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In today's edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup, we take a look a the top stories of the day surrounding the company. There is a big update on Kevin Owens' injury while a released Superstar has hinted at retiring from wrestling altogether.
Before we get to all that, let us take a look at the top headline of the day:
Big plans to turn RAW Superstar into a heel
Apollo Crews is set to become a heel on Monday Night RAW as per WrestlingNews. They report that he was supposed to do it on SmackDown before he was moved to the Red brand.
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“They are turning him. He was going to turn on [Chad] Gable before Vince decided to move him back to RAW."
Sportskeeda's own Tom Colohue has reported that Apollo's injury is just kayfabe and it was done just to get some sympathy for him. Crews had qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match but then suffered an injury during a match with Andrade.
"It's a kayfabe injury. He was taken out of the match. They knew it was going to happen beforehand, so before they filmed this, they had the match. They knew it was coming, they knew it was planned, so it was definitely written ahead of time. It does get some sympathy for the character."
The former NXT Star was taken out of the MITB match as a result and was replaced by AJ Styles. The Phenomenal One was added to the match last night after he won the gauntlet match.
Styles was reportedly brought back as a result of the low ratings and will now be involved in the Money in the Bank pay-per-view as well. He was last seen in WWE at WrestleMania when he was buried alive by The Undertaker in the Boneyard Match.
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Superstar 'relieved' after WWE release
Zack Ryder has revealed that he was relieved after WWE released him. The former Intercontinental Champion was talking about how he was heading towards the end of his WWE contract before his release took place.
Ryder was on the Busted Open Radio when he revealed the buildup to his release. He claims that they got a mass text to watch Vince McMahon's video about the cuts and that made things a bit clear for him.
He added that he was not sure if he wanted to resign with the company or not but was relieved when he got released.
"We all got this mass text to watch this Vince McMahon video explaining that these cuts would be happening, so I can’t say unexpected. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this before, I never re-signed my contract, so my deal was going to be up in August and I had been dealing with contract negotiations for over a year and the anxiety I had about it – Do I stay? Do I go? Do I stay? Do I go? It was really eating me up. So, when that call was made and I was released, the decision was made for me, so instantly I was relieved, you know what I’m saying?"
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Real reason why WWE called up The Forgotten Sons
The Forgotten Sons made their debut on SmackDown in April and now have a tag team title shot at Money in the Bank pay-per-view. The trio, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, was only called up because of Jimmy Uso's knee injury.
Recent reports suggest Jimmy suffered a knee injury at WrestleMania in the triple-threat match for the SmackDown tag team titles. He was involved in the match along with John Morrison and Kofi Kingston but was unable to get his hands on the title.
Meltzer adds that WWE took time to decide on the same as they were planning on giving Jey Uso a singles run. However, with the Usos out of the tag team picture, they decided to get the trio up from NXT.
At the Money in the Bank PPV, The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Big E will be putting their title on the line in a Fatal 4-Way Match. They will be up against the newly promoted The Forgotten Sons, Lucha House Party, and Miz & Morrison.
Get the full list of WWE Events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
Lio Rush hints at retirement
Lio Rush has hinted on Twitter that he could retire soon. The former NXT Cruiserweight Champion has claimed that he might never wrestle again after his WWE release.
The former NXT star was released by WWE in the mass exodus in April. The company let go of over 20 Superstars in what was a quick decision of sorts.
Just days before his release from the company, Rush took to Twitter to blast the management for not including him in a tournament. William Regal had announced an interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament as the current champion, Jordan Devlin is stuck in the United Kingdom following the lockdown due to coronavirus.
Is this still April fools!?. No Man Of The Hour? No 25 year old piece of gold? No Versace Doctor? No Former Cruiserweight Champion? No LIO MF RUSH!?
Rush reportedly had backstage heat as well last year and was moved from Monday Night RAW, where he was Bobby Lashley's hypeman. He was off WWE TV for a long time and rumors circulated about his possible release back then.
Kevin Owens injury update
Kevin Owens is reportedly set to be out for a few more weeks according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer. He claims that the injury happened at WrestleMania and the ankle was swollen the next day.
"Regarding the Kevin Owens ankle injury, it happened at WrestleMania. The spot it happened is unknown as apparently he never felt a thing during the match and then the next day his ankle was swollen. He expects to be out a few more weeks."
Owens, however, hinted that he was not working on Monday Night RAW because he does not want to. His quotes, while talking to Canada's RDS, point towards him staying at home because of the coronavirus situation around the world.
"The great thing about WWE is that it doesn’t require us to be there if we don’t want to. This is also why in the last two weeks I have not been present because I preferred to be at home with my family." (H/T WhatCulture)
Owens cut a promo on Monday Night RAW after WrestleMania from an unknown location and has been absent ever since.
