Rumor Look Back: July 10 - 16, 2015

Welcome to the Rumor Look Back, where we take a look at the rumors from six months ago and see if they played out as the rumors predicted.

I have plenty of "Sting in the Hall of Fame" rumors outstanding, but all of them are attached with speculation of other entrants (i.e. Undertaker and the Fabulous Freebirds). So I will wait until the class unfolds more and grade the rumors in their entirety. Now on to this week's rumors.

July 10, 2015

According to the Observer, USA is unhappy with the numbers for Tough Enough, thinking that it is in part due to the format of the show and also that the popularity of pro-wrestling is cycling downward.

I can’t comment on how USA felt about the show, though I can understand if they were concerned. The numbers were not good and the show’s format was an issue, especially early on. I do feel that they cleaned things up and improved the show towards the end of the season.

There’s also a feeling that Chris Jericho has been positioned poorly as the host of Tough Enough and hasn’t been the dynamic presence Steve Austin was.

That’s also true, especially early on, but it wasn’t really Jericho’s fault. As host, Austin was a central presence while in the new format, Jericho off to the side. Later on ,they found more uses for him outside just introducing the show and it helped the show’s watchability.

When Sami Zayn returns from injury, he’ll likely spend more time in NXT prior to a main roster call up.

Sami certainly did not bypass NXT upon his recent return. Instead, he’s back in the title mix alongside Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin. (1/1)

July 11, 2015

Charlotte and Sasha Banks are both scheduled for Raw and SmackDown next week.

Both of the women debuted on Raw. As for SmackDown, Charlotte was not on the show at all while Sasha was there in a backstage interview. Since the idea of this rumor was concerning the call up itself, I’ll just grade that as one thing instead trying to divide it by shows and people on the shows. (1/1)

Kurt Angle may be booked on the next set of Impact tapings despite his neck injury. He wouldn’t be wrestling but would be on the shows.

Kurt Angle was not at the tapings. (0/1)

July 13, 2015

There may be a "big angle" set for Raw tonight, which could be the introduction of Sasha Banks and Charlotte.

This was the night they introduced the Divas Revolution and brought up those two alongside Becky Lynch. (1/1)

Some rumors arose from Hornswoggle being at a Global Force Wrestling show, but he was just there as a fan.

Last I looked, Hornswoggle is still with the WWE, despite being suspended for Wellness last fall.

July 14, 2015

The word going around now is that Dolph Ziggler won’t be on TV the next few weeks selling his injury. He is expected at SummerSlam.

That is true. He missed a couple weeks selling the injury (and filmed a movie). He worked SummerSlam against Rusev which ended in a thrilling double count out. (1/1)

The reason the NXT women were called up ahead of schedule was because of the US Women’s world cup victory and all the good press surrounding that. The word is people backstage are very happy with how the segment played out.

That sounds like WWE. Become inspired by strong female competition and then tell a story for over a month of random 3 on 3 matches with a bunch of 50/50 booking.

Bayley was talked about in the spot of Becky on the main roster call up, but instead it looks like she will win the NXT title, possibly at TakeOver: Brooklyn.

True on both accounts. It makes sense to leave her down there in lieu of Becky since she had a big redemption story to tell while Becky seemed rather directionless. (2/2)

It was reported by Medio Tiemp that Alberto del Rio is not missing but instead home in Teaxs.

For those who don’t remember this brief story, Alberto del Rio no showed an autism event and no one heard from him and people were worried he was missing. Turns out he was not and just no showed the event for "personal reasons."

July 15, 2015

Though plans can always change, Brock Lesnar is not scheduled to win the WWE title at Battleground.

He did not. Instead the show kicked off the latter portion of his feud with the Undertaker. He’ll have another chance to win his title back next week at the Royal Rumble. (1/1)

Apparently there is a swerve planned for the main event of Battleground, but no word on what that is.

Often these "big angle" or "swerve" rumors are incorrect, but I’d definitely consider the surprise return of Undertaker to cost Brock the title a swerve. (1/1)

The reason that Stephanie introduced the NXT women last week instead of Paige bringing them as was being built to is because it felt she would give them instant credibility.

Even if you look at it that way and not her "hijacking the story for the glory" it still killed a good story being told with Paige and left them with nothing story-wise.

Kane is likely coming back as a babyface when he returns from injury.

He returned as the Demon and feuded with Seth Rollins (while also being the Director of Operations). He was considered a face in this feud… we think. He still did his stalking and random attacking. But he was a face, at least according to Ashley from HR. (1/1)

The Observer noted that Alberto el Patron missed the autism event for personal reasons, but no one knows what they were.

I don’t believe we ever found out why he missed the event. I remember thinking he kind of looks like a jerk no showing an event without telling the people prior but maybe it was something serious.

July 16, 2015

Ryback is off the Battleground card due to his knee injury. Miz and Big Show are expected to go on with a match as planned, possible as a number one contenders match. It is also possible they add a third person to the mix.

There was no official match. Instead Miz cut a promo about how Ryback was scared of him, and then Big Show came and knocked him out. (0/1)

Dean Ambrose will likely play a role at the Battleground PPV, though it is unclear what he’ll exactly be doing.

Dean Ambrose was not on the show. (0/1)

It looks like Lana will be off TV while Dolph Ziggler misses time.

She did not stay off TV the entire time Dolph was gone. In fact, it was only a couple weeks later that we got the glorious Dog Ziggler/fish segment. (0/1)

There is once again speculation that there is something going on between ESPN and WWE.

They do have a partnership now. On some Tuesdays, a WWE star will appear on SportsCenter. Also, ESPN is the one to break some WWE injury reports as it was with Rollins. (1/1)

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This Week: 10/14 - 71%

Overall:  628/1170 - 54%

Have a great week, everyone.