Rumor Look Back: May 8 – 14, 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!

May 8, 2020

• PW Insider claims at one point the plan was to scatter segments of the Money in the Bank ladder match throughout the entire pay-per-view, rather than air it as one continuous segment.
• I don’t think it would have worked this way.
• The Hour says that match was allowed to be filmed at WWE HQ because media companies provide essential services that are not subject to Connecticut’s stay-at-home order.
• WWE early this year was a masterclass of finding a way around the rules.
• AJ Styles wanted to sell the Boneyard finish longer before returning to television, but WWE needed his star power back.
• He came back pretty quickly. It was a month, but still seemed too fast.
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said the reason there was some confusion about the Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders not being a title match earlier this week on Raw, is because the phrase “non-title” is currently banned in WWE, so it wasn’t advertised as such.
• There are so many dumb banned terms in WWE.
• Meltzer also mentioned that NJPW’s cancellation of their August show at Madison Square Garden doesn’t mean they won’t be running any shows in Japan until then. In fact, they are now considering the idea of doing empty arena shows.
• They came back soon after. They did some empty arena shows but soon allowed fans in at about 20% capacity. (2/2)

May 9, 2020

• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says Vince McMahon’s attitude toward how to handle the Roman Reigns situation changes on a daily basis. That’s why we’ve seen references to him come and go.
• Vince McMahon fickle? No way!
• According to the Observer, there is likely a big bump spot planned for Money in the Bank on the roof of the WWE Headquarters, as Vince McMahon demonstrated it for an unknown wrestler to show it was safe.
• Both Rey Mysterio and Aleister Black got tossed off the top. They lived. Does that mean Vince did the spot getting tossed over the side first? (1/1)
• AJ Styles is the early favorite to win the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
• It was Otis. That was a shocker. (0/1)
• Speaking of Styles, the Observer says the story with Apollo Crews being injured and Styles coming back was always the plan. And speaking of Crews, it’s also being said he could be in a heel stable with MVP, Brendan Vink, and Shane Thorne but that’s just one of several options.
• None of those dudes are in a stable with MVP. (0/1)
• On Wrestling Observer Live, it was stated WWE is keeping an eye on how the NFL is handling ticket sales for upcoming games.
• NFL has some teams letting fans in and others who don’t. It’s state dependent.

May 11, 2020

• No surprise after last night, but Dave Meltzer wrote in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “a lot, perhaps most of the Otis stuff is from Vince McMahon who likes the character.”
• Otis has since lost the briefcase so I wonder if Vince still likes him as much.
• Michelle McCool told The New York Post there were discussions about Edge ending Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania 24, but Edge argued against it.
• I was rooting for Edge in that match.
• WWE didn’t have any plans for who the SmackDown hacker would be when the storyline started, according to Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue.
• Shocking.
• Colohue also says WWE’s original plan for Nia Jax’s return would have seen her win the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
• They did not do that this year. That has always been worthless. The winner’s never seen a push. It’s just there. Not too much different than the winner of the Andre.
• Based on a survey recently sent out, WWE is again gauging fan interest in how to make empty arena shows more appealing. Fan & celebrity reactions via video, wrestlers in the stands, and more cinematic elements were among the concepts listed.
• They did all of these things at one point, if you count via video as the ThunderDome fan screens.

May 12, 2020

• The “brand-to-brand invitation” rule is a response to Raw and SmackDown’s recent ratings decline, per Wrestling Observer. A source told Post Wrestling it was requested by the networks.
• This didn’t last too long. It didn’t muddle things up like the Wild Card did in 2019.
• On Twitter, Ryan Satin mentioned he’s heard rumors about Rey Mysterio leaving WWE soon. Dave Meltzer refuted this at the Observer, and Jim Ross said on a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast that he heard Rey recently re-signed with WWE.
• Rey’s contract was apparently up around the time he “lost his eye.” But he re-signed. Two contradicting rumors so they can’t both be right. (1/2)
• That dive Becky Lynch talked about seeing Vince McMahon demonstrate? It wasn’t for Money in the Bank, but for the spot Rob Gronkowski did at WrestleMania 36. Fightful says Vince did it reassure a “terrified” Gronk.
• In the video, Gronk didn’t look “terrified” as much as a bit hesitant. (1/1)
• More Vince! WrestlingNews.co was told McMahon was okay with having wrestlers fight in his office at Money in the Bank but didn’t want the room “trashed” because he didn’t want anything to happen to the T. Rex skull on his wall.
• I believe it’s not a real fossil but it’s still probably pretty expensive.
• Even more Vince! According to PW Insider, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles put the chairs back because that’s what guests are expected to do when they leave McMahon’s office.
• Pushing your seat back when you’re done using it is really just a common courtesy.

May 13, 2020

• Sting is not currently under contract to WWE, per Pro Wrestling Sheet. It’s possible they could still work out a deal, but it’s also possible there could be something to the AEW speculation.
• I don’t think he’s with either right now. (1/2)
• Speaking of speculation… in an interview conducted after the match was filmed, Otis told Digital Spy he’d use the Money in the Bank briefcase on a SmackDown Tag Title shot for Heavy Machinery if he won. So some people think that’s the plan.
• That did not happen. It would have been underwhelming given how lackluster tag titles can be in WWE. But maybe it’d be better than his losing it to the Miz. (0/1)
• Bryan Alvarez & Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio both think WWE is working toward a more traditional AJ Styles/Undertaker match.
• That rematch may not actually happen. (0/1)
• The issues within Zelina Vega’s team we saw on Raw are likely leading to one person getting kicked off it, per PW Insider’s Mike Johnson, who wrote: “When Austin Theory debuted at WrestleMania I was told he was not long for the group.”
• Theory was out very soon. Now the group as a whole is done. Zelina was released two days ago. (1/1)
• Vince McMahon wanted Money in the Bank to be a shorter show, according to WrestlingNews.co. He apparently wants to keep PPV runtimes down while they’re running without fans.
• They should keep runtimes down when fans are back.

May 14, 2010

• WrestleVotes tweeted a report on SummerSlam which claims WWE wants the show to remain as scheduled in Boston, even though the city’s made it clear that isn’t likely.
• That did not happen. They have not left Florida.
• WWE is said to be looking for a new location where they can do the show with fans in attendance, which would likely mean Florida or Georgia. Moving the show to September is a possibility.
• They didn’t find a location where they could have live fans nor did they push SummerSlam. (0/2)
• They haven’t heard anything about the status of TakeOver: Boston.
• That became TakeOver: 30 from Full Sail University.
• Vince McMahon is not upset about Becky Lynch getting pregnant and leaving the company, according to WrestleTalk. The site’s sources also say there’s no heat on Seth Rollins, or pressure on him to continue wrestling amidst coronavirus concerns as Lynch’s due date approaches.
• Becky should be due towards the end of the year so we may see Rollins miss some time soon.
• Ric Flair recently re-signed with WWE when his last deal expired in December, per Wrestling Inc.
• He’s still doing work for them. (1/1)

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This week: 8/16 – 50%

Overall: 3,540/6,305 – 56.1%

Have a good week, everyone.

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