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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 get right to it.
- PW Insider says WWE’s next trip to Saudi Arabia will be on Feb. 20 and that an announcement of as much is expected to happen soon.
- It was on Feb. 27. (0/1)
- The Observer, meanwhile, says they heard it could be Feb. 27 and that it may have been kept low key due to problems with the last show and all the issues in the Middle East right now.
- It was the 27th. (1/1)
- In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer claims people in WWE have been spreading word that Tony Khan has been buying tickets to shows that have been selling out on the first day, even though it’s not true.
- Unless he’s giving all those tickets away, AEW shows are usually rather full.
- Per SoCal Uncensored, Brian Cage has signed a multi-year deal with AEW and he will be starting there soon.
- He did sign with AEW. But the injury mentioned below delayed his start for awhile. (1/2)
- Speaking of Cage, Insider says the reason he didn’t work against Ken Shamrock at Hard to Kill was a torn bicep.
- Shamrock worked Moose instead.
- WWE passed on signing Tessa Blanchard in the past due to “attitude issues”, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio. It was also said Impact knew about her reputation when they signed her and it won’t affect their plans.
- This is a funny rumor. Because now that said attitude led to her release from Impact as world champion, WWE is the likely landing spot.
- Meltzer also talked Marty Scurrl’s new ROH deal, calling it the biggest in company history. It will allow him to work with New Japan, NWA and PWG, but Scurll will have to form a relationship with AEW.
- Six months may have affected this big time.
- PW Insider says more New Japan names will be added to ROH’s Supercard of Honor show.
- This show was canceled due to the pandemic. It didn’t have a lot of matches officially scheduled at that time.
- Bret Hart was in Los Angeles this weekend filming the next episode of Broken Skull Sessions with Steve Austin, per Insider.
- I didn’t watch this show, but Bret and Steve have a good rapport so was probably entertaining.
- About that Brian Cage to AEW rumor? Cage’s wife Melissa Santos says “he hasn’t signed on any dotted line”.
- She didn’t say he wasn’t going to. And we don’t know when that deal was officially done.
- PW Insider is now saying that the next WWE show in Saudi Arabia will be on Feb. 27 and “creative for the event has not been locked in.”
- That was the show that Goldberg... sigh... defeated the Fiend. Insider has the date correct this time. (1/1)
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Big Show was brought in for the short term as a favor and he won’t be around for long.
- Big Show comes and goes. He’s not full time. But at the same time, he’s still around. So I’m going say nay. (0/1)
- He also said the U.S. championship ladder match set for Raw next week is another big attempt at bringing in ratings.
- I don’t remember it, but apparently it was between Andrade & Rey Mysterio and a pretty good match.
- Aleister Black is still on track for a big push up the card, which could come sooner rather than later.
- That still hasn’t happened. The man hasn’t had a real singles program outside his Murphy feud. (0/1)
- According to the Observer, there’s still no word on when Velveteen Dream will return and his back injury is “pretty serious.”
- He was gone until early February.
- WrestlingNews.co says they’ve heard that at least two more WWE Superstars have decided against working the next Saudi Arabia show.
- I don’t remember an official word of someone staying home and there’s so many people on the roster that some people are just getting left off because there’s no spot for them.
- According to Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue, Asuka and Kevin Owens have expressed an interest in returning to or working more with NXT.
- KO hasn’t returned since War Games last fall. Asuka has popped down a couple times, once to defend her tag team titles with Kairi Sane, and another to further her current feud with Sasha Banks.
- Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson filed for trademarks on “Shatter Machine” and “#FTRKO”, which is being interpreted as a sign they’ll leave WWE when their contracts are up.
- They did not get Shatter Machine. I don’t know about FTRKO because there’d be no reason for them to use that without Randy.
- Twitch banned Impact Wrestling’s channel on Wednesday. Speculation is this was due to the RVD victory celebration which aired on Tuesday’s show that featured him and his girlfriend in a hotel room with another woman.
- This story is still hilarious.
- There’s a lot of talk Showtime is considering a deal to air MLW.
- That did not happen. (0/1)
- The Royal Rumble event could get up to two more matches added to it, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- Looks like at least Sheamus vs. Shorty G (kickoff) and Bayley vs. Lacey Evans were officially made after this. (1/1)
- They also say that Andrade vs. Humberto Carrillo is a program WWE wants to build to next as a longer term feud over the U.S. title.
- It felt like it never ended. Didn’t really help Carrillo get over. (1/1)
- The Observer notes that the details of AEW’s new second show haven’t been worked out beyond it being one hour.
- We haven’t heard anything about this lately. But I’m sure the pandemic put everything on pause.
- They do say that TNT wanted to make Dark the one hour show but AEW wants to leave that as an Internet-only program.
- I think a version of Dark on TV would help build their undercard.
- Marty Scurll was the first choice to be the leader of the Dark Order in AEW, per the WON, before Ring of Honor gave him too good a deal to pass up.
- I thought first he was going to be allied with of Butcher and Blade. He have been an interesting reveal for the Dark Order. I like Brody Lee in the role a lot though.
- Per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Tyson Fury is not the plan for Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania opponent, whether he wins his fight against Deontay Wilder or not.
- It was Drew McIntyre. (1/1)
- Justin LaBar notes there continues to be talk in WWE circles about possibly making WrestleMania a two day event.
- Well they did, though they wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the pandemic. (1/1)
- The Velveteen Dream and Jinder Mahal are both scheduled for Royal Rumble weekend in Houston, says PW Insider.
- Dream wasn’t back by then. Neither was Jinder. (0/2)
- Triple H was apparently set to meet with Killer Kross this week, according to the Observer.
- They’re treating him as NXT’s blue chip signing.
- Ring of Honor hopes Marty Scurll can help open up a relationship between ROH and AEW, says the WON.
- We’ll see what the future holds for Scurll after the #SpeakingOut allegations.
This week: 7/14 - 50%
Overall: 3,397/6,047 - 56.2%
Have a good week, everyone. Stay safe and healthy.