WWE Rumors: Buzz on Road to WWE Payback 2017 for Week of April 27

Sunday night, World Wrestling Entertainment will present Payback, a Raw-exclusive pay-per-view event on its revolutionary WWE Network.

The event, headlined by a non-title House of Horrors Match between WWE champion Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, may lack the excitement and anticipation of some previous presentations, but it has spawned several rumors ahead of it.

Not every bit of rumor, speculation or news ahead of Sunday's show centers on the matches or Superstars that will appear on the broadcast.

Some involved a flurry of Superstars who could find their way to wrestling's most prominent promotion sooner than later.

Another involves breakout NXT star Ember Moon and an injury she may, or may not, have suffered at the latest round of television tapings.

Just days before WWE invades living rooms with its latest WWE Network extravaganza, check out these rumors sure to generate buzz and intrigue in the coming days, weeks and months.

Payback Rumors

Credit: WWE.com

Cageside Seats' Randall Ortman had a few Payback-related rumors ahead of Sunday's massive pay-per-view offering.

The first revolved around Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt's House of Horrors Match and its potential execution.

"Apparently, the Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt House of Horrors match at Payback may be partially taped, with the end of the match happening in the arena but the beginning pre-taped somewhere else."

This would not be the first time a match has been partially recorded. According to PWTorch.com, the SummerSlam 1996 Boiler Room Brawl between The Undertaker and Mankind was prerecorded in order to ensure a controlled environment for the participants.

The revelation suggests the match will be a grand production, potentially taking place off-site before spilling into the arena, where the match will conclude inside the squared circle. It would be fitting considering the feud ignited, quite literally, with Orton burning down The Wyatt Family Compound in a pre-taped vignette.

The second rumor ahead of the event is centered around the Raw Women's Championship bout between Bayley and Alexa Bliss, with Ortman saying it is "the only championship match outcome reportedly still undecided."

That is interesting in that Bliss has only been part of the Raw roster for two weeks, yet it appears as though the brand's creative team may be impressed enough by her work in that period to undo its efforts to push Bayley as champion and reward her with the title instead.

Finally, the third significant rumor ahead of Payback involves Roman Reigns.

"Roman Reigns was at Raw this week, but WWE chose not to use him for television, instead holding off on his return until Payback."

While it is admirable that WWE Creative chose to hold off Reigns' return until the pay-per-view, making the event feel that much more important, the show is and always was going to be a C-level event aimed at setting up feuds for bigger, more important future shows.

What really needed to happen was for Reigns to explode back on to the television sets of millions of WWE fans Monday night and physically confront Braun Strowman just six days before their Payback main event.

That did not happen and, unfortunately, Raw limped to a disappointing close without much in the way of fresh new content to hype the marquee bout.

New Talent on Its Way?

Cageside Seats continued their busy, productive week with rumors on a handful of free agents who could soon find their way to either NXT or the main roster.

According to Ortman, "WWE is apparently interested in Crazzy Steve, Gunner, Lio Rush, Donovan Dijak and Kyle O'Reilly, all of which will likely end up with the company with the next few months."

The gem of the bunch, at least on paper, is O'Reilly. The former Ring of Honor champion is among the best technical wrestlers on the planet. He brings a sense of legitimacy to every one of his matches based on his ability to stretch, strike and pummel his opponent into the mat with an intensity seen from few.

The hidden treasure may be Dijak, a tall and athletically gifted performer who die-hard wrestling fans watched grow both in the aforementioned ROH and in independent promotions across the country for the last three years.

A good-looking young performer with an understated charisma to boot, he could have all of the tools WWE looks for when considering its next top stars.

Rush would be at home in the cruiserweight division, where his aerial assaults would bring energy and excitement to matches, while Gunner is a bruiser who might work well as a new addition to NXT's Sanity faction.

Then there is Crazzy Steve, whose history with The Broken Hardys is well-established thanks to their wars in TNA. It is likely not a coincidence that he is being considered for a spot in the company so soon after Matt and Jeff returned to WWE.

Ember Moon Injured?

Credit: WWE.com

Squared Circle Sirens had an exclusive update on the condition of Ember Moon, who was reportedly injured at the last set of NXT television tapings.

During the Battle Royal to determine the new No. 1 contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship, announced by commissioner William Regal Wednesday night during the latest episode of the brand's WWE Network show, Moon took a nasty bump into the guardrail.

Seen crying at ringside and in need of medical attention, it appeared as if the spot had led to a real injury.

That is not the case, as Sirens' Casey reported: "Sources tell us that while Ember took a nasty hit on the guardrail during the post-match brawl she is ok and did not suffer an injury."

This is a relief for NXT, which has put a great deal of effort into presenting Moon as the heir apparent to Asuka's throne. It is an even bigger sigh of relief for Moon, who has worked incredibly hard to pay off the faith management has had in her.

At TakeOver: Orlando, on the eve of WrestleMania 33, Moon and Asuka tore the house down with an explosive, energetic and highly competitive match that ended only when Asuka cheated to save her historic championship reign.

Thankfully uninjured, Moon can now resume her quest for championship goal and the opportunity to do what no other Superstar has proved capable of since 2015: defeat Asuka.