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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. First, let’s knock out some outstanding rumors.
- Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that Katsuyori Shibata will not be cleared and he will not wrestle ever again.
- You’d think this would have been true after his subdural hematoma, but it is not. He returned at Wrestle Kingdom last January. That match had a stipulation meant to protect him some, but it was removed last minute. (0/1)
- WWE is the “likely landing spot” for Tessa Blanchard, according to talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy, whose sources also told him AEW isn’t interested.
- Tessa hasn’t landed in any of the major company. I had forgotten she is back with WOW with their start up though. We’ll see if that’s ends up being it for her or not. (0/1)
- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes the current plan is Edge vs. Randy Orton in an I Quit match at WrestleMania next year. That had been the plan for SummerSlam but Edge’s injury changed that.
- They blew off their feud on Raw and Edge faced Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan in a WWE title match at WrestleMania. (0/1)
- According to Beth Hardy, WWE and Jeff are holding off on bringing back his “No More Words” theme until live crowds return.
- This is accurate. They did bring back that tune. But we’ll probably never hear it again since he left WWE. (1/1)
Now onto this week’s rumors!
- PW Insider was told the plan was always for Hangman Page to take time off ahead of his child’s birth.
- That’s what he did. (1/1)
- Fightful says Page was originally planned for the Pabst Blue Ribbon ad that aired during Dynamite. A disagreement between PBR and AEW stopped it from happening, and the ad that eventually aired with Matt Cardona was heavily edited to remove wrestling moves.
- I don’t recall that commercial at all.
- According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, Pete Dunne’s WWE contract is coming up “in a matter of weeks.”
- He’s still with them, though word has it he re-signed.
- Brian Mazique of Forbes heard that the gameplay in the latest build of WWE 2K22 is “fantastic,” the controls are “much cleaner,” and it feels like “a wrestling fan’s wrestling game.”
- This is all very subjective but I guess we’ll find out soon.
- He also said that unless the release date of the game is delayed, “a good percentage” of WWE’s recently released wrestlers will still appear in the game.
- I’m now very curious about this. The roster reveals don’t mention any, but they’d likely be left off that but possibly still in the game.
- Andrew Zarian says the King of the Ring tournament will return this year in October, with the finals to take place in Saudi Arabia.
- Accurate. Xavier Woods won, which was pretty great. (1/1)
- He also says the Queen of the Ring finals will be the same time and also have its finals in Saudi Arabia.
- Also accurate. The honor went to Zelina Vega. (1/1)
- According to the Observer, Triple H and Shawn Michaels only heard about the recent NXT releases after John Laurinaitis called the wrestlers.
- Another sign that Trips was getting phased out.
- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Riho has been out due to a bad reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine but she will be back soon.
- Hopefully she was back on her feet soon.
- Meltzer also says Ric Flair is expected to sign with AEW just as soon as he is legally able to do so.
- He has not signed with them. (0/1)
- Ringside News claims John Cena and Roman Reigns went to great lengths for their segment on SmackDown last week, even avoiding each other backstage beforehand. Vince McMahon apparently loved how it turned out.
- Their segments were definitely better this time around than their first feud, but they still weren’t really for me.
- They also claim the current plan is for CM Punk to wrestle 10-12 times per year for AEW.
- He’s already wrestled 13 times in the last 6 months. That’s surprising - I figured this rumor would be accurate. But instead he has worked more, with more matches with folks lower on the card more than I would have guessed too. (0/1)
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said Charlotte Flair missed a house show in Charlotte she was advertised for because she asked for the day off, he believed, to go to Mexico City for the AAA show to be with Andrade.
- There was rumor that they broke up, but those seem unfounded.
- He also said the original idea for TripleMania was that Andrade was going to beat Kenny Omega but AEW asked them to hold off on it, and that’s why the match went down the way it did.
- The ‘way it did’ was a super over booked match that Kenny won. Those two have not crossed paths in AEW, but Kenny is taking time off.
- According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there were talks of WWE buying CMLL a few years ago but it fell through because CMLL wanted WWE to buy the buildings too and WWE didn’t want to own older arenas.
- Interesante.
- Don’t expect a “reactionary” move from WWE if (when) CM Punk debuts for AEW on Rampage the night before SummerSlam, per WrestleVotes.
- I don’t think they did anything that’d be “reactionary” but I also don’t know what would be considered that. (1/1)
- Becky Lynch has been training at Seth Rollins’ Black & Brave Academy since May, sources told Fightful Select. Those sources also say Lynch looks “ring ready” based on drills they’ve seen.
- She debuted at SummerSlam.
- After it was widely reported NXT would pre-tape three weeks of episodes in the days after Sunday’s TakeOver 36, PW Insider said the current plan is to return to airing live on Sept. 14.
- This was before NXT 2.0, which I believe is still live every week.
- Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer said there’s been lots of talk at WWE about permanently moving NXT back to a taped format as a cost-saving measure, but Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian spoke to a USA Network source who told him, “A taped show is not what we paid for.”
- Dueling rumors. (1/2)
- The date of WWE’s next Saudi Arabia show has been confirmed as Thurs., Oct. 21, per PW Insider.
- This is correct. (1/1)
- According to odds, we could be looking at multiple title changes at SummerSlam.
- There were four which is a decent amount. (1/1)
- WrestleVotes claims WWE has started discussions about doing “offsite events” next year with ideas including Raw on the Roof, Hammerstein Ballroom, and festival shows.
- This was after the Rolling Loud show took place. There hasn’t been another type of off site show since. (0/1)
- According to PW Insider, Keith Lee has been working dark matches recently “as a way to refine” him and to figure out what “works best for him going forward.”
- What worked for him was releasing him. He debuted on AEW a couple weeks ago.
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that plans for the Kenny Omega vs. Andrade match changed multiple times in the lead up to it, with Andrade planned to win at multiple points, and Omega even being on board with it especially when Ric Flair showed up, but AEW didn’t want him losing so soon after dropping the Impact title to Christian.
- Yeah, that makes sense that AEW wouldn’t want him to lose too much before dropping the belt to Hangman. I really hope they come around to this match again when Kenny is back and ready to go.
- There is a plan in place to do The Miz & John Morrison vs. The New Day next, per Meltzer.
- Outside a single dark match, they did not run that program. (0/1)
- TNT and WarnerMedia people Fightful Select spoke to are “very aware” of CM Punk’s impending arrival in AEW. They’re excited, and ready to put “their promotional machine behind him upon his return.”
- It was the worst kept secret and it worked perfectly.
- On The Ringer Wrestling Show, former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. wouldn’t reveal everything he knows from friends backstage, but did indicate Bray Wyatt butted heads creatively with Vince McMahon & Kevin Dunn before his release because Wyatt “wasn’t playing ball.”
- That’s not too surprising.
- Before his interview with 2.0 on the most recent Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho said the former NXT duo have signed with AEW.
- He was correct.
- Shawn Daivari and Molly Holly are now working as full time producers for WWE, per PW Insider.
- Molly is a good resource to have there.
- Fightful Select reported former NWA TV Champion Zicky Dice recently signed a multi-year contract with Impact.
- Looks like Zicky confirmed it in an interview with Fightful. (1/1)
This week: 8/13 - 62%
Overall: 4,055/7,168 - 56.6%
Have a great week, everyone!
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