6 Wrestling rumors we hope are true and 6 we hope aren't: Plans for WrestleMania 36 main event revealed, Drew McIntyre 'ends' former US Champion's in-ring career?

Welcome to this week's edition of "Wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't". It's been a fun week of wrestling, with AEW having one of the best shows in Dynamite's short history, NXT delivering as always and RAW and SmackDown having its positives as well.

The rumor mill has been abuzz this WrestleMania season over the possible matches, returns, surprises, and more. We have an exciting few weeks of wrestling coming our way before the month ends and this includes a PPV for WWE in Saudi Arabia and AEW Revolution. Let's jump right into the rumors of the week!

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#6. Hope is true: Vince McMahon's plans for the WrestleMania 36 main event and after

Drew McIntyre had the best start to 2020 that he could have imagined and he's riding an incredible wave of momentum, having won the Royal Rumble less than a month ago. As things stand, he's poised to main event WrestleMania 36 against Brock Lesnar and from the look of things, he could have a major coronation by beating The Beast Incarnate and becoming the WWE Champion and subsequently - the top guy of the company.

Paul Davies of Wrestlingnews.com wrote an article describing Vince McMahon's honest opinion of McIntyre and stated that the boss trusts the Scotsman to carry the top title going forward:

"Vince likes everything about him and thinks he represents the company well when he does media appearances. He looks good and talks good and that is what Vince is looking for. Drew has already established a relationship with Vince like most top guys do.”

We hope this is true because McIntyre deserves a shot on the top and could fulfill Vince McMahon's prophecy nearly 11 years after he declared McIntyre as a future World Champion.

#6. Hope isn't true: MVP has his last match against Drew McIntyre?

Dave Meltzer revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that MVP's match against Drew McIntyre may have just been his last. As you may know, the former United States Champion has recently taken a role as a producer backstage:

So he (MVP) said that Drew beat him with a cheap shot and he's going to beat him head to head. He hits him over the head with a cheap shot with the microphone and gives him a running kick but obviously, Drew is not going to be selling long for MVP and he ripped off his tape on his nose, which is in fact, the idea of, that's the end of his wrestling career because the tape on his nose is his gimmick. And then he gave him the Future Shock DDT and a Claymore kick and it was over. So, just a quick match and there you go.

The reason we hope this isn't true is that MVP can still be used as an occasional enhancement talent. While he's certainly earned his retirement, perhaps more could have been made of it. Then again, Drew McIntyre can claim to be the one to technically "retire" MVP.

#5. Hope is true: Jeff Cobb's tailored contract that allows him to work with NJPW

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that Jeff Cobb's AEW contract allows him to work in NJPW similar to Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho

Cody Rhodes revealed on a conference call and was full of praise for Cobb. He said that he still works in NJPW and ROH as well: (H/T Fightful)

"It’s still in gestation. Jeff works with New Japan, he works with Ring of Honor and now he works for AEW. I’m a big fan of Jeff Cobb because I like shooters in wrestling. I don’t try to consider myself one with my limited amateur background, but I think Jeff is a tank. He’s a special athlete. So I think, to be transparent with you, it’s in gestation. I would hope that he would pursue the longer thing with AEW, but I don’t want it to impede anything that he is doing."

We hope this is true because Jeff Cobb is an exceptional talent and he deserves to have a contract tailored to him like this.

#5. Hope isn't true: Change in plans on RAW for Matt Hardy

We all know that Matt Hardy's status in WWE is uncertain. Unless he's working fans and intends to sign a new WWE contract, the expectation is that once his deal with WWE is up at the beginning of March, he will most likely be jumping ship to AEW.

That's the reason why he's been talking about "#Freethedelete" and retweeting signs directed towards him on an AEW Dynamite show.

What was interesting was that he was written out of TV on RAW this past week, with Randy Orton viciously assaulting him. They were supposed to have a match but Hardy was declared "medically uncleared". He was assaulted similar to Edge and that seems to be the end of that for him.

Fightful Select reported that the original plan was to have a segment and then a match, but the No Holds Barred match was canceled at the last minute due to Vince McMahon changing his mind.

All signs seem to indicate that it was truly the end for Matt Hardy and we have to wait till the end of February to find out. We hope this isn't true as Hardy should have had one last match and put over Orton before leaving.

#4. Hope is true: Davey Boy Smith in the WWE Hall of Fame

There are many legends who we could make a case for as being "long overdue" as WWE Hall of Fame entrants. Among the top of the list is the legendary British star Davey Boy Smith - who many believe should have been in the Hall of Fame years ago.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that Davey Boy Smith aka The British Bulldog is finally set to receive his WWE Hall of Fame induction this year.

So, these, obviously they have announced Batista and the nWo, I don’t know if this is the rest of the Hall of Fame but these are confirmed. The Bella Twins, people know about that, it was out last week along with Jushin Liger. And the other one is Davey Boy Smith.

He said that it's been something that his family has pushed for years -

So Davey Boy Smith will be going into the Hall of Fame. This is, it’s been pushed, the family has pushed that one for years and years and years and years, so this is the year he’s going in. So I guess that’s the main thing there.

We hope this is true because he's one of the greats and deserves that immortalized spot.

#4. Hope isn't true: Regressing with The Fiend

'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt's match against Daniel Bryan at the Royal Rumble was a fresh change because of no red lights during the matches. While Wyatt has taken the WWE Universe by storm with his gimmick, the red light is an aspect that has received criticism from wrestlers and fans alike, with Wyatt himself reportedly not being a fan of it.

Cagesideseats reported that the Rumble match was a one-off and the red lights will return.

Apparently his Royal Rumble match against Daniel Bryan was a one-off and Bray Wyatt’s matches will continue to happen under red lighting going forward.

