Buying or Selling Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa MITB Plans and Latest WWE, AEW Rumors

The 2023 edition of WWE's Night of Champions, plus the normal weekly buzz around pro wrestling, has kept the rumor mill going strong.

It certainly helps that the end of May has suddenly shaped up to be one of the bigger months of the pro wrestling calendar year.

At the start of the month, WWE's Backlash wowed as the follow-up to WrestleMania 39. On May 27, fans get Night of Champions from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with AEW's 2023 edition of Double or Nothing following the very next night.

With Roman Reigns and The Usos challenging for titles and names like Ronda Rousey popping up in headlines, the buzz has actually managed to pick up compared to a normal year.

Here's a look at the latest from the rumor mill, plus whether fans should buy into them or not.

Reigns and Sikoa vs. the Usos on the Way?

It's never too early to start thinking about how WWE might use Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and The Usos beyond Night of Champions.

Sure, Reigns and Sikoa will challenge Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the unified tag titles. And sure, Monday in the Bank isn't until July 1.

But it's clear WWE already has eyes on what might happen next, too. According to WRKD Wrestling (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), the possible plan for Money in the Bank is the duo of Reigns and Sikoa challenging The Usos.

Such a development would make sense on a few levels. For one, Reigns doesn't have anything interesting to do otherwise, while other solo acts challenge for the briefcase and possibly the right to take him on. And two, it feels like a natural progression of the Bloodline story as the walls close in around Reigns.

This doesn't have to mean Reigns and Sikoa win at Night of Champions, given that there is plenty of time to make titles change hands if necessary. But with Cody Rhodes and others wrapped up in other things until possibly SummerSlam, this continued tag route makes sense.

Verdict: Buying

Drew McIntyre absence extended due to creative?

Drew McIntyre hasn't had an official match since WrestleMania, with his absence certainly felt around the main-event scene.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), McIntyre might have already returned, too, were it not for creative reasons holding up his comeback from injury.

But this one feels like a bit of a stretch, if only because it has been pretty well known that McIntyre has been wrestling through injuries for quite a long time now. There's also that matter of his contract being reportedly set to expire early next year.

It's not too much of a shocker, creatively speaking, to see McIntyre take some time off and only pop back up again for the big summer events in a few months.

Given McIntyre's prominent position in the company as a guy who took down Brock Lesnar and a serious threat to Reigns, WWE wouldn't want that type of draw away for longer than necessary because of booking reasons, though a contract standoff could make some sense.

Verdict: Selling

Ronda Rousey set for hiatus?

On the other side of the "absences" is the topic of Ronda Rousey. She just came back for the first time since 'Mania, yet might be on the way out the door again very quickly.

According to Meltzer (h/t Upton), Rousey had planned to take some time off, but potentially only once the ongoing story alongside tag partner Shayna Baszler concludes. It hasn't, and her return featured a surprise attack on Raquel Rodriguez, a then-tag team champ alongside Liv Morgan. The titles have since been vacated, with Rousey and Baszler now involved in the race for them.

That would seem to at least set the stage for a small program, but this one doesn't swoop in as much of a stunner either. Rousey's usage around 'Mania and even prior was a bit of a head-scratcher. Fans knew she dealt with an injury around that time and speculation suggested she wanted to be more involved with the tag division as opposed to as a solo act.

But as always with Rousey (and plenty of other Superstars, really), absence truly does make the fans cheer louder upon returns. That will inevitably be the case with her again, and this feels like a rather organic stepping-away point as a rest period before WWE starts building to its biggest summer events.

Verdict: Buying

NoC has three main events?

So far, Night of Champions looks like it could be one of the very best cards of the year.

As of this writing, it has a little bit of everything and it's all must-see material. There's the mentioned Reigns-Sikoa tag match, Rhodes against Lesnar, Gunther and Bianca Belair defending their titles and even Seth Rollins and AJ Styles in a showdown for the World Heavyweight Championship/

Yet according to Better Wrestling Experience (h/t Ortman), WWE wants to pump up the event even further by trying to classify it as a card with three main events.

And the problem with that is, on a small card like this, somebody is going to get left out and considered less than despite being in a championship match. The intent—making the event seem even bigger and better than it already is—is fair enough, but when the entire thing's theme is title matches (besides Lesnar-Rhodes), nearly every match on the card feels like a main event.

Trying to muddy up the messaging around the event doesn't make a ton of sense.

Verdict: Selling