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

RVD Comments on Possibly Making WWE Appearances

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has wrestled several matches for AEW since last summer, but he may not be closed off to the idea of working with WWE again as well

When asked Sunday by a fan on X if he might “do a few WWE appearances” in 2024, RVD responded, “Sure.”

While Van Dam may simply have been dismissing the question in a joking manner, he does seem to have a unique arrangement that allows him to have matches for AEW while maintaining a relationship with WWE.

Proof of that came last week when Van Dam had a WWE action figure revealed as part of Mattel’s Monday Night War line.

That came just a couple of weeks after RVD teamed with “Hangman” Adam Page and Hook in a losing effort against Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage on AEW Dynamite.

Van Dam, 53, was last a full-time wrestler in 2020 when he was with Impact Wrestling. After his Impact contract expired, RVD was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021, and he made some sporadic appearances for the company thereafter, but didn’t wrestle.

Since departing Impact, RVD has wrestled on the independent scene, and his AEW foray represented his return to major televised pro wrestling.

Despite his age and years of wear and tear on his body, Van Dam appears to be in excellent shape, and he has put on some strong in-ring performances for AEW.

It is possible Van Dam has been impressive enough to warrant consideration for a match in WWE, but it is unclear when or if that could happen due to the mystery surrounding his contract situation.

Heyman Talks Expectations for Future with Reigns

Impending WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman doesn’t believe there is any end in sight to Roman Reigns run of dominance as undisputed WWE universal champion.

During a recent interview with TMZ Sports (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Heyman was asked why he decided to accept a Hall of Fame induction this year after turning it down in previous years:

Heyman mentioned his expectation that he and Reigns will continue to dominate WWE for a long time to come:

“So, you know, the only thing that gives me pause this year is that Roman Reigns and I are not going anywhere. We plan on sticking around. He will continue to be the reigning defending undisputed WWE universal heavyweight champion in the greatest title run of all time and the part of the industry that we are viewing to disrupt now, which would be a disruption of the disruption that we started in August 2020.”

Regarding his decision to avoid a HOF induction previously, Heyman suggested that he didn’t want to go in too early before important chapters of his career were written.

Heyman noted that had he gone in while he was the advocate for Brock Lesnar, none of this work with Reigns would have been recognized as part of his induction.

It can be argued that Heyman helping Reigns turn heel and reach his full potential has been some of the greatest work of his illustrious career.

Heyman has recently been heavily involved in one of the biggest angles in years, as Reigns is preparing to defend the undisputed WWE universal title against Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania for a second consecutive year.

On top of that, The Rock has returned, and he will team with Reigns to face Rhodes and world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins on Night 1 of WrestleMania.

Regardless of whether Reigns beats Rhodes to continue his title run or loses to end his reign just shy of four years, he has already cemented his place in WWE history, and Heyman is a big part of it.

Reported Backstage Reaction to Kabuki Warriors in NXT

There were reportedly mixed reactions within WWE regarding The Kabuki Warriors making a detour to NXT to defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships last week.

Asuka and Kairi Sane successfully defended the titles against NXT women’s champion Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley, and according to Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), their appearance was “a source of joy and satisfaction” among NXT officials.

However, there was reportedly also some “frustration” among people in WWE regarding the fact that a Kabuki Warriors title defense against Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark was advertised for this week’s Raw before the match against Valkyria and Paxley even happened.

Of course, the old adage in WWE and pro wrestling as a whole is that the card is always subject to change.

It can be argued that advertising The Kabuki Warriors vs. Baszler and Stark made it obvious that Asuka and Kairi were going to beat Lyra and Tatum, but they were heavy favorites regardless.

There were likely few people who expected the reigning NXT women’s champion to win the tag titles, and even fewer who expected The Kabuki Warriors to drop the straps so close to WrestleMania.

Ultimately, Asuka and Sane are two of the all-time great NXT women’s wrestlers, and regardless of last week’s result, they helped elevate Valkyria, Paxley and the entire NXT women’s division by showing up in NXT.