In this WrestleTalk News, there’s rumors abound that Roman Reigns is not going to lose
at WrestleMania next weekend, an update on where Carmella was after missing Raw on Monday,
Goldberg to AEW confirmed and more.
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Monday’s Raw was built around the very strong possibility that next weekend’s WrestleMania
will be the end of the Bloodline faction.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are teaming up to not only take on The Usos for the Tag Team
titles, they’re doing it with the intention of ending the Bloodline for good.
Cody Rhodes’ words caused some friction between Reigns and Solo Sikoa, and that same
Cody Rhodes will face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship, and essentially laid
out the Raw After Mania by saying when Roman loses he’ll also lose Jey, Jimmy and Solo.
Not only that, but WWE released a new hideous t-shirt that literally has Cody Rhodes holding
the American flag with FINISH THE STORY written on it - a tribute to the WrestleMania VII
poster which was also quite terrible.
It’s not just one of the worst t-shirt designs in the history of WWE - who have a track record
of terrible t-shirt designs - it’s also as subtle as a brick to the face and really
does spell out that Cody is picking up the big W at the end of Mania.
He’s got American on his side, now!
The Bloodline is a storyline that has been building in WWE since August of 2020 - back
when fans were only TV screens and we all had to accept that was totally fine and not
weird at all - and Rhodes’ promo from Raw did really feel like we’re in the endgame
now.
The backstage segment with Reigns and Jey - where Roman said that he loved Jey but didn’t
get a response - also suggests that WWE have plans in place for the break-up of the group;
with some speculation we could get Roman vs. Jey Uso at Summerslam.
And according to WrestleVotes, that is when we’ll next see Roman Reigns.
WrestleVotes’ claim is that following WrestleMania, Roman Reigns is set to take, “a significant
break” from WWE.
This would be pretty standard, anyway, as Reigns is now on - essentially - a part-time
contract with the company.
He isn’t doing regular house shows anymore, and he’s only contracted to appear on a
certain number of SmackDowns and PPVs a year.
But WrestleVotes add, “You may not see him until SummerSlam”, which would be around
a 4-5 months period of time away from TV; a much larget amount of time than he usually
misses.
There are, of course, some caveats to this statement, however.
WrestleVotes add when speaking with GiveMeSport that Reigns could be brought back when, “there’s
a major show that requires Roman Reigns.”
As we saw with John Cena when he was announced for the Christmas edition of SmackDown last
year and his return to Raw a few weeks ago, there are very few legit needle movers in
terms of ticket sales when added to the bill in WWE.
Roman Reigns is one of those people.
He was announced for a house show in Toronto earlier this month, and that announcement
boosted ticket sales significantly.
WWE have also recently had a string of successful sell-out shows and PPVs, mostly when they
have been built around The Bloodline story.
As WrestleVotes put it, “WWE wanted to make Roman Reigns a major deal, and they did.
Now every time you put on a major show, you need your major star.”
So, where does this leave us for WrestleMania?
Because it turns out, perhaps the call on who is winning between Cody Rhodes and Roman
Reigns hasn’t been made yet.
WrestleVotes added to their quote given to GiveMeSport on Twitter, adding:
“I’m told this is contingent on if / when Reigns eventually loses the titles.
As of now, those plans are not certain.”
So, it’s not currently decided on whether or not Roman is retaining or losing the belts
next weekend.
Further to this, Sean Ross Sapp over on Fightful Select noted, “Talent that we've spoken
to in WWE say that across the board they haven't been informed of WrestleMania winners and
losers.”
However he also adds, “This is common.”
Also common is not knowing what the finish might be at this point in time as several
WrestleMania finishes - including the main event - had remained undecided until a few
hours before the event.
You’d think that WWE would have their finishes laid out as it would inform the next PPV cycle
and their results are not based on random chance like they are in MyGM Mode on WWE2K23
- which you can go and watch me and Pete play on partsFUNknown.
But this is also the first Triple H-era WrestleMania, and as Dave Meltzer has previously reported,
Trips isn’t doing a lot of last-minute changes when it comes to key storylines.
