5 Wrestling rumors we hope are true and 5 we hope aren't: WWE star not leaving until 2024, 'Significantly lower' contracts given to 4 RAW stars?

Welcome to this week's edition of WWE/wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't. It's been an interesting week in the WWE and wrestling rumor mill, so let's jump right into it:

#5. Hope is true: Ricochet's WWE contract status

Ricochet debuted on the WWE main roster in 2019 and has seen moderate success since then. He was never going to become a main eventer in WWE instantaneously, and he has been taking the slow but organic build to become a bigger star.

There's a lot for him to work on, especially his character. But from the look of things, he's going to have plenty of time to develop further. Not only because WWE has enough main event stars at the moment, but he may have at least three more years on his contract. While there was a rumor about his WWE contract expiring soon, he shut down that rumor on Twitter.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ricochet signed a five-year contract in 2019 - well before the pandemic, and during a time when WWE was seemingly desperate to lock down talents to long-term deals.

Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:

As he signed his new deal before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricochet secured a lucrative 5-year contract. WWE was trying to keep its talent from joining AEW at that time, and they splashed a lot of money to lock its talent down to long-term deals.

We hope this is true because it makes a lot more sense for Ricochet to stay in WWE. Many fans would argue that he's an underutilized star, and perhaps he is to some extent, but in WWE, ascending the ladder takes time.

Most Superstars have to take the long road to become a main event star, and Ricochet has the potential to be just that.

#5. Hope isn't true: WWE offering 'significantly' lower contracts to RETRIBUTION members?

Fightful Select reported that WWE has offered new contracts to the members of RETRIBUTION. Excluding Mustafa Ali, the other members Slapjack (Shane Thorne), Mace (Dio Maddin), T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic), and Reckoning (Mia Yim) have reportedly been offered lower contracts:

Fightful has learned details on new contract offers to members of Retribution. Several sources with knowledge of the deals say that in the fall of 2020 WWE offered each member of the stable — not including Ali — three year contracts worth $250,000 per year. This is significantly lower than a lot of the incoming deal offers made in the last two years with more competition on the scene, but obviously the state of the world has changed things in that regard.

We hope this isn't true, because it's not a great deal in the modern professional wrestling landscape, let alone WWE. The COVID-19 pandemic is the reason for the lower-end contracts, especially given how WWE was offering high contracts to prevent Superstars from jumping ship to AEW or other promotions.

Regardless, WWE has been profitable despite the pandemic, and hopefully, there's a clause that can be activated to give the Superstars a higher guarantee.

#4. Hope is true: WWE makes a big change to WrestleMania 37

Before the worldwide lockdown went into effect, the assumption was that WWE WrestleMania 37 would take place in the newly-built SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

It would be a Hollywood-themed WrestleMania again, with the last one happening in 2005. However, the pandemic hit, and since March 2020, WWE has been hosting live shows behind closed doors.

They've had a year to make a contingency plan for WrestleMania 37, and that appears to be to return to Raymond James Stadium - the original venue of WrestleMania 36.

We hope this is true because it gives WWE more time to work out a plan to integrate fans into the stadium in one way. WWE confirmed that Raymond James Stadium will host WrestleMania 37 in 2021, and the event will take place over two nights, April 10 and April 11.

AT&T Stadium will host WrestleMania 38 in 2022, and SoFi Stadium will be the venue for WrestleMania 39 in 2023.

#4. Hope isn't true: 3 other WWE stars tested positive for COVID-19 along with Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre tested positive for COVID-19

In what was a rare case of a Superstars' COVID-19 positive test being announced, it was revealed that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was exposed to coronavirus.

Drew McIntyre stated that he was asymptomatic, but warned the WWE Universe to take COVID-19 seriously and to follow government protocols. Dave Meltzer revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that there were at least three other WWE Superstars who tested positive for COVID-19 along with Drew McIntyre:

"So, there are at least four, including Drew McIntyre, WWE wrestlers that I'm aware of that have or just got over COVID, and there may be more. Those were only the names I know."

Meltzer also stated that one of those stars was on SmackDown. We hope this isn't true, but given that it isn't the first time (nor will it be the last), it isn't surprising. It doesn't help that certain WWE Superstars openly post about social gatherings alongside wrestlers of other promotions.

#3. Hope is true: Drew McIntyre's status for WWE Royal Rumble 2021

On RAW Legends Night, Goldberg made his return to challenge Drew McIntyre to a WWE title match at Royal Rumble 2021. The following week, WWE revealed that Drew McIntyre tested positive for COVID-19.

It certainly helps that he's asymptomatic, so he went on to accept Goldberg's challenge on RAW in a virtual appearance anyway. While things could always change if the WWE Champion tests positive for COVID-19 again, all signs seem to indicate that Drew McIntyre will be ready for the Royal Rumble.

