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Welcome to another edition of the daily WWE rumor roundup where we bring you the biggest and most interesting rumors and stories from the day.
The biggest news this week has undoubtedly been the surprising exit of WWE Co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson from the company. We have more details regarding the reason behind their exit as well as other top stories including a top free-agent signing with WWE and the likely successor to Vince McMahon's throne in WWE.
Before we jump into the next part of this listicle, gear up by listening to what Sheamus has to say about his Royal Rumble opponent, Shorty G. Also you will get to know how Edge had guided The Celtic Warrior in the early days of his career!
#5 Who will be Vince McMahon's successor?
Do you think that Triple H or Stephanie McMahon are in-line to head WWE once Vince McMahon calls it a day? Think again.
As per Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue, it isn't Triple H who will lead the charge after Vince McMahon, but his son Shane McMahon who is being groomed to take over. Shane O'Mac was one of the lead producers for this year's Royal Rumble which is another clear indication that the former European Champion will likely take charge once his father decided to hang up his boots.
It’s worth mentioning though that, to my knowledge, Triple H is not the next in line to take over WWE after Vince McMahon. The next in line is Shane McMahon. I know people want Triple H but Shane McMahon is the next in line and that’s one of the reasons he’s been doing production work, for example at the Royal Rumble.
He’s been involved in everything since day one, essentially from his birth into this company. He’s set up the ring, he’s done ref work, he’s been involved in storylines. Shane McMahon knows wrestling, he knows how to be successful. And I, for one, am quite excited to see the day he does take over as I’m sure that Vince McMahon will never willingly take over, we’re going to see Shane involved a lot more in the future. He is going to take a lot more of the control, now that Vince is stepping back.
(H/t: SportsKeeda)
#4 Vince McMahon involved in 'negative' backstage encounters
One of the biggest stories to break from the past few days has been the ouster of George Barrios and Michelle Wilson from WWE. The two were long-time WWE executives and their leave from the company led to shock among the WWE Universe and also resulted in a massive plunge of the WWE stock price.
SportsKeeda's Tom Colohue spoke about former WWE Champion and Chairman Vince McMahon's backstage encounters with the two men and revealed that many of these encounters had been 'negative'.
I have heard from a few different people inside the head office that there have been a number of altercations and encounters that have been negative. They wouldn’t go into too much detail, but negative encounters is a phrase that they use between Barrios, Wilson and Vince McMahon.
Even though this is bit of a surprise moment and definitely a surprise announcement, the idea it is that I’m getting is that there have been a number of meetings that have gone badly, or a number of, I will use the phrase again - negative encounters, that have created a negative atmosphere between Vince McMahon, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson.
#3 Details regarding Vince McMahon selling his share of the company
With former WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson leaving the company, there has been a lot of speculations in regards to the future of the company. There have even been reports that suggest that Vince McMahon could be selling his share of the company soon.
However, SportsKeeda's Tom Colohue has revealed in his latest video that such is not the case, and Vince McMahon has no interest in selling his share anytime soon.
One of the rumors going around as per this particular topic is that there is an intention to sell WWE and that Vince McMahon wants to move full time out of wrestling as well as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. To my knowledge, this is considerably wide off the mark. Vince McMahon, from everything I’ve been told, as much as he’s stepping back from the day-to-day running, and brought in executive directors for that reason so that he could work on the XFL, Vince McMahon will never truly relinquish control of the WWE.
I have absolute faith in that. If there’s a sale coming, it will be a sale of the 49% that he does not control
(H/T: SportsKeeda)
#2 Killer Kross to debut soon
Impact Wrestling sensation Killer Kross had been released from the company not long ago and had gone into negotiations with WWE and Triple H, if sources were to be believed. It turns out that the rumours regarding Kross becoming part of the WWE roster soon might actually be true as WON have reported that Kross will be debuting with the company in the coming weeks.
Kross, who is the husband of former Impact Superstar and current NXT Superstar Scarlett Bordeaux, had spoken about the possibility of signing with WWE and what a major commitment it would be when speaking to the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling.
This is a huge decision. This is a life-changing decision and I enjoy the idea of commitment so when I make the decision on which direction I am going to go in, I need to be 100% committed in my mind and I need to have everything to lay as it should be and I understand the speculation that people are making and it doesn't bother me and it's cool.
Do you think Killer Kross has made the right decision by signing with WWE? Tell us in the comments.
#1 Dio Maddin hits back at Brock Lesnar
Former RAW commentator Dio Maddin recently cut a promo addressing Brock Lesnar on an NXT house show. Maddin was brutally attacked by Brock Lesnar and was left lying after an F-5 on the announce table after Maddin tried to defend Jerry Lawler from Lesnar.
While Maddin has served as a commentator on 205 Live and RAW, he chose to restart his training to become an in-ring competitor instead of joining the announce desk again. Dio Maddin spoke about what he did after being attacked by Lesnar and has promised that he will 'lay a stack of bodies until I get where I'm trying to go'.
I had the opportunity a couple of months ago to talk about the job I wanted to do. Then I had a wake-up call when Brock Lesnar, I'm gonna call a spade a spade, put me through a table. A lesser man would press charges, but Dio Maddin is not a lesser man.
"Dio Maddin went home, he looked at himself in a mirror, he even looked at the faces of his three beautiful daughters, and I told them, 'Never again'. Dio Maddin isn't about talking, Dio Maddin is about that action, and that action is to lay a stack of bodies until I get where I'm trying to go."
