Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we take a look back at the rumors from six months ago and see what played out as originally stated. Let’s jump straight to that.

August 5, 2022

• Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said that CM Punk “has been hurting so bad” for the past two weeks. It seems doubtful he’ll be ready to return to AEW for September Everyone out Chicago pay-per-view.
• He’s back before that – losing the title to Moxley only to win it back. And then this was it for him. Word says it’s close to medical clearance, but there’s no word on any company’s plans to use it. (0/1)
• PW Insider noted that there are no “concrete plans” for Bayley to appear in the series summerslam Before Triple H took control of WWE Creative.
• Logical.
• Insider also says the decision to bring in Io Shirai and Dakota Kai summerslam It was last minute calls. Kay didn’t fly to Nashville until the night before, and WWE didn’t trademark the ring name IYO SKY until July 31.
• It seems very likely that they weren’t even on Vince’s radar. summerslam Shortly after Triple H took over the creative so he didn’t have much time getting something like this together.
• WWE’s summerslam The experiments were disastrous, according to Wrestling Observer Live’s Brian Alvarez. He said there were a lot of injuries, including several concussions. Independent wrestlers were not allowed at tryouts, but that is likely to change in the future.
• the curse. Concussion is the worst of it. The fact that they were a group of athletes with little or no wrestling background by nature makes them even more dangerous. But I’m pretty sure they’ve done this to people with no prior wrestling background.
• Fightful says Tony Khan and Blake Christian have reached an agreement that ties him to Ring of Honor, though it’s not yet clear if it’s a full-time deal.
• He had a title match against Claudio Darkness: rise But no place was found in the ROH specials.

August 6, 2022

• Vince McMahon is no longer on WWE’s internal roster, according to PW Insider. He used to be listed with other off-brand talent who appeared on occasion, like John Cena and The Bellas.
• Although he returns to the company, he is no longer on the list.
• While the general mood behind the scenes is positive, Dave Meltzer wrote in The Wrestling Newsletter that there are some WWE talent who are “nervous” about losing their spot with Triple H running.
• Who do we feel on the main roster is worse off with Triple H than they were with Vince? That’s an honest question – I’m sure there are some. I just can’t think of one right now.
• Meltzer also notes that women in WWE believe they will have more focus under the new system.
• I think this is probably true. They have rebuilt the menu and there is more guidance. I don’t think it’s huge, but I do think there are more women’s programs out there.
• According to the Observer, Logan Paul will be away from WWE for a while as he is focused on a potential boxing fight in December.
• He had a title match against Reigns in early November. (0/1)
• Ric Flair’s last match It drew more than 6,800 fans with a gate of $448,502, according to WON. This makes it the second largest North American independent show of all time All in.
• It’s really pretty. I wonder how Ric Flair’s last match… for Real this time Will do.

August 8, 2022

• Fightful Select says USA Network wants a higher title to emerge Monday Night Raw Often, and this may be a reason for Karrion Kross’ recent inclusion on Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns and a challenge to just one of Roman’s titles.
• They haven’t split any titles yet. And Kross isn’t sniffing at that scene anyway. He has not won any notable disputes. It appears that Triple H chose to back out of the initial plans to pay, at least that was hinted at when Kross first appeared in a segment featuring Roman Reigns.
• They also say that a lot of talent has personally met with Triple H to find out their place in the new WWE universe with the departure of Vince McMahon.
• Logical. It was a huge change – letting people know that the new vision makes sense.
• There are currently no creative plans in place for Lacey Evans, per Fightful, who also noted that she was Vince McMahon’s favorite character, and deemed her return this year “messy and directionless.”
• She has just returned as a shoe wielding a cobra bag in honor of Sgt. slaughter.
• PW Insider says T-BAR is one of the already talked about names of people who are already signed and who could be involved in regrouping the species to be better used moving forward.
• He returned to NXT and is now Dijak. (1/1)
• Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio once again that politics is not to blame for AEW not booking FTR vs. The Young Bucks in Everyone outbut rather the return of Kenny Omega’s suspense and storyline with Adam Page entering the trios department.
• Even if that was always the plan, FTR was pretty white. Even if they accidentally found themselves with hot white-faced FTR champ and heel champ Young Bucks, who finished FTR’s first run, not going with that match still seemed like booking malfeasance.

