What is the story about?
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 in it.
- Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez said they heard two days prior to Hulk Hogan’s death that his condition was “‘not as bad as [Bubba the Love Sponge] said, but it’s bad,’ and then all of a sudden he’s dead.”
- It was all of a sudden for those not in his immediate circle.
- Per TMZ, the relationship between Hulk and his daughter Brooke was fractured “in his final years.” Sources say the last conversation they had took place two weeks before Hogan married Sky Daily in September 2023. Brooke said “she didn’t think he should still be working so hard given his declining health,” but Hulk “didn’t want to hear” her pleas for him to “slow down and enjoy life.”
- Though if it were indeed secondary to an issue with surgery, slowing down would not have made a difference.
- Fightful Select noted that prior to Hogan’s death, there were no creative plans for him to return to WWE programming.
- Makes sense.
- According to Bodyslam.net, Seth Rollins was originally supposed to beat LA Knight at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but Seth called an audible after suffering an injury in the match. The idea was for Knight to win the rematch at SummerSlam. It’s not clear if WWE will come up with a new creative direction for LA at the show.
- That was all a work. Unreal had an entire episode about it in a way that even thought I think that show is the new kayfabe (and I don’t think they would have done the angle if it couldn’t be an Unreal episode), they laid it out in a way that I can’t imagine it wasn’t a full wortk. (0/1)
- WrestleVotes Radio says WWE has significant plans for Stephanie Vaquer, and there are already several ideas for character upgrades that are under consideration. Her post-match interview with Stephanie McMahon at Evolution 2 was done to position Vaquer as a major star going forward.
- She is the current world champion, though no character upgrades. (1/2)
- AEW sources told Votes there is no direct contact between Goldberg and AEW right now. It’s believed that he is still under contract with WWE; there won’t be any direct contact between AEW and Goldberg while that’s the case. For whatever it’s worth, these AEW sources would also be surprised if AEW tries to bring Goldberg in even after his WWE contract is up.
- As we discussed last week, it probably wouldn’t be a great run.
- One person close to the situation told the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Bubba the Love Sponge “pretty much had legit info the whole time” on Hulk Hogan’s recent health problems leading up to his death.
- Odd given their past history.
- The Observer says Hogan “had been a patient at Tampa General Hospital and had been intubated and was having renal failure and fluid overload as well as severe COPD.” They eventually “took him out of the hospital and made a hospital in his house as there wasn’t much left they could do.” Hogan’s condition took a turn for the worse over the last week and he was unable to speak.
- Definitely not the rosy picture that those in his inner circle tried to paint prior, not that they owe the general public anything in a time like that.
- Matthew Belloni of Puck News mentioned that Hogan had been quietly working with Netflix since last year on a docuseries about his life. More than 20 hours of new interviews were recorded for the project.
- I bet they still use that.
- According to Fightful Select, AEW star Jay White is dealing with a shoulder injury, in addition to the hand injury that’s kept him out of action since the end of March. White is deciding whether or not to get shoulder surgery, which could keep him out for the rest of the year.
- White has been snake bitten since joining AEW.
- Bodyslam.net says WWE is discussing the idea of booking Sheamus vs. Rusev at Clash in Paris.
- That’s the case. Rusev won by submission. (1/1)
- A source told WrestleVotes Radio there are backstage talks in WWE about moving Jimmy Uso over to the Raw roster, probably after SummerSlam. This move would get him on the same show as his wife Naomi and his twin brother Jey.
- He’s been moved and is current tag team champion with his brother. (1/1)
- PW Insider confirmed that WWE Late Night Featuring Tony Hinchcliffe has been canceled for SummerSlam weekend. A source at the venue told Insider that WWE canceled the event due to poor ticket sales.
- Shame.
- Fightful Select notes that WWE believes Drew McIntyre’s passport issues will be resolved in time for him to make SummerSlam.
- He made it. (1/1)
- They also said there were major changes made to SmackDown this past week, due to the death of Hulk Hogan and WWE trying to bring many talent in for it. Some who wanted to be there weren’t able to make it in time.
- That would make sense.
- For what it’s worth, Dave Meltzer said in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there are women in pro wrestling already planning their exits from the company to start up an OnlyFans after seeing the success of the likes of Mandy Rose and Cora Jade.
- I don’t know if there’s been some exodus of talent to jump to OnlyFans.
- Apollo Crews is still recovering from his torn pec and Fightful says he’s still listed as injured on WWE’s internal list.
- He’s back and worked a AAA match, but is mainly MIA.
- They also say there is no change to Alberto Del Rio’s status with WWE after his AAA exit storyline.
- He’s not done anything with WWE. He lost a match with his career on the line in July and hasn’t worked the main show. He’s worked some AAA related indies since. And a reality TV show?
- According to Fightful Select, Cody Rhodes was contacted about a role in Happy Gilmore 2 but scheduling conflicts led to the opportunity falling through.
- Becky Lynch & MJF were in it.
- Some have noted Peacock posters seem to indicate GUNTHER vs. CM Punk and John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes will headline the two nights of SummerSlam.
