Rumor Look Back: June 18 - 24, 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.

June 18, 2016

• While Kevin Owens is still a possibility, apparently Dean Ambrose is the new favorite to win the Money in the Bank ladder match.
• He was the winner. This lead to the Shield triple threat at Battleground where Ambrose retained his title. (1/1)
• Other winners at Money in the Bank look to be Roman Reigns, The New Day, and, in a surprise, AJ Styles over John Cena. The idea may be that he cheats using The Club.
• Roman lost. The other two won. The part about the Club interfering was true as well. (3/4)
• WWE could be planning a surprise for Money in the Bank, possibly a return and there's been talk of a seventh man in the ladder match as was originally announced.
• I think Roman losing, and Dean immediately cashing in the Money in the Bank, was a surprise. But there were no returns nor a seventh man. (1/3)
• This wouldn't be a surprise but the Will Ospreay-Vader feud may be turned into an angle for a match. That could have already happened with their sniping on Twitter.
• It was and Vader went over. (1/1)
• Chris DeJoseph mentioned on the Ross Report recently that Lucha Underground has had talks of extending its weekly show to 90 minutes.
• There’s been no more word of that. (0/1)

June 20, 2016

• For those who follow the betting lines for WWE PPV and how accurately they predict booking, there was a big last minute swing which made Seth Rollins a heavy favorite to beat Roman Reigns before the show.
• Likely due to Roman’s suspension. Otherwise, I guess he would have gone over. But we don’t know.
• According to Dave Meltzer, expect to see more of Eric Young in NXT. He’s “in” per the Observer, but probably waiting for the brand split call-ups to become a full-time player.
• He’s active now with the Sanity stable. (1/1)
• Finn Bálor is apparently the person who reached out to Kota Ibushi to join the Cruiserweight Classic.
• That’s an interesting enough rumor/tidbit.

June 21, 2016

• Kurt Angle says his WWE return is a matter of "when, not if" and that he spoke to Triple H recently - although he hasn’t been contacted since the brand split announcement.
• I’ll give all Kurt rumors I have another 6 months and then grade them as incorrect (unless he comes back prior of course).
• As filming on The Marine 5 wraps, Miz is expected to rejoin the house show circuit this weekend.
• Looks like he didn’t re-join the roster until the follow Raw and didn’t work the house shows, according to Cage Match. (0/1)
• Randy Orton may not be back until August now, per PWInsider. His first advertised date isn’t until after SummerSlam.
• He was back at Battleground and had a match at SummerSlam. (0/1)
• According to a scrapped graphic accidentally used in one of last week’s productions, Kalisto was originally scheduled to be the seventh man in the Money in the Bank ladder match.
• I’m not sure if he was injured at that time or was getting over an injury or if they just decided not to use him.

June 22, 2016

• As of now it does look like the plan is still to have Roman Reigns wrestle in the main event of Battleground as announced on Raw this week.
• This was after word of his suspension. He did wrestle in the main event. (1/1)
• It's still unclear exactly what happened with Paige in Las Vegas but WWE is investigating the incident to determine what, if anything, the company may need to do about it.
• While I don’t believe this lead to any action at all, both were soon suspended.
• Bryan Alvarez mentioned on Wrestling Observer Live that he's heard "up to a dozen names" could be drafted in the WWE brand split.
• I’m a bit confused by what this rumor means? NXT names? Because of course more than 12 people in general were going to be drafted. They had to split the entire roster. And they certainly drafted more than 12 names on the draft show itself.
• JTG claims he hasn't been contacted by WWE about a possible return with the brand split upcoming.
• Maybe after his ex-Cryme Tyme partner just owned a man who tried to rob him.

June 23, 2016

• Dean Ambrose is not expected to have any lengthy run with the WWE world heavyweight title, and it's entirely possible he loses it at Battleground.
• It was lengthy enough. He held it until BackLash, which was about three months later. (0/1)
• The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE has been calling "anyone who was a former star and can still go." The money offers apparently aren't good, however, and that could mean many decide not to come back.
• That’s the best pitch. “We need you to come back. The money’s not going to be good.”
• On that same note, those who do return will only be used like The Dudley Boyz are being used now, to put over up-and-coming stars.
• Everyone brought back has been used to put people over, so yes. Of course, no one back is anywhere near the league of the Dudleys. We’re talking Jinder Mahal and Curt Hawkins. (1/1)
• Although there have been rumors going around that Natalya may be leaving WWE soon, she refuted those and there is apparently nothing to them.
• She is still around as part of SmackDown Live and is entering a feud with Nikki Bella. (1/1)

June 24, 2016

• The Observer is reporting that Brock Lesnar has already been drug tested five times since it was announced he's returning to MMA to fight at UFC 200 next month.
• And he didn’t pass them all.
• Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks is expected for SummerSlam and WWE may be promoting it like one of the top matches on the show.
• That was the SummerSlam match. The latter part is very subjective. Orton/Lesnar was promoted as the biggest match. Then Bálor/Rollins. I think it was bigger than the WWE title match from SmackDown. So sure, top three. (2/2)
• Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura is expected to headline the NXT Takeover: Back to Brooklyn event in August.
• It did. They’d rematch in Ontario and then around the world. (1/1)
• There is currently no plan for Ethan Carter III to continue working EVOLVE shows.
• That’s true. (1/1)

This Week: 14/21 - 67%

Overall: 1,252/2,321 - 53.9%

Have a great week, everyone!