Rumor Look Back: Jan. 19 - 25, 2020

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.

January 20, 2020

• The Observer notes that as early as a couple weeks ago there were plans for NXT talents to be in both the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches.
• I mean that’s a pretty obvious one. (And it’s true.) (1/1)
• The word is that Sasha Banks is not injured and she’s just been getting taken out of planned matches with Lacey Evans to build to Evans’ title shot against Bayley.
• With someone like Banks, it’s easier to work us since she has had a few injuries.
• PW Insider says Tony Nese and Mike Kanellis are being tested as a possible tag team to be used regularly on NXT television.
• It happened twice and never on NXT TV. (0/1)
• Jazzy Gabert seemed to indicate she is a free agent via her Twitter and that she is done with NXT UK.
• In the end, she did not enjoy her time in NXT UK, a combination of the culture and wanting to do other things. It’s disappointing because she was so excited to sign with WWE, fought back from a neck injury to do so, and then it ended up not being what she wanted. (1/1)
• Allysin Kay is now saying Tessa Blanchard is trying to dig up dirt on her and spreading lies about her in response to Kay speaking out against her.
• Tessa probably wasn’t happy about the stories Kay (and other’s told) cast a shadow over her title win. Though if you’re going to act the way many claim she did, that’s going to bite you at one point.

January 21, 2020

• Pictures allegedly from local TV ads show Kane vs. Bray Wyatt on the card for the Feb. Saudi Arabia show.
• It was Bray vs. Goldberg. (0/1)
• Sources at WOW told Fightful that Tessa Blanchard has bullied trainers and had public shouting matches with other talent during her time with the promotion.
• She does not have a good reputation. I wonder what happens if WWE does take a flyer on her.
• WOW owner David McClane allegedly asked Fightful’s sources not to talk about their issues with Blanchard.
• That makes sense. Want to keep your stuff in house.
• There’s lots of talk that Taya Valkyrie is wrapping up with Impact. With husband John Morrison on SmackDown, there’s also lots of speculation she’ll be WWE bound if she is.
• She is still in Impact. (0/1)
• Shannon Moore is believed to be headed back to WWE to work as a producer or coach.
• Going by his Twitter, it looks like he did that for a week. But not full time, as this rumor seems to imply. However, at the same time, I can’t find anything to say he’s didn’t work for a producer there longer.

January 22, 2020

• Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that he’s heard Luke Harper is interested in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
• I guess we don’t know if that’s the case because by the time he was free to work, only AEW and Impact were running shows. And we probably won’t know any time soon because it’ll be a while until US wrestlers are traveling anywhere.
• He also said Shayna Baszler is one of the favorite to win the women’s Royal Rumble match.
• She lost. (0/1)
• WWE will start announcing the remainder of the WWE Hall of Fame 2020 class soon.
• The next was Davey Boy Smith on Feb. 18. A month later. In relation to Hall of Fame announcements, with WrestleMania just over two months away from this date, a month later is not really soon. (0/1)
• Gabriel Iglesias is expected to be involved in WrestleMania 36 in some capacity, based on a schedule he recently released.
• He was not. Maybe he was prior to the pandemic, but nothing was announced before all the changes. (0/1)
• PW Insider notes that details on Chris Jericho’s next cruise event will be released at any time.
• He wanted until May. He initially announced it for next February, which even at the time seemed super optimistic. With COVID still surging (and the cruise being a terrible place to be during a pandemic), he moved it to later in the year. (0/1)

January 23, 2020

• Sources told WrestlingNews.co that morale is high backstage at WWE because TNT extended Dynamite to 2023. That’s because the presence of AEW has led to Vince McMahon to not only offer more money, but also be more flexible with scheduling talent.
• As soon as AEW came on the scene, talent got more bargaining power in WWE. And that’s a great thing.
• On an audio show in PW Insider’s subscription-only Elite section, Mike Johnson stood by his story about Edge returning to WWE, despite Edge’s recent denials. Johnson said he’d be “shocked” if Edge isn’t “back on WWE programming by this time next week”.
• He was back at the Rumble. (1/1)
• Naomi will be in Houston this weekend, reports PW Insider. She’s expected to start working on SmackDown soon, and the site theorizes she’ll return in the Royal Rumble match.
• She returned in the Rumble match. Six months later, they’re still wasting her talents to the degree where there are hashtags about it. (1/1)
• New Japan’s Lance Archer is in in “high-level talks” with AEW, according to Sports Illustrated.
• The Murder Hawk debuted in a program to try to win the new TNT Title, which he failed to do. (1/1)
• A script for a movie chronicling the rise and fall of the Von Erichs is in the works, per Deadline.
• With this and the Hogan movie, Hollywood looking to explore the wild world of pro wrestling.

January 24, 2020

• WrestleVotes notes that details regarding the Royal Rumble are being kept quiet as possible in hopes of maintaining the surprise.
• Meaning WWE is trying to keep things under wraps. That’s not surprising.
• PW Insider says WWE is bringing in Santino Marella for the Royal Rumble.
• Well, technically they brought in Santina Marella. (1/1)
• They also say Nia Jax and Ruby Riott are scheduled for the weekend, though that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be back in the match itself.
• Ruby returned on Raw, which I consider part of the weekend since it’s all in the same city. But Jax wasn’t back until April. (1/2)
• The women’s Royal Rumble is expected to have a heavy presence from NXT and NXT UK.
• NXT UK only had Toni Storm, but plenty of NXT talent. (1/1)
• Per Insider, Ring of Honor is going to bring in Australian star Adam Brooks.
• He did, though looks like he hasn’t wrestled a match with them. (1/1)

January 25, 2020

• It isn’t expected that any title will change hands at Royal Rumble.
• That is accurate. (1/1)
• Hornswoggle is teasing that he’ll be in Houston for the Royal Rumble but there’s been no word of him as a possible surprise.
• He teased he was in Houston on his Twitter prior to this rumor, but was not in the Rumble. (1/1)
• The Lana/Lashley vs. Liv Morgan/Rusev feud is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
• Not really. Rusev had one more match on TV after this rumor. And Lana had two. (0/1)
• Despite Rey Mysterio saying he’s open to a hair vs. mask match with Andrade at WrestleMania, the Observer has noted there are no plans for that.
• That never happened. Rey lost an eye though! (1/1)
• Tony Khan recently recently “took more control” of the booking for AEW, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• This rumor times out with when I felt the booking tightened up a bit more.

This week: 12/21 - 57%

Overall: 3,409/6,068 - 56.2%

Have a good week, everyone. Stay safe out there.