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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.
- Per WrestleVotes, the creative team at WWE was told to come up with ideas for The Usos, so they should be back soon.
- They came back very early January. (1/1)
- They also say that Survivor Series in 2020 is likely for Dallas, Texas, and Royal Rumble in 2021 is likely for Seattle, Washington.
- We’ll see I guess. Could be in the Performance Center still. The way numbers keep going up, I think it’s going to be a good while until there’s any legitimate amount of fans at an event.
- Votes also said there has been consideration within AEW of adding an authority figure on Dynamite but the Observer says there are no plans for that.
- There are no authority figures. Tony Khan makes the matches. That’s acknowledged on air. But he’s not an on air authority figure. So Votes was wrong in this case while the Observer was right. (1/2)
- Dash Wilder missed a house show, where it was said he wasn’t cleared, and also missed SmackDown, leading to the obvious talk that he’s injured. Per the Observer, though, he was expected to be cleared for SmackDown this week.
- Both members of the Revival were on that show. (1/1)
- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Samoa Joe’s last night on Monday Night Raw commentary was this past week, so someone new will be on next week.
- That was accurate. Jerry Lawler was back on commentary. Joe was back as a wrestler. (1/1)
- Word coming out of the WWE house show in Hershey last night is Randy Orton suffered some sort of injury to his knee.
- In the end it was a work so he could RKO AJ Styles or if he tweaked it for real and they decided to play into it. (0/1)
- Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Braun Strowman and Bayley vs. Lacey Evans are both looking likely for Royal Rumble, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- Lacey vs. Bayley happened but, Nakamura & Strowman were both just in the Rumble. (1/2)
- Despite talk between Chris Jericho and Hiroshi Tanahashi of the latter coming to AEW to challenge for that title, there’s zero belief anything like that will happen.
- Tanahashi has not come to AEW. (1/1)
- Marty Scurll has a ‘great offer’ from Ring of Honor to stay but The Observer notes there’s still no word on if that’s the case, even with the announcement of his headlining the Jan. 12 show in Concord.
- He stuck around when they offered him some creative control. We’ll see what happens now since he’s been accused during the #SpeakingOut movement and Ring of Honor is going to investigate, just like they did that time with Jay Lethal.
- They also say there’s talk of ROH bringing back Shane Taylor.
- It looks like they did about a month later. (1/1)
- Expect more news like Andrade’s U.S. title win and the Randy Orton “injury” from non-televised events as WWE attempts to bolster their house show business.
- They really did not lean on this, even prior to all house shows shutting down due to the pandemic. (0/1)
- Aleister Black, Ricochet, Buddy Murphy, Charlotte Flair and Drew McIntyre were listed as people Paul Heyman wants to “elevate” and “get over” on Raw, according to Wrestling Observer.
- That’s the word that got around. He couldn’t do it with Ricochet and did Charlotte really need it at the time? We’ll see what happens with someone like Black now that Paul is out of power.
- Before Raw started, PW Insider reported that Vince McMahon, Triple H & Kevin Dunn weren’t in Hartford for yesterday’s Raw and that Heyman, John Laurinaitis, Michael Hayes & VP of Global Television Production Michael Mansury were running things. Vince did reportedly show up just before the show went on the air.
- Always sucks when your boss shows up right when you’re about to get to the meat of your work.
- There’s speculation Mandy Rose’s current storyline with Otis could mean the end of her tag team with Sonya Deville.
- It resulted in a feud between them. (1/1)
- Dave Meltzer of The Observer said Dana Brooke’s recent TV time isn’t a push, as WWE views her as enhancement talent.
- This is a tough one because they’ve used her as a bit more at times, but in the end, she’s in no more better position than she was so not really any significant push. (1/1)
- The Observer notes that ticket demand for Royal Rumble has been mixed. Expect names to start being announced for the Rumble matches quickly.
- Names would have started being announced this time anyway.
