This idea doesn’t work in professional wrestling (2024)

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.

January 22, 2024

• For what it’s worth, Dave Meltzer wrote in The Daily Update that Seth Rollins “has to make a decision.” He’ll likely address what he’s doing for his knee on Raw.
• He discussed it on Raw and said he wouldn’t relinquish the championship. He ended up rehabbing it. (1/1)
• It’s unclear when Kenny Omega will return, says the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, because he’s currently waiting for seven weeks to see if he will need surgery for his diverticulitis. His condition was apparently so bad surgery hasn’t been an option so far, so they have to wait to find out how he progresses.
• I think were going to be waiting on the Best Bout Machine for a long time.
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, it was said both AEW and WWE have made offers to Kazuchika Okada but he has yet to make his decision on where he’s going to go just yet.
• He ended up in AEW.
• Meanwhile, multiple NJPW sources told Sports Illustrated that Okada’s decision to leave NJPW “was not unexpected, nor did it catch anyone by surprise.” His decision on whether to sign with WWE or AEW is “expected to be made fairly soon,” with TNA being a “distant third” option.
• TNA is not a landing spot for a big free agent full time. And that’s not a knock on them. They’re actually in a great spot right now, especially with their NXT partnership but even beforehand. But I wouldn’t expect a top guy like Okada to end up there as his permanent home. Even then, he did do an brief stint with them.
• Logan Paul has been training with Cameron Grimes to get ready for his match against Kevin Owens at Royal Rumble, according to PW Insider.
• Grimes has since been released from WWE.
• Will Ospreay should be starting as a regular on AEW TV in February, per the Observer. He is also scheduled for Revolution in Greensboro.
• His first day as a full timer in AEW was the very last day of February. (1/1)

January 23, 2024

• Checking in on Drew McIntyre’s contract situation, a PW Insider Elite report says he hasn’t signed a new deal with WWE. Unless that changes, McIntyre will be “free & clear to sign anywhere right after WrestleMania 40.”
• He re-signed on April 27. I’m not sure if he signed something that kept him on the roster after Mania or if he was working without a contract for a few weeks (if the timing in this rumor is true). (1/1)
• When the AEW Rankings went away last year, it was CM Punk who talked Tony Khan into getting rid of them. At least that’s what Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez was told.
• They brought them back only to realize they’re still an albatross and scrap them again. I understand why they wanted them to differentiate themselves or to give it a real sport vibe. But they just don’t work in wrestling. It handicaps the booker more than anything else. The first time around, they were able to use the YouTube Dark shows to gimmick the standings. Since those are gone, the second time had no chance. If true, Punk was right about this one.
• WWE had discussions with Tama Tonga when his NJPW contract was up last year and remains interested in signing him now, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
• He did sign with them, along with his brother.
• In their report on Kazuchika Okada’s impending free agency, Fightful Select notes that there’s no ill will between Okada and New Japan. The door will “likely always remained open” for him to return.
• Given NJPW has a relationship with AEW, he could be working with them at least tangentially in the future.
• Shawn Spears was among talent visiting backstage at last weekend’s TNA taping in Orlando, per Fightful Select. Spears lives in the area and was visiting friends, but was also seen “with Scott D’Amore for about 20 minutes at Gorilla position”.
• Shawn is with NXT now.
• Mace & Mansoor were also at TNA’s most recent taping, as was indie wrestler Alex Zayne. Fightful says all three were scheduled for meetings with company officials.
• Mace & Mansoor are working in ROH currently.
• On Busted Open Radio, Santino Marella said TNA is “working on” a deal with “a big television network”. Once that happens and they’re on “a channel that everyone can see”, then the promotion will “change gears and blow up to the next level”.
• There’s been no big TV network deal. (0/1)

