WWE/AEW Rumor Roundup – Payback Matches, Cody Rhodes & More

Rumored Payback Matches

RAW side of matches are announced for Payback 2020 PPV but SmackDown side of card is still to be announced. There are a couple of matches that are expected for the PPV this Sunday that can get announced over the week.

Fightful Select reported that first of those matches could be Matt Riddle vs Baron Corbin. AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy rematch for the Intercontinental Championship is also expected for the show.

Keith Lee Theme Change

Another news from Fightful Select was that Keith Lee agreed to the new entrance theme as well as the new gears that was used during his RAW Debut. The reason behind new entrance music is a dispute between WWE and CFO$.

WWE ended CFO$ deal back in February and the company signed a deal with their publisher which will see CFO$ getting half of all royalties from their music. And with the two parties on sour terms, the promotion does not want CFO$ to benefit much from them.

Cody Rhodes Taking the Time-Off

Cody Rhodes will be taking time off AEW TV for an extended period of time. There are two parts of this story. Firstly, PWInsider is reporting that this will be done in order to sell the vicious attack from Brodie Lee and the Dard Order.

Second part- Cody is expected to work with Stephen Amell on STARZ’s Heels series which is going into production in Georgia soon. PWInsider is writing that Cody’s vacation from AEW was timed in sync with the series going into production.

AEW Ratings from Saturday

In another news from PWInsider, WarnerMedia executives are said to be happy with AEW Dynamite ratings from last Saturday. The show went against NXT TakeOver: 30 and still garnered about 750k viewers.

WarnerMedia officials are also very pleased with Dynamite cracking the top 5 rated broadcasts in the 18-34 demographic for Saturday night.

RAW Script Changes

Wrestling Observer reported that changes were made to this Monday’s RAW up until 9 PM EST, which is one hour after the show started airing. This was due to the multiple new angles that were needed to taken forward to build towards Payback 2020 PPV.

Vince McMahon reportedly made many changes throughout the day on Monday. And then a few minor tweaks were done in the script from after he arrived to RAW around 7 pm ET. This week’s RAW garnered best rating since post-WrestleMania episode.