- There’s at least some talk going around that Sonya Deville is upset at the Lana/Liv Morgan lesbian angle, because she has pitched doing one and always been shot down.
- I can imagine that being frustrating.
- Kalisto may have suffered an injury at a WWE house show days ago, according to those at the show.
- This is an odd one. Reports in February have reports of him injuring his shoulder, but he hasn’t wrestled at all this year, so this rumor is probably true. (1/1)
- WWE Network News says the debut episode of Break It Down on Jan. 5 will feature Drew McIntyre.
- Apparently that’s a show they’ve had and Drew was the first guess. (1/1)
- PW Insider notes that Tony Schiavone will miss Dynamite this week and Taz could be used on commentary in his place.
- That’s accurate. (1/1)
- Unlike last year, when she worked double duty, Becky Lynch isn’t expected to wrestle in the Royal Rumble this year.
- She did not. She just had her match with Asuka. (1/1)
- For whatever it’s worth, Lana told TV Insider she’ll be wrestling again in 2020.
- That has not happened full time, but she did have a few matches at the end of January. (1/1)
- Although news of their engagement has gotten around, there are apparently no plans for Charlotte Flair and Andrade to be paired together anytime soon on WWE television.
- One relationship they haven’t yet used for a story. (1/1)
- Sheamus’ actual wrestling return should occur before the end of the month, per Wrestling Inc.
- It was the next night. (1/1)
- The Observer notes there are apparently issues between MLW and Impact.
- Promotions often have issues. I don’t know the details of this specific problem.
- Vince McMahon loved the Lana/Lashley wedding, according to a WrestlingNews.co source. The angle is “mapped out for the next few weeks” and “there is some Jerry Springer stuff coming.”
- Was there real Jerry Springer stuff? The wedding was the worst of it. (0/1)
- That site also says Liv Morgan was not originally supposed to be in the story, but was added because Paul Heyman wants to push her.
- New rumor says that Heyman had other pitches for her that fell on deaf ears and eventually had to settle on this.
- A WWE source told WrestleVotes the WrestleMania 36 card is more undecided than it usually is in January, with multiple options still open. That was described as both “refreshing” and “frustrating at the same time”.
- Little would they know the uncertainty in its future.
- Per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, New Japan is off AXS because they turned down an offer to partner with Impact.
- That was inevitable when Anthem purchased AXS.
- PW Insider reported that MLW is on the verge of signing a major partnership which could “transform the company’s future”. CEO Court Bauer was in Los Angeles recently meeting with potential television and licensing partners.
- Thats probably the DAZN deal. We’ll see how transformative it is. (1/1)
- Regarding New Japan mentioning Chris Jericho’s AEW title as part of their promotion for Sunday’s Jericho/Hiroshi Tanahashi match, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that indicates a change in the relationship between the two companies.
- That never solidified as anything more than AEW guys allowed to do some work in Japan.
- Meltzer also said Monday’s overrun on Raw was a one-time deal and will not be used every week.
- It sucks for people who have DVRs set for when it’s scheduled for. But it isn’t a weekly thing. (1/1)
- WWE hopes to have Kairi Sane back to participate in the Royal Rumble match.
- She was in the match. The word now is that her career may be winding down. (1/1)
- It was Paul Heyman’s idea to run the Randy Orton injury angle at a house show last weekend, per Wrestling Observer. The idea is to put things that affect TV on house shows to help attendance.
- AJ vs. Randy should have been a big deal but I don’t remember much at all about it.
- Kane will be Steve Austin’s next guest on Broken Skull Sessions. WWE Network News says that will premiere after next Sunday’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II.
- That’s accurate on both accounts. (2/2)
This week: 21/26 - 81%
December 2019: 58/82 - 71%
2019: 603/950 - 63.5%
Overall: 3,379/6,012 - 56.2%
Have a good week, everyone! Stay safe out there. Enjoy the holiday weekend.