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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
The Rock’s WrestleMania 41 Status Reportedly Still Unclear
The Rock was a crucial part of WrestleMania 40 earlier this year, but it reportedly still isn’t known if he will have any involvement with WrestleMania 41.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) recently reported that The Rock still hadn’t confirmed his availability for WrestleMania 41, noting that WWE would like to known by the Royal Rumble in February if he can be part of the Showcase of the Immortals.
Fightful Select (h/t Mukherjee) followed up this week, reporting that The Rock “has not given messaging that he won’t be at WrestleMania.”
While that doesn’t necessarily mean The Final Boss is locked in for WrestleMania, there is seemingly at least a chance that he will work his second ‘Mania in a row.
During the build toward WrestleMania 40, The Rock turned heel and aligned himself with his cousin, Roman Reigns, against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
The Rock and Reigns beat Rhodes and Rollins in a tag team match in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40, but Reigns dropped the WWE Championship to Rhodes in the main event of Night 2.
Before taking a hiatus, The Rock addressed Cody and suggested that he would be coming for him and the title upon his return.
The Rock made a surprise appearance at Bad Blood last month after the reluctant team of Reigns and Rhodes beat the new Bloodline in a tag team bout. The Rock didn’t say anything, but he signaled, “1, 2, 3,” with his hand and made a throat-slashing gesture.
That led to speculation that WWE was perhaps teasing a Triple Threat between The Rock, Reigns and Rhodes, although The Rock has not appeared on WWE programming since then to provide context.
The Rock has so many other outside responsibilities that it is conceivable he won’t be able to make time for WrestleMania, but he is such a central part of the story involving Rhodes, Reigns and The Bloodline that it would be somewhat surprising if he doesn’t find a way to do something on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Coachman’s Lynch/WWE Contract Rumor Debunked
There is reportedly no truth to a rumor that WWE balked at Becky Lynch’s asking price regarding a new contract with the company.
Former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman said recently on his Backstage Pass show (h/t Wrestle Zone’s Colin Tessier) that Lynch asked for a contract that would pay her in excess of $2 million per year, but WWE turned it down.
In a follow-up, Fightful Select (h/t Tessier) reported that multiple sources with knowledge of the situation have said Coachman’s report isn’t true.
WWE is reportedly on good terms with Lynch and respecting her decision to take time off, and if she had wanted to sign a new deal before taking time off, WWE likely would have welcomed it.
Fightful’s sources also said WWE “would have jumped” at the opportunity to sign Lynch for $2 million per year since she is in line to make significantly more than that given the company’s current pay scale.
Lynch lost to Rhea Ripley in a Women’s World Championship match at WrestleMania 40, but when Ripley had to vacate the title due to injury shortly thereafter, Becky won a battle royal to become a new champion.
She then dropped the title to Liv Morgan at King and Queen of the Ring in May, and lost a rematch against Morgan two days later on Raw inside a steel cage.
Lynch has not been around ever since then, as it was reported by Fightful that her WWE contract expired on June 1.
The Man has been out of the spotlight for the past five months, but it stands to reason that WWE would welcome her back into the fold at any time given that she has long been one of the company’s top stars.
Lynch’s husband, Seth Rollins, remains contracted to the company as a top star in his own right, and if Becky wants to return, it seems likely that WWE will be given every opportunity to sign her to a new deal.
Rey Mysterio Talks Past WWE Heel Turn Proposal
WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio divulged this week that he initially made a pitch to turn heel on his son, Dominik Mysterio, before the opposite ultimately occurred.
During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet (h/t Mukherjee), Mysterio gave some insight into the idea and what made him reconsider:
“I remember bringing it up one time when Dom and I were working together. I brought it up to Vince [McMahon], and it was brief, like maybe I could turn on Dom, and we would continue with something along those lines. But getting feedback from some of my colleagues, they said, ‘Oh, you’re like the babyface who could never be a heel; you’re like Ricky Steamboat. Nobody could ever see you as a heel. I don’t think they would buy into it.’ I’m kind of glad that I listened to them and that they didn’t listen to me because the best thing that could have happened was for Dom to become the heel and be the evil one.”
Rey and Dominik became the first father-son duo to ever hold tag team titles in WWE, but their partnership came to an end in 2022 when Dominik turned on his father and joined The Judgment Day.
Ever since then, Dirty Dom has firmly established himself as one of the most hated heels in all of pro wrestling, while Rey has remained a beloved babyface.
Aside from a brief run as a heel in WCW, Rey has been a babyface for his entire career, and he has never been a heel in WWE, which is a rare feat few have ever accomplished.
Given his popularity and all of the equity he has built up over the years, it would be difficult to turn Rey heel at this stage of his career, as few would be inclined to cheer against him.
It was much easier to turn Dominik since there was already some thought that he only got to the position he was in due to nepotism with a legend like Rey as his father.
Over the past couple of years, Dominik has proved he belongs, though, as he is consistently among the most entertaining parts of WWE programming and generates heat like few others.
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