This could have been a fun program (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 29, 2024

• Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Roman Reigns vs. The Rock “is still happening” this year he just doesn’t know exactly when or where.
• I honestly don’t think it happens before the end of this year but we’ll sit on it.
• Fightful Select says WWE “reached out to outside companies about potential Royal Rumble surprises.” TNA is one that worked with them to make Jordynne Grace’s debut happen, and they were apparently very accommodating.
• This led to a bigger partnership between the two companies.
• Post Wrestling brings word that Brock Lesnar was going to work with Dominik Mysterio at Elimination Chamber before he was removed due to being implicated in reporting on the lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
• That honestly could have been great. Dom eliminating Lesnar of all people from the Rumble and then having to face him at Elimination Chamber would have been a real fun program. This was the rumor and, given Bron Breakker apparently took the place of Brock pretty directly and was eliminated by Dom, it tracks. It could have gotten a big reaction but they did what they had to do.
• The Daily Update at F4Wonline.com also notes that Lesnar was set to work GUNTHER at WrestleMania 40 and “there were a number of changes made for ‘Mania in the last few days.”
• It’s a shame Gunther lost out on a marquee match, but he’s doing well for himself.
• Bryan Alvarez mentioned on WOR that he was told Jade Cargill “has a hard time remembering a lot of stuff” in terms of her in-ring work. He thinks she needs to get out on the road and start working with veterans to get her experience sooner rather than later.
• Seems like her progress is somewhat slow going but I’m still going to give her a bit more time before I make the final judgement. But if she lands on just competent in the ring, she’ll have a high ceiling overall still with her look & charisma.
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes they were told that the working idea right now is to keep SmackDown on Friday nights when it moves to USA. That’s not locked in, however.
• It’s staying on Friday.
• Sticking with the WON, they say Alberto El Patron and “another controversial wrestler looking to rehab their career” are coming to AAA in 2024 and there will be a “zero tolerance agreement with both.” Alberto is scheduled for the entire year, provided there are no issues.
• Let’s not allow Alberto to rehab his image.
• Per Fightful, Samantha Irvin worked the entire Royal Rumble show because Mike Rome lost his voice.
• She’s fantastic. It sucks in general to lose your voice in a career where that’s your livelihood.

January 30, 2024

• Kevin Owens wrestled at Royal Rumble with a fractured foot, per Wrestling Observer. Owens suffered the injury on the Jan. 5 SmackDown, and hadn’t wrestled since until last Saturday. No word yet on his recovery time or if he’ll need to be off television.
• That’s tough. He worked very soon after this though - February 2. You think there’d be a longer break if he broke his foot. But there are a lot of little bones in the foot so maybe it was one of them?
• A source told PW Insider that if anyone thinks Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel knew about the specific allegations in Janel Grant’s lawsuit before buying WWE or letting his daughter work there (Ashlee Emanuel has worked as an Executive Assistant at WWE since before the merger), they “don’t know Emanuel” or understand how “ferociously he will eradicate” anything that threatens his businesses.
• I think Ari will first do what gets him the most money because guys in that position usually do.
• Citing Emanuel’s willingness to return a $400 million investment Saudi Arabia made in Endeavor after Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, the source told Insider that Emanuel won’t hesitate to get rid of “anything and anyone” that threatens WWE’s future.
• Again, that has to do with the money as much as morals.
• PW Insider also tells us that Mercedes Moné will be back working in pro wrestling by March, and “not for WWE”.
• She did debut in AEW in March, though didn’t actually wrestle a match for a couple months after that. (2/2)
• One that many already guessed, also from PW Insider: Rhea Ripley’s WrestleMania challenger will be determined by an Elimination Chamber match at next month’s show in Perth, Australia. Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan are considered the frontrunners for the ‘Mania spot, so they’ll be in the Chamber match.
• That’s the case. (1/1)
• Naomi will be a member of the SmackDown roster, says Fightful Select.
• That makes sense since her husband Jimmy Uso is on that show (though he hasn’t been seen since after WrestleMania). (1/1)

