Roman Reigns celebrates after defeating Bill Goldberg during the 2022 WWE Elimination Chamber at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on February 19, 2022. (Photo by Amer HILABI / AFP) (Photo by AMER HILABI/AFP via Getty Images)
Roman Reigns is the top star in pro wrestling but his status as Undisputed WWE Champion has put the company's creative team in a pickle, which is the subject at the forefront of this collection of wrestling rumors and innuendo for the week that was.
The Tribal Chief is but one topic covered in a collection that also includes Kevin Owens, the NXT brand and its re-imagining under Triple H and the latest on a new All Elite Wrestling signee who is more than familiar with her current digs.
WrestleVotes reported that the current situation with Roman Reigns is a sticky one in that WWE officials would very much like to have two world champions entering WrestleMania season but they also do not want The Tribal Chief to lose "AT ALL."
It is very much a catch-22 situation in that the company cannot have both without coming up with a creative workaround. The report states Triple H and Co. are open to any and every potential fix for the problem.
The previous regime under Vince McMahon booked the company into a corner by insisting on the "biggest match of all time" between Reigns and Brock Lesnar back at WrestleMania 38. Now, Reigns holds both the Universal and WWE Championships with no major prize for the Raw Superstars to do battle over.
It makes sense, if for no other reason than beefing up the biggest card of the year, that Triple H and those around him would want to figure out some way of relieving Reigns of one of those titles without hurting the aura of The Head of the Table.
There is always the excuse that he has not appeared frequently enough on Monday nights to warrant the continuation of his run as WWE Champion, but even that feels like a copout given all of the time and effort that was put into establishing Reigns as the top dog in the company in the first place.
How the new Head of Creative manages to rectify the issue remains a mystery but one thing that is not is the overflow of talent on Monday nights who could easily slide into the role of WWE champion and help guide the continued growth of the once-stagnant red brand.
Not the least of which is a certain prizefighter...
Kevin Owens has taken a babyface stance over the last few weeks and according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, he has officially been moved to that side of the company's internal roster.
Triple H has taken it upon himself to start focusing more on KO, who is one of the most engaging personalities on either WWE program. He is thought-provoking, intense and aggressive. He is a hell of a worker and conveys every possible emotion to the audience. He is a fantastic performer and has earned every bit of increased television time and presence provided by Triple H's booking.
As a babyface, he has the opportunity to work against Seth Rollins, The Miz, Tommaso Ciampa and, more importantly, The Bloodline. The seeds for that particular feud have been planted by way of Sami Zayn's involvement with Reigns and The Usos.
Owens is poised to enjoy a productive year under the guy who brought him in under the WWE umbrella in the first place and the potential for better material exists with him on the babyface side of the lineup.
Tuesday's episode of NXT went off the air with the revelation of a black and gold logo, a tease of a brand makeover that fans have longed for from the moment Vince McMahon and his regime implemented neon colors and over-the-top caricatures.
According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live, Triple H is bringing back the TakeOver name, which had previously been banished under McMahon and executive producer Kevin Dunn's rule.
Once the hottest brand in the industry, attracting the biggest free agents and earning the most critical acclaim, the change that occurred a year ago strayed from what made the entity so hot in the first place.
TakeOver and the countless classic matches it produced are a huge part of the reason that the brand achieved the notoriety it did and bringing back an identifiable property may draw fans back into it.
Now, with Triple H firmly in power creatively, hopefully, the change can reignite a fire in NXT and get fans to reinvest in the product moving forward. It is, after all, the brand that provided WWE with a foundation on which to build its future.
Skye Blue is a familiar face to the AEW faithful and according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, she is finally under a contract with the company.
"22-year old Skye Blue is under some sort of All Elite Wrestling deal, sources tell Fightful. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, as she's been regularly featured for over a year, to the tune of nearly 50 AEW matches."
Blue is currently dating Dante Martin away from the squared circle and recently appeared alongside him in a mixed tag team match against Tay Melo and Sammy Guevara.
Blue is a talented young competitor with a ton of upside and AEW is lucky to have her on its roster. With that said, the company has several other wrestlers in that same boat who have struggled to get on television consistently because of the logjam of sorts at the top.
While it is great to see someone of such youth and ability signed to a deal with one of the biggest companies in the world, there is reason to question just how much that truly means for her moving forward.
Especially with the focus currently on Toni Storm and establishing her as interim world women's champion in the wake of an injury suffered by Thunder Rosa.
