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Welcome to the Rumor Look Back, where we look back all the rumors that were floating around 6 months ago and see if they played out like the did.
Before we start, I realize I already graded some rumors about SmackDown being totally different about the move to USA as incorrect. I’m going to have to find those and re-read them. If they don’t say something like "Things will immediately improve," I’ll reverse them after the brand split.
OK, onto this week’s rumors.
The decision regarding who would win the WWE championship last night at Survivor Series wasn’t made until late, with debate going on throughout the day.
I would guess and it was "Does Roman walk out with the title or does Sheamus walk out with it?" and not heavily debating Dean Ambrose. Either way, it must be weird for those guys to not know just hours before the show if they will be the guy to win the strap (and get any bonuses that may come with being the champ.)
Independent promotions that have tried to book James Storm have been told he will be signing with WWE/NXT full time in the near future.
This is not true as he returned to TNA instead. (0/1)
There appears to be some bad blood between Brooke Adams and TNA regarding her departure. Apparently they tried to get her back on their India tour but she declined. TNA officials say she won’t be wrestling anywhere anytime soon.
While she hasn’t wrestled anywhere, it’s because she has been pregnant and not because of any TNA blackball. There’s been no other word about bad blood between the two.
While Sheamus’ reign will probably be short, word is it won’t be too short. He will hold the title until the Royal Rumble.
Because of the positive reaction surrounding Roman’s TLC outburst, Sheamus lost it to Roman the Raw after that show. By the Rumble, Sheamus was part of the stooge League of Nations not taken very seriously. (0/1)
The reason WWE is hesitant to put the belt on Reigns is they don’t want him booed while he’s champ. The idea is to build goodwill to his eventual win, not only with angles but also with outside appearances focused on the man behind the character.
Well, that didn’t work. Like at all. He got his ass booed loudly at Mania (until the crowd quickly gave up on the match and fell asleep since it was like 3 in the morning.) He did have one day of cheers prior to winning the title the Raw after TLC, but they didn’t last long.
There are mixed reports on Awesome Kong future. While some said she’s soon retiring, others say she is still under contract with TNA. If she doesn’t like the terms of the renewal, she may retire.
What ended up happening is she did re-sign with TNA and was there at the beginning of their Pop TV run. However, it wasn’t long afterwards that an altercation with Matt Hardy’s wife Reby Sky lead to her termination from TNA. Reports had Kong as the aggressor in the situation.
It is still the plan to have Roman Reigns in the WWE title match at WrestleMania 32.
He was. He beat Triple H to win the title for the third time. (1/1)
Word from Wrestling Observer Radio is that there is "nuclear heat" on Lana due to the engagement leak and her cryptic tweets afterwards. That said, she is expected back on TV soon.
She returned 5 days later on Raw. (1/1)
Solomon Crow left NXT "on his own terms" after they had a lot of great ideas for him but went with the most basic gimmick.
He never really had much going for him in NXT. They didn’t seem to know what to do with him and he wasn’t getting over with the stuff that they did give him.
There aren’t any plans for Sting to wrestle at WrestleMania 32 this year, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be there.
He retired the night before at the Hall of Fame so he did not wrestle. He was presented when they honored the inductees. (1/1)
Undertaker vs. John Cena looks to be one of the top matches for Mania this year.
Because of the John Cena injury, that did not happen. Undertaker faced Shane McMahon and won. Cena did make an appearance in a segment with the Rock and the Wyatt Family. (0/1)
It is still planned for Roman Reigns to have a big title win coronation. The idea from Survivor Series was to book a cash in similar to Daniel Bryan’s story vs. the Authority going into WrestleMania 30.
I’m going to grade the "coronation" part as correct since he won the title at the main event of WrestleMania. But if WWE really thought they just could tell the Daniel Bryan story with Roman and it would work the same way, they really are a bit clueless about why things actually work. (1/1)
It’s expected that New Day vs. the Usos vs. the Lucha Dragons for the tag titles, The Wyatt Family vs. the Dudleys, & Charlotte vs. Paige will be added to TLC.
These were correct. Technically the Dudleys were part of the "ECW Originals" but close enough. (3/3)
Brock Lesnar could be returning in time for the Slammy’s rewards.
He didn’t return until 2016. (0/1)
Stephanie McMahon is expected back on Raw on a full time basis soon.
She was pretty regular by the end of the year. (1/1)
The Observer notes that Money in the Bank next year may be held in the new MGM Arena In Las Vegas.
It’s in the T-Mobile arena. There is another MGM Arena but that’s not new, so I believe this rumor is referring to where MITB will be in a weeks time. (1/1)
Roman Reigns isn’t expected to win the title at TLC but don’t expect a clean loss.
The League of Nations interfered enough that it was not clean. (1/1)
Part of the reason that the Wyatts are working with the Dudleys is so Bubba and D-Von can help Braun Strowman along with his development.
This makes sense. Those two do a lot of training.
Finn Balor and Baron Corbin are booked for WWE house shows this weekend. There’s talk that they will be in the next batch of call-ups.
I would say Corbin was but Finn Balor is still hanging from that tree. (1/2)
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This Week: 11/16 - 69%
Overall: 834/1,581 - 52.8%
Have a good week, everyone.