January 31, 2024

• Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that “some people think” that Brock Lesnar may never come back to WWE.
• We’ll wait and see about that. I think we see him again. Triple H made it seem that way.
• Meanwhile, WrestleVotes says there are “new card variations on the table” for WrestleMania 40 now that Lesnar and CM Punk are out and Seth Rollins’ status is still questionable. WWE will apparently “take their time” and “consider just about everything.”
• They found their way to a really good show.
• Meltzer on Cody Rhodes not announcing his WrestleMania opponent on Raw and teasing that he’ll think about Seth Rollins’ offer: “The idea is they can build up for a week or two and pop a big rating for Cody’s decision.”
• They waited about a week to announce it at the Las Vegas press event. Since that wasn’t on TV, it wasn’t something to pop a rating. More likely it was to figure out exactly what they were going to do. (0/1)
• For what it’s worth, early betting odds from BetOnline have multiple title changes coming at WrestleMania 40, including Cody Rhodes finally finishing the story.
• That’s accurate. Though titles often change hands at big shows like WrestleMania. (2/2)
• According to Fightful Select, even if an NXT wrestler is working on Main Event tapings that shouldn’t be taken as an indication they are being considered for a call up to the main roster.
• That makes sense.
• Although Rey Fenix was on television recently, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes “he’s pretty banged up and not expected back that soon.”
• Fenix is often injured.
• They also say Megan Bayne should be starting in AEW shortly.
• She’s hasn’t worked in AEW since this rumor. (0/1)

February 1, 2024

• In response to speculation WWE may have called an audible after CM Punk was injured in the Royal Rumble, Fightful Select reported that Cody Rhodes was the planned winner going into the match. However, the much-discussed Seth Rollins segment with Rhodes on the Jan. 29 Raw was done “as a result of Punk’s injury.”
• There was a lot of moving parts at this time.
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer remarked that Drew McIntyre’s angle with Punk on Raw was odd since Punk won’t be back until likely September and McIntyre’s contract is set to expire in April and he still doesn’t have a new deal.
• This was a big SummerSlam match last night, so it ended up being very good long term booking. But yes, there was a chance
• The SmackDown creative team was “blown away” by the reaction Trick Williams got on last week’s show, says Haus of Wrestling. Higher ups at WWE are now said to believe Williams has “future WrestleMania main eventer potential.”
• I look forward to when Trick eventually makes his way to the main, though it’ll likely be awhile.
• WWE’s discussed promoting Tiffany Stratton to Raw, per PW Insider Elite.
• She went to SmackDown. (0/1)
• AEW has made what they consider a “substantial offer” to Kazuchika Okada and are feeling confident enough that he’ll take it to put together tentative plans for his debut. That’s from Fightful, which also says WWE has been in touch with Okada, but doesn’t seem to have worked on or presented any creative to him. Okada is said to have been in discussion with wrestlers in WWE “to gauge his offers, WWE’s approach, and to help weigh a decision.”
• He landed in AEW.
• Cody Rhodes was Royal Rumble weekend’s top merch mover in Tampa/St. Pete, according to “internal memos” Fightful saw. Cody’s “Rumble winner” shirt was also the top selling item from the weekend online.
• The man moves merch.
• MJF has a role in the upcoming comedy movie “The Floaters”, which Deadline says recently wrapped filming in New York.
• He has dabbled in Hollywood.
• In other wrestling-related movie news, Seth Rollins’ MCU career may end up the same way his wife’s did. Reports are the villain group Rollins’ character was a part of has been completely removed as part of re-writes and re-shoots on “Captain America: Brave New World”.
• Marvel is rebooking things on the fly just like WWE did after the Rumble going into WrestleMania.

