Rumor Look Back: Mar. 25 - Apr. 1, 2022

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 jump right to it.

March 25, 2022

• According to Fightful, before Scott Hall died, WWE planned to invite him and other nWo members to WrestleMania weekend in Texas to help promote the new WWE 2K22 video game.
• That makes sense. Obviously it was real sad when Scott died, especially the news that he was struggling prior.
• Tony Khan’s purchase of Ring of Honor wasn’t finalized when he initially announced that he had a huge announcement. Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez was told “there was a backup announcement, in case they went on the air live and the deal wasn’t done.”
• I wonder what the backup would be. Certainly wouldn’t be as big as buying Ring of Honor.
• While discussing Ethan Page’s contract extension with AEW, Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian mentioned that WWE is “very high” on Page and likes his “whole deal.”
• And this was still when Vince was running the show. He’s very good, but has been rather underused in AEW.
• Per PW Insider, WWE filed to trademark the terms “WWE Grand Jury” and “WWE The Grand Jury.”
• I don’t believe it’s been put in use.
• Shane “Hurricane” Helms tweeted that he signed a WWE Legends deal.
• That’s gotta be a pretty sweet gig. I imagine a big part of that is not doing any work with AEW.

March 26, 2022

• Despite reports saying the Stone Cold/Kevin Owens confrontation could main event WrestleMania Saturday, Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that as of mid-week WWE’s internal match order still had Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey going on last.
• It was KO/Stone Cold. There were rumors Ronda was not happy about that, which persisted enough that she had to deny them. (0/1)
• Dave Meltzer’s obligatory Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins/WrestleMania update from the WON: “All WWE sources indicate the belief that the deal is done and the match is happening and that any suggestion it isn’t is not the case. There are those close to the situation who are still suggesting otherwise but one person in WWE called that ‘silliness’ at this point.”
• It happened. (1/1)
• One more from this week’s Newsletter... Veer Mahaan is expected to have a different character when he debuts on Raw.
• He debuted in the way they were showcasing him in the videos. This wasn’t a Funkasaurus deal. He’s disappeared from TV since Triple H took over, not that he was getting much with Vince. He had a run as a vicious wrestler but was becoming more of a ladies man. (0/1)
• Two recent AEW trademark filings have people thinking “Undisputed Elite” will be Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly’s faction name, and “AEW: Fight Forever” will be the name of their console video game.
• Undisputed Elite may be what they call the ERA and Elite together, but it’s not the name of the trio, a trio that no longer exists given Fish is in Impact. That is the name of the video game. (1/2)
• On the subject of video games, tweets by 2K developers & execs from Stephanie McMahon’s visit to their headquarters for the launch of WWE 2K22 gave the impression WWE wouldn’t be shopping their license. WWE sources told Sports Gamers Online it’s still too early to say: “This was a celebratory photo for our game launch. Not an announcement of an extension.”
• We’ll find out.

March 28, 2022

• According to PW Insider, Bobby Lashley is going to return on Monday Night Raw this week.
• That he did. It was the go-home show to help sell his match against Omos. (1/1)
• There are images going around of a new WWE title with a blue streak in it that has led to speculation it will be the new unified championship.
• While I think they should have a unified championship, Roman is still carrying both straps. (0/1)
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes there has been no talk of a Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania this year.
• It did not happen. They use the tag match to get all the women on the card now. (1/1)
• Fightful Select says Kofi Kingston was originally set to wrestle Ridge Holland on SmackDown this past week and Xavier Woods replacing him was not listed internally.
• Wonder why the switch.
• Fightful also says multiple AEW deals will be coming up in May, including Marko Stunt, who could be leaving the company.
• Marko is gone, as is Joey Janela. (1/1)

March 29, 2022

• The Rock wants to do WrestleMania 39, per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. WWE’s working idea is to have him face Roman Reigns in Los Angeles next year, but are “well aware” his schedule could change.
• The Rock is so busy that if they ran a program, there would be weeks at a time neither dude was on TV.
• Verified reddit Insider kerrmit125 doubled-down on saying Steve Austin and Kevin Owens will close WrestleMania Saturday.
• That’s the case. Kerrmit always knows. (1/1)
• Tony Khan and MJF had a “heated discussion” over the weekend after MJF’s interview with Ariel Helwani, according to Fightful Select. The sites sources think Khan’s issue wasn’t with the content of the interview, but the fact AEW’s PR team didn’t know about it. The discussion left both men frustrated.
• I often wonder if MJF is actually a nice guy but so good at his job that it feels like there’s no way he could be at all a nice guy. When he eventually has a babyface run, we’ll see how believable that side of him is.
• Fightful also said MJF’s been frustrated over his contract status of late.
• This ended up become a part of a big work, though there could be very real truth to this rumor that ended up being turned into the work.
• During a Twitter spat over the end of their podcast, Mark Madden claimed Ric Flair was planning to go to AEW when the Plane Ride From Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring aired. Now Tony Khan doesn’t talk to Flair, and disinvited him from his birthday party.
• The birthday party thing is the funniest part. The rest makes sense but the last part feels so immature.

