Set Number: X162079 TK1
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Rousey vs. Lynch Under ‘Heavy Consideration’ for WrestleMania
After nearly three years away, Ronda Rousey’s return to WWE reportedly could be on the horizon.
Appearing on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said a WWE source told him Rousey vs. Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38 is under “heavy consideration” and “pretty much in the books,” although he isn’t sure if it is official.
Meltzer’s report came on the heels of Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News) reporting that WWE has internally discussed Rousey’s return and the possibility of her either being an entrant or having some involvement in the women’s Royal Rumble match on Saturday.
It was then speculated by Meltzer that Rousey could potentially win the Rumble as a surprise entrant, setting the stage for a match against Lynch at WrestleMania.
Rousey’s last WWE appearance came a little less than three years ago at WrestleMania 35 when she competed in the main event against Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
Ronda controversially got pinned by Lynch, as both shoulders didn’t appear to be on the mat. Despite that, Becky was given the win and became both Raw and SmackDown women’s champion.
It was always assumed that Rousey would come back to challenge Lynch at some point, but she took some time off to start a family and had her first child with husband Travis Browne in September.
Lynch returned in August after having a child of her own and became champion by beating Bianca Belair in her first match back. Ever since then, Big Time Becks has scored huge wins over some of the biggest names in the women’s division, including Belair, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair and Liv Morgan.
At the Rumble, Lynch is widely expected to defeat Doudrop in her defense of the Raw Women’s Championship.
Rousey’s return would move the needle in a big way for the women’s division, just as her debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble did.
Ronda typically got mixed reactions during her first run, but there is no doubt that she got more eyes and mainstream attention on the product, so if she is available for WrestleMania, WWE will likely go all-out to bring her in.
Breakker Set to Be Present for Royal Rumble
Bron Breakker potentially could make his WWE main roster debut Saturday in the men’s Royal Rumble match.
According to PWInsider.com (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Breakker is scheduled to be in St. Louis for the Royal Rumble event on Saturday.
It isn’t known if the NXT 2.0 champion will be part of the Rumble, but he will be available for the match if needed.
Breakker is perhaps the fastest-rising star in the entire company, as he defeated Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship at New Year’s Evil earlier this month.
Remarkably, that was only Breakker’s ninth televised match in WWE, underscoring how much star power WWE sees in him.
The son of former WWE and WCW star Rick Steiner, Breakker is a natural in the ring and brings the type of intensity that WWE loves to see out of a top guy.
If Breakker is in the Rumble, WWE could pull off one of the biggest surprises in the history of the match by having him win, although he still has plenty left to prove and accomplish in NXT.
Even if a win isn’t in the cards, having Breakker rack up several eliminations and last a long time in the match would go a long way toward giving him further credibility, especially on NXT programming.
Breakker is quickly gaining a big following, and there is little doubt that the crowd in St. Louis will react positively if he does appear in the Rumble on Saturday.
Gunther to Be Backstage at Royal Rumble
Like Breakker, Gunther reportedly could be an NXT representative in the men’s Royal Rumble match as well.
Per PWInsider (h/t Mukherjee), Gunther will also at The Dome in America’s Center for the show, and it remains be seen if he will be utilized as part of the Rumble match.
Gunther is the new name of longtime NXT UK Superstar WALTER, who recently made the full-time transition to NXT. On last week’s episode of NXT, Walter beat Roderick Strong in the main event and then announced that his name had been changed to Gunther.
The Austria native has been a dominant force in the realm of NXT, holding the United Kingdom Championship for a record 870 days before dropping it to Ilja Dragunov in August.
He is also the leader of the Imperium faction, and the tag team of Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel has been highly successful under his guidance as well.
Gunther hasn’t done much on the main roster, but he has made a couple of appearances. Most notably, he was part of the NXT men’s Survivor Series elimination team at the Survivor Series 2019 pay-per-view.
He was eliminated in that match without much ballyhoo, but things could be different for Gunther this time around.
Gunther has made the move to the United States from Europe and will be more available to WWE moving forward both in NXT and the main roster.
It is unclear if WWE has immediate plans to call him up, but if it does, a dominant showing in the Rumble would be a great way to set the stage.
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