Buying or Selling Recent WWE News and Rumors Around Wrestling Universe

The WWE rumor mill isn't exactly slowing as temperatures outside start to hint at signs of winter.

In fact, it might just be heating up as WWE heads for Clash of Champions on Sunday. With smaller crowds starting to return to sporting events across the country, the hints of normalcy creeping back into sports means one thing: the company can start thinking about some big plans.

Those big plans could include long-term booking decisions, bringing in some big names and more. WWE would likely love nothing more than to finish the year strong and build some momentum going into 'Mania season.

Here's a look at buying or selling some of the biggest-ticket items on the mill.

Retribution has run wild on WWE, causing damage and attacking other Superstars seemingly at random.

But the whole idea of these masked guys and gals destroying the company that employs them has been pretty shaky from the start. Their absence from something like the Payback pay-per-view before Hurt Business ran through them on a recent episode of Raw doesn't seem to bode well for their future.

But according to Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), WWE isn't planning to unmask the folks behind the group until the WWE draft near Survivor Series.

And frankly, that's too long to make sense, especially if groups like Hurt Business keep squashing them. Were the execution better, it might have turned into something special. Now it almost feels like a group Roman Reigns or somebody could run through, unmask and send on their way.

Verdict: Selling

Will Daniel Cormier be the next outsider to join WWE and get a shot at the main event scene?

Cormier himself sure seems to think so, as he told Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso he's had some "very, very early conversations" with the company.

It's an easy one to buy—Cormier has made his love for WWE well known for a long time. And based on the way he's talking, he would like to start behind an announcer's desk rather than immediately get shot up to the top of the roster.

That could work if done well, and in this fashion as opposed to, say, the flop of Cain Velasquez's arrival, which nobody needed. Cormier jumping aboard and joining an announce team while learning the ropes and taking his time before a Superstar takes issue with his presence at a later date (hi, Brock Lesnar) could create some magic.

Verdict: Buying

Was there ever any doubt Jeff Hardy was going to re-up with WWE?

We've had Matt Hardy's past experiences outside of the company to draw upon that suggested he wouldn't have a problem leaving again. But Jeff has always felt like a WWE guy through and through.

And according to a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, Jeff Hardy has re-signed with WWE for at least three more years. And there's a bit of twist: That's in addition to time he's missed because of injury.

Hardy might be 43, but it doesn't seem like he's slowed down a ton if he's in a feud with the right opponents. And his re-upping with the company doesn't mean he's getting hot-shotted to the top of the card or anything.

But it's clear Jeff wants to keep working, and that opens up plenty of possible past-future angles with younger Superstars or even a mentor role as he starts to pass the torch.

Verdict: Buying

One of the first items to pop to mind when Paul Heyman left Raw in June was the idea Aleister Black and Andrade could be in some trouble.

It was a pretty well-accepted idea that both were Heyman favorites, as they shot up in show priority the minute he arrived on the scene. But with him gone, Meltzer reported both are in danger of losing their pushes.

Call it an easy-to-see thing already, with Black floating around the Raw Underground and mysteriously losing his eye injury. He should dominate such a scene, but he feels like just another guy. And Andrade, despite some great performances from manager Zelina Vega, has been doing nothing more than sitting in tag team purgatory.

Granted, not everyone can get pushed all the time. But both guys, and especially the mystical side of Black, feel like they could easily be in the main event scene. Instead...not so much.

Verdict: Buying

The Heyman-Roman Reigns duo feels quite a bit different from when wrestling's best mouthpiece oversaw Brock Lesnar.

And apparently that's by design.

According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Ortman), WWE wants the Heyman-Reigns partnership to contrast the Heyman-Lesnar partnership.

It's working too. Lesnar was a prizefighter who showed up every now and then and had his mouthpiece do the talking. Sometimes Heyman lost control of him, but mostly he ran things. Reigns, on the other hand, is amazing on the mic as a heel, shows up weekly and Heyman has all of zero control.

And it's a beautiful dynamic so far. Perhaps more importantly, keeping them as different as possible in this manner could mean they are perfect adversaries when Lesnar returns and Heyman is stuck in the middle.

Verdict: Buying