Rumor Look Back: Feb. 16 - 22, 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.

February 17, 2020

• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that John Cena will indeed be wrestling at WrestleMania 36 and the current plan is Elias will be his opponent.
• That was not the match. Elias instead faced King Corbin. (0/1)
• He also said that Goldberg isn’t currently in the plans for a WrestleMania match as of right now.
• He was in a title match, as champion, against Braun Strowman. (0/1)
• The Mat Men podcast says Sasha Banks will be in the second season of The Mandalorian.
• I don’t think she ever confirmed it. We’ll see when that season drops.
• MVP and Big Show are both scheduled to be at Raw tonight, according to PW Insider.
• MVP was on the show, getting squashed by Drew McIntyre. Big Show was not on this Raw. (1/2)
• Per the Observer, Tito Ortiz has been training at the WWE Performance Center recently.
• Maybe he was, but he hasn’t been working for them.

February 18, 2020

• Undertaker requested to work with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36 because he feels Styles is “the modern day Shawn Michaels”, per WrestlingNews.co.
• He’s not wrong. Taker probably didn’t envision what they ending up doing though.
• That site also says AJ won’t be the end of the road for Taker. The company already thinking about doing something special for the 30th anniversary of his debut at this year’s Survivor Series.
• The Last Ride makes it seem like he’s retired, but we’ll hold out until after Survivor Series.
• WWE is looking to bring a major PPV to the UK, according to The Sun. The report mentions 2022, the 30th anniversary of SummerSlam at London’s Wembley Stadium, as a focus of discussions.
• Got a ways to go on that one.
• On Booker T’s podcast, MVP said he has been hired by WWE as a producer.
• If that’s the case, he also pulls double duty as an on screen talent.
• Sources told PW Insider that Tito Ortiz’s recent time at the WWE Performance Center was “very much a ‘let’s feel each other out’ sort of situation”.
• He certainly isn’t working for them though.

February 19, 2020

• On Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez says he’s heard the SmackDown Women’s title match at WrestleMania 36 will be Bayley vs. Naomi.
• It was a fatal 5-way. Naomi was there, but this rumor implies a singles contest. (0/1)
• There’s speculation, from Observer Radio and elsewhere, that Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair could happen on NXT as a way to pop a rating.
• It happened on TV. Belair got the short end of this story. (1/1)
• Another day, another Hall of Fame rumor. Wrestling Inc says JBL will be a part of the 2020 class.
• The Wrestling God was indeed announced for it. (1/1)
• JBL, Santino Marella, and Hornswoggle are all booked to do something for WWE during WrestleMania week in Tampa, according to PW Insider.
• Given WrestleMania in Tampa didn’t happen, this is moot.
• WWE had planned a “multi-segment match” between Matt Hardy and Randy Orton for Raw, but Fightful reports Vince McMahon changed the plan late.
• That was never a good idea after Matt took the con-chair-to the week before.

February 20, 2020

• John Cena’s girlfriend Shay Shariatzadeh was photographed recently wearing a large diamond ring on her left hand, leading to speculation the couple is engaged.
• There’s been no announcement since then. I mean maybe it’s private, but I think we’d have more information than this rumor, which is the last of it. (0/1)
• Undertaker was training at the Performance Center again recently, according to Fightful.
• Getting in shape for Styles.
• Apparently his Royal Rumble match against Daniel Bryan was a one-off and Bray Wyatt’s matches will continue to happen under red lighting going forward.
• There was no red light for Goldberg, which was actually the only in person Fiend match since this. (The Mania match was a cinematic.) So it’s an n of 1 but it’s still wrong. (0/1)
• He’s said it before, but it looks like Monday was MVP’s last WWE match. Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that that’s what MVP taking off his nasal strip signified.
• My man is still going strong. (0/1)
• It’s not clear what exactly they’ll be doing, but PW Insider reports WWE’s booked Brodus Clay and Ariane “Cameron” Andrew for WrestleMania weekend.
• Whatever may have been planned didn’t happen. (Maybe this was when they were thinking of Naomi vs. Bayley and were going with a Funkadactyl reunion?) Ariane teamed with Nyla Rose in the Deadly Draw tournament for AEW, losing their first match.

February 21, 2020

• It’s not clear if she’ll be used on television or not but Sasha Banks is scheduled to be at SmackDown tonight, says PW Insider.
• She was not on TV.
• Per Wrestling Inc, Cain Velasquez is now training at the Performance Center to prepare for his next match.
• There was no next match.
• During a recent appearance on Steve Austin’s podcast, Jerry Lawler mentioned Paul Heyman letting wrestlers get away from more scripted promos lately.
• This type of rumor pops up here and there. It usually seems to be a limited amount of people they trust.
• Vickie Guerrero said on a recent episode of her podcast that WWE has blackballed her since she worked with AEW.
• Jericho has said the same thing. Which makes sense. They’re in competition.
• Tyler Bate is currently dealing with an injury, according to PW Insider.
• Haven’t seen any of the UK guys since the pandemic.

February 22, 2020

• There have been talks between WWE and ESPN recently, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• If there have, they didn’t go anywhere.
• Per the Observer, “far less talent than in the past” will be going to the Saudi Arabia show next week.
• We don’t know how many people went who weren’t used.
• We should expect an announcement of a WWE Performance Center in Japan “in the next few months,” says the WON.
• Not yet. (0/1)
• New Japan has plans to hold a big show in London sometime later this year, per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
• That’s not going to happen. Nothing was announced pre-pandemic. (0/1)
• He also says the company is working on a TV deal for the U.S.
• Nothing yet.

This week: 3/12 - 25%

Overall: 3,448/6,136 - 56.2%

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