WWE Rumor Roundup - Superstar almost fired for refusing to lose, Becky Lynch spotted in the ring with a female star, Canceled storyline plans for Bray Wyatt (20th June 2021)
Welcome back to another edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup. As always, we've lined up all the newsworthy stories being discussed in the wrestling world. While there is considerable talk about WWE's upcoming Hell in a Cell show, many other stories have caught the attention of the masses over the past 24 hours.
Becky Lynch is back in trending circles as the former RAW Women's Champion was spotted at the Performance Center. Backstage reactions to her impending WWE return have also been revealed.
A few big-name NXT stars were brought in for try-out matches before this week's SmackDown. We also have all the updates on a potential shake-up in the WWE.
Jim Ross also opened up about how a legendary star was once almost fired for refusing to lose a match.
Vince McMahon apparently also 'didn't get' a storyline featuring Bray Wyatt and another veteran superstar, and the details of the angle have now come to light.
We wrap up the roundup with a story regarding The IIconics' plans following their WWE release.
#5. Jim Ross reveals WWE almost fired a superstar for refusing to lose
Wins and losses are part and parcel of a professional wrestler's career, but the talent never like to lose too much. In fact, most WWE Superstars would prefer to go on a winning streak, but that's never feasible.
There have been a handful of WWE Superstars who have refused to lose big matches. During a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross revealed how WWE nearly fired Big Van Vader after the well-respected superstar refused to lose to The Ultimate Warrior.
Vader took on Warrior at a huge house show in Rosemont that surprisingly had a massive turnout of fans. The match card was also stacked with big names, and Vader vs. Warrior was one of the marquee contests.
Vader left the match and was threatened backstage by WWE officials before he got back out. The former WCW Champion would exit the ring for the second time, and the Ultimate Warrior eventually picked up a count-out win.
Vader allegedly wanted to maintain his monster heel persona as he was a massive draw in Japan. The legendary wrestler believed that losing at house shows would hurt his image in Japan and lead to financial losses. In addition to his reluctance to lose, WWE even had issues with Vader's weight at the time.
Jim Ross said that Vader, real name Leon Allen White, was lucky not to have lost his WWE job at the Rosemont live event that night:
"So, Leon is lucky that night he didn't get fired. And a lot of bookers in less tenuous times would have said, 'Well, see, you're done.' You can't lose; we can't win. So, you figure that out. I think we had the WCW thing going on, bubbling and bubbling. Leon might have been out. That would have been a terrible loss because he was a killer heel and got over and all that good stuff. But the Japanese influence on some of those guys. They actually believed that losing at a house show, for example, in Rosemont, would be detrimental to their Japanese career," Jim Ross said. H/t Sportskeeda Wrestling
Jim Ross added that it made no sense for promotions to offer no-loss contracts. The veteran said that superstars who wish to protect their assets should never leave the safe confines of Japan or any other territory where they have a name.
While Vader is recognized as one of the greatest big-man performers in wrestling history, his WWE stint could have looked a lot better had everything worked out backstage.