4 Wrestling rumors we hope are true and 4 we hope aren't: WWE planning to book canceled WrestleMania 36 match, Unwanted stipulation match happening at Royal Rumble 2021?
Welcome to this week's edition of wrestling/WWE rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. It's the first edition of 2021, and we're on the road to the Royal Rumble. Let's jump right into the rumors of the week
#4. Hope is true: WWE has two options for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37
The entire status of crowds attending WrestleMania 37 seems to be uncertain, especially with COVID-19 worsening in the United States of America. As a result, we could see WrestleMania 37 take place behind closed doors for the second year in a row.
While that's not an ideal situation for WWE, it's one that they are preparing for as well. Roman Reigns missed his first WrestleMania last year since debuting in WWE in late 2012, and his absence was felt for a full quarter of 2020.
This year, however, things seem to be different for him, and he is expected to walk into WrestleMania 37 as the WWE Universal Champion. According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Daniel Bryan was originally supposed to be Roman Reigns' opponent for the 2021 Royal Rumble, but his entry into the Rumble match means that things could have changed:
Bryan announcing himself for the Rumble is notable only because at one point Reigns vs. Bryan was considered for the Rumble show. Smackdown being so low on main event babyfaces is an issue and Bryan beating Uso on Smackdown would seem to indicate being groomed for Reigns
To add to it, it was noted on WON that Daniel Bryan and Goldberg are the two options for Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 37:
Right now it would look like Bryan and Goldberg would be the top contenders for the Reigns match at Mania. Bryan gives you the better match and Goldberg gives him the more mainstream interest which is kind of sad when you bring in a guy whose prime year would be 23 years earlier instead of having a series of challenges ready that people should care about more because of being current.
This is a mixed one for us. We hope the part about Daniel Bryan being an opponent is true, while we're admittedly not so big on the idea of rebooking Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg.
We imagine that if the crowds don't return, Goldberg is an unlikely candidate.