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Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/Wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. We're on the road to WrestleMania, with a little over a month to go until the Show of Shows.
There's one more WWE PPV - Fastlane - left, and the television programming is currently focused on that. A lot of the rumors will be WrestleMania 37-centric, but we'll also go into the biggest shock of the wrestling world this past week - Paul Wight fka The Big Show's departure from WWE and signing with AEW.
There's a lot to get into, so let's start with the WWE title match at WrestleMania 37:
#5. Hope is true: Who the WWE Champion could be heading into WrestleMania 37
Bobby Lashley may have lost the United States Championship at Elimination Chamber 2021, but he took a step up to the WWE Championship picture. He was in the WWE title picture in the early stages of Drew McIntyre's first title reign last year, but this year, he looks like a legitimate contender.
Almost all of 2020 was spent getting Lashley back on track, and many believe that this is his best run in WWE to date. It's hard to argue against the fact, especially since he is a favorite to walk into WrestleMania 37 as the WWE Champion.
Last week on RAW, MVP and Bobby Lashley came to collect their due from The Miz. It was MVP who plotted to help The Miz win the WWE title at Elimination Chamber, and Bobby Lashley executed it - helping The A-Lister win his first WWE Championship in 10 years.
According to WrestleVotes, the rumblings about the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 37 have been that Bobby Lashley will be involved, while The Miz will not.
We hope this is true because Bobby Lashley deserves to have a WWE title run at least once in his career. While he's in great physical shape, the length of his tenure in WWE isn't guaranteed.
He's also ready for a big WWE title spot at WrestleMania, whether it's against Drew McIntyre or Brock Lesnar. Fans and Lashley himself will certainly hope for the latter, especially since that's the reason Lashley returned to WWE in the first place.
Dave Meltzer of WON additionally stated that The Miz feels like a transitional Champion and that WWE is doing everything possible to make it seem like Bobby Lashley will destroy The Miz. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
#5. Hope isn't true: The direction WWE could take with Cesaro's push
Cesaro is having another singles career resurgence in 2021 - over five-and-a-half years after his great run in 2015. He was a part of The Elimination Chamber match but fell short in a good performance.
It seems like everything Cesaro touches turns into gold in WWE these days, and fans have been hopeful that he will finally receive the big push that they've wanted to see him get for years.
However, that may not be the case. According to Dave Meltzer of WON, Cesaro's push could be leading to a match where he loses to Roman Reigns:
"Reigns is facing Edge at Mania, which either means no title match for him until then, or they do something to pay off Reigns vs. Cesaro with the idea Cesaro could win and Edge would face him, although I don’t expect people would take that so seriously."
We hope this isn't true because it's better if Cesaro is kept away from Roman Reigns and the Universal Championship picture until he's ready to be in that spot. Right now, it makes no sense for them to face off, especially since Cesaro isn't ready to dethrone the WWE Universal Champion.
#4. Hope is true: WWE's plans for The Miz at WrestleMania 37
The Miz's biggest foil before his WWE title win at Elimination Chamber was Bad Bunny. On the same PPV, he was slapped by the Puerto Rican celebrity. WWE loves to have celebrities in featured matches at WrestleMania since it brings some mainstream attention to the product.
WWE seems to have that hope for Bad Bunny, who is also the 24/7 Champion. With over 30 million Instagram followers, he has a big presence in the mainstream world.
Despite The Miz's WWE title win, he is scheduled to team up with John Morrison to face Bad Bunny and Damian Priest at WrestleMania 37. Sportskeeda's Matt Black wrote:
According to Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful Select, The Miz is scheduled to team with John Morrison to face Damian Priest and Bad Bunny. WWE has been planning this match since early February. Despite The Miz winning his second WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, those plans haven't changed.
We hope this is true because it's a better role for him. While he isn't an undeserving WWE Champion, there hasn't been much done in the last year to justify his presence in the marquee world title match at WrestleMania.
#4. Hope isn't true: The reason why Paul Wight left WWE
The Big Show fka Paul Wight has been associated with WWE for over two decades now. He debuted in the company in early 1999, and while there was a brief period where he left, he has been a mainstay and one of the longest-tenured Superstars in WWE.
His signing with AEW came as a big shock to the wrestling world since many couldn't imagine him leaving WWE. The assumption was that he was largely done with his in-ring career and would be headed towards retirement.
Paul Wight expressed his unhappiness with WWE. Sportskeeda's Danny Hart wrote:
According to PW Insider’s Mike Johnson, Paul Wight’s WWE contract expired shortly after the Legends Night episode of WWE RAW on January 4, 2021. One source reportedly said that he was “very open that night about his unhappiness” in WWE.
We hope this isn't true, although if Wight managed to get out of WWE after expressing his unhappiness, then we hope that he has an enjoyable run in AEW, where he will be appearing as both a performer and a commentator.
#3. Hope is true: "The Line of communication" between AEW and WWE has been blown open
When we said that Big Show/Paul Wight's WWE departure was a big deal, we meant it. He isn't the first WWE Superstar to jump ship to AEW, nor will he be the last.
But Wight's departure from WWE and subsequent AEW signing seems to have been an impactful one. It was mentioned that Paul Wight will be an in-ring competitor, but will also serve as a commentator on the new YouTube show AEW Dark: Elevation.
According to WrestleVotes, Paul Wight's signing means that WWE Superstars are open to all communication from outside parties once their contracts expire.
