Rumor Look Back: Mar. 17 - 23, 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 17, 2023

• WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport that Triple H is planning to change BUTCH’s name back to Pete Dunne. The reason it hasn’t happened yet is because the Brawling Brutes were getting over. When the “Pete Dunne” gimmick returns later this year, it won’t be as a member of that group.
• Pete Dunne is still Butch. (0/1)
• In contrast to a report that says WWE doesn’t know what’s going on with Roxanne Perez, Fightful Select claims Perez is fine and her health issues are all just part of kayfabe.
• Looks like a split rumor. That was a weird one. I think the consensus was she didn’t really collapse but it was covering for something else medical they wanted to give her time off for. (1/2)
• According to PWInsiderElite, Batista’s Hollywood commitments might get in the way of his availability to be part of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2023. He’s scheduled to be in South Africa shooting a movie during WrestleMania week.
• He did not make it to the HOF this last year. (1/1)
• Speaking of the HOF, Mick Foley recently mentioned that he was contacted by someone he hasn’t spoken to in a long time about possibly inducting them into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame. There’s a lot of speculation that the person in question is Stacy Keibler.
• Mick and Torrie Wilson did the honors for Ms. Keibler. (1/1)
• Per WRKD Wrestling, Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul and Bianca Belair vs. Asuka will take place on night one of WrestleMania 39, while Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley will be on night two.
• While Rollins vs. Paul was correct, the women’s matches were not. (1/3)
• Former WWE writer Dave Schilling says when Vince McMahon was told in a production meeting that fans didn’t like the idea of Kurt Angle’s retirement match being against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35, Vince laughed hard and said “fuck em.”
• That was kind of a waste. I like Corbin but he’s not the kind of guy who needs a big win over a legend like Angle.
• Other tidbits regarding WrestleMania 35 include that Mandy Rose was originally supposed to win the SmackDown women’s championship in a three way against Asuka and Sonya Deville, Miz was planned to go over Shane McMahon until the day of the show, and Brock Lesnar got his match with Seth Rollins changed from the semi main event to the opener so that he could go home early.
• WrestleMania 35’s main event was the big women’s triple threat that featured both titles that Becky Lynch won. Miz should have gone over Shane in that story. And I love that Brock just decides if he’s not the main, he’s going home early.
• While discussing the news about the May 5 episode of SmackDown coming to Puerto Rico, Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez said he heard there are discussions about possibly running Raw there as well.
• Raw was not run there. That was a really hot crowd. (0/1)

March 18, 2023

• Per F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer, the plan for Ronda Rousey to challenge for the WWE women’s tag team titles at WrestleMania 39 has been nixed. However, Rousey is still going to compete on the card in a different match.
• That is correct. It was a fatal 4-way tag match that protected her with her injury. (2/2)
• According to WrestleVotes, the men’s four way tag match at WrestleMania 39 is currently planned to be the Street Profits vs. Ricochet & Braun Strowman vs. Viking Raiders vs. Alpha Academy.
• That’s accurate. Ended up being a fun match. (1/1)
• Votes says the women’s four way tag match is currently slated to be Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan vs. Shotzi & Natalya vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Carmella & Chelsea Green.
• It was Sonya Deville & not Carmella. She soon announced she was pregnant so that probably played into it. (0/1)
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley main eventing night one of WrestleMania 39 “appears to be official at this point.”
• It was the tag title match. Both matches were great and were main event worthy.(0/1)
• As for why Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos won’t be in the main event despite the popularity of their storyline, Meltzer was told “there were political reasons in play to where Flair vs. Ripley would most likely get that spot.”
• It was likely not to deny the women a main event two years in a row. But I think the emotion of the men’s match would have been really hard for the ladies to follow.
• Saraya’s fine for saying “twats” on Dynamite was legitimate, and the money went to the AEW Together community outreach program, per Fightful Select. The site also reported that she privately apologized, and that talent was sent an email after Wednesday’s Dynamite informing them Saraya was “fined for profanity and using a middle finger without informing the coach of the segment.”
• Gotta watch your mouth.
• Multiple members of the WWE creative team told Fightful that Vince McMahon “repeatedly” tried to break up The New Day over the years, despite Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods being against a split. One example given was that Vince wanted Xavier Woods to turn on Kofi Kingston after winning King of the Ring in 2021, because that’s “what a King would do.”
• New Day always spoke about how important it was that they didn’t breakup.
• PW Insider says WWE will induct five people into the Hall of Fame this year. In response to a question from a reader, the site indicated Umaga, Chyna, and Michelle McCool will not be in this year’s class.
• That is accurate. Five folks and not those listed. (4/4)

March 20, 2023

• WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport that John Cena vs. Logan Paul is currently on the table for SummerSlam this year, with the two of them wanting to work with each other.
• Cena didn’t work SummerSlam. Logan Paul had a match with Ricochet. (0/1)
• For what it’s worth, Stone Cold Steve Austin told The Wrestling Classic he “hasn’t heard anything” about doing something at WrestleMania 39, and whether or not he appears on the show is “to be determined.”
• He wasn’t part of WrestleMania. They honestly didn’t need him. That was a full card already. Not that you say no to Ausin if he wants to work.
• PW Insider notes “there’s been some rumblings about Randy Orton internally” at WWE recently, which is noteworthy if only because this is the first discussion of him internally “in some time.”
• We’re still waiting on Randall.
• Fightful Select says there wasn’t really any talk of recent WWE budget cuts at SmackDown this past week.
• Personnel cuts and talent cuts inevitably happened after the merger was official.
• “At one point” AEW and New Japan hoped to book a Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay rematch for Forbidden Door 2, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• They ran that match.
• Jay White has been talking to WWE and AEW, but hasn’t signed, according to the Observer. He’s apparently 50/50 on which promotion he’ll sign with as of now.
• He ended up in AEW.