March 30, 2022

• PW Insider says WWE is bringing Shane McMahon to town for WrestleMania weekend, although they don’t know if that means he’ll be appearing on the show on either of the two nights.
• I don’t think they did. He certainly wasn’t on the show. I don’t think he was at the Hall of Fame. He didn’t have any signings. (Please correct me if any of you remember differently on any of that.) (0/1)
• Per Fightful Select, there is interest in AEW bringing Toni Storm in, with multiple wrestlers within the company pushing for it and many expecting it to happen.
• That did happen. She’s the... sigh... interim champ. (I don’t dig the interims.) (1/1)
• Dave Meltzer speculates on Wrestling Observer Radio the reason Kevin Owens and Steve Austin are set to main event WrestleMania Saturday is because WWE doesn’t want to run the risk of anyone leaving after seeing Stone Cold.
• It would have been near impossible to follow.
• According to PW Insider, the WrestleMania 38 stage reveal will happen on Thursday via a Dude Perfect video, and one idea was to throw a football through a target that sets off pyro to reveal everything.
• Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. (1/1)
• On his Instagram, Miro said he’s in Brooklyn shooting a pilot, which could be why he’s still not back on AEW TV.
• It didn’t look like a big role. He’s been used rather sparingly since his return, for obvious reasons.

March 31, 2022

• A “a tenured member of the creative team” told Ringside News that while Vince McMahon wants Steve Austin back in WWE more often, Stone Cold’s segment at WrestleMania 38 is a “One time deal. As of now.”
• That’s what it seems to be. (1/1)
• WWE plans to return to Saudi Arabia in late September, and Andrew Zarian’s source says that show will likely be TLC 2022.
• It’s in November and it’s Crown Jewel. (0/2)
• According to Fightful Select, AEW’s head of talent relations Christopher Daniels told Marko Stunt his contract wouldn’t be renewed due to the company’s growing roster and “budget cuts”. Stunt was also told plans changed for Jurassic Express, the group he’d been a part when AEW launched.
• I wonder what changed. I think part of it is AEW evolved past the very indie guys like Marko, but I wonder the official reasoning. As more people signed with the promotion, their newer identity started to form. And with that, some folks who don’t fit their mold won’t stick around.
• The issues between Tony Khan & MJF over MJF’s interview with Ariel Helwani have been settled, per Wrestling Observer.
• There may have been lingering ones.
• On Fightful’s Backstage Report podcast, Sean Ross Sapp said MJF’s frustrated because several people who AEW signed after him are now earning “way more” money than he does.
• I mean some of those guys are seasoned vets. I’d understand paying CM Punk and Bryan Danielson more. I’d even make the argument for Adam Cole as well. If someone like Kyle O’Reilly, who I enjoy, was making more, I can see MJF getting peeved.

April 1, 2022

• During an interview with Denise Salcedo, Dave Meltzer said he knows people close to Cody Rhodes who think there is a chance he may back out of the match with Seth Rollins this weekend at WrestleMania 38.
• He did not. (0/1)
• Meltzer also said the story about Shane McMahon being at WrestleMania this weekend isn’t surprising because Shane is always there to attend the Hall of Fame ceremony. Meltzer was told that no creative plans for Shane have been discussed since January; he was originally going to compete against WWE Champion Seth Rollins at WrestleMania before he was sent home.
• I really don’t think he was in the crowd for the Hall of Fame. I took a look at the crowd clapping for Taker and did not see him.
• Per PW Insider, Asuka and Bayley have both been spotted in Dallas for WrestleMania weekend. However, there is no sign of Alexa Bliss.
• Bayley didn’t return until SummerSlam. Asuka soon after Mania.
• Insider also says that Bobby Lashley is now officially a babyface on Raw.
• That’s correct. (1/1)
• Paul Heyman told Sports Media with Richard Deitsch there is currently talk of him doing an uncensored podcast through WWE, but he “won’t do it if it’s not done right.”
• That would be something.

This week: 10/18 - 55.6%

March 2022: 46/80 - 58%

Overall: 4,323/7,599 - 56.8%

Have a great week, everyone!