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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 into it.
- Tokyo Sports is saying Kenny Omega has decided to leave New Japan Pro Wresting for either WWE or AEW.
- This is true. It was AEW. (1/1)
- WWE has done everything they can to sign Kenny Omega, per WrestleVotes. The word going around is the company offered him a LOT of money.
- I wouldn’t be surprised. Just signing him would be a huge hit to AEW, which would be worth it to WWE alone.
- AEW offered contracts to Pentagon and Fenix over the past two weeks and, in response, Impact Wrestling offered big six-figure deals, according to Wrestling News World.
- Last I checked, the Lucha Bros are still free agents, but they haven’t been working Impact lately. They are working AEW still.
- That said, AEW apparently then tripled that offer because they want to have both at the rally in Jacksonville.
- They weren’t at the Jacksonville rally but they were at the Las Vegas one.
- According to PW Insider, Matt Sydal has a knee injury and that’s why he’s pulled out of some bookings.
- He hasn’t been with any specific company lately.
- EC3 and Lacey Evans worked matches before Raw in Orlando when Main Event usually tapes. But according to John Pollock of POST Wrestling, they were only dark matches and won’t count as their television debuts.
- They never really had an official TV debut. EC3 is a Main Event talent now. (Not the type of main event talent wrestlers want to be.)
- Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky of SoCal Uncensored have signed with All Elite, per Pro Wrestling Sheet.
- True. The way that ROH has gone, clearly the right move. (1/1)
- Despite interest from WWE and AEW, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Juice Robinson inked a three year deal to stay with New Japan.
- Juice is still with New Japan. (1/1)
- KUSHIDA is WWE bound, according to Meltzer.
- This is also true. He’s in NXT now. (1/1)
- In addition to the new women’s tag titles, Twitter’s BeltFanDan says the men’s tag belts will be getting a redesign in order to accommodate side plates.
- They look the same to me. (0/1)
- Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that the Royal Rumble card was originally going to feature Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair but that was changed to Rousey vs. Sasha Banks.
- That must be when they decided to put Charlotte in the WrestleMania main event.
- The reason for the change? Rousey vs. Flair vs. Becky Lynch is under consideration for WrestleMania 35.
- It was the main event. (1/1)
- Sticking with Meltzer, he also says Kenny Omega is likely to sign with AEW and while WWE really wanted him, it was always likely he was going to AEW.
- I would have been very surprised if he didn’t join Cody and the Bucks. (1/1)
- Omega is so important to New Japan Pro Wrestling they are now considering working with AEW so they don’t lose him. No matter what, though, they plan to get Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., Jay White, and Juice Robinson even stronger.
- I think the latter half of this is subjective. Ospreay definitely is being pushed. Juice seems to be the same spot he was prior to this rumor. Jay White was champion... but he’s not any more. As for the first part, there is no current working arrangement with AEW. (0/1)
- Kota Ibushi’s stretcher job was a work but the concussion was not, says the Observer.
- That sucks.
- Chris Jericho’s deal with AEW is not exclusive, says Wrestling Observer Radio. He still wants to do a match with Hiroshi Tanahashi. Along with the Kenny Omega situation discussed yesterday, Jericho could be a reason New Japan works with All Elite sooner rather than later.
- He is working with New Japan because AEW allows certain guys work international dates. But it’s not a working relationship in the sense they have a talent share or are working together. (1/2)
- On Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer also said there are wrestlers in WWE interested in talking to AEW so they can explore their options, but there’s also a “wait and see” attitude about the new promotion’s long-term viability.
- Seems like some talent are leveraging AEW for big contracts, which, good for them.
- Fightful says they reached out to WWE Superstars for their thoughts on All Elite’s launch. Many weren’t comfortable commenting, even anonymously. Others said they were glad for more options of places to work, and thought Impact would be hit the hardest.
- I would argue that ROH was hit harder. At this point six months, Impact is pretty much in the same spot they are now. ROH lost a ton of talent that was keeping them afloat and have really faltered since then.
- Piper Niven, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 Mae Young Classic, is expected to sign with WWE when her World of Sport contract expires, according to WOR. AEW was supposedly very interested in signing her.
- She’s in NXT UK now. (1/1)
- Some speculation about Apollo Crews recent booking on PW Insider Elite Audio has resulted in headlines about a possible push.
- I would not say he’s had any sustained push. (0/1)
- Chris Jericho signed a three year deal with AEW, says Dave Meltzer, and it’s apparently “the best contract he’s ever signed.”
- They really needed to get one guy like Chris so paying him a huge amount makes sense.
- There is nothing to Dolph Ziggler missing Raw this week, as he was just dealing with other obligations elsewhere.
- He’s always coming and going at this point.
- WWE Shop is apparently putting heavy discount prices on Chris Jericho and Neville merchandise after the AEW rally.
- Makes sense. Jericho got cut out of the opening, which also makes sense.
- Per PW Insider, Melissa Santos will be going to Impact Wrestling, though it’s unclear what she’ll be doing for the company.
- She’s a backstage interviewer. (1/1)
- They also say that McKenzie Mitchell is done with Impact and her last day was Monday’s television taping in Nashville.
- She is no longer with them. (1/1)
- There’s still talk that Becky Lynch will enter the women’s Royal Rumble match, and maybe win to set up a title match with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35, per the Observer.
- Accurate. (2/2)
- Seth Rollins is an early favorite to win the men’s Royal Rumble match, as he’s still planned to wrestle Brock Lesnar for the Universal championship at WrestleMania 35.
- Also accurate. (2/2)
- According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kenny Omega has already turned down the offer WWE made him. He’ll be signing with AEW as soon as he’s able to come Feb. 1.
- He signed with AEW. It was announced at the Double or Nothing rally. (1/1)
- They also say a lot of wrestlers are getting the best contracts of their career thanks to AEW, ROH, NJPW, and WWE being as competitive as they’ve been in some time, at least as far as competing for talent.
- Which is great.
This week: 15/19 - 79%
Overall: 2,821/5,104 - 55.3%
Have a great week, everyone!