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Welcome to this week's edition of wrestling/WWE rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. We're now past Elimination Chamber, and WWE has one final pay-per-view stop on the road to WrestleMania 37.
Since WWE's biggest show of the year is less than 50 days away, let's start with some of the planned matches on the WrestleMania 37 card:
#5. Hope is true: WWE has four big WrestleMania 37 matches planned?
With Elimination Chamber now finished, WWE confirmed the first match on the WrestleMania 37 card - Roman Reigns vs. Edge for the Universal Championship.
The match will serve as the main event for one of the two nights at WrestleMania 37, and we certainly don't blame WWE for going in that direction for Roman Reigns.
According to WrestleVotes (before Elimination Chamber), there were four matches planned for WrestleMania 37, with one now being confirmed:
'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton and Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks seem to have been hinted at up till now. Although neither The Fiend nor Alexa Bliss had anything to do with Randy Orton's brief Elimination Chamber appearance, that is a program that we could expect to see start soon.
Bad Bunny's inclusion on the WrestleMania 37 card isn't a surprise. WWE has been keeping him actively on television, and even utilized him to debut Damian Priest, who we will get to later.
While fans may not be thrilled, WWE always does their best to have celebrity appearances at WrestleMania, one way or the other. It's WWE's attempt to draw mainstream attention for the biggest show of the year, and it could work. We imagine that Damian Priest is a frontrunner for Bad Bunny's tag team partner if he continues to impress on the WWE main roster the way he has.
We hope that this rumor is true, and are glad to see that one of those matches has come to fruition.
#5. Hope isn't true: WWE has no intention of pushing two popular stars?
Two Superstars dubbed as the future of WWE were Aleister Black and Andrade. The two Superstars, on SmackDown and RAW respectively, have been sitting on the sidelines for a while now with nothing planned for them.
It was rumored that they were two Superstars heavily pushed by Paul Heyman during his tenure as RAW Executive Director. However, since he doesn't have that power in WWE anymore, Aleister Black and Andrade are overlooked. Dave Meltzer revealed on WOR that Vince McMahon doesn't see anything in the two Superstars:
"Vince does not see anything in Aleister Black, or Andrade, or any of those guys that when Heyman lost his position and I said the guys that are f**ked. The only one that ended up not being completely f**ked was Shayna because I guess they like the idea of Shayna and Nia Jax so she got brought back. "
We hope this isn't true because Aleister Black and Andrade are two Superstars with big potential. Andrade especially would be key to WWE's presence in the Latin American market - something they've been attempting to expand for years.
#4. Hope is true: Kyle O'Reilly's "seizure" and update from WWE
Kyle O'Reilly has stepped up for WWE NXT in a big way, emerging from a tag team Superstar to a legitimate main event NXT title contender. He even helped Finn Balor after his NXT title match against Pete Dunne at TakeOver: Vengeance Day, but was attacked by fellow-Undisputed Era member Adam Cole - seemingly dissolving the alliance for good.
There was an angle on WWE NXT this past week. A six-man tag team match main evented the show, and Kyle O'Reilly teamed up with Finn Balor and Roderick Strong.
Post-match, Adam Cole had hit O'Reilly with a brainbuster onto the steel steps, and there was instantly buzz online that the latter had suffered a legitimate seizure.
Raj Giri of WrestlingInc and Ryan Satin both provided updates, revealing that it was just an angle by WWE:
We hope this is true for two reasons. While it was briefly scary to think of O'Reilly having a seizure, it's also nice to see fans getting "worked" in this day and age with social media.
#4. Hope isn't true: The reason why WWE didn't have Roman Reigns compete inside the Elimination Chamber
Unlike Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns didn't have to defend the WWE Universal Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. WWE tweaked it, with the winner of the Elimination Chamber match facing Roman Reigns on the same night.
Daniel Bryan turned out to be the man who would win the Elimination Chamber, becoming the WWE Superstar with the second-most wins inside the Chamber (tied with John Cena and behind Triple H).
However, he lost to Roman Reigns in less than two minutes, making his Elimination Chamber victory wasteful. According to Dave Meltzer on WOR, the original plan was for Roman Reigns to be inside the Elimination Chamber, but WWE tweaked it to get heat on Reigns:
"It's a way to get heat on Reigns. Originally, Reigns was going to be in the chamber match. That was the original idea and then I guess they didn't want to do it on both shows or something. Whatever…they wanted to tweak it, so they tweaked it."
While we get the logic behind it, we hope this isn't true because the Elimination Chamber match that opened the show seemed pointless, and nobody came out looking better from it.
#3. Hope is true: Backstage reaction in WWE to Damian Priest's work on RAW
Damian Priest made his WWE main roster debut in the 2021 Men's Royal Rumble match and has been a part of the RAW roster ever since. Not only that, but celebrity singer Bad Bunny has been an integral part of his debut.
Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:
Damian Priest has made a positive impression in the two weeks he has been on RAW. High-level sources within WWE told Fightful that Priest is 'extremely well-liked' behind the scenes. It was additionally reported that Priest 'turned heads' with his performances at the Royal Rumble and on his first night on RAW. Another employee close to the situation revealed that Priest was offered a 'full plate' by WWE across both nights. Thankfully for Priest, he passed the test admirably well and did everything expected of him as a WWE performer.