January 24, 2024

• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that while The Rock has teased WrestleMania 40 multiple times, he has not signed on just yet to wrestle on the show.
• He eventually did.
• What’s more, in an interesting bit, Meltzer also said “there are people who would like to convince him that if there is a ton of extra money in Saudi Arabia than to do it there.” He said Rock would rather do WrestleMania but “there are forces that are interested in how much value he could bring to Saudi Arabia.”
• The Rock did not work Saudi.
• According to CNBC, when Raw moves to Netflix next year matches will be scripted around commercial breaks for those on the ad-free tier, meaning if you are on that tier you will still see the match ongoing but it won’t feature action “important to the outcome.”
• I wonder if they’ll be a way to kind of tell (in case I want to still FF through the rest hold section).
• Monthly Puroresu is saying “one source close to NJPW’s top talent” told them Kazuchika Okada is going to WWE and he may start in NXT. For what it’s worth, Fightful Select quickly refuted this, saying all that talk is premature and AEW is still in the running to sign him.
• He did not go to WWE. (1/2)
• Andrew Zarian notes that he was told it’s “very possible for AEW to become a cable/streaming hybrid show.” He said it could look like what the NBA does with TNT and Max.
• Still have to wait and see given this deal that still needs to be done.
• Per PW Insider, Kevin Patrick’s ousting as lead commentator on SmackDown was a late decision, made on Monday night of this week when he was still scheduled to travel for SmackDown on Friday.
• He wasn’t working out and this was a case I felt they gave him enough runway to try to figure it out.

January 25, 2024

• Regarding the much discussed SI report on WWE’s WrestleMania 40 plans, Wrestlevotes checked with their sources and believes the three big matches discussed in it “could absolutely happen in Philadelphia”. However, thinking they’re “set in stone” is “a little naive.”
• A lot of things were shaken up.
• WWE isn’t happy with the SI report though, “especially labeling it as ‘sources close to Triple H,’ as if he’d be so open with this type of specific information.”
• It wasn’t too on point given what we later heard either.
• SI named Bayley and Gunther as favorites to win Saturday’s Royal Rumble matches, and the latest odds from Bet Online now reflect that. Bayley passed Becky Lynch as the women’s favorite, and Gunther now has the same odds in the men’s match as existing favorite CM Punk.
• Bayley won but Gunther did not. (1/2)
• In a report on a moment Cody Rhodes & The Rock shared backstage at Raw on Jan. 1 that was captured by a WWE photographer and Rock’s team, Fightful Select says “the nature of the exchange” was that Rock supports Cody and what he’s been doing. Their sources say Rocky has “long been a proponent” of Rhodes, even while he was in AEW.
• He still tried to take his spot.
• Those sources “got the feeling that The Rock wasn’t there to ‘stand in the way of anything’”, but the moment happened before Rock’s promo on the show and “most didn’t know his ‘Head of the Table’ line was coming.”
• According to their documentary, they were setting up both things at the same time.
• In his new role as TKO board member, PW Insider reports The Rock led a staff meeting with Nick Khan and Triple H at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut on Tuesday.
• Wasn’t yet calling himself the Final Boss.
• Insider also heard about talk from behind-the-scenes at Raw on Monday and at WWE HQ Tuesday about the company “incorporating some sports-centric elements into the programming” as they try to “root the product in stronger realism.”
• Do they do this to a real degree? They’ve lately been doing result update graphics throughout the show. But, while appreciated, that’s a very mild addition. And the Wyatt Sicks certainly don’t root the product in stronger realism. (0/1)

January 26, 2024

• Fightful Select mentioned that this weekend’s Royal Rumble event was “originally discussed” as a potential date for Brock Lesnar’s return to WWE. However, those plans “may change” due to his reported inclusion in the Vince McMahon sex trafficking lawsuit that was filed by Janel Grant.
• Sounds like they sure did change. Triple H currently frames it as a situation where Brock will come back when he’s ready. Not sure if I believe that or not. (1/1)
• Wrestling Observer Live co-host Lance Storm responded to the idea of Lesnar returning to WWE at Royal Rumble by saying “that would be completely insane...I suspect you will not see him.”
• We did not see him. (1/1)
• Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso says it’s at least possible that The Rock will win the Royal Rumble match this weekend if that’s what he wants to do. However, that outcome “is not expected,” especially now that The Rock vs. Roman Reigns feud “could be extended to a time when it airs globally on Netflix” in 2025.
• It did not happen.
• It’s unknown what platform WWE Raw will air on from October through December 2024, after its current TV deal with USA Network expires but before its new deal with Netflix begins. USA Network told Brandon Thurston that it won’t air Raw during those months. Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer was told that WWE will “make an announcement relatively soon” about this situation.
• They ended up extending the deal with USA. The announcement was in May, which I wouldn’t say is “relatively soon.” (0/1)
• Meltzer says WWE’s deal with Netflix is “not nearly the [financial] increase that people think it is” due to all of WWE’s international TV deals that are involved. Meltzer and Thurston estimate the increase is in the range of 29% to 32%, which is less than the 50% predicted by Nick Khan.
• These deals can be complicated.
• In a video on Instagram, Logan Paul said WWE renewed his contract.
• He’s been entertaining.
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentioned that Naoto Inoki, the grandson of Antonio Inoki, “is now training seriously under Katsuyori Shibata.”
• Another wrestling royal family maybe?