We hope this is true because it will be a big step up from 2020 where WWE Superstars had little to no bargaining power. The company was swift with their furloughs and releases, but if WWE Superstars are getting numerous contract offers - especially from AEW - then they are likely to get bigger deals from WWE.
Perhaps Paul Wight's move to AEW was a great one in the bigger picture.
#3. Hope isn't true: WWE's plans for Asuka at WrestleMania 37
Asuka hasn't been at the forefront of WWE's Women's division in 2021. However, she has been the most utilized woman on the WWE roster behind Sasha Banks and Bayley in the pandemic era.
On the 22nd February episode of RAW, Charlotte Flair inadvertently kicked Asuka in the face instead of Shayna Baszler - with the duo losing to the Women's Tag Team Champions.
As per Cageside Seats, it's rumored that the angle was meant to set up a RAW Women's title match between Asuka and Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 37:
"It's believed the post-match angle between Charlotte Flair and Asuka from Monday's Raw is setting up a feud between the two for WrestleMania 37, but may not have come off as planned because of Asuka losing a tooth during their loss to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler."
We hope this isn't true. Not because it isn't a big enough match, but it's not intriguing enough for WrestleMania 37. It seems to be a situation where WWE has a lack of other contenders. Unfortunately, the outcome is also predictable, since Charlotte Flair has defeated Asuka in nearly every meeting they've had.
#2. Hope is true: WWE planning to protect Damian Priest?
Damian Priest seems to be having a great start to his WWE main roster career. While it appeared that there might have been nothing for him, the alliance with fellow Puerto Rican Bad Bunny has benefited him greatly.
On the 22nd February episode of RAW, Damian Priest defeated Angel Garza after a lot of involvement from Bad Bunny.
Dave Meltzer mentioned on WOR (via Cageside Seats) that WWE is planning to protect Damian Priest until WrestleMania 37 at the very least:
"Another good sign for Damian Priest: on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirmed that WWE officials “like him” and that “he’s gonna be protected for sure until WrestleMania and probably after.” Meltzer did add the usual caveat about Vince McMahon changing his mind and giving up on Priest, “but for right now, he’s in a good spot and he’s doing well.”
Protecting Priest this early in his WWE career should set him up for some big clashes and championship opportunities in the future. We hope this is true because if he impresses enough, his push can get sustained. While we don't expect him to take a sudden leap to main event stardom, having a good start on the WWE roster can work out in the long run.
#2. Hope isn't true: The WWE backstage reaction to Paul Wight's departure
Paul Wight's WWE departure wasn't just a shock to fans, but the locker room as well. As it was previously mentioned, Wight openly expressed his unhappiness in WWE backstage during the RAW Legends Night, and that seemed to set the wheels in motion for his AEW signing.
According to Fightful, people backstage in WWE were surprised about Paul Wight's sudden departure, with most not even aware that he was leaving.
Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:
A majority of the WWE Superstars that Fightful reached out to had no idea about Big Show leaving WWE. The WWE talent reportedly revealed that they didn't notice a 'chorus of goodbyes' behind the scenes. The WWE higher-ups were aware this month of Big Show's decision to quit and not be involved with the company in any capacity.
We hope this isn't true, because it's unfortunate if a legend like Paul Wight didn't get a farewell backstage in WWE. He had been a loyal servant to the company for nearly two decades.
#1. Hope is true: WWE calling it quits with RETRIBUTION?
WWE put a lot of work into RETRIBUTION right from the start, with the indication that there would be a major storyline happening. Their debut wasn't handled well by WWE, but when Mustafa Ali turned heel for the first time when he was revealed as the faction's leader, there was a positive sign.
It only went downhill, and it appears that RETRIBUTION loses nearly every match they are a part of in WWE, whether it's a singles bout or a tag team one. None of the members have benefited from it, and according to Cageside Seats, RETRIBUTION could get disbanded soon:
The early speculation after Raw is that RETRIBUTION may indeed be heading for a split sooner rather than later.
We hope this is true because every member involved will need a lot of work to recover from the damage done. We expect that WWE will send a few of the RETRIBUTION members back to NXT, while some will be repackaged for singles runs.
#1. Hope isn't true: Only two WWE Superstars spoke up against The Undertaker
The Undertaker commented on The Joe Rogan Experience about the current generation of WWE superstars being "soft". This reportedly caused a stir backstage in WWE, with many Superstars taking offense to The Deadman's comment.
Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns publicly spoke up against it, with the latter describing it as "a retired guy trying to sound gangster". Roman Reigns emphasized that this generation of WWE Superstars are a lot smarter from multiple aspects - primarily the financial side of it and the future.
According to Dave Meltzer of WON, only Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns had enough stature to speak out, while the others felt it was a no-win situation:
"Let’s just say a lot of talent, not just here was very upset about Undertaker calling the modern generation of wrestlers soft, and at those who backed up that statement. Aside from Reigns and McIntyre, who evidently felt their stature was such that they could retaliate without getting heat, most kept quiet because it’s a no win situation arguing with a legend in public."
It should be noted that Riddle took a few shots, but Meltzer said that it was likely that he was trying to set up an angle like he did with Brock Lesnar and Goldberg in the past.
We hope this isn't true because it's a shame that no other WWE Superstars feel that they can give their opinion on the matter.
