WWE Rumor Roundup: Update on Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre vs Cody Rhodes, multiple stars released, Kevin Owens' new contract & more (February 08, 2025)
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Let’s discuss the latest rumors circulating among WWE fans!
Speculations and rumors are among some of the favorite pastimes for WWE fans worldwide. Fans around the world enjoy discussing and debating various aspects of the pro wrestling world.
In today’s edition of the rumor roundup, we cover the latest rumors among fans, including an update on Roman Reigns, WWE releasing multiple stars, Kevin Owens signing a new contract, a clash between Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, Cedric Alexander’s potential AEW move and more.
Update on Roman Reigns
‘The OTC’ Roman Reigns was brutally assaulted following his elimination in the men’s Royal Rumble by Seth Rollins. On the fallout episode of Monday Night Raw (02/03), Michael Cole announced that the OTC would be out of action for the foreseeable future, however, the injuries were not revealed as Reigns and Heyman refused to make that news public.
According to a recent report from, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter the Stamford-based promotion does not want Reigns to take a pinfall loss inside the Elimination Chamber match, therefore the Seth Rollins curb stomp injury angle was used to write him off.
Multiple talents released by the WWE
According to Frightful Select, multiple WWE talents including Sonya Deville, Blair Davenport, Paul Ellering, Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar), and Cedric Alexander have been released by the Stamford-based promotion.
Furthermore, the promotion has informed Deville that her contract with the WWE will not be renewed and “She will be eligible for free agency upon it expiring, which we’re told is in a number of weeks.” Following Davenport’s release, Fightful reported that there were “never any plans” for her in creative, despite rumors suggesting she would have a larger role when SmackDown expanded to three hours.
Additionally, there were no creative plans for AOP (Akam & Rezar) or Paul Ellering after their program with the Wyatt Sicks concluded. The outlet also noted that WWE’s decision not to renew Deville’s contract stemmed from the company not seeing much “upward trajectory” for her after a decade with the organization.
Furthermore, Chris Featherstone also reported that WWE talent were “caught off guard” by the recent wave of releases, particularly as many of them had been featured on television recently or were set to receive more exposure.
“Some WWE talent were “caught off guard” by the recent wave of releases, particularly as many of them had been featured on television recently or were set to receive more exposure.” Featherstone tweeted.
Kevin Owens’ new contract
‘The Prizefighter’ Kevin Owens has signed a new five-year contract with the Stamford-based promotion. The new deal between the two parties began last week at Royal Rumble and runs through January 2030 as reported by Fightful Select.
Owens is currently in a long-running feud with Cody Rhodes and he failed to capture the Undisputed WWE title at the Royal Rumble PLE. KO recently turned on another one of his friends as he attacked Sami Zayn for not helping him in the title ladder match against Cody Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes vs Drew McIntyre
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is a plan in the works to book a feud between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The clash was earlier scheduled in 2023 before Rhodes failed to capture the title.
“There is also a plan right now to get to [Cody] Rhodes vs. McIntyre, which was scheduled for 2023 before Rhodes ended up not winning the title that year.”
On the latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Drew McIntyre switched brands and joined the Blue brand. He also took part in the triple threat Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Jimmy Uso and LA Knight. McIntyre emerged victorious and joined CM Punk and John Cena for the Chamber match next month.
Roxanne Perez joins Monday Night Raw
Former NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez has been making headlines since her feud with Bayley kicked off. Perez followed it up with an impressive ironwomen performance in the women’s Royal Rumble match and broke Bayley’s record to become the longest time (01:07:47) a woman has lasted in the Royal Rumble match.
The former NXT Champion is now bound of Monday Night Raw and is set to battle Raquel Rodriguez in the women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying match as confirmed by the WWE. The two stars will likely battle in the 17th Feb episode of the Red brand.
Cedric Alexander’s potential AEW move
As mentioned earlier Cedric Alexander has been released by the WWE, the veteran broke the news himself as he took to his official X handle to thank everyone in Stamford-based promotion for the past eight years of his life.
“Thank you for the last 8 1/2 years! Being a professional wrestler has been a dream of mine since I could form memories and I will continue to do so till the good Lord says otherwise. #SeeYouIn90” Alexander tweeted.
Following his departure, AEW sources informed Fightful that there is anticipation from groups like The Hurt Syndicate to push for Cedric Alexander to join AEW now that he’s left WWE. However, it remains uncertain whether the controversial departure of his wife, Big Swole from the company will cause any issues.
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