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Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/Wrestling rumors we hope are true, and those we hope aren't! Let's jump right into the rumors of the week:
#5. Hope is true: WWE's surprising potential plans for the WrestleMania 37 main event
There have been a lot of adjustments that WWE has had to make for WrestleMania 37. Unlike WrestleMania 36, where WWE had to adjust to everything at the last minute, there seems to be a certain sense of anticipation over the things that could change for WrestleMania 37.
Initial reports have suggested that WWE is looking to move WrestleMania 37 out of the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and host it at the Raymond James Stadium in Miami, Florida - the originally planned venue for WrestleMania 36 this year.
Other reports have suggested that WWE was planning Edge vs. Randy Orton for the main event of WrestleMania 37, but that could change as well. According to Wrestlingnews.com, Vince McMahon and WWE are hoping to have Becky Lynch back by early 2021:
"Vince is hoping for Becky to be back in January or February to start the one on one feud with Ronda."
Also, the report mentioned that Vince McMahon could have the match penciled in as the main event of WrestleMania 37 and a match that big can't be done at ThunderDome:
"Vince wants WrestleMania to be the show that says 'WWE is back. We can't do Becky vs. Ronda in the Thunderdome with no fans. He wants the fans back, and they will be back by the time Mania rolls around."
We hope this is true because it would make for a much more entertaining and suitable main event than Edge vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.
#5. Hope isn't true: Vince McMahon's perception on Andrade before and after the WWE Draft
Certain WWE Superstars evidently benefited under Paul Heyman. While AJ Styles wasn't one of them, Superstars like Andrade and Aleister Black were.
With Paul Heyman now gone as the RAW Executive Director, it's also clear that some Superstars have stopped benefiting and have simply stopped getting pushed. Andrade seems to be one of those Superstars. In a tweet responding to a fan, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated that Vince McMahon never "got" Andrade, to begin with:
We hope this isn't true because Andrade was supposed to be WWE's key to the Latino market. They haven't had major Latino stars at the level of Rey Mysterio or Eddie Guerrero in years now. While it's hard to reach that level of popularity, Andrade has the potential to be a Superstar important to that market.
To add to it, he is still young, with a lot left to give. Hopefully, Vince McMahon and WWE change their mind on Andrade.
#4. Hope is true: WWE planning a big change for Big E's push?
The New Day appeared to be a team that WWE would never split. They were perfect together and had six long years as a group - the longest of any faction in WWE history.
There's no doubt that they have achieved all that they needed to, and WWE's plans for Big E were clearer than ever when the trio was split in the latest WWE Draft. Big E was kept on SmackDown while Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were drafted to RAW.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE intends to give Big E a character change before pushing him:
"One would suspect E getting a major singles push, which was talked about weeks ago and somewhat started. The idea is to get him out of the comedic mode. There is a logic to it even though, because the New Day has been established together for so many years and have been popular, there was going to be a negative reaction breaking them up without a storyline leading to it."
We hope this is true because Big E would need a big adjustment in character before starting on his singles run without Kofi Kingston or Xavier Woods by his side.
#4. Hope isn't true: WWE trainees afraid to return to the Performance Center?
Testing for COVID-19 within WWE had become an issue until someone tested positive in the company. It resulted in a lot of WWE Superstars unexpectedly testing positive for COVID-19, though their names were often never mentioned unless they chose to bring it up themselves.
There seems to be a new problem. A lot of Superstars within WWE, particularly NXT, appear to be "COVID Truthers" who don't believe that the pandemic is as serious as it's made out to be. According to Fightful, this has resulted in several WWE trainees missing out on the intended return date to the Performance Center:
The report states that there are a few people in NXT who are unwilling to accept the COVID-19 for the deadly virus that it is, and reportedly feel that it is a conspiracy. According to the report, NXT trainees were set to return last Thursday to the Performance Center, but they failed to return due to these "COVID truthers" part of the NXT roster. The report further highlights that WWE had told these trainees that they would not face any backlash if they didn't show up to the Performance Center but would have to tell WWE Chairman Vince McMahon the reason why.
We hope this isn't true, but given rumors of WWE Superstars in NXT hosting a party and various other reports, there could be some truth to it.
#3 Hope is true: WWE's monstrous plans for Lars Sullivan
Lars Sullivan is back in WWE after 16 months away, and he has officially been drafted to SmackDown. His return caused some buzz, but news immediately hit of another mistake he made - sending inappropriate messages to someone on Instagram.
Regardless, Lars Sullivan reportedly has one major supporter, and he also happens to be the one that makes the big decisions. Given how Lars Sullivan squashed Jeff Hardy a week after the WWE Draft before sending him off to RAW, there could be some truth to that.
According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, the destination that WWE has in mind for Lars Sullivan in a year is a match against Braun Strowman:
"But there's got to be a destination. I mean, it's Strowman in a year but not yet."
