'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true, and those we hope aren't. We're getting closer to Elimination Chamber, and here are the big rumors of the week:
#5. Hope is true: WWE planning a big change for Dominik Mysterio?
Dominik Mysterio is one of the youngest Superstars on the WWE roster. He made his WWE debut at the age of 23 against Seth Rollins in a marquee SummerSlam match. Not many Superstars are given that big a spot, but the build to his WWE debut had taken a while.
Even still, some felt that he had taken a back seat when WWE had the Murphy-Aalyah Mysterio romantic angle. After that ended, he has been a regular on WWE TV, primarily feuding with King Corbin.
Konnan mentioned on Unskripted that Dominik Mysterio taking a back seat wasn't a bad thing because WWE was never going to keep him on top forever. He added that WWE is likely building him back up.
That might be true, and PWTorch's Wade Keller reported that WWE could be turning the popular star heel:
"I think they're headed towards Dominik turning heel. I've been an advocate for Dominik, getting a push ahead of his tenure and resume and the evidence that he is ready for it, and I think he might end up being a good heel. It does seem like that's where they are going - rebuffing Rey's advice last week and being heelish and attacking Corbin from behind.''
We hope this is true because a heel turn would be a good direction for Dominik Mysterio. Since WWE shouldn't try to make his career a carbon copy of his father's, a heel run at a young age would be interesting to explore.
Since Dominik Mysterio is still in the extremely early stages of his WWE career, it would be a fun direction to go in, especially for WrestleMania season.
#5. Hope isn't true: Vince McMahon didn't contact John Cena for WrestleMania 35 match against Kurt Angle?
Kurt Angle and Batista both retired from WWE on the same night at WrestleMania 35. While Kurt Angle's retirement match was advertised beforehand, nobody knew that Batista wrestled his final match in WWE until after the event when he revealed it on Instagram.
Kurt Angle had a six-minute match against Baron (King) Corbin, and it didn't deliver, just as predicted. Kurt Angle revealed on his show that he wanted his WWE retirement match to be against John Cena, but isn't sure if Vince McMahon even contacted the 16-time World Champion:
"No, I never reached out to John. I decided to go to Vince, and you know, talk to him about it, and you know, when I had the meeting with him, I'm not sure If he even contacted John. I wasn't expecting John to be at WrestleMania, so I went to Vince a good month and a half before WrestleMania to tell him I want John Cena at WrestleMania. I wanted it to be my retirement match, and I'd loved to have wrestled John because you know I started out his career, and I wanted him to end mine, and you know, I was hoping that he would put me in that match, but it just didn't happen."
We hope this isn't true because John Cena didn't even have a match that WrestleMania, and it would have been a perfect farewell to Kurt Angle.
#4. Hope is true: Zack Ryder's original plans before WWE release
Matt Cardona, fka Zack Ryder, was a long-tenured servant of WWE. Having spent over a decade in WWE, he could never reach the level that fans hoped he would. The company didn't seem particularly interested in pushing him either.
Ultimately, Zack Ryder's WWE career can be summed up as having a few glorious moments, but most of his time was spent either underutilized or on the sidelines.
Matt Cardona was released by WWE in their mass-firing incident in April 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardona was cut from his contract. A report from Fightful Select revealed that he was going to leave WWE in August 2020 anyway, as that was when his contract expired:
Fightful recently spoke to Matt Cardona, and in a report of Fightful Select, they have now revealed that Cardona was slated to leave WWE in August 2020.
We hope this is true because it would have been better for him to test the waters outside of WWE. Had it not been for the pandemic, he would have likely found an employer quickly as well.
#4. Hope isn't true: Reason why Murphy has been absent from WWE TV
Murphy has been relatively absent from WWE TV in the last couple of months, with his last match on SmackDown happening in early December. After his storyline with Aalyah Mysterio on SmackDown ended, WWE has kept him off TV.
It wasn't due to an injury either. According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, Murphy has been kept off TV for two reasons. Firstly, there is nothing for him creatively at the moment, and Steve Cutler's WWE release is tied into this as well. Sportskeeda's Abhilash Mendhe wrote:
According to Meltzer, WWE doesn't have anything for Murphy at the moment, and that is why he hasn't been seen on TV lately. Steve Cutler's WWE release hampered WWE's plans for Murphy, as per Meltzer. Cutler was released by WWE this past week. He had attended a New Year's Eve party, before testing positive for COVID-19 and Vince McMahon was reportedly angry at the decision.
We hope this isn't true because Murphy needs to be utilized more. He was gaining momentum in 2020, and this seemed like a sudden, abrupt halt by WWE.
#3. Hope is true: Finn Balor on when the Demon King will return to WWE
Finn Balor is enjoying his second run as the WWE NXT Champion, with his reign recently crossing 150 days. He held the record of the longest-reigning NXT Champion at 292 days until Adam Cole surpassed that.
Interestingly, Finn Balor has yet to make an appearance as The Demon King since he left the WWE main roster in 2019. In a Q & A with The New York Post, Finn Balor teased a return as The Demon King:
"Definitely. Obviously, there are moments in time for everything. Right now it doesn’t feel like the time for The Demon, but I’m sure there will be a moment where I go OK now it’s time to rock. You know, Karrion might be that time, but we will have to see how events kind of develop. But his character is definitely something that is very intriguing to the audience. Whether The Demon can add another element to that kind of situation when it arises will be interesting."
