Backstage WWE Rumors: Latest on Women's Championship Plans, Kurt Angle and More

Charlotte Flair's SmackDown Women's Championship victory over Asuka on Tuesday's episode of SmackDown Live stunned the wrestling world and created a plethora of questions surrounding WWE's plans for the blue brand's prestigious prize.

Thanks to some timely reports, fans have an idea of what to expect before and at WrestleMania 35 on April 7.

The status of that title and the company's plans for it are just one-third of the backstage WWE rumors as The Showcase of the Immortals draws near.

What are reports suggesting about Kurt Angle and another one of the company's original five pay-per-views?

Find out with this recap of the rumors and speculation surrounding some of the hottest topics in WWE right now.

Plans for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania

Charlotte Flair tapped Asuka out on Tuesday to capture her eighth women's title and throw SmackDown's championship picture into utter chaos.

According to a report by Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats, "WWE's expected to announce plans for how the SmackDown Women's title will be handled during WrestleMania 35's main event during Raw Monday, but they'll keep it secret until then."

Any expectation that these plans involve the unification of the Raw and SmackDown brand titles should be tempered, though, according to Bryan Alverez of Wrestling Observer Live.

He suggested the blue brand's championship will not be up for grabs as current plans call for Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley to close out WrestleMania by holding gold.

The Four Horsewomen of NXT have helped make the women's revolution the success it has been, so it makes sense that WWE would want to close out The Show of Shows' first women's main event with the quartet standing prominently in the center of the squared circle.

How WWE Creative gets there given the fact Lynch and Flair will have just engaged in a grueling main event and had, to that point, engaged in an intense nine-month feud, remains to be seen.

Those hoping Asuka would somehow find her way into the main event, though, should stop dreaming of a triumphant night for The Empress of Tomorrow, as Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reported it is highly unlikely she will be added to the match.

Kurt Angle Update

Meltzer also reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that Kurt Angle's recent matches against the likes of Apollo Crews, Chad Gable, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles were of the 1996 Olympic gold medalist's choosing.

He had no say in his farewell match opponent Baron Corbin, though.

It is a shame the former Raw general manager was not afforded the chance to choose his final opponent. Yes, The Lone Wolf makes sense from a storyline perspective, but Angle is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever lace a pair of boots.

The idea he was allowed to choose his opponents en route to WrestleMania—all of whom gave him better matches than the Corbin one looks to be on paper—but not his retirement match is curious.

The bouts against Crews and Gable gave them a little rub from working alongside an all-time-great like the Olympian, while the matches with Styles and Joe were nice throwbacks to the TNA Wrestling era of his career.

Who awaits Angle in the last week before he takes the WrestleMania stage for the last time remains to be seen, but hopefully they are befitting a legend.

Survivor Series Speculation

Ortman also reported that local advertising for November's Survivor Series pay-per-view suggests the event will stick with the Raw vs. SmackDown premise, as it has the last two years.

Tweets of promotional materials made the rounds shortly thereafter.

In past years, the show has frustratingly been referred to as the only night when Raw and SmackDown Superstars battle for brand supremacy. This, despite the fact wrestlers from the red and blue brands have mixed it up in Battle Royals, the Royal Rumble and tournaments over the course of 12 months.

Last year's Survivor Series, a fine show thanks to stellar performances from Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar, was the launching point for some of the most prominent storylines in WWE today so from that standpoint, it was a significant show.

Whether WWE can continue that trend and return some of the prestige to the annual November spectacular remains to be seen.