WWE Rumors: Examining Latest Buzz Around James Ellsworth, Mr. McMahon and More

WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 may be on the horizon, but the Superstars who will compete inside the Devil's Playground were not at the center of the biggest reports and rumors from this past week.

A lovable loser and the most powerful man in professional wrestling earned headlines, as did a streaming company looking to change the industry forever.

What were they up to, and why did they have the attention of the vaunted internet wrestling community?

McMahon Blows a Gasket

It is never a good thing when a promoter brings in a gigantic, iconic star, and two weeks into the return, he's the recipient of the terrible, horrible, no-good "sucks" chants. Thus, when Brock Lesnar made his return to Raw Monday night in front of his hometown fans in Minneapolis and generated a positive reaction, Vince McMahon was a bit upset.

Bryan Alvarez reported during Monday's Wrestling Observer Radio broadcast (h/t Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc) that McMahon was irate over the reaction that Goldberg, the high-priced industry icon he has tapped to be Lesnar's Survivor Series opponent, received from the Minneapolis fans.

According to Alvarez, McMahon "blew a gasket" backstage over the reaction from the fans and "had Lesnar's music play to end the segment early."

Realistically speaking, it is impossible to believe McMahon thought Lesnar would receive anything but a hero's welcome in the city in which he starred as an NCAA wrestler.

Is the reaction Goldberg received indicative of how he will be received by audiences he appears in front of leading into Survivor Series? Not even a little. Unfortunately, this seems like an instance of McMahon's paranoid nature ruining the organic nature of a legitimate Superstar's homecoming.

Will James Ellsworth Be a WWE Superstar?

The underdog story of James Ellsworth may have a happy ending, as WWE is pondering signing the breakout star of 2016, according to recent reports from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.

According to Johnson, "there has been a push in the last week internally for WWE to sign James Ellsworth to a full-time deal, so don't be shocked to see him pop back up on WWE TV as soon as this week's SmackDown."

His performances, as well as merchandise sales that have surpassed those of top stars, are cited as the reasons behind the decision to ink the perennial jobber to a long-term deal.

Ellsworth is an underdog character in the truest sense, the least likely Superstar since Eugene. Sure, there is a comedy factor that is in play, but there is also the emotion he generates. Here is this guy who looks like Joe Blow sitting at home on his sofa, watching the show, and he is mixing it up with AJ Styles on a weekly basis.

His story is timeless and a major reason for the success he has enjoyed to this point.

A New Entry into the Wrestling Streaming Wars

Sunday night, Wade Keller of PWTorch took to Twitter to hype a major bit of news that would shake the wrestling landscape.

On Monday, it was revealed that FloSports, a streaming company out of Texas, had inked a five-year deal with World Wrestling Network to make FloSlam.tv the exclusive streaming provider for some of wrestling's hottest independent properties.

"In addition to live coverage and replays of all future WWNLive promotions, FloSlam will host archives from all WWNLive events dating back to 2003 and will produce a series of original documentaries focusing on the lives and stories of the athletes who compete in pro wrestling events across the world," the FloSports official press release touted.

Making matters even more interesting is an Aug. 15 report from Josh Nason of Figure Four Online that reveals WWE as part of a $21.2 million investment group in FloSports.

While FloSlam.tv would appear to be a direct competitor to WWE's revolutionary WWE Network, it actually presents a platform for the hottest young stars in the industry to gain a following ahead of an eventual arrival to McMahon's sports-entertainment empire.

Zack Sabre Jr., Marty Scurll, Kota Ibushi, former MMA competitor Matt Riddle and breakout star Timothy Thatcher will all be exposed to a worldwide audience before they embark on careers in the biggest company in the industry.