WWE Rumors on Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens Return and Backstage Cuts

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

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

Reigns vs. Lesnar Rematches Not Planned Beyond SummerSlam

At long last, we may get an extended break between Roman Reigns-Brock Lesnar matches.

WWE has been billing their SummerSlam Last Man Standing match as the final showdown between the two, and Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said that is the current plan—for now.

“There’s no plans for any other match between them as of right now, but let’s be serious,” Meltzer said. “You know, I mean guys get hurt, and it’s a match that, you know, bringing Brock back still got a lot of talk and everything like that. The first week, there was a lotta talk on bringing Brock back. We’ll see how much that means this week to a degree, but you know, it’s still SummerSlam. It’s going to be the third biggest show of the year, it always is…”

The likelihood of this actually being the last match between Lesnar and Reigns is minimal. However, it would be a welcome break if the two went their separate ways for a while after blowing off the feud later this month.

Lesnar was only put into the SummerSlam program because of an injury to Randy Orton, so it’s possible another injury down the line could lead to WWE pressing the big red button that says “Lesnar” and wires him millions of dollars.

The overwhelmingly tepid response to the feud’s renewal should give WWE some pause for the time being, though.

Kevin Owens Out A Few More Weeks

It does not appear Kevin Owens’ feud with Ezekiel (or Elias…or Elrod) will be ending before SummerSlam.

Meltzer said Owens is expected to miss a few more weeks as he continues to deal with an undisclosed injury.

WWE has not offered details on Owens’ absence. He was originally supposed to take on Ezekiel in a Money in the Bank qualifying match late last month but was pulled at the last minute.

When making an appearance at the 2022 NHL Draft last week, it did not appear Owens was sporting any type of cast that would keep him out of action long term.

Curtis Axel and Ariya Daivari Gone From WWE

While Curtis Axel and Ariya Daivari were long ago let go from their wrestling jobs with WWE, both had been making appearances as backstage producers in recent months.

It appears that is no longer the case.

Mike Johnson of PW Insider reported Axel and Daivari were recently let go from their producer roles, which they held on a probationary basis. The reduction in staffing reportedly led to those working last week’s SmackDown to feel “extremely overworked.”

WWE was already working without lead producer Jason Jordan, who is on paternity leave. Adam Pearce took the lead role for Friday’s SmackDown.

Daivari recently made his return to the ring for AEW in a match on Dark, defeating Caleb Konley.

Axel has not wrestled since his initial departure from WWE in 2020.

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