5 wrestling rumors we hope are true and 5 we hope aren't: Unexpected Superstar to get top babyface push, Backstage concern on SmackDown due to Reigns storyline

Welcome to this week's edition of wrestling rumours we hope are true and those we hope aren't! If you've never read this series before, then the premise is quite simple - we look at the biggest rumours over the past week in wrestling and assess which ones we hope are true and which we hope aren't!

We're closing in on WWE's next major PPV - WWE Clash of Champions 2019. It's certainly going to be an interesting PPV - especially given that we have Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman wrestling twice while the Four Horsewomen will be going up against each other on two separate brands in two separate matches.

Things are going to get really interesting as we also came off a great month in August that concluded with All Elite Wrestling's ALL OUT PPV. Now, September is going to be a pivotal month in that we're going to see NXT jump to USA Network while AEW is on the road to its TNT show next month.

Let's take a look at this past week's rumours and decide which we hope are true and which we hope aren't!

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#5. Hope is true: Sasha Banks vs Bayley could still happen at Survivor Series

A shocking heel turn indeed

Bayley shocked the world by turning heel for the first time in WWE this past week on RAW. It came as a surprise because she was the leading SmackDown female star alongside Charlotte Flair.

There were rumours earlier about WWE potentially planning a champion vs champion match between Bayley and Banks at Survivor Series this year. According to Sportskeeda's own Tom Colohue, there is still a possibility of the match happening. A source told him:

Both of them were split up to have singles pushes. I don’t know if we’ll still see them one on one at Survivor Series but a lot of people still want to make it happen.

Colohue also stated that he still believes the match will happen. We hope this is true because we're long overdue to see them clash at a big 4 PPV.

#5. Hope isn't true: The dates of the upcoming draft

The draft's return seems inevitable

We already saw a Superstar Shake-Up this year, but due to the fact that WWE implemented the Wild Card rule right after, any rules of the brand split have seemingly been thrown of the window.

Luckily, Septemeber seems to be the month where we'll see the conclusion of the Wild Card rule. Due to SmackDown Live moving to Friday Nights on FOX next month, WWE will have to establish separate brand identities, which also means exclusive rosters for both brands.

While the expectation was that we would see the draft at the end of the month, John Pollock of POST Wrestling has reported that the tentative date for the draft is October 11th on SmackDown and it will pour onto RAW the following week on October 14th.

The draft is tentatively set to begin on Friday, October 11th on SmackDown from Las Vegas, which would be their second week on Fox. The draft would continue the following Monday on RAW from Denver, Colorado on October 14th.

While we're happy about the draft, we hope this rumour isn't true because having it a week after the FOX premier seems a bit too late. They should be wrapping up the draft before the FOX debut so that they can start on a fresh slate. Otherwise, it'll seem confusing.

#4. Hope is true: Huge plans for Roman Reigns post-Clash of Champions

Roman Reigns got manhandled by Rowan on SmackDown

The Roman Reigns attacker storyline has been all over the place with some odd twists and turns. It was finally revealed that Erick Rowan was, in fact, the attacker. Daniel Bryan didn't have anything to do with it and it was only Big Red who was considered the perpetrator.

A match against Roman Reigns has been made official for Rowan at Clash of Champions 2019, which has come as a surprise in itself because the assumption was that it was leading to a Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns rivalry.

They even teased a Bryan face turn after Rowan sent him through a table as well, but he may not necessarily turn face, because according to Cageside Seats, the objective of it all is to eventually lead to a Reigns vs Bryan rivalry.

We hope this is true because ultimately, this should have been the objective in the first place. Perhaps we'll see them have a long-term storyline with each other or at least one that will drag on for a couple more months and PPVs. It should lead to some good matches.

#4. Hope isn't true: Killer Kross declines a huge six-figure offer from Impact Wrestling

Killer Kross hasn't been on good terms with Impact Wrestling

Killer Kross has been in a rather tricky situation with Impact Wrestling over the past few months. Firstly, his girlfriend Scarlett Bordeaux asked for a release and was granted it and when he tried to do the same, they declined to do so.

According to PWInsider, Kross was supposedly offered an amount that would increase by $20,000 each year across three years; he would get $40,000 in year 1, $60,000 in year 2 and $80,000 in year 3. However, a source later told them that the deal offered was much higher than what was stated above.

Unfortunately, Kross has reportedly declined the offer due to prior issues with Impact. When he asked for his release, it was due to issues with pay. He told the Wrestling Perspective Podcast:

Being told to go get another job by your job, that’s f****d up. You’re struggling to make ends meet taking care of people, and the job that you can barely afford to have tells you to go get another job so you can keep that job. It’s like working at a corporation being told to go work at McDonald’s. It’s a weird feeling.

