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Welcome to this week's edition of wrestling/WWE rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. It's been an interesting week in the world of wrestling, but the last few days have been a dark cloud over the industry following multiple allegations against wrestlers.
While we can only comment on that after more details are out, this edition will be more storyline and WWE product-focus as always.
#5. Hope is true: Vince McMahon still high on a current Champion in WWE
With Becky Lynch likely gone for a full year, RAW and WWE's entire women's division needs a new face. While she may not be the long-term face of the Red brand, Asuka has taken on the most important role in all of women's wrestling.
Unsurprisingly then, she's arguably the most reliable name to go with right now and there's no denying her credibility in the ring. She's won every available Women's title since debuting for WWE in late 2015 and there was a lot of concern that Paul Heyman's removal as RAW Executive Director could affect her push.
WrestleTalk reported that Asuka is safe and that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is still high on her:
“He [Vince] is still high on Asuka, she won’t be hurt with Heyman gone”.
We hope this is true because Asuka is the best female WWE Superstar they can go with right now. While Charlotte Flair would be an obvious alternative, fans wouldn't react well to her getting another title for the sake of collecting WWE Championship reigns.
However, given her history with Asuka and the fact that she always comes out on top against the RAW Women's Champion (which seems to be intentional for a future storyline), we wouldn't be surprised to see her have another reign as Champion.
#5. Hope isn't true: Elias reportedly out of WWE for a long time
Elias could reportedly be out of action in WWE for a very long time. While he beat King Corbin at WWE WrestleMania 36, he wasn't seen much since, returning at Money in the Bank 2020 to cost his rival Corbin the match.
Shortly thereafter, he was written out. He was involved in the Jeff Hardy-Sheamus angle where Hardy was framed for yet another "DUI" incident, something that wasn't received too well by the WWE Universe.
John Pollock of POST Wrestling confirmed that Elias suffered a torn pectoral muscle:
Elias is out of action with a torn pectoral muscle, POST Wrestling has learned from multiple sources with the angle shot to write him off of television while he recovers. It is not known when he suffered the injury.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted on his Backstage Report podcast that Elias could be out until WrestleMania 37:
"Elias got ran over by that car in a segment a couple of weeks ago, but he's got a torn pectoral and may not be back till WrestleMania 37. Heal up soon."
We hope this isn't true because it seems far too long for him to be away from WWE. Either way, we hope that he recovers quickly.
#4. Hope is true: More WWE RAW and SmackDown stars want to work in NXT
While it could be argued that Finn Balor's return to WWE NXT nine months ago made an impact, Kevin Owens working NXT TakeOver: War Games last year seems to have had a ripple effect in WWE. Tom Colohue reported before TakeOver: War Games that there was a shortlist of Superstars who wanted to return to NXT and soon after, the former WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens made his presence known in a surprise appearance.
Charlotte Flair was a RAW Superstar in the start of 2020, but following a Royal Rumble win, she began to appear in NXT as well, challenging Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's title and proceeding to win it for a second time at WWE WrestleMania 36.
Colohue referred to the above-mentioned report and stated that since then, there have been many more names who have expressed a strong desire to work in NXT:
Since then, I've learnt a lot more names. Asuka being one of them. Cesaro. Naomi has confirmed that she tried to go back to NXT. Members of the New Day have mentioned that they would love to work in NXT. Ricochet, Kevin Owens, Charlotte Flair, and, Sasha Banks and Bayley - who I had mentioned a couple of months ago I believe, as people who really wanted to spend more time in NXT and that is why the tag team championships of the women have been set up as they are. So it could be anyone of those.
We hope this is true because it would be nice to see a crossover that boosts the NXT brand.
#4. Hope isn't true: Mystery Hacker angle halted or canceled?
The WWE Mystery Hacker angle seemed to be an exciting one. Having mysterious figures always builds a sense of anticipation, but there's a sense of disappointment when such angles are quietly canceled.
This might be the case for the Mystery Hacker angle. As you might know, WWE star Mustafa Ali was rumored to be the mystery hacker but has been quietly moved to RAW. Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:
PWInsider was the first to note that Mustafa Ali was quietly moved to RAW on the roster page on the WWE website. Meltzer noted the same while also adding that the mystery hacker vignettes have also disappeared from WWE TV.
The report further stated that there's a possibility that the mystery hacker angle could spill over to WWE RAW. However, the status of the angle and whether it's being continued or not is unclear. We hope this isn't true because it would have been all for nothing if the hacker angle never came to pass. Why did WWE possibly commit to a storyline if there's no substance in it?
#3. Hope is true: Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura replacing The Forgotten Sons
The Forgotten Sons might be in jeopardy in WWE. Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake may have lost their push due to an untimely tweet by Jaxson Ryker, where he showed his support for United States President Donald Trump. It angered many members of the WWE roster and it seems to have affected The Forgotten Sons, who were scheduled for a feud against WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that The Forgotten Sons are being replaced by Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro in a title feud:
Nakamura & Cesaro are replacing The Forgotten Sons in a planned program with The New Day. It's unfortunate because the comments by Jaxson Ryker, which both Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake immediately and publicly distanced themselves from, has led to all three of them being taken off television. And Cutler & Blake were the team in the ring as Ryker was used more in an outside interference role. There are those who felt the gimmick itself wasn't the right thing in these turbulent times.
