Rumor Look Back: Mar. 20 – 26, 2020

WWE.com

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 get right to it.

March 20, 2020

• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says that while there will be matches shot outside the Performance Center for WrestleMania 36, that venue will be the primary location for the two-night event.
• This is accurate. (1/1)
• WrestleVotes says a source within WWE has word that a lot of wrestlers are still hoping WrestleMania 36 gets postponed.
• I was hoping so at the time but now understand that this was the way to go if they didn’t want to shut down for a long while. Though I also think shutting down for awhile (say a month) while they figured things out and came up with a safe plan would have been the best thing.
• One of the matches planned for WrestleMania, although not finalized, was a six-way for the SmackDown women’s championship, with Bayley defending against Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, Carmella, Naomi, and one other, per the WON.
• It was only a 5 way. Carmella was not part of it. That one other would be Tamina though. (0/1)
• There are a lot of moving parts within AEW, says the Observer, and it’s not certain what the company will do with its weekly shows going forward. They do plan to have a show next week, at the very least.
• They never stopped putting out a show weekly, though some were bulk taped. (1/1)
• They also say it’s unclear if Blood & Guts will happen next week because AEW may not have made that decision yet.
• The Blood & Guts match never ended up happening.

March 21, 2020

• There may be more than 16 matches at WrestleMania 36 now that it’s being done over two nights, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• So there were 16 matches if you don’t include the kickoff. But kickoff isn’t main show. (0/1)
• There were apparently rumors that CM Punk could come back to WWE at WrestleMania 36 but PW Insider says there has still been zero communication between Punk and WWE since he started working for FOX.
• I doubt that was ever really in the works.
• Post Wrestling notes that a memo circulating within WWE says to promote WrestleMania 36 by saying “Too Big for One Night” and avoid using “streaming live on WWE Network.”
• Oh man. “Too Big for One Night” was one of the most annoying ones. But I don’t remember if they dropped the whole WWE Network thing. And it’s hard to look back on if something wasn’t said. (1/1)
• The Observer says there is now a lot of concern in Japan over WWE possibly opening an NXT outpost there.
• I would think the pandemic would have slowed that down.
• Charles Robinson told Sean Mooney on his Prime Time podcast that Vince McMahon wants referees to count wrestlers out if they aren’t paying attention to the 10 count when they’re outside the ring. That’s even if that isn’t the planned finish.
• This makes sense. Need to at least make it seem they’re not changing the rules to fit their stories, even though they often do that.

March 23, 2020

• Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that Bayley vs. Sasha Banks was planned for WrestleMania 36 at one point but it was ultimately decided to hold off because they couldn’t build a feud between them fast enough.
• They’re finally doing it now. I wonder when they plan to have the match.
• He also said WWE and ESPN have continued to negotiate regarding a pay-per-view deal but they’re far apart on money.
• There’s been no change to the PPV format.
• PW Insider notes that Paige was going to travel to Florida to appear on SmackDown live and in person last week but while she was waiting at the airport WWE changed their minds and had her stay home.
• That makes sense. There was no reason for her to be there in person.
• Although WWE hasn’t made it official yet, Baron Corbin vs. Elias is happening at WrestleMania 36.
• I guess it did. I completely forgot about it. Elias is out injured right now. (1/1)
• Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view is being listed as cancelled on the ticketing page now. Impact hasn’t officially announced as much just yet.
• It wasn’t cancelled in general but obvious there were no people there.

March 24, 2020

• John Cena vs. The Fiend at WrestleMania 36 “will get a full blown movie treatment with a unique look & feel”, according to Gorilla Position. It’ll be shot in a warehouse, like the Randy Orton/Bray Wyatt House of Horrors match at Payback in 2017.
• It was a full cinematic. (1/1)
• Not only did WWE not reach out to CM Punk for WrestleMania this year, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that the company is against the idea of him ever wrestling for them again. There’s apparently more bitterness from WWE toward Punk now than vice versa.
• I’m still curious if he’s the one who never comes back.
• There’s some confusion about the SmackDown Women’s title Six-Pack Challenge, as WWE.com posted an article removing Dana Brooke from the match, then deleting it. You can still see the image without Brooke on the WrestleMania 36 show page.
• Brooke wasn’t in it either.
• WWE filmed this week’s NXT at Full Sail yesterday, per Wrestling Observer, so we will get new matches on Wednesday.
• They did one week of a retrospect before getting back to normal. (1/1)
• Also from the Observer, the lumberjack match AEW announced last week won’t be happening on Dynamite because it would have required too many people be on set.
• That’s smart. (1/1)

March 25, 2020

• WrestleVotes notes it won’t be a surprise if Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler is the main event of the first night of WrestleMania 36.
• It was not. That went to the Boneyard Match. (0/1)
• They also say the card is still being worked on and could feature up to 16 matches, 8 on each night. The air date of said matches could depend on how they play out during taping.
• That’s accurate (not including the kickoffs). (1/1)
• Lana is expected to be back for WrestleMania and the Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley match.
• Lana was back for that match. (1/1)
• Jerry Lawler hasn’t been working Raw commentary because WWE decided it wasn’t worth the risk with the coronavirus pandemic, per the Observer.
• They must have felt it was worth it eventually because he was back soon. (0/1)
• Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that part of the issue within WWE now is that Vince McMahon doesn’t have a great memory and expects that the fanbase will just forget certain storyline holes.
• That’s nothing new for WWE. Continuity has never been their thing, but that’s OK. Continuity isn’t important for storytelling.

March 26, 2020

• Main events for next weekend’s WrestleMania 36 still haven’t been settled on, per Fightful. While there was a plan for Becky Lynch & Shayna Baszler to close the Saturday show at one point, there’s been a push to have Goldberg & Roman Reigns get that spot.
• Neither of them got that spot. Then again, Roman Reigns didn’t work the show. Maybe it would have if he did. (0/1)
• Spoilers are getting out from this week’s WrestleMania tapings, according to WrestleVotes. But that Twitter account says they won’t share them.
• “I know something you don’t know.”
• It’s possible both Bray Wyatt and The Fiend will appear in Wyatt’s “movie”-like match with John Cena at WrestleMania 36, says WrestleTalk.
• That’s true. There were a lot of different characters. (1/1)
• A report from Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue claims the match is “Bray’s baby”, but Cena has been championing Wyatt’s ideas to management.
• Rumors later say Cena helped contribute a bunch of ideas too.
• There’s speculation the botched finish of Andrade & Angel Garza’s win on this week’s Raw was due to Cedric Alexander having suffered a concussion in the match.
• Head injuries are always scary.

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This week: 10/15 – 67%

Overall: 3,489/6,211 – 56.2%

Have a good week, everyone. Stay safe out there.

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