Wrestling

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Some in WWE Reportedly Claim Rose Asked for Release

In the wake of Mandy Rose's reported release from WWE this week, new details are emerging regarding what led up to it.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Manik Aftab of Ringside News), some within WWE have said Rose requested her release from the company two weeks ago, although there has been no legitimate confirmation of those claims.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp broke the news of Rose's release Wednesday, reporting that WWE made the decision that some of the content she posted on her FanTime page was believed to be "outside of the parameters" of her contract.

Rose posted explicit photos and videos on FanTime behind a paywall, although some of her content was leaked onto social media.

The reported decision to release Rose came one day after she dropped the NXT Women's Championship to Roxanne Perez on Tuesday night's episode of NXT.

Rose had held the title for 413 days, which is the third-longest NXT Women's Championship reign of all time, and her loss seemed sudden.

Despite her apparent release, Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) reported this week that WWE remains open to bringing her back at some point if the two sides can get back on the same page.

While the terms of her potentially returning were not reported, it seems likely that WWE would want her to either get rid of her FanTime page or tone down the content because of its status as a PG product geared toward children.

For now, Rose is a free agent, meaning she could potentially test the waters with other companies such as All Elite Wrestling or Impact Wrestling.

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WWE Reportedly Weighing Multiple WrestleMania Ideas

WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, is less than four months away, and WWE is reportedly still considering many different potential matches and moments for the show.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Mukherjee), WWE is batting around "multiple ideas," and every top talent in the company is being considered for "multiple different things" at the event.

While many possible matches have been speculated about, WWE has yet to announce anything for WrestleMania or give any true indication regarding what direction they are leaning in.

The most popular match that has been discussed by fans is undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns going up against his real-life cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

WWE hasn't so much as teased Reigns vs. The Rock, and it is completely unclear if The Rock is willing or able to clear his busy acting schedule enough to have the time needed to participate in a WrestleMania feud and match.

Fans have also speculated on Reigns putting his titles on the line against Cody Rhodes, provided he returns from his torn pectoral muscle and wins the men's Royal Rumble match.

There has even been talk of Reigns wrestling on both nights of WrestleMania with The Rock and Rhodes as his opponents, and Meltzer (h/t Andrew Ravens of WrestlingNews.co) reported that it is something WWE is at least considering.

Several other big names need to be figured into the plans as well, including Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley and possibly even a returning John Cena.

Whatever WWE's plans are, they figure to become far more apparent over the next couple of months, especially at the Royal Rumble in late January.

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Shotzi Reportedly Out with Legit Injury

WWE seemingly writing Shotzi off television a couple of weeks ago was reportedly done to account for a legitimate injury.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Sunil Joseph of Ringside News), the storyline injury is meant to cover for a real injury Shotzi suffered.

The exact nature of Shotzi's injury is unclear, but in the storyline, Shotzi injured her hand after Rousey and Shayna Baszler apparently slammed it in a car door in the parking lot.

Shotzi has picked up a lot of steam on SmackDown in recent months, especially since turning face. She was even rewarded with the first one-on-one title match at a premium live event of her career.

After beating Lacey Evans, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Sonya Deville and Xia Li to become No. 1 contender, Shotzi fell to Rousey at Survivor Series WarGames last month.

Shotzi has not competed in a televised match since the loss to Rousey, although she faced Rousey at a live event on Nov. 27.

Until Shotzi is able to return, it appears as though Rodriguez, Morgan and the returning Tegan Nox are getting pushed as the top babyface women on the SmackDown roster.

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Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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MVP Wants Omos to Become WWE Champion

MVP has been Omos' manager since April, and he is hopeful that big things are in The Nigerian Giant's future.

