4 Wrestling rumors we hope are true and 3 we hope aren't: Brock Lesnar "refused" to work with former WWE Champion; original plans for RAW star to dethrone Big E at Day 1 revealed?

Welcome to the second edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't of 2022. The year has started off with a bang, as both WWE and AEW have been putting out quality programming.

For WWE, the road to WrestleMania is set to begin soon, but few of today's rumors include direct WrestleMania reports. Either way, some of what has happened will have consequences on the road to the Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Today's rumors include a current champion on RAW working through injuries, real-life heat between two faction members of a released WWE group, a current legend "recently" singing a new WWE contract, original plans for Day 1, and more:

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#4. Hope is true: How Brock Lesnar influenced a WWE title change in 2017

Back in 2017, the champion vs champion idea resurfaced at Survivor Series. Since then, we've seen some incredible matches, especially involving the WWE and Universal Champion.

2017 kickstarted that with an incredible WWE vs Universal Champion bout between AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar, where The Beast Incarnate put out his best match in years in a successful effort against The Phenomenal One.

The loss only increased AJ Styles' stock, but not many have forgotten that it was originally supposed to be Jinder Mahal vs Brock Lesnar instead. On a historic night in Manchester, AJ Styles became a 2-time WWE Champion, with his second reign being the longest of any WWE Champion in SmackDown history. Along with that, he became only the third superstar in the 21st century to hold the WWE title for over 365 days.

Dave Meltzer briefly discussed Jinder Mahal's WWE title reign and revealed that the reason he dropped it to AJ Styles was that Brock Lesnar didn't want to work with him:

"You know why they did that? Because Brock did not want to work with him [Jinder Mahal]," revealed Dave Meltzer.

While this isn't a shot at Jinder Mahal, we only hope this is true because the decision for AJ Styles to become WWE Champion was the right one and led to an instant classic.

The truth is that Jinder Mahal wasn't ready for a match against Brock Lesnar, nor was he ready for his WWE title reign despite the strong booking throughout. AJ Styles was also deservingly rewarded for his hard work at the time, flying out of South America in the last minute to replace Bray Wyatt against Finn Balor at TLC 2017.

#3. Hope isn't true: Original plans for Big E losing the WWE title at Day 1

Big E is no longer the WWE Champion. Now that his three-month reign is over, there have been many fans who have come out and said that it wasn't a well-handled run.

An argument was made that Big E lost far too much as the WWE Champion and the reign of Bobby Lashley seems to be viewed as a superior one. If anything, it only confirms the belief of fans that WWE handles heels far better than babyfaces.

Either way, there have been some contradictory reports. While one report suggested that Big E was supposed to retain at Day 1 had it not been for Brock Lesnar, a new report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggested that Seth Rollins was originally going to dethrone Big E to win the title:

"The original plan to build for WrestleMania, whatever it was, changed greatly when Lesnar pinned Big E to win the WWE title to end Saturday’s show," said Melzter. "The original scripted plan for the show was for Big E to lose the championship, but to Seth Rollins, who had tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and the champion instead lost his title to Lesnar as the result of another positive test."

We hope this isn't true because Seth Rollins wouldn't have been the right pick to win the championship, especially with the tease of an alliance with Kevin Owens. Bobby Lashley would likely have been a better pick, but one could argue that despite the poor handling, Big E deserved to enter WrestleMania with the title intact.

#3. Hope is true: AJ Styles' WWE status

It seems as though WWE fans need not worry about AJ Styles getting released. Styles has been one of the most important superstars in the company since his debut in early 2016. It's hard to believe that half a month from now, AJ Styles will be celebrating the sixth anniversary of his WWE debut.

In that time, he has become a 2-time WWE Champion, as well as an overall Grand Slam Champion. He is already a surefire Hall of Famer, and it was only a few years ago in 2019 when there were talks of him jumping ship to AEW ahead of the Dynamite debut.

AJ Styles later revealed that AEW did contact him, but the offer they gave him allowed The Phenomenal One to use it as leverage to earn a more lucrative contract with WWE. It was just business, although the clarity of his contract length was unknown until it was later reported that he signed a 3-year deal.

