Crown Jewel Battle Royal, Stone Cold Podcast Return Rumor, More in WWE Roundup

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

Battle Royal, U.S. Title Match Announced for Crown Jewel

On Wednesday's episode of WWE's The Bump, it was announced that a 20-man battle royal will be held at WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 31 to determine the No. 1 contender for the United States Championship.

The winner of the battle royal will go on to face AJ Styles for the title later in the show.

Battle royals have become commonplace on WWE's Saudi Arabia cards. The first major Saudi Arabia show was the Greatest Royal Rumble, and it featured a 50-man Royal Rumble match won by Braun Strowman. At WWE Super ShowDown earlier this year, Saudi Arabia native Mansoor won a 51-man battle royal.

Strowman is scheduled to face Tyson Fury at Crown Jewel, while Mansoor will take on Cesaro, which suggests neither of them will be part of the battle royal.

Based on the fact that Kevin Owens helped The Street Profits on Monday's episode of Raw by attacking Styles during a tag team match between The Street Profits and the team of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, KO is a strong candidate to win the battle royal.

Cedric Alexander is another option since he has a longstanding rivalry with The Phenomenal One that hasn't yet been fully resolved.

"Stone Cold Podcast" Reportedly Returning to WWE Network

After a lengthy hiatus, the Stone Cold Podcast is reportedly set to return to the WWE Network in the near future.

According to WrestleVotes, WWE is planning to bring back the Steve Austin interview special during the first quarter of 2020 or sooner under a new name.

The Stone Cold Podcast first aired on WWE Network in 2014, and it saw Austin interview many of the biggest current and former Superstars in WWE. Some of the more notable interview subjects included Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, Triple H and Dean Ambrose.

The interview with Ambrose, who now goes by the name Jon Moxley in AEW, is somewhat infamous since it featured some uncomfortable moments, such as Austin asking him about his childhood and suggesting that he had become complacent in WWE.

That turned out to be the final episode of the Stone Cold Podcast's initial run, but with more episodes reportedly forthcoming, there will be no shortage of options at WWE's disposal.

From current stars like Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, Charlotte Flair, Seth Rollins and Sasha Banks to legends like Hulk Hogan, Sting and Goldberg, WWE and Austin have a chance to create some compelling content for the Network.

Rumors on How WWE Backstage Operates

The WWE Backstage show that is set to begin airing weekly on Fox on Nov. 5 is reportedly almost entirely in Fox's hands.

According to Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Fox is making the decisions regarding who appears on the show, and WWE "doesn't have much input" into the show as a whole.

WWE Backstage, which is hosted by Renee Young and Booker T, debuted a preview episode recently that featured Christian and Paige as guests. Triple H also appeared on the show in an interview segment.

It looks as though WWE Backstage will feature some interviews, roundtable segments regarding current happenings in WWE and looks at past and present highlights.

The establishment of WWE Backstage comes in lockstep with WWE moving SmackDown from USA Network on Tuesday nights to Fox on Friday nights.

Since WWE is essentially Fox's answer to UFC after losing the UFC rights to ESPN, WWE Backstage will serve as the replacement for UFC Tonight in terms of drumming up interest for Friday Night SmackDown and other WWE events.

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