Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we look at the rumors from six months ago and see which played out as originally predicted. Let’s get right to it.
- There's some word going around that Daniel Bryan had more testing done on himself within the past couple months and it may have gone well, hence the talk of him wrestling again when his WWE contract expires. It's not expected he will ever wrestle for WWE again.
- We’re getting close and closer to knowing.
- Rusev could be in the US title picture shortly after his return to television.
- He hasn’t been in the US title really at all since coming back. Not surprisingly, he’s killing it in his newest role as a member of the Rusev Day tag team. (0/1)
- On a recent podcast, Ryback claimed Dolph Ziggler has been wanting to work an angle with him through said podcast.
- From the sounds of it, they are good friends. But this would never have happened since Dolph is/was in WWE and Ryback is not.
- According to PW Insider, Billy Corgan's purchase of NWA will be going through now that trademark issues previously holding it back have been resolved.
- He is the current owner of the brand. (1/1)
- John Cena vs. Roman Reigns is a feud that will be happening sooner rather than later, and WrestleMania 34 at the latest.
- It happened after SummerSlam at No Mercy. (1/1)
- The Observer has reported WWE was working to bring Mauro Ranallo back as far back as late April, both because he's great and because they don't want him talking about anything that has happened.
- An interesting rumor. I can believe it on all accords.
- SEScoops is saying Alberto El Patron and Paige have broken up. PW Insider is saying the couple are still together.
- They both can’t be right. This was before Berto was suspended for their incident at the Orlando airport so they weren’t broken up at this time. They are now though. (1/2)
- Mike Kanellis said Kevin Owens was the one who urged him not to sign with Impact Wrestling when he and Maria were close to doing so, leading to the two coming to WWE.
- Another interesting one. I wonder if Mike Bennett is feeling good about his decision given he’s not really being used. On his social media, he is very positive towards the company (though of course he is). He was also able to benefit from their rehab program and getting clean is way more important than TV time. Hopefully we’ll see him back on our television’s eventually because I find him entertaining.
- Both Alberto El Patron and Paige took to Twitter to shoot down rumors they’ve broken up.
- Six months later they no longer are. That may be better for both of them.
- Jeff Jarrett is teasing a big name from Orlando for Slammiversary, and it’s expected to be Shaquille O’Neal.
- It was not Shaq. The celeb they had at that PPV was D’Angelo Williams, who wrestled in a tag team match alongside Moose. He was quite impressive. (0/1)
- Plans call for Great Balls of Fire to be an annual show for WWE, says Jerry Lawler, so get used to the name/come up with new jokes.
- We’ll see but it didn’t make its way on the 2018 schedule that has floated around. I’ll miss Balls if it’s not there.
- Io Shirai’s WWE debut will be delayed for “quite a while” according to Wrestling Observer due to neck injury she suffered in May and tried to treat with rest that was identified by WWE medical during her initial physical exam .
- Delayed indefinitely in the sense they found a heart issue as well as the known neck issue and didn’t end up signing her.
- Vince McMahon was apparently very unhappy with the Lavar Ball family segment on Raw this week but the company is still going to push the appearance for the exposure it's getting.
- Yeah, that segment went off the rails.
- Carmella was always planned to win the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, both the first and second.
- It would have been really crummy if she didn’t win it a second time.
- Expect Bayley to take on a decreased role on Monday Night Raw for the time being.
- She sustained a shoulder injury in August. However, prior to that, she won the right to face Alexa Bliss for the Women’s title, which is not a decreased role. (0/1)
- According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Tyson Kidd will be transitioning to a non-wrestling role within WWE, though it's unclear what that role will be exactly.
- I haven’t heard anything about Tyson doing anything currently, though it is certainly possible he’s acting as a trainer in NXT or working as a road agent.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin was never scheduled for Monday Night Raw and WWE has no plans to use him anytime soon.
- I can’t speak to if he was schedule for a specific Raw, but they certainly haven’t done any business with the Texas Rattlesnake anytime recently. (1/1)
- The Ball Family was supposed to remain at ringside and be involved in the six-man tag which followed their Miz TV segment on Monday, according to Wrestling Observer, but that plan was scrapped after LaMelo’s “inappropriate language” into a live microphone.
- That segment was just a mess in general.
- WWE brought in a child actor to film some scenes as a young Bray Wyatt, says PWInsider. No word yet what they’re for or how they’ll be used.
- I can’t speak to whether or not they actually brought in a child actor, but they haven’t had a young Bray Wyatt at all.
- Insider also reports more Southpaw Regional Wrestling footage was recently shot, including new characters played by The New Day, Seth Rollins and Rhyno.
- This is true, including the new characters. (2/2)
- Lisa Marie Varon, aka former WWE Women’s champ Victoria, was also in San Diego for SmackDown and posted on Instagram that she wanted to go backstage to congratulate the Money in the Bank participants but “the office” wouldn’t let her.
- Lame if true.
- It's unclear what new plans are for SummerSlam but Roman Reigns winning the Universal title seems to be the common thought going around.
- Brock retained. (0/1)
- Samoa Joe has impressed in his program with Brock Lesnar, and he could be in line for a push even after losing at Great Balls of Fire.
- I would say this is true. He was part of the SummerSlam main event. And he been booked very well in general. (1/1)
- Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax may be the plan for SummerSlam, and that's why Nia was booked so strong in the Gauntlet match on Raw.
- It was Sasha Banks vs. Bliss at the Biggest Party of the Summer. (0/1)
This week: 7/13 - 54%
June 2017: 46/87 - 53%
Overall: 1,903/3,491 - 54.5%
Have a great New Year, everyone!