- That’s correct. (2/2)
- TC at WrestleVotes says a WWE source told them “wheels are in motion for alternative plans in the event Drew McIntyre is unable to get to SmackDown this Friday.” It’s unclear what that would mean for SummerSlam, however.
- I wonder what would have happened if he couldn’t make the SummerSlam match.
- Chris Weaver, the director of WWE: Unreal on Netflix, told Jimmy Weaver V3 that even WWE’s internal staff were shocked at how much Netflix was allowed to capture for the series.
- It seems they always have cameras there, but I still think WWE strictly limits what is actually shown.
- Killer Kelly will remain with TNA through the end of 2025 after the promotion extended her contract due to injury time off, says Fightful.
- She’s currently a free agent.
- For whatever it’s worth, PW Insider said they haven’t “heard a word” recently about the next WWE Draft.
- They haven’t done another in awhile. Nor do I think they should.
- Bryan Alvarez claimed on Wrestling Observer Live that Tony Khan has made a change recently and now does actual production meetings at AEW, with top agents, announcers, and more going over the shows in one meeting instead of previously where it would be scattered throughout the day and disjointed.
- Shouldn’t have taken him that long.
- According to Fightful Select, WWE officials are “extremely happy” with the buzz and attention the WWE: Unreal Netflix series is receiving.
- It’s probably cheap to film and Netflix love any content. The second season didn’t match the same ratings as the first apparently.
- They also say WWE is still open to working with Tony Hinchcliffe in the future despite cancelling the Late Night comedy show over SummerSlam weekend.
- It’s surely true and I think maybe they’ve shown him in the crowd on shows, but he hasn’t done more.
- Fightful says Jake Something’s contract with TNA runs through the summer of 2026, despite talk online that he could be on the outs with the promotion.
- He’s in AEW now so it ended earlier than that. Unfortunately it sounds like he just tore his bicep. (0/1)
- On his podcast (via luchablog), Super Luchas editor Ernest Ocampo claimed that TKO & WWE’s acquisition of AAA will officially close on Friday, and that there are plans to open a WWE Performance Center in Mexico during the second-half of next year.
- I guess we’ll have to wait on that.
- WWE and Travis Scott had a “full falling out, the nature of which hasn’t gotten out yet”, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This led to a planned WWE 2K25 DLC not happening, and it being “open season to knock” Scott as Drew McIntyre did on Logan Paul’s show.
- He’s apparently in the new Odyssey movie?
- Allegations that Vince McMahon’s reckless driving caused his recent car accident led to an old Jim Cornette story trending yesterday. In it, Cornette says he swore off riding with McMahon after a time when Vince drove from Albany to WWE headquarters in Stamford doing “85 or 90 [mph] in the fuckin’ rain” while Cornette was “gripping the fuckin’ seat”. Cornette says Jim Ross also refused to ride with McMahon, with the announcer once telling Vince, “I love you and you’re a friend of mine, but I love my children also and I want to see ’em again”.
- Now that he’s an old man, it’s even more dangerous since his reaction time is diminished.
- The scene in WWE Unreal where the women’s roster gives Charlotte Flair a standing ovation for winning this year’s Royal Rumble didn’t happen naturally, per Fightful Select. Wrestlers present told the site they were asked to come out of the locker room and cheer for Flair, but “weren’t told it was specifically for the Netflix show”.
- I really look at Unreal as the new kayfabe. I think generally they’re telling us the truth, but it’s a curated version to explain things that may have looked bad (i.e. Truth’s firing) or maybe to set things up later. And I really think there are things they do specifically for the show. As I mentioned before, I don’t think they would have done that Seth Rollins knee work if it weren’t also good for an ep of Unreal. I think they figured it would make a good episode that discussed “working the boys” and what goes behind that. I’ve wondered if the Truth firing was all a work for this too, but that I’m leaning towards no.
- While acknowledging that Karrion Kross & Scarlett’s spot on the card and their getting new merch recently would seem to indicate WWE has or is planning to re-sign them, Fightful says they’ve spoken to “numerous talent in wrestling” who were told by Kross that he & his wife’s deals are up in August, and that they still haven’t been approached about new ones as of last week.
- They did not get re-signed.
- Brooke Hogan responded to people criticizing her for not attending one of WWE’s show-opening tributes to her late father on her Instagram Stories. Hulk Hogan’s daughter wrote that ‘WWE did not extend an invite” to her for SmackDown, Raw, or NXT.
- It was also so quick, especially for SmackDown, that even if she wanted to go to that show, it would have been difficult. Either way, she should be allowed mourn how she pleases. It doesn’t need to be performative.
- In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Josh Barnett said that he and Goldberg had an agreement to face each other at Bloodsport Bushido in Japan last summer, but Goldberg is “a very important man with a lot of obligations and contracts and stuff, so unfortunately, we couldn’t make it happen.”
- Interesting.
This week: 6/9 – 67%
July 2025: 62/96 – 65%
Overall: 6,101/10,423 – 58.5%
Have a great week, everyone!
