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Welcome to the Rumor Look Back, where we take a weekly look back at rumors from six months ago to see, after the rage and elation they elicited, how they actually played out.
First, here is an outstanding rumor from almost a year ago, February 19, 2015:
It’s looking like the Fabulous Freebirds are the top candidate for the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.
They were announced just last Monday. (1/1)
It looks like Nikki Bella will end up beating AJ Lee’s record for longest reigning Divas Champion. As long as her relationship with John Cena is solid, she is a lock to remain in the top position.
Nikki did beat AJ’s record. It’s tough to tell how her position is after losing the title because she has been out with a neck injury. Plus grading that part of the rumor means we’d have to know how "solid" their relationship is currently. (1/1)
There’s renewed talk about Rey Mysterio coming back to the WWE.
This rumor has been floating around for a bit prior to this already and continues to pop up here and there. I don’t know if he would even be able to return to WWE during the season of Lucha Underground.
Apparently there were plans to put Roman Reigns on the cover of WWE 2K16 but for promotional reasons, they went with Steve Austin instead.
That makes sense. Putting a WWE legend like Austin on the cover will be a bigger draw for casual fans may not currently watch the product nor really know Roman.
According to the Observer, Minnesota is "pretty much a lock" to get WrestleMania, probably in 2017, so they can beat the Super Bowl there.
It would not be surprising, especially with word that next year’s Mania is going to be in Orlando.
WWE is apparently making some contingency plans for Raw and SmackDown in Florida due to a hurricane heading in that direction. It shouldn’t affect anything but WWE doesn’t want to get caught off guard.
Both shows were held where originally planned.
For what it’s worth, PW Insider is reporting that the rumor about John Cena stepping into make sure Nikki Bella didn’t lose her Divas title is false.
I feel the rumor itself was insulting to Nikki Bella, implying that she was not good enough to hold the title without her boyfriend’s help. Nikki work during that time was definitely strong enough to warrant her holding the title.
Ric Flair noted that Randy Orton will be working a lighter schedule going forward.
This is another rumor tough to tell because of an injury. Orton has had an injury that has kept him out for a while.
It looks like the relationship with WWE and NJPW is still growing.
This is likely referring to Jushin Liger working TakeOver: Brooklyn. However, that’s all that happened between the two promotions. My understanding is the NJPW wrestlers are not working the Cruiserweight showcase. And after Japan lost AJ Styles, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson to WWE, I can’t imagine NJPW is really aching to work with WWE. I’m going to grade this as incorrect but if things change soon, I’ll double back and change it. (0/1)
WWE announcing a bunch of matches on the weekend for Raw was in response to low ratings. Expect more weekend announcements in the future.
For the first time, I consulted with Cageside management to they felt there’s been any uptick in weekend announcements. Much like I was thinking, they did not think that to be the case. (0/1)
It’s possible we’ll see the finished statue of Seth Rollins tonight on Raw.
While we eventually saw the statue prior to Sting putting in a garbage truck, it was not this Raw. (0/1)
Kane is expected back on TV anytime now, perhaps as soon as tonight’s Raw. It’s unclear what role he’ll play upon return.
He returned at Night of Champions, which was still 3 weeks away. He came back to attack Seth Rollins. (0/1)
The Night of Champions card should be all but totally filled out by the end of Raw tonight.
Both matches involving Seth Rollins were announced, as was Charlotte/Nikki. However Ziggler/Rusev, Owens/Ryback, New Day/Dudleyz, and the Wyatt Family vs. Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns were not announced this night. (0/1)
A WWE title with Sheamus side plates made the rounds on social media but they are fake. There is no plan for him to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase any time soon.
It was a couple months later at Survivor Series when he finally did, to start the legendary Tater Tots feud! (1/1)
Tough Enough may return, but not on the USA Network. If WWE does go forward with the reality show, it will be likely on the WWE Network. USA was reportedly happy that the replays aired after Raw did well but not enough for them to keep the show on their schedule.
I’ll put this in the outstanding column to grade if Tough Enough ever comes back.
Chael Sonnen told Stone Cold on Austin’s podcast that he would not be involved in GFW until they secure a TV deal.
