Rumor Look Back: June 6 – 12, 2020

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!

June 6, 2020

• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that while Jaxson Ryker won’t be fired for his recent tweet, “the locker room is fuming at him” and “tensions are very high.”
• The Forgotten Sons are no more, but it looks like they’re toying with the idea of using Ryker as Elias’ roadie. (1/1)
• One of the big ideas behind the new free version of the WWE Network is to increase advertising, per the Observer.
• Makes sense.
• WrestleTalk notes Chelsea Green has been another name talked about as a possible WWE main roster call up.
• She was not called up any time soon after this rumor. There was a potential call up earn a spot on the SmackDown Survivor Series team, but she got injured, which will cost her some time. (0/1)
• WrestleVotes says that this weekend’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House show will look like the old WWF events, with graphics and sounds like that of the past.
• I don’t recall sounds, but the set and graphic was retro. (1/1)
• New Japan is expected to resume operations within the next couple months
• It was in the next couple of weeks. (1/1)

June 8, 2020

• Post Wrestling is now saying that the reason WWE shot that angle with Elias was to write him off television due to a legitimate torn pectoral muscle.
• That’s accurate. He was out for awhile. (1/1)
• Per Wrestling Inc, WWE filmed Backlash before TakeOver: In Your House utilizing NXT talent for the crowd once again. They ended up working a full day.
• I said it last week, but it really sounds like being a PC crowd member was a terrible gig.
• Inc also notes that MVP was corrected during a promo calling the crowd “NXT Superstars” when Kevin Dunn told him to call them “Performance Center recruits.”
• I think there’s enough distinction to for WWE to be particular about this. Because people watching Raw shouldn’t think the NXT talent on Wednesdays aren’t also low enough on the totem pole to be doubling as a Raw crowd.
• According to PW Insider, Danilo Anfibio being replaced by Jessika Carr mid-match last week was an angle and he’s not actually injured.
• I don’t even recall what angle this was. Glad he wasn’t actually injured though.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling is expected to announce today that the promotion will return to promoting matches “very soon,” per the Observer. They’ll apparently start with empty arena shows and then go to half capacity.
• They announced it this day. They started empty arena but added fans at a limited capacity pretty quickly. (2/2)

June 9, 2020

• Not so fast on the Adam Cole to AEW speculation. PW Insider says Cole’s NXT contract runs another 18 months.
• I don’t know when his contract is over, but he’s still hanging in NXT. Could have re-signed a contract. Or he could still be working on his initial contract.
• Velveteen Dream was discussed as a potential main roster call-up, says WrestleTalk’s Louis Dangoor, but WWE and NXT officials decided to keep him in NXT for now.
• He can barely stay on NXT TV for any period of time right now. He never got that WWE call up. (1/1)
• Dangoor’s sources also told him Paul Heyman had big plans for Jinder Mahal before Mahal was sidelined by another knee surgery. They included a shot at WWE champ Drew McIntyre.
• I figured they’d run Jinder vs. Drew. Made sense given their history.
• Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer believes Edge & Randy Orton’s Backlash match was filmed in advance so there was time for re-shoots and editing to give it a chance to live up to its billing as “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever”.
• It was filmed in the advance. Edge confirmed that when talking about the pick-up shots they did afterwards. (1/1)
• WWE could have more new look titles coming soon, according to Wrestling Inc. The site mentioned larger NXT championship and a re-designed United States championship.
• They redesigned the US championship. The NXT title hasn’t undergone a re-design in awhile. (1/2)

June 10, 2020

• Despite all the recent feuding between the two on Twitter, Bryan Alvarez mentioned on Wrestling Observer Live there are no immediate plans for a Randy Orton vs. Tommaso Ciampa program.
• That has not happened. (1/1)
• While there had been some speculation of it, Dave Meltzer also said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Velveteen Dream is not being called up to the main roster anytime soon.
• He hasn’t. (1/1)
• He also mentioned that whatever happens with Asuka and Nia Jax, Charlotte is next in line for the Raw women’s championship.
• After losing the NXT title, Charlotte left to undergo surgery and has not returned since. (0/1)
• Erick Rowan mentioned to The Lewis Nicholls Show that he pitched WWE on giving him a split personality character but they never went for it, and later gave it to Bray Wyatt.
• If he’s speaking of the Fiend, it sounded like Bray was working on that for awhile. I don’t think creative went to him and was like “Hey, what do you think of this?” I obviously don’t know for sure, but it really feels like that character is Bray’s baby.
• For whatever it’s worth, WrestleVotes had a source tell them that 70-percent of the WWE roster use marijuana.
• At least it’s no longer a drug that results in a suspension.

June 11, 2020

• Sportskeeda is claiming a segment with Jeff Hardy and Sheamus on SmackDown this week will be one of the most controversial WWE has done.
• I’m going to say no to this. This was the very dumb segment where Sheamus made Jeff take a urine drug test and then Hardy tossed his piss in Sheamus’ face. It’s no more controversial than the multiple times that people have had feces dropped on them. Or the time they did this exact same segment. Or the time that CM Punk dumped Paul Bearer’s ashes on him. Or Katie Vick. Or… (0/1)
• Fightful has an interesting tidbit about Shawn Michaels getting into a heated discussion with a producer at WWE during TakeOver: In Your House over current social issues. HBK allegedly broke down systemic inequality to the person claiming everyone in America is already treated the same.
• Speculation was that it may have been Road Dogg, who’s takes on the coronavirus and mask wearing got him in a Twitter spat with Hurricane Helms. Dogg has since been taking a break from Twitter. He’s probably on Parlor or something.
• According to Wrestling Inc, Michael Hayes, Triple H, and Jeremy Borash, who were responsible for the Boneyard match at WrestleMania 36, were also responsible for the Backlot Brawl at TakeOver: In Your House.
• The Backlot Brawl didn’t deliver like the Boneyard match did.
• WWE cancelled July NXT UK tapings, and the word is they’re still at least a couple months away from returning.
• They came back in September. (1/1)
• Chris Jericho mentioned on a recent episode of Talk is Jericho that he wanted MJF in the Inner Circle but that was shot down.
• Max is in the Inner Circle now. But it’s not going well. Last week they seemed to quash their issues, but I don’t think that’s it.

June 12, 2020

• WrestleVotes says that Raw “has been a mess lately”, with the show recently being “changed up to the point of air.” The show could not continue in that state, and Paul Heyman took the fall.
• I doubt it was Heyman that was changing it last minute. That’s a Vince thing.
• A source told PW Insider that Vince McMahon is “very upset” and openly “frustrated” with Raw. There’s no word yet on other possible cuts coming to the creative team.
• They righted the ship a bit quality wise. The ThunderDome helped.
• Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez was given the impression that Vince McMahon was also “not happy” about the recent snipes between Randy Orton and Tommaso Ciampa.
• I recall another rumor about Vince being angry that Seth Rollins referred to CM Punk in a promo when there was no chance they’d have a match. Of course, Punk is a much touchier subject, but if there’s no way these two guys work each other, I can see the same reason applying.
• Alvarez was told that the unedited Backlash match between Edge and Orton, which has already been taped, lasted roughly 30 to 35 minutes.
• I dunno. The match that aired was 44 minutes. I can’t imagine they added 10 to 15 minutes of extras. (0/1)
• Chris Jericho mentioned on Talk is Jericho that the original plan for Mike Tyson’s appearance on AEW Dynamite was to knock out Sammy Guevara.
• They just went with the pull apart instead.

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This week: 12/17 – 71%

Overall: 3,574/6,364 – 56.2%

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

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