5 Wrestling Rumors we hope are true and 5 we hope aren't: Triple H calls out former champion in front of locker room, Vince McMahon rejects WWE legends' dream faction idea

Welcome to this week's edition of 5 wrestling rumors we hope are true and 5 we hope aren't! It's been a rather interesting week in the world of wrestling that concluded with AEW's PPV Full Gear - a show that delivered in a big way.

In WWE, the week's shows were filled with invasions upon invasions, with NXT featuring some shocking moments as well. However, one of the biggest bits on the rumor mill was WWE and the locker room dealing with the aftermath of the Saudi Arabia plane incident.

There were a whole lot of contradictory rumors that were spreading and WWE superstars such as Seth Rollins began directly addressing it themselves. This week's edition will feature some of that and what reportedly happened backstage, but there's a lot more happening now as well with Survivor Series just around the corner and these are the rumors we hope are true and those, of course, we hope aren't.

#5. Hope is true: Reason why Kofi Kingston is back in the tag team division

Many were shocked at how Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship reign ended in just 10 seconds at the hands of Brock Lesnar. However, he has now won The New Day's 7th Tag Team Championship.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kofi Kingston going back to the tag team division isn't a demotion by any means and it's the best way in their eyes to get him back up and running again.

It's also the best thing to do for The New Day since Xavier Woods is out of action for a while to come. We hope this is true because it is, in fact, the best course option for Kofi Kingston following his title loss. He's also a very reliable tag team champion.

#5. Hope isn't true: Triple H calls out a former tag team champion during a meeting

Triple H and Vince McMahon curated a meeting with the talent regarding the entire situation, affirming to the locker room that it was more of a mechanical issue with the plane than anything else.

While Randy Orton had a funny remark to make and Rusev raised a certain concern himself, Triple H had reportedly called out Karl Anderson for a remark he made on Twitter about the locker room leader post-incident, according to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio:

Randy Orton said something but he was just trying to break tension by being funny and Vince said, “Anybody else want to just kiss my a**?” The meeting was about to wrap up when Paul Levesque called out Karl Anderson for making a remark on Twitter about who is going to be the locker room leader on Monday.

We hope this isn't true because it sounds like a tense moment and it's never fun being called out in front of all your colleagues for something such as a tweet. However, WWE is very sensitive about any negative publicity, so it was probably a precautionary measure.

#4. Hope is true: Jeff Hardy returning later than expected

Jeff Hardy dealt with personal issues in 2019

Jeff Hardy hasn't had a great year in 2019. While he won the Tag Team Championship right after WrestleMania, it seemed to come at a cost as he suffered a knee injury and had to undergo surgery in May.

While his recovery and return period is November, it seems as though Hardy won't be returning so quickly. It probably has to do with the two arrests for DUI in July and October respectively.

From the look of things, WWE is giving him time and Fightful Select reported that there are no plans whatsoever for Jeff Hardy to return as he's dealing with personal issues.

“Despite being expected back in November, Jeff Hardy is not listed for a return as he’s taking care of his personal issues.”

While it's always good seeing Hardy in the ring, it's probably best for him that he takes this time off to get his personal issues sorted and also spend time with his family. The roster is stacked enough where it doesn't need him right now and he can always be saved for a surprise return at a future date. We wish nothing but the best to him.

#4. Hope isn't true: Vince McMahon rejects Randy Orton's faction idea

There was a period during the Wild Card rule where SmackDown star Randy Orton had an alliance with RAW superstars The Revival. It was a really interesting faction even though they were on different brands.

It was clear that their chemistry was off the charts and it would perhaps have been the most interesting direction that Orton would have taken in a while. Moreover, having a faction would change the focus and he usually works well in these units, as seen with Evolution, Legacy and even The Wyatt Family two years ago.

However, Fightful Select reported that Randy Orton pitched the idea of a faction with The Revival to Vince McMahon, but the boss rejected it and switched their brands in the draft.

"We're told by multiple sources that Orton pushed to do more work with them [The Revival], even going as far as pitching a faction to Vince McMahon personally. The idea fell on deaf ears and Orton and the Revival were put on different brands in the WWE draft."

We hope this isn't true because it was an incredible idea and having it rejected must not have been a good feeling.

#3. Hope is true: Original plans for Brock Lesnar before he quit SmackDown

Lesnar attacked RAW commentator Dio Maddin

Brock Lesnar is once again a Monday Night RAW superstar after he quit SmackDown following Crown Jewel. With Bray Wyatt, the newly crowned Universal Champion being a RAW superstar, it now means that the two World Championships have swapped brands, with the WWE title returning to RAW after over 3 years and SmackDown getting the Universal Championship for the first time.

According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, the original plan wasn't for Lesnar to be on SmackDown post-Crown Jewel as he was never scheduled for it in the first place.

Brock Lesnar was not originally scheduled for SmackDown and his announcement that he was moving back to RAW was something that was originally supposed to happen on Tuesday night on Backstage.