We hope this is true because The Demon King is long overdue for a return, and Karrion Kross would be a great opponent for that.
#3. Hope isn't true: WWE used Steve Cutler as a scapegoat by firing him?
The news of WWE releasing Steve Cutler seemed extremely random given the circumstances. The rumor was that Steve Cutler was fired from WWE after contracting COVID-19, but it was odd since Superstars such as Drew McIntyre and Rey Mysterio tested positive as well.
Along with Wesley Blake, Steve Cutler was taken out from WWE TV after former faction member Jaxson Ryker made a controversial tweet that infuriated people backstage.
When talking about Steve Cutler, Dave Meltzer revealed that he was used as a scapegoat when being fired by WWE:
"Cutler was fired and I don’t know why given that dozens of wrestlers in WWE have had COVID and nobody was fired including major stars like McIntyre and Mysterio of late and other headliners. Murphy, Blake and Cutler weren’t brought back, but Cutler was the only one fired. Perhaps it’s a scapegoat thing because Vince was said to be livid, but management in both companies at times have expressed frustration that some talent isn’t taking it seriously."
We hope this isn't true because it seems all-around unfair on Steve Cutler, especially given how so many WWE Superstars tested positive for COVID-19 over the last six to eight months.
#2. Hope is true: WWE had officials present at Super Bowl in anticipation of WrestleMania 37
Since WWE had to hold WrestleMania 36 behind closed doors, the originally-planned venue - the Raymond James Stadium - wasn't used. Instead of going to SoFi Stadium for WrestleMania 37, WWE will go to Raymond James Stadium instead, and the Miami arena was also the host for the 2021 Super Bowl.
Since it had fans in attendance, WWE kept a close eye on it, with reports that cardboard cutouts of fans could be utilized as well. Another report from WrestleVotes stated:
We hope this is true because it makes a lot of sense for WWE to delay ticket sales to pull off the event as safely as possible. There's a significant risk in running WrestleMania 37 this year with a crowd, but it can work out well at a limited capacity.
There weren't any reports about the Super Bowl being a COVID spreader, though some doctors were reportedly concerned.
#2. Hope isn't true: Why Vince McMahon mistreated Rey Mysterio in his first WWE World Title reign
There have been many stories about the time in WWE in 2006 when Vince McMahon was reluctant to push Rey Mysterio. Even after a feel-good Royal Rumble victory, the WWE Chairman never saw Mysterio as World Championship material.
Dave Meltzer spoke about Rey Mysterio's time as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion in 2006 and why he was one of the worst-booked World Champions in the history of the company:
''And proceeded to make him the biggest joke as a (world) champion in the history of the company. Vince was adamant about Rey not being in the Mania main event, was going to lose a match even after winning the Rumble. Everyone on the writing team wanted to put the title on Rey. Finally, he went to Patterson and Patterson said to put it on Rey Vince very begrudgingly did, and then Rey was the only champion in history to lose TV squashes as champion.”
We hope this isn't true, but given stories from other WWE personalities, it probably is.
#1. Hope is true: Why WWE finally turned Roman Reigns heel in 2020
WWE fans were shocked at the decision made by Vince McMahon to turn Roman Reigns heel in 2020 finally. As a heel, many fans believe that Roman Reigns is having the best run of his WWE career and his best World Title reign so far.
It's hard to disagree with the sentiment. Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz appeared on The Masked Man Show and explained that Vince McMahon's initial approach with Roman Reigns was exactly like it was with John Cena.
He mentioned, however, that the change in attitude was akin to Hulk Hogan's heel turn in WCW:
"I think the problem was I think he took that approach with Roman as well. I think it was the, ‘Don’t listen to people, trust your gut, Roman’s a babyface, he’s the new face of the company. At some point, obviously that mindset of, ‘We gotta keep Roman babyface, we gotta keep John Cena babyface’ shifted and in this particular case, it’s like similar to when [Hulk] Hogan turned heel in WCW." (H/T Post Wrestling)
We hope this is true because it was almost impossible to imagine WWE ever pulling the trigger on a Roman Reigns heel turn. Thankfully, they did that.
#1. Hope isn't true: A botched elimination at WWE Royal Rumble 2021
The WWE Women's Royal Rumble match was won by Bianca Belair, who put on a history-making performance. The Women's Royal Rumble was received well by WWE fans, especially since it indicated that the company is pushing a younger, future star rather than an older part-timer like Edge.
Either way, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that Bayley was eliminated earlier than intended:
Mike Johnson of PWInsider recently confirmed that former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley was eliminated "a little earlier than originally planned." How much longer she was supposed to be in the match and who was set to eliminate her ultimately is unknown, but she is confirmed to have been eliminated before she was meant to go out.
We hope this isn't true because Bayley could have added a lot to the match. Given that she had a storyline on SmackDown with Bianca Belair, WWE would have been better off having kept Bayley right up until the end.
