Rumor Look Back: Oct. 10 - 16, 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 jump right to it.

October 11, 2021

• Ringside News claims The Rock vs. Roman Reigns was never discussed for WrestleMania 38 and is not the plan.
• We can’t speak to if it was discussed. But it did not happen. Maybe next year though. (1/1)
• There’s already speculation that the “Supersized SmackDown” show could be a tryout for a third hour of SmackDown on FS1, with Dave Meltzer noting he wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
• That third hour did not happen. And thank goodness. We only need one three hour wrestling show. There’s already a ton of wrestling to try to keep up with. (0/1)
• For what it’s worth, Karrion Kross seemed to hint in a recent interview with Table Talk that Scarlett Bordeaux will be joining him on Raw at some point in the near future.
• That never happened. They were both released before they could get there. (0/1)
• Gable Steveson’s debut in WWE is tentatively set for next spring, according to the Observer.
• We’ve got a couple months to go but it hasn’t officially happened yet. I wouldn’t consider his WrestleMania moment any official debut.
• Per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, The Young Bucks had a big hand in Bobby Fish getting signed to AEW.
• They’ve got those ROH connections.

October 12, 2021

• Liv Morgan was originally planned to beat Carmella in the Queen’s Crown tournament, according to Fightful Select. Plans were changed at the last minute.
• In the end, it was Zelina Vega vs. Doudrop in the final. It was odd that they went heel vs. heel.
• Fightful also noted that there is significant frustration from talent and staff about the booking of the women’s division lately.
• It’s been lackluster outside Becky/Bianca lately. It feels like a handful of women will always have time on TV but everyone has the chance to end up in catering for months.
• Roman Reigns is reportedly the top merchandise seller among heels in WWE history. A source told WrestlingNews.co that Roman Reigns merchandise sales are approaching John Cena levels, which is seen as particularly impressive since Cena was a babyface.
• Acknowledge him.
• WWE was planning to split AJ Styles and Omos in the draft, until WrestleVotes says “people of power (including a main Raw talent) spoke up & expressed thoughts on how Omos isn’t quite ready for singles yet.”
• He’s still not.
• AEW announced a “Heritage Night” promotion for Rampage in Miami this Friday night. Wrestling Observer notes the show “had very weak ticket sales as of the weekend.”
• Not every area is going to be an easy sell.

October 13, 2021

• Bianca Belair was left off the graphic showcasing the new Raw roster on the show this week but Fightful Select says it was simply an error and there has been no change in her status as of this time.
• She moved to Raw. (1/1)
• For whatever it’s worth, Tony Khan told Moose & Maggie of WFAN he hasn’t talked to Bray Wyatt about coming to AEW yet.
• I wonder if that conversation ever happened.
• Sports Gamers Online says recent WWE releases this year ruined DLC plans for the upcoming WWE 2K22 game.
• A lot of released talent in the main game. I don’t think so in the DLC. Well Nash Carter, who has been released, is in the DLC. But that’s even more recent.
• Allison Danger was recently hired as a coach at the WWE Performance Center, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. She joins another recent hire, Kenny Doane.
• I’m not too familiar with her work.
• Sticking with this week’s WON, Dave Meltzer wrote that New Japan is close to a new U.S. television contract. It’s not supposed to be a major deal, but the company realizes they need a TV presence here if NJPW of America is going to grow.
• They ended up back on AXS. (1/1)