We hope this is true because it would be a good way to build Lars Sullivan. Of course, this is under the assumption that he stays out of trouble and manages to make amends to WWE for keeping their faith in him.
#3. Hope isn't true: WWE cancels RAW Underground?
To nobody's surprise, it appears that WWE has scrapped RAW Underground. Ever since rumors of a party hosted by NXT talent emerged, the bubble that WWE tried to put Superstars in seems to have burst, and there has been a fallout as well
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that RAW Underground was scrapped for a multitude of reasons. While health risks were one of them, there was also backstage word about RAW Underground not fitting in with the regular show. Sportskeeda's Nishant J. wrote:
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE decided to scrap RAW Underground for a few reasons. He revealed that WWE did not film any RAW Underground segments in recent weeks because they were worried that the extras in the segment could cause the spread of COVID-19. WWE did not want to run the risk of the roster getting the virus from these extras. But, even with the RAW Underground group returning to WWE, the company has decided not to go ahead with it. He also said that following the WWE Draft, which ended this past week on RAW, WWE was skeptical about the RAW Underground segments fitting into the show.
We hope this isn't true because it was a unique little bit to add to RAW, especially during WWE's COVID-19 era. It's also a good part of the show that fans seemed to enjoy, though we concede that more McMahon TV time isn't necessarily needed.
#2. Hope is true: WWE is continuing with ThunderDome
So far, WWE has held three pay-per-views in the ThunderDome arena. After spending over four months in the WWE Performance Center, the decision was made to shift to the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, to the ThunderDome. And it has resulted in a better presentation of WWE pay-per-views and the regular weekly shows RAW and SmackDown.
While the contract was rumored to end on October 31st, PWInsider has reported that WWE extended their contract with the Amway Center for another month.
Sporskeeda's Kishan Prasad wrote:
WWE keeping the ThunderDome setup alive in Amway Center for another month also suggests that the company will emanate the Survivor Series PPV from the same location. Survivor Series is one of WWE's big four PPVs, and fans can be certain that the company will go all out to make the PPV a memorable one.
We hope this is true because the ThunderDome arena is far better from a visual standpoint than the Performance Center. It's the closest WWE has had to a live crowd since they started the empty arena shows in March.
#2. Hope isn't true: WWE to open the dialogue for a John Cena and Undertaker return?
We're all aware of how WWE loves to give a call to the legends of the past, especially during the WrestleMania season. The logic seems to be that WWE wants the biggest names during the biggest time of the year.
According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is planning to open the dialogue with John Cena and The Undertaker again if the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed:
“I think if there are no fans then there’s no reason to bring [Cena] back. If there are fans… you know come WrestleMania season they’re gonna talk to John Cena and they’re gonna talk to Undertaker. I mean it’s just how it is no matter what they say now. A lot of times those guys come back.”
We hope this isn't true. While we're open to seeing a return for John Cena, it doesn't make any sense to have The Undertaker return, especially when he hinted at being done with WWE in The Last Ride documentary. Moreover, the Boneyard match was the perfect way to end his storied WWE career.
#1. Hope is true: WWE went with Roman Reigns-Jey Uso 2 over another match
Jey Uso recently revealed that WWE wasn't planning on extending his feud with Roman Reigns after Clash of Champions 2020. But given how organic it has played out and the response it has received, it now has another pay-per-view bout at Hell in a Cell.
The two cousin brothers will face off in the I Quit Hell in a Cell match, and according to Wrestlingnews.co, the original plan was for WWE to have The Fiend face Roman Reigns at the October pay-per-view instead until plans changed:
According to Wrestlingnews.co, Roman Reigns wasn't supposed to face Jey Uso at Hell In A Cell. The original plan for Reigns was to face The Fiend at the PPV. Recently, the reason why Jey Uso was chosen to face Roman Reigns at Hell in a Cell was revealed.
We hope this is true because The Fiend vs. Roman Reigns would have been a better WrestleMania match. Since WWE can't protect The Fiend too much against Roman Reigns, it makes more sense for an organic story like Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso to play out at the pay-per-view instead.
#1. Hope isn't true: Real-life heat between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle resulting in a WWE Draft change?
While Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle have previously stated that they wanted to face each other, that seems to have changed. Seth Rollins recently stated that he has no interest in facing Matt Riddle and that he could go to RAW instead.
That's exactly what happened, and Seth Rollins is now a SmackDown star while Matt Riddle was moved to RAW as a part of the WWE Draft. According to Wrestlingnews.co on Twitter, the real-life heat seems to stem from a post made by Matt Riddle's wife about Seth Rollins' partner Becky Lynch:
While we hope this isn't true, the fact that Matt Riddle was drafted to RAW soon after Seth Rollins' comments suggests that it could be. It isn't a good look for Matt Riddle, but there seems to be more to the story.
Either way, we hope that the real-life heat doesn't affect Matt Riddle's WWE trajectory - which could be upwards.
