The aftermath of WrestleMania 34 has seen a lot of big changes in the climate of WWE. It was an objectively successful weekend for the company. The Hall of Fame is always a good time for longtime fans, TakeOver delivered a classic show and WrestleMania was a generally enjoyable show. Even Raw and SmackDown delivered great moments with debuts, returns and various surprises. Along with the big moments came a lot of reports and rumors. The news about what went down WrestleMania weekend and about the future upcoming months of WWE content each provides a lot of fascinating stories currently on the rumor mill.
We will look at the rumors that Vince McMahon will specially have an issue with you knowing. Some rumors are good for WWE like a big return or good morale. Others portray McMahon in a terrible light for quite a few reasons. All will be examined when it comes to the major rumors currently making the rounds. The fallout from WrestleMania is the gift that keeps on giving. Find out what is going on with your favorite Superstars behind the scenes. Join us as we look at fifteen rumors circulating right now that Vince McMahon is upset about being leaked.
15 The Undertaker refused to face Rusev at Greatest Royal Rumble
The upcoming Greatest Rumble show in Saudi Arabia is being considered among the top shows of the year. WWE badly wants the show to be a success and is treating this card like WrestleMania. There’s a 50 man battle royal, seven titles, Triple H versus John Cena and an appearance by The Undertaker. WWE announced Undertaker was scheduled to face Rusev in a Casket Match. Those plans changed in controversial fashion.
Michelle McCool expressed anger at Rusev and Lana mocking The Undertaker’s old age when talking trash for the match in a TMZ interview.
Just hours after McCool’s tweet, WWE announced Undertaker was now facing Chris Jericho in a Casket Match. Rusev is likely taking Jericho’s place in the battle royal after Undertaker backed out of facing him. The harmless comments may have been taken seriously by the Deadman.
14 Locker room upset at Brock beating Roman
The promos of Roman Reigns leading up to his WrestleMania 34 main event with Brock Lesnar was stemmed from reality. Reigns and other wrestlers in the locker room are upset about Lesnar’s status in the company. WWE made Brock the Universal Championship for an entire year leaving the Raw wrestlers without a World Title as they work the full-time schedule.
Despite fans having issues with Reigns being the top guy, the belief is that most of the wrestlers love working with Roman due to his work ethic and passion.
The rumor mill indicates the Raw locker room was unhappy at Vince McMahon changing plans to have Lesnar go over Reigns. Most wanted Brock gone, but Reigns losing after all his promos defending the locker room made it even worse for the locker room morale.
13 Shane McMahon wanted to fight Brock Lesnar backstage after WrestleMania 34
The aftermath of WrestleMania 34 in gorilla position may have been more exciting than the main event. Fans reacted with nothing but hatred for the match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar live. Both men delivered finishers, table spots and blood spilling in the ring. Nothing worked and Lesnar retained in what is considered an all-time worst WrestleMania main event.
Rumors are out that Brock was livid when he went backstage and got into an argument with Vince McMahon. Lesnar was upset with the fan reaction and threw the title at Vince with words being exchanged. Shane McMahon apparently was ready to defend his father. The story goes that Shane got into Brock’s face looking to fight him. You have to respect Shane defending his father but instigating a fight with Lesnar is a death wish.
12 WWE had to get rid of Moolah statue
WWE developed a short tradition of unveiling a new statue at WrestleMania weekend every year. Axxess displays the statues of Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior, Bruno Sammartino and Dusty Rhodes. It was expected that another legend would a statue made in their honor this year. No statue was unveiled leading to many wondering if the statue tradition is over.
There is some speculation that WWE had a statue ready to unveil in honor of The Fabulous Moolah.
It would have made sense given the original plan of having the women’s battle royal named after her. Moolah’s controversial past led to fans reaction being negative to WWE celebrating her. WrestleMania sponsors demanded WWE change the name. If the statue was being planned to be unveiled, that was also forced to be canceled as well.
