Rumor Look Back: June 13 – 19, 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 13, 2020

• According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a lot of wrestlers on Raw are concerned after Paul Heyman lost his spot.
• Understandable. Guys like Humberto Carrillo and Andrade didn’t see as much time without Paul.
• They also say the belief is Drew McIntyre and The Street Profits are safe but everyone else may not be.
• The two I mentioned above did worse without Heyman. Ricochet was supposed a Heyman guy, but was already struggling even with Paul. Someone like Murphy has continued to do well. Someone like Cedric Alexander has done better.
• On Wrestling Observer Live, it was mentioned WWE had plans to do a Queen of the Ring tournament this summer but the coronavirus pandemic got in the way of that.
• I like King of the Ring so the same deal but with the women on the roster would have been fun. Though I don’t see anyone who isn’t Charlotte winning that given the whole Queen thing.
• Rumors have gotten around that Vince Russo is back with Impact but PW Insider says that’s not the case. They do note there was a plan for him to possibly come in for the No Place Like Home event but that didn’t happen.
• Imagine hiring Vince Russo as part of your creative this day and age.
• There’s also been talk that Heath Slater will be showing up in Impact alongside Rhino.
• While he didn’t debut with Rhino, he did eventually show up with Impact and his past history with Rhino was definitely canon. (1/1)

June 15, 2020

• Twitter’s rovert says he heard from multiple sources that “AJ Styles had a horrible time on Raw.” Styles allegedly didn’t get along with Paul Heyman and didn’t like the locker room making fun of his politics & conspiracy theories.
• There were conflicting accounts coming out of this. Styles himself said that he was definitely pissed at Heyman but said he was a “grown man” when it came to ribbing. Of course, he’s going to present himself in the best light with this type of thing.
• On F4WOnline’s The Board, Dave Meltzer wrote that Styles was “furious” with Heyman that Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson were released. It was Vince McMahon’s call, but AJ probably thought Heyman could have fought harder for his friends.
• I always thought that AJ blaming Heyman was just convenient. Because in the end, Vince makes the calls. You know, Vince McMahon, the guy who’s notoriously stubborn and changes his mind all the time.
• Edge and Randy Orton’s rematch was originally planned for SummerSlam but moved up due to WWE’s current lack of star power, per Sportskeeda’s Gary Cassidy.
• Still waiting on Edge’s return from the injury sustained in that match.
• Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that combining the Raw and SmackDown rosters into “one troupe” is something that’s “been talked about”.
• They haven’t gone this way. While I like classic WWE with one major title, one secondary title, and tag titles, their roster is just too dang big to do that now. (0/1)
• Evolve is in major financial trouble and may be looking to sell “pretty much everything” to WWE, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE acquired them and the old Evolve shows are on the Network. There are no more Evolve events, though with the acquisition happening in the summer, who knows if that will be something they end up doing. (1/1)

June 16, 2020

• Edge’s triceps tear didn’t happen during the initial taping of the match, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. WWE reshot portions of “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” multiple times.
• Edge disputes this. It’s always tough with wrestlers because they’re always working, but I’ll take his word on this one. (0/1)
• Meltzer also says Sunday night’s Asuka/Nia Jax match at Backlash had its finish changed.
• It was a double count out. I wonder if the original was just Asuka winning clean and they decided to extend it.
• Drake Maverick didn’t know he was being offered a new contract until the cruiserweight tournament filmed, per PW Insider.
• I always find these type of rumors hard to believe but maybe.
• The locker room’s reaction to Jaxson Ryker’s pro-Trump tweet shortly after George Floyd’s murder looks to have cost Forgotten Sons a planned SmackDown Tag Title program. The group’s been off TV for two weeks, and Fightful reports they’re not in WWE’s plans for this week’s taping of the June 19 & 26 episodes, either.
• That gimmick was dead. (1/1)
• The Observer’s Bryan Alvarez tweeted that WWE had a small group of real fans mixed in with the Performance Center talent at last night’s Raw. Orlando reporter Jon Alba said he was told some were friends of wrestlers.
• I believe that’s what they’re doing with NXT now.

June 17, 2020

• Jon Alba, a reporter in the Orlando area, says multiple fans told him WWE did not tell them they couldn’t wear masks at the Monday TV tapings as has been going around.
• While I can imagine them not enforcing a mask mandate early on, I find it tougher to believe they’d say it was forbidden.
• Per WrestleTalk, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley pitched the idea of working together after WrestleMania 36.
• They worked their program soon after.
• It was also said that the match at Backlash was structured with Paul Heyman but the finish was more Vince McMahon.
• Their feud was OK, but in that very forgettable time of WWE programming.
• According to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, Vince McMahon sees Angel Garza as a young Eddie Guerrero.
• Garza is maybe setting up something with these backstage videos where he’s offering someone a rose. I don’t think he’s going to suffer with the loss of Paul Heyman. He’s just got too much charisma.
• There’s at least some talk that Apollo Crews could be headed for a heel turn, and MVP could be building a new stable.
• Apollo never turned heel. He was drafted to SmackDown where he has been largely forgotten. (0/1)

June 18, 2020

• A source confirmed for WrestleVotes that yesterday’s taping at the WWE Performance Center was a mess, texting “How can I put this nicely: a complete, unbelievable, lack of leadership, full blown CLUSTERF***. They should be embarrassed. Total clown show.”
• Damn.
• Vince McMahon was already planning layoffs before WrestleMania 36, according to a report from ESPN.
• Another sign this had nothing to do with the pandemic and all to do with maximizing profits.
• Speaking of furloughed employees, Pat Buck was brought back as a producer recently.
• He’s seen in backstage segments here and there. (1/1)
• WrestleTalk says Asuka doesn’t have anything to worry about with Paul Heyman gone. “WWE higher-ups, including Vince himself, as still high on” her, and see her as a “top player,” especially with Becky Lynch not around.
• This is true. She’s been champ pretty much this entire time (outside the one Sasha Banks loss). (1/1)
• Mustafa Ali has been “quietly shifted” from the SmackDown roster to the Raw one, per PW Insider.
• That’s true. That’s where he was revealed as the mastermind of RETRIBUTION. He’s trying to make them work, but it’s not happening. (1/1)

June 19, 2020

• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer indicated that FOX was not happy with Jeff Hardy’s urine angle last week on SmackDown. It violated their Standards and Practices, and was edited off the west coast feed.
• It also sucked.
• WrestleVotes tweeted that Dolph Ziggler is going to Raw as part of the AJ Styles trade.
• Yeah, that happened. I barely remember it, but Dolph is all over the place. Apparently, he immediately got a title match against Drew McIntyre. (1/1)
• Meltzer noted that Bianca Belair didn’t fit in with the recent segments between the Street Profits and Viking Raiders, and she was kept off television because creative had nothing else for her.
• Luckily she’s been more featured as of late.
• It sounds like Vince McMahon has taken a greater interest in the NXT product, and more main roster stars will wrestle there in an attempt to increase ratings.
• While I can’t speak to his interest, there has not been an increase of main roster stars. (0/1)
• According to Elias, the original plan for Super ShowDown 2019 was for him to wrestle against the Undertaker. That idea was scrapped in favor of Undertaker vs. Goldberg.
• If that’s true, they should have just stuck with Elias.

---

This week: 7/11 – 64%

Overall: 3,581/6,375 – 56.2%

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

**For Original Source – Click Here**