Rumor Look Back: July 21 - 27, 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.

July 21, 2017

• Jason Jordan found out about his role in the Kurt Angle paternity story last week, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Prior to that he was expecting a new American Alpha push to start soon.
• I wonder what his initial reaction was. It’s ended up being great for him. He’s doing fantastic work as a cringe worthy heel. Brooklyn hated him.
• The Observer also says Jordan was chosen over his tag partner Chad Gable at least in part as a rib on Angle for his history of dating black women.
• Of course it was.
• WWE United Kingdom champion Pete Dunne is taking bookings for the Fall. Combined with no recent mentions of taping, that probably means plans for a Network UK show have been pushed further back.
• There’s still no UK show. (1/1)
• An appearance by Cris Cyborg in relation to her Twitter beef with Becky Lynch could be how UFC finally pays WWE back for letting Brock Lesnar work UFC 200 last Summer.
• It did not happen. (0/1)
• MMA fighter (and Horsewoman) and Mae Young Classic entrant Shayna Baszler has filed for a trademark on her “Queen of Spades”nickname, per PWInsider. That’s especially noteworthy as most feel WWE will try to sign her to a long-term deal coming out of the tournament.
• She’s in NXT now using the Queen of Spades nickname. She had a title shot at TakeOver last night. (1/1)

July 22, 2017

• Ronda Rousey is definitely doing something with WWE at some point, likely WrestleMania next year, and it could be a singles match against Charlotte.
• We could learn the answer to this as early as tonight.
• Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena for the WWE championship has at least been talked about for SummerSlam.
• It wasn’t the direction they went. It was Cena vs. Baron Corbin and Jinder vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. (0/1)
• The Observer notes Talking Smack wasn’t cancelled because Vince McMahon didn’t like the show but there was a segment he hated -- when New Day showed up on the show before ever appearing on SmackDown Live.
• There were a ton of conflicting rumors about why it was canceled.
• It’s considered highly unlikely that Rey Mysterio will return to WWE right now, or anytime soon.
• Been six months and he’s not there. I found it interesting that he was in the final scene of Lucha Underground in the season finale. I didn’t think he’d be back in LU. (1/1)
• Now that Alberto El Patron is no longer a suspect in the domestic violence incident at the Orlando airport, it’s expected he’ll be reinstated by GFW.
• They waited until November instead of reinstating him for the upcoming set of tapings.. (0/1)

July 24, 2017

• Current plans call for Jinder Mahal’s WWE title run to end at SummerSlam or SmackDown’s September PPV at the latest.
• December. It was in December. (0/1)
• WWE may already be souring on the Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis’ return.
• Going to go ahead and say this is correct since they were off TV well pretty soon. (1/1)
• It looks like Matt Morgan’s return to Impact was a short one, as word is he’s already done with GFW.
• This is accurate. It was a very short run. He’s now a local politician. (1/1)
• Darren Young should be cleared to return soon, says PWInsider.
• I don’t know if he was technically cleared and not used or never cleared. He’s since been released.

July 25, 2017

• The Great Khali was brought in to shore up support for Jinder Mahal in India.
• That wouldn’t surprised me.
• While plans aren’t set in stone, WWE does list Khali as an “Current Superstar” and is considering using him for a match or two, including at SummerSlam.
• It was a one off, likely to the relief of many. (0/1)
• Reports of a botched finish of the United States title match leading to an audible are false, as Owens music was cued and Styles stayed in the ring to sell the loss well after the bell. (UPDATE: Or not... that’s why you should take the Roundup with a grain of salt. The latest, contradictory reports - which you might want to use that same salt on - are summarized here)
• Two contradicting rumors? That’s a good ol’ (1/2).

July 26, 2017

• The plan still appears to be for John Cena to challenge Jinder Mahal for the WWE title at SummerSlam, but it does not appear to be for him to win it.
• He didn’t challenge for it at all. (0/1)
• Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro & Sheamus for the Raw tag team titles could be the plan for SummerSlam.
• This is accurate. They feuded until Dean got hurt last month so they just opted to replace Dean with Jason Jordan and keep going with it. (1/1)
• There is some social media push that Sasha Banks had her shoulder up when Bayley pinned her on Raw, so don’t be surprised if WWE uses it in storyline going forward.
• It never got to that as Bayley hurt her shoulder the following week. (0/1)
• Some more Ring of Honor talents may be jumping ship to WWE in the coming months.
• Adam Cole and Donovan Dijak made their way over. (1/1)

July 27, 2017

• There’s talk of Jason Jordan challenging The Miz for the Intercontinental title at SummerSlam coming from SportsKeeda.
• The were on opposite sides of a random Kickoff 6 man tag. The stadium was still pretty empty at that time. (0/1)
• A SummerSlam poster making the rounds which features John Cena, Shinsuke Nakamura and Jinder Mahal has created some chatter about a non-finish in Tuesday’s #1 contender match and a Triple Threat WWE title bout next month in Brooklyn.
• Also an incorrect one. Shinsuke went over Cena clean. This was the match where Cena had a bad landing after Nakamura’s exploder suplex. (0/1)
• WWE at least wants you to think a Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon feud is brewing, possibly for a match on August 20.
• It was brewing, though not for SummerSlam. More like Hell in a Cell. (1/2)
• While GFW officials recently said Alberto El Patron is still suspended because their investigation is ongoing, it’s believed he’ll be re-instated in time for their August live shows and next taping.
• He missed the entire set of tapings and returned at Bound for Glory. (0/1)
• Road Dogg tweeted that, despite rumors to the contrary, Ryan Ward is still writing SmackDown with him and has not been moved to Raw.
• For a writer, Ryan Ward is oft speculated about.

This week: 9/21 - 43%

Overall: 1,951/3,580 - 54.5%

Enjoy the Rumble!