4 Wrestling rumors we hope are true & 3 we hope aren't: Unexpected superstar is now "the next" Brock Lesnar, 6-time champion expected to leave WWE soon

Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true, and those we hope aren't. We're only two weeks away from the end of 2021 - a year that can be considered a good one for Vince McMahon's promotion and wrestling.

Apart from the plethora of releases in WWE, the quality of programming has been good as compared to recent years and they will look to end 2021 in style.

This week's rumors include plans for McMahon's successor, important backstage news on RAW and SmackDown, a former world champion leaving the company soon, a "multi-match series" to culminate at WrestleMania 38, and more:

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#4. Hope is true: WWE already has the next Brock Lesnar?

Despite Brock Lesnar being an integral part of WWE television, the company may have already found the man to replace him in his role. Lesnar's current stint has now lasted for nearly eight years if you exclude the entire ThunderDome era where he was absent.

WWE allowed his contract to expire in the summer of 2020 with full confidence of re-signing him once crowds returned. Only a month after that happened, Brock Lesnar returned at SummerSlam 2021 in what was rumored to be the company's response to CM Punk debuting for AEW.

Either way, it was a win for wrestling fans, and Lesnar's latest run has been a lot different than usual. For one, he's a solo babyface who doesn't have Paul Heyman by his side anymore.

Shifting to a babyface was a big change in character, as Brock Lesnar was either presented as a heel or mostly a tweener who transcended any fixed character status.

His current program is against Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who he will face at Day 1. According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast, WWE is building-up Reigns to take The Beast Incarnate's spot.

"Why would Roman lose? The whole story is that he is a monster. He is the Brock Lesnar now. He is undefeated. He has been the champion for over 400 days. This guy is not going to lose and he is going to continue winning until someone dethrones him. Maybe the guy who dethrones him is Drew McIntyre,'' said Zarian.

We hope this is true because this seems like the only possibility of a current-generation superstar entering "larger-than-life" status. There has been no debate about Roman Reigns' current run in WWE being the best of his career.

With no certainty of how long Brock Lesnar will be around, it's a safety net for the company and they're also making The Tribal Chief reach the level he was always destined for.

#3. Hope isn't true: Kevin Owens' future in WWE

Kevin Owens' WWE contract is expiring on January 31st, 2022. This hasn't been a secret for a while, but the big questions have been about whether the company will offer him a renewal, or if he will choose to leave the global juggernaut when his time is done.

The time is approaching soon, and there has been increased talks about Owens' status following the situations of Kyle O'Reilly and Johnny Gargano in NXT.

In the meanwhile, Kevin Owens will have a WWE title match 30 days before his contract expires. At Day 1, he will take on Big E and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match - one that is expected to become a Fatal-Four-Way involving Bobby Lashley. (This hasn't been confirmed as of this writing).

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, KO is expected to leave the company after six years on the main roster and six title wins (and one NXT title reign) - including a Universal Championship reign:

"They also say it’s still expected that Kevin Owens is leaving WWE soon and he’s been added to the title match at Day 1 to take the pin and keep everyone else strong," the report said.

We hope this isn't true, but Kevin Owens leaving WWE may not be the worst thing for his career. However, he's still an invaluable part of the roster, and perhaps there's a reason why he has survived all the "budget cuts".

#3. Hope is true: WWE changed plans for the main event of RAW last week

When WWE puts effort into RAW, it can be seen in the quality of the episode. This was the case last Monday as two blockbuster matches stole the show. The first was the steel cage bout between Big E and Kevin Owens, while the second was the RAW Women's title match between Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan.

Despite a good steel cage encounter, it was the title match that stole the show. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it was originally intended for the steel cage match to headline the show, but plans changed, as per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful. Sportskeeda Wrestling's Saunak Nag wrote:

"According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, higher-ups wanted an in-ring promo from Seth Rollins to kick off the proceedings four hours before the show started. As the originally planned steel cage main event became the first match of this week's episode, Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan's RAW Women's Title contest served as the final clash of the night."

We hope this is true because it turned out to be the right call to have the women go on last. It was also 17 years after the historic RAW main event between Lita and Trish Stratus, making it more poetic.

#2. Hope isn't true: Vince McMahon's successor in WWE decided?

