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Buying or Selling Bray Wyatt WrestleMania Buzz, Goldberg Return and Latest WWE Rumors

Chris Roling

A week stands between WWE fans and WrestleMania 39.

Along that journey, the rumors buzz will be some of the wildest fans will experience in any professional sports. Rumblings about returns, match plans, card formation and so much more will dominate the news cycle.

Even now, the biggest rumblings focus on possible returns of modern legends, WWE keeping the results of the matches under lock and key and what matches might actually end up main-eventing the two-night affair from April 1-2 from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Here is a look at the latest rumors making waves and whether fans should be buying or selling them with the event approaching.

Randy Orton Return

Randy Orton is one of the big points of return speculation from fans this year.

Orton has been out because of injury since last May. And even if he can't partake in actual in-ring action, it's hard to imagine WWE doesn't involve one of its modern greats in some capacity.

And according to PW Insider Elite (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), WWE will indeed bring Orton in for something over the course of Mania weekend.

What's interesting is that "Mania weekend" generally includes both nights of the show, plus the beloved Raw after Mania that always features major developments and sometimes is better than Mania itself.

So maybe Orton will be in town merely to pop up in a backstage segment or something similarly small. Or maybe, just maybe, he's headed right to the very top for a return feud against a new unified champion he has a ton of history with, a man named Cody Rhodes.

Either way, bank on seeing Orton in some capacity.

Verdict: Buying

Bray Wyatt-Bobby Lashley off the Card

It has been a strange path to WrestleMania for Bray Wyatt and Bobby Lashley, two guys scheduled to fight at the big event.

Lashley, specifically, had his hyped feud with Brock Lesnar end prematurely at Elimination Chamber instead of Mania. WWE presumably felt it had something bigger for Lesnar, who will now instead feud with Omos.

And as for Wyatt, he's battled iffy reviews, highlighted, literally, by that neon-filled match sponsored by Mountain Dew at the Royal Rumble.

Now, according to Wrestling Observer Radio's Dave Meltzer (h/t Ringside News' Felix Upton), the match could be off.

And yet, this one is a sell. There's no official word on why Wyatt is currently missing in action. But he's one of the company's top merchandise movers even if the reviews of his current saga have been mixed. Mania is about spectacles, and he's one of the biggest in the promotion. That's also a point of versatility, as WWE could easily pull shenanigans, whether it's a pre-taped match or a quick disqualification after the bell rings.

Verdict: Selling

WWE Hiding Results from Superstars

Fans never get the official inside scoop on the results of WWE matches for obvious reasons.

Superstars themselves? That's a different story.

Except, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (h/t Upton), WWE isn't telling any of the Superstars involved in matches on either night's cards the finalized results, keeping them a closely guarded secret.

Normally, it might not be too shocking to hear a handful of matches on the biggest card of the year don't have a finalized result, so Superstars obviously don't know it either. But to hear that every Superstar on the card hasn't been told is quite interesting.

Interesting, plus it makes sense in the dirtsheet era of leaks and reports. Why spoil the fun for fans? And in the background, keep in mind there has been recent buzz about WWE attempting to legalize gambling on certain matches in specific states, so perhaps this secretive approach is preparation for a new normal.

Verdict: Buying

Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley Will Main Event

This year's main events on both nights have felt super obvious for months on end.

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, of course, will main-event Night 2. And on Night 1, the inevitable reunion between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn enabling a unified tag-title faceoff with The Usos was just as obvious.

But according to Meltzer, the SmackDown women's title match between the champion Charlotte Flair and challenger Rhea Ripley will main-event the first night. The report goes on to say that, had WWE created another men's top title to give each weekly program one, that match would have gone in the main-event slot.

If the end results remain in flux, though, it's hard to imagine everything about the order of the cards is fixed, too. There would be nothing wrong with, say, Flair-Ripley opening the show, letting the first night be bookended by major title matches, especially when the opener (typically a Brock Lesnar spot) is just as important as the finale these days.

The story of Zayn has been one of the hottest of the year and overall in this modern era, and it is too closely tied to the Reigns saga to not main-event in some capacity. It's a huge Mania moment and historical point, as the last time a tag match main-evented a Mania was decades ago.

Literally any other year, Ripley and Flair would main-event one of the nights. It's certainly worthy of it. But the fact it's a rehash of a match that has already happened multiple times, plus the factors surrounding Zayn, Owens and the Bloodline, make this a big sell.

Verdict: Selling

Big Interest in Goldberg's Trip to Free Agency

It would appear that Goldberg is very much a free agent, which comes as a bit of a surprise given his status and the fact WWE loves having major names from the past and present at its biggest annual events.

Since WWE has let Goldberg slip to the open market, though, Fightful Select (h/t Ortman) has reported that several promotions, international or otherwise, have interest in booking him for shows.

And that's a resounding buy. Goldberg might be 56 years old and some of his recent in-ring work settled as polarizing at best, but as a modern legend and major spectacle, few boast his presence and aura.

Fans haven't seen Goldberg in a ring since February of last year when he lost to Reigns at Elimination Chamber. Despite his current free-agent status, though, it's hard to imagine that was his final match in WWE and the sport itself.

Verdict: Buying

   

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