He said this after he did an in ring bit, so he was just talking about announcing, which makes sense. What’s there to announce without a TV deal… a TV deal that may never come?
Sonnen also expressed belief that there will be a GFW/TNA merger, which other rumors are supporting as well.
That hasn’t happened yet, with TNA being the promotion with the television deal. However, with word TNA is looking for outside investors, it could still happen. I will put this as outstanding.
According to the Observer, Sting’s promo on Raw putting Triple H over was to play mind game with Seth Rollins in order to drive a wedge between the two.
Ah, the famous "Triple H was so good" Sting promo. That sure drew the ire of many.
WWE may have a celebration on the September 12 Raw for when Nikki breaks AJ Lee’s record.
Nikki defended her title that night and retained it due to the fact Brie was actually the one pinned. There was a celebration on SmackDown that was a backstage bit. No one showed up to it. (0/1)
There was no heat on the botched Women’s Fatal 4-Way at NXT in Brooklyn, though Becky Lynch was supposedly very upset about it.
Here is the video as a refresher. I remembering Dana Brooke was supposed to prevent Emma from pinning Becky and didn’t and the pin was counted. However I could not find anything on-line to support my memory.
Sting is not scheduled for next Monday’s Raw.
Sting was on Raw, but only in backstage segments. It’s entirely possible those were taped the week prior, but there’s no word of it. He was still on Raw. (0/1)
According to the Observer, Sting looks to be Steve Austin’s WWE Network podcast guest for October.
Sting has not been on Austin’s podcast, at least a WWE Network one. In October, Austin had Brock Lesnar, with the infamous "What’s your favorite food?" interrogation. (0/1)
While Hulk Hogan is doing is public apology tour, it’s unlikely that he’ll be back in the WWE for at least a few years, if ever.
I expect he’ll be back, but probably not while the Gawker trial is actively happening.
Negotiations between Televisa and Lucha Underground are ongoing. According to the Observer, if completed it would likely mean a second season of Lucha Underground.
I don’t believe a deal was made (please correct me if I’m wrong), but luckily it was not what held back a second season of LU.
Just one day after noting Sting isn’t planned for Monday, PW Insider has reported that WWE has changed plans, and he will be pat of the show.
As mentioned above, he was part of the show. (1/1)
According to the Observer, Los Matadores may be repackaged soon.
Unless they were repackaged as invisible men, this isn’t true. (0/1)
Diva Search may not happen before the year is out. Apparently some within the company are not sold on it since Tough Enough did not do that well.
It did not air at all in 2015 and there hasn’t been any recent word on it. (1/1)
Neither Rey Mysterio nor Alberto El Patron is in any rush to go back to the WWE.
That’s an odd rumor because "not in any rush" is a vague statement. That being said, Del Rio was back in WWE with in 2 months. Rey still has a bunch of Lucha Underground tapings that need to air before he can do anything. (1/2)
Plans change, but it looks like Seth Rollins will lose the US Title back to John Cena but retain the WWE title against Sting at Night of Champions.
That is exactly how it went down. (2/2)
It’s likely that Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns will find a tag partner for their match against the Wyatt Family. There’s no word on who that partner is.
They did. They chose "Cool Dad" Chris Jericho, who ended up tagging himself in just to get choked out by Braun Strowman. I think at the time, they may have been debating Jericho/Ambrose at WrestleMania. (1/1)
WWE may be interested in bringing Tough Enough finalist Amanda into the Performance Center
They signed her and she’s currently on Total Divas. (1/1)
There continue to be rumors that Athena is close to signing with WWE.
That is also a true rumor. She has worked house shows but has not made NXT TV yet. (1/1)
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This Week: 9/20 - 45%
August Rumors: 41/74 - 55%
Overall: 699/1,309 - 53.3%
While doing this, I felt that August was going to have a higher success ratio but it actually was a tick below July (56%) and June (58%). All three months are over the usual average. What that means is open to interpretation but it could lend to the fact that WWE changed their plans less so rumored plans ended up becoming reality a bit more. Feel free to speculate in the comments.
Have a great week, everyone!