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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. But first, let’s wipe some old rumors off the list.
- CBS Detroit mentioned rumors of a future WrestleMania at Ford Field in Detroit but no year was specified.
- Clearly I’ve been sitting on this for a long time. And one day, maybe they’ll go to Detroit. However, WWE has mapped out WrestleMania through 2023, and Detroit hasn’t been one of their spots. And they’ve repeated multiple locales in that time. So even if they end up there, CBS Detroit probably didn’t mean sometime 2024 or after. (0/1)
- Apparently WWE is high on for MMA athlete Matt Riddle and he’s just in Evolve to learn the industry before being moved up through NXT and to the main WWE roster.
- That’s pretty much exactly how it went. (1/1)
- Wade Barrett may not be working in pro-wrestling after he leaves WWE.
- I would say this is incorrect. Before returning to WWE/NXT, he did some work in Lucha Underground (briefly) and NWA. It wasn’t in-ring work, but it was working in professional wrestling. (0/1)
Now onto this week’s rumors:
- Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that it’s not official that Bayley is staying put on SmackDown but it is expected since Asuka is staying on Raw.
- Bayley did stay on SmackDown. (1/1)
- He also said plans do call for The Street Profits to move over to SmackDown, which would send their tag titles over to replace The New Day, who brought their tag titles to Raw.
- Also true. Then they just traded the titles. I don’t know if that is considered two different title reigns for both teams. (1/1)
- There was also originally a plan to move Braun Strowman over to Raw, so that could also be announced this week.
- He is a Raw talent. (1/1)
- According to Fightful, original plans for Lars Sullivan when he was initially called up had him wrestling Brock Lesnar but that was obviously derailed.
- That much would have suuuuucked.
- WrestlingNews.co indicates there’s some heat between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle over negative comments Riddle’s wife made about Becky Lynch on her Instagram.
- Riddle is one of those guys who’s always going to have some heat with someone.
- In an interview with bodyslam.net, fitness instructor Annika Naidoo-Fuge shared screenshots of Lars Sullivan direct messaging her with unsolicited requests for explicit photos.
- That dude was always finding himself in it.
- WWE is aware of the issue, according to WrestleVotes. They also tweeted that Sullivan “doesn’t have many supporters left in the locker room” but “one of those supporters has the ultimate say.”
- “The ultimate say” either changed or just wasn’t enough because Lars soon found himself off TV and later released.
- A source told WrestlingNews.co that Vince McMahon “sees star potential” in Aalyah Mysterio and may offer her a full-time contract.
- She isn’t on TV at all. Maybe he did think that at the time, but she doesn’t have some full time talent deal. (0/1)
- Wrestlers in WWE Developmental told Fightful Select they’re worried about returning to training at the Performance Center because several members of the NXT roster don’t take COVID precautions seriously.
- This isn’t surprising given the amount of outbreaks there.
- Eric Bischoff revealed on 83 Weeks that he shot interview footage for two episodes of Dark Side of the Ring’s third season, one about Brian Pillman and another about WCW & New Japan’s 1991 show in North Korea.
- Both of those are episode topics this season. I’ve not really watched Dark Side though it seems pretty popular within our wrestling bubble.
- Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that there have been talks in WWE of doing Braun Strowman vs. Lars Sullivan in a year or so.
- That’ll never happen given Lars’ release. (0/1)
- PW Insider says “free agents” Andrade and Mickie James are scheduled to be on Monday Night Raw moving forward.
- Andrade isn’t on anything. He was never drafted and since released. Mickie wrestled in the Royal Rumble but nothing outside that. She’s also was released along with a slew of other talent last week. (0/2)
- WrestlingNews.co claims original plans called for Bray Wyatt to challenge for the Universal title, hence the introduction of the Wobbly Walrus character, but that changed and he was drafted to Raw.
- That would have made sense if he stayed on SmackDown. I don’t think it would have worked with this Roman character though.
- WWE splitting The New Day is due to a mentality that Big E is getting a singles run and this helps them focus on that, per the Observer.
- I actually think it’s working. Could they have done this with them on the same brand? Maybe. But it forced creative to focus on E and prevent him from slipping back into the tag scene. Plus segments like where Apollo beat the hell out of him, they’d have to explain why the New Day didn’t help.
- There’s still the possibility WWE does Drew McIntyre vs. Tyson Fury at a future time, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
- Andrade wasn’t picked in the recent WWE Draft because he’s “undergoing a minor elective procedure” and will be out about the next month, according to Wrestling Inc.
- He was out forever. (0/1)
- The site also says Andrade will receive a push when he returns.
- He did not return. (0/1)
- Jessi Davin & others called out NXT on Twitter for using old ThunderDome footage on the video screens in Capitol Wrestling Center on last night’s episode. WWE’s never registered fans for shows in the remodeled Performance Center the way they do for Raw, SmackDown & PPV at Amway Center.
- I thought that was pretty lame. I’m sure everyone signs something that says they can use it, but still felt lame.
- Nothing’s set in stone, but Dave Meltzer wrote in Wrestling Observer Newsletter that internally WWE is planning to have WrestleMania 38 in the greater Los Angeles area after moving WrestleMania 37 to Tampa.
- Dallas is actually getting 38 while LA is getting 39. (0/1)
- Per Fightful, WWE recently filed trademarks for Saturday Morning Slam, Ashante Adonis, Desmond Troy, Skull King, Flash Morgan Webster, Ilja Dragunov, Isla Dawn, and Jack Starz
- Who is Skull King? Is there a dude named Skull King?
- Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez heard that WWE plans to stay in the ThunderDome until at least January 2021.
- The ThunderDome is still going strong. (1/1)
- Alvarez also said that Finn Balor will indeed be stripped of the NXT championship if he doesn’t “rapidly” recover from a broken jaw.
- I guess he recovered quickly enough so they didn’t have to strip back to back champs.
- Aleister Black told Sports Illustrated that his new entrance is not complete, and there will be suitable replacements for all the things people loved about his old entrance.
- Rumors about Black coming back soon still persist.
- Following his breakout performances in AEW, Fightful claims that WWE is making a “big play” for Ben Carter and wants him on the NXT UK roster.
- Ben Carter is on the WWE roster in UK. (1/1)
- WrestleVotes was told that WWE’s typical weekend live event schedule will not return before 2022.
- Wouldn’t be surprised if this is correct.
- In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that WWE used the draft to put their three hottest angles on SmackDown, because keeping ratings up on FOX is the big priority right now. The three big angles are the ones that include Roman Reigns, Bayley, and Seth Rollins.
- Seth Rollins & Rey Mysterio was really one of the three big angles?
- Cody Rhodes told TV Insider that AEW’s upcoming third hour of television won’t be an extra hour of Dynamite. Instead, it will be “a separate hour on a WarnerMedia network.”
- We’ll see if it ever happens.
- HeelByNature explains that there is a trademark conflict brewing right now between Mia Yim and WWE over her ring name.
- I wonder where that ended up.
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer mentioned that Jeff Cobb will be getting a push in the aftermath of NJPW’s G1 tournament.
- I went to our New Japan expert Claire and she gave me and yes to this. It wasn’t resounding. But it was a yes. (1/1)
- On his Twitch stream, Miro said that AEW has lost Ben Carter to “the dark side”, implying a deal between Carter and WWE is done.
- That’s the case. (1/1)
This week: 7/14 - 50%
Overall: 3,717/6,609 - 56.2%
Have a great week, everyone. Stay safe out there.