Is Warlords of Draenor the next WOW expansion?

Warlords of Draenor could be the name of the next World of Warcraft expansion, which will presumably be unveiled this Friday at the opening ceremony of BlizzCon.

The name, Warlords of Draenor, was successfully trademarked by Blizzard last Friday (spotted by MMO Champion). The website Warlords of Draenor.com was registered a month ago.

There's speculation from an unverified source that Warlords of Draenor will feature Grom Hellscream as the main villain and feature heavy use of time travel.

What's left of Draenor, homeworld of the orcs and draeni, is today known as Outland, the continent added to World of Warcraft in first expansion The Burning Crusade. That fact has led to speculation that Blizzard may be revamping Outland this time around.

The story of Draenor, of Outland, is the story of the evil Burning Legion led by ultimate baddie Sargeras - a titan. His second in command is Kil'Jaeden, and somewhere down the line is Illidan, who was boss of The Burning Crusade. It's the prospect of fighting Kil'Jaeden people are now talking excitedly about, although nothing has been confirmed.

There's grounds to believe it will happen, though. Kil'Jaeden already appears as a boss in World of Warcraft in the 25-man raid Sunwell Plateau, but not at full strength - he's in the process of being summoned and, when defeated, is merely sent back into the Twisting Nether. Chris Metzen is widely credited with teasing Kil'Jaeden's return at some point, although the specific interview source is unclear.

We'll know for sure what's what this weekend after the opening ceremony of BlizzCon, which we'll be reporting as it happens.