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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 stated. Let’s jump right in, shall we?
- Per PW Insider, Sasha Banks was actually suffering from a tailbone injury after Hell in a Cell, not a back injury as had been previously reported.
- Tailbone isn’t as bad as a back injury.
- For whatever it’s worth, the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Vince McMahon was laughing about the reaction from fans to the Hell in a Cell main event.
- Then he fiddled.
- The Observer says there’s already talk within WWE of moving NXT out of Full Sail and taking the show on the road each week, maybe as soon as early next year.
- That didn’t happen yet. Granted they wouldn’t be doing it right now, but they were going into April with it still happening at Full Sail. (0/1)
- Hell in a Cell did around 12,500 buys on pay-per-view, according to the WON.
- I used to ask why people would buy on PPV, but I wonder if that’s going to eventually come back. WWE seems to be pushing it more than the Network now.
- Rush’s contract with Ring of Honor expires at the end of the year, says the Observer, and it’s likely he’ll have strong interest from AEW and WWE.
- He’s still working with ROH.
- According to PW Insider, WWE worked closely with folks at USA and FOX to make sure they were happy with planned draft picks to Raw and SmackDown, respectively.
- Gotta serve two masters now.
- Per the Observer, Randy Orton may be going babyface, or at least WWE is testing that out.
- He worked babyface against AJ Styles before going full on heel against Edge. Orton can pull that off. (1/1)
- Ember Moon is dealing with an ankle or Achilles injury that could keep her out for a while, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- It was an Achilles and she’s still out. (1/1)
- Cain Velasquez is trying to avoid getting surgery done on his knee so he doesn’t miss any time, says Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
- I can’t find one way or another. He’s been out awhile so I wondered if he opted for the surgery.
- He also said that Tyson Fury is in for just one match, and has already been training for it at the Performance Center.
- It was just the one match with Strowman... for now. (1/1)
- Backstage reactions to the Fox Sports/NFL draft segments on SmackDown weren’t good, sources told WrestlingNews.co. One wrestler allegedly told the site, “[WWE] can’t help themselves. It always makes me cringe when you see them trying so hard to show everyone how mainstream they are.”
- That sounds like a very accurate description of it.
- The draft pools being posted in the order talent were selected on Friday was a miscommunication, per Wrestling Observer Radio. The web team was supposed to alphabetize the list, but somehow missed the message.
- That was quite the flub.
- The initial belief is WWE will not honor Mike Kanellis’ latest release request.
- This is accurate. Yes, he was just released, but it was part of the COVID cuts. (1/1)
- CM Punk’s Pro Wrestling Tees store removed all but one of the shirts which were selling there, adding to speculation he’ll soon be announced as part of Fox’s WWE studio show team.
- He made his first appearance about a month from this. If he’s signed with Fox and not WWE, can’t he still sell his tees though? (1/1)
- The weather-related travel issues which led to Jon Moxley vacating the IWGP United States title were legit, according to Wrestling Observer, so they didn’t have anything to do with friction between New Japan & AEW.
- He’s the US champion again.
- PW Insider notes that Eric Bischoff likely doesn’t have a no-compete clause and can work for another company at any time after he was fired by WWE.
- Not that he is. He’s just focusing on his podcast.
- Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio said the plan is not to turn Seth Rollins heel right now.
- They eventually did anyway. About a month later. (0/1)
- Per the Observer, Rollins will not be working two matches at Crown Jewel and will be replaced as captain of Team Hogan.
- He was replaced by Roman Reigns. (1/1)
- They also say The Usos and Naomi were taken off the road after Jimmy’s latest arrest and there are no plans for them right now.
- They were off until they all came back. (1/1)
- Cain Velasquez told Ariel Helwani on his show that WWE is going to let him do another AAA show.
- He hasn’t, though maybe that’s more due to his knee injury. (0/1)
- A report from Sports Illustrated says Eric Bischoff was fired by Vince McMahon because of SmackDown’s big second week ratings drop, to send a message to stockholders how committed he is to the success of the show on Fox.
- In that sense, Easy E was always a fall guy because that ratings drop was always going to happen. (Also, SmackDown hasn’t been that good with Bruce Prichard running things either.)
- SI also notes Bischoff’s four month run was “marked by his failure to assimilate into the corporate structure of the company”.
- It did sound like he didn’t fit in to what they’re used to.
- WWE attempted to buy Pro Wrestling NOAH as part of their push to launch NXT Japan, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio. The deal did not happen.
- Working on that world domination.
- While it was speculation and not reporting, Meltzer also recently said on Observer Radio he thinks Seth Rollins burning down Firefly Fun House was a way to write the concept off as Fox doesn’t want it as part of SmackDown.
- That is not correct. Hell, we had a Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania. (0/1)
- One more from Observer Radio... R-Truth & Carmella were split in the Draft because USA came up with the 24/7 title and wanted to keep the champ on Raw, but WWE doesn’t like separating real life couples and Corey Graves is on SmackDown.
- That makes sense. Still a shame because they were so fun together.
- Sasha Banks is expected to be at tonight’s SmackDown, according to PW Insider. If she wrestles or appears on-screen, it’ll be the first time since she supposedly injured her tailbone at Hell in a Cell.
- She was there alongside Bayley. (1/1)
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said WWE’s chartering a flight back from Saudi Arabia after Crown Jewel on Thurs., Oct. 31 for the Fri., Nov 1 SmackDown because they can’t have top stars missing the show now that it’s on Fox.
- I hope it works out for them!
- Sounds like the injury NXT wrote Velveteen Dream off for is legit, according to Observer Radio, but backstage sources aren’t saying much about it.
- He was gone for long enough that it was not a work. (1/1)
- It was also mentioned by Meltzer that WWE was interested in buying the women’s promotion Stardom as part of their NXT Japan plans before Stardom was sold to New Japan’s parent company. Triple H & others met with Stardom officials in July.
- Stardom would be an interesting buy with joshi wrestlers Kairi Sane and Io Shirai on their roster, who had significant success there.
- PW Insider heard that talk backstage at AEW Dynamite was that Luchasaurus may have torn his hamstring, an injury which could keep him out for months.
- He was out for a little bit of time, but not even a full month. (1/2)
This week: 10/15 - 67%
Overall: 3,262/5,831 - 55.9%
Have a good week everyone. Stay safe and healthy.