WWE Rumor Review: Top star returning before WrestleMania, major name let go after backstage heat, Roman Reigns facing Hall of Famer

Welcome to this week's edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's WWE Rumor Review, a feature where we look back at a few big rumors from a year ago and determine whether they were accurate.

This time, the focus is on February 2022, which saw the road to WrestleMania 38 heat up. There was talk of several top stars returning, including a potential opponent for Roman Reigns.

Meanwhile, Shane McMahon's WWE future was also confirmed following the Royal Rumble controversy. So, without further ado, let's review these rumors.

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#5. Roman Reigns' opponent at Elimination Chamber 2022

While Roman Reigns' WrestleMania match against Brock Lesnar was confirmed right after the Royal Rumble 2022, he was set to defend the Universal Championship before The Show of Shows. Sean Ross Sapp reported on Fightful Select that Goldberg would challenge The Tribal Chief at the Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia.

That is exactly what happened, with the WWE Hall of Famer returning on that week's episode of SmackDown. Reigns defeated Goldberg to retain the Universal Title in Saudi Arabia before unifying the world titles against Lesnar at WrestleMania 38.

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#4. Rumored plans for Randy Orton and Matt Riddle

RK-Bro didn't officially break up.

The popular pairing of Randy Orton and Matt Riddle grew into WWE's most entertaining act at the start of 2022. This seemingly led to a change in plans for their break-up, with WrestleVotes reporting that the idea was to split RK-Bro in time for WrestleMania 38.

They added that most members of WWE Creative wanted to keep Orton and Riddle together and that any match between the two should be for the world title. RK-Bro did remain a team through WrestleMania. They never officially broke up too.

Randy Orton and Matt Riddle's last match together was a Tag Team Title unification bout against The Usos in May 2022, with The Viper yet to return from his back injury. It remains to be seen if he will reunite with The Original Bro when he comes back.

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#3. Plans for the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame

The WWE Hall of Fame is a WrestleMania weekend tradition. Last year was no different, with the ceremony taking place one night before The Show of Shows. Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that the Hall of Fame would happen live at the American Airlines Center after the April 1st episode of SmackDown.

This rumor was correct, with the ceremony beginning half an hour after SmackDown ended. The Undertaker headlined the Hall of Fame class of 2022, delivering an excellent speech to close the night.

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#2. Shane McMahon gone following backstage heat

A short-lived return.

Shane McMahon returned to WWE in the 2022 Royal Rumble Match but rumored backstage turmoil cut his comeback short. Following reports of the company's plans for Shane O'Mac and his involvement behind the scenes at the Rumble, Ringside News claimed that he was "quietly let go" by his father, Vince McMahon.

This was true, as Shane McMahon did not appear following the Royal Rumble. His supposed WrestleMania match was scrapped as well, with further rumors indicating potential clashes against Seth Rollins and Austin Theory.

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#1. Sasha Banks and Bayley's rumored WWE returns

They were both injured at the start of 2022.

Both Sasha Banks and Bayley were injured at the start of 2022. The Legit Boss suffered a foot injury but returned in time for the Royal Rumble. Before she came back, Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer that Banks would return in mid-March. That turned out to be inaccurate.

Meltzer also stated that Bayley was expected to return from her ACL injury in February or March. The Role Model did not come back anywhere near WrestleMania season, with her return not coming until SummerSlam at the end of July.

While Sasha Banks did appear at The Show of Shows, the rumor, as a whole, was false.

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