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It's that time of the day again when we take a look at the biggest stories from the WWE. It's Sportskeeda's daily WWE Rumor Roundup.
WWE's plans for SummerSlam take center stage in today's edition. The plans for SummerSlam have reportedly been torn up, and as such, a big Brock Lesnar match for the PPV has also reportedly been canceled.
A New Day member revealed a time when he feared the possibility of getting released from WWE.
A top Superstar from RAW also confronted Vince McMahon backstage which reportedly led to a significant change with regards to WWE's COVID-19 protocols.
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Bruce Prichard is also reportedly under immense stress and pressure ever since he was given the job to lead the consolidated creative teams of RAW and SmackDown. Various backstage details of the nature of his role have been revealed.
WWE also reportedly tried to get a big UFC star for SummerSlam a few years ago and that star is now apparently a free agent. There is speculation on the popular female fighter possibly signing with WWE.
Before we dive right into all the biggest rumors and stories in today's lineup, here's a roundup of all the interesting WWE rumors of the past week!
#5. The planned WWE SummerSlam card has reportedly been torn up, Brock Lesnar match nixed
As reported by WrestleVotes, the projected SummerSlam card that the creative team had in store for the show has reportedly been torn up.
Edge's injury unsurprisingly played a big part in the change of plans. The fact that SummerSlam will be held without any fans at the Performance Center also weighed in on WWE's decision to scrap the card that was apparently in the works.
Two matches have been scrapped and it was also added that WWE might have no interest in getting Brock Lesnar back for the show as it may not have the fans in attendance.
Was told this weekend the projected SummerSlam card that creative had in place a few months ago has been torn up. Edge's injury played a big part, as well as the lack of audience - no fans means WWE has little desire to have Lesnar on the PPV. 2 major matches scrapped.
Tom Colohue additionally reported that the two scrapped matches were Randy Orton vs. Edge III and Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.
The two scrapped matches to my knowledge were the third and final Randy Orton vs Edge match and the planned rematch for the #WWE championship between Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar.
#4. Big E feared he'd get released from WWE or sent back to NXT if The New Day had failed
The New Day will go down as one of the greatest teams of the modern era, but every fan would remember their uncertain early days. Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods were introduced as chirpy preachers of the New Day gimmick, and it didn't click with the fans from the get-go.
Big E revealed on the latest edition of the Feel The Power podcast that the gimmick came from a place of desperation and he had genuine fears of getting released or being sent back to NXT if the new act had failed to get over.
It was the last pitch and all his chips were on it. Big E would have been happy had the New Day survived for six months; however, the fact that the stable has charted a Hall of Fame-worthy career during their six-year run amazes him.
"I think it also for us it came from like a place of desperation at least for me. Like I've talked about many times, I felt like if this doesn't go well, then I'm gone or I'm sent back down to NXT. It just feels like this is it. This is the last big pitch. All my chips have to be in on this. I have to give you my trust. I have to listen because you knew so much more than I did at the time, especially about how things work or the best way to put this thing together. I think instantly it all just felt right when Woods first came to me and then we worked with you and then with Kofi. It felt like, ok, these are the four men that should be working on this together. It just felt like all the pieces were where they needed to be. I didn't know what in incarnation or how long the group would last. Getting six months of a faction would have been great. If you told me, hey, you'll be on TV for 6 months, I would have been like I'm sold, and the fact that we are six years in and still going is amazing." (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
#3. Kevin Owens' reported backstage confrontation with Vince McMahon regarding WWE's COVID-19 safety protocols
Sean Ross Sapp was the first to report on Fightful Select earlier in the month that a top RAW Superstar, whose identity wasn't revealed back then, had gone up to Vince McMahon and expressed his concerns regarding the lack of seriousness about the implementation of the COVID-19 safety procedures.
As revealed by Pat Laprade on the Les anti-pods de la Lutte french-language podcast, which was highlighted by POST Wrestling, Kevin Owens was the talent who confronted Vince McMahon backstage and raised his issues during the tapings on July 3rd.
Owens was reportedly not happy with many people not wearing masks as well as the social distancing norms not being followed backstage. KO reportedly told McMahon that he would go home if the situation remained the same and the WWE Boss responded by asking the Prizefighter about what should be done.
Vince McMahon reportedly asked Owens whether imposing a policy with fines could be beneficial. Owens cited an example from the past wherein he swore on SmackDown and was fined for the same, after which he never made the same mistake.
Mike Johnson had reported that after Owens' chat with Vince McMahon, the WWE CEO announced fines for people who were found without masks. First-time offenders were fined $500, which went up to $1000 for the second offense.
#2. The extremely stressful nature of Bruce Prichard's new WWE role
Paul Heyman's removal from the Executive Director's position on RAW brought about a major creative shake-up backstage in WWE.
Bruce Prichard, who was the Executive Director of SmackDown, was made the head of the consolidated creative teams of the Red and Blue brands.
Prichard's partner-in-crime, Conrad Thompson recently appeared on The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast, and he opened up about the struggles that Prichard is facing in his new WWE role.
Due to the pandemic and WWE being forced to adapt and tape weekly content, Bruce Prichard's job has unsurprisingly gotten even more stressful. Thompson noted that Prichard has to deal with both the FOX and USA networks, and various challenges are keeping the veteran on his toes.
Here's what Thompson revealed about Prichard's stressful WWE job:
"It's not a little bit of stress, it's a lot of stress. We don't have specific conversations cause I don't want him to ever think that I'm being the guy trying to dig for scoops, but yeah, every now and again, certainly I'll get a call from Bruce and you can just hear it in his voice," revealed Thompson. He's tired. He's sleepy. He's stressing. And I can only imagine the amount of curveballs that are coming his way, not just from running a show on FOX, which my goodness, what a huge undertaking that is.
But now you've also got a show on USA, but as if that wasn't enough, it's also happening during a pandemic on a closed set. It's just remarkable when you think about all the particular challenges and how many times they must have to – and nobody's told me this – but I just assume they've had to write and rewrite and write and rewrite because there's so many moving parts. There's so many variables with who can travel, who can't, who has a fever, who doesn't. These are things where maybe once upon a time it was just something you didn't have to worry about."
#1. WWE talked to Paige VanZant about appearing at SummerSlam a few years ago, Renee Young's teaser
The WWE faithful are quite familiar with Anti-Diva Paige, but only a handful of the wrestling fans may know about Paige VanZant. Actually, there might be a good number of wrestling fans who know about the former-model-turned-MMA-fighter.
Paige VanZant recently fought at UFC 251 and suffered a first-round submission loss to Amanda Ribas. It was also the last fight on VanZant's UFC contract and she is now a free agent. That is, unless, the UFC and the popular fighter have already signed a new deal that we don't know about.
Rumors of a move to Bellator have been circulating and so have the talks about a move to WWE.
Renee Young kickstarted speculation with a question in which she asked the fans about the odds of seeing VanZant in a WWE ring.
Dave Meltzer then revealed that WWE reportedly had talks with VanZant a few years ago about appearing at SummerSlam. However, UFC had already booked her for a fight during that time and the WWE deal thus couldn't come to fruition. It was added that VanZant said that she would be up for the WWE gig.
Much much higher. they talked to her a few years ago for SummerSlam and she was game for it, but UFC wanted her to fight that month instead. But she's said she's up for it.
VanZant has been positive towards potentially working for the WWE in a few interviews in the past. VanZant may not be a Ronda Rousey, but she does have the potential to make a fine professional wrestler if she takes a liking for the business. However, will WWE be willing to sign her or get her for a few appearances considering the ongoing pandemic?
