WWE Rumors on Rhea Ripley, Jade Cargill, Belair, Gunther, Brock Lesnar, Oba Femi, Rey Mysterio

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

Reported Details on Ripley-Cargill Social Media Spat

The social media back-and-forth between WWE women's champion Jade Cargill and her WrestleMania 42 opponent, Rhea Ripley, was reportedly a work manufactured by WWE in an effort to create intrigue for their upcoming bout.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlePurists), WWE is trying to "make you think it's real," and "make it out like it's a shoot and they're gonna really fight at this show," despite the fact that it is all part of the plan.

On Sunday, Ripley and Cargill traded barbs on X, one day after Ripley won the women's Elimination Chamber match to earn a shot at Jade's WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania:

Cargill seemed to suggest that Ripley's status as a top star in the women's division has something to do with her being close with members of the creative team, which was an accusation Ripley didn't appreciate:

Chelsea Green and Piper Niven later chimed in with support for Rhea, and Cargill sent some vitriol their way as well:

Per Meltzer, the involvement of Green and Niven was meant to make the interaction seem more real, and it is fair to say WWE accomplished its goal in that respect.

It was also reported by Meltzer that the subject matter of the X beef represented a "prevailing viewpoint" that is legitimately held by many talent backstage.

While it is unclear exactly which aspect of the war of words resonated most with other WWE Superstars, drawing from reality often results in the best pro wrestling angles.

Ripley and Cargill didn't have much history before Rhea won at Elimination Chamber, but they quickly got people talking about them and their feud on Monday, which is exactly what WWE wanted with WrestleMania on the horizon.

Cargill vs. Belair Reportedly Originally Planned for WrestleMania

Cargill vs. Ripley is set for WrestleMania 42, but that reportedly wasn't the original plan for Jade at the Showcase of the Immortals.

According to Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), WWE initially had designs on a Cargill vs. Bianca Belair match at the Showcase of the Immortals, but it was scrapped when Belair did not recover in time from a finger injury suffered at last year's WrestleMania.

Two weeks ago, Belair took to Instagram to reveal that she started rehab after undergoing surgery on her finger:

The procedure was about 10 months removed from WrestleMania 41 when she injured her finger during a Triple Threat match against Ripley and Iyo Sky.

Back in November, Belair explained the injury during an appearance on BET's 106 & Sports (h/t F4WOnline's Bryan Rose), noting that a broken knuckle made it far more complicated than a typical finger break.

"So I broke my knuckle, not my finger, I broke my knuckle, I broke the joint," Belair said. "It's something that I thought was going to be a very straightforward, you know, eight to 12 weeks. It's been almost six months at this point.

"I was in a Triple Threat with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. And we were going to the top rope, because that's what we do, and we came off the top rope and Rhea landed straight on my hand and it just crushed everything in my finger. So it's been a crazy journey. You know, being an athlete and having an injury, you rely on your body and now my body's not doing what it's supposed to do. But I'm hoping that I can be back in the ring soon."

In the months leading up to WrestleMania 41, Belair was in a tag team with Cargill, and they even held the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships together.

However, when Jade got taken out by a mystery attacker, Naomi replaced her as Bianca's partner. Months later, it was revealed that Naomi attacked Cargill, placing Belair in the middle of the conflict.

Belair went on to serve as the special guest referee for the match between Cargill and Naomi at Evolution, which was won by Jade.

Given the history they have, a Belair vs. Cargill match and rivalry would have made a ton of sense for WrestleMania 42, but since The EST's status and return date are still up in the air, WWE had to pivot to Ripley.

WWE Reportedly Weighing Multiple WrestleMania Opponents for Gunther

WWE is reportedly considering three big names as potential opponents for Gunther at WrestleMania 42.

According to WrestleVotes on Fightful Select (h/t Ortman), the three possibilities for The Ring General on the Grandest Stage of Them All are Rey Mysterio, Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi.

Of those options, Mysterio stands out as the most sensible choice given Gunther's recent storylines.

Over the past year, Gunther has retired three legendary performers in Goldberg, John Cena and AJ Styles, and the 51-year-old Mysterio could potentially be next on that list.

Also, Gunther faced Dragon Lee in a spectacular match on Monday night's episode of Raw since Lee was trying to get revenge on Gunther for his treatment of Styles, who was Lee's former tag team partner.

In order to beat Lee, Gunther ripped off his mask and locked him in a sleeper hold, forcing Lee to tap out.

Mysterio has teamed with Lee in the past, as they were both members of the LWO, so Rey going after Gunther on Lee's behalf is an easy story to tell.

Lesnar and Femi would be excellent opponents for Gunther as well, but there is reason to believe they could end up facing each other based on the interaction they had during the men's Royal Rumble match.

Both Lesnar and Femi stand out as potential dream matches for Gunther, but based on where all of them are being positioned currently, it would perhaps be better to save those matches and go with Gunther vs. Mysterio in the meantime.