Rumor Look Back: Apr. 18

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.

April 18, 2026

Even though Roman Reigns teased leaving WWE if he loses against CM Punk at WrestleMania 42, PWInsider heard that Roman’s contract is not about to expire, and there are no signs that he is exiting the company any time soon.
He didn’t lose to Punk anyway.
The odds at BetOnline indicate that Reigns, Rhea Ripley, Oba Femi, Liv Morgan, The Usos & LA Knight, GUNTHER, Randy Orton, Penta, Trick Williams, and Becky Lynch are favored to win their respective matches this weekend at WrestleMania.
Only one incorrect here is Orton. I guess that show was pretty predictable. (9/10)
BodySlam+ heard that Paige’s new WWE contract is a multi-year deal.
That makes sense.
For whatever it’s worth, Seth Rollins told ESPN’s First Take that his surgically repaired shoulder is probably more like 80% or 90% good to go instead of 100% heading into his match tonight at WrestleMania.
I don’t know if anyone who has wrestled a long as he has is ever truly at 100%
Busted Open’s Bubba Ray Dudley said “the boys in the locker room” all “hate” WWE’s decision to add Pat McAfee to the main event angle between Cody Rhodes and Orton at WrestleMania.
Not really surprising.
Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian claims that “AEW Redemption” will be the name of a new pay-per-view event for All Elite Wrestling in 2026. That probably means AEW will run 10 PPV events this year, though it remains possible that AEW will rename one of its existing PPV events.
That’s accurate. (They did not rename a show.) (1/1)
AEW star Wardlow told BCP+ that he is “very close” to returning to the ring.
It was about 6 months. (0/1)
Per F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer, the idea of Alberto Del Rio working for WWE or AEW is probably “dead” after his latest arrest for domestic violence. However, the belief is that he will “continue to get bookings in Mexico because he is a celebrity and has a history of drawing.”
He has the occasional booking in Mexico and the occasional in Puerto Rico.
Meltzer also said even though ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 are down about 17% compared to last year, that won’t stop WWE from announcing a fake attendance number during the event that will be close to last year’s number.
That is accurate. (1/1)

April 20, 2026

WRKD Wrestling said “don’t be so sure” about a potential Brock Lesnar retirement after WrestleMania 42.
He wrestled at SummerSlam and seemingly retired again. (1/1)
There are plans for a Roman Reigns vs. GUNTHER feud, says the Wrestling Observer. It won’t be at Backlash but it could be the plan for SummerSlam.
We’re not close to that. (0/1)
Cody Rhodes’ eye was injured by a Randy Orton punch shortly before referee Charles Robinson took an RKO in WrestleMania Saturday’s main event, according to PWInsider.
His eye was gnarly.
Speaking of Orton, he was supposed to win at WrestleMania at one point, said Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. He said there was a lot of chaos the morning of the show and some people said the finish changed the morning of the show but then another said it was decided before that to have Rhodes retain.
I didn’t mind Cody retaining here. Some of that change could be if McAfee really didn’t want to remain part of the story and they would most easily achieve that by Orton losing.
Back to Insider: there was an idea before Pat McAfee’s involvement to have Aleister Black lead Orton back to the “Apex Predator” persona. The idea would be that they would face off on WrestleMania weekend and Orton would refuse to use the punt but then later attack Rhodes and use it, proving Black right all along.
It would have been better than McAfee’s involvement or sure.
More from Meltzer on WOR: The Bella Twins were always going to win the women’s tag team titles at WrestleMania 42, before Nikki Bella’s injury.
Of course. Though given how they continue to trade injuries, who knows when that may happen.
Bodyslam+ claims WWE originally planned to use a licensed song for Liv Morgan’s new entrance theme, Reneé Rapp’s “Leave me Alone.” They ultimately went with the “Trouble” tune you definitely have stuck in your head now.
I assume she recorded that song just to be her entrance music. I don’t think she’s selling singles. Though I don’t know if anyone sells singles nowadays in the streaming era so…
Fightful Select claims the Street Fight stipulation added late to the Demon Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio match at WrestleMania 42 was done within the last week and only because of the number of singles matches on the card.
I wish they’d just retire the Demon to be honest. It’s not an intriguing gimmick by any means. He almost never loses with it so there’s a spoiler aspect. There’s no real explanation to it.

April 21, 2026

Cody Rhodes is still being evaluated, says the Wrestling Observer, and his status for Backlash is up in the air right now. By all indications so far, he doesn’t have an orbital bone fracture and his being placed in the concussion protocol is a precautionary measure.
He was back prior to Backlash, but didn’t work that show.
For that matter, Bodyslam+ says he is not expected to vacate his title, at least not while they’re still evaluating him.
Of course not. He worked just a week or so later.
Liv Morgan/Stephanie Vaquer match on WrestleMania Saturday was kept short because both wrestlers were “banged up” going into it and WWE didn’t want to risk either woman getting hurt worse, according to Bodyslam+.
Stephanie took a lot of time off after Mania.
Commenting on CM Punk slapping a fan’s phone from his hand for recording AJ Lee and Bayley in the MGM Grand lobby, sports marketing insider Andrew Baydala posted that thing were “really bad” between talent and fans at the hotel/casino/resort, adding: “Those men and women were bombarded daily, and it was VERY uncomfortable”.
I’ve been to Mania and I’ve seen fans just loitering in front of the talent’s hotel in a way that was kind of pathetic. There are other ways to interact with wrestlers at Mania that you shouldn’t need to loiter in front of a hotel with hopes that one walks out. Also these are usually in cities with a lot of options for entertainment and there’s bound to be something better to do with hours of your day.
PW Insider adds that poor security at the hotel was a topic among talent all weekend.
Seems like WWE really messed up how they managed this. Vegas is also tougher because no hotel is going to be off limits. Hotels are attached to casinos and anyone can walk in to one no questions asked. But surely there was a better set up – either a hotel that worked better or having some security for them.
Also from Insider: Australian star Adam Brooks is at the Performance Center working as a guest coach this week.
I’m not too familiar with his work.