That is set to expire soon in 2022, and Dave Meltzer revealed on WOR that Styles recently signed a three or five-year deal with WWE and that he is a lifer:

“No, he’s not going anywhere. He just signed, I don’t know if it’s a 3 or a 5 [year deal]. It wasn’t that long ago when he signed it. He’s not going anywhere. He had the chance to go if he wanted to but he was not interested. There were certainly overtures made for him and they were good money overtures but he’s in his mind, I think he’s a lifer there. Whether that’s the right or wrong call, I couldn’t tell you,” said Meltzer. (H/T WrestlingNews)

We hope this is true because for AJ Styles, re-signing with WWE seemed to be a no-brainer. He has been treated well during his tenure with the company and has been open about his desire to retire in WWE.

#2. Hope isn't true: Real-life heat between members of released WWE group HIT ROW?

The releases of Hit Row members from WWE came as a surprise because of how recently they debuted on the main roster. B-Fab had reportedly signed a new deal with WWE recently, and she was the first to get cut from the group.

WWE was quick to cut the rest of the group, and although they have teased a few things, their futures post-release is still relatively unknown.

AJ Francis fka Top Dolla got a lot of attention because of how vocal he was on social media, as well as reports that WWE originally saw him as a big potential star. However, it seems as though he could possibly have had a falling out with fellow member and former NXT North American Champion Isiah 'Swerve' Scott.

It was revealed on Twitter that the two former WWE stars don't follow each other on Twitter:

We hope this isn't true because it seems to kill off the chances of Hit Row reuniting outside of WWE. Many felt that Hit Row was a money group that was fresh on the main roster, and the release of all the involved superstars still comes as a surprise.

#2. Hope is true: WWE's original plans for Jeff Hardy before his release

Jeff Hardy's WWE release was abrupt but not as surprising due to the events that preceded it. As you may know, Hardy abruptly walked away from his match during a WWE live event, raising concerns backstage and among fans that he had relapsed again.

Although Matt Hardy has come out in support of his brother and said that WWE may have jumped the gun, Jeff is now gone from the company. Jeff Hardy seems to be in good spirits, but we wonder how he reacted to the original plans prior to his WWE release.

According to a report on Fightful Select, the original "shaman" that MSK was searching for on NXT 2.0 was supposed to be Jeff Hardy. Because the plans had been nixed, Riddle was put in that place instead. The report went on to state that Hardy was already fully involved, all set for an NXT run:

"Based on a recent report from Fightful, the original plans were for the Charismatic Enigma to assume the role of the Shaman. It was further reported that WWE had already shot segments with MSK and Jeff Hardy that unfortunately weren't used due to Hardy's release from the company."

We hope this is true because it would have been an exciting run for Jeff Hardy, as it would have given him an opportunity to revitalize his career as well as add a different flavor to NXT.

#1. Hope isn't true: WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Carmella currently dealing with injuries

Carmella is one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions along with Queen Zelina (Vega). Their reign has been limited to matches against Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H., but they have mostly come out victorious in their series of bouts including a few singles matches.

They had another WWE Women's Tag Team title defense against Ripley and Nikki A.S.H., but many noticed that Carmella didn't even tag in once. Instead, Queen Zelina did all the heavy lifting, and it's for a good reason.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that Carmella is currently dealing with several nagging injuries. Sportskeeda's Matt Black wrote:

"According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Carmella is currently doing her best to work through some undisclosed injuries that are limiting her in-ring physical activity."

We hope this isn't true, because if that is the case, Carmella and Queen Zelina should drop the titles so that the former SmackDown Women's Champion can take some time off in order to rest.

Although this has been Carmella's first title reign in over four years, she deserves time away, and resting and recovering is more important than a championship run.

#1. Hope is true: WWE hoping for Drew McIntyre to be back in time for WrestleMania?

Drew McIntyre defeated Madcap Moss at WWE Day 1, but was later written off TV following a backstage assault. Moss and Happy Corbin were responsible for the attack, and it was later confirmed that McIntyre was injured.

It was later reported that Drew McIntyre had been dealing with a legitimate injury, and Dave Meltzer further elaborated on it on the latest WON.

Meltzer explained that McIntyre's neck had been bothering him for months, and he would have been on his way to surgery. However, he said that the company is hopeful of his return by WrestleMania 38:

"The hope is that it’s not bad and he can come back soon, at least by Mania, and that he won’t need surgery which will put him out for months. But right now nobody knows. From a timing standpoint it wasn’t good because Smackdown has no other full-time top face."

We hope this is true because SmackDown desperately needs Drew McIntyre right now. If not, the company is going to struggle with the lack of top babyfaces on the blue brand.