From the "Mind" of The Stronghold...

What's "Hatching" on May 30th?

Speculation has run rampant in the IWC about the cryptic images (seen above) posted on WWE's Twitter account in the last few days, implying that something or someone "big" is about to "hatch" on to the 'New Era' of WWE.

Rumors of who or what the "hatchling" could be have run the gamut of obvious to shocking to downright ridiculous, although given the WWE and Vince's propensity for screwing with fans' minds, it could very well just be an overblown premise for the latest WWE Films straight-to-DVD disaster....

Joking aside, with the upcoming draft and Smackdown going live on Tuesdays in July, whatever is "hatching" could very well prove to be the on-screen catalyst for the brand split, such as whatever it was in the "strongbox" Shane hinted at. It could be a brand new superstar, the return of a long-lost performer like Bray Wyatt or Randy Orton, or even a certain relic from Smackdown's past brought back to symbolize the resurgence of the blue brand's separate identity from RAW...

No one truly knows. Having looked across several wrestling news sites and scanning through hundreds of comments from speculative fans, I've compiled a small list of the most-heavily rumored people/objects of focus that could be the ones to be #Hatched tomorrow night on Raw...

World Heavyweight Title

Explanation: While I find it hard to believe this would cow Vince into giving in to Shane's initial demands, it would nonetheless be intriguing to see if this had been the item in Shane's "strongbox" that's being extracted. Now, while I'd expect WWE would keep Roman as its de facto champion for the first few months of the brand split, defending on both brands much like Undertaker did in 2002, he would eventually find himself on either Smackdown or RAW, necessitating another champion.

Likelihood: Not very much. WWE's far too intent on keeping Roman the ultra-focused point on top of the roster, so even come the time of the brand split, they'll likely stick to one world title, because Flair forbid there would be a world champion the fans would actually like.

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Bray Wyatt/Sister Abigail

Explanation: It'd be rather fascinating if was the much-speculated "debut" of Sister Abigail, with the possible on-screen explanation being that she was locked away to keep the Wyatts from achieving their full, dangerous potential. Bray's injury could even be explained away with him returning and saying that he'd been "away" to amass his forces to take down the WWE "machine", with "Abby" at the helm of all the madness.

Creatively speaking, it'd be a great way to repackage the Wyatt Family and have them surge back onto the scene as either the imposing heel threat they were in NXT, or the ultimate anti-authority group that the WK Krew has speculated they could be in the last several months.

Likelihood: Don't put your money on it. While it would  be intriguing, Wyatt tends to keep his promos/messages out of the main WWE loop, which he's already doing with his separate posts regarding "Abby", the "Frontline" and "making warriors of the unwanted." Plus, WWE hasn't cared much about Wyatt and the family for the last couple years, why start now?

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Randy Orton

Explanation: While it would be a little over-the-top explanation for a simple return, Orton could very well have chosen a method of extreme isolation, sealing himself away to fully get back to his darker, more Viper-like roots, which we saw a good deal of with his 2015 feud against Seth Rollins. Would it likely lead anywhere? Probably not, but the impact of his return, much like Rollins, would make him a top contender in the WWE World title picture in 2016.

Likelihood: Possibly, WWE's been more overzealous with some returns, like John Cena, only to slip in another surprise return with no one being the wiser, much like Taker and Triple H a few years back. Wouldn't be the worst notion to have Cena and Orton back, one man on Raw, the other on Smackdown, to bolster the main event picture for their respective roster. The key here, however, will be WWE keeping them in it, not on top of it like they've done for the last several years.

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KEEP YOUR MINDS OPEN, FOR MINE IS CLOSED...FOR NOW...

#GetKennected #TheMind #DownWithTheMachine #TheViper