We hope this is true because Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are a better fit to challenge for and potentially win the WWE Tag Team titles. The Forgotten Sons don't need to be repackaged, but some time away from WWE TV might not do any harm.
#3. Hope isn't true: WWE backstage unhappy with The Street Profits over RAW segment
RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits have been regular features of WWE programming since their move to Monday Night RAW. They've been in a "friendly feud" with The Viking Raiders, where the theme isn't animosity or hatred - it's simply a competitive rivalry where the two teams try to prove that they're better than the other.
However, people backstage in WWE might not be happy with Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins over a segment on the last episode of RAW, where they were seen jumping over the barricade and high-fiving members of the audience.
Tom Colohue revealed on the latest episode of Dropkick DiSKussions that there was a lot of unhappiness backstage in WWE over this segment:
The backstage areas were upset with the Street Profits that they went out and joined the crowd. The plan was not to go out, They were giving high fives to everyone, and they have obviously taken a risk with that. Dominik's run through the crowd, that was planned, and he was definitely breaking social distancing with how close he was to some of these people later on. So there was something planned, and there was something not planned.
It's problematic since WWE has to adhere to social distancing rules as much as they possibly can. It's the same reason why you won't see more than 7-8 people in a ring at one time and also the reason why developmental talent are made to stand apart.
#2. Hope is true: Vince McMahon "works" the dirt sheets
Christian's return to RAW last week one night after WWE Backlash came as quite a surprise, not because of his appearance alone, but what WWE had planned in store for him. Right off the bat, Randy Orton told Christian to take an unsanctioned match against him.
According to Tom Colohue on Dropkick DiSKussions, Christian is 100% retired from WWE and the dirt sheets getting wind of Christian's return beforehand was an intentional move by Vince McMahon and WWE:
"Also another one of Vince's go-to's is leaking information. The Christian information was leaked early in the day and almost everybody had it. In the hours preceding RAW, almost every wrestling journalist was talking about Christian... and they weren't being subtle about it. At all. I'm confident that information was meant to get out, to get the ratings going. And by the look of it, it did pay off
We hope this is true because it was a clever move by WWE to leak the information. Not much information has been getting out so it makes sense that it was intentional. And it worked.
#2. Hope isn't true: Only a few Superstars are "safe" after Paul Heyman's removal as Executive Director
We started with Paul Heyman's removal as the WWE RAW Executive Director and how Asuka is going to be "safe" as Vince McMahon is still high on her. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, only a few WWE Superstars are safe and will do well in the post-Heyman era:
Randy Orton, and, Charlotte Flair and Drew McIntyre are going to do well, and aside from that, and Seth Rollins, and aside from that I think all the bets are off when it comes to every single person on that roster. Some of them will do well, and some of them are going to be unhappy.
We hope this isn't true because Paul Heyman took some bold steps to start pushing fresher names. The push of Apollo Crews was the most notable one in the past couple of months of WWE TV and it added a new feeling to RAW - a change and break away from the same old show.
#1. Hope is true: Positive backstage perception of Kevin Owens
After a developmental talent in WWE tested positive for COVID-19, it led to a chain reaction where all Superstars and staff were tested for the first time. Conditions have reportedly improved since, but Kevin Owens is one WWE Superstar who isn't taking a chance.
When asked about people skipping tapings, Sean Ross Sapp in a Q&A revealed that Owens opted out of working the tapings but there's no heat backstage in WWE on him for it:
Q: Do you think more guys and girls will choose to skip the upcoming tapings now?
SRS: Well, Kevin Owens did. From what I understand, it was completely amicable. From what I understand he told them he wasn't going to come in on whenever the next RAW tapings were this week, and they didn't pressure him to do so.
Everybody there likes Kevin. Everybody there likes Kevin Owens. I have not heard one person say, 'Man, that Kevin Owens is a ******, that Kevin Owens is hard to deal with.'
A lot of people see him as a good moral gauge and a moral compass, and usually, if he says something is a rough situation, it's probably a rough situation. He's a pretty grounded guy. He's been showing up to work. He's been trying to make it work.
We hope this is true because Kevin Owens doesn't deserve to lose his push. He's been on a good roll since moving to WWE RAW and we hope to see that continue.
#1. Hope isn't true: Edge's injury period
Say what you will about the tagline of the match, but Edge vs Randy Orton was an in-ring masterclass that's going to be a lot more appreciated after a few years. With WWE Superstars like The Undertaker even saying that the match brought a tear to his eye, there was a lot of good that came out of it - except the fact that Edge tore his triceps.
Dave Meltzer first revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that Edge injured himself in the second retake of a spot and not the first. On WON, Meltzer said that Edge had a triceps-reattachment surgery and will likely be out for the rest of 2020 in WWE, but it'll lead to a Randy Orton trilogy bout:
"Edge actually had surgery to reattach the triceps muscle to the bone before the match aired. Generally that’s six-to-eight months of recovery, and will likely lead to another match," Meltzer said.
We hope this isn't true because it would be a shame to have Edge out of action so quickly into his WWE return run.
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