Appearing on Good Karma Wrestling (h/t Smita Singha Roy of Ringside News), MVP discussed his desire to see Omos at the top of the mountain in WWE:

"I hope to accomplish one thing at this point in my career and that is leading The Nigerian Giant to championship gold. He knows what it is to be a winner. He's been a winner his entire life … The WWE Championship, I would say it's an inevitability. We will get there, but it's not easy … You have some amazing talents, amazingly talented people.

"For example, Roman Reigns who is the undisputed champion right now, and we're trying to get there, but, intelligently, step by step. The Nigerian Giant Omos is smashing everyone in his path and the goal, my goal, is to see him hoist the premier championship in all of sports entertainment."

After Bobby Lashley defeated Omos at WrestleMania earlier this year, MVP left Lashley to align himself with the largest athlete in WWE.

While Omos has largely dominated lower-level competition since, he has struggled when met with top challengers such as Lashley and Braun Strowman.

There is no question that the former college basketball player possesses immense potential, but he has a lot of developing to do, and he likely isn't anywhere close to ready for the main event scene.

Reigns is operating at a different level than almost anyone else in the wrestling business as the undisputed WWE universal champion, and he has plenty of challengers lined up in the coming months.

Omos vs. Reigns could be a possibility much further down the line, but Omos must first prove he has the tools needed to move up the card and be a threat in the world title scene.

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Knight Discusses Working with Wyatt

LA Knight has been involved in a rivalry with Bray Wyatt for the past several weeks, and he provided some insight into what it is like to work with one of the most creative minds in wrestling.

Speaking to Ethan Absler of USA Insider, Knight described what the creative process has been like between him and Wyatt:

"Working with Wyatt is a unique challenge in the sense that you've got two diametrically opposed personalities. You have two very different approaches to what we do and in a strange way, it almost brings together a beautiful symphony so to speak, just because of the contrasting way we do things. At the same time, those contrasting pieces can mesh together into something that's pretty creatively satisfying and so far so good."

The feud between Knight and Wyatt began with them interrupting each other's interview segments, but things escalated when Knight slapped Wyatt across the face.

Since then, Knight has twice been found laid out backstage, and while Wyatt has insisted he wasn't responsible, Knight is convinced he was the one who attacked him.

Wyatt and Knight have yet to face each other in a match, but things seem to be trending in that direction, which would be a huge step forward in Knight's career.

Since returning to WWE at Extreme Rules in October, Wyatt has yet to compete in a match. If his first one is against Knight, it would speak to how much confidence WWE's decision-makers have in Knight's ability.

As Knight alluded to, he and Wyatt have very different characters and deliveries, but they are two of the best talkers WWE has to offer, and that could lead to a memorable and entertaining program.

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WWE's Anderson to Compete at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom

WWE Superstar Karl Anderson was officially booked for the Jan. 4 New Japan Pro-Wrestling Wrestle Kingdom 17 show on Wednesday following his match against Hikuleo.

Anderson and Luke Gallows returned to WWE in October after their contracts with Impact Wrestling expired, but it was a unique circumstance since Anderson was the reigning NEVER openweight champion.

While Anderson's November title defense against Hikuleo was called off due to WWE commitments, he was permitted to have the match at NJPW's World Tag/Super Junior Tag League finals this week.

Anderson won the match, but he was confronted by Tama Tonga afterward, and they proceeded to brawl.

According to Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News, the melee with Tonga led to the official announcement of a NEVER openweight title match between Anderson and Tonga at Wrestle Kingdom.

Anderson vs. Tonga is significant not only because it is a WWE wrestler against an NJPW wrestler on a New Japan show, but also because Anderson and Tonga are both former members of Bullet Club.

The previous WWE regime led by Vince McMahon likely wouldn't have allowed a contracted talent to work a New Japan event, but the current regime led by Triple H is seemingly more amenable to such ideas.

Anderson figures to drop the title to Tonga at Wrestle Kingdom so he can be free and clear for WWE, but it could prove to be a landmark match and moment in terms of WWE working with New Japan and other companies more openly in the future.

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Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).