opposite. But Baszler moving to the main roster has been planned for some time.
#5. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens TLC match possibly nixed
A TLC match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens looked like a no-brainer for TLC going by the build-up on TV. It was also reported a few days ago that the match was part of the internal listings for the show.
However, the plan seems to have been changed.
The match is now unlikely to happen, as revealed by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer revealed that the match was not scheduled to be added to the TLC card as of this Tuesday.
The change of plans could have a lot to do with Seth Rollins breaking his little finger in a match against Erick Rowan at a recent house show. Rollins was pulled from his match on RAW and a full-fledged heel turn was booked which also included AOP and Rollins teaming up to attack Kevin Owens.
KO had to be taken out of the arena in an ambulance and it's highly unlikely that he returns from the storyline injury within six days.
Instead of a match, it was noted that the WWE could book an angle at TLC or the RAW after the PPV to take the storyline forward.
While Rollins is expected to be cleared to wrestle, the match against Owens, as of this writing, may not be featured on the final TLC card.
#4. The big plan for Royal Rumble
The next Royal Rumble PPV will be unlike the previous editions.
While a few NXT Superstars have appeared in the Royal Rumble matches in the past few years, the talents from the Black and Gold brand are going to be featured more prominently this time around.
As revealed by Bryan Alvarez on the Wrestling Observer Live, the Men's and Women's Royal Rumble matches will have 10 Superstars each from RAW, SmackDown and NXT.
It was noted that the plan could always change, but the decision to reserve 10 spots for NXT Superstars was taken a while back and WWE may stick to it, considering that NXT is in now in an all-out war with AEW.
Alvarez stated the following:
"Well, the idea for the Royal Rumble, and this was a while ago, but the plan was Royal Rumble, men’s and women’s, there will be 30 spots, 10 spots to RAW, 10 spots to SmackDown, 10 spots to NXT. That was the plan.
Royal Rumble is expected to be another PPV where WWE strongly puts over NXT talents just like the company did at Survivor Series.
While NXT came out as the winners at Survivor Series, how far will the WWE go with regards to the Rumble?
#3. Changes to the RAW script
As revealed by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE was forced to make a few big changes to the card and script of last week's RAW.
The Street Profits, for one, were never even scheduled to take on The Viking Raiders for the RAW Tag Team titles. The originally planned match was between Seth Rollins and Cedric Alexander, however, the company pulled Rollins from the match as he broke his pinky finger at a recent house show.
WWE replaced the match with The Viking Raiders vs. The Street Profits instead.
However, WWE had to make another major alteration.
It was reported that the Divorce segment that opened the show went on for too long and WWE had to make up for it by cutting down the RAW Tag Team titles' match time.
Viking Raiders and Street Profits were actually supposed to have a 15-minute match that would have been a competitive contest. The idea was to book Ford and Dawkins to take Erik and Ivar to the limit before the Tag Team Champions retained the titles and endorsed the Profits after the match.
The match sadly ended up being just three minutes. Erik and Ivar did put their opponents over after the match but it meant nothing as the booking didn't warrant the post-match segment.
Meltzer noted the following in the WON:
The show had a couple of timing issues. The opening segment went way long as did a few other things early. So they were cutting back on time and the make-up was Vikings vs. Street Profits who were supposed to have a 15:00 competitive match and were cut to 3:00 with no time to tell the story of the Street Profits hanging with the tag champs, coming close and the respect endorsement from the champs at the end. That match was not on the original schedule but was a replacement for a planned Rollins vs. Alexander match that was pulled due to Rollins’ injury.
#2. More WWE releases could be on their way
Luke Harper, Sin Cara, Viktor and Konnor were officially released from the WWE recently. It could just be the beginning, however, as a few more Superstars could end up leaving the company shortly.
Dave Meltzer stated in the WON that the belief backstage is that WWE may not be done with the spree of releases just yet.
It was also revealed that the Superstars who got released weren't informed in advance and they were reportedly surprised by the official announcements made by the company.
#1. Backstage updates on Robert Roode's suspension
Robert Roode and Primo Colon were suspended by the WWE for their first wellness-policy violation and the Superstars are currently serving their respective 30-day suspensions without pay.
Dave Meltzer reported that there were tentative plans to book Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a SmackDown Tag Team titles match against The New Day at TLC.
However, WWE booked an angle on a recent episode of SmackDown in which Roman Reigns clobbered Roode to such an extent that the former NXT Champion had to be taken out on a stretcher, which in pro wrestling terms, means that he was written off TV.
It's being speculated that the WWE may have known about Roode's wellness policy violation well in advance, which explains why the segment was booked.
However, it was also added that the creative team is usually not informed about drug test failures and suspensions.
There is still no news about Robert Roode's WWE future and the substance that he was flagged for but we hope to get the full scope of the story in the weeks to come.
