Top 5 WWE Rumors Of The Week - January 1st, 2018

It's been a great 2017 and we want to thank you for spending it with us. The Christmas Day edition of Monday Nigh RAW saw some big surprises but with WrestleMania on the horizon it's all go and no stopping in the WWE Universe.

The last week of the year was much like the rest of 2017 because it was full of plenty of action, rumours, and innuendo. Now let's take a look back at the final week of 2017 to see what kind of things were churning around the rumour mill.

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1: John Cena's WrestleMania Opponent

Who will John Cena face at Mania?

Everyone is looking at WrestleMania 34 at this point and many are wondering how WWE will stack the card for the Show Of Shows in New Orleans. After all, WrestleMania XXX was in the same building only four years ago and ended with Daniel Bryan winning WWE's top prize so they need to do something epic to try and match that WrestleMania moment.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE sources have indicated John Cena's opponent for Mania won't be AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. In fact, he's been told Cena's match will be bigger than the WWE Championship.

There are only a handful of names that could fit the bill of being bigger than a championship match including Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Batista, and The Undertaker. Therefore, only time will tell just how epic of an encounter is in store for Big Match John on April 8th.

2: Jason Jordan's Title Win

Why did this happen?

When Jason Jordan picked up the Raw Tag Team Championships with Seth Rollins on Christmas Day it surprised a lot of people. But Dean Ambrose is out of action and WWE obviously had some big repositioning to accomplish and they didn't have much time to figure something out.

Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE needed to establish Jason Jordan in a big way and it needed to happen quickly. WWE had to do an about-face on his heel turn and give him a huge babyface rub with Rollins.

This is why Jason Jordan scored the pinfall over Cesaro with his elevated neckbreaker for the clean win. After all, it might be obvious on a surface level who the bigger star is on the team, but the fact that Jordan was the one making the pinfall will certainly do a lot on a subconscious level to put the new Raw Tag Team Champions on an equal playing field.

If you'd like more reasons why Jason Jordan was given this excellent opportunity, then you can check those out here.

3: Dean Ambrose's Time Away

We will miss The Lunatic Fringe

Injuries are an awful part of pro wrestling and it finally happened to Dean Ambrose. But the Lunatic Fringe didn't go down without a fight. After all, it was speculated in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Ambrose could have sustained his injury after taking that rough table bump at TLC where the furniture didn't break.

Reports are Ambrose will be out nine months at this point with a partial triceps tear. With this kind of return date expected he might make it back for SummerSlam, but that's not looking good either. Survivor Series could be the first time we see Dean Ambrose back in the ring at this point if I'm doing the math right. After all, someone needs to debut before a pay-per-view if WWE wants to build a story.

But of course, a full triceps tear is usually a year, so one that is half torn isn't expected to take nearly as long. Although his prognosis is three months shorter than a full calendar year, WWE could be padding Ambrose's injury hiatus time just so it seems greater when he comes back. Then again, with an injury like the one Ambrose sustained, a full 9-month recovery time could be in order.

4: The Undertaker's Looking Good

Could The Undertaker have one Last Ride?

Going back to item #1 on this list, John Cena's opponent is rumoured to be a massive one, even bigger than the WWE Championship. The Undertaker seems to be on the top of the possible opponents list for Cena as well.

Many people who saw The Undertaker backstage at Survivor Series in November said he was moving around very well and seemed to be in great shape possibly meaning he is training for another match.

WrestlingNews.co reported some in WWE believe he is not done and will be back for at least one more match. One source who also saw The Dead Man in his Texas gym said it certainly seemed like he was working out with a purpose. The big Raw 25th Anniversary on January 22nd will certainly determine a huge direction of this story because John Cena is expected to have a much better clue who his WrestleMania dance partner will be at the Show Of Shows when Raw airs live from both the Barclays and Manhattan Center.

5: WWE Earnings Are Unreal

Brock Lesnar had a very good 2017

When you're a WWE Superstar one of the benefits is a bigger payday. With all of the appearances fees, royalty checks, and bonuses attached to a possible contract, a WWE Superstar can bring in a good amount of money.

Forbes reported that Brock Lesnar brought in a whopping $12 million this year. This is way more than John Cena's $8 million earnings but also dwarfs the rest of the list. Roman Reigns came in at #4 with $3.5 million after Triple H who made a bit more at $3.8 million and the list continued to Randy Orton in 10th place with $1.9 million.

It's interesting to note that there are no women on this list which could change as the years go on and the aftereffects WWE Women's Revolution continue to flush out. But this is a list that changes every year as people come and go but it's also interesting to note that The Undertaker took the #8 spot with $2 million.