WWE: Plans Dropped for Lynch vs. Rousey at WrestleMania 39, Tyson Fury Update, Friday’s SmackDown News

WWE Reportedly Dropped Plans for Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey Match at WrestleMania 39

WWE reportedly recently dropped their plans for a potential match between Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey at next year’s WrestleMania 39 event, according to the Wrestling Observer Radio.

Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that while WWE officials had plans at one point for this potential match to take place at WrestleMania 39, that is no longer the case as of this past Friday. Meltzer reported that one source spoken to stated that this match was now very unlikely to take place at next year’s event while another high level source stated that those plans were currently believed to be “dead.”

WOR: Dave and Garrett discuss WWE not planning on doing Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch at WrestleMania this year.https://t.co/mYdKSjVF4U pic.twitter.com/iBFiX5c5u3

— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) December 30, 2022

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Tyson Fury’s Visa & U.S. Ban Issues Update

As noted before, WWE plans for Tyson Fury’s potential involvement at next month’s Royal Rumble event and next year’s WrestleMania 39 event is currently in serious doubt due to Fury’s current ban from entering the United States over his alleged association with an Irish mob boss, who has been under sanction by the U.S. government.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Fury is among 600 people who are currently banned from entering the U.S. due to their association with mob boss Daniel Kinahan. The reason for Fury’s ban reportedly is related to his close friendship with Kinanhan, who is also his advisor.

One high level source spoken to within WWE reportedly stated that while they could not confirm of the rumored plans for Fury at WWE’s upcoming events, it was something that had not been recently talked about within the company. This same source reportedly also stated that Fury had caused some issues with his past appearances involving him not being willing to put anyone over nor look vulnerable at any time. This same source reportedly also stated that it would not make sense to book Fury for a surprise Rumble spot due to those issues and the very high cost to use him for a quick Rumble cameo.

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Friday’s WWE SmackDown Show News & Notes

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Tampa, Florida featured the surprise return of Drew McIntyre. Following the Solo Sikoa vs. Sheamus match on the show, Sikoa and the Usos launched a post-match attack on Sheamus resulting in McIntyre making his surprise return and helping Sheamus fend off the Bloodline. Prior to his return McIntyre had been out of action since this past November due to a ruptured eardrum injury.

Dave Bautista (known as Batista in WWE) and WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Gerald Brisco reportedly were seen in attendance backstage during Friday’s SmackDown show in Tampa, according to PWInsider.

Friday’s SmackDown show featured a promo segment between Imperium and Braun Strowman that ended in a brawl resulting in Ricochet coming out to save Strowman. During his run-in, Ricochet accidentally hit Gunther in the head from an errant chair shot that was not meant to strike him and instead just the ropes as Gunther left the ring. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Gunther seemed to feel okay backstage following the incident.

Besides Gunther, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Raquel Rodriguez also suffered injuries at the show. Owens suffered a noticeable shiner under his eye during his match with John Cena against Zayn and Roman Reigns. Zayn suffered a bloody nose during the same match. Rodriguez suffered a cut hand during her match against Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.