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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. Let’s jump right to it.
- Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Kenny Omega’s shoulders are in really bad shape right now.
- Omega has not returned to the ring since putting over Hangman about six months ago.
- PW Insider notes that Malakai Black missed the Big Event convention due to an injury.
- Nothing that kept him out of action for too long.
- Per the Observer, while there’s no word on WrestleMania tickets that went on sale this past Friday, it was “far from an instant sellout.”
- It’s a large stadium that was selling for two nights. They never going to move quickly, even if the promotion were super hot (which is was not).
- Ringside News claims Roman Reigns bending down and getting crowned on SmackDown was a late change after he met with Vince McMahon hours before the show.
- Roman politicking for a crowning in the back. (I definitely kid.)
- RSN also says Von Wagner will be sticking around on Friday Night SmackDown as Adam Pearce’s bodyguard.
- Yes, that definitely did not happen. (0/1)
- Cody Rhodes deleted his Twitter account. He told Busted Open Radio last week he was moving everything to Instagram because of the “amount of sniping and negativity” on Twitter.
- Like everyone, he’s back to Twitter. Not that he’s wrong.
- According to PW Insider, WALTER is currently more open to moving to the United States than he was when he first signed with with WWE due to changes in his personal life.
- Given he’s on SmackDown every week, I assume he’s got some location in the US he stays. (1/1)
- Some historic dirt: on the Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast, Gerald Brisco said Earl Hebner didn’t want to take part in the Montreal Screwjob, but was told he’d lose his job if he didn’t.
- Interesting.
- Riddle told Metro that Vince McMahon wouldn’t let Randy Orton ride a camel to the ring at Crown Jewel. Orton wanted to, but Vince didn’t think it was something Randy’s character would do.
- Man, that would have been something. At this point, Orton’s character has been affected by Riddle so he probably would do it. Maybe a bit begrudgingly. I’ll be bummed when they break up.
- “Molly Holly is getting great reviews as a producer,” a WWE source told Ringside News.
- She apparently produced the Charlotte Flair/Ronda Rousey “I Quit” match that got strong reviews.
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said Kenny Omega will be getting checked out for his various injuries and he could be taking some time off to deal with them. He stuck around this long so he could see through the Hangman Page storyline.
- He took that time as soon as dropped the title. We don’t have any inkling that he’s just around the corner either, though maybe they’re keeping it quiet for a surprise return. (1/1)
- WrestleVotes says one of the original ideas for NXT 2.0 was to change the show from a TV-PG to TV-14 rating. That’s apparently still on the table and USA Network is on board with it.
- It’s still PG, though they sure push that limit. (0/1)
- For whatever it’s worth, Jeff Hardy told Metro he’s thought about pitching Willow to WWE and also a character who is a Bob Ross alter ego.
- That insane character would never had a shot in WWE. Heck, Willow is going to be an acquired taste anywhere.
- Fightful Select notes Big E, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Bianca Belair, The Miz, Montez Ford, and Angelo Dawkins will all appear in a segment filmed for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week.
- It was a video bit as part of Survivor Series promotion. (1/1)
- The AEW tag team title match at Full Gear was changed on the fly due to Dax Harwood suffering some kind of injury and Fightful Select says there was some heat on Fenix backstage over how stiff he works and that he didn’t immediately check in on Harwood.
- I wonder if that heat persists. FTR seem like dudes who could stay angry at people they feel don’t do things the way they feel is the right way. Not saying that this is the case here at all though.
- Full Gear did around 145K buys, per Wrestlenomics. After splitting revenue with PPV carriers and adding in ticket and venue merchandise sales, AEW is estimated to have generated $7 million in revenue from the event. That would make it the second most successful show in company history, but well behind this year’s All Out.
- All Out had the first CM Punk match and the Daniel Bryan debut buzz so that was always going to be hard to top.
- PW Insider reports “the word making the rounds” is that Kenny Omega could be out for a while as he probably needs shoulder surgery. AEW hopes they’ll “have some clarity on that within the week.”
- Out for awhile is accurate. (1/1)
- Apparently there had been a rumor going around that TNT executives told AEW to only have one women’s match per episode of Dynamite. Fightful Select says they’ve spoken to WarnerMedia and AEW sources and there’s no truth to that.
- One rumor offsets the other. That’d be a terrible look if true. (1/2)
- Fightful also says The Briscoes were backstage at Dynamite last night.
- Speaking of Warner, it’s rumored that the network insisted AEW don’t work with the Briscoes, given past homophobic statements they’ve made.
- WWE is planning to move from Titan Towers into their new office building across town in late 2022, according to the Stamford (CT) Advocate.
- We’ll see when that happens.
- After WWE fired eight wrestlers last night, a source told Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian that many people in the company were “blindsided” by the news. No more roster cuts were expected in 2021 after WWE fired 18 wrestlers two weeks ago.
- They never stop.
- WrestleVotes indicated there is some real tension and disdain between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. The finish to their Survivor Series match has been “greatly debated,” but WWE expects both wrestlers to remain professional.
- I would be surprised if either woman went into business for herself in a match. Shame their real friendship is no longer if true.
- On his podcast, Ric Flair mentioned that Hulk Hogan is having “some really bad health issues.”
- We haven’t heard anything else on this, but doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.
- Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston said the median viewer age for this week’s record-low rated episode of NXT was once again 62 years old.
- How’s that youth movement going?
- Zarian said before he left AEW for rehab, Jon Moxley was originally scheduled to win the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament and turn heel by the end of Full Gear.
- It seemed like a heel turn was imminent.
- According to Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian, WWE is well aware that the Survivor Series card is lackluster, especially for an event in New York City. Zarian also indicated the current set of scheduled matches was not the “original concept” for Survivor Series this year.
- Survivor Series is usually lackluster. They need to shake things up. It’s time to move away from the SmackDown vs. Raw theme and book an elimination match or two mixed up with a bunch of people who hate each other on each side.
- Johnny Gargano hasn’t signed a new deal with WWE yet, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but the company is “pushing very hard” to keep him. They’re said to have made Gargano a “very strong offer” to stay with WWE “for a long time.”
- Gargano has not signed anywhere after he left the contract run out. (1/1)
- A report from Fightful Select said the polarizing reaction Top Dolla got on Twitter “did carry over” to some within WWE, but was not the reason for his release as others backstage “enjoyed” his social media presence. There was “plenty of back and forth internally” as to who should lead Hit Row on the main roster, whether they should be faces or heels, and the overall direction of the group.
- What a botch this entire thing was.
- Fightful also says major companies are said to be interested in Swerve Scott after his 90 day non-compete expires.
- AEW signed him. (1/1)
- Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez said The Butcher suffered torn biceps during his tag team match on Dynamite this week against Orange Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii.
- It looks like he missed a good three months. Though I’m having a tough time confirming the injury. That was a primo time for AEW to finally go forward with their big The Blade singles push. Huge missed opportunity there. Huge.
This week: 7/10 - 70%
Overall: 4,155/7,322 - 56.7%
Have a great week, everyone!
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