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Welcome to the Rumor Look Back, where we look at rumors from six months ago to see if they ended up playing out like predicted. There’s an outstanding rumor we can grade before we get started with this week.
- There’s apparently been talk about WWE creating a Diva’s tag team championship.
- There’s been nothing of the sort and with two smaller women’s divisions, chances are it’s not in the cards. (0/1)
- According to the Observer, there’s talk of making the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Invitational a yearly thing.
- They did it again this year. (1/1)
- The Dusty Rhodes invitational is apparently going to be a yearly thing with the finals taking place on the TakeOver prior to SummerSlam.
- This is only half correct as it’s the TakeOver after the Brooklyn show that are holding the finals. (1/2)
- Apparently ZZ is still dealing with a training injury and we may not see him any time soon.
- He was released and we haven’t seen him anywhere. (1/1)
OK, now onto this week’s rumors.
- Even though there is word of back and forth, Shane McMahon vs. the Undertaker is slated to go on last at WrestleMania.
- They were a 3rd (or maybe it was 4th) hour match, but they weren’t the main event. (0/1)
- Speaking of that match, the Observer reports "there were practices for aspects of a big stunt on Sunday." That doesn't necessarily mean Shane vs. Undertaker, but that's the natural speculation. Either way, it looks like someone's doing something big.
- Of course Shane performed an elbow dive off the top of the Cell onto the announce table. I was there live and had brief pause that the man may kill himself there. (1/1)
- A new rumor floating around that Goldberg has worked something out with WWE and he will return at WrestleMania 32.
- Ah, Goldberg rumors. Some things never change. (0/1)
- Over at Reddit, FalconArrow, one of the top rumor mongers in the game, is saying WWE will introduce the new women's championship at WrestleMania using a popular wrestler from the past.
- Well that was dead on. Lita introduced the Women’s title on the pre-show. (2/2)
- The Observer notes that if Finn Bálor loses in Dallas, he’ll get called up as part of the Bálor Club. If Joe loses, he’ll get called up.
- Joe lost but is still in NXT. (0/1)
- The Observer reports there are some people being talked to about making WrestleMania appearances. This includes Goldberg, Finn Bálor in the Intercontinental title match, and part-time Performance Center striking coach Seth Petruzelli (the guy who knocked out Kimbo Slice back in EliteXC) for involvement in Triple vs. Roman Reigns.
- None of that happened. Outside Goldberg, none of the others really made sense, with Finn retaining his title the night prior and likely few people watching knowing who Petruzelli is. (0/3)
- The company held a backstage meeting and one of the topics was the importance of the pre-show. Apparently Vince sees the pre-show and Mania as one big event. This message was duel “you’re important” and “don’t slack off.”
- It’s nice to tell people on the Kickoff that they’re part of the show too. Hopefully they’re paid like it.
- PWInsider reports that WWE has finally signed Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to deals. It’s unclear if they are exclusive deals or Samoa Joe like deals. Gargano dropped the Evolve tag team titles this weekend but has a match lined up with Drew Galloway in a month.
- They’re exclusive now. I don’t know if this was when the deal was made, but I’m marking it as correct. (1/1)
- The Rock apparently arrived in Dallas/Fort Worth at 2 AM Sunday morning and went directly to AT&T Stadium to meet with Vince McMahon and team to figure out his role tonight.
- You’d think they know before the day of.
- Kevin Owens interrupted Finn Bálor's Axxess Q & A on Saturday, prompting talk KO might be Finn's first feud on the main roster. The NXT champ is expected on Raw shortly - possibly even tonight.
- Finn was not on Raw shortly but months later. His first feud was against Seth Rollins. (0/2)
- Also at Axxess, Stardust told the crowd if he lost at WrestleMania, it might be Cody Rhodes we see on Raw. Insiders think that and the open tributes to his father this weekend are signs we've seen the last of Stardust.
- Also incorrect. Sure we saw Cody eventually, but he had to leave WWE first. (0/1)
- WWE wants to get Brock Lesnar back in the title picture soon and a match with Roman Reigns is on the table for SummerSlam.