April 22, 2026

Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that there are those within WWE who do not believe Brock Lesnar is retired, despite how it appears on television. They do still believe he will retire this year, however.
That is the case. (1/1)
What’s more, original plans called for Lesnar vs. Oba Femi to be a full blown feud instead of the one-off WrestleMania 42 match.
And it was.
PW Insider notes Backlash will start at 6 pm ET, and Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu looks to be the headliner.
It looks like it started at 7 PM but that was the headliner. (1/2)
Fightful Select got a lot of quotes from WWE talent and staffers who were upset about security during WrestleMania week. It remains a hot topic within the company.
It should never get to a place where CM Punk feels he needs to intervene to help the female talent feel safe.
One of Danhausen’s little helpers at WrestleMania 42 told Rewind Recap Relive that the segment they did at the big show changed thanks to The Miz pitching for the little people to lift him up and going to WWE about it before they went out there. It was supposed to simply be a walkout, he claimed.
I appreciate the Miz coming up with a way for himself to look more ridiculous.
Big Damo has signed with MLW, says Fightful.
Not that MLW is a bad spot, but I’m a little surprised AEW wasn’t ever interested (or maybe he wasn’t interested in them).

April 23, 2026

The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp told FOX17 News’ Johnny Maffei that WrestleMania 43 won’t be in the Tennessee capital because “the date didn’t work out”, but they and WWE “are looking at future years.” WWE and Nashville officials had a verbal commitment to bring next year’s WrestleMania to the city as part of a pitch for a new $2.1 billion stadium for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, which Maffei writes will be done in February 2027. WrestleMania 43 is currently planned for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
I could see them landing in Nashville.
All seems well between MJF and AEW, per Fightful Select. In a report they say he’s “seemed very happy with his media appearances of late”, the outlet confirmed a Self Made report that MJF is “factored in” to Double or Nothing. Fightful’s also been told the two-time World champ is part of AEW creative plans “well into the summer months”.
He won the world title so yeah, that’s big in the creative plans. (1/1)
A WWE wrestler who spoke to Fightful theorized the “inaccessible prices” WWE is charging for meet-and-greets is one reason fans were bombarding them anywhere they went during WrestleMania week in Las Vegas.
I’m sure they were gouging fans big time because that’s what they do. I still don’t think that excuses poor fan behavior.
Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez says Myka Lockwood will join Vanity Project “if & when” Blake Monroe is promoted to the main roster. That tracks with this week’s episode of NXT, which introduced Lockwood in an angle with Vanity Project and saw Monroe lose a casket match. Lockwood is an NIL signee from December 2023 that Alvarez says has a “fricking awesome” finisher.
Lockwood did enjoy that stable. (1/1)
After a reddit post claimed AEW ended its business relationship with Pro Wrestling Tees, PWT issued a statement to Fightful Select that while it “unfortunately told some of our contracted designers that we would not need them for as many AEW designs anymore.” The statement said “some” AEW designers are still under contract, and “nothing has changed otherwise and we are still fulfilling merchandise for AEW.”
Pro Wrestling Tees used to be huge. Maybe it still is but I think it was huge because that’s how a lot of very popular AEW talent, such as the Young Bucks, did a lot of their transactions. And now AEW has their own shop.

April 24, 2026

According to WrestleVotes, the weekend of March 27, 2027, is being “targeted” for WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia, with the April 10 weekend also in consideration. It’s possible the event will go back to being one night just for 2027. However, the most likely case is that it remains two nights, which ESPN prefers.
They still haven’t officially announced the dates.
Votes claims there is a “strong belief” in WWE that Brock Lesnar really meant to retire when he left his boots in the ring at WrestleMania 42. However, WWE is said to be “more than hopeful” that Lesnar will return to do one last match at SummerSlam 2026 in Minnesota.
He did two more actually.
The outlet also mentioned that WWE is discussing a “presentation update” for SmackDown, but it’s not expected to affect the logo, set design, or theme song. Rey Mysterio and Jacy Jayne are among the “number of names” who have been discussed to join the brand’s roster.
There’s been no presentation update. Jacy is on the roster but Rey is on Raw. (1/3)
WWE’s plan is for Joe Hendry to be pushed in “the upper mid card” on Raw, in a similar position to LA Knight, per WrestleVotes.
Right now, I would not consider Joe Hendry even to be on LA Knight’s level. He just lost to JD McDonagh in a pseudo-comedy match. (0/1)
Speaking of NXT call-ups, F4WOnline’s Bryan Alvarez says more are on the way to WWE’s main roster.
I mean this was before SmackDown so of course. (1/1)
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp indicates that a lot of WWE talent were frustrated by there being so little match time and so much ad time at WrestleMania 42.
A lot of fans were too.
When Sapp reached out to at least 15 different WWE stars about the security and safety situation at the talent hotel during WrestleMania week, five of them responded by saying “What security?”
Hopefully they address this in the future.
Per Sapp, Richard Holliday “was supposed to be Mr. Elegance” in TNA, but “they changed their mind.” For whatever it’s worth, Sapp doesn’t expect Holliday will sign with AEW this year, and thinks he is a much better fit for NXT.
I don’t believe he’s in either promotion.
Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer heard there are “really good matches” on this weekend’s episode of AEW Collision Playoff Palooza. Big if true.
AEW always has good matches.