Rumor Look Back: May 5 - 11, 2017

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.

May 5, 2017

• According to the Observer, the finish for the Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss match was changed four times in the 30 hours leading up to their match at Payback.
• These rumors never surprise me.
• It looks like a six-woman tag team match is planned for Backlash.
• Yes, it was back when they were doing the Welcoming Committee bit. (1/1)
• The current plan is for "Bring it to the Table" to be a monthly series on the WWE Network, according to PW Insider.
• They did it for a bit: May, June, & and July. But then it hasn’t been on. (0/1)
• The Observer notes Matt and Jeff Hardy tried to get Jeremy Borash to go with them to WWE but he has too much else going on and decided to stay with Impact Wrestling.
• I wonder what he would have done there?

May 6, 2017

• The Broken Hardys gimmick is being teased because WWE is close to a settlement with Anthem to buy the rights to it.
• Nope. (0/1)
• Jinder Mahal isn’t planned to win the WWE championship and his push in the main event may not even last all that long.
• Also nope. (0/1)
• Speaking of that, Rusev is planned to enter the title picture, at least briefly, once he returns from his injury.
• Nope. Nope. Nope. (0/1)
• WWE is keeping Shinsuke Nakamura from working a match on TV to better build to a match with Dolph Ziggler at Backlash.
• He didn’t work a match on TV until that match. (1/1)
• WWE appears to be planning monthly tapings for the UK show on the Network, according to the Observer.
• This is not correct. There is no UK show on the Network. (0/1)

May 8, 2017

• The finish of the Austin Aries/Neville match at Payback was changed at the last minute, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Again, not surprised. Aries isn’t with the company any more. Neville would like to join Aries in that.
• That’s likely so the feud can continue. An Extreme Rules rematch is planned, possibly as a Triple Threat with TJP.
• The match happened (and Neville won) but TJP wasn’t part of it. (1/2)
• Paige and Alberto El Patron reportedly got in a pretty public backstage argument during El Patron’s first day at the last Impact tapings, but things appear to be smoothed over.
• This was before the Orlando airport incident that got Patron suspended. Sounds like the relationship may be over.
• NXT’s Dylan Miley is now going by the name Lars Sullivan.
• Lars is quite the fun character.

May 9, 2017

• Braun Strowman hasn’t been ruled out for the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view (PPV), but WWE is replacing him as Brock Lesnar’s planned opponent on the July show.
• He didn’t get his title shot until after SummerSlam. (1/1)
• Nikki Bella is working on a book, says PWInsider.
• She confirmed she was working on one the next day. Also, I found another Nikki Bella who writes erotica when looking into this rumor. (1/1)
• There’s some concern planning for WWE’s Women’s tournament is moving slower than expected, but Summer air dates aren’t in jeopardy... yet.
• It did tape in the summer. (1/1)

May 10, 2017

• Roman Reigns may be moving into a short term program with Bray Wyatt now that Braun Strowman has been written off TV.
• This did not happen. (0/1)
• Finn Bálor is being considered as the replacement opponent for Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire.
• It was Samoa Joe. (0/1)
• Rusev is set to debut on SmackDown Live next week in New Hampshire and, according to PW Insider, he will be without Lana ... at least for the time being.
• He didn’t debut even though he talked on Twitter about showing up to make demands. There’s wonder if he was originally going to be in a title program but then they shifted to Jinder. He didn’t return to TV until July 4. (0/1)
• Shinsuke Nakamura may find himself in the US title picture sooner rather than later.
• That hasn’t happened. He was in the WWE title picture but not a secondary title one. (0/1)

May 11, 2017

• WWE officials are extremely high on Aleister Black, and his stay in NXT may not be a long one.
• He’s still in there now but it’s only been 6 months.
• In addition to their previously reported interest in Mia “Jade” Yim, WWE is also targeting her TNA stable mate Marti Belle for the Women’s Tournament.
• Both were in there. (1/1)
• Wednesday night’s Total Divas season finale may have been the last time Eva Marie appears on a WWE branded show.
• Yup. (1/1)

This week: 8/18 - 44%

Overall: 1,830/3,352 - 54.6%

Have a great week, everyone!