WWE Rumors on CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and Surprise Roster Release

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

WWE's Reported Plans for Punk, Rhodes, Orton

WWE is reportedly being deliberate in its attempt to keep both Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton away from WWE champion CM Punk currently.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Wrestle Features ), the ongoing feud between Rhodes and Orton is meant to keep them occupied so that they aren't part of the WWE title scene.

However, Meltzer added that WWE has Punk vs. Rhodes and Punk vs. Orton on its radar for bigger events in the future.

Rhodes beat Orton in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 to retain the WWE Championship, but Orton punted Rhodes after the match, only to disappear from WWE programming for the next few months.

Orton resurfaced at SummerSlam to cost Rhodes in his WWE Championship match against Punk, and Rhodes and Orton have been going at it ever since.

At Sunday Night's Main Event, Orton beat Rhodes thanks in large part to a low blow, which suggests their rivalry is likely far from over.

As for Punk, he has been dealing with plenty of potential challengers for the WWE title, beating the likes of Kevin Owens and Johnny Gargano thus far.

On this week's episode of SmackDown in Mexico, Punk is slated to put the championship on the line against Sami Zayn, who has also been a thorn in Punk's side.

There is seemingly no end in sight for Punk's title reign, which suggests future championship matches against Rhodes and Orton could indeed be in the cards for him once the Rhodes vs. Orton feud has reached its conclusion.

There is reportedly some uncertainty regarding why Seth Rollins has been off WWE programming and when he will return.

According to WrestleVotes on Fightful Select (h/t Geno Mrosko of Cageside Seats), Rollins' name has not come up backstage in WWE "in a while," and although it is believed he should "be back relatively soon," it was reportedly not the original plan for him to be gone for as long as he has been.

The Visionary was last seen on Aug. 2 when he lost to Roman Reigns in a World Heavyweight Championship match in the main event of Night 2 of SummerSlam.

Reigns and Rollins put on a classic match, and they seemed to put aside their differences in the end by doing the signature Shield fist bump as SummerSlam went off the air.

Rollins has been kept off television since then, though, perhaps because of a lack of creative plans for him coming out of SummerSlam.

He is no longer in the world heavyweight title picture, and his rivalry with The Vision came to an end before he went after Reigns as well.

Because of that, there is no clear and obvious spot for Rollins, although that could soon change with Money in the Bank coming up.

Rollins won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match last year, and he is a two-time winner of the match overall. MITB qualifiers for the Oct. 10 MITB premium live event started this week on Raw, and it won't be a shock if Rollins is included in a qualifier in the coming weeks.

A lack of progress reportedly contributed to WWE's decision to release Wendy Choo last week.

According to Meltzer (h/t Mrosko ), WWE parted ways with Choo due to the notion that she had been in NXT for years and hadn't developed to the level the company expected or hoped.

Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline (h/t WrestlePurists ) previously reported that sources at the WWE Performance Center were "shocked" by Choo's release.

Before signing with WWE in 2019, Choo worked for multiple promotions, but her most notable stint was with Ring of Honor under the name Karen Q.

In WWE, Choo underwent numerous character changes as part of NXT. She started with an evil gimmick in the group Tian Sha, going by the name Mei Ying.

She eventually turned babyface and developed the gimmick of a wrestler who was constantly tired and wanted to nap. That character eventually took a dark, villainous turn as well.

Since last year, Choo had primarily been part of Evolve, and she ditched the over-the-top characters for one more closely resembling her real-life self.

Choo even held the Evolve Women's Championship for a couple of months before dropping it to Nikkita Lyons in May, and she had recently been wrestling in matches on Main Event.

Ultimately, WWE seemed to come to the conclusion that there was no real future for Choo on the main roster, and since she had already done all she could in NXT and Evolve, the decision was made to move on.