Rumor Look Back: Mar. 3 - 9, 2023

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 3, 2023

• According to WrestlingNews.co, the reason why Ronda Rousey isn’t doing the originally planned WrestleMania 39 match against Rhea Ripley is because Rousey wants to win the women’s tag team titles with Shayna Baszler. There are people in WWE who believe Ronda’s tag team championship reign will last through the summer because “whatever she wants she gets.”
• There was an injury factor as well, but that happened late February so plans were already in motion to go another way. The injury surely did factor in how limited she was in the Mania tag 4-way though. She did win the tag titles with Shayna, but that did not lat through the summer. They were broken up by their match at SummerSlam. (1/2)
• Sources have informed The Super J-Cast that Jay White’s contract with NJPW has expired and he’s a free agent. A lot of people are convinced that White will sign with WWE.
• The Switchblade signed with AEW. I’ve enjoyed him and the rest of the Bang Bang Gang. (0/1)
• Fightful mentioned that AEW wrestlers Miro and Scorpio Sky are healthy and available to work, but AEW creative has nothing for them. Both men apparently have “several years” left on their AEW contracts.
• Both men returned around the time of Collision, though Scorp got hurt for a bit after the return. Miro’s hot wife also recently showed up.
• Per Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, Brock Lesnar had the option to turn down a WrestleMania match against Omos, but he decided not to.
• Brock probably has the option to turn down any match.
• WWE will begin moving employees into their new headquarters building later this month, per PW Insider. The company hopes to be completely moved into their new space in Stamford, CT by late 2023 or early 2024, but “no hard date targeted to have everyone in the new HQ.”
• Must be exciting to move into a new HQ - outside the folks who are worried about having a job after this merger, which is official next week.
• Insider also notes that WWE has filed opposition against ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli’s registration of the “CSRO” trademark.
• Claudio is still going with his real name.
• WRKD Wrestling claims that despite appearances of tension between FTR and AEW, current plans call for Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler to be the team that defeats The Gunns for the AEW world tag team titles.
• That is correct. Though at this time, we didn’t even know if they’d sign with AEW. (1/1)
• A source told Xero News that Bobby Lashley is going to attack Uncle Howdy on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
• Lashley was attacked by Uncle Howdy but he got the best of him in the end. (1/1)

March 4, 2023

• A PW Insider Elite report on Brock Lesnar turning down a WrestleMania match with Bray Wyatt included that Lesnar was saying farewell to a few people backstage at Raw last Monday, and telling them that he was “finishing up”. The site emphasizes it’s not clear what Brock meant by the remark, and that it doesn’t “necessarily” mean Lesnar is done or even taking a break after WrestleMania.
• He feuded with Cody right after WrestleMania. So he wasn’t finished up in any sense.
• A message board rumor recently claimed Hangman Page was planned to beat CM Punk and retain the AEW World title at Double of Nothing last year until Punk lobbied Tony Khan to make him champ, but Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter the story “is not true. Punk was always winning that match.”
• It makes sense that Punk would always win that match.
• Meltzer noted that WWE doesn’t owe Goldberg any more matches on his “very lucrative deal.” Goldberg wants to wrestle again, but he “can’t work anywhere else” until his WWE contract expires.
• It sounds like that contract has since expired. I wonder when/if we’ll see Goldberg wrestle again.
• Regarding WWE’s ongoing efforts to pursue a sale of the company, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston says Endeavor and Comcast “both seem off the table” as potential buyers.
• Endeavor was the buyer. (0/1)
• There was some frustration among wrestlers and independent promoters about talent that was flown into Orlando for last weekend’s Ring of Honor taping but not used, according to The Observer. People weren’t too upset, however, as wrestlers were paid more than they would have been on the indie shows, and promoters know any exposure their regulars get on ROH TV will be good for future business.
• Tony is apparently good at paying folks who come out, though it’d be frustrating not to get to work a match. In the past, he said that Dark was super long because he wanted everyone to get a chance to work & get paid.
• Per Meltzer, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is still planned to take place as scheduled after the Mar. 31 episode of SmackDown “even though there has been no talk about it nor any names mentioned.”
• That’s the case with the HOF. (1/1)
• PW Insider also reported that Eddie Edwards signed a new contract with Impact. Terms weren’t disclosed, but Edwards later confirmed the news with the site.
• Edwards has been an Impact staple for awhile now. He’s recently been attacking Trinity.

March 6, 2023

• Discussing Solo Sikoa’s win over Sami Zayn on Friday’s SmackDown, and the fact Sikoa hasn’t lost in singles action on the main roster, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio, “they’re not gonna beat Solo. They’re saving Solo for Roman, whenever that day comes.”
• They saved Solo for Cody Rhodes. Sami should have picked up that win because he needed to justify his title match more than Cody when it came to wins & losses. (0/1)
• This seems pretty obvious, but Fightful Select reports WWE is still interested in signing MJF when his AEW contract expires. More interesting is that no one really knows when that will be. When asked privately MJF says the same thing he says publicly about it expiring in early 2024, but most assume he signed some kind of extension before returning to AEW at All Out last year.
• If I had to guess, MJF is going to be AEW for life.
• Along those same lines, members of the WWE roster say MJF’s told them he’s “looking forward to being there in 2024.” While MJF wants them to take him seriously, one talent says they take what he says “with a grain of salt.”
• It will be an interesting time at least.
• Speaking of Max, Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp tweeted that the child MJF splashed with a drink at Revolution was not a plant. The young man was reportedly very upset, with members of the media and AEW officials like Amanda Huber visiting with him to make things right after the incident. UPDATE: More on this here.
• Can’t do everything you may want as a heel.
• Regarding Ronda Rousey’s injury, Meltzer said on WOR that whatever the issue is, Ronda may not be fully recovered when she wrestles again. WWE hopes that will be at WrestleMania, where Dave says the “original idea” was to have Rousey & Shayna Baszler win the Women’s Tag titles.
• Ronda was clearly being protected in that fataly 4-way in LA so I’d say she wasn’t fully recovered. (1/1)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports AEW isn’t using Rebel right now because they don’t think she works as part of Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter’s babyface act.
• She hasn’t been around in awhile.

