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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. But first I’m going to tackle some rumors from my now 18 pages of outstanding rumors going back to 2015.
- It’s expected that Prince Puma will stay with Lucha Underground and his character will be involved in all storylines the company is taping for season three and beyond.
- The “and beyond” aspect of this rumor makes this incorrect because Puma (aka Ricochet) was not involved in season four, which was their final season. (0/1)
- Even though Undertaker reportedly told Vince McMahon he’s retired, the Chairman is fine-tuning a sales pitch to get the Dead Man to come back to face John Cena at WrestleMania33.
- This match didn’t happen. While Undertaker worked the show, he worked against Roman Reigns. Then he left his boots in the ring and people chanted “Thank you, Taker” for ten minutes. People also tweeted that. He’s since wrestled multiple times. (0/1)
- The other half of Vince McMahon’s way-too-early WrestleMania 33 plan has Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock co-main eventing with the Taker/Cena match we mentioned yesterday.
- Brock Lesnar worked Goldberg while the Rock wasn’t on the show at all. (0/1)
- Lana has been working NXT house shows and training at the Performance Center apparently because WWE still has plans to push her as a top star in the women’s division.
- I think it’s very safe to say at this point that while she’s constantly featured in trashy storylines, she is not a top star in the women’s division, or really even a wrestler. (0/1)
OK, onto this week’s rumors!
- Undertaker vs. Drew McIntyre is currently being advertised locally for SummerSlam but The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says that is not the current plan, though it is expected that Undertaker will work the show.
- Undertaker did not work SummerSlam. And McIntyre wasn’t on the card at all. So Meltz right, local ads wrong. (1/2)
- WrestleVotes says anything WWE planned before hiring Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff to run Raw or SmackDown is “subject to change” to ensure a legitimate fresh start.
- That makes sense. Want to give the new guys a chance to implement their own vision, even though Bischoff never did such.
- The Observer notes that after a WWE meeting on Wednesday of this week it was decided no matches would be added to Extreme Rules this weekend.
- There’s a rumor the following day about a Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler match that was going to be added (and was), which makes this rumor incorrect. (0/1)
- They also say Randy Orton does have a neck injury but it’s not what is keeping him out of action right now.
- Randy took some vacations last summer.
- There’s been increased speculation, apparently stemming from Dave Meltzer riffing on Wrestling Observer Radio, that NXT could move to FS1 to compete directly with AEW’s TV show on TNT.
- They moved to USA. So technically incorrect, but they did move to compete. (0/1)
- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Roman Reigns is “one of the very few people in WWE who hasn’t inquired to AEW.”
- The Big Dog has been treated well by WWE and seems very loyal to them.
- They also say that WWE internally talks like they’re at war with AEW and “moves are being discussed constantly.”
- They’ve counter programmed for sure.
- Per Post Wrestling, Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler is expected to be added to the Extreme Rules match card.
- It was. (1/1)
- According to the Observer, Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary show drew 1,500 buys while Ring of Honor’s Best in the World show drew 1,400 buys.
- Is that good for them?
- They also say some in WWE expect LAX to start there in September but others “close to the situation” say they’ll likely go to AEW.
- So a split rumor. They ended up in AEW as Proud-n-Powerful (if they’re still called that which I don’t think they are). (1/2)
- There were plans for Bray Wyatt to re-debut and wrestle at SummerSlam, according to WrestleVotes, but those may have changed now that Paul Heyman & Eric Bischoff have taken over.
- He did wrestle SummerSlam against Finn Bálor so those plans didn’t change. (1/2)
- Backstage sources spoke to Fightful about Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows re-signing with WWE. The consensus is that everyone is happy for them as they work hard and deserve the big raises they got, but not many are optimistic tag teams will be booked any differently.
- They’re a bit more prominent, but in general, the tag division is going to be the tag division.
- Tamina’s match with Naomi at a house show in Maine Friday night was stopped when she appeared to get knocked out. Wrestling Observer Radio reports Tamina suffered a concussion.
- Always a scary situation.
- MJF was pulled from an indie appearance Sunday due to “a severe elbow injury” he suffered at Fight for the Fallen, but there’s speculation it’s a work.
- I don’t recall it being something they worked in later, but at the same time, AEW was only running a show a month at this point.
- Jim Ross says he was invited to next Monday’s Raw Reunion show, and AEW President Tony Khan said he could go, but he decided not to attend.
- I’m surprised WWE would extend the invite in general.
- Finn Bálor has asked WWE for two months off, says Pro Wrestling Sheet. It’s expected his hiatus will start after SummerSlam, if you’re wondering how a prospective match with Bray Wyatt at that show might go.
- It did start after SummerSlam until he rolled into NXT in October. (2/2)
- Next week’s Raw reunion show was one of the ideas pitched by USA to get ratings up, per Wrestling Observer Radio.
- These special shows always pop a quick rating, but it’s never a long term solution.
- Daniel Bryan was originally slated for last night’s #1 contender battle royal, according to The Observer. He was replaced by Sami Zayn because WWE “decided to go in a different direction” with Bryan.
- Was this the start of the Roman Reigns attempted murder angle?
- PW Insider reports WWE officials were very happy with last Saturday’s Evolve 10th Anniversary show, both the event itself and its popularity on the Network.
- I don’t believe we’ve seen one since.
- On Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said the concussion Britt Baker suffered at Fight for the Fallen was “significant” and “pretty bad”.
- I recall her kind of being out on her feet in that one.
- Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the upcoming Raw Reunion show was the original idea for the debut of SmackDown Live on FOX.
- They did something similar for that show too.
- He also says the deal WWE made with Finn Bálor was for him to stay through SummerSlam and put Bray Wyatt over before taking his sabbatical.
- That’s what happened. (1/1)
- Despite the setup with The Miz and Dolph Ziggler on Raw this week, WWE is not planning that match for SummerSlam, per the Observer.
- That was not a SummerSlam match. (1/1)
- Eric Bischoff wasn’t involved in this week’s episode of SmackDown in any way, says Dave Meltzer.
- Feels like this is becoming a theme.
- PW Insider notes AAA will return to pay-per-view on Sept. 15 and Oct. 13, and will be presented on secondary PPV channels opposite two WWE shows running the same nights.
- Those were dates of AAA shows, though I don’t know what the PPV channels even are any more, especially which is “secondary.” (2/2)
- Kevin Owens’ mic work the past couple weeks wasn’t scripted, per Sports Illustrated. KO is working off WWE-provided bullet points, a move SI says “shows tremendous faith in Owens”.
- I think more wrestlers should receive this faith. If they bomb, then write them a script.
- There are members of the SmackDown creative team who are already unhappy with Eric Bischoff according to WrestleTalk. That’s because he spent two weeks moving to Stamford rather than meeting the staff and learning how the show works.
- The Bischoff experiment never worked.
- Finn Bálor flew back to Ireland after his segment with Bray Wyatt on the July 15 Raw, says PW Insider.
- Always good to get some time with family.
- A Drake Maverick/R-Truth 24/7 title match will film at San Diego Comic-Con today, according to Insider.
- They ran those angles everywhere. (1/1)
- Jon Moxley personally requested to work with Big Cass during his appearances with Northeast Wrestling, sources told SI.
- They used to room together in Florida.
This week: 11/16 - 69%
Overall: 3,101/5,555 - 58.2%
Have a great week, everyone!