WWE Rumor Review: Roman Reigns' rumored opponent, Vince McMahon's unhappiness with former Champion, WWE selling?

Welcome to yet another edition of WWE Rumor Review. Here, we'll take a deep dive into popular rumors from a few months ago and see how they have fared till the present day.

Seth Rollins is currently scheduled to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, but The Head of the Table was supposed to feud with a former WWE Champion. Speaking of champions, Vince McMahon was enraged at a former RAW champion and we'll take a look back to see if they survived the boss' wrath.

WWE has released a lot of personnel in the last couple of years due to budget cuts including talent, backstage personnel and commentators. This week, we'll take a look back at some of these releases which led to rumors of the company being sold.

There is a popular saying in professional wrestling that states that the card is always subject to change. We'll check out the one time it didn't. So without further ado, let's start reviewing the rumors. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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#5 Tom Hannifan released from WWE

Tom Hannifan (formerly known as Tom Phillips) was a color commentator who worked for the company for nearly a decade before his release last year. He is one of the few broadcasters who has been on commentary for almost every show the promotion currently airs including RAW, SmackDown, NXT, NXT UK, and Main Event.

Before his release was made official by the company, Sean Ross Sapp reported it on Fightful, which turned out to be true.

Tom has signed a deal with IMPACT Wrestling and replaced Matt Striker to join D'Lo Brown at the commentary desk. He made his debut earlier this month at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view and has been a part of all the next set of tapings to date.

#4 Rumor Killer on WWE's sale and releases

Former Universal Champion Braun Strowman was one of the huge names released by WWE last year. It led to a lot of speculation about Vince McMahon possibly preparing the company for a sale.

Andrew Zarian of Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast had reported that the releases would become a regular thing as they realized that the roster got bloated over the last few years. Indeed, the report turned out to be true as the company went on to release more and more talent, including big names such as Aleister Black and Bray Wyatt.

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported in June that the budget cuts weren't a sign of the company's stance on selling. Fast forward to January 2022, Nick Khan himself addressed those rumors and stated that while the promotion has taken inbound calls for a sale, they're not actively looking for buyers.

#3 Vince McMahon's unhappiness with former WWE RAW Women's Champion

Former WWE RAW Women's Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka at Night Two of WrestleMania 37 to win the title. A month later, she entered into a feud with Charlotte Flair.

On the May 31st episode of RAW, both superstars opened the show appearing on Miz TV. The segment reportedly extended beyond its stipulated time due to which the production crew had to make some on-the-spot changes to the show.

PWInsider reported that Vince McMahon was upset with The Miz, Flair, and Ripley for the delay.

"PW Insider learned that the Miz TV and Beat the Clock segments with Charlotte Flair that opened this week’s RAW went about 10 minutes too long. Vince McMahon wasn’t happy about this, and it led to the order of other segments on the show being shuffled around."

Just over a month later, Ripley dropped the RAW Women's Championship to Flair, who then dropped it a day later to Nikki A.S.H. While both the title changes could've been due to storyline reasons, the incident might have played a part in it too.

#2 Spoilers for WWE WrestleMania Backlash

WWE WrestleMania Backlash was held in the month of May. The pay-per-view was headlined by the Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Cesaro.

Just hours before the pay-per-view, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that Sheamus would be a part of the kickoff show and would defend the United States Championship in an open challenge. He further reported that the RAW Women's Championship match would open the main show.

The report turned out to be true as Sheamus defeated Ricochet via pinfall to retain his title on the kickoff show. The opening match for the main show was the triple threat match between RAW Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, Asuka, and Charlotte Flair, where the champion picked up the win and retained her title.

The next match on the card was for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship where Rey Mysterio and Dominik defeated The Dirty Dawgs to become the first father and son duo to win the tag titles in WWE. It was the only title change of the show. Roman Reigns, Bianca Belair and Bobby Lashley all went on to retain their titles later in the night.

#1 Drew McIntyre was moved to WWE SmackDown to face Roman Reigns

The feud between Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley over the WWE Championship culminated inside a Hell In a Cell match where Lashley retained his title over McIntyre. The match had a stipulation that stated that The Scottish Warrior wouldn't be allowed to challenge for the title as long as The Almighty stayed champion.

During that time, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that McIntyre could be moved to SmackDown to feud with Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.

"Bobby Lashley retained the WWE Title in the Hell in a Cell match main event over Drew McIntyre. The stipulation was that if McIntyre lost, he could never challenge for the title as long as Lashley is champion. This could easily build to a brand switch, which also gives Roman Reigns a fresh new opponent since he obviously needs one."

The report turned out to be partially true as McIntyre was drafted to the blue brand as part of the brand split. However, he is yet to cross paths with The Head of the Table. McIntyre is currently nursing an injury after being written off WWE TV with a storyline attack from Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss. It will be interesting to see if he battles The Tribal Chief once he returns from injury.