In fact, when talking about the Bloodline segments from SmackDown and Raw with his co-host
Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio Meltzer said WWE have, “a year of post-Mania
plans” when it comes to Roman and his faction or lacktherof.
There is also the chance that WWE will swerve fans and push forward with the idea that Roman
will hold for the belt for more than 1,000 days - which he is around 70 days away from.
But what do you think?
Do you think Roman Reigns is losing at Mania?
Is Cody winning?
Or will the Tribal Chief still hold all the gold?
Let me know in the comments down below.
One of the odder things from Raw was a backstage segment where Chelsea Green told Adam Pearce
that, although she’d made matching gear for her, Carmella was not at the show and
would be replaced by Piper Niven.
The pair had been advertised over the weekend to face Bianca Belair and Asuka in a Can They
Co-Exist Tag Team Match, but Mella was nowhere to be seen.
The on-screen pairing of Green and Mella was also reported to lead to them being part of
the WrestleMania Tag Team Showcase Match.
So, where was Carmella?
Well, it’s not quite certain.
Sean Ross Sapp over at Fightful Select is reporting that, “Carmella was off this weekend's
house shows” and that “the decision was made over the weekend to replace her [on Raw]
with Piper Niven”.
Although Sapp adds that the on-screen partnership between Mella and Green is set to continue,
he closes with, “Nobody we spoke to had an update” as to why she was pulled from
the house show loop or replaced on TV.
Fightful also add that Bobby Lashley was not ever listed to be on Raw, but he was backstage
at the show on Monday night.
He’d been facing Baron Corbin on the house show circuit over the weekend.
The lucky guy.
But when he is back on TV, he may have some new faces around the place.
According to WRKD Wrestling on Twitter, who have had a couple of good hits recently in
the scoops department, Bron Breakker and Cameron Grimes are set to be “main roster mainstays”
in the months following WrestleMania.
Breakker is set to defend his NXT Championship against Carmello Hayes at Stand and Deliver
before WrestleMania, and Grimes was recently photographed showing off his glow-up physique.
To throw some potential water on this rumour fire, however, WRKD also reported that NXT’s
Grayson Waller was set to be on Raw this past Monday to be involved in the match between
Johnny Gargano and Dominik Mysterio.
Waller was not on the show, however.
WRKD noted on Twitter that, “Plans changed throughout the day”, but Fightful Select
are reporting that Waller was never scheduled to be on the show in any shape or form.
Sean Ross Sapp writes, “We spoke to numerous sources at Raw that said that Waller was not
brought in, was not involved in the creative plans, and was not set for the show in any
capacity.”
He even adds, “The first that creative had heard of it is when they were asked if the
rumors were true, which were quickly shot down.”
Speaking of Sean Ross Sapp, and he also reported via Fightful Select that Goldberg and WWE
had parted ways.
Goldberg’s last match with WWE was at Supershow Down in February last year - crucially under
the Vince McMahon regime of WWE.
Goldberg has not been on a Triple H show, and there have been no reports of him being
brought in for the previous Saudi Arabia show, WrestleMania or the Raw anniversary show.
Sapp does also add, however, that “no deal to renew or extend was reached” - so there
was some interest from WWE for Goldberg to come back.
And WWE might not be the only ones interested.
AEW’s Tony Khan was asked about the news that Bill Goldberg was now a free agent while
on The Bet Las Vegas & The Sporting Tribune with Adrian Hernandez where he said:
“I have a lot of respect for Bill.”
Medical Bill?!
“I think Bill Goldberg is a great professional athlete and has had a great career in pro
wrestling and is a very nice person.
He actually has a lot of ties around the Jacksonville community…
He's a household name in pro wrestling and certainly, that's interesting to hear that
he is a free agent.
It's something to follow and he's one of the biggest names in wrestling and certainly will
be something else to keep an eye on for us.”
Goldberg to AEW confirmed?
But for now why not head on over to the WrestleTalk Podcast to check out our latest episode of
Worst Match Ever, where we watched the truly awful ECW Elimination Chamber match from 2006.
Here’s a clip.