WWE Rumors on Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre, NXT Cuts; Theory Teases John Cena Match

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

WWE Holding Off on Reigns vs. McIntyre

WWE isn’t being shy about the fact it’s setting up a Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre feud. The duo has been working together at house shows for months, and now an on-screen feud is in its infancy, with McIntyre set to join RK-Bro for a six-man tag match against The Bloodline at WrestleMania Backlash.

The one-on-one singles match may just have to wait, though.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said WWE held back on McIntyre vs. Reigns because they want it for a larger show. 

Hell in a Cell is set to take place in June, and Money in the Bank is slated for July. The MITB live event is scheduled for Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, so it’s possible Reigns-McIntyre will have to wait until it can be booked for a football stadium crowd.

With SummerSlam also slated for a stadium later in July, it’ll be interesting to see how they handle two massive-scale shows in the span of a month.

WWE Waited on NXT Cuts

That WWE is releasing talent should come as no surprise. In recent years, the company has gutted its roster down to essential personnel and developmental talent only. While there is clear talent at the top of the card, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a time in recent history when WWE’s talent pool was shallower.

NXT talents Malcolm Bivens, Dakota Kai, Harland, Persia Pirotta, Raelyn Divine, Draco Anthony, Vish Kanya, Mila Malani and Blair Baldwin were the latest on the chopping block last week. Bivens and Kai were by far the two biggest names of the bunch and could wind up finding themselves on AEW’s radar.

Meltzer said WWE plans to continue churning out talent, particularly at the NXT level. He said he heard cuts were coming weeks before they happened. 

“Yeah, I think so. I’ve had people say that but no one really knows other than Vince and everything,” Meltzer said on Sunday Night’s Main Event. You kind of hear rumblings the day before that this is gonna be the bad day, which actually I had heard on April 13 and 14 that the 15 is gonna be the bad day. Then it came and went and then it happened two weeks later and I would think that would be it for NXT but there were no main roster [releases].”

Talent-churning is a reality of the wrestling business. Several AEW originals have either seen their contracts expire or will have them expire in recent months. While AEW has gone through a different tact in making its roster decisions, odds are Tony Khan’s ever-growing roster will, at some point, have to make some tough decisions.

That said, what WWE has done in recent years has been jarring to even the most business-minded fans. 

Theory Wants Cena at SummerSlam

John Cena will, at some point, find himself back on WWE programming. He hasn’t been seen since a loss to Roman Reigns at last year’s SummerSlam. The odds of Cena ever becoming a full-time performer again are slim, but the 16-time champion told Jack King of GQ UK that he misses wrestling. 

“I miss it every day. Every single day,” Cena said. “But I’ll be 45 on April 23rd, and I was very fortunate to make it as long as I did with only a minor list of injuries. Nothing that has changed the trajectory of my long-term health. I’m strong, flexible, and in really good shape externally, internally. I think now, being a full-time touring performer might start to hit that point of diminishing returns, and I have to be realistic when I look at that.”

That said, Theory has an idea of who Cena could face if he comes back for another SummerSlam one-off: himself.

The United States champion reposted a fan-made graphic showing a match between the two for the championship, saying “why not?”