– WWE is high on Rob Conway and is planning on giving him a singles push with his new gimmick.
– Today is the one-month anniversary of HHH’s final appearance on WWE TV (except in video packages) since his June 26 loss to Batista in the Hell in a Cell match at Vengeance, his third World Title loss to his former Evolution stable-mate.
While he has been working house shows and dark matches at TV tapings, he will not be returning to WWE TV until at least two or three months down the road, despite rumors of a HHH/Ric Flair match at Summerslam. When he returns — which as of now, can be as late as the pre-Survivor Series build-up — he is likely to enter into a feud with Flair, and it is not set at this time who would play the babyface/fan-favorite and who would play the heel/antagonist. Flair often gets face pops wherever he goes off the bat, but is a master at turning the crowd against him. HHH, however, is a natural heel despite getting good crowd reaction for his elaborate ring entrance, but wrestlers often get huge crowd reactions when they return from a long layoff.
The storyline reason for his time off is simply “he has not been heard from since his loss to Batista,” as stated on the air a week or so ago during an episode of RAW. The off-screen reason for his time off is to let his body rest and learn more about the business of WWE behind-the-scenes. He is going through an orientation procses at WWE headquarters and has been seen often around Titan Towers, being very cordial to the office staff. This is Vince McMahon’s idea, as along with Shane and Stephanie, Hunter — as long as he is Vince’s son-in-law — is family and thus in line to run things whenever Vince decides to retire.
Him being away may have led to WWE pushing a Hogan/Michaels program for this time, but nothing is confirmed.
Credit: PWTorch Newsletter (for subscription information, go here)
