WWE Rumor Roundup: Roman Reigns’ future challenger working through injury, major return planned for Elimination Chamber 2022 canceled 

We are back with another exciting edition of WWE Rumor Roundup. The biggest reports included in today's compilation will look at backstage details regarding the biggest feuds that are still in the works. Additionally, there were multiple creative plans involving big names that were nixed recently.

Here, we look at some of the biggest rumors that have dominated the WWE headlines recently. So, without further ado, let's begin.

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#5 WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre working through injury before a planned feud with Roman Reigns

WWE SmackDown Superstar Drew McIntyre is reportedly working through an injury. The Scottish Warrior was taken off television after being subjected to a brutal backstage attack at Day 1.

He made a surprise return at Royal Rumble last month and delivered an impressive performance in the 30-man battle. He was the last superstar to be eliminated from the match that eventually saw Brock Lesnar emerge victoriously.

McIntyre returned to the blue brand last week and is now working at less than 100%. According to Dave Meltzer, WWE is working around his injury by lightening his schedule on the road to WrestleMania.

He is scheduled to face Madcap Moss at Elimination Chamber and will likely work towards setting up a big match against Happy Corbin at WrestleMania.38.

"He's not 100%. He's going to do TVs; he's not going to do house shows for now. He's still working on rehab; it's not like he's fixed or anything. But, you know, he is back on TV which, I mean, he'll do the match with Moss in Saudi Arabia and probably wrestle Corbin at WrestleMania most likely and I'm going to guess that he'll probably run through them. But, he did come back very, very quickly… The theory is that by WrestleMania he'll be OK. That was always the hoped-for thing is that he'll be healthy enough by WrestleMania. I mean, look, he was in the Rumble for a long time. And he threw people around," said Meltzer.

The report further claims that Drew McIntyre is being groomed to be Roman Reigns' next opponent. The creative team are slowly working towards establishing him as one of the top babyfaces on SmackDown.

While it is certain that McIntyre will be a part of the Universal Championship picture sooner rather than later, he is working towards establishing himself as the top challenger for The Tribal Chief.

Before Reigns' inevitable encounter with McIntyre, the Universal Champion has two big feuds awaiting him on the road to WrestleMania.

First, he is set to defend his title against Goldberg at Elimination Chamber later this month. Following that, he will engage in a title rivalry with Brock Lesnar, who picked Roman Reigns as his WrestleMania opponent after winning the Royal Rumble.

#4 WWE's plans to bring back Kurt Angle for Elimination Chamber canceled

There were reportedly big plans in the works to bring back WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle for Elimination Chamber 2022. There was a creative pitch for his appearance at the upcoming premium live event, but it got nixed.

According to Fightful Select, Angle was supposed to don the role of a special guest referee in one of the matches at Elimination Chamber.

There's no confirmation regarding which match would have seen Kurt Angle in the striped shirt. He competed in his last match at WrestleMania 35 and has since been retired. There was also a second plan in place for Angle that would have seen him appear on RAW.

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#3 Nixed plans to involve Kurt Angle in a big feud on WWE RAW

The report also claims that WWE was planning to use Kurt Angle in the ongoing feud between RK-Bro and The Alpha Academy.

The two teams recently competed in an "Academic Challenge' that ended with Randy Orton and Riddle earning their shot at regaining the RAW Tag Team Championships. However, the creative had originally planned for the two teams to engage in "The Three I's Challenge."

Borrowing the infamous elements from Angle's gimmick, the three I's of the aforementioned challenge would have stood for intensity, integrity, and intelligence. Unfortunately, the plans for the Olympic Gold Medalist's involvement in this feud were also dropped.

Kurt Angle himself confirmed that he was present backstage at Royal Rumble 2022 and was involved in discussions about a three-week program on the road to WrestleMania, which didn't come to fruition. He went on to confirm that he had not signed with the company to end rumors about a potential return.

#2 Randy Orton's reaction to botch at WWE Royal Rumble 2022

Shane McMahon made a surprise return at WWE Royal Rumble last month. However, backstage reports claim that his entrance in the match was unplanned as it fell victim to a botch.

His entrance number was mixed up with Randy Orton's as the production team played his music instead of The Viper's theme. This left the latter "literally rolling on the floor, laughing his a** off" while Shane-O-Mac made his way to the ring.

Orton then walked out to a huge pop at No.29. After Royal Rumble, Shane McMahon surprisingly parted ways from the company. He was seemingly scheduled for a big feud with Seth Rollins that would start at Elimination Chamber and lead to a match at WrestleMania 38.

However, those plans were dropped, and the company is now reportedly close to finding a suitable replacement.

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#1 WWE drops major family feud planned for WWE RAW

WWE has seemingly dropped the idea of a family feud involving Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik. The creative team had previously teased friction between the father-son duo.

Once again, the former tag team champions started working well together, helping each other pick up big victories. Most recently, they were involved in a heated exchange with The Miz when the latter brought up Eddie Guerrero's name and implied that Dominik is indeed the late superstar's son.

The masked legend is expected to hit back at The A-Lister for taking a cheap shot at their family. Rey has confirmed that he will take a step back when he feels that Dominik is ready to take care of himself in a singles run.

He also stated that he is hoping that day will come by the end of the year, following which he will start planning his retirement.