February 2, 2024

• Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer was given the impression that AEW has made a higher offer than WWE to sign free agent Kazuchika Okada. WWE is “going with the idea that if Okada wants to come to WWE, he’ll come to WWE.”
• He did not want to go to WWE if that’s the case.
• Meltzer expects that Okada will probably be “making up his mind any moment.”
• We don’t know exactly when he signed.
• As far as Tony Khan’s ‘big announcement’ next week is concerned, F4WOnline’s Bryan Alvarez said, “I strongly believe that they have Mercedes [Moné] and that’s the announcement next Wednesday.”
• He announced Big Business, which was a big *wink, wink, nod, nod* that it would be Mercedes, but she wasn’t technically announced. (0/1)
• Meltzer claims that AEW was originally going to make the announcement last Saturday (Jan. 27), but they realized it was “probably not the best day” because it would get lost in the coverage of the Vince McMahon sex trafficking lawsuit.
• Understandable.
• PW Insider notes that Bron Breaker, Trick Williams, and Carmelo Hayes are all scheduled to be at tonight’s SmackDown.
• Bron was on the show but Trick & Melo were not. (1/3)
• According to Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian, a live episode of AEW Rampage will air following the March 20 episode of Dynamite. The change is due to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament airing on Friday, March 22, in Rampage’s normal time slot.
• That’s correct. (1/1)
• For what it’s worth, Meltzer thinks WWE’s current mindset on Brock Lesnar is, “How long do we figure it’s gonna take for this thing to blow over?”
• That seems more likely.

February 3, 2024

• “One of the biggest [WWE] stars of the modern era” told F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer that Triple H had to have knowledge of Vince McMahon’s alleged sexual misconduct in WWE. The star in question said Triple H is the “best politicking dude in history...you think he doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on around him?...Think he did that without knowing every little thing everywhere in that company? Yet somehow this slipped past his radar?”
• I remember debating Sean if this was Jericho (who at this time could have been wise to stay out of talking about other folks accusations) or Moxley.
• This person went on to say, “The thing about that place is if TKO starts cleaning house, they’re gonna show up with a bucket and some Lysol, then realize that sh*ts in the walls, in the floorboards, they’re gonna have to bring out the sledgehammer (because) that sh*t is gonna turn into a demolition job.”
• They didn’t clean house at all. It was confirmed that it was Nick Khan named in the Janel Grant suit and he isn’t going anywhere.
• Another “company star” told Meltzer the following: “Vince made so many of us feel small and awful. We all had to obey his abuse in order to keep our jobs.”
• Vince really sounds like a piece of trash on all fronts.
• Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp mentioned that “people in WWE are befuddled” by last night’s angle on SmackDown where Cody Rhodes stepped aside for The Rock to take his spot in the main event of WrestleMania 40 against Roman Reigns.
• That was befuddling, and a weird, week. But the fan response allowed Cody to get what’s his.
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter indicates that Kevin Patrick was fired by WWE as a consequence of Pat McAfee agreeing to return to do commentary: “Essentially the changes were because McAfee agreed to come back...[Wade] Barrett did a great job with [Michael] Cole and they didn’t want to get rid of him...Patrick was the weakest link.”
• Seems like a nice guy, and he is very good at his soccer coverage, but he wasn’t cutting it in WWE.
• PW Insider notes that CM Punk had triceps surgery this week and was backstage at last night’s episode of WWE SmackDown in Birmingham, Alabama.
• He’s finally back wrestling. I’m probably not going to check this after SummerSlam Saturday night before it publishes on Sunday morning so fingers crossed he didn’t get hurt in his first match back.
• A source told WrestleVotes that WWE has decided to change the WrestleMania 40 start time, with the main card of both nights now set to begin at 7 pm ET.
• They did and it was the way to go. (1/1)

This week: 9/15 - 60%

February 2024: 63/96 - 66%

Overall: 5,199/9,024 - 57.6%

Have a great week, everyone!