Backstage WWE Rumors on Gunther, Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre and More

As WrestleMania 42 rapidly approaches, the match card for WWE's biggest event continues to dominate the rumor mill.

One of the most prominent topics is Gunther's role on the show, especially since the Ring General has not appeared on Raw in two weeks and there is no clear direction for the biggest heel on the flagship show.

Also of interest is Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu, the match made official for Friday's SmackDown, despite expectations that it will take place in Las Vegas.

Dive deeper into those topics and more with this collection of insider reports.

WrestleMania Plans for Gunther

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Conspicuous by his absence of late has been former world heavyweight champion Gunther, who has not been seen on WWE television since defeating Dragon Lee on the March 2 episode of Raw.

BodySlam+ on Patreon reported that The Ring General's feud with Lee was designed to set up a match with Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. With Mysterio out due to a rib injury suffered shortly before the Royal Rumble, though, the report notes that it is unknown if Gunther will even appear on the biggest card of the year if Mysterio is not cleared to compete in time.

That would be a monumentally bad call from the creative decision should Gunther miss out on The Showcase of the Immortals.

The Austrian-born competitor has spent the last year retiring legends like Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles. For him to accomplish all of that, and be the most over heel on the show, and not be featured on the most prestigious card of the year would be an indictment on the creative team, if nothing else.

While not ideal, Gunther is the level of Superstar who throw something together to get on the card. If Mysterio is unavailable, run back the Lee match. Do whatever is necessary to get The Ring General a spot on the show because if nothing else, his match will improve the card quality exponentially.

Latest on Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu

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Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that, despite WWE running with Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre this Friday on SmackDown, the plan is still for that match to occur at WrestleMania 42.

Considering how lackluster the rest of the program has been to this point, it is no surprise that WWE would pull the old bait-and-switch with the contest. Even worse, they run the match as planned and the crowd cares about the McIntyre-Fatu match even less than it already does.

Unfortunately, both men are the most adversely affected as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the WWE title picture until earlier this year, leaving them with the creative scraps.

Hopefully, Fatu and McIntyre respond with a banger of a match in Las Vegas.

Injury Update on Santos Escobar

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Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported that Santos Escobar worked AAA Rey de Reyes injured, and further aggravated it during his match. As a result, he is set for surgery on his torn triceps.

Escobar battled , La Parka, Original El Grande Americano, and the other El Grande Americano in the four-way main event of the show.

It is disappointing for Escobar, who had just recently returned to television after re-signing with WWE and appeared ready to go on a main event run with AAA. Instead, he suffered the injury, was pinned by Americano, and will now likely be out for months.