- Brock’s has not been in the title picture within six months so it’s not that soon. He fought Randy Orton at SummerSlam, broke him open, and may have concussed him. (0/2)
- Shane McMahon is still in Dallas, although it's reportedly undecided whether or not he'll be used tonight. Word is to not expect him to have a role in stories going forward, however.
- He was used that night and did have a role in stories going forward. He’s currently SmackDown commissioner, though he’s not on every episode. (0/1)
- WWE wants to debut NXT talent with crowds that recognize them, which includes Enzo Amore, Colin Cassidy, Carmella, and Apollo Crews.
- Enzo and Cass debuted on the Raw after Mania as did Crews. Carmella debuted on SmackDown in front of a crowd that didn’t know her and her gimmick died out there. They ended up turning her heel which was a good move. (3/4)
- There’s talk of Seth Rollins returning tonight, with word that his limp at the Hall of Fame ceremony was to throw people off.
- He didn’t return until Extreme Rules going after Roman Reigns. (0/1)
- Sami Zayn is expected to start a program with the Miz.
- It wasn’t a one on one program. It was a program with Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and the Miz. And it spun off into KO vs. Zayn. I suppose this is technically correct though. (1/1)
- Most of the finishes to WrestleMania weren’t decided until right before the pre-show. It was to the point that they didn’t rehearse post match segments prior to the show because they didn’t know who’s music to cue.
- This sounds like WWE’s MO.
- In particular, the decision to go with Charlotte and debut the Women’s title at Mania as well as Kevin Owens dropping the title, were last minute calls.
- So my picking Kevin Owens to win the ladder match was correct until the last minute.
- Regarding his WrestleMania match, Dean Ambrose reportedly lobbied hard for more brutal spots - both performed by and on him - and was shut down.
- That’s also what he said on the Stone Cold podcast. He pretty much called Brock lazy. (1/1)
- The Authority angle may actually be ending soon.
- The Authority as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon ruling with an iron fist is over. Who knows if we’re headed back that way though. (1/1)
- According to the Observer, the actual attendance number for WrestleMania 32 was 97,769.
- I wonder where WWE got their inflated number.
- Mandy Rose, Rosa Mendes, and Alicia Fox are all out as cast members of Total Divas for season six, with Naomi, Lana, Renee Young, and Maryse all being added to the cast, according to Wrestling Inc.
- This is correct. (1/1)
- It's expected that Brock Lesnar will be back on WWE television sooner rather than later, or at least definitely before he returns to set up his match at SummerSlam.
- It was on Aug. 1 well after they announced Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar for SummerSlam. (0/1)
- Although the word has been Nikki Bella won't be able to make a full time return to WWE, she's apparently training in the hopes of a big comeback.
- Comeback: Successful. (1/1)
- Wrestling Inc is claiming Bobby Roode signed with WWE a week ago and he was backstage at WrestleMania 32 introducing himself to everyone.
- While I don’t know if he was introducing himself to everyone at Mania, he did sign with the E and it has been glorious. (1/1)
- Apparently, Roode will be working NXT instead of the main roster.
- That’s the way it is currently. (1/1)
- There’s supposedly heat on Alicia Fox for lashing out at another wrestler during a house show.
- Maybe she was just working her gimmick.
- There is some word making the rounds that the big stunt Shane McMahon wanted to do was to fall off the titantron and they even practiced it but ultimately decided to do the big jump from off the Hell in a Cell structure.
- I don’t know how that wouldn’t have killed him.
- Triple H not appearing at TakeOver: Dallas was apparently a Vince decision because he didn’t want Aitch appearing as a babyface at the NXT show.
- Good call, Vince. Triple H’s dueling WWE/NXT personalities is a bit of a problem.
- Although there was thought that Shinsuke Nakamura would be dropping his full name in WWE, that no longer seems to be the case.
- Is this even a rumor? At Dallas, he debuted with a big titantron that said “Shinsuke Nakamura.” I’m not grading this.
- It's expected that announcements for the Global Cruiserweight Series qualifying matches will come within the next week.
- They started announcing qualifiers within the month. (1/1)
This week: 15/30 - 50%
Overall: 1,126/2,096 - 53.7%
Have a great week, everyone!