WWE News & Rumor Roundup: Former Universal Champion suffers injury; star walks out; huge return after 263 days; Roman Reigns chosen over Cody Rhodes

Welcome to the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's WWE News & Rumor Roundup, where we look at the biggest stories of the day from the world of wrestling.

Today's edition features some huge talking points, particularly thanks to NXT's premiere on the CW Network. Meanwhile, a former Universal Champion recently suffered an injury. We also have an exclusive on some backstage disappointment from WWE RAW.

So, without further ado, let's get into today's stories!

#1 WWE NXT Results

Last night's episode of NXT was packed with some huge developments. Here is a rundown of them:

Roxanne Perez defeated Giulia to retain the NXT Women's Championship after a returning Cora Jade helped her win. She had been out with an injury since January 16, 2024.
Wes Lee defeated Zachary Wentz in a Street Fight.
Fatal Influence defeated Jaida Parker and Lola Vice. Parker walked out on Vice during the match. Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Kelani Jordan attacked Fatal Influence afterward.
Trick Williams defeated Ethan Page to win the NXT Championship. Special guest referee CM Punk hit Page with a GTS after the match.

#2 Trick Williams picks Roman Reigns as his dream opponent

Ahead of his NXT Title win, Trick Williams appeared on Chris Van Vliet's INSIGHT podcast, where he was asked to name his WWE dream match. While he acknowledged Cody Rhodes, Williams named Roman Reigns as the one superstar he really wanted to face:

"Roman Reigns. He's the top guy in the business right now. I mean, shout out to Cody Rhodes, who is amazing. I'm glad that he finished and started his new story. But Roman, he's the guy who's been the cornerstone of the business for a while now. So if you don't want to match with him, then you don't really want to be here," Williams said.

#3 Braun Strowman is reportedly injured

The main event of WWE RAW this week saw Braun Strowman defeat Bronson Reed in a chaotic Last Monster Standing Match. However, it came at a cost.

According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, Strowman may have torn his groin during the match:

"[Strowman] starts running, and I knew immediately, this guy's hurt. He normally can't run all that fast, but he couldn't even walk the ropes—he was limping the ropes. He knocks [Reed] off the apron and there was a long period where he just kind of laid there in the corner and the ref's furiously communicating with the back. He may have torn his groin is what it's looking like. That's certainly what they thought yesterday," he said.

He was visibly in pain in the latter stages of the WWE RAW main event but managed to complete all of his spots. That included the superplex that caused the ring to collapse.

#4 Backstage reaction to the Last Monster Standing Match

Speaking of the superplex spot from the Last Monster Standing Match, it seems like those backstage at WWE RAW did not like it.

Speaking in a Q&A session on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge with Joe Lowry, WrestleVotes reported that Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman's match had a mixed response internally. While both stars' performances were praised, the backstage response to the ring collapse from WWE wasn't that positive:

"They didn't like the way it came off. They loved the performance of both those guys. The match itself was well-praised, I mean the crowd was electric. I just think the actual spot of the ring breaking didn't have the impact that it has had in the past. A lot of people expected it, so (...) I did have a source who was there last night. The internal reaction instantly was, 'Oof.'"

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