11 205 Live numbers up with Vince gone
The rise of the Cruiserweight division and 205 Live is an underrated story going around. It has been reported that the biggest change to come following the release of Enzo Amore was Triple H replacing Vince McMahon as the person running the show. Triple H has full control of the 205 Live brand and has been changing the presentation for months.
The fans have responded better to the incredible matches going down in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament. Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali and Drew Gulak have all seen their standing improve. WWE Network numbers for 205 Live are reportedly improving since the Triple H replaced McMahon. While this is great for the company, one show already getting better with Triple H in place of Vince is not a narrative McMahon wants out there.
10 Dean Ambrose out longer than expected
One talented WWE performer not seen at WrestleMania weekend was Dean Ambrose. Injured wrestlers usually make the trip to attend the Hall of Fame and take part of the Axxess festivities. Ambrose suffered an injury towards the end of 2017 during the run of The Shield reunion. It was a huge surprise given Ambrose’s status as the iron man never missing any shows.
A report suggested that Ambrose may have encountered a setback in his injury recovery when WWE replaced him at Axxess.
The potential of Ambrose being out even longer than expected would be a huge blow to WWE. Fans attending non-televised events want as many stars as possible to buy a ticket. The rosters being split makes it tough enough, but guys like Ambrose being on the shelf hurts WWE in small ways.
9 Independent promotions did amazing business during WrestleMania weekend
Vince McMahon leading WrestleMania into a bigger event that has become a worldwide phenomenon. This is great for WWE, but it has become a beneficial tool for other promotions. WrestleMania weekend is now the biggest weekend of the year for all major promotions. WrestleCon attracted thousands of fans and booked huge WWE legends like Ric Flair, Steve Austin and Edge to sign autographs.
Ring of Honor competed against NXT TakeOver yet was able to set a new attendance record.
Impact Wrestling, Evolve, Progress and other promotions did incredible business making great money. Wrestlers from New Japan even traveled to New Orleans to be a part of the weekend. Considering Vince hates competition, it must annoy him that so many other promotions and wrestlers are banking off his brand bringing fans to town.
8 Fans spoiled Bobby Lashley's return
The episodes of Raw and SmackDown after WrestleMania are usually among the most exciting of the year. WWE loves giving surprises to the fans with returns and debuts. Jeff Hardy, Ember Moon and The Iconic Duo were some of the best moments of the week when they surprised the fans. However, one return meant to be a huge surprise was a big disappointment for silly reasons.
Bobby Lashley returned to WWE for the first time in a decade to attack Elias. Fans reacted great to it at the show, but those to read Twitter may have been spoiled beforehand. WWE did a sloppy job leaving the logo of Lashley of one of their screens when doors opened. Fans in the venue snapped pictures and shared it on social media. It is one thing if an angle is spoiled, but WWE employees being the reason why isn’t something Vince McMahon wants from his company.
7 Dolph Ziggler's contract status
Dolph Ziggler has been a forgotten man in WWE for many years now. The depressing status of Ziggler right now saw him get eliminated relatively early in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 34 pre-show. Things don’t look great for Ziggler considering the lack of purpose with other top young stars getting called up from NXT.
There was a rumor going around a few months ago that Ziggler re-signed a contract making $1.5 million per year.
The huge number is not usually associated with mid-carders and it could lead to other wrestlers demanding more with their free agent status coming up. Ziggler however recently stated in an interview that his contract is set to expire soon. Both rumors paint Vince McMahon poorly as either overpaying someone he doesn’t use, or a talented wrestler is about to become a free agent.
6 Women's division upset about Greatest Rumble show
The Greatest Rumble event in Saudi Arabia is approaching and will be one of the top shows all year. WWE is booking their current top stars and legends to appear in a 50 man battle royal. Despite the huge importance of the show, WWE will not be bringing the women’s division to the show. Saudi Arabia bans women from performing and WWE is appeasing this to try to appeal to the market.