January 27, 2024

• PW Insider says there is a backstage feeling of relief in WWE after Vince McMahon resigned from TKO. There are people in the company who felt he was a “black cloud hanging over everything” even when he wasn’t involved much, and they are glad he is finally gone.
• Just a swell guy.
• Insider claims there is a belief in WWE that Endeavor will clean house and get rid of anyone close to McMahon, in order to have a “fresh start” for the company.
• I don’t feel they really did that at all. (0/1)
• Per Fightful Select, before Trinity Fatu left TNA, she told people there that she’s returning to WWE, and it sounds like that could happen tonight at Royal Rumble.
• She did return at the Rumble. (1/1)
• Meanwhile, a WWE source expressed doubt to Fightful about Sasha Banks returning to WWE at Royal Rumble.
• While I thought she would, and even picked her to win in our predictions, this is accurate. (1/1)
• This week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter says the belief in AEW is that Mercedes Moné and Kazuchika Okada will both “be starting soon” for the company. As far as Mercedes is concerned, “there is talk her debut will be played up extremely big and that announcement could be soon.”
• They both debuted a week apart in March. (2/2)
• The Observer notes that a women’s championship match at WrestleMania 40 between Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch has been “planned for months” and is “still on the schedule.” That makes Lynch a favorite to win the women’s Royal Rumble match.
• That match happened, but Lynch had to win the Elimination Chamber to get there. (1/2)
• F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer believes Kosha Irby will try to improve AEW’s poor ticket sales by booking “more shows in major markets” and “less shows in places like Bossier City, Louisiana, or Savannah, Georgia.”
• This seems rather subjective. Looking at their locations, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Some bigger locations but still some smaller ones.
• A shirt celebrating Vince McMahon’s 1999 Royal Rumble win was available for sale at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Thursday, but PW Insider says it was removed from the WWE Superstore by Friday morning. By yesterday afternoon, it was also pulled from their online store.
• The erasure begins.

January 27, 2024 Royal Rumble Edition

• A PW Insider Elite report says Jordynne Grace will be in the Women’s Rumble, and she’ll enter to her TNA theme and be introduced as “Knockouts World champion”.
• She was. It was the start of the big TNA partnership. (1/1)
• Grace could be the “off the wall surprise” Fightful heard about when they learned WWE reached out to other companies last weekend about having their talent in the Rumbles.
• I don’t know if there were any other real off the wall surprises.
• WWE’s discussed having Jade Cargill make her in-ring debut in the Women’s Rumble, according to Fightful Select. They also heard she was present at Thursday’s rehearsal for the match.
• She did debut here. (1/1)
• Fightful also heard that WWE deliberately didn’t announce many names for this year’s Rumble matches to leave room for surprises.
• Cargill & Grace were the big surprises. No real big ones for the men.
• One of those was planned to be used by Brock Lesnar, per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer confirmed Lesnar was going to be a surprise return in the Men’s Rumble prior to The Wall Street Journal named him in their report on the latest allegations against Vince McMahon.
• Apparently his spot went to Bron Breakker.
• PW Insider adds that Lesnar isn’t in Florida, and word going around at SmackDown last night was that he wouldn’t be at tonight’s premium live event, with some sources using the word “withdrawn” to describe his status. It’s believed an NXT talent could take the spot that was planned for Brock.
• He was not there. (1/1)
• Speaking of NXT talent, Fightful says Blair Davenport, Tiffany Stratton, and Carmelo Hayes are at Tropicana Field ahead of Royal Rumble.
• Hayes & Stratton were in the match. Davenport was not so we unfortunately cannot confirm either way. (2/2)
• CM Punk fed into speculation of an AJ Lee surprise return tonight by posting a picture of himself with a women who could be his wife at an airport baggage claim on his Instagram Story.
• She was unfortunately not in the Rumble. I’m still waiting for this. (0/1)
• Another possible surprise return could be Sonya Deville. PW Insider noted she’s been training for her comeback from a torn ACL at the Performance Center recently, and will be in Tampa/St. Pete this weekend.
• She did not return here. (0/1)

This week: 17/26 - 65%

Overall: 5,190/9,009 - 57.6%

Have a great week, everyone!