Roman Reigns on AEW, Undertaker vs. Sting Tease, Road Dogg in July 5 WWE Roundup

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe. 

Reigns Says AEW Isn't Competition

Many wrestling fans are gearing up for a "war" between WWE and All Elite Wrestling once AEW's weekly television show begins airing later this year on TNT, but Roman Reigns believes the two companies are worlds apart.

In an interview with Jim Parsons of The Sportster, The Big Dog gave his thoughts on AEW's emergence:

"I'll just say this ... It's all so new and it was what it was with [Dean] Ambrose leaving and popping up over there. Competition? No, there's no competition. WWE, we know exactly what we're doing. We have the best talent in the world. There's no comparing, I say that with firm confidence, all the way from the top to the very bottom. We are world class all the way through."

Reigns called AEW "another option and another place to get a check," but he doesn't believe AEW is anything more than that at this point in its development: "I'm never against optimism, but I think you have foolish thoughts if you really think there's a comparison or actual competition. Just an option, which isn't a bad thing."

One of Reigns' best friends, Jon Moxley (f.k.a. Dean Ambrose), made his debut for AEW at Double or Nothing in May to great fanfare, which generated a great deal of interest and excitement around the product.

AEW is also gearing up for All Out on Aug. 31, which will see Moxley face Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho face Adam "Hangman" Page to determine the first AEW World champion.

Meanwhile, there has been some negativity surrounding the WWE product as of late, but the tide may be turning. After WWE announced that Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff will be serving as the executive directors of Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, the shows were received much better this week.

The sheer size and scope of WWE makes it nearly impossible to surpass in the near future, but if the weekly programming continues to impress as well, Reigns' assessment may be correct.

WWE Teases The Undertaker vs. Sting

The Undertaker vs. Sting is perhaps the biggest unrealized dream match in professional wrestling history, which is why it raised some eyebrows when WWE seemed to tease the bout Friday.

WWE tweeted a photoshopped image of The Undertaker and Sting sharing the ring accompanied by the caption: "Imagine..."

Wrestling fans have imagined that match for more than 20 years, but a number of circumstances have prevented it from happening.

The Undertaker and Sting were among the faces of their respective companies during and before the Monday Night War with Taker represented WWE and Sting carrying the flag for WCW.

After WWE bought WCW in 2001, there was some hope that Sting would sign and immediately enter into a feud with The Deadman. Instead, The Icon went to Impact Wrestling and remained there until 2014.

Sting finally signed with WWE in 2014, but rather than booking him against Taker at WrestleMania 31, WWE went with Sting vs. Triple H instead.

Later that year, Sting suffered cervical spinal stenosis during a match against Seth Rollins, which effectively ended his in-ring career.

Sting has long been vocal about his desire to face The Undertaker, but according to Robert DeFelice of EWrestlingNews.com, Sting said at Starrcast in May that the match will "likely never happen."

The biggest thing standing in the way of the match may be Sting's health, but if he can get medically cleared, there may be an avenue to making it happen.

WWE has leaned on legends at its Saudi Arabia shows the past two years, and at Super ShowDown last month, The Undertaker faced Goldberg. The match didn't go well, but it showed that WWE is willing to utilize veterans in big spots.

The fact that Sting is 60 and The Undertaker is 54 suggests that a match between them may not be great, but simply getting them in the ring together for a few minutes would at least allow WWE to cross one of the biggest "what if" scenarios in wrestling history off the list.

Road Dogg's Reported NXT Role

There is now some clarity regarding WWE Hall of Famer Brian "Road Dogg" James' role with NXT at the WWE Performance Center.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), Road Dogg is teaching character development to WWE's rising stars.

In April, PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported that Road Dogg resigned from his position as co-lead writer of SmackDown Live after reaching a "breaking point" due to Vince McMahon's constant script changes.

SmackDown consistently delivered strong shows during Road Dogg's tenure, and it can be argued that the quality of the product has fallen off since his departure.

In NXT, Road Dogg will get to work alongside former D-Generation X stablemate Triple H, and he is also teaching something he knows plenty about.

Road Dogg was never considered a great in-ring worker, but he was hugely over with the crowd during the Attitude Era as one half of The New Age Outlaws with Billy Gunn due to his promo ability and commitment to his character.

If Road Dogg can impart that on the younger wrestlers in NXT, it will go a long way toward ensuring their success on the main roster.

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