We hope this isn't true because it's clear that it shouldn't be there. Even Seth Rollins criticized it on WWE Backstage, saying:

[I had] no clue. That was a mess for me, right. Because first of all, you’re in this dark red. The cell is also red, and so then you’re trying to navigate around the edges of the cell and it’s very tight quarters to begin with. It was a mess, it was very difficult to deal with. Especially not knowing it was going to happen. I for one am not a fan. I feel like it affects my performance, personally.

#3. Hope is true: Charlotte Flair vs Bianca Belair

Shayna Baszler had an extremely lengthy reign as NXT Women's Champion, coming short of Asuka (while surpassing her in overall reign length due to her first NXT title run) and they waited till the right time to pull the trigger on Rhea Ripley as the NXT Women's Champion.

It was the right time and the right place for the Australian, who edged out Bianca Belair at NXT Takeover: Portland to retain the NXT Women's title. In a major change, the Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair ended up accepting Rhea Ripley's challenge for WrestleMania 36 and for the first time, an NXT title will be defended on the show of shows.

Bianca Belair has been involved in NXT with Charlotte Flair as well and Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio (via CSS) revealed that Bianca Belair could end up getting the rub while Charlotte Flair continues to appear in NXT:

There’s speculation, from Observer Radio and elsewhere, that Charlotte Flair vs Bianca Belair could happen on NXT as a way to pop a rating.

We hope this is true because it would be beneficial to both Belair and NXT.

#3. Hope isn't true: Vince McMahon making 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin lose to Brock Lesnar as a punishment

There's the famous story of how 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin walked out of WWE after being told to put over Brock Lesnar. His issue was that he wanted it done on a PPV with a build, rather than have a throwaway match.

The disputes led to the end of his WWE run until 2002 and Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that Austin being told to lose to Lesnar was punishment for a comment he made in an interview criticizing the creative process in WWE:

No, no, no, it wasn't even hyped because it was a punishment thing it was not like a storyline, it wasn't like something was built up the week before. He had said that creative s***s and they are like, nobody says that publicly, not even Steve Austin, and that's how they punished guys then.

We hope this isn't true because it all seems so petty in hindsight. Austin, however, has expressed regret over the way he walked out of WWE.

#2. Hope is true: Why The Undertaker chose AJ Styles as his WrestleMania 36 opponent

AJ Styles has been in WWE for 4 years now and has become a bonafide main eventer and one of the company's most reliable top stars. You've probably heard the rumors that he could be set for one of the biggest matches of his career as he's set to take on The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36.

Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co revealed that the reason why The Undertaker chose AJ Styles is that he's viewed as the modern-day Shawn Michaels. If you watched WWE in 2009 and 2010, you'll know that The Undertaker had two all-time classics with Michaels at WrestleMania - the latter which saw him end Michaels' legendary career.

We hope this is true because we feel that at this stage, AJ Styles might be one of the few superstars who can get a great match out of The Undertaker at WrestleMania. The last time that The Undertaker had a memorable match at WrestleMania was in 2016 against Shane McMahon and before that - 2013 against CM Punk. This could be up there.

#2. Hope isn't true: Samoa Joe's concussion

Samoa Joe hasn't had a lot of luck lately. It was just recently when he returned from a concussion. Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin recently reported that Samoa Joe suffered another injury recently - this time while filming a commercial for WWE.

Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer confirmed these reports and added that Joe suffered a concussion in the process. When superstars have back-to-back concussions, it usually means that they're going to be out for a while.

It happened to Alexa Bliss between 2018 and mid-2019 when she was out for a long time after suffering multiple concussions. It's almost certain at this point that Samoa Joe will miss WrestleMania, which is unfortunate since he's had only one WrestleMania appearances in the three years he's been on the main roster - and the last one hardly lasted over a minute.

We hope this isn't true because it's unfortunate for anyone to suffer a concussion. The circumstances in Joe's case is bad luck and could cost him a big spot.

#1. Hope is true: NXT's involvement in the next Superstar Shake-up

Tom Colohue reported that the current plan is to have the WWE Superstar Shake-Up and this time around, NXT superstars will be involved:

The Superstar Shake-up is planned to have NXT Stars involved. This is becoming more clear as to who it might be based on current storylines and current championships. Rhea Ripley is now getting challenged by Charlotte Flair, a victory for Charlotte surely means a trade of some sort there, a victory of Shayna Baszler challenging Becky Lynch surely means some trade there.

He revealed that the Undisputed Era and Shayna Baszler are currently the top candidates to get the move to RAW or SmackDown, though Baszler's appearance at Elimination Chamber seems to suggest that she has already gotten drafted:

Undisputed Era and Shayna Baszler are the most likely candidates to get the call-up, of course now it's a call sideways, but there are believed to be a number of changes planned.

We hope this is true because if Survivor Series 2019 proved anything, it's that NXT's involvement always makes things better.

#1. Hope isn't true: Bad update on Sami Zayn's return to the ring

Sami Zayn has had an interesting 7-8 months since returning from his injury. He's hardly wrestled since and has taken up a managerial role.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that Sami Zayn's shoulder is still bothering him, which is why he has spent so much time as Shinsuke Nakamura's (and now Cesaro's) manager.

Zayn told VultureHound last November that his role as a manager isn't permanent and that it's just another chapter.

I don’t think this is a permanent thing by any means. I’m still a wrestler, and I think I’m pretty good at it (laughs). I don’t think it’s something I want to stop doing anytime soon. Our time in WWE is very long, and to me, this is just another chapter in this story because the story could go on for years and years. It’s a little break, and it’s a thing that I think people will hopefully remember when it’s all set and done, but it’s by no means permanent.

We hope this rumor isn't true because Zayn deserves to get back to where he was four years ago and prove that he can still be a top star.