August 9, 2022

• Reports from both PW Insider and Fightful Select speculate that Vince McMahon is either still involved in WWE’s day-to-day operations or working undercover creatively. Insider sources claim he has not been to the company’s Stamford headquarters since his resignation, and “has not been involved in any meetings or any company communication.”
• It always felt more like a structured, 3D show compared to Vince’s. There are sure to be similarities because Triple H likely learned the majority of what he knows about booking from Vince. But he has his own style.
• John Laurinaitis’ email and company cellphone have been cut off, according to Insider. This is the same thing the company did with employees who left during the pandemic.
• I don’t know why he would need it given he was fired.
• Sasha Banks and Naomi may not have official new WWE deals yet, but Dave Meltzer said on Sunday Night Main Event that all parties reached an “agreement in principle” over a week ago. He believes Triple H is spacing out moments like their comeback so fans will have “something big to talk about every week for the next couple of weeks”.
• I doubt they got anything on principle given they never came back. (0/1)
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer reiterated that The Rock vs. Roman Reigns is WWE’s “100% plan” for WrestleMania 39, but only if Rock can fit it into his own timeline. It was originally planned to be a title match, but Dave isn’t sure if that’s still the case.

• It seems The Rock can’t fit into his schedule.

• Karrion Cross will be the No. 2 heel smack down Behind Roman Reigns, per PW Insider. There are no plans for Scarlett to wrestle regularly right now, the site says, “but the door is clearly open for that.”
• GUNTHER 100% heel #2. Kross is probably the #3 heel because there’s anyone who really comes close, but he loses so much even in this role, though I’ve been hearing arguments about LA Knight being #2. Kross doesn’t win enough and unlike Knight, he doesn’t grab people’s attention. Scarlett wrestled in a single match. (1/2)

August 10, 2022

• According to Fightful Select, Kevin Dunn will be staying with WWE for the time being. They don’t think they have anyone who can replace him now.
• He appears to be an obvious replacement for him signed with AEW.
• Dave Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio that there are currently no plans to change Roman Reigns’ match against Drew McIntyre at the event. Clash in the castlealthough Carrion Cross was involved.
• This is the situation. (1/1)
• PW Insider reports that word around WWE HQ is that the company is looking for a contract Royal Rumble 2023 in San Antonio, Texas, presumably at the Alamodome.
• She’s back at the Alamodome. (1/1)
• They also say that filming is underway on new episodes of A&E’s WWE Treasures Wanted But original host AJ “Top Dolla” Francis did not participate.
• Top Dolla is back with WWE, but perhaps not at this time of the show’s renewal.
• Recent social media activity has led to speculation that Mero is not happy with how he is being used in AEW at the moment. He recently told Renee Paquette on her podcast that he thinks it might be over when his contract with AEW expires but right now he’s not entirely sure.
• It has not been used for a long time.

August 11, 2022

• Sean Ross Sapp quipped Fightful Select’s upcoming report “on why some of the bigwigs in WWE think they’re more likely to win Bray Wyatt back now than before”.
• They took him back.
• After the Titus O’Neill Show on July 18 raw Claiming you’ll never hear WWE “talk about politics,” several wrestlers and employees reached out to Fightful about how they “adorned the production truck driven by Kevin Dunn with a crudely taped ‘Trump 2020’ flag while in the Thunderdome after the 2020 election.”
• I mean, we know where Vince stood given his wife’s jobs.
• It hasn’t changed on WWE.com yet, but this tweet from Angel seems to indicate he’ll be getting his last name “Garza” again.
• List Page still holds him as an angel, as he does Write ups dot com on him. (0/1)
• Conrad Thompson said My World with Jeff Jarrett podcast it Ric Flair’s last match It was “part of a larger master plan to never involve Ric Flair wrestling again.” Then his company Starrcast was registered as “Southwest Championship Wrestling”.
• I guess we’ll see what that means.
• A marketing email from Peacock revealed that Charlotte Flair would be the guest star the following day Broken Skull Sessions. Stone Cold Steve Austin chats with Flair for the first time on August 19 on the service.
• Austin has always talked about being a fan of Charlotte.

This week: 4/9 – 44%

Total: 4,447 / 7,808 – 57.0%

Have a great week, everyone!