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