WWE Rumor Review: Cancelled Roman Reigns' match, Goldberg's return, Speculation on Bayley's on-screen role
Welcome to yet another edition of WWE Rumor Review. Here, we take a deep dive into some of the top wrestling rumors from a few months ago and analyze how they have fared so far.
In this week's edition, we take a look back at speculation about Bayley's role following her injury. We'll also check to see if reports of Roman Reigns facing a former multi-time world champion and Goldberg's return to the squared circle turned out to be true.
So without further ado, check out the five top stories on this week's edition of WWE Rumor Review.
#5 Goldberg's WWE Return
Spoiler on major WWE return and Summerslam plans for them
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Goldberg went on a hiatus for almost seven months following a loss at the hands of then-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at the 2021 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event in January.
In July, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported that the WWE Hall of Famer was scheduled for a return and a major match at SummerSlam 2021.
On the July 19th episode of RAW, Bobby Lashley hosted an open challenge for his WWE title, which a returning Keith Lee accepted. The Almighty made quick work of his challenger and retained his title.
Immediately following the match, Goldberg made a stunning return and confronted Lashley to kickstart a feud between the two, thus confirming Sapp's report.
#4 Venue for Survivor Series 2021
Survivor Series took place on November 21st, 2021, with Universal Champion Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Big E facing each other in a Champion vs. Champion match in the main event.
However, months before the event, Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast broke the news, revealing the rumored location for the event to be the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The report turned out to be true as it did take place in the said arena. The show heavily revolved around the 25th anniversary of The Rock's WWE debut with a Battle Royale in his honor.
It was widely speculated that The Great One could be showing up at the event to set up his clash with The Tribal Chief. Unfortunately, The Rock did not make an appearance at the event.
#3 WWE's return to Saudi Arabia
Hearing from source:
WWE will be returning to Saudi Arabia in October.
(If there are no restrictions at that time)
Heard 10/21 but have not double confirmed.
#WWE #News https://t.co/ojILv6yyEC
WWE signed a 10-year agreement with Saudi Arabia back in 2018 to feature two premium live events every year. They held two events in 2018 and 2019 but had only one (Super ShowDown) in February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast reported in July 2021 that the company would be returning to Saudi Arabia in October.
"Hearing from source: WWE will be returning to Saudi Arabia in October. (If there are no restrictions at that time). Heard 10/21 but have not double confirmed," Zarian reported.
The report turned out to be true as the Crown Jewel premium live event was held in October. It witnessed Roman Reigns retain his Universal Championship over Brock Lesnar.
#2 Speculation on Bayley's on-screen role
In mid-July last year, Bayley suffered a torn ACL that saw her out of action for months with no fixed return date as of this writing.
Immediately after news of her injury broke, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that the three-time women's champion could continue her TV appearances in a non-wrestling capacity just like The Miz did for some time following his injury at WrestleMania last year.
"Pam Martinez (Bayley) suffered a torn left ACL doing training drills on 7/8 at the Performance Center. She was doing the mandatory training that almost all (everyone but the tippy top) talent were told they had to do to get ready for the return of road shows. There’s never a good time for an injury and this certainly wasn’t, in the middle of a program with Belair. She could wind up like Miz being kept on the air to do her talk show," stated Dave Meltzer.
However, that did not happen. Bayley has been off TV for months but continues to entertain fans through her social media presence.
#1 Cancelled Roman Reigns' match
Roman Reigns defeated some of the legendary names in WWE in his stellar Universal Championship run, including Rey Mysterio.
The Tribal Chief and The Usos feuded with the Mysterio family for months last year. It culminated with Reigns defeating Rey in a Hell in a Cell match on the June 18th episode of SmackDown.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that while it seemed that their feud might be over, that wasn't the case, and The Head of the Table was scheduled to defend his title in a handicap match.
"The Smackdown TV matches announced are Mysterios & mystery partner vs. Reigns & Usos and Belair vs. Bayley. 7/24 in Pittsburgh is listing Reigns vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio in a handicap match with the title at stake which means Reigns has to win and putting the title up in a handicap match is stupid to begin with, as it just makes the babyfaces look like they are losers to start out with."
However, the plans seem to have been canceled as on the July 24th Live event, Roman Reigns teamed up with The Usos to face John Cena, Rey Mysterio & Dominik in a six-man tag match as opposed to defending his title again.