5 WWE news stories you missed this week: Released former champion returns to RAW, Top star being buried due to backstage politics, John Cena SummerSlam match

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly feature, where we look at some interesting WWE news stories over the past seven days that you might have missed.

A former champion released by WWE made a surprising return on this week's Monday Night RAW. A former WWE writer has questioned whether a top RAW star is being buried due to backstage politics. Also, a current champion has claimed that he's pushing for a SummerSlam match against John Cena.

So, let's dive into the five news stories you might have missed this week without further ado. Be sure to let us know your thoughts and reactions on the same in the comments section below.

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#5. Top RAW Superstar pushing for a SummerSlam match against John Cena

RAW Superstar and the current United States Champion Theory is pushing for a match against 16-time world champion John Cena. Speaking to the New York Post, Theory talked about his pitches for a WWE SummerSlam 2022 match against Cena and how much that match would mean for him:

"It just takes words out of my mouth, because I think when that moment happens and I’m in the ring with John Cena, man, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what I’m gonna say. I don’t know. I have no idea just because like you’re saying and the way you spoke about it, I clearly know what it was like for me growing up watching John, just the story there and how much we’d actually have for a story. Man that’s just so crazy to me. I see it happening for sure," said Theory.

John Cena and Theory have had multiple interesting back-and-forths on social media, taking shots at each other. Cena recently called Theory his favorite current WWE Superstar but also named him the star who he thinks needs an Attitude Adjustment. The teases are there for these two to face each other sometime in the future. Could that happen at SummerSlam this year?

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#4. Seth Rollins sends a message after 16th straight loss to Cody Rhodes

Monday Night RAW Superstar Seth Rollins is currently in the middle of a long feud with Cody Rhodes. The two have faced each other in a one-on-one match over the last two months, and Rollins has ended up on the losing end every time.

After this week's episode of RAW, Rollins and Rhodes again faced each other in a dark match. Cody again picked up the victory, and Rollins lost his 16th straight match to him. Following this, Rollins cut a promo and addressed the WWE Universe present in the arena, ensuring them that he'd make it up for all these losses:

"You know, everywhere else in the world, they don't like me very much. But we are not everywhere else tonight, tonight, we are in Des Moines. Tonight, we are in Iowa. Tonight, I am home. I got an apology to make, I couldn't get the job done tonight. I got too distracted, I owe you guys an apology. My bad, my bad. I take it back, I got caught up in the moment. But, in six days, inside Hell In A Cell, I'm gonna make it all up to you when I take out The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes. Because I'm a visionary, I'm a revolutionary, I'm Seth FREAKING Rollins," he said.

Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are set to face each other this weekend inside the Hell in a Cell in what would most likely be the night's main event. As per the betting odds, Rhodes is the favorite to win this match.

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#3. Top RAW star being buried due to backstage politics?

Former WWE writer Vince Russo questioned whether the company is burying RAW Superstar Doudrop due to backstage politics. Doudrop picked up yet another loss this week on RAW, losing her match against Alexa Bliss. Speaking on the latest Legion of RAW, Russo questioned why Doudrop had been continuously losing matches this year:

"You're going to sit there and tell me there's not backstage politics, Doudrop didn't say or do something. They built her up to that one match with Becky Lynch, she lost to Becky Lynch. So since January they have literally buried this woman. I don't know if she's won a match since January. We're going five months. Are you going to tell me she's not ready? If she's not ready, she should not be on TV losing," said Russo.

He further added that if a woman of the size of Doudrop can't beat Alexa Bliss, who else on the roster can she beat. It should be noted that Doudrop challenged Becky Lynch for the RAW Women's Championship earlier this year at WWE Royal Rumble 2022. While she couldn't defeat her, she impressed everyone with her performance.

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#2. How Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman's WWE release affected the morale of the locker room

WWE released several big names from its roster last year but none as shocking as two former Univeral Champions, Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. Considered by many to be "WWE lifers" at one point, Wyatt and Strowman's release had a massive impact on the WWE locker room.

Big Damo, fka Killian Dain, revealed on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling that following the release of Wyatt and Strowman, no one on the roster felt safe and immune to the budget cuts:

“I think once they let go of Bray and Braun, every single person on that roster was like, ‘Yeah, all bets are off now.’ The year before that, there was a little period where I wasn’t on TV at all. COVID had just started, I was struggling for TV time. I think a lot of people were, actually, because they [WWE] were struggling to know how to put TV together.”

Since his WWE release last year, Bray Wyatt has been away from the world of professional wrestling. However, he recently teased that he's ready to return and show the world who he is. As for Braun Strowman, he has started his new wrestling promotion with EC3, Killer Kross, and others named Control Your Narrative.

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#1. Former Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel returns on this week's RAW

Former Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, real name Joseph Hennig, made a surprise appearance on this week's episode of RAW. A former Paul Heyman guy, Axel was released by WWE in April 2020 alongside several other stars in budget cuts. Earlier this year, he was rehired by WWE as a producer.

On the latest episode of RAW, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins got into a massive brawl that led to backstage officials coming out and separating the two stars ahead of their Hell in a Cell match this Sunday. Among these people was Curtis Axel, who made his first appearance on WWE TV after over two years. It is to be seen how the company uses him going forward.