It is an odd decision given the amount of effort and hype WWE has put into the company moving towards complete equality between the male and female divisions.
The women’s wrestlers are reportedly upset about the decision to leave them home. This will be a story to pay attention to if WWE’s Saudi Arabia show is a success and they continue running live events there in the future.
5 Daniel Bryan still exploring options outside WWE
The return of Daniel Bryan has added huge excitement to the WWE fans going forward. Bryan has remained the most beloved wrestler on the roster. Even as the SmackDown General Manager, Bryan received the biggest ovation most nights. WWE doctors finally cleared him, and he will be a full-time wrestler going forward after being replaced by Paige in the GM role.
While the hope for Bryan is to thrive in WWE, it is not a guarantee that he will re-sign with WWE.
Before the injury issues, Bryan was already considering leaving WWE to have a run in other promotions. The long hair was being grown to lose in a Hair vs. Mask match in Mexico. WWE will have to use Bryan relatively well for him to sign another contract when it expires in September.
4 Wrestlers left Hall of Fame before Goldberg's speech
One terrible visual for WWE at WrestleMania 34 weekend saw the wrestlers in attendance growing tired of the long Hall of Fame show. The schedule for wrestlers are a huge pain during WrestleMania weekend with the media appearances and other work being done for the company. Hall of Fame night will see most current main roster stars attend in their fanciest outfits.
This specific year featured most of the wrestlers deciding to leave the event early. A fan snapped a picture of the area where all the wrestlers were sitting. It showed mostly empty seats during the main event speech of Goldberg. Today’s WWE stars were content leaving before Goldberg delivered his speech. Goldberg called out Roman Reigns at one point looking for him, but Roman was long gone.
3 Ronda Rousey's husband having loud argument with Alicia Fox at HOF
Ronda Rousey signing with WWE has been a huge success so far after the troubling start. It didn’t look good when Rousey struggled to cut promos and deliver entertainment on the fly. However, Ronda was able to hit a home run in her first match. The match of Rousey and Kurt Angle defeating Triple H and Stephanie McMahon stole the show at WrestleMania 34 making fans excited for Rousey’s future.
One negative for Rousey during the weekend featured her husband Travis Browne getting into an argument with a WWE performer. Cameras caught Alicia Fox yelling at Browne for doing something that apparently upset her during an exchange at a hotel. WWE removed Fox from the women’s battle royal and told her to stay home for the rest of the weekend. Rousey already engaging in personal drama backstage is not something Vince McMahon wants fans finding out.
2 Vince is mad at Mark Henry trying to get Owen Hart into Hall of Fame
Mark Henry had a memorable Hall of Fame speech speaking from the heart. The long career of Henry allowed him to develop a close relationships with many wrestlers through the years. One of the wrestlers to help him in his early career was Owen Hart. Henry shared stories about Owen being a joy to know before making an emotional plea.
The shocking moment saw Henry make a personal plea to Owen’s widow Martha to allow WWE to induct Owen into the Hall of Fame.
Henry also wanted Owen’s children to get to enjoy the business that their father did. Jerry Lawler stated on his podcast that Vince McMahon was very upset at Henry for doing this. The stance of Martha is to never let wrestling back into her family’s life and there were legal battles in the past. McMahon was not too pleased at Henry referencing Martha on a live broadcast.
1 Dozens of beach balls were in crowd during Roman vs. Brock
WWE tried their best to ban beach balls from the WrestleMania weekend events, but fans found a way to sneak them in. Fans saved them for the main event they didn’t want when Brock Lesnar faced Roman Reigns. Viewers at home could see the fans paying attention to anything but the match on the WWE Network stream.
Fans in attendance counted dozens of beach balls going around the stadium as security or other fans attempted to pop them. The lack of interest in the Reigns and Lesnar match destroyed any hope of Vince McMahon accomplishing to sell it as a money match. Between the boos and apathy, Reigns versus Lesnar was a huge failure. Reigns took a beating all for fans to play with beach balls and chant “this is awful.”