WWE & AEW Rumours: Late Raw Changes, Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Changes were made to the October 20 episode of Monday Night Raw from Sacramento, California which saw Seth Rollins be stripped of the World Heavyweight Title and Jey Uso win a Battle Royal to earn the right to face CM Punk for the big gold belt at Saturday Night's Main Event.

For NJPW, there is an update on the possibility of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura taking place at Wrestle Kingdom 20, while NJPW STRONG Tag Team Champion TJP is currently working as a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center.

On the AEW front, it is a heavy "Speedball" Mike Bailey day as it has emerged why JetSpeed vs. FTR ran into WrestleDream. MVP has also denied that he had any heat with the former TNA X-Division Champion.

WWE and AEW rumours for October 21, 2025:

Late Changes Made To WWE Raw 

The opening segment of Monday's Raw saw Adam Pearce announce that Seth Rollins was being stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship due to last week's attack from Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Pearce then had an awkward confrontation with Bron Breakker as he tried to regain possession of the World Heavyweight Title belt, before The Vision cut a promo about why they turned on Rollins.

TC of WrestleVotes has reported there were late changes made to the opening segment of Raw, although it is unknown what the original plans for the segment were.

"A source backstage at #WWERaw in Sacramento tells me there were a lot of late changes to the opening segment where Adam Pearce stripped Seth Rollins of the World Heavyweight Championship. Original plans had things playing out differently than what we ultimately saw on screen," TC tweeted.

Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 Considered A Pipe Dream

It has been reported over the past week that people in New Japan Pro-Wrestling want Shinsuke Nakamura to be Hiroshi Tanahashi's final opponent at Wrestle Kingdom 20, although it was noted that any possible agreement was not a done deal.

Fightful Select has since reported that Nakamura has been discussed as a possibility to face Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom. Nakamura's name was mentioned more as a pipe dream than anything else, however.

NJPW noted there were a number of factors behind this, notably Nakamura's contract status, the unlikely possibility that WWE would allow the match to happen, and how a WWE talent being booked at Wrestle Kingdom would affect New Japan's relationship with WWE.

Rumours around Nakamura's long-term future have swirled throughout 2025, but NJPW management are under the impression that Nakamura actually signed a new deal with WWE in 2024.

Why AEW Booked JetSpeed Vs. FTR To Continue Into WrestleDream

Saturday night's AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view opened in unique fashion as the pre-show match between FTR and JetSpeed continued into the main show, with the fireworks filling the arena as all four competitors brawled in the ring.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that the match continuing into the main show was not a time management issue and it was done to make the pre-show matches unpredictable, as the assumption usually is the finish will arrive before the main pay-per-view begins.

TJP Working As Guest Coach At WWE Performance Center

TJP has not been a part of WWE since his release from the company in February 2019 but the Cruiserweight Classic winner was back in WWE this week.

PWInsider has reported that TJP is at the WWE Performance Center working as a guest coach. Whether this will lead to a full-time return to the organisation for TJP is unknown.

TJP has wrestled for New Japan in recent years, and he is currently one-half of the NJPW STRONG Tag Team Champions with United Empire faction mate Templario.

Other names to have guest coached at the WWE Performance Center in recent weeks include Jazz and Ace Steel.

MVP Denies Rumours Of Heat With "Speedball" Mike Bailey

Reports earlier this year noted that MVP had a strong dislike towards "Speedball" Mike Bailey and had made it known that he didn't want Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin to lose to JetSpeed.

MVP and Bailey poked fun at the rumours after they emerged and MVP has now directly addressed the reports on his Marking Out podcast, saying:

"At no point did I ever say that I dislike 'Speedball' Mike Bailey. I don't have an issue with Speedball. We work together, we see each other, we shake hands and we keep it moving. Like, there's no issue there. I don't have any problems with any of the talent that I work with at AEW. Mike Bailey is one of the nicest guys around. I don't have a problem with him.

"And to be honest, as far as I know, amongst talent at AEW, I think everybody pretty much gets along amongst the talent. I mean, yeah, you're always going to have professional disagreements. And everybody's, you know, jockeying for a position. Everybody wants to be the top guy. So, yeah, you're going to have rifts and you're going to have issues. But for the most part, I don't know of anybody in the AEW locker room that has, like, legitimate beef with anybody."

H/T F4WOnline