WWE Royal Rumble Rumors; Ali Talks Retribution; Anderson Weighs In on Reigns

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

Potential Change in Store for Royal Rumble

The Twitter account WrestleVotes (via Wrestling Inc's Marc Middleton) reported that WWE is expected to keep its ThunderDome concept through February 2021. That would overlap the upcoming Royal Rumble, which is traditionally in January.

However, the company is reportedly "working on something different" for that event. According to WrestleVotes, WWE is aiming to have the Royal Rumble in front of fans, though the extent of those plans is unclear.

Until a COVID-19 vaccine is discovered and distributed widely across the United States, filling out a large arena is probably off the table. But the NFL and NCAA conferences have allowed fans to return in limited numbers. The same was true for MLB in playoff games at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Perhaps WWE could run the Royal Rumble with a smaller capacity this winter. 

Ali Explains Retribution Monikers

Changing the names of the members involved remains one of the more puzzling aspects of Retribution.

The stars behind The Nexus didn't alter their personas when they invaded Raw in 2010, and the same was true of The Shield when Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins debuted at Survivor Series 2012.

During Raw Talk (h/t Wrestling Inc's Sai Mohan), Retribution leader Mustafa Ali at least provided a plausible reason why former NXT stars would have new monikers upon forming the faction:

"Let me tell you why the members of Retribution look the way they look, and have the names they have. Imagine being judged by your name. Imagine being mocked because of how you look. Now, imagine a guy named Mustafa Ali that gave the members of Retribution names and masks so that they can feel what he feels. So that they, too, can be judged by their names and how they look. It's a crazy concept, isn't it?"

That still doesn't necessarily explain how the wrestlers in question opted for the likes of Slapjack, Mace and T-Bar.

Anderson Talks Reigns Heel Turn

For years, WWE fans have been calling for Reigns to lean into a heel turn since it seemed a more natural fit for his character. Wrestling legend and All Elite Wrestling manager Arn Anderson argued that was the correct call right out of the gate.

Anderson said on the most recent edition of his podcast (h/t Chris Siggia of WrestlingNews.co) that WWE should've established Reigns—not Rollins—as the heel when The Shield broke off into singles wrestlers:

"He should have stayed a heel from the days of The Shield when they were first brought aboard as heels. You could have turned the other two guys. You should have singled Roman out as a heel. He could have stayed a heel all this time and had one turn at the proper time that mattered. When you flip flop your personality and your characters and your heel or babyface, good guy or bad guy so many times back and forth, people can’t trust you. People can’t trust a word you say on a promo. I think he should have stayed heel and had one massive turn to turn him babyface. Hulk Hogan was a babyface his entire career. When he turned heel, it was the shot heard around the universe and it inflamed the entire industry. Roman could have been the same."

While feuding with The Usos, the WWE champion is showing how great he can be without embracing some sort of cartoonishly evil personality. He's unquestionably the bad guy, yet he's captivating nonetheless because you think he's telling his own truth when he says he feels justified in protecting his family at all costs.