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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.
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said there was a miscommunication between Liv Morgan and the others in SmackDown’s Six-Pack Challenge that led to the barricade jump to the table spot look bad. There was apparently a change in the plan that she didn’t know about.
- These multi-person matches have to be really difficult to coordinate. I remember Stone Cold saying on his podcast how he hated triple threat matches because of the moving parts. I’d assume the more people added, the tougher it is.
- PW Insider heard Tommaso Ciampa won’t return from his latest injury until next year.
- We’re still waiting on Ciampa, who’s maybe being hinted at.
- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says NXT’s Tiffany Stratton should be back on TV “in a few weeks.” She’s reportedly been out with a head injury.
- It looks like it was a couple months. (0/1)
- WON on Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul at Crown Jewel: “An unsung hero of the match was Drew Gulak. WWE sent Paul a ring to Puerto Rico to train with and sent Gulak to be his personal coach. He did come to the Performance Center and train some with Shawn Michaels, with them shooting footage of that and pushing that aspect, the bulk of the training was by Gulak.”
- Gulak sounds like a very good trainer in general.
- FTR will be working New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 17, Dave Meltzer has learned. He thinks other AEW talents will work the show, but can’t confirm that. Scheduling is an issue as the Tokyo Dome show is always held on Jan. 4, which in 2023 falls on a Wednesday.
- They lost the IWGP tag titles to Bishamon on night one. Kenny also worked that show. (1/1)
- According to Fightful Select, Lady Frost was released by Impact Wrestling last month. She’d requested her release back in June.
- Took a bit of time to get this done.
- After Nov. 5’s rumor Steve Austin would listen to proposals for another return to the ring, Fightful Select reports that Triple H & team have “actually made an offer for Austin to do another match.”
- There were discussions, according to Austin. Of course, nothing came together.
- Sources told Fightful they think the pitch was for WrestleMania 39, but didn’t confirm that or who Stone Cold might wrestle. Another source told the site Austin and the company “were far apart on terms.”
- I don’t think Steve Austin should be a yearly Mania match. I think it should be something special if he does ever again.
- Before his exit, WrestleVotes tells GiveMeSport Vince McMahon had soured on GUNTHER and “like legitimately wanted to bury him” and send him back to NXT. GUNTHER is safe now, however. The Twitter account says Triple H is a big GUNTHER fan and plans to use him prominently for the next decade-plus.
- This rumor has come up before and, while very well may be true, we never saw that evidence on TV. So maybe it’s true, but maybe not. He was still being booked well before Vince left. Of course, GUNTHER has been booked even better under Triple H, even with Vince McMahon the true last word on creative.
- PW Insider’s heard praise for Drew McIntyre from people within WWE for his hard work & commitment, as evidenced by his squeezing in a trip to India for the company after working European house shows and Crown Jewel while sick with the flu.
- The last we heard about Drew is he and WWE are far apart on terms for a new contract. Drew could go test the waters elsewhere, and with AEW splitting their rosters and adding two more hours of television, it’s not as bloated over there. But I think it would behoove both WWE & Drew McIntyre to come to an agreement because they feel like the best fit for each other.
- AEW’s Abadon suffered what was believed to be a broken collarbone wrestling for an indie in Staten Island over the weekend, Insider reports. Abadon landed wrong after delivering a hurricanrana to her opponent, the match was stopped immediately, and she was taken to the hospital.
- Sometimes it’s easy as a fan to forget for a moment how dangerous this business is.
- PW Insider brings word that Soulnado Inc., a company created in August, filed trademarks for the following: Mercedes Mone’, Mone’ talks, Bank Mone’, and Statement Maker. In addition, they say Michael Dockins, an attorney who handles trademark filings for some folks in pro wrestling, was the man who filed them. Sasha Banks cryptically tweeted “thank you” last night.
- Mercedes Mone is her name. I don’t think she uses any of the others as catch phrases or names of moves. The Mone Maker is her finisher, which is a combination of some of the words listed about.
- Insider also notes Randy Orton was spotted in Birmingham, Alabama just yesterday. They weren’t able to confirm if his wife, Kim, posting a photo of Orton in a hospital gown late in the evening was related at all.
- Last we heard is word that doctors don’t want the Viper to wrestle again. Not that it means he’s going to listen.
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said there were big plans for Kevin Owens before his injury and he believes he was scheduled for the WarGames match. That’s obviously going to have to change now.
