WWE's Most Controversial and Shocking Stories for the Week of January 9

It isn't WrestleMania season without a scandal or two to end the second week of the new year, and WWE has plenty of them.

From Ryback calling out John Cena to Cena seemingly calling upon Kenny Omega, several stories generated thousands of comments on social media and, more importantly, created buzz around WWE.

As the Royal Rumble approaches on Jan. 29, a possible second victory for The Undertaker could set up a very interesting WrestleMania main event, but with Mick Foley's hip surgery seemingly on the horizon, will the hardcore legend even be part of the festivities? 

Mick Foley on His Way Out as Raw GM?

As Mick Foley's hip surgery looms, per his Facebook page, the current Raw GM is expected to miss several months recovering from the operation.

Foley's latest stint in WWE has not been a pretty one, as the hardcore legend has created his own highlight reel of gaffes, miscues and Hogan-like moments where he forgot which city he was in.

It's possible that if and when Foley is written off television, he will never return to his post as Raw GM. This past week on Raw, Stephanie McMahon began to plant the seeds of Foley's departure, giving him a very negative performance evaluation before The Undertaker showed up.

Foley possibly hinted at his own demise by telling Lana on Twitter that his job may be "up for grabs."

Ryback Calls John Cena a Poison—Alex Riley Bombshell on the Horizon?

Ryback's "it's not fair!" tour continued, as WWE Superstar John Cena became the latest former co-worker to enter the Big Guy's crosshairs.

Ryback has used his Conversations with the Big Guy (h/t Wrestling Inc) podcast as a sounding board for criticism of the WWE. Subjects of his wrath have included with Triple H, Cena, Vince McMahon and CM Punk, among others.

The former intercontinental champion was far from complimentary toward Cena, calling him a poison:

"

John's blocked on my Twitter. I blocked him, he's legit [blocked], I blocked him a long time [ago]. He [has] been a piece of s--t to me since Day One.

And people, the guy, I was nothing but nice and respectful to him and I know Alex Riley just came out and [admitted he had issues with Cena] and when people hear what really happened with that, they're going to lose their s--t.

"

Ryback is referring to a reported incident from 2012 that described undisclosed tension between Ryback and Riley. Riley recently told Jim Ross on the Ross Report (h/t Wrestling Inc) that he felt the incident with Cena changed the trajectory of his career:

"

I'll put it this way. There was an incident and it certainly changed the path of my career. I don't want to discuss it right now, but I will one day for sure. I will one day. It was a tough situation at times, I guess we can leave it at that.

"

Former WWE Superstar Tyler Reks commented on Riley's negative relationship with Cena during an "Ask Me Anything" interview with Reddit (h/t Wrestling Inc) in 2015, saying:

"

It's completely against the wrestler code to ever go through another wrestler's bag. One day, Riley walked into an empty locker room and Cena was just going through his bag. He found some pre-workout vitamins and b---hed him out for taking supplements, asking if he 'thinks this is ok.' Like, he was looking for a reason to get him fired.

"

It'll be interesting to see what Riley adds to this revived controversy, but from the sounds of it, he may have some sinister accusations to level against Cena.

John Cena Teases Kenny Omega Debut?

Over the past week or so, Cena has been using his Instagram account as somewhat of a troll's answering machine. Cena's Instagram, by design, is filled with unexplained pictures for fans to interpret themselves. That's like having an art gallery of conspiracy theories for the paranoid.

Cena's recent post is one of Bill Lumberg, Gary Cole's character from Office Space. Before that, however, Cena's last four posts were all connected to Kenny Omega, including a post of Omega himself. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, (h/t Wrestling Inc) Omega's IWGP contract is up on January 31.

With the Royal Rumble just a couple days beforehand, there is speculation that Omega could show up at the event a la AJ Styles in 2016.

Clearly, Cena is aware of the speculation—in fact, his Instagram account exists to exploit this type of chatter—and in his latest fit of mischief, Cena is playing with the internet's emotions.

Cena's online adventures should be taken with a grain of salt. The 15-time WWE champion made similar posts in the past that led fans to speculate everything from a dream match against The Undertaker to a CM Punk return. As of this writing, neither has happened.

Will The Undertaker Win the Royal Rumble?

The Undertaker returned to Raw this past week and wasted little time in announcing that he would enter the Royal Rumble.

With Goldberg and Lesnar likely to eliminate one another, The Undertaker should immediately be considered a favorite in WWE's biggest Battle Royal of the year.

Names like Chris Jericho and even Braun Strowman seem to have outside chances at victory, but an Undertaker win could set up possible WrestleMania matches against John Cena, AJ Styles or even Roman Reigns, depending on which championship Undertaker decides to vie for.

Earlier this week, however, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc) reported that the long-awaited Cena-Undertaker dream match is no longer in the works.

As of right now, The Undertaker makes the most sense as a potential winner of the Royal Rumble, but from there, WWE will need to consider booking somebody to beat Undertaker at WrestleMania—a rare feat that still comes with a lot of shock and could potentially lose the crowd—or allowing the 51-year-old part-timer to become a world champion.

Roman Reigns Drops the United States Championship to Chris Jericho

In a very interesting development on Raw, Chris Jericho became a United States champion for the first time after defeating Roman Reigns in a two-on-one main event.

The loss points to Reigns potentially defeating Owens at the Royal Rumble to become a universal champion for the first time.

WWE is infamous for its even-steven booking, and if that embattled philosophy holds up, Reigns will likely be victorious. With Jericho as United States champion, both Owens and Jericho will have a title to feud over once their friendship inevitably deteriorates and becomes a WrestleMania program.

Reigns losing the United States Championship also avoids the perception of Reigns' invincibility by possibly winning two championships. Reigns has competed for a world championship in the past two WrestleManias. It's likely that this year he'll enter his first WrestleMania as world champion.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.