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We're back again with another edition of Sportskeeda's daily WWE Rumor Roundup. WWE confirmed two big WrestleMania matches on the latest episode of SmackDown, and we also know the rest of the card based on new backstage reports.
The Fiend will face John Cena at WrestleMania, however, there are many questions regarding the future of Bray Wyatt's character and we have an update about the company's direction for the Superstar.
Goldberg winning the Universal Championship has been the biggest story of the week but that wasn't always the original plan. What was Vince McMahon's reaction to the finish?
A WWE Legend also revealed why he likes the idea of Goldberg going over The Fiend.
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WWE has also filed for trademarks to prevent two Superstars from using them once they leave the company.
#5. The original plan for Goldberg and The Fiend, Vince McMahon's reaction
Goldberg's second Universal Championship win at Super ShowDown has received unfavourable reactions from the WWE Universe. The fans aren't happy that the WWE destroyed The Fiend's momentum by booking him to lose to a 53-year-old part-timer.
However, the original plan was to have Roman Reigns vs. The Fiend at WrestleMania.
Dave Meltzer reported that Vince McMahon made the decision to put the title on Goldberg to build up a 'Mania match against Reigns. A match between Reigns and Goldberg has the potential to draw better at the big WrestleMania stage.
The company also wanted to free Wyatt up for a match against Cena, and the only way that was possible was to take the title off of him.
The Fiend was likely booked to get a quick win over Goldberg before Vince McMahon chose to go in for a major revamp.
Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue also revealed that Vince McMahon was the only man backstage who thought it was a good idea to push Goldberg for the win.
Woke up to a message from a #wwe contact simply stating that nobody but Vince thought this was a good idea.
As things stand, Goldberg will head into WrestleMania as the champion and he will most likely drop the title to The Big Dog.
#4. Backstage news on The Fiend's future
Until Super ShowDown, The Fiend was the most protected character in the WWE.
A crushing defeat to Goldberg has severely dented the aura of Bray Wyatt's alter ego, but, WWE thankfully may have a plan to restore his credibility.
As revealed by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, The Fiend will take on John Cena at WrestleMania 36 and he is expected to defeat the Cenation leader.
The company possibly hopes that a win against the 16-time World Champion will restore the mystique of Bray Wyatt's character, which is the need of the hour. The potential plan after WrestleMania could be to have The Fiend feud with Roman Reigns for the Universal title. The programme, which was originally slated for WrestleMania, could be the top angle for the summer after 'Mania.
Meltzer explained:
Wyatt would be freed to face John Cena, likely with the idea Wyatt would win, eventually, go to the Reigns program as planned, and he’d regain the mystique that he lost to a degree here, and only to a degree. The Saudi Arabia show aired on a Thursday afternoon in the U.S., so people seeing it was actually minuscule compared to most PPV and TV shows.
#3. The reported 16-match WrestleMania card
While the top half of the WrestleMania card already has a definite structure, there are still many matches on the undercard left undecided and up for discussion.
Dave Meltzer provided the latest updates on the 'Mania card and revealed that there are currently 16 matches as per backstage listings.
Here is how the match card currently looks based on the backstage changes:
- Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre (WWE Championship)
- Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler (RAW Women's Championship)
- Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (NXT Women's Championship)
- Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship)
- The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles
- John Cena vs. The Fiend
- Edge vs. Randy Orton (Stipulation match, which will be announced later)
- Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler
- Kabuki Warriors vs. Natalya & Beth Phoenix (Women's Tag Team Championship)
- Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens or Seth Rollins & Murphy vs. Kevin Owens & a partner for the RAW Tag Team Championship)
- The Miz and Morrison vs. New Day or multiple tag teams (SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
- Bayley vs. TBD (SmackDown Women's Championship)
- Braun Strowman vs. TBD (Intercontinental Championship)
- Women's Battle Royal
- Men's Battle Royal
- Andrade vs. TBD (United States Championship) (Possible multi-man match)
That's how the card looks thus far, however, there is still a possibility that Vince McMahon makes a few more alterations before the show in April.
#2. Booker T's comments on Super ShowDown main event finish
While there are many people who disagree with WWE's decision to let Goldberg go over The Fiend, Booker T sees the positives in the widely-hated move.
On the latest edition of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker revealed that he likes the Reigns vs. Goldberg match and added that the former WCW Champion was a believable Superstar to take the title off of The Fiend.
"I like it, old spear vs. young spear. If they can mix in a little Shakespeare, everything will be beautiful. I like it because my thing is, how else were we going to get the belt off The Fiend? Who was going to take it off of him? Who else can we believe for a moment? We may not even believe this, but who else taking the title off The Fiend would've been better than Goldberg? What's better, Roman conquering The Fiend or Roman conquering Goldberg?"
Booker T personally liked the decision as it enables the company to put the Universal title back on Roman Reigns.
Me personally, I like this, because we get to put the title back on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Roman's back in the saddle again, there's so many things that can happen if the scenario plays out like that, and that's why I like this scenario H/t Credit: WrestlingInc
Do you agree with Booker T's point of view?
#1. WWE files for new trademarks
As reported a few days ago, The Revival applied for trademarks on the terms 'Say Yeah, 'Top Guys', and 'No Flips, Just Fists'.
In an interesting update, WWE has also filed for new trademarks on 'The Mechanics', and 'No Flips Just Fists'.
The thing to note here is that there could be a conflict between the two filings for 'No Flips Just Fists' as WWE's version does not have a comma.
Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder went by the name The Mechanics in NXT before they were rebranded as The Revival.
Regarding their contract status, the former Tag Team Champions have turned down various contract renewal offers from WWE. The company has offered them a lot of money to extend their stay, however, Dash and Dawson are hell-bent on leaving and the WWE officials may now be trying to make it difficult for the tag team to use a few trademarks when they are released.
The contracts of the SmackDown Superstars are expected to expire soon and the rumors indicate that they could be heading to AEW.
