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.
- While discussing WWE’s announcement about its UK tour in late August, Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer said it’s “not a coincidence” that these dates overlap with AEW’s trip to London for Forbidden Door.
- Given how much they counter program, it’s certainly possible. Planning a trip to Europe seems like a lot of logistics to do so, but we can’t put it past them.
- Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp believes WWE originally had a “tag team program” planned for Alexa Bliss at WrestleMania 41 before she was pulled from events that week.
- She’s a current tag champion with Charlotte Flair so they got there eventually. I do wonder what her plans were initially? I can’t imagine they brought her back for the Rumble with zero plans. I bet she was going to do something with the Wyatt Sicks but the Bo Dallas was out for a bit and that derailed that. Still weird she wasn’t even on the Mania card. Her current tag bit with Charlotte is solid but still seems like it’s a holding pattern for her.
- Per Meltzer, AEW had to scrap “a lot of segments” due to weather issues for Dynamite this week and that’s why so many of the matches ran long.
- Weather has been known to mess up some plans. Remember that snowed out Raw that was turned into a studio show?
- WrestleVotes says that Kamala is being discussed internally to be added to the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2025.
- He was a legacy inductee. (1/1)
- On that same track, PW Insider claims there have also been discussions about Ken Shamrock going into the WWE Hall of Fame.
- That hasn’t happened yet. (0/1)
- According to Votes, the location of this year’s Money in the Bank PLE will be the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
- That’s the case. (1/1)
- According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the belief is that Alexa Bliss will return to WWE programming “when they start the Wyatt Sicks back on Smackdown.”
- She’s not part of the Wyatt Sicks. (0/1)
- Speaking of which, Fightful Select says Bo Dallas aka Uncle Howdy is now cleared to return to the ring.
- They returned in Mat, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t cleared a couple months prior.
- The outlet also confirmed that Rey Fenix has signed with WWE.
- That’s where he is. (1/1)
- There was a lot of “disbelief” backstage in AEW when Jon Moxley had all those nails stuck in his back on this week’s episode of Dynamite, per Fightful. Mox was said to be okay afterwards.
- That was nasty.
- With that gruesome spot in mind, The Observer mentioned that AEW is “looking at shock value stuff to get people talking.”
- I’m not sure that type of word of mouth has a lot of legs. Or maybe the word of mouth they expressly desire as probably as many folks will want to use that as ammo against them as others will be like “Let’s check that out.”
- F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer notes that “demand is not strong” for AEW’s Dynasty pay-per-view on April 6 in Philadelphia. Meltzer was told “by those living in the area that they’ve seen no local promotion of it at all.”
- I believe they had a late surge.
- Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp said he received messages from wrestlers “rolling their eyes” when The Roast of WrestleMania Featuring Tony Hinchcliffe & Friends was officially announced.
- Paul Heyman, Nia Jax, and Sami Zayn all did sets there.
- During a Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp noted on Fightful that he hasn’t heard if Pat McAfee will be making the trip to the United Kingdom for the next two episodes of Monday Night Raw but Corey Graves is supposed to be the guy who slots into that spot. Some within WWE have felt that would eventually lead to his being back on the main roster.
- Pat worked both shows. Wade worked one as well and it was a two-man booth the next. Corey didn’t work those shows but was eventually back. (0/1)
- He also said he hasn’t heard any word of WBD having any issues with Jon Moxley doing the nail studded board spot on Dynamite.
- That’s good.
- While there have been rumors of WWE running another Evolution event, Fightful Select says they have not heard anything in that regard as of now.
- They eventually got there.
- For what it’s worth, Drew McIntyre told The Daily Star he’s been pushing to make an appearance on Raw in Scotland.
- He wasn’t on the show, which is crummy. It looks like he wasn’t even in a dark match.
- On his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff claimed he won’t be working in professional wrestling anymore, putting a lid on talk of his being involved in any Vince McMahon start up.
- He did start Real American Wrestling with Hulk Hogan, though that is amateur wrestling.
- Per Fightful, Private Party is healthy but at home and just not being used by AEW right now.
- Their title run was underwhelming.
March
25, 2025
- Fightful Select notes that plans are place for a Fatal 4-Way match for the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania 41 with Bron Breakker vs. Penta vs. Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio penciled in.
- That was the match. (1/1)
- Their WWE sources described Tiffany Stratton’s interview segment with Charlotte Flair on SmackDown as a sink-or-swim moment for Stratton. Officials aren’t viewing Stratton’s performance as a failure, but do acknowledge that Flair came across as the bigger star. As for whether Flair went off-script, it’s believed she did not.
- This was a shaky build.
- According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, Brazo de Oro Jr. is the luchador playing AAA’s new La Parka.
