Rumor Look Back: Apr. 30 - May 5, 2016

Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we look at the rumors from six months ago and see which played out as originally predicted. Let’s get right to it.

April 30, 2016

• Although it's unclear who Vince McMahon will choose to run Raw at Payback, Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon are both expected at WWE television next week.
• Since Vince chose both of them, they were both at Raw on Monday. (1/1)
• SEScoops is reporting Finn Bálor will be making his WWE main roster debut at Payback. They're also reporting Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will attack AJ Styles, so he'll win by disqualification, and Bálor will pick a side.
• Finn Bálor did not debut at Payback but months later after the draft. Gallows and Anderson didn’t attack AJ Styles either and AJ lost to Roman. (0/2)
• Bobby Roode was backstage at the NXT tapings and the word is that the two sides are attempting to reach a deal.
• They reached a deal... a glorious deal. (1/1)

May 2, 2016

• Even though Undertaker reportedly told Vince McMahon he's retired, the Chairman is fine-tuning a sales pitch to get the Dead Man to come back to face John Cena at WrestleMania33.
• We’ll see what happens. Looks like he’s not retired since he’s working some shows coming up. If that’s the case, he’ll probably work 33 but we’ll put this on hold for now.
• NXT's Finn Bálor is reportedly working with some nagging injuries. The ankle he sprained a few months back is said to be okay, but his shoulder is banged up.
• Unfortunately, a different shoulder injury is keeping him out for awhile.
• According to an indy wrestling agent, Bobby Roode and Eric Young were owed more than $100,000 between them by TNA when they decided to leave that company.
• It’s fair to wonder if there’s a bunch of other talent in this boat given everything that is going on currently.
• Jeff Jarrett says he recently had productive meetings in New York about Global Force Wrestling's Amped television program, which will lead to an announcement "soon" about when it will be airing in the United States.
• I have a feeling there will never, ever be an announcement this. Ever. GFW star Magnus has blamed how TNA does as a reason that GFW is having a tough time securing a TV deal. (0/1)

May 3, 2016

• The other half of Vince McMahon's way-too-early WrestleMania 33 plan has Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock co-main eventing with the Taker/Cena match we mentioned yesterday.
• I highly doubt the Rock will ever have a real match at a WrestleMania again given his wild filming schedule but we’ll see.
• Enzo Amore's concussion from Payback was described as "real bad" by the Observer. Other sources say WWE is planning to be without him for a little while, and are planning to feature Colin Cassady frequently to keep the team on fans' minds in Amore's absence.
• Luckily Zo didn’t need to be out that long. Big Cass was featured as a singles until Enzo came back. (1/1)
• Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus was in the plans last week for Payback, but ruled out at some point. They're still possible for Extreme Rules.
• This match wasn’t on the Extreme Rules card and I don’t recall it happening at all recently. Neither man had a match on that show. (0/1)
• There’s no long term plan for Baron Corbin, which is why he’s already being booked as an average mid-card guy.
• Even on SmackDown he isn’t very featured. He’s still doing better than Apollo Crews though.

May 4, 2016

• There are some rumblings that Ryback may be released by WWE as a result of everything that has happened in the past few days.
• I think the happenings in the past few days (including the “Pre Show Stopper” belt that he just recently said got him in hot water) were a result of contract disputes already in progress. And he wasn’t technically released but went home and rode out his contract. (0/1)
• The call back to the Montreal Screwjob for the Charlotte vs. Natalya match at Payback was not a last minute decision but instead decided on over a week before the show, according to PW Insider.
• Bret Hart loved it.
• Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus is likely the next program for both men.
• As said before, this didn’t happen in any way. Sheamus’ next feud was with Apollo Crews while ADR didn’t really have another feud before his suspension and release. (0/1)

May 5, 2016

• The Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles program is expected to last up to the Money in the Bank event.
• It was over after Extreme Rules. At Money in the Bank, AJ was already feuding with John Cena and Roman lost the title to Seth Rollins (prior to his suspension). (0/1)
• According to Court Bauer, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis are all in the running to host WrestleMania 34.
• Last word I believe was Minneapolis was the front runner but we won’t find out for awhile.
• Rich Brennan's wife posted this to Twitter on Tom Phillips shortly after Brennan was released (sic): "making it in WWE has less to do with talent than who you're willing to bury on your way to the top. Which is Tom's speciality." Pro Wrestling Sheet reported Brennan was blindsided by the release.
• You know I still think about this when I see Phillips.
• According to PW Insider, we can expect TNA to announce some new talent signings/re-signings in the coming days.
• Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz both re-signed within days so this is true. I wonder if we’ll be seeing more resignings as opposed to re-signings with TNA’s state as it is. They already lost their head of creative. (1/1)

This Week: 4/11 - 36%

April 2016: 53/94 – 56%

Overall: 1,163/2,166 - 53.7%

Have a great week, everyone!