We hope this is true because Damian Priest deserves to be in a good spot on RAW. Making a good first impression backstage in WWE might be the key to his success, and we hope that he ends up being in the rumored celebrity match with Bad Bunny at WrestleMania 37.
#3. Hope isn't true: WWE freezing promotions and raises
COVID-19 has affected WWE, but it hasn't been the worst-hit company by any means. The level of cost-cutting that has been done from talent and employee releases along with the lack of travel and venues means that WWE has been able to save a decent chunk of money in 2020.
Despite this, a controversial move has been made. PWInsider had reported that WWE employees were unhappy because the company decided to freeze raises, promotions, and bonuses. Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported that WWE employees have been given stock award valued at $3000:
Sportskeeda's Anirban Banarjee wrote:
However, the latest report suggests that WWE employees are given stock units worth $3000 instead. The report further stated that not every employee was receiving stock units, but the majority were. The units are set to vest next month. This came after WWE employees discovered that promotions and raises had been put on hold.
We hope this isn't true because WWE has the money to continue with the raises, promotions, and bonuses. It seems like an extreme cost-cutting method yet again.
#2. Hope is true: Update on whether WWE will allow Sami Zayn to promote his charity on social media
Sami Zayn might be one of WWE's biggest heels on SmackDown, but outside the ring, he's anything but that. The WWE star has received a lot of positive attention in the last few years for his fundraising campaign "Sami For Syria" - aimed at setting up mobile clinics in the war-torn country of Syria.
Dave Meltzer mentioned on WOR that while WWE Superstars are contractually not allowed to promote charities on social media, Sami Zayn will be allowed to promote his:
"WWE told me that it has to do with an agreement. It's basically the same policy that they've had for other forums but now they've extended it to Twitter and Instagramm. There was even a story on how charitable stuff is not allowed, and essentially everything is on a case-by-case basis. But I asked specifically about Sami for Syria because that's one of the charities I know most about, and they said, that's fine, he will still be able to promote that." (H/t WrestleTalk)
We hope this is true because it makes no sense for WWE Superstars to not promote their charities. Given how vital "Sami for Syria" is, it's a bad look for WWE as well if they disallowed him from promoting it.
#2. Hope isn't true: WWE's pay range for NXT superstars
NXT has become WWE's third brand and has greatly grown in stature ever since its move from the WWE Network to the USA Network - where it also became a two-hour program.
However, NXT Superstars are still not expected to be making "main roster level" money, and it has a lot to do with the fact that RAW and SmackDown are much bigger brands.
According to Dave Meltzer on WOR, most NXT Superstars make money in the low $100,000s, and named Adam Cole and Finn Balor as the two exceptions:
"They're not making $250,000 or $300,000 or anything like that — Balor I'm sure is, but I don't think anyone else is. They're probably in the low $100,000's…. I know one top person in NXT who's been there for a long time, and he should be making a ton, but he's making $130,000…. so, they're making like $130,000, $150,000. Adam Cole may be making a little more, he should be. That's the range."
We hope this isn't true, because NXT has been a hot brand for years now. While it hasn't been as hot as it was a few years ago, the brand has grown enough for the Superstars to make more than what they are. This applies more so to the WWE stars who have been around in NXT for a while.
#1. Hope is true: WWE done with Aalyah Mysterio angle?
It seemed as though WWE put Dominik Mysterio on the sidelines in favor of a romantic angle between Murphy and Aalyah Mysterio. The latter, who isn't even a wrestler, got a storyline on television that was abruptly dropped towards the end of the year.
Even Murphy hasn't appeared on WWE television since early December, with no plans in place for him. Dave Meltzer noted on The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) that WWE quietly dropped the storyline after they weren't aware of how to go forward with it:
"Regarding the Murphy/Aalyah disappearance, that was noted this week when during the Rollins promo, Murphy was one of the wrestlers at ringside, never pointed out or focused, so he was at TV. It was just an angle dropped. There’s no backstory or behind-the-scenes story on it. I guess they had no idea where to take it and thus dropped it."
We hope this is true because it sums up WWE creative in a nutshell. Why start a storyline without any idea of how to conclude it? Thankfully, Dominik Mysterio is a regular on WWE TV again.
#1. Hope isn't true: Carlito's WWE status
Carlito returned to WWE after a decade in the 2021 Men's Royal Rumble match, looking like he was in the best physical shape of his life. Many fans were happy to see him, and assumed that it would lead to a full-time WWE return, similar to MVP's in 2020.
That doesn't seem to be the case. Some would argue that Carlito is a perfect addition to the WWE roster, and would help elevate current Superstars. Dave Meltzer revealed on WON that Carlito is not under a WWE contract:
"Carlito is not under contract at this point. WWE used him for the Rumble and the next day and people put over his new physique, but at this point he is still a free agent and has said he’s open to work anywhere."
When speaking on Whattaday!, Carlito said that he's open to offers from WWE or AEW as well:
"Man who knows. As of now, I'm open to whatever kind of idea that's out there. Right now, I'm on my own. If a great opportunity comes to go back to WWE, I'm just open to whatever comes my way."
We hope this isn't true because Carlito would be extremely useful on the current WWE roster and deserves another run.
