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Welcome to the Rumor Look Back, where we take a look back at the rumors from six months ago and see if they played out as predicted. First, a couple outstanding rumors.
- Apparently CM Punk has lost enough weight to fight as welterweight instead of middleweight.
- I found this one in the bin we can finally grade. He barely made it, but he did fight welterweight, weighing in just at 170. (1/1)
- While WWE reported that Orton will likely be out 4-6 months due to his shoulder injury, the Observer is reporting it will be closer to 6 months as the injury is similar to the ones Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami have been dealing with.
- He was out well over 6 months, from the end of September to July. (0/1)
OK, now to this week’s rumors.
- Seth Rollins isn’t expected back until at least July, though SummerSlam could be his first match back.
- He returned in May, with plenty of matches prior to SummerSlam. (0/1)
- Randy Orton may be back on WWE television in the next two months.
- He returned on July 24 at Battleground, which was more than three months later. (0/1)
- Carmella will stay in NXT for the time being, though she could be eventually paired with Enzo and Cass on the main roster when called up.
- She did stay in NXT until after the draft in July. She was not paired with Enzo and Cass on the main roster. In fact they’re on completely different brands. (1/2)
- According to the Observer, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows are expected to be in Los Angeles for Raw tonight, though that doesn't necessarily mean they will debut.
- They did debut, which means they were there. (1/1)
- It looks like Sasha Banks is still going to be the one to take the Women’s title from Charlotte when the time comes.
- She was the first, doing it on the first brand split Raw. She did it again two weeks ago on Raw after losing it back to Charlotte at SummerSlam. Now they’ll fight inside Hell in a Cell! (1/1)
- While Bobby Roode may not have signed with WWE yet, PWInsider says it’s a done deal unless something “bizarre” happens.
- That’s the case. He’s in NXT now. (1/1)
- The Wyatt Family is expected to have a match with League of Nations at Payback.
- Neither team was represented on the show. (0/1)
- The Observer notes that despite a scare at the NJPW Invasion Attack show, Cody Hall is not seriously injured as was first feared.
- Cody Hall hasn’t wrestled since that injury, so it looks like it’s serious enough to keep him out of action. (0/1)
- Word is the original reason that Shane was going to be running Raw this week was because of good ratings for the post-Mania fallout show he ran. When those ratings weren’t that good, they changed the reason to a good “social media response.”
- Yeah, those post-Mania Raw ratings were pretty lackluster.
- After tryouts last year and numerous reports she'd been signed, it looks like Scottish wrestler Nikki Storm is finally headed to NXT soon after finishing up her independent bookings by dropping a loser leaves ICW match last weekend.
- That’s the case. She just recently debuted as part of the Insanity stable. (1/1)
- Storm will be joined by fellow indy worker Ruby Mobs, "fitness athletes" CJ Dunning, and Bianca Blair, per Squared Circle Sirens.
- WWE announced the new class the day later. It looks like Dunning has since been released. (3/3)
- Despite hinting on Twitter that his feud with Miz over the Intercontinental title may continue, it looks like Zack Ryder is headed back to his pre-WrestleMania role in NXT's Hype Bros tag team with Mojo Rawley.
- That’s the case, though the Hypo Bros were called up to the main roster. (1/1)
- Not surprisingly, WWE is thinking of going back to Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns soon. How soon is up in the air.
- I’ve come to define “soon” as six months for purpose of the Look Back. They haven’t had a feud in that time, and now they’re on different brands. They did tease a Wyatt face turn when he teamed with Roman, but then unfortunately Bray got hurt. (0/1)
- Shaq vs. Big Show at WrestleMania 33 may actually be the plan.
- It is. (1/1)
- Kota Ibushi hasn’t signed a contract with WWE but the Observer notes he’s expected to.
- He still hasn’t signed anything exclusive. (0/1)
- PW Insider also says TNA is still meeting with partners and Dixie Carter is again promising big things.
- Big things like crushing debt and lawsuits? (0/1)
- Here's a fun one: Apparently the idea to do the Legend's segment at WrestleMania 32 was set months ago and Vince McMahon told Shawn Michaels to get in great shape so he could be in his gear and that Steve Austin and Mick Foley were going to do the same and be in their gear. When Michaels saw Austin, he knew Vince had fed him a line but ended up not caring because he got himself in great shape anyway.
- HB-Shizzle did look to be in good shape at Mania. Despite not being fed that line, Foley looked good too, having slimmed down a ton with DDP Yoga.
- The Observer is reporting that Charlotte vs. Natalya will stretch for two months and cover two pay-per-view shows.
- They did milk the feud for two shows. Then on the third, it was a tag match where Nattie turned heel on Becky after losing to Dana and Charlotte. (1/1)
- What's more, it does look like Sasha Banks is going to stay unbeaten and get her next shot at SummerSlam in a big singles match where she'll likely win the title.
- I had thought she stayed unbeaten until winning the title until muellermilch in the comments reminded us that she lost a 2 on 1 handicapped match on the SmackDown draft show. So she was not unbeaten when she won the title and she didn’t win the title at SummerSlam. (0/2)
- When Seth Rollins returns, which should be within the next couple months, he's not expected to be in the main event picture, at least not right away.
- He immediately had main event matches against Roman and a Shield Triple Threat. (0/1)
- According to PWInsider, it doesn’t look like there’s a plan to move Bayley up to the main roster any time soon.
- It was August, which is about four months from this rumor. (0/1)
- Lucha Underground apparently offered Prince Puma a big money deal to stay on but there's still a belief he'll be going to WWE by next year.
- This remains to be seen.
- Rey Mysterio will be going back to AAA and is expected to be used something like Brock Lesnar with limited dates, according to the Observer.
- Asides from participating in the Lucha Libre World Cup, Rey has not worked AAA. (0/1)
This Week: 11/24 - 46%
Overall: 1,137/2,122 - 53.6%
Have a great week, everyone!