WWE WrestleMania Rumors: Examining Latest Buzz Ahead of Sunday's Show

WWE's unique rollout of WrestleMania 36 only furthered the rumblings on the rumor mill. 

The two-day special, some of it pre-taped well in advance, kicked off Saturday night and featured plenty of notable moments. Sunday promises more of the same surreal, audience-less entertainment serving as a great diversion during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Before more surely historic moments unfold, let's take a closer look at some of the most notable rumors making the rounds, highlighted by Seth Rollins and how this year's show could influence others. 

Seth Rollins Headed for Hiatus?

The idea of Seth Rollins stepping away from WWE for a bit isn't exactly a new one. 

Rollins has reinvented himself with a fun character and faction in recent months, but not too long ago after his middling feud with Bray Wyatt's The Fiend, it seemed like a break from WWE was on the way. 

Instead, Rollins found himself on the Mania card this weekend in a match against Kevin Owens. But legitimate concerns for those in the faction around him meant WWE couldn't really move forward with his faction angle in the post-Mania frenzy. 

According to Tom Colohue of Sportskeeda, Rollins might not be on television much after Mania largely because of AoP being written off television and concerns with Buddy Murphy. Interestingly, that aligns with Colohue's prior reporting that both Rollins and Becky Lynch were headed for a post-Mania break anyway. 

And now would be the time for two of the company's top stars to step away, right? Rollins can't do much with his faction if the faction can't appear in any capacity as it is and to be blunt, absence might make fans more receptive to whatever WWE has planned for him next after a ho-hum few months. 

Granted, this presumes WWE as a whole doesn't take a break. But based on the actions of the company so far that just isn't in the cards. The same won't apply to individual Superstars like Rollins. 

Two-night Plans Aren't New

WWE, as expected, found a way to make WrestleMania work. While some detractors might have wanted to see WWE push off the event for now, with it an unknown as to how long the current pandemic will sideline everything, it seems the company wanted to wrap up its major storylines as soon as possible. 

Which led to the two-day event. But according to Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso, the idea isn't exactly new: "The change of venue wasn’t the only adjustment. For the first time ever WrestleMania will be a two-night event, beginning this Saturday. The idea of a two-night show was discussed last year for WrestleMania 35 but never gained traction as a realistic possibility."

Real life forced WWE's hand and the two-day idea became a "realistic possibility," to say the least. 

Now the question is simple: If it's successful enough why wouldn't WWE do this for every WrestleMania? The normal format just falls flat. While a spectacle, it's a tiring event when there's a pre-show plus seven or more hours of matches on a broadcast. Superstars undeservingly suffer in certain spots on the card because the crowd is exhausted and the end-of-show matches don't feel to have the same impact for this very reason.

Call it a little bit of suffering from success. WWE arguably has the most talented roster in wrestling history and wants to fit everyone it can onto the biggest card of the year. But moving forward, making Mania dominate an entire weekend as opposed to just one day might be the move. It was already an idea and now was forced upon the company, which might just spur long-term change. 

Goldberg Complications

It seemed clear when WWE slapped a title on Goldberg in Saudi Arabia, sidetracking Bray Wyatt, that it would be a short-term arrangement meant to boost the Mania card. 

Polazring as such an idea might be, things got even more complicated with the news Roman Reigns pulled out of Mania due to coronavirus concerns. WWE then quietly shifted Braun Strowman into the title match against Goldberg, not so much as even shooting an interview to explain the shift from a storyline standpoint. 

And maybe that's with reason. According to Colohue, "Goldberg is very expensive and he wasn't planned for any more appearances than this one," meaning beyond Mania. 

One can see the dilemma here. The plan was blatantly having a novelty "spear vs. spear" match before giving the title to Reigns, who would then turn around and finally be the headline act for SmackDown on Fox. 

Now? WWE was either stuck with paying up huge for a part-timer champion and dealing with any backlash atop the price, or randomly putting a title on Strowman as a transitional champion. It's the latter, which probably sets up yet another Strowman-Reigns feud sometime down the line, which has been done more than a handful of times in recent history already. 

This is the risk WWE ran when going with Goldberg as a champion over Wyatt as it is though, so like the response to global happenings, it should prove interesting to see how WWE works this post-Mania.