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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 jump right in, shall we?
- Based on advertisements, it appears Brock Lesnar will be a regular on SmackDown after the move to FOX for at least a couple months.
- He went to Raw very soon after. Within a month. (0/1)
- WrestleVotes says both Raw and SmackDown are getting updated set designs following this week’s shows.
- Both shows received some new sets after the Fox shift. (1/1)
- The announcer changes still haven’t been finalized, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- That’s not surprising. WWE sounds like a last minute business.
- They also say Booker T is being talked about as co-hosting the FS1 WWE studio show alongside Renee Young.
- That’s true. I dig that. (Sucka.) (1/1)
- The Observer notes that Impact doesn’t want to let Killer Kross out of his deal because it would set a bad precedent for other wrestlers, that they could simply bury the company to be let go if they wanted out of deals.
- They eventually did. He’ll be debuting on NXT sooner than later.
- Pyro returns to WWE television next week, says Wrestlevotes.
- Pyro did make its big comeback. (1/1)
- As of Clash of Champions The Revival haven’t re-signed with WWE, according to Fightful.
- Sounds like that’s not going to happen. We don’t know for this sure, but we pretty much do so I’m going to say yay to this. (1/1)
- A report in The Big Lead says FS1’s WWE studio show will premiere on Tues., Nov. 5. Christian, Edge, Paige, and others are in the running along with Booker T for the role of Renee Young’s co-host.
- Christian and Paige have been on the show plenty, though Book is the official co-host. Edge was too busy working on his big comeback.
- A TNT official told The Wrap there have already been discussions about an AEW studio show launching “shortly” after Dynamite premieres next week.
- This has not happened. There was an announcement of an eventual new show when they re-upped their deal, though haven’t heard much since. (0/1)
- Impact’s Vice President of Production Kevin Sullivan is leaving the company along with a “select few” from his team and heading to All Elite, reports Post Wrestling.
- This looks to be correct according to this linkedin. (1/1)
- According to WrestleVotes, FOX wants Bray Wyatt on SmackDown but he will likely be staying on Monday Night Raw.
- Bray actually moved to Fox, who got their wish here. (0/1)
- PW Insider says the word within WWE is 205 Live will move to Friday at 10 pm ET, immediately following SmackDown.
- That’s what happened. Though I still think they should tape it like they used to tape NXT. (1/1)
- They also say NXT Creative will be in charge of the show.
- This would make sense since NXT on Wednesdays also hosted the cruiserweight division at times.
- There’s been some talk of Mickie James working as a Producer for WWE, per Insider.
- She’s been around for awhile and would have a good deal of knowledge to pass on.
- On Wrestling Observer Live it was mentioned the upcoming Undisputed ERA vs. Street Profits NXT tag team title match may end up being a Steel Cage match.
- That was not the case. (0/1)
- Shane McMahon will lose his ladder match to Kevin Owens next Friday and be written off television as an authority figure, per WrestlingNews.co. The reason is WWE’s moving more towards a sports-like presentation and wants “more conclusive finishes and less interference from non-wrestling characters”.
- Shane did lose the match. But I wouldn’t say we get any more conclusive finishes than we had prior (1/2)
- With the move to Fox, WrestleVotes claims WWE now views SmackDown as the “A” show over Raw.
- If anything, they’re equal. They moved the Raw announce team, but I really don’t see anything that screams “SmackDown is the top show now.”
- In their story about SmackDown sponsors, Ad Age says fans should “keep an eye peeled” for The Rock on the Oct. 4 Fox premiere, as “he may very well look to pop in on the 20th anniversary of SmackDown and promote his upcoming Disney flick, Jungle Cruise.”
- He didn’t promote his movie, but he was there. (1/2)
- That article also says WWE & Fox are considering reducing the amount of commercials on SmackDown to cater to younger viewers who don’t respond to traditional advertising, and that the network doesn’t think they’ll use “the double-box commercial format” for SmackDown.
- It surely doesn’t feel like less commercials. I honestly don’t recall for sure if they use the picture and picture. I want to say yes, but I just don’t remember, so feel free to let me know if you recall in the comments. (0/1)
- PW Insider reports Impact talent were recently paid bonuses for working a long day pre-taping the Brian Cage/Melissa Santos wedding segment for this week’s show, but after it had become a “bone of contention” for wrestlers.
- A bone of contention is they were upset about it first and then Impact paid them?
- Jerry Lawler will likely only be on Raw “for a short time”, says Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin. Other people are being considered for the spot full-time.
- He pretty much stuck around full-time. (0/1)
- Satin speculates that Mickie James, who called Main Event last week, could be up for the job.
- She did not take that spot. (0/1)
- Word is that despite not being part of yesterday’s announcement, WWE remains high on Tom Phillips and he should land on a show soon.
- Tom took Vic Joseph’s spot on Raw. (1/1)
- 205 Live’s rumored move to Fridays is only temporary, according to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer. He says WWE hasn’t figured out what to do with the show and several options are being kicked around, including ending the show altogether.
- It’s still there. So not that temporary. (0/1)
- Meltzer also says that Ring of Honor made a great offer to keep Matt Taven, one that’s “about three times what NXT guys make”. PW Insider says Taven’s contract is up at the end of this month. He defends the ROH World title against Rush on PPV tonight.
- I think he lost the title to Rush here, though he’s still in ROH. Not sure if Taven is worth 3x NXT money, but they really needed to keep guys locked up.
- Brock Lesnar to SmackDown isn’t a done deal, per the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. His being booked on the show might just be to pop a number on Fox and help move tickets for TV tapings given weak advance sales.
- He was moved there in the draft. But then moved to Raw like a month later. So it’s true in one way but not true in another. So I’m gonna leave it.
- The Observer also says WWE has no plans to follow-up on Goldberg & Dolph Ziggler’s recent online angle, and it looks like the wrestlers were just did it to get publicity for themselves.
- Yes, that was no longer a thing. (1/1)
- Even though Maury Povich seemed anxious to do it, Wrestling Observer Newsletter says WWE’s decided not to have him on Raw as part of the Rusev/Kanellis paternity angle.
- That did not happen. (1/1)
- Luke Harper was dealing with a neck injury while he wasn’t being used by WWE, according to The Observer. He was obviously cleared to return, but the WON speculates this could be why Harper looks “down in size” since coming back.
- Neck issues are no joke.
- While it’s expected Ring of Honor will try to keep him with an offer similar to the one they reportedly made Matt Taven, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio he expects Marty Scurll to choose between lucrative offers from WWE and AEW when he’s a free agent at the end of November.
- Marty probably had lucrative offers from both, but had a sweet enough offer from ROH that convinced him to stay.
This week: 11/21 - 52%
Overall: 3,226/5,778 - 55.8%
Have a good week, everyone. Stay safe out there.