- Numerous guys have been under that mask.
- Expanding on what he’s heard from within WWE about The Roast of WrestleMania Featuring Tony Hinchcliffe & Friends, Sean Ross Sapp said on a recent Fightful Select Q&A show that “most people in WWE just don’t care to be honest with you”, and that he hasn’t “heard the same outrage internally as I have online.”
- Not caring seems about right. I’ve never bothered to watch a full standup set, but he’s was painfully unfunny the time he sat at the announce table on Raw.
- Finn Balor was originally planned to beat Edge in their WrestleMania 39 Hell in a Cell match, but Fightful Select says Vince McMahon changed it despite Adam Copeland’s desire to put over Balor.
- Finn definitely should have won that match, especially given they had to staple his head midmatch, but I understood why Edge did given the story.
- John Cena is currently a bigger favorite to win the WWE championship at WrestleMania 41 than he was when lines first opened, per BetOnline.
- He did win. (1/1)
- For what it’s worth, Drew McIntyre teased on the Untapped podcast that there is “something big” in the pipeline with The Rock.
- There was not. (0/1)
- PW Insider says they’ve heard nothing concrete on Asuka’s return from injury.
- She returned a couple months later for the Queen of the Ring tournament. Now she’s part of a story with Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley and this should be fun.
- Andrew Zarian of Beyond the Bell notes that WBD is considering having AEW run a four-hour special during the NHL Playoffs.
- The had two four-hour shows during that time period – one show that went head to head with a Stanley Cup game and another that didn’t go head to head but was at the same time frame. (1/1)
- Per Fightful Select, it’s believed Mariah May is in the final year of her contract with AEW and it could expire as early as this summer. The company is looking to retain her.
- She ended up going to WWE.
- Fightful also covered a Tokyo Sports report that Mina Shirakawa is “expected to head to AEW.”
- That she did. (1/1)
- Orlando Business Journal reported that the Greater Orlando Sports Commission requested an $18 million grant from tourist development tax funds to bid on four TKO events it wants to host: either WWE’s Survivor Series or a Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2026, a 2027 UFC PPV, the 2028 Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania 47 in 2031.
- We’ll see how often WWE is in Orlando in the future.
- Asked on Backstage Pass about a date for this year’s Money in the Bank PLE in light of their recent report about the show’s location, WrestleVotes replied, “I believe it’s the first weekend of June or the second.”
- It was June 7. (1/1)
- On Beyond the Bell, Andrew Zarian said he’s “been hearing very positive stuff” from Warner Bros. Discovery about their AEW partnership. Zarian says he mentioned AEW’s ratings and the online discourse around them to his WBD contacts and “they don’t care… the messaging on the internet is not even resonating with these people, and they’re in key positions there.”
- It’s all about the bottom line. And unless the things that folks talk about online affect that, it doesn’t matter.
- On Fightful’s YouTube show The Hump, Sean Ross Sapp said AEW’s rumored Shockwave show for FOX “was only a pitch and a theory”. It was something that was discussed, but ultimately “ended up falling through and just didn’t work out.”
- That never became a thing.
- Asked on the same show if people at WWE are concerned about SmackDown’s quality of late, Sapp said, “a lot of people have brought it up”. Specifically, he’s heard them “wondering why more talent isn’t being used” given SmackDown is currently three hours long.
- It’s definitely the weaker of the two shows currently.
- Sources on the TNA roster told SI.com’s Jon Alba they were shocked by Tuesday’s firings, specifically Ariel Shnerner and Gail Kim. Several believe the company will be significantly impacted by Kim’s departure, with one telling Alba it’s a “major loss, especially for the women’s division.”
- That was surprising.
- Another TNA source told Fightful Select they weren’t surprised about Kim’s firing as she “would sometimes butt heads with people in control” while advocating for the Knockouts, or about other things she felt ”could have been handled better or more professionally”.
- I guess it wasn’t surprising for everyone.
- “People backstage loved” the El Grande Americano/Chad Gable vs. Dragon Lee match on the latest Raw, per WrestleVotes on Backstage Pass. It was said the match received “heavy praise”.
- Chad was good as El Grande. Ludwig is doing his own thing with it and transformed it a bit. And now there’s two more of them.
- MLW has big plans for Himawari and Shoko Nakajima, and wants to work more with Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling in general for its women’s division. That from Fightful.
- Nakajima is the Women’s World Featherweight Champion there. Himawari will be challenging for that title at the Slaughterhouse event on Oct. 4. And they have a handful of TJPW wrestlers on the show. (2/2)
This week: 10/14 – 71%
Overall: 5,857/10,029 – 58.4%
Have a great week, everyone!