The only reason we hope this rumor is true is that it would have been great for WWE Backstage to cause a buzz and get a lot of interest in the future. It didn't too well in terms of ratings and it needs something to grab people's attention.

With that said, no real harm came of it and it technically made sense to do the angle on SmackDown.

#3. Hope isn't true: Reason why Aleister Black isn't wrestling

Aleister Black started the year great, debuting on the main roster alongside Ricochet and even challenging for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania. After the show of shows, the two were rightfully separated and put on different brands, but Aleister Black was hardly featured.

He had one PPV match against Rey Mysterio and was only active on the live event circuit. Not much was done with him and in the most recent draft, WWE moved him over to RAW to join his wife Zelina Vega (who was drafted alongside Andrade, which subsequently meant that Charlotte Flair would move too. Interesting how all four of them need to be on the same brand constantly).

Many wondered why he's not wrestling and it doesn't have to do with WWE underutilizing him again. It's because he has a minor injury, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, who wrote:

Black is currently out of action with a knee injury that was described as a tweak

We hope this isn't true since we don't wish an injury upon anyone. We hope he makes a speedy recovery and gets a fresh start.

#2. Hope is true: Asuka wasn't supposed to tap on RAW

Asuka tapped out to Natalya in a non-title match against The Queen of Hearts and The Queen Charlotte Flair. It wasn't the originally planned finish, according to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio:

"I don't know this as far as what happened to lead to a change here, but the original finish was Asuka and Kairi going over and that's why I was saying, I don't know what this was building to, because when it was over I'm going, 'okay, this is building to Natty and Charlotte going for the tag team titles, because that's what logic would tell me, and of course, as you know, when I start thinking logically while watching RAW to come to conclusions, it's very often not the case of the direction that they are going in."

Meltzer said that Natalya's publicity work in Saudi Arabia recently is likely what led WWE to book her to submit Asuka and making her look strong:

My presumption on this is because Natty just had the match in Saudi Arabia and she's done a lot of pub work in the last couple of days, coming off this, honestly because of that, going in the show here and then beating her I honestly think would be the wrong thing to do.

We hope this is true mainly since the original finish made a lot more sense. However, they are building to a program and the circumstances, unfortunately, led to Natalya winning. Not that we fully blame WWE either, of course.

#2. Hope isn't true: Sami Zayn's limited role

Sami Zayn hasn't done much wrestling since his return

Sami Zayn has had a rather interesting 2019. He returned as a heel and lost a few matches and then reportedly had trouble with his shoulders. To utilize him best, WWE decided to pair with him Shinsuke Nakamura, the man who he welcomed to WWE the night before WrestleMania 32 in 2016.

It's been a while since and Sami Zayn has been cleared to wrestle already. However, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sami Zayn has a role now and is being limited to that of a manager:

"Zayn was having trouble with his shoulders in recent months which is why he’s been wrestling less and has been managing Nakamura. But we’re told he’s okay now and can wrestle but this is the role they have him in."

While Zayn is a great talker, we hope this isn't true because it seems like a big waste of Zayn's prime years. However, if it's leading to a Sami Zayn-Shinsuke Nakamura match down the line, it's probably ok given that the story they tell is good.

#1. Hope is true: AJ Styles pitched a dream match for The OC

AJ Styles and The OC have undoubtedly been one of the best parts of RAW since their reformation a few months ago. AJ Styles has taken it to a level above as a heel again and is doing the best possible job carrying the United States Championship and making it relevant.

It's been a rather cursed title with such frequent changes, but Styles is having the first reasonably long reign in over a year. What was interesting with The OC was how they attacked The Undisputed Era on RAW and went to NXT to have a stand-off with them.

According to F4WOnline, AJ Styles pitched a match between The OC and The Undisputed Era and it's a match that could be happening sooner than later.

“[…] it looks right now that if the match will take place on NXT television down the line, or on television somewhere since they shot the angle for it on NXT.”

We hope this is true because it's a dream match and one that needs to happen on a big stage. NXT would be a great place to build it but it's surreal to think that it could be happening soon!

#1. Hope isn't true: Reason why Alexa Bliss has been missing from TV for a while

Alexa Bliss went from having a forgettable year to a memorable one as she found tag team success with an unlikely partner in Nikki Cross. The two have had a reign as tag team champions so far and were supposed to be feuding with The Kabuki Warriors following their title loss, but Alexa Bliss was then pulled from programming.

While reports initially suggested that WWE simply gave her time off for personal reasons, PWInsider learned that The Goddess has been dealing with a shoulder injury.

PWInsider.com has been told by multiple sources that Bliss is dealing with a shoulder injury. Bliss has not been brought into WWE TV tapings the last few weeks due to the injury.

We hope this isn't true because Bliss has already had a rollercoaster from the summer of 2018 until post-WrestleMania 2019 with all the concussion issues. She was just beginning to gain momentum and the last thing she needed was for it to be derailed with an injury.

With that said, we wish her a speedy recovery and hope she slots right back into programming with Nikki Cross on SmackDown.

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