WWE Rumor Roundup: Top Superstar not turning heel, veteran fired from the company, exciting new signings

We are back again with another stacked edition of the Daily WWE Rumor Roundup.

While today's offering has a special emphasis on Eric Bischoff and his surprising exit from the company, we have also managed to gather stories about various other Superstars.

There were big updates regarding the immediate future of Seth Rollins. The status of the RAW roster after the Draft and Paul Heyman's favourites on the brand were also brought to light.

WWE's apparent attempt at purchasing a popular promotion overseas was also a major talking point today.

Two talented female Superstars, who recently signed up with WWE, are also expected to begin their tenure with the company. In addition to that, another female wrestler from Ring of Honor was given a WWE Tryout after her contract with ROH came to an end.

We end the roundup by answering all the questions surrounding the absence of The Usos and Naomi from the Draft.

#1. Plans for Seth Rollins; no heel turn in the works

We have three important points to note about Seth Rollins today.

Firstly, the Beastslayer is expected to be removed from the 10-Man Tag Team match between Team Hogan and Team Flair, scheduled to happen at Crown Jewel. WWE will reportedly remove Rollins and announce a new team captain, which will free him up for his singles match against Bray Wyatt.

Rollins will take on The Fiend in a Falls Count Anywhere match with the Universal title on the line at Crown Jewel on October 31st in Saudi Arabia.

Regarding Rollins' character, it was also reported via Wrestling Observer that WWE currently has no plans of turning the Universal Champion heel.

A possible heel turn was teased this week when Rollins burned down the Firefly Fun House in the closing segment of RAW. Many believed it to be a double turn of sorts, but that isn't the case.

Rollins is set to be the company's top babyface going forward.

It was also revealed by NYCB Live that Rollins and The Fiend will have a match on the RAW after Crown Jewel as well, which would happen inside the Steel Cage.

#2. The reason why WWE didn't use The Usos and Naomi during the Draft

WWE didn't get The Usos back for the Draft and it was quite a surprising decision as the twins have been among the most prolific tag teams of this decade.

As reported by the Wrestling Observer, The Usos, as well as Naomi, were not brought back for the Draft as the company has no creative plans for the three Superstars.

It was also revealed that the company has not set a return date for the Superstars, and as things stand, they will have to wait on the sidelines for a little longer.

The Usos and Naomi are currently a part of the RAW brand. The 5-time Tag Team Champions were previously rumored to return on the SmackDown premiere on FOX on October 4th, however, the plan was nixed due to an undisclosed reason.

The Usos were backstage at that show but were not used. The tag team have been kept away from TV ever since Jimmy Uso was charged with a DUI in July. Naomi too has been absent from in-ring action owing to health and family-related problems.

#3. Maria Manic spotted at the WWE Performance Center after expiration of ROH contract

As reported first by Fightful, Maria Manic received a WWE Tryout this week. A report from Squared Circle Sirens added that her contract with Ring of Honor (ROH) came to an end recently, which enabled her to give WWE a shot.

PWInsider provided details of her ROH contract in a report which stated that Manic's six-month deal with the promotion expired recently, after which she attended a tryout at the WWE Performance Center.

The 22-year-old wrestler has wrestled for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in the past and was introduced to the ROH faithful in June 2019. Despite being with the company for a short period, Manic didn't wrestle a single match in ROH and was mostly seen carrying out attacks on other talents.

Will WWE sign up the young powerhouse? As always, we'll keep you updated on the latest developments.

#4. The Eric Bischoff saga: The reason why he was fired and more

Eric Bischoff was brought back to the WWE amid much fanfare in June earlier this year and he was handed the pivotal task of being the Executive Director of SmackDown.

Four months into the job and he has already been replaced by Bruce Prichard while also being released from WWE altogether. It was a short, uneventful and utterly forgettable stint for the former WCW booker.

So, what happened?

The talents backstage saw Bischoff's departure as an inevitable phenomenon, as revealed by Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez. Bischoff was mostly found in catering and was never really reachable when he was needed backstage. A section of the talents reportedly didn't even like to work with him.

Bischoff was unfamiliar with the product as well as the talents involved and most importantly, he wasn't taking any special efforts to learn. He would also disappear after meetings and when the talents were asked about who was running SmackDown, the answer was always Bruce Prichard.

