The following are rumors, and should be taken as such, unless Fightful is able to confirm them.
- Dolph Ziggler hasn't been seen on SmackDown since the Independence Day Battle Royal. Fightful has learned that he requested some time off. Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio says Dolph is being "re-packaged" for his return, whenever that will be. Alvarez also says that he's not sure what the new package will be.
- Eva Marie recently left the WWE to focus on her movie career, but has said that she'd like to return some day to "snatch that title." If she does, the WWE allegedly already has side plates made up for her. Title Belt expert and enthusiast "dvizzle" on Reddit posted the news this week that when the WWE introduced the SmackDown Women's Title, there may have been plans for her to win it fairly quickly.
“They had side plates made for her when they first ordered the Women’s belt over a year ago (with several others). They are plain, red background with EVA in big black letters, and MARIE in smaller letters enclosed within a black box.”
Regardless, Eva was popped for a wellness violation on August 18 and never appeared again for the company.
- The Observer says that plans definitely exist to do a WWE Horsewomen vs MMA Horsewomen program. Supposedly the angle for it will really kick off at The Mae Young Classic live final, but the Observer doesn't know if the match is tentatively scheduled for Survivor Series or WrestleMania.
- Chris Jericho said on his podcast today that when he was at SmackDown for his surprise return, he also took the time to shoot a few scenes for the upcoming "second season" of Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
- An as yet unannounced tag match between The Hardy Boyz vs Gallows & Anderson might be on the Summerslam pre-show, or it might not be on the card at all. depending on how much time the WWE thinks it has to spare on the already loaded show.
- Speaking of Summerslam, the only competitor in the Fatal 4 Way Universal Title main event who knows what the outcome will be is Brock Lesnar, and that's only because of a stipulation in his contract that says he must be told the planned finish well ahead of time. This according to The Observer. The other three may not find out until the last minute, and virtually no one else besides Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn even know right now.
Still, it's worth noting that Brock Lesnar, who has said (through Paul Heyman) that he will leave WWE if he doesn't win, is advertised for Raw Live Events post SummerSlam, as well as the Raw branded pay-per-view No Mercy on September 24.
