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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.
- There’s some word going around that Daniel Bryan had more testing done on himself within the past couple months and it may have gone well, hence the talk of him wrestling again when his WWE contract expires. It’s not expected he will ever wrestle for WWE again.
- He’s wrestling tonight. (0/1)
- The Observer notes there are absolutely plans for an MMA Horsewomen vs. WWE Horsewomen program as WWE is high on doing it. The Mae Young Classic live final will likely be where the next angle for it is shot.
- That never happened and it’s been a year and a half. Ronda has come and gone. I’m going to say no to this one. (0/1)
- According to the Observer, Rey Mysterio never got far in talks with WWE and it’s always been far more likely he’ll end up in GFW.
- Rey Mysterio never went to GFW. (This was when TNA was briefly known as GFW.) (0/1)
- Big Show’s hip surgery could signal the end of his in-ring career with WWE, though a retirement match isn’t out of the question.
- It was not the end of his in-ring career (he wrestled just last week) and he hasn’t had any official retirement match. (0/2)
OK, now onto this week’s rumors:
- In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter it’s mentioned the Raw Reunion show came about because it was “one of the least bad ideas” from USA Network to turn ratings around.
- Wow. “One of the least bad ideas.” I have nothing...
- They also say Bully Ray and Jim Ross were both invited to the show but both elected against it.
- Obviously, JR was an AEW guy by this time. Bully was fully doing his ROH thing at the time. Is he still doing that?
- Finn Bálor is not currently planned to wrestle as “The Demon” at SummerSlam, per the Observer.
- They opted not to so they could protect the Demon. I thought they were going to eventually do Demon vs. Fiend, but that won’t be for a long while since Bálor is full on NXT now. (1/1)
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer mentioned WWE is going to be doing an updated version of the “Lex Express” to help promote the upcoming WWE move to FOX.
- I don’t think this ever happened. But if anyone saw a WWE on Fox bus, lemme know and I’ll change this. (0/1)
- Per PW Insider, Candice Michelle will also be at Raw Reunion next week.
- She won the 24/7 Championship, like many others. (1/1)
- WWE and FOX are planning a one hour launch show in September to get ready for the SmackDown Live debut on the channel, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- Looks like they had a couple things. (1/1)
- It’s also noted that FOX is in talks to get NXT on FS1.
- That did not happen. NXT moved to USA. (0/1)
- For whatever it’s worth, local advertising for Hell in a Cell on Oct. 6 in Sacramento indicates we’ll see Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre.
- Neither of those matches happened. Kingston had lost the title by then so Randy Orton fought Ali. That was also the infamous Rollins/Fiend main event. (0/2)
- According to the Observer, executives from Turner Broadcasting were at Fight for the Fallen and came away impressed with the show.
- They’re still very happy given they extended the show through 2023.
- MLW apparently took issue with Tony Schiavone doing AEW work because the latter promotion didn’t reach out to the former.
- He’s now finished with MLW and working Dynamite every week. I like hearing him on my TV again.
- While initial reporting indicated Eric Bischoff would be working on the creative side of SmackDown Live, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that that’s not the case and he’ll be doing other things.
- I still don’t know what his role was or was supposed to be.
- Although there was initially some doubt about his appearing on the show, Post Wrestling notes that John Cena is expected to be at Raw Reunion tonight.
- He was there. Opened the show. (1/1)
- One person who isn’t expected to be there is The Rock, though WWE has apparently reached out to him about appearing at the SmackDown Live debut on FOX in October and it’s currently up in the air, per Meltzer.
- He was not at Raw Reunion but did make the SmackDown show. (1/1)
- As for who turned down WWE for Raw Reunion, Meltzer said Bret Hart elected not to work the show.
- Bret has always been a little more selective in his roles. (1/1)
- WWE tickets sales for TV tapings at Madison Square Garden have been disappointing, says the Observer.
- That’s a shame.
- Raw Reunion was “a ton of headaches”, according to Wrestling Observer. Apparently a lot of segments were changed at the last minute because Legends couldn’t get medically cleared.
- That sounds annoying.
- RVD’s appearance was just for last night, per PW Insider, who says he got permission in writing from Impact to show up on WWE television.
- Yes, he’s fully entrenched in Impact, having threesomes. (1/1)
- Lead writers Steve Guerreri and Steve Oppenheim were let go by WWE last week. Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported it, and said the releases were not Paul Heyman or Eric Bischoff’s call.
- Does a move like this really make a huge difference?
- Speaking of Bischoff, it was speculated on Wrestling Observer Radio that since he’s not overseeing creative, one of his main roles will be as the liaison between WWE and Fox.
- Then why’d he get fired when the ratings inevitably dropped?
- PW Insider says Bischoff will be at the SmackDown taping in Miami tonight.
- “Man shows up to work” is a big rumor around this time.
- There’s been some word making the rounds that Daniel Bryan could move to 205 Live, and that could have to do with his announcement that keeps getting teased.
- That certainly never happened. Hell, there was never even an announcement. (0/1)
- Per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Sid Vicious pulled out of Raw Reunion a number of days ago.
- Did he blame it on Donald Trump?
- He also said Rikishi was planned to do a stink face spot but couldn’t get cleared to do so by doctors.
- That doesn’t seem to be a move that is very taxing.
- PW Insider notes that Scott Hall was asked not to be in the ring for the “toast to Monday Night Raw” segment, though it’s unclear why.
- Maybe because of his history with alcoholism? Though if that were the case, he could have just brought a water.
- They also say WWE is applying to trademark “WWE After the Bell” and the speculation is it could be the name of the FS1 show.
- That is not the name of the FS1 show. That’s the name of Corey Graves’ podcast. (0/1)
- There’s been some talk of NXT going live on FS1 opposite AEW’s TNT show. This could also involve integrating the brand with 205 Live.
- That’s not the case because of the FS1 aspect. I will give a point for the 205 thing because they made the cruiserweight title the NXT cruiserweight title, though 205 is still its own show. (1/2)
- Wrestling Observer says “Wednesday Night Dynamite” is expected to be the name of AEW’s TNT show.
- That’s the case. (1/1)
- Eric Bischoff was at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping, according to PW Insider. He sat in on but didn’t lead production meetings, and spent a lot of time with members of the Creative team.
- I’m just very curious his role, but I don’t think there’s a version of the story I’ll ever believe.
- Insider also reports the tiered WWE Network offerings are“coming sooner than later”.
- I believe there is a free tier of WWE Network but there’s no premium tier. (1/1)
- According to Hollywood Life, John Cena brought his new girlfriend to Raw Reunion.
- I hope she takes her shoes off in the house.
This week: 10/17 - 59%
Overall: 3,111/5,577 - 55.8%
Have a great week, everyone! Enjoy the Rumble!