Sports Illustrated (SI) was told that Bischoff's role was to merely observe while Paul Heyman was given the power to creatively alter the product as per his liking.

"Bischoff’s four-month run working for Vince McMahon will be marked by his failure to assimilate into the corporate structure of the company, though his dismissal is not a complete loss for WWE."

It has also been speculated that Bischoff may have been kicked out due to the dip in TV ratings for SmackDown, however, that's a tall claim as the Blue brand has been on the FOX Network for only two weeks.

Bischoff may have been hired as just a scapegoat as it would be easy to remove him if the situation on SmackDown went south. That was the rumor going around when Bischoff was hired. All said and done, Bischoff is done with the company and is free to appear for any other promotion as he didn't have a 90-day non-compete clause in his contract.

Bischoff's firing has also been seen as Vince McMahon's way of letting FOX know that the company is serious about making SmackDown work on the new network. Prichard has been Vince McMahon's trusted aide and he will oversee the creative aspect of the Friday night show alongside Ed Kosky.

“Bischoff’s firing is Vince McMahon’s reaction to the ratings and a message to his stockholders that he is entirely committed to the future success of SmackDown on FOX.”

It is interesting to note that Bruce Prichard was the man who originally pushed WWE to sign Bischoff as the Executive Director. It evidently didn't work out and there seems to be no bad blood amongst all the parties involved, that is if all the statements are taken into account.

#5. RAW roster updates, Paul Heyman's favorites

The recently conducted Draft saw WWE shake things up on RAW and SmackDown with the advent of a new era in pro wrestling.

RAW got top names such as Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in addition to other mid-card and lower-level talents.

As RAW has three hours to fill, the Red brand has more Superstars in comparison to SmackDown.

However, there were a few free agents that were left undrafted even after the supplementary draft and the post-draft trade.

The Authors of Pain are one of the tag teams that have still not received a brand. It was revealed by the Wrestling Observer that Rezar and Akam will be integrated into the Red brand.

WWE even released a video in which the former NXT Tag Team Champions vented out their frustrations over not being picked by either RAW or SmackDown.

While WWE's focus is to build SmackDown as the A-show, the company is also making sure RAW doesn't get the short end of the stick.

It was revealed by Dave Meltzer that the plan was to send young and hard-working talents, who were not that over with the WWE Universe, to RAW where they can thrive under the guidance of Paul Heyman.

"That’s part of the deal with all of the young, good workers who aren’t over. Almost all of them are going to end up on RAW, except for Chad Gable, which shocked me, I thought for sure he wasn’t going to be on SmackDown, but he is."

It was additionally stated that Heyman is high on Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black and he made sure both Superstars ended up on RAW.

"Paul Heyman is super, super high on Buddy Murphy. I figured if he had input, probably more than anyone else, I mean the guys who I figured that would get in would be Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black and both of them ended up on RAW."

#6. WWE tried to buy a Japanese promotion

WWE and Triple H are serious about setting up the NXT Japan brand. The company is so focussed on having the brand up and running in the land of the rising sun that they even attempted to purchase a Japanese promotion.

Dave Meltzer revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE tried to broker a deal to takeover Pro Wrestling Noah, however, both parties couldn't reach an agreement.

The idea is simple. WWE wants to lay the groundwork for NXT Japan by buying out an existing promotion and build upon its resources and talents.

Officials backstage are working on the NXT Japan project and are looking to sign up known talents from the East Asian country as trainers. There is also talk of having a Performance Center in Japan.

Meltzer added that the company is pushing to get two top Japanese wrestlers on board, however, their identities were not revealed.

There are also rumors swirling around that WWE could make a few big announcements regarding the new NXT Japan brand on Friday.

#7. New female signings

As you may have heard, Scarlett Bordeaux and Shotzi Blackheart have signed developmental contracts with WWE and will soon begin working for the company.

There were updates regarding the starting date of their WWE tenure.

Bordeaux has nixed all her indie bookings and will only be showing up at Baltimore Comic-Con during the weekend, which would mark her final appearance before beginning her full-time role in WWE.

Shotzi Blackheart will continue to work on the independent circuit until November 3rd. WrestlingInc revealed that Blackheart informed all the indie bookers that she would have to cancel all the shows after November 4th.

Blackheart was recently offered an NXT contract by William Regal at the Evolve 137 show and the exciting talent will kickstart her WWE career in the first half of November.