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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. But first let’s knock off some old rumors from 2018.
- The Observer notes that WWE will have a new show on FS1 that will be a replacement for UFC Tonight.
- I don’t know what the format of UFC Tonight was, but WWE does have a complimentary FS1 show in WWE Backstage. (1/1)
- Per Dave Meltzer, WWE has had discussions about running a show in 2019 that would feature wrestlers from outside the company.
- Looking at the 2019 schedule, the closest thing is the Evolve 10th anniversary show, but I’d say they aired that show but didn’t run that show. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything like the Mae Young Classic that would fit the bill. (0/1)
- According to PW Insider, WWE is considering Matt Cappotelli for the 2019 Warrior Award.
- That year it went to Sue Aitchison, the first Warrior Award that really fit what Warrior was talking about during his Hall of Fame speech. (0/1)
- WWE international stadium shows like Greatest Royal Rumble and Super Show-Down could be branded as WrestleMania by 2020, per Barnburner. The idea is to hold a WrestleMania in the U.S. in the spring and one in another country in the fall.
- While the shows are big, none of them are called WrestleMania. They may be sold as “Greater to or equal to WrestleMania,” but they’ve never been branded as an out of country Mania. (0/1)
Now onto this week’s rumors:
- The Usos are expected to return to WWE any time. Dave Meltzer speculates they could be paired with Roman Reigns against Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and Bobby Roode.
- They eventually joined that feud - just that that feud went into 2020, when they returned. (1/1)
- The Observer notes that Natalya missed recent Raw tapings due to a “family obligation.”
- Not much to say here.
- Based on trademark filings by WWE, it appears a New Day podcast is in the works.
- That’s the case. It’s The New Day: Feel the Power, and it’s very entertaining. (1/1)
- Per PW Insider, AEW will have an announcement about its next pay-per-view coming soon, and plans haven’t changed about doing quarterly events.
- It was announced about a month later. Looks like we’re still quarterly. (2/2)
- They also say Hangman Page was concerned about a possible stinger after his match with PAC at Full Gear but he believes he’ll be okay.
- He didn’t miss any time. (1/1)
- Sin Cara still has three years on his contract, according to PW Insider.
- Signing those long contracts can trap you.
- They also report sources tell them his request will not be granted.
- He was released a month later. (0/1)
- Wrestling Observer says he’ll be remaining on the European tour. Insider claims he was scheduled to go to Raw in Boston next Monday, but will now be going home when WWE returns to the States.
- If he’s being released, I guess they don’t care to use him.
- Per HeelByNature, the “fan” who threw a drink at MJF after he turned on Cody at Full Gear was indie wrestler Alan Angels.
- Fans don’t do this stuff like they used to, which is definitely a good thing. But the imagery of fans raining garbage into the ring back in the ring was something else.
- It looks like the Jan. 22 episode of Dynamite will take place on Chris Jericho’s cruise.
- It was a great environment. (1/1)
- There’s been talk going around from those who attended the show that WWE altered the crowd reaction for Seth Rollins in post-production for the taped Raw show this week.
- They eventually had no choice but to turn him heel.
- Despite talk of Cesaro possibly going to NXT, it appears that’s not in the plans at this time.
- Unfortunately, that never happened. There would be some great matches that could be had if he ever did. (1/1)
- Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that one of the reasons Aleister Black has done the bit where he’s backstage doing promos about someone knocking on his door to fight him is he has a knee injury but WWE wanted to keep him on TV.
- That makes sense. The continued closet promos didn’t help in general.
- He also said Bushiroad wants Io Shirai and Kairi Sane back once their WWE contracts are up.
- We’ll see how that goes. It’s definitely possible.
- WWE Network News says the final months of WCW Thunder will be put on the WWE Network next Monday.
- March 2001 was the last of the show and those episodes are on the WWE Network, though I can’t say when they were added. (1/1)
- PW Insider reported several backstage details about CM Punk & WWE Backstage, including confirmation his deal is with Fox and that he has not signed anything with WWE at this time. WWE did give Fox their approval to bring Punk in.
- Even this seemed like something that wouldn’t happen just years ago.
- Punk won’t be on WWE Backstage every week, but he will be a regular.
- He shows up every month maybe. (1/1)
- On Wrestler Observer Live, it was said that Punk met with Tony Khan about joining AEW and passed on “a lot of money”.
- Punk would be a guy you open that checkbook for.
- Target Center is advertising a TLC Women’s Tag Team championship between Kabuki Warriors and Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair for Dec. 15’s TLC PPV in Minneapolis.
- That was the match. Kairi Sane suffered an ugly looking concussion. (1/1)
- Insider also had details on Miz & Paige’s contracts. Miz extended his current deal and will now be with WWE until 2025. Paige signed a new one and will be with the company until 2023.
- Some long contracts, but those two were never going anywhere. Miz is a WWE lifer and Paige wouldn’t be able to wrestle for anyone else anyway.
- According to the Observer, the current plan is for Daniel Bryan to challenge Bray Wyatt for the Universal championship at Survivor Series.
- That was the match. Bryan lost. (1/1)
- The previous plans may have called for Wyatt to wrestle The Miz and Bryan to wrestle Roderick Strong and AJ Styles.
- Miz and Wyatt eventually did wrestle at TLC. It was the first time we saw Fun House Bray fight instead of the Fiend.
- Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley isn’t planned for Survivor Series, says the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, because the show is already full.
- That’s accurate. I don’t know think Rusev won any of the matches they had. He’s since been released. (1/1)
- Bayley was flown from France to Orlando to appear on NXT TV this week in part because WWE wants fans to believe main roster stars will show up on NXT each week, per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
- They did keep showing up. Though the invasions started getting formulaic.
- Tom Lawlor is done with MLW because the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a new deal, per PW Insider.
- He’s still with them. Re-signed a week later. (0/1)
- There will be a Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin match at TLC and, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there’s been some consideration for making it a “dog collar” match.
- The match happened but it wasn’t a dog collar match. There was a “Loser Eats Dog Food” match a couple months later. (1/2)
- They also note there was a plan in place for Shinsuke Nakamura to lose the Intercontinental title at one point but that’s since changed and won’t be happening.
- That likely would have been to Bryan like alluded to earlier.
- The Observer notes that WrestleMania 36 tickets have sold very well, though there are still a lot of seats left.
- They all had to be refunded.
- The next NXT UK TakeOver event is likely happening in January in Blackpool.
- That’s correct. (1/1)
- Pentagon & Fenix will be regulars in AAA in about five weeks, per the WON.
- They’re current AAA tag champions. (1/1)
This week: 15/18 - 83%
Overall: 3,309/5,907 - 56.0%
Have a good week, everyone. Stay safe and healthy.