WWE Rumors on Seth Rollins' Injury, Bobby Lashley's Future, Joe Hendry's TNA Contract

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

Rollins Reportedly Dealing with Lingering Injury Issues

Seth Rollins was reportedly written off WWE programming on Monday night's episode of Raw due to the continued effects of injuries that have piled up in recent months and years.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestleTalk), Rollins has "chronic" injuries and is taking "a little time off" in order to "stay ahead of things."

Meltzer added that Rollins is medically cleared to compete, but he wants to get in the best physical condition possible, which is why WWE ran an injury angle on Raw.

Rollins confronted CM Punk after serving as the special guest referee for Punk vs. Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam, but just when they were about to throw down, McIntyre showed up, and Punk attempted to chase him down.

Bronson Reed, who had been asking Raw general manager Adam Pearce for an opportunity, then took matters into his own hands by attacking Rollins.

Reed hit The Visionary with six Tsunami splashes for the top rope, which left Rollins coughing up blood.

Whenever Rollins returns to the fold, all signs point toward him entering into a heated rivalry with Reed, but the only question is when it will happen.

Meltzer reported that it isn't yet clear if Rollins will be back for the Bash in Berlin premium live event on Aug. 31 or if he will take an even longer hiatus.

Lashley's WWE Contract Reportedly About to Expire

Bobby Lashley is reportedly on the precipice of becoming a highly sought after free agent in the pro wrestling world.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Lashley's WWE contract is set to expire this weekend. Sources within WWE last weekend expressed their belief that Lashley was perhaps poised to leave WWE at the conclusion of his contract since there were no plans in place for him.

Fightful added that the idea of signing Lashley has at least been discussed backstage in AEW as well.

Meltzer (h/t Bryan Rose of F4WOnline) recently reported that Lashley and MVP were set to see their WWE contracts run up "relatively soon," adding that there had been talk of them trying to revamp their Hurt Business stable in AEW.

The Hurt Business was among WWE's top acts during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it ended somewhat unceremoniously in early 2022 when Lashley turned down the opportunity to move forward with MVP, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander.

The first of Lashley's two WWE Championship reigns came while he was a member of The Hurt Business, plus he had a dominant run as United States champion during that time period.

Lashley has been unable to recapture the same magic since then, so it would be understandable for him to desire bringing it back elsewhere.

Lashley, MVP and Benjamin should all be free to join forces in the promotion of their choice soon, and although Alexander is still in WWE, there is plenty of other talent in the pro wrestling world who they could add to the group.

Hendry Reportedly Under TNA Contract Through 2025

Joe Hendry has been a consistent presence on NXT programming in recent weeks, but it will reportedly be quite some time before he is able to potentially sign with WWE officially.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Mukherjee), Hendry is under contract with TNA until the end of 2025, so he has well over a year left on his deal.

As part of TNA's working relationship with WWE, several TNA wrestlers have appeared on NXT and vice versa, but none has made a bigger splash than Hendry.

Over the past several months, Hendry has gone viral thanks to his catchy theme song and penchant for creating parody songs that mock his opponents.

WWE clearly wanted to incorporate his buzz into its product, and it has done so by featuring Hendry on NXT weekly.

Recently, Hendry has been engaged in a rivalry with Gallus, and he defeated Joe Coffey in a singles match this week on NXT.

During a recent interview on the Wrestling Matt (h/t Ian Carey of F4WOnline), Hendry said an unprecedented agreement is in place between TNA and WWE that allows him to train full-time at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

WWE seems to be rolling out the red carpet for Hendry, so it would be a surprise if he doesn't sign with the company when he is free and clear to do so.

PWInsider.com noted that WWE could possibly buy him out of his TNA contract early, but it isn't clear if TNA would be amenable to that type of arrangement.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below.