Despite the lack of public appearances, WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan has been viewed in a negative light by many fans.

Perhaps this is because of reports that Khan was directly involved in the revamp of NXT to NXT 2.0, as well as supposedly having a say in the superstars who get released - a statement that he has disputed in an interview with Ariel Helwani.

That interview with Helwani remains a rare public video of Nick Khan - a man who works behind the scenes. When talking about Vince McMahon's successor, the two names who fans assumed were in the frontrunning was McMahon's son-in-law Triple H, and his son Shane McMahon.

However, with Shane not wanting to have backstage responsibilities since 2009, his stint with the company in the last few years has been an exclusive on-screen role.

While there is no word on why, Dave Meltzer revealed that Nick Khan is expected to be Vince McMahon's successor and not Triple H:

"It's kind of a board of directors thing, but you know, probably (Nick Khan replacing Vince McMahon), yeah. Unless they went and hired somebody else from the outside, but probably Nick Khan, yes," revealed Dave Meltzer.

We hope this isn't true because Khan wasn't involved in the wrestling business enough to replace the most important man in the history of the industry. While it's not known whether Triple H's recent cardiac incident is the reason, he would be a far more popular choice to succeed Vince McMahon.

#2. Hope is true: WWE's plans for the final two episodes of SmackDown in 2021

WWE is looking to wrap up the year in style, but the build-up to Day 1 might be stronger on the red brand than the Friday night show. While Day 1 is five days after the final RAW of 2021, it's only one day after the final episode of SmackDown.

The problem that it likely creates is that superstars, backstage crew, producers, and everyone working for the company will want to take the Christmas-New Year period off to spend time with their families.

Thankfully, this can happen in 2021 as Dave Meltzer reported on WOR that the final episode of SmackDown this year will be a highlights episode.

"According to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE will air a highlights episode of SmackDown on New Year's Eve on FS1. This will make RAW on December 27 the last episode of live programming before the January 1 pay-per-view on Saturday."

Not only this, but the Christmas eve episode of the blue brand on December 17th will be pre-taped:

"As for the Christmas Eve episode of WWE SmackDown, that episode will reportedly be taped following the live episode of SmackDown in Chicago on December 17," stated Meltzer.

We hope this is true because it's the best way to give everyone time away during the festive season.

#1. Hope is true: WWE planning for a RAW Women's title change soon?

The RAW Women's title feud features two popular female stars in WWE today - Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan. While the difference in skill level has been evident in their promo battles, Morgan has remained a sentimental favorite of the fans.

Given how the women's title match on December 6th ended, it hinted at Liv Morgan getting a rematch, possibly at Day 1. According to Dave Meltzer on WOR, there's a big chance that Morgan dethrones Big Time Becks, even if the company's long-term plans are for the latter:

"I think that's probably going to happen (Liv Morgan winning the title). The thing is, I don't know what the long-term is, but I mean, they can have Morgan win, but in the long-term, Lynch should be the champion. But there is no rule like she can't lose it for a little while and win it back."

"You know it would make Morgan, it would help Morgan into something. It would elevate her to have a short reign, and Lynch isn't going to get hurt by losing it and winning it back. Lynch is already a star. I don't know that; they are sometimes hesitant about giving new people titles, but it's a pass-around title. I mean, there is no reason not to. I mean, it's not like it's Roman Reigns; the world title is not a pass-around title," explained Dave Meltzer.

We hope this is true, although we're also skeptical that a short reign could destroy Liv Morgan's momentum, similar to what happened to Nikki A.S.H.

#1. Hope isn't true: WWE planning a multi-match series between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns?

While WWE wants to build Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar as one of the most defining rivalries of the last five-to-six years, there's a chance that fans get bored of it.

Admittedly, the change in dynamic with Reigns as a heel and Lesnar as a babyface has made the rivalry a lot more interesting. However, the direction of where it's going seems clear.

According to F4WOnline, the plan is to make Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar a multi-match series:

“Regarding Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar as the main event for Day One, this is scheduled to be a multi-match series and this being one of the matches in the series.”

This means that the feud will likely culminate at WrestleMania 38. The reason why we hope this isn't true is because a multi-match series makes it lose the aura of a WrestleMania main event.

It also has the risk of becoming the most notoriously overdone feud in the last six years.