We are one week closer to the eventual brand split that is going to change the history of WWE forever. With SmackDown and Raw expected to have equal weightage, the return of the brand split, will in turn, be an exciting time period for the fans and everyone is starting to buzz about it. The brand split was indeed the major talking point in the rumor mill this past week.
Along with this, the apparent relationship with UFC and WWE kicked off a string of rumors that could make the WWE fans drool. There were some talks about the returns and the status of Goldberg as well and here is a rundown on them.
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#1 Status of Goldberg
The recent appearance of Goldberg for the WWE 2K17 has sparked off a lot of rumors about a probably in-ring return from the former WCW Champion. However, the relationship between Goldberg and WWE is still pretty much shaky and they are yet to start talks regarding a potential match. Despite this, the talks could be started anytime soon and if it does, Brock Lesnar is the likely opponent for Goldberg
WWE teased the same by having a Suplex City sign in the video of WWE 2K17 and also, Goldberg acknowledged the same. This was done to hype the potential match and thus give Goldberg a leverage when he will be sitting for negotiations.
#2 Ronda Rousey could make a WrestleMania appearance
UFC dropped a huge swerve at UFC 199 when they announced that Brock Lesnar would be appearing at UFC 200. They are yet to announce who Lesnar would face at the pay-per-view and WWE will have a say on his opponent. Lesnar is still contracted to WWE according to the statement and he will return after UFC 200.
The UFC 200 will act as hype for SummerSlam and also, thanks to this, we could expect a UFC star, most probably Ronda Rousey to appear at some WWE pay-per-view as well. The ideal stage would be WrestleMania 33. Some fans are even mentioning the name of Conor McGregor but it would be a long shot, to say the least.
#3 Wyatt Family member to be missing
Speaking of Brock Lesnar, the Wyatt family is expected to feud with him on the road to SummerSlam. A Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt match is currently being planned for SummerSlam. Bray and his gang will be returning soon to the WWE programming and the return might happen as early as this week. The Wyatt family will be returning as heel and it is not clear on whom they will feud with.
At the same time, Luke Harper will be missing when the stable returns as he is still recovering from his injury. Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman, meanwhile, will be supporting Bray in a full-fledged manner.
#4 USA Network and Brand split
WWE moving SmackDown to Tuesday nights is more of a decision to make the USA Network happy rather than a creative one. The USA Network was not happy with how SmackDown was going and the network as a whole was struggling a bit with the ratings. To bypass this, WWE came up with the decision to make both SmackDown and Raw equal.
We could expect some strong booking for SmackDown after the brand split and just to show how serious WWE are with this, they are going to book John Cena for Tuesday nights as he is a clear big time draw.
#5 Who will lead the brands?
As mentioned in the last slide, WWE will be having John Cena in the SmackDown brand after brand split so as to boost the rating. Cena will be the top baby face of the brand when AJ Styles will be built up as the top heel. They are expected to fight over a major title in SmackDown and the title could be introduced.
Elsewhere, the Raw would be headed by the feud between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for the WWE championship. Reigns, ironically, would be the top baby face on Monday Night when Rollins will be booked as the top heel. There is no news on the others wrestlers and we could get a clear picture soon.
