Bray Wyatt Denies 'Shiend' Rumor; Ronda Rousey on Injury; Paige VanZant Met with WWE

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

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Bray Wyatt Shoots Down Dana Brooke Storyline Rumor

Former WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt denied Tuesday that there were plans in place for him to join forces with Dana Brooke before his release last year.

Wyatt responded to a tweet claiming that WWE was going to transform Brooke into a character known as "The Shiend" to combat Alexa Bliss after Bliss turned on Wyatt during his WrestleMania 37 match against Randy Orton:

While Wyatt confirmed that the angle was discussed, he wrote that it was simply for a video game and not WWE televised programming.

Reddit user Pepsiguy2 (h/t WrestlingInc's Sai Mohan) leaked dialogue that was supposed to be used in the MyCareer mode of WWE 2K22 involving "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, Bliss and Brooke.

Wyatt confirmed the video game plans but made it clear that any reports of The Shiend being an idea for TV was lost in translation and wasn't going to happen.

Since his release in July, the 34-year-old Wyatt has been a free agent and hasn't made televised appearances for any other wrestling company.

Wyatt is perhaps the top free agent on the market given that he was a three-time world champion in WWE, as well as one of the promotion's most popular stars.

His release came as a major surprise because of his standing within the company, and he figures to make a massive impact if and when he resurfaces within the wrestling world.

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Rousey Dealing with Minor Injury

Ahead of her SmackDown Women's Championship match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38, Ronda Rousey divulged that she is a bit banged-up.

Appearing on her Facebook gaming stream (h/t Andrew Thompson of Post Wrestling), Rousey described an injury she is currently dealing with:

"Oh, I’m totally fantastic, fine. I tore my labial frenulum apparently, which is that little piece of skin that connects your lip to your jaw or whatever, my top jaw. I’m like so sick and not feeling good right now. Sorry guys if I sound like crap. I've literally sounded like this all day."

The Baddest Woman on the Planet returned to action in January as a surprise entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match, which she ultimately won to earn a title bout at WrestleMania.

That appearance ended a nearly three-year absence from WWE programming for Rousey, who had taken time away to start a family with husband Travis Browne. She gave birth to the couple's daughter in September.

Since making her WWE comeback, Rousey has competed in several matches, conceivably to get her acclimated to the ring once again in time for her match at WrestleMania.

Most of those matches have been tag team bouts at untelevised live events, but she did team with Naomi against Charlotte and Sonya Deville at Elimination Chamber and recently had a singles match against Deville on SmackDown as well.

While Rousey is apparently a little beaten-up, her comments suggest she will still be good to go for one of the biggest matches on the WrestleMania card.

Rousey and Flair are scheduled to clash on Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 on April 2, and they will undoubtedly be in a prime position on the card.

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VanZant Discusses WWE Meeting

Former UFC star and new All Elite Wrestling signee Paige VanZant divulged this week that she had a meeting with WWE last year before deciding to join AEW.

Appearing on Throwing Down w/ Renee & Miesha (h/t WrestlingInc's Danny Wolstanholme), VanZant mentioned the WWE meeting and why she ultimately signed with AEW instead:

"I did know that my career would take me into pro wrestling eventually. I wasn't sure what venue that would be, if that would be WWE, or if that would be AEW. I've been a fan of both. So I actually did make it out about a year ago to the WWE headquarters. You know, they had a different plan for what they wanted for me, whereas AEW I am so excited that they were happy to partner with me and let me continue to fight MMA, continue to do bare-knuckle boxing. They are really honestly on board to just build my career, build me as a wrestler, and still let me be myself."

The 27-year-old is best known for her MMA career, which included nine fights in UFC. She owns a career record of 8-5 overall, including a 5-4 mark in the Octagon.

Her last UFC fight was at UFC 251 in July 2020 in a losing effort against Amanda Ribas. After that, VanZant signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, where she owns an 0-2 record.

While VanZant is still pursuing her career in BKFC, she is now officially part of the AEW roster after signing with the company this month.

VanZant made her first AEW appearance in September and has appeared sporadically since then as part of Dan Lambert's American Top Team stable.

Now that VanZant has signed with AEW, she is feuding with Tay Conti and figures to make her in-ring debut in the near future.