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

The Rock's WrestleMania 41 Status Reportedly Still Unclear

The Rock made his in-ring return earlier this year at WrestleMania, but it reportedly still isn't known if he will be available to compete at WrestleMania 41.

On Tuesday, Chris Featherstone of SportsKeeda reported that WWE has "decided to move forward in creative plans as if The Rock will not appear" at WrestleMania 41, although he added the caveat that plans related to The Rock could "change at any moment."

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp responded to Featherstone's report, noting that it is "correct and has been for quite a while."

When The Rock returned to WWE back in January, it initially looked as though he was going to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, but WWE instead turned The Rock heel and had Cody Rhodes go after Reigns and the WWE Championship.

The Rock joined forces with the Reigns and created a heel persona called The Final Boss, leading to The Rock and Reigns beating Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team match on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40.

In a promo on the Raw after WrestleMania 40, The Rock indicated that he would eventually return in order to go after Rhodes and the WWE title.

The Rock made a surprise appearance at Bad Blood after Reigns and Rhodes teamed up to beat Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in the main event. The Rock didn't say a word, but he made a throat-slashing motion with his hand, leading to a great deal of speculation regarding what his next move would be.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News) later reported that The Rock "gave word" to WWE that he would not be able to take part in WrestleMania 41, but when asked about it on Instagram, The Rock responded by saying, "Don't believe any of that bulls--t."

Every report seems to indicate that while WWE is not planning for WrestleMania with the idea that The Rock will wrestle, the company would accommodate him if he decides to do so.

However, given that so many of The Rock's recent appearances have been surprises with no leaks getting out to wrestling reporters beforehand, it stands to reason that only The Rock and WWE's chief decision-makers truly know the plan for WrestleMania.

Gunther Reportedly Closing In on New WWE Contract

World heavyweight champion Gunther is reportedly on the verge of signing a new contract with WWE.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), Gunther has either already finalized a new, multi-year deal with WWE, or he is close to doing so.

Since making his debut as part of NXT UK in 2019, Gunther has established himself as one of the most dominant forces in WWE history with multiple long and successful title reigns to his credit.

In addition to holding the United Kingdom Championship for 870 days, Gunther went on to become intercontinental champion for a record 666 days.

The 37-year-old from Austria dropped the IC title to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 40 earlier this year, but it was the precursor to something even bigger, as he won the King of the Ring tournament and then beat Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam.

Gunther and Priest had their rematch at Survivor Series, which Gunther won thanks in part to unsolicited interference from Finn Bálor.

On this week's Raw, a world title match between Gunther and Bálor was set for the Dec. 14 Saturday Night's Main Event, and WWE seemed to be testing the waters with Gunther as a babyface.

While Gunther has been an excellent heel throughout his WWE tenure, showing the ability to thrive as a face as well would add even more value to his impressive skill set.

Regardless of what WWE's plans are for Gunther's character moving forward, it sounds as though he will be with the company as a major player for many years to come.

WWE Reportedly Mum on Big E's Health Status

Following Big E's appearance on Monday night's episode of Raw, speculation is beginning to mount about the former WWE champion's in-ring future.

During a Backstage Pass Q&A, WrestleVotes (h/t Carrier) said "nobody knows" if Big E has been medically cleared, and that WWE is "keeping it kind of quiet."

Big E has not wrestled a match since March 2022 when he suffered two fractured vertebrae during a tag team match pitting him and Kofi Kingston against Sheamus and Ridge Holland.

While the injury did not require surgery, Big E has said on numerous occasions publicly that he has yet to gain medical clearance for a return to the ring, and it remains unclear if that will ever happen.

Despite his injury, Big E has maintained a role in WWE, primarily appearing on premium live event panels and making promotional appearances for the company.

However, as part of the 10th anniversary celebration for New Day on Monday night's episode of Raw, Big E showed up and attempted to fix the fractured relationship between Kingston and Xavier Woods.

Big E announced his intention to appear weekly and managed New Day back to glory, but Kofi and Woods shockingly turned on Big E by blaming him for their downfall.

That led to plenty of debate regarding whether that segment may have been WWE's way of foreshadowing Big E's eventual return, but neither WWE nor Big E have given any indication one way or the other.

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