October 14, 2021

• A photo of Tony Khan from a recent Jacksonsville Jaguars game posted to r/SquaredCircle shows him carrying what appears to be a draft of the Full Gear card. In addition to Hangman Page vs. Kenny Omega, fans say matches like Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley and CM Punk vs. Wardlow are listed.
• Neither of those matches happened at Full Gear. Moxley vs. Danielson happened later at Revolution. Punk faced Eddie Kingston at Full Gear. I zoomed in on the notebook and I can’t make out a damned thing. (0/2)
• During his interview with Barstool’s Robbie Fox, Khan said he’s been talking to WarnerMedia about a streaming home for AEW’s library.
• Some, including myself, thought that his big announcement about buying ROH was actually going to be this. I still think the move is the first step to get content for Warner before getting a streaming deal. Maybe that’ll be his next HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT.
• A Fightful report on WOW’s relaunch mentions there were “numerous accusations” of Tessa Blanchard bullying people within WOW. This would seem to be in addition to the allegations that went public about Tessa Blanchard in early 2020 that she’s denied.
• She’s still a keystone of the promotion.
• During a virtual signing for K & S WrestleFest, Jerry Lawler said calling one of Akira Tozawa’s moves a “ramen noodle moonsault” on television last April is “probably why I’m not on Raw right now.”
• Yeah, probably. He was on last week to cover for Corey so they’re not that worried though.
• Voices of Wrestling tweeted that WWE is leaking Rampage’s overnight ratings to media outlets. The overnights are lower than the final numbers that come out on Mondays.
• Maybe. I dunno though. Outside pettiness, what would be the reason for that? I guess to position themselves as the more reliable wrestling ratings?

October 15, 2021

• Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian said The Rock will no longer be appearing at Survivor Series 2021. Furthermore, “people in the know” are adamant that Roman Reigns vs. The Rock should not take place at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, and needs to be booked at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles. That’s where the focus currently is in WWE.
• Rock sent a golden egg to Survivor Series but didn’t show up himself. And he wasn’t at WrestleMania last month. (2/2)
• Zarian said there were several reasons why WWE released Bray Wyatt, in addition to the financial aspect cited by the company. Zarian followed up by saying “Bray was being difficult”, he had some “performance issues in the ring,” and he also had some “weight issues.”
• Sounds like the sources are trying to set the narrative because that’s all very negative.
• According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, WWE is “far more than just aware” that they have a problem with so many 40+ year old wrestlers being on the main roster. One of the reasons NXT has changed so much is because WWE is not in denial about the need to get wrestlers in their 20’s ready for Raw and SmackDown.
• Their recruiting college athletes using the new NIL rules will also result in younger talent.
• Fightful mentioned WWE made the decision to cancel December’s pay-per-view (PPV) event well over a month ago. The originally scheduled December event likely fell too close on the calendar to the Day One PPV, which happens to be “spearheaded” by Nick Khan.
• That December PPV feels like a waste anyway. It’s a real dead time in WWE.
• WrestlingNews.co heard the reason why Cameron Grimes hasn’t been called up to the main roster is because Vince McMahon wanted to change the “presentation of his character.”
• Grimes still has not been called up.

October 16, 2021

• This week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter has a report on the perception of AEW backstage at WWE. Apparently there’s a feeling the Tony Khan has overspent to get the success his company’s had thus far, which is unfair to WWE because they “have” to make money.
• They’re in different places. Yes, AEW doesn’t have investors to appease so they’re reinvesting their money (much into the video game development).
• Dave Meltzer’s sources also say people have told Vince McMahon “we beat Ted Turner and Ted Turner is smarter than Tony Khan.” Those types of comments are said to be prevalent within WWE.
• While I don’t think WWE needs to really concern themselves with AEW overtaking their position, these types of comments are underestimating AEW. It would take a lot of crazy things for AEW to become as big as WWE is now, but they’re certainly competition in other ways.
• A source in WWE told Ringside News that rumors of specific tag teams being split up in the draft are always overblown because “every team is discussed splitting” whenever there is a draft.
• Which is stupid, but we know WWE doesn’t prioritize tag team wrestling.
• The Observer disputed Mark Henry’s claim that PAC suffered a concussion a month and a half ago, saying his last concussion wasn’t “any time remotely recently.”
• PAC was back very soon. So looks like Mark wasn’t correct on this one and the Observer seems to be on this one. (1/2)
• According to Fightful, WOW made a pitch for La Rosa Negra to work for the promotion and appear on screen with Tessa Blanchard. La Rosa Negra was said to be insulted by the offer. (For context, Blanchard has previously been accused of bullying and directing a racial slur towards La Rosa Negra, and Blanchard denies those allegations.)
• It takes some guts to keep Tessa as the cornerstone of your promotion.

This week: 6/11 - 55%

Overall: 4,122/7,268 - 56.7%

Have a great week, everyone!