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It's time for another edition of our daily WWE Rumor Roundup. It has been a hectic week in the professional wrestling world as WWE wrapped up the SummerSlam PPV and also presented the RAW after the PPV.
SummerSlam has received positive reviews, and it lived up to the 'you won't see it coming' tag as Roman Reigns made his WWE return at the end of the show. Various details of The Big Dog's return and WWE's secret have been revealed.
The original plans for Roman Reigns, which also involved an Otis cash-in and a world title win for another Superstar from SmackDown have also been revealed.
Today's roundup would be incomplete without Keith Lee, who made his RAW debut this week. Backstage news on the plans for the former NXT Champion and the reason behind the change of his gear has also been covered.
We also have more updates on Austin Theory's abrupt hiatus and his WWE status.
Here is the latest edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup:
#5. Vince McMahon's plans for Keith Lee following debut on WWE RAW, the reason behind the change in gear
Keith Lee made his official RAW debut, and he was immediately inserted into an angle with the biggest heel on the Red brand in Randy Orton.
The fans, however, were not too pleased about WWE changing Keith Lee's entrance theme and his in-ring gear.
Dave Meltzer revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that the idea behind changing Keith Lee's in-ring gear could be to cover up his belly, which is usually Vince McMahon's mindset.
"It did suck yeah. New outfit. Gym shorts and a tight t-shirt. You know Vince's mind. Got to cover up the belly, you know what I mean. That's Vince's mind. I don't think the outfit kills him. I don't think it was a positive either."
A separate report from PWInsider revealed that WWE intends on pushing Keith Lee as a top babyface on RAW.
WrestlingNews.co also added that the plan at some point is to turn Lee heel before booking him in a WWE Championship feud with a top babyface.
#4. WWE's secret about Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns returned at WWE SummerSlam and attacked The Fiend and Braun Strowman to cap off an eventful PPV.
Dave Meltzer revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that the details about Roman Reigns' return was kept a secret backstage. Most of the Superstars had no clue that the Big Dog was scheduled to return at the PPV.
While there were murmurs about his return in the hours leading up to SummerSlam, Roman Reigns' comeback was a genuine surprise that caught everyone off guard.
As we had reported earlier via WrestlingNews.co, Vince McMahon also reportedly wants Reigns to have an edge to him. The new Roman Reigns may not be an all-out heel, but he will have an attitude to him moving forward.
WWE announced that Roman Reigns would take on The Fiend and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat No Holds Barred Match for the Universal Championship at Payback.
There is speculation that Roman Reigns could win the Universal Title at the Payback PPV itself, which would naturally not go down too well with The Fiend's fans.
WWE wants Roman Reigns to be the face of the company, and the ideal step would be to put the title on him as soon as possible. Also, could he be the leader of RETRIBUTION? A WWE Hall of Famer sure does think it could be possible.
#3. Pat MacAfee may be done with WWE
Pat MacAfee exceeded the expectations of the fans by putting on an impressive performance in his first professional wrestling match at WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX.
The former NFL Punter may have lost his debut match against Adam Cole, but MacAfee managed the gain the respect of the pro wrestling fanbase.
Could we see Pat MacAfee compete in a few more matches in the future?
During an interview with ESPN, MacAfee revealed that he is not under contract with the WWE and his TakeOver match was part of a one-off deal.
MacAfee detailed the physical struggles that he endured following the match, and while he didn't completely shut the door on a potential return, he seems to be done with WWE for now.
"So for when it came to the match on Saturday, I was only focused on that match. I was only focused on, "OK, how do I go in here, put on a hell of a show, hell of a fight and get a win? And then, we'll worry about everything after that on Sunday." We'll cross that bridge whenever we get to it. And I've heard the conversation start all around me and there was a lot… even my mom was asking, "Well, are you going to do this again?" I'm like, "Well, let's worry about that on Sunday." And then I got to Sunday, obviously, and I woke up. Neck was sore, back was sore, foot was sore. I got flipped on my head. To be completely honest, I'm not 100% sure what's going to happen. I'm not under contract to do anything else with Mr. H. I assume he and I will talk about this at some point because I heard his comments in the press conference afterwards, which were very nice."
The TakeOver contest could very well be Pat MacAfee's first and final WWE match.
#2. WWE's original plans for Roman Reigns, King Corbin and Otis
Roman Reigns' return at SummerSlam has reignited WWE's plans to once again coronate the Big Dog as the undisputed face of the company.
However, the situation could have been different had the pandemic not wrecked WWE's plans.
During the recent RAW preview session on Sportskeeda's Facebook page, Tom Colohue revealed the original plans for the Universal title.
WWE wanted to create a new Superstar, and the plan was for Roman Reigns to beat The Fiend at WrestleMania 36.
King Corbin was then pitched to get into a Universal title feud with Reigns. Corbin would have ended up winning his first world title before Otis cashed in his MITB contract on the heel.
Here's what Tom Colohue revealed:
"The idea was that they could make a new star. But of course, there have been many changes since. It was supposed to be The Fiend vs Roman Reigns at WrestleMania with Roman winning the Championship. That would evolve into a Championship match for King Corbin. King Corbin would be the man whom Otis would claim the briefcase on. Otis would be cashing in on King Corbin after he won his first Championship." H/t Kishan Prasad of Sportskeeda
#1. Austin Theory WWE status update
Austin Theory has mysteriously vanished from WWE TV, and the company has yet to release an official statement on the Superstar's status.
Seth Rollins did reveal during a recent interview with Sporting News that Theory was away from WWE programming due to some personal issues, and he should back soon.
"He had some personal issues that came up, so he took some time off to sort through them for the past month or two. It's hard right now, but we hope everything's good for him, so we hope to have him back sooner than later."
Dave Meltzer revealed more details regarding Austin Theory's absence on the Wrestling Observer Radio. It was noted that Theory is not injured and the allegations levelled against the Superstar during the Speaking Out movement could be the reason behind the hiatus.
Theory's story could be similar to Velveteen Dream's situation.
Here's what Meltzer revealed:
"There's an allegation against him, and then he disappeared. It's not an injury or anything like that. Is that why? [WWE] may go and say he had a car accident. I think that Seth Rollins said that – he used some term like 'personal reason' and he'll be back, so I presume that it's a Patrick Clark [Velveteen Dream] type of story."