March 7, 2023

• Both Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer tweeted that Vince McMahon was at Raw in Boston last night, the first time he’s been to a WWE taping since he resigned last summer. They did not say what he was doing there.
• In general, it sounds like he’s not around a lot. But there was a time, prior to his surgery at least, that he’d be calling in to consult for TV.
• While confirming he was backstage on Monday, WRKD Wrestling also claims Vince has “had a hand in more creative than people realize.”
• Triple H even admitted he consulted with Vince at times.
• Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp also confirmed McMahon’s presence in Boston, saying his sources believe Vince was at Raw to visit John Cena, something he’s done on more than one occasion outside of WWE in the past year.
• John Cena is a company many, currently spending the actors strike working for WWE.
• In their Elite section, PW Insider reported McMahon was “not there to take over creative or to even run the taping”, but “primarily” to see & talk with Cena. They also said the regular producers and executives were running the show, “no different than usual”.
• Vince and Cena are probably pretty good friends.
• Last but certainly not least, Sapp heard Vince has grown a mustache.
• That is true. The most important rumor. I remember hearing that and was very curious what it looked like. The mustache and dye job looks awful, but who’s gonna tell a billionaire that? (1/1)
• PW Insider notes “the belief” is that FTR are locked into long-term deals with AEW, and that their recent absence, talk of expiring contracts, and other teases Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler were leaving the company were “just a storyline cover.”
• I don’t know if we know for sure when they signed.
• Alvarez & Meltzer discussed the incident where MJF threw a drink on a young fan at Revolution on Wrestling Observer Radio, and said part of the issue was the liquid in the cup wasn’t water. It was tequila.
• Damn.
• They also confirmed Amanda Huber took the kid backstage where he met several wrestlers who gave him signed merchandise. AEW also bought him tickets to Wednesday’s show in Sacramento.
• It would be hilarious if someone threw something in the kid’s face at that next show too.

March 8, 2023

• Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that the word that Vince McMahon was only at Raw this week to visit with John Cena was something they were simply telling everyone and “there’s more to it” than what anyone has been told or made aware of.
• I can’t imagine he didn’t do some business while there. We’ve got rumors that say the opposite thing so we’re going to split them. (1/2)
• Fightful Select notes they had talent telling them they “intentionally avoided associating” with McMahon, even though they believe they’ll have to have future dealings with him.
• Yeah, I get that. Sometimes, you just want to avoid the boss. Though I’d think they want to see this mustache.
• The Observer says the plan is for Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch & Lita at WrestleMania 39 but Rousey’s injury has complicated matters. She’s still expected to work the show, but may not be 100-percent.
• That was not the match. (0/1)
• Regarding this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class, Meltzer said on WOR that people are being asked about being inducted, so despite the lack of announcements so close to the show, it’s definitely happening.
• It did happen. (1/1)
• According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s not certain Jay White is going to WWE, even though all indications have been that he will. It’s also been said that “if he is going to WWE, it’s not something well known within the company by many because multiple people who normally know haven’t heard his name mentioned.”
• He did not end up there. It would have been an interesting signing.
• AEW’s house show schedule won’t be consistent at first, says PW Insider. They’re simply in a feeling out process now to see about making it profitable and Jeff Jarrett was brought in at least in part to help sell shows.
• They don’t run house shows at all any more after starting to run Collision on Saturday nights.

March 9, 2023

• While running down a full list of the backstage producers for each segment on this week’s Raw, Fightful Select said there was no producer listed for John Cena’s return angle where he destroyed Austin Theory on the mic. This has led many people to believe that Cena had full control over how that segment played out.
• Cena was just like “I got this. I’ll just bury the kid 6 feet deep.”
• Regarding Vince McMahon’s new look and return to Raw this week, Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez heard that McMahon was snuck into the building.
• Why does he need to be snuck in? You’d think the mustache would be enough to throw people off his scent.
• WrestleVotes said Vince was in the Gorilla position the entire show, but his presence did not affect anything on the show’s script.
• I find the idea of Vince sitting in Gorilla as a passive observer hard to believe.
• CNBC was told by multiple people in the know that WWE “is set to meet with potential buyers for the company next month in preparation for first-round bids.”
• The deal was made within a month.
• On his podcast, YouTube star Logan Paul mentioned that his WrestleMania 39 match against Seth Rollins will take place on night one of the event. That’s because it’s the same date as Paul’s birthday, on April 1.
• It is correct. (1/1)
• Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston noted that WWE’s appearance on this list of sports wagering registrants with the Indiana Gaming Commission “may or may not be related” to the story that WWE is trying to legalize gambling on scripted match results.
• There is already some betting on wrestling via Draft Kings and all their prop bets, but this type of gambling hasn’t happened.

This week: 9/15 - 60%

Overall: 4,725/8,262 - 57.2%

Have a great week, everyone!