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Shane McMahon WrestleMania Rumors, RVD on Potential WWE Return, AJ Styles Praises Miz
February 9, 2022
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Big WrestleMania Match Was Reportedly Planned for Shane McMahon
WWE has reportedly been forced to make a big change to the WrestleMania 38 card following Shane McMahon's departure.
According to WrestleVotes, original plans called for McMahon to be "positioned near the top" of the WrestleMania card. With Shane reportedly out of the picture, WWE is in search of a new "major attraction" and the WrestleMania card is in "complete flux."
McMahon was a surprise entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match last month, and there were reportedly additional plans in place for him for both Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania.
PWInsider's Mike Johnson later reported that there was heat on Shane for his actions as a producer for the Rumble match. Johnson noted that Shane was frustrated that his father, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, shot down many of his ideas as well.
Shane was reportedly removed from the internal roster and the decision was made to go in a different direction with him no longer factoring into Elimination Chamber or WrestleMania plans.
It isn't clear who Shane was supposed to face at WrestleMania, but given that he was reportedly slated to be on Raw, some of the potential options were Austin Theory, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley and Kevin Owens.
Theory may have made the most sense due to the fact that Theory and Vince have been interacting on screen for the past several weeks with Vince trying to get the most out of Theory.
Regardless of what the plans may have been, Shane is always in fairly significant and memorable matches when he competes at WrestleMania, so his absence would leave a hole on the card if he was indeed supposed to be part of the event.
RVD Talks Possibly Making WWE In-Ring Return
WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam said Tuesday that he is open to a WWE in-ring return if the opportunity presents itself.
During an interview with SportsKeeda (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Van Dam suggested he would consider any offer that comes his way whether its from WWE or another promotion: "I really do not have any plans for it, but you know, I would consider any situation from any company. I would definitely consider it. If it's right, it's right."
Van Dam also said he was ready to be a surprise entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match if called upon: "I let the WWE know that I was available if they needed me for Royal Rumble, and I was on standby, with a brand new outfit feeling great, you know, in a great condition. In the end, they did not call me in, but it could happen anytime."
The 51-year-old veteran's most recent match for a major promotion was back in September 2020 when he was working for Impact Wrestling.
After Van Dam's Impact contract expired, he reached a deal with WWE that allowed him to be part of the Hall of Fame last year and also includes merchandising opportunities.
RVD would have been a fun surprise for the Rumble, especially since it was largely lacking in that area aside from Shane McMahon, Bad Bunny and Drew McIntyre, who returned from injury.
While Van Dam may not be able to wrestle at the same level he once did, especially from a high-flying perspective, he remains hugely popular and has plenty of credibility as a former WWE champion.
Since WWE doesn't hesitate to bring back stars of yesteryear when it makes sense to do so, it stands to reason that RVD still has a chance for one last run with the company.
Styles Lauds The Miz's Heel Work
AJ Styles is one of the most beloved and respected wrestlers in the business today, which causes people to take notice when he praises one of his peers.
The Phenomenal One did precisely that during an appearance on Out of Character with Fox Sports' Ryan Satin this week.
During the interview (h/t Mukherjee), Styles had nothing but great things to say about The Miz and his work as a heel in WWE:
"To me, there's no one who understands what a heel's supposed to be like [better] than The Miz. That's what I wanted to be. I'm just not as good as him. That's what I wanna be, and that's what heels should wanna be, they should not wanna be liked. They should wanna be spit on and all this stuff.
"That's what we should strive for because with that emotion that you bring as a heel, [it] just makes whoever you're working that much better. When you got a heel and you got a babyface, it's easy. When you got a great storyline, it's easy, everything's gonna work out."
The Miz has faced criticism for as long as he has been in the wrestling business.
Many of his detractors didn't like the fact that he came to WWE from the world of reality television, while others have criticized his in-ring work.
Miz has won over a fair amount of fans, though, thanks to his promo ability, heel work and improved wrestling skills.
Styles is on the other end of the spectrum in that he has always been considered one of the best in the ring, but wasn't necessarily viewed as a great talker or someone with a ton of charisma.
That has changed during his WWE run, as Styles has shown the ability to connect with the fans on the microphone as both a heel and a face.
Styles and Miz are both on the Raw roster currently with Styles as a face and Miz as a heel, so it is entirely possible that they could work together again in the near future.
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