- That did not change. KO was in WarGames. (0/1)
- Meltzer also said Candice LeRae was earmarked for a spot on the babyface team for WarGames at Survivor Series but he’s guessing she must be injured because she still hasn’t been announced for it.
- Candice was not in that match. It’s possible she was, but all five names in that match, outside maybe Mia Yim, were bigger names.
- According to Fightful Select, several wrestlers brought back to SmackDown recently were given three year deals. They note Hit Row signed matching deals that all expire at the same time.
- We’ll see how much longer Hit Row lasts. I don’t advocate anyone losing their job, but they definitely didn’t click upon their return and haven’t been used in a while. That group needs Swerve.
- Inside the Ropes says World of Sport Wrestling in the UK is looking at a relaunch, with discussions having already taken place with the likes of Nick Aldis and Mickie James.
- That doesn’t seem to be the case. (0/1)
- There are people in WWE who “absolutely do not want” CM Punk back in the company, according to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer. But those people aren’t on the creative team and may not have much say in the decision.
- I originally wrote the outline for this post last Monday and I wrote “That doesn’t look like he’ll be returning to WWE” given he’ll be anchoring AEW’s new show. But just within a week, that doesn’t look as certain. I still would be shocked if these events lead him back to WWE, but it’s at least slightly more likely now than it was last week.
- Triple H is a fan of Matt Cardona and loves the former Zack Ryder’s passion for the wrestling business, WrestleVotes tells GiveMeSport. WWE is still interested in bringing Cardona’s wife Chelsea Green back. It’s unknown if the company’s made an offer to either, but the Twitter account believes WWE may make the Cardonas a “two-for-one offer.”
- They signed Chelsea but not Matt. Not that they definitely weren’t interested. (1/2)
- WWE sources tell Fightful Select they don’t hear much from Vince McMahon since his resignation.
- They heard plenty very soon.
- Vice’s documentary on the former WWE Chairman & CEO, The Nine Lives of Vince McMahon, will air Tues., Dec. 13 at 9pm ET, per Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez.
- This ended up being a Dark Side clip show. The date and time are right though. (1/1)
- Andrade El Idolo wore a hospital gown and appeared to be at a medical facility in a Facebook video where he announced he wouldn’t be making his scheduled date on an indie lucha show this Sunday. The sidelined AEW star didn’t go into specifics, just saying he had to deal with a minor issue and would provide more information later.
- We haven’t seen him for awhile, but he’s advertised as part of the Collision roster.
- Dave Meltzer is now saying Kevin Owens was confirmed to be in the main event of Survivor Series in the WarGames match before suffering his knee injury. He did hear he would get checked out for the injury on Monday and he’s rehabbing at the Performance Center.
- He ended up working it - which is good because that was a major beat in the big Sami/Bloodline story.
- Meanwhile, Fightful Select says despite the injury Owens is still traveling with WWE, though it’s hard to tell what that means for his status at the show.
- He worked it.
- On top of all that, PW Insider says he’s scheduled for SmackDown both this week and next.
- This is accurate. (1/1)
- Recent social media activity has led to heavy speculation Charlotte Flair will be back very soon.
- It was about 5 weeks later. I’ll count that as very soon. (1/1)
- According to the Wrestling Observer, JONAH has a contract offer from WWE and now has a decision to make between going back and staying with New Japan.
- He ended up returning to WWE.
- Regarding Adam Cole, Dave Meltzer writes in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “a number of people have brought up being very concerned for him” since he hasn’t wrestled and only appeared once for AEW after suffering a concussion in his match at June’s Forbidden Door PPV.
- That injury sounded very serious.
- The Observer confirmed reports WWE reached out to Steve Austin about a match at WrestleMania 39, but things are said to still be “in the discussion phase”. Any specifics about pitches or possible opponents are being kept secret.
- It sounds like they never got out of this phase. (1/1)
- Roman Reigns is not included in WWE’s latest advertising for Elimination Chamber 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, leading to speculation that he won’t be booked for the event.
- He defended the title against Sami Zayn. That crowd was stellar. (0/1)
- Chelsea Green’s return to WWE is being talked about within the company as a done deal, according to Meltzer. It’s unknown if Green’s “put pen to paper” on a contract yet, however.
- She is back. (1/1)
- Per Fightful Select, the city of Detroit is a front-runner to host WWE SummerSlam 2023.
- They’ve got it. (1/1)
This week: 8/13 - 62%
Overall: 4,566/8,000 - 57.1%
Have a great week, everyone!
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