Rumor Look Back: June 12 - 18, 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!

June 12, 2021

• According to the Observer, WWE hopes to bring The Rock in for an appearance at Survivor Series this year, with the hopes that said appearance would lead to something bigger, like the long rumored Rock vs. Roman Reigns match at WrestleMania.
• This did not happen. But we got a big ad for Red Notice! (0/1)
• Meanwhile, Andrew Zarian says the early plan is to have that show take place in Brooklyn.
• This is accurate. (1/1)
• PW Insider doubled down on Braun Strowman’s booking fee, saying his manager has been quoting $20-25K for a three hour appearance, plus first class airfare, two nights of hotel stay, all means, and ground transportation.
• As I mentioned last week, if he doesn’t feel he needs to or wants to do the indies, then set the price that will really entice him.
• Fightful Select notes they’ve heard from talent within the company that there is interest in bringing Samoa Joe back to NXT in a wrestling role. They make clear however that this is largely speculation from wrestlers who believe it could be happening. For what it’s worth, Joe was also apparently at the Performance Center this week, though it’s unknown why.
• That interest was accurate as he returned to NXT and won the NXT title. But then he gave that title up because he was apparently injured. (1/1)
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says there is a “strong belief” that Aleister Black will be heading to AEW once he’s able to.
• That he did. (1/1)

June 14, 2021

• Per the Observer, the idea for Roman Reigns is for him to end up being a top babyface.
• I guess we’ve got a long ways to go on that one.
• Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and most are but there are some within the company who don’t want to do it and others simply aren’t.
• That may or may not have led to some releases.
• He also said WWE is struggling to sell tickets for its upcoming return to the road.
• That’s a bit disappointing since fans hadn’t been able to go to a show outside WrestleMania. You’d think there’d be some early desire to go see them.
• There are plans for a “number of entertainment segments with the guest host” at SummerSlam this year, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Cardi B is expected to be that host.
• There wasn’t a host. (0/1)
• The WON also says most episodes of AEW Rampage will be taped but all shows on PPV weekends will be live, and obviously the debut will be live as well.
• This is correct. There are plenty of taped episodes but they have some live ones here and there. (1/1)

June 15, 2021

• Kenny Omega is working through a list of injuries, according to last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. At the Fan Fest before Double or Nothing, he said at times “he thinks maybe he’s close to the time to hang it up because his body is feeling worse,” but also said having fans in the building when he performs makes him feel better.
• He’s been taking time off after putting over Hangman Page. Hopefully he feels better after some time off and has more years ahead of him.
• Triple H was not happy when WWE released Samoa Joe, according to PW Insider’s sources. The NXT head honcho “snatched him back” for the brand as soon as he could.
• I bet Triple H is not happy about a lot of things. Many of the talent he spent time building up got broken back down on the main roster. Then he leaves for a health issue and while he’s gone, they completely upend much of what he built in NXT. (It’s likely that would have happened if he were healthy, but it feels dirtier that he was not.)
• Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful tweeted WWE had “Doudrop” penciled in as Piper Niven’s new character name at one point. It’s not clear if that’s still the plan, but the idea is that Eva Marie’s associate is new and not a call-up from NXT UK.
• I think there were a good deal of folks who were hoping this rumor would be false. They would be disappointed. (1/1)
• Lana promised to “spill the tea” on WWE during an Instagram Live (via the New York Post): “I look forward to standing up and speaking out on things that for years I have been silent about.”
• She did a podcast with Jericho, one where she confirmed “Lana heat.” I never listened to the full thing so I don’t know how much tea spilling there really was. (1/1)
• Salina de la Renta was spotted at the Performance Center, per Fightful Select. The belief is WWE has or is going to offer her a contract.
• She’s not with WWE. (0/1)

June 16, 2021

• Ringside News claims Vince McMahon is now against the idea of doing “cold matches,” which is why we saw Jeff Hardy put his career up against Cedric Alexander on Raw this week.
• Vince is always tinkering with things and then gives up on them. Like the time they did a bunch of 2 out of 3 falls matches because he didn’t want to go to commercial in the middle of a match.
• Wrestling Inc notes it looks like SummerSlam will sell out or at least come very close to it.
• They claim it did at least. (1/1)
• According to Fightful, although Piper Niven debuting with Eva Marie was the initial plan as of the weekend, then it changed, and then was changed back to being the plan very late.
• Plans often change.
• For whatever it’s worth, Andrew Zarian of Mat Men Podcast claims WWE is working on a lot of exciting stuff for the remainder of 2021.
• This is such a subjective rumor. Some could point to John Cena vs. Roman or Becky’s return or Big E’s win or Brock’s feud with Roman and say yes. Others could argue it’s still the same ol’ same ol’ and say no. You can all weigh in below.
• Fightful Select says Moose signed a two year contract with Impact Wrestling.
• He’s their champion currently.

June 17, 2021

• No titles are expected to change hands this weekend at Hell in a Cell.
• Accurate. (1/1)
• For what it’s worth, Stephanie McMahon guaranteed “a lot of surprises” for SummerSlam during her interview on Yahoo Finance.
• This feels easier to grade than the one prior about big surprises. With Brock & Becky returning, it was a pretty big show. (1/1)
• George Carroll has joined the NXT writing team, per PW Insider. Carroll’s worked for ROH, New Japan & MLW in creative, operations & talent management roles.
• I don’t know if a member of a writing team has any real impact given they have to go through the same people all the time .
• Sonya Deville has been training for her in-ring return. A Ringside News source says WWE had tentative plans to have her wrestling by April, but “it keeps getting pushed another week, another two weeks, another week, another two weeks”.
• She only is just now slowly making her way back.
• MLW is opting out of their deal with DAZN, according to both Insider and Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. CEO Court Bauer recently told a fan looking for old episodes of Fusion on YouTube the promotion is “in the middle of a deal for the rights to the library.”
• This looks to be correct after conferring with our MLW man Manolo. (1/1)

June 18, 2021

• WrestleVotes says that WWE might do more themed television shows once they return to the road. This could include gimmick shows in late 2021 or early 2022 such as Old School Raw, King of the Ring, Viewer’s Choice, and so forth.
• I would not consider this accurate. (0/1)
• Following up on the above rumor, Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian heard “there will be a lot more gimmicked themed shows” in WWE, and the networks have also pitched some ideas. Raw Roulette and King of the Ring are likely to happen in 2021.
• The King of the Ring finals happened in Saudi but it wasn’t a themed show. (0/1)
• Per PW Insider, there have been internal talks in WWE, all the way up to the top executives, second-guessing the decision to release Aleister Black.
• We’ll see how high Black climbs in AEW.
• According to Fightful, multiple recently released WWE performers have asked WWE to do away with their non-compete clause. It sounds like WWE is open to the idea.
• I don’t if they’ve done this for anyone yet.
• Fightful also says that Vince McMahon is a big fan of Reginald. This includes Reginald’s presentation, delivery, and skillset in the ring.
• He was part of the 24/7 scene for awhile.

This week: 10/15 - 67%

Overall: 3,984/7,050 - 56.5%

Have a good week, everyone!