Rumor Look Back: May 1 - 6, 2021

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!

May 1, 2021

• Roman Reigns’ new entrance theme has been in the works dating back to shortly after his return at SummerSlam last year, according to Fightful Select.
• I dig it, but I know the reviews were mixed.
• Speaking of Reigns, a Universal title match against Cesaro is expected for the upcoming WrestleMania Backlash show.
• That’s accurate. While I would have liked the feud to go a bit longer (being a fan of Cesaro), I’m glad he got his title match in the main event. (1/1)
• WrestleVotes says a location for SummerSlam is still in flux and an announcement likely isn’t coming anytime soon.
• Announced on June 5 for Las Vegas. (1/1)
• As far as WWE going back out on the road, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter says June has been hinted at inside the company but talent were told August or maybe late July.
• It was July.
• Per the Observer, Impact’s Rebellion pay-per-view is looking like one of the most successful the company has put on in years, although still not close to the kind of buys the company was doing in the mid-to-late 2000s.
• I don’t think they’ll ever touch their peak again. But that’s OK. There’s a place for them. It’s just not that.

May 3, 2021

• For whatever it’s worth, Daniel Bryan has been moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com following his loss to Roman Reigns on SmackDown this past week.
• He didn’t have another WWE match after this.
• Ringside News says no one backstage at WWE was told anything about the upcoming throwback episode of SmackDown next week and anyone who asked was told they would be updated next week.
• Keeping folks in the dark is a good way to run a company. Though it’s also possible that they just didn’t know what they were going to do. Also a great way to run a company.
• They also say that Vince McMahon is a big fan of Adam Pearce’s work on screen because he thinks it’s “credible.”
• Pearce has been good in the role.
• Fightful Select says that Steve Cutler and Chelsea Green would wait outside Vince McMahon’s door to stand in line to meet with him but were told to stop doing that and instead wait in catering. Eventually, they got a meeting.
• Many people spoke about the line out to see Vince and people waiting forever to get that meeting. Most people would say when they got that meeting, Vince was nice to talk to in that environment. Though Jericho has also said if he was eating, it was worthless.
• Maria Kanellis told Wrestling Inc that Ring of Honor will likely have fans back at shows by the end of the year.
• ROH brought back fans in July. They’re now going on hiatus and released all their talent. (1/1)

May 4, 2021

• That A&E’s Biography on Randy Savage delved into his addiction and relationship issues while the Steve Austin & Roddy Piper episodes were largely puff pieces drew criticism from Conrad Thompson, David Bixenspan and others.
• Interesting difference.
• Post Wrestling’s John Pollock agreed the Savage episode “had a distinctly different feel and tone,” but he pointed out “each documentary has its own outside producers with cooperation from the WWE throughout all the features.”
• I didn’t watch any of these.
• Fightful Select confirmed the MLW/WWE talks that were reported on last week, and added that many in NXT were “in the dark” about the situation. Discussions are happening at a high level within WWE.
• I don’t believe anything has come of it.
• Tessa Blanchard and Daga have been negotiating with AEW for a month now, according to SEScoops. A source told the site their signing is “all but a formality”.
• Neither of them work for AEW. (0/1)
• Per that report, AEW officials have discussed acknowledging Blanchard’s prior “issues” as part of a redemption storyline.
• I don’t think that have gone over well.

May 5, 2021

• Daniel Bryan’s contract with WWE actually expired — or was set to — last week after his match with Roman Reigns on SmackDown, according to Fightful Select.
• That makes sense.
• PW Insider says Extreme Rules 2021 will take place on July 18, and will be at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
• Extremely Rules was just a couple months ago in Columbus, Ohio. (0/1)
• Rhea Ripley told Ryan Satin she’s been taking acting classes to help her confidence in promos.
• Always a smart plan.
• For what it’s worth, a former WWE writer told the Say Less with Kaz, Lowkey, and Rosy show that Braun Strowman was originally supposed to win the Universal title from Brock Lesnar back in 2018.
• They definitely didn’t pull the trigger early enough. Or at least when they didn’t, they didn’t protect him and kept putting him title matches that he lost. Braun was super hot at one point but wasn’t at all by the time he won the title from Goldberg as a backup plan.
• While rumors got around that Tessa Blanchard was on the verge of signing with AEW, PW Insider says that’s not the case and not only that but zero conversations between the two sides have taken place.
• This seems more likely. Maybe there were conversations, but they certainly weren’t on the verge of signing. (1/1)

Daniel Bryan specific Rumor Roundup

• WWE “is pushing hard for him to sign a new deal”, according to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. Meltzer also confirmed that Bryan’s current contract ended on April 30.
• Most of these aren’t going to have a firm answer. I’m sure WWE was trying hard to sign him, though.
• Per PW Insider, Bryan does not factor into any of the company’s current creative plans, and within the last 72 hours he’s been officially removed from the internal roster. The site says the two sides are still talking.
• That makes sense if he hadn’t signed another contract. All these rumors make it seem like it could go either way, and listening to him speak, it did sound like that. But seeing it now, it really feels like his going to AEW was inevitable. He’s always seemed like a wrestler who wants to do so many different thing and in WWE, it seems like there’s only one thing.
• Insider was unable to confirm if he has a separate deal to appear on Total Bellas.
• I believe the show has been cancelled, though I’m not 100% if that’s official official. I know the Bellas said they’d be stopping it soon because they don’t want their kids on it, so I don’t think Bryan’s status is going to be an issue in the end.
• Sources at WWE told Fightful Select that “Bryan didn’t make a big deal about his contract expiring”. Many didn’t hear the news from Bryan at all, but “through the grapevine over the past few weeks”.
• He doesn’t seem like the type to make a big deal about it. He seems like the type of guy to come in and not tell anyone it’s his last day outside maybe a few close friends until folks find out and are like “Wait, it’s your last day?!”
• Fightful’s Ring of Honor contacts said the company will reach out to Bryan to at least get him to make a few appearances. ROH officials “been completely out of contact with him in recent years.”
• Well that’s not going to happen now.
• While the site emphasizes it hasn’t been able to confirm their speculation, two AEW talents Fightful spoke to both believe Bryan will re-sign with WWE, with one “outright saying” they heard he’s staying put.
• That was incorrect. I wonder if those talents actually thought this or were misleading the sites. (0/1)

May 6, 2021

• The Randy Orton/Riddle team will be a long-term act which will be getting a “sizeable push”, according to PW Insider. RKBro merchandise is said to be on the way.
• This is accurate. They’re champs and there is merch. (2/2)
• The Jinder Mahal & Indus Sher team that worked Main Event this week could be debuting on Raw soon, says Sportskeeda.
• They came around within the next couple months. (1/1)
• NXT is working to keep the identity or identities of the Diamond Mine gimmick under wraps for as long as possible, but a WWE source told Fightful Select they don’t “want fans expecting [Tessa] Blanchard to be the act or a part of it.”
• That makes sense give she wasn’t going to be part of it. The make of this group apparently changed around prior to debut. And after with Tyler Rust.
• Fred Rosser (Darren Young in WWE) revealed WWE is filming an episode of their Untold documentary series about the Nexus.
• Nothing came of this.
• During an interview on The Launchcast, Scott Stanford told a story about how he used to have kneel down while doing interviews for WWE so he wouldn’t be taller than the wrestlers. “That’s why now you’ll see small females who stand and look up,” he said.
• Word has it that’s still the case with Kevin Patrick standing with his legs wide apart.

This week: 7/10 - 70%

Overall: 3,928/6,962 - 56.4%

Have a great week, everyone!