March 21, 2023

• Goldberg’s contract with WWE expired at the end of last year, per Fightful Select. The two sides did not agree on a renewal or extension, and he is currently a free agent.
• It’d be interesting to see Bill G in AEW, but I bet if we see him again, it’ll be in the E.
• According to what WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport, the WWE & Universal titles will be split by SummerSlam. The Twitter account called the unified belts a “mess” left by Vince McMahon that Triple H’s team is “working to overcome.”
• They didn’t split them, but they added a new title. In the spirit of this rumor, it’s correct. (1/1)
• Following up on their recent report about his schedule conflict, PW Insider now says they’ve heard Dave Bautista will not be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Insider also updated their Stacy Keibler scoop, and now says she’ll be the next name announced for the class of 2023.
• No Batista. Yes Keibler was the next announced. (2/2)
• Insider also says there won’t be a tag team inducted this year. In their paywalled Elite section, they mention that WWE is considering honoring a referee for the first time ever. A name wasn’t attached, but the report says the potential inductee is widely beloved in the industry.
• Tim White was the referee. No tag team. (2/2)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter reminds us that “as of right now,” Mercedes Moné has no dates left on her Bushiroad contract after New Japan Sakura Genesis on April 8 and Stardom’s Yokohama Arena show on April 23.
• They eventually added dates.
• Jim Ross, who was head of WWE Talent Relations when Lita & Trish Stratus main event-ed Raw in 2004, tweeted that he got a lot of “push back from male wrestlers” about the women getting that spot. JR stood by the call: “They deserved the opportunity and I’m happy that we did it.”
• There was some real push back to women’s wrestling back then.
• In the wake of Davey Richards abrupt retirement as he denied accusations of domestic violence, Fightful reported that Richards “effectively finished” with MLW in February. Original plans called for him to stay longer with the promotion, but MLW wanted to “distance themselves” from Richards due to “a pattern of odd behavior.” The report specifically mentions wrestlers complaining to Fightful that suggestions Richards made for matches while acting as an agent/producer were “puzzling.”
• Richards has been a... controversial figure... in wrestling.

March 22, 2023

• WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport that Roman Reigns is expected to take a long break following WrestleMania 39, possibly all the way up until SummerSlam.
• Roman worked both Crown Jewel and Money in the Bank.
• However, Votes added a caveat to that — it’s contingent on Reigns actually losing the titles and, at least as of right now, “those plans are not certain.”
• He did not lose the titles, so the prior rumor isn’t technically wrong given the contigency.
• WRKD Wrestling maintains that they believe Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos will be the main event of night one of WrestleMania 39. Other rumors have suggested Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley will be given that spot.
• It was the tag match. (1/1)
• They also say that Cameron Grimes and Bron Breakker will be “main roster mainstays” following WrestleMania 39.
• Grimes got called up, but Breakker is still working NXT. No that I’d consider Grimes, who is rarely on TV, a “mainstay” but he is main roster only. (1/2)
• PW Insider says WWE employees will begin the process of moving into the new headquarters in April, likely after WrestleMania week. It was originally reported wanted to do it in March.
• I wonder how many of those folks who moved have since been laid off.
• AEW filmed material at their first “House Rules” house show, says Insider. The ring aprons also had the Dark logo on them, leading to speculation matches could end up on that YouTube show.
• It doesn’t look like that happened, but Dark was canceled soon after this rumor. (0/1)

March 23, 2023

• WWE is bringing Randy Orton in for WrestleMania weekend, according to a PW Insider Elite report. It’s not confirmed that he’ll appear on screen or return to storylines, but seems to be the latest good sign he’ll be back soon.
• He’s still not back. (0/1)
• WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport that “at one point” Rey Mysterio was talking to WWE about retiring after WrestleMania 39. That’s changed as the angle with Dominik has “kind of reinvigorated him a little bit”, but it’s not known how much longer Rey plans to continue wrestling.
• Rey is still going strong.
• On Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, YouTuber LeLe Pons claimed WWE reached out to her about working with the company. Take this bit with the biggest grain of salt you can find, but Pons husband, rapper Guaynna, said they offered her $20 million.
• I don’t know who any of these people are.
• After WRKD Wrestling tweeted that Grayson Waller would be on Raw this week to do something for his NXT program with Johnny Gargano, they later said “plans changed”. Fightful Select, however, says Waller was never scheduled to be on Monday’s show.
• Looks like a dualing rumor. (1/2)
• AEW moving the live Rampage they’d announced for their Canadian tour to an unnamed televised Saturday show has led to some speculation that could be the premiere of their third weekly show.
• It certainly could but, though this rumor is a big vague to know if this was a Collision related move.
• Kofi Kingston’s injury may have changed plans, but Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that WWE discussed having Big E appear with Kingston & Xavier Woods at WrestleMania 39 “if that would be the right thing to do and if E could come back soon.”
• I have the feeling Big E isn’t coming back to work between the ropes, though he can return for other things, such as commentary. I think Woods may have had some backstage bits but wasn’t on the Mania card.

This week: 19/31 - 61%

Overall: 4,754/8,302 - 57.3%

Have a great week, everyone!