Rumor Look Back: Jan. 23 - 29, 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.

January 23, 2017

• Expect more names to be announced for the Royal Rumble on Raw and SmackDown this week, but there will be a few surprises left.
• Sami Zayn earned a spot on Raw while Mojo did on SmackDown. (1/1)
• Samoa Joe is likely to be one of those surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble.
• Joe wasn’t in the Rumble. (0/1)
• 205 Live is apparently doing poorly on the WWE Network and it's become a talking point within the company.
• It’s still on the air. Talking Smack isn’t though.
• Lucha Underground is apparently in rough shape, with no plans to tape a new season just yet.
• Six months later and we just got the first positive hint at a season 4.

January 24, 2017

• WWE has a WrestleMania plan for John Cena. Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio says it should become clear after Royal Rumble, and it’s still not an Undertaker match.
• It did not become clear for a good while after the Rumble. He was champion until Elimination Chamber but lost it and was not in the title program. This is correct that it was not an Undertaker match. Instead, it was a mixed tag with Nikki Bella against Miz and Maryse. (1/2)
• After word got out about Mickie James’ debut the day before it happened, WWE is looking to crackdown on backstage leaks.
• Understandable. Surprises are fun. I personally don’t understand people who crave details of what will happen before it does. One of the great things about the Jericho return this Tuesday was that it was a total surprise.
• Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Pete Dunne were pulled from a wXw event in London on Saturday, and it might be because WWE wants to use one or more of them at TakeOver or Royal Rumble.
• They were on neither show. (0/1)
• A documentary about Hulk Hogan’s court battle with Gawker over his sex tape that recently played the Sundance film festival looks to be headed to Netflix.
• It’s on Netflix now if you’re interested. I haven’t watched it. (1/1)

January 25, 2017

• Despite no longer being booked for the Royal Rumble match, an angle involving Seth Rollins and Triple H is expected for the card.
• Seth wasn’t part of the Royal Rumble show at all. He did invade TakeOver and then the Monday after Samoa Joe was revealed as the Destroyer. (0/1)
• Despite his reported contract status with New Japan, there's still some talk that Kenny Omega could be a Royal Rumble surprise.
• He wasn’t. He’s a New Japan guy. (0/1)
• Brock Lesnar will be appearing at more house shows and his next scheduled opponent is Big Show.
• They fought at a house show in Buffalo. Here’s Show taking the F5. (1/1)
• There's word going around that Road Dogg may have become head writer for SmackDown Live.
• He’s been taking some Twitter flack because the show has taken quite the drop in quality since the Shake-Up.

January 26, 2017

• WWE is still working toward AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon for WrestleMania 33, which is why Styles was complaining about things like his placement on the Royal Rumble poster during SmackDown and on Talking Smack this week.
• They opened the main show. (1/1)
• One of the reasons Undertaker has been appearing on Monday nights is because his Mania opponent is someone on the Raw roster.
• It was Roman. (1/1)
• Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are facing each other on the post-Rumble house show circuit, a common sign they’ll be feuding on television soon and maybe an indication plans to have them wrestle for the Universal title are back on for Mania.
• They feuded soon but they weren’t the Universal title match at Mania. (1/2)

January 27, 2017

• The Observer notes that neither AJ Styles nor Kevin Owens will be champions going into WrestleMania, so there will be changes coming soon, possibly both at Royal Rumble.
• That’s true. AJ lost to Cena at the Rumble and Owens lost to Goldberg at Fastlane. (3/4)
• It's also noted that Bray Wyatt is scheduled for a run with the WWE world title in 2017.
• He held it from Elimination Chamber and dropped it to Orton at Mania less than two months later. (1/1)
• Speaking of which, there's now talk that Randy Orton could win the Royal Rumble and go on to WrestleMania 33 to challenge Wyatt for the championship. That would mean Bray winning the belt at Elimination Chamber.
• This was exactly how it happened. It was one of those rumors that was all over the place but I wish I hadn’t heard it because I would have loved to be shocked when Wyatt won the strap. (1/1)
• John Cena vs. Samoa Joe is a match that was apparently thrown around as an idea and is still possible for WrestleMania 33.
• Samoa Joe wasn’t on the card. But I would love to see that match. (0/1)
• Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tye Dillinger are the names from NXT most talked about as surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble.
• Just Dillinger of these 3. (1/3)

January 28, 2017

• The idea right now is there is a winner for the Royal Rumble planned but it could change all the way up to showtime. The major plans for top stars are in place, they just have to decide how to get there.
• That’s not surprising.
• Finn Bálor is in the plans for WrestleMania 33, though it's unclear what he'll be doing.
• He wasn’t on the card. He returned the night afterwards. (0/1)
• There will likely be an angle with Jerry Lawler and Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble, possibly even during the actual match.
• They didn’t do anything except for that one King’s Court on SmackDown. (0/1)
• Dutch Mantell is back on the creative team at TNA now.
• That’s true. (1/1)

This week: 14/24 - 58%

Overall: 1,635/3,012 - 54.3%

Have a great week, everyone!