Rumor Look Back: April 29 - May 4, 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.

April 29, 2017

• Don't expect any surprises at Payback, as WWE is relying on the Network as the main selling point to the show.
• I was surprised by Jericho winning the title from Owens. Does that count? I’m going to count it. (0/1)
• Shinsuke Nakamura is planned for a big babyface push here very soon.
• I guess? I mean he had a title program with champion Jinder Mahal. Plus he beat both Johny Cena AND Randy Orton. (1/1)
• Reby Hardy denied that WWE bought the rights to the "Broken" gimmick for Matt Hardy recently. It's still in the plans for Hardy to use that gimmick in WWE, it's just unclear when.
• It’s been six months and they haven’t used it. (0/1)
• The Ember Moon injury may have actually been legit, as she has been spotted wearing a sling.
• There was some debate in the comments last week if the could have just been an elaborate work. While I think it was real, there’s credence to that line of thinking. That being said, they can’t both be right and it’ll even out at 50% no matter what. (1/1)

May 1, 2017

• Chris Jericho is still expected to leave WWE for at least a month to tour with his band Fozzy, possibly as soon as tonight’s Raw, so look for more on the angle of him winning the U.S. title and joining SmackDown this week.
• He’s been gone longer than a month. He had a one time return for a triple threat US title match, but he really hasn’t been back since May. (1/1)
• At this point, WWE is not planning on having Jinder Mahal win the World title at Backlash,but that could change depending on how the build is received.
• Rumors like this are the reason I love doing this every week. (0/1)
• Former WWE announcer Rich Brennan was a guest on the Intelligent Wrestling Conversation podcast recently and spoke about his issues with Tom Phillips, who he said “made it difficult” for his friend Alex Del Barrio at the Performance Center.
• Alex Del Barrio was released two weeks later.
• Alberto El Patron cancelled an appearance with WCPW on Saturday due to “illness”and is taking some heat for it due to social media postings showing him drinking and partying on Friday night.
• Sigh... Alberto rumors...

May 2, 2017

• Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet says his sources tell him the Braun Strowman injury announced on Raw is “part of the storyline and not legit.”
• It was legit as he missed about 6 weeks with an elbow injury, but not the 6 months that was reported. (0/1)
• Which is in line with an earlier report from Sportskeeda that Extreme Rules will feature a Strowman/Roman Reigns ambulance match to blow-off their feud.
• The match happened at Great Balls of Fire. Extreme Rules had a fatal 5-way to crown a #1 contender, which Samoa Joe won. (0/1)
• It’s expected that Kevin Owens will regain the United States title tonight on SmackDown.
• He did and then viciously attacked Jericho, writing him off. (1/1)
• Adam Cole’s Ring of Honor contract expired on April 30. It’s expected we’ll know more about his future plans this month.
• We didn’t hear about him signing with WWE until August. (0/1)
• Summer Rae was reportedly in Sacramento at the same time as Raw. While she obviously wasn’t used, it is believed she’ll be back with WWE soon.
• She was just released last week. (0/1)

May 3, 2017

• Brock Lesnar is expected to be around more during this Universal championship run, according to the Observer, although so far only Great Balls of Fire and SummerSlam plans are set for him.
• I’d say he’s been around a decent amount. Not every single show, but much better than his last run. (1/1)
• It's expected Lesnar will have title defenses against the likes of Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns, at the very least.
• I’m going to put this on ice. Strowman has happened and Roman definitely will. We’ll see about the other two.
• Chris Jericho was written off television on SmackDown Live this week but he is expected back this year.
• He came back once so I’ll grade this as correct, but my bet was this was implying he’d be back as more than a one off. (Also, Jericho said when he returned, it was just to film Southpaw bits and they roped him into working.) (1/1)
• After a brief push, it looks like WWE has no immediate plans for Luke Harper or, for that matter, Erick Rowan.
• I’m going to say this is correct. They are finally being advertised as the Bludgeon Brothers, which has potential to be a lame gimmick, but six months later certainly isn’t the immediate future. (1/1)
• It looks like TJ Perkins will now only be known as TJP in WWE.
• Looks that way. (1/1)

May 4, 2017

• Photos in The Sun show Undertaker and wife Michelle entering David H Koch Pavilion Hospital for Special Surgery in New York (a top orthopaedics hospital in the U.S.) recently. It’s expected he’ll undergo a number of procedures there now that he’s retired - including the long-rumored hip replacement.
• I hope he does what needs to be done to feel the best he can. We may be seeing him at Raw 25.
• According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, "everybody wants Adam Cole right now." It’s believed New Japan and WWE are the top two contenders.
• He ended up signing with WWE. I don’t know how close NJPW was.
• Here’s a cool one - SEScoops says Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho used a powerbomb on the floor rather than KO’s usual apron powerbomb on Tuesday night as an homage to how Jake Roberts wrote off Ricky Steamboat back in 1986.
• I love attention to detail like this. I didn’t catch it, but I still appreciate it.
• Jack Swagger will be billed on the indies as “Formerly Known as Jack Swagger”.
• That’s what it looks like, though I wonder if that’s going to hold if he shows up in Impact. (1/1)

This week: 9/16 - 56%

April 2017: 48/84 – 57%

Overall: 1,822/3,334 - 54.6%

Have a great week, everyone!