Dave Meltzer of WON stated:

"In most cases involving talent, they are allowed to return 10 to 14 days after a positive test so that easily makes it, but it’s always possible he could get sick and that would change, although at press time he was said to be fine and the belief is certainly he’ll be ready for the Rumble."

We hope this is true because it would be hard to imagine the Royal Rumble without a WWE title match. Drew McIntyre is an important part of keeping the pay-per-view together.

#3. Hope isn't true: WWE planning more romantic angles?

WWE loves pulling the occasional romantic angle. While Rusev, Lana, and Bobby Lashley's love triangle got a lot of attention in late 2019 and early 2020, there hasn't been a major romantic storyline in WWE since.

Ric Flair and Lacey Evans seem to have started a storyline on RAW, where he helped her defeat his daughter Charlotte Flair. According to Jim Ross on his podcast Grilling JR (via Cageside Seats), WWE is reportedly looking to do more romantic angles:

On a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross mentioned he’d heard WWE is looking to do more romance angles. This could help explain the pairing of Ric Flair & Lacey Evans.

We hope this isn't true because WWE is doing fine without any major romantic storyline. There hasn't been great reception to the Ric Flair-Lacey Evans storyline on RAW. While romantic storylines do get a lot of attention, it doesn't add much to WWE programming.

#2. Hope is true: Reason why WWE had Keith Lee break the turnbuckles on RAW

On the latest episode of RAW, WWE powerhouse Keith Lee had a moment in a tag team match where he slammed John Morrison against the turnbuckles, breaking it in the process.

According to Dave Meltzer on WOR, it was reportedly WWE's way of keeping interest heading into the commercial break. If you noticed, RAW instantly cut to a commercial break.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that the decision was made by WWE as a unique way to send RAW to a commercial break. Recently, fans have witnessed that WWE is using several cliffhanger spots to send RAW and SmackDown to a commercial break. This is a strategy to keep the fans interested and not tune out. As seen on RAW this week, the broken ropes were fixed during the commercial break and the match continued.

We hope this is true because WWE needs to find innovative ways to keep interest before a commercial break. Given how many ad breaks there are, having moments like these help.

#2. Hope isn't true: Multiple WWE stars present on RAW weren't utilized

RAW hasn't had as much momentum as SmackDown lately, and WWE is to blame for that. The stories haven't been as captivating, but the inconsistent featuring of certain talent make matters worse.

PWInsider reported that there were six WWE superstars backstage on RAW who weren't utilized, including RAW Women's Champion Asuka:

PWInsider is now reporting that six Superstars were backstage on RAW, but were just not utilized. These Superstars are RAW Women's Champion Asuka, RAW Tag Team Champions Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, Nikki Cross, Ricochet, and Humberto Carillo. It should also be noted that while Angel Garza didn't appear on the Red brand, he did appear on RAW Talk following the episode.

We hope this isn't true because there are a lot of stars WWE can utilize. Asuka is perhaps the biggest name on the list, and there has to be a way to feature important talent more regularly.

There were three Champions on the list who weren't utilized by WWE for RAW despite their presence backstage.

#1. Hope is true: Riddle's WWE contract status

While there were some initial reports of Riddle having signed a new deal with WWE, that appears to have been untrue. Riddle's contract status with WWE is still very much up in the air, and it could be interesting to see how WWE pursues him to sign a new contract.

As mentioned before with RETRIBUTION, the pandemic meant that WWE offered much lower guarantees than before. In 2019, they were splashing big money at Superstars who teased going to AEW.

The only one who reportedly got a great deal in the pandemic was Rey Mysterio since AEW reportedly had an offer matching WWE's.

Bryan Alvarez said on Wrestling Observer Live that The King of Bros has yet to sign a contract with WWE:

''Remember when they offered him a new deal? I don't think he's signed yet. Just want to throw that out there," said Alvarez.

We hope this is true because it's a smart move from Riddle. He knows that the longer he delays signing a new deal, the more desperate WWE could get. It's a good negotiation tactic.

#1. Hope isn't true: Paul Heyman denied a WWE star's request to face Brock Lesnar

Every full-time WWE star has interest in working with Brock Lesnar - who is now arguably the biggest name that the company has to offer. Since he only works a few times a year, not many WWE stars get to share the ring with him.

One WWE Superstar who asked repeatedly was Kevin Owens. On Talking Smack, he revealed that he requested Paul Heyman numerous time for a match against the former WWE World Champion, but it never came to be, with Heyman simply shrugging him off:

"I know it [Heyman's concern about Owens] is about as sincere as you were every single time I'd go to you these past four, five years, and tell you, 'Hey, I wanna fight The Beast Incarnate.' And you'd say, 'Oh, I'll talk to him about it.' That never happened, just like you don't care what happens to me at the Royal Rumble."

We hope this isn't true because Kevin Owens vs. Brock Lesnar on a WWE pay-per-view is a dream match and a dream feud that the former has been calling for a while now.

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