Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles Loading?; WWE Rumors on Candice LeRae's Return, Bobby Fish

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

WWE Planning Reigns vs. Styles Feud?

Speculation is running rampant that AJ Styles could be in line for a feud with undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns in the near future.

According to WrestlingNews.co, talk of a Styles vs. Reigns feud is born from the fact that they wrestled each other at a house show on Saturday in Vancouver.

It is typical for wrestlers to face each other on house shows in anticipation of a televised rivalry, and since Reigns doesn't work many house shows anymore under his current schedule, it could be significant that Styles was chosen as his opponent.

The Phenomenal One has had some involvement with The Bloodline on TV as well, facing "Honorary Uce" Sami Zayn on Monday night's episode of Raw after Styles poked fun at Zayn on Twitter for his excitement over Reigns giving him an "Honorary Uce" shirt.

Zayn beat Styles with some help from Solo Sikoa, and Styles was attacked by The Judgment Day after the match due to his refusal to join the group.

Styles and Reigns have some history, as Reigns was in the ring when AJ made his WWE debut as a surprise entrant in the 2016 Royal Rumble match.

Reigns was also one of Styles' first major opponents in WWE. They had a well-received rivalry in the weeks and months after WrestleMania 32 in 2016, including a highly regarded match at Extreme Rules.

Styles and Reigns have not worked together much since then, which could make The Phenomenal One an ideal opponent for The Tribal Chief now.

Reigns has already run through many of the top contenders on the WWE roster during his more than 700 days as world champion, but Styles is not on his list of victims, and may be one of the biggest opponents left for him.

How WWE Kept LeRae's Return Under Wraps

Candice LeRae made a shocking return to WWE in Edmonton on Monday night's episode of Raw, defeating Nikki A.S.H. in a singles match.

LeRae's return was completely unexpected by fans, much like the return of her husband, Johnny Gargano, on the Aug. 22 edition of Raw in Toronto.

According to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, WWE went to great lengths to keep LeRae's return a secret, including listing Nikki's match as being against Doudrop internally.

Monday's match was Candice's first since the July 6, 2021, episode of NXT, which saw her and Indi Hartwell drop the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships to Iyo Sky and Zoey Stark.

LeRae announced soon after that she was pregnant with her first child with Gargano, and during her pregnancy, Gargano made the decision to let his WWE contract run out.

Gargano was out of action for about nine months before his WWE return, and LeRae made her in-ring return just seven months after giving birth.

There was a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the in-ring future of Gargano and LeRae during their hiatus, but a WWE return seemingly became a much more likely scenario in July when Triple H took over as head of WWE creative following Vince McMahon's retirement.

Triple H was primarily responsible for signing and pushing both Gargano and LeRae in NXT, and he figures to be inclined to push them on the main roster as well.

LeRae enjoyed a highly successful return this week, and she is already lined up for another match next week against Damage CTRL member and one half of the WWE women's tag team champions, Dakota Kai.

WWE Reportedly Didn't Try to Bring Back Fish

Despite speculation to the contrary, WWE reportedly never contacted Bobby Fish about returning to the company.

According to Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), there is no truth to the rumor that Fish tried to convince Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly to leave AEW and go back to WWE with him, as Fish never had conversations with WWE.

The 45-year-old Fish did not re-sign with AEW when his contract expired this month, and he resurfaced this past weekend at Impact Wrestling's Victory Road event.

Before showing up in Impact, there was talk among fans about Fish potentially going back to WWE since he had been there from 2017 to 2021 and conceivably had a good relationship with Triple H while he was running NXT.

During his time in NXT, Fish was part of the Undisputed Era stable along with Cole, O'Reilly and Roderick Strong. They achieved a great deal of success as a group, and Fish was a two-time NXT tag team champion.

There seemingly wasn't much of a plan for Fish after Undisputed Era disbanded, however, and he was released from his WWE contract in August 2021.

Fish showed up in AEW in October 2021, about one month after Cole had signed with the company. O'Reilly eventually joined them as well, and they reunited as a faction.

Things seemingly didn't go according to plan for the stable due to Cole and O'Reilly suffering injuries, and with Fish leaving AEW, the dream of an Undisputed Era vs. Elite feud appears to be over.

Triple H has brought back many Superstars who were released during his hiatus and recovery from heart surgery, but given Fish's age and the lack of availability for Cole and O'Reilly, there likely wasn't much upside in signing Fish from WWE's perspective.

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