While we completely understand Kross' frustration, we hope this rumour isn't true because he's a legitimate star in the company and can be a huge player for them in the long run. Hopefully Impact can get their act together and reconcile with Kross. Everyone can benefit from that.

#3. Hope is true: 3 more RAW superstars being allowed to cut non-scripted promos

Paul Heyman's influence is being felt

Whether it's due to Paul Heyman or not, WWE is definitely trying something new. One of the biggest criticisms has been the fact that over the last 5-6 years, WWE has been extremely stringent on scripted promos.

This has resulted in a lot of characters and Superstars being held back, but lately, WWE has been giving a bit more leeway to Superstars in that regard. According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, 3 WWE superstars were allowed to cut non-scripted promos this week - Sasha Banks, Bayley and Rey Mysterio. He said:

Bayley, Banks and Mysterio’s promos on RAW were all done without being scripted word-for-word, basically the old bullet points style and going for it. There is a movement to try and do more of that going forward, similar to the leeway that Owens (and I believe Bryan but that hasn’t been told to me directly) get on SmackDown and why his promos, if not both of theirs, come off better than almost anyone

Note how he also said that WWE is trying to do the same going forward with other Superstars. We hope this is true because it'll result in an infinitely better product.

#3. Hope isn't true: Kacy Catanzaro quitting WWE

Kacy Catanzaro made a surprise Royal Rumble appearance in 2019

The wrestling world was taken by surprise earlier this week as NXT and WWE developmental Superstar Kacy Catanzaro reportedly quit WWE after putting in her notice. This was first reported by Casey Michael of Squared Circle Sirens.

He cited a back injury that prompted her to quit, stating:

According to sources within NXT we have learned that American Ninja Warrior Alumni Kacy Catanzaro who signed with WWE in January of 2018 has handed in her notice to WWE recently. Sources tell us that Kacy suffered a back injury and decided to stop wrestling afterward.

We hope this rumour isn't true because she is a very promising prospect as a whole. Dave Meltzer later commented on the rumour, stating that it's not yet finalized but could be done any day now. He also revealed that nobody in WWE outright denied it.

Even Ricochet was asked about it, but denied it, only stating that she's very "family-oriented".

"I don’t know. She’s very family-oriented and she wants kids, so she doesn’t know if being on the road so much is for her. For me, I’m already too deep—I’m on the road all the time. She loves wrestling and she loves it here, and she’s so good at it, so it’s a very tough decision for her."

#2. Hope is true: Reason behind controversy at King of the Ring tournament

Ricochet and Samoa Joe went to a draw

Ricochet vs Samoa Joe was the Quarter-Final match in the RAW bracket, with the winner going on to face Baron Corbin in the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, it ended in a rather controversial finish after the referee counted to three when both Superstars' shoulders were down.

It was rather bizarre and backstage, Baron Corbin demanded a free pass to the finals, only for referee John Cone to reveal that next week, he'll be facing both Ricochet and Samoa Joe in a Triple Threat match. Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio stated that given the match is at Madison Square Garden next week, the idea of the triple threat is for Ricochet to go over. He elaborated:

The Ricochet match was designed to build up a match, a three-way match, for next week. It’s like, they had to get to a certain destination. The nature of how they got there wasn’t going to be as exciting as Cedric Alexander doing every cool thing that he knows and Baron Corbin being in the match.

So we’re doing a three-way, which actually makes no sense, but that’s what they are doing. The idea there is to showcase Ricochet, which is not saying that he is necessarily winning, he might be. But the idea is that in the match at the Garden, Ricochet is going to be the babyface against two heels and two big heels. And he’s not a big guy. So the dynamic is supposed to work for him.

We hope this is true because Ricochet deserves the push and deserves to win the entire tournament, with Chad Gable being the only other deserving candidate.

#2. Hope isn't true: Growing concerns over SmackDown leadership amidst Roman Reigns storyline botch

There has been a lot of confusion

Unfortunately, the reality is that WWE overcomplicated a very simple storyline - The Roman Reigns attacker. Moreover, the twists and turns that it has taken hasn't been all too well received - and that's not just by the fans.

Apparently, there has been a bit of a creative shake-up lately owing to all of this. The storyline was written by the creative team led by Ryan Ward and it's all led to some backstage concerns over creative leadership, according to The Wrap.

The report also stated that Ed Koskey, the former head writer of RAW, will be taking control of SmackDown. Ward is reportedly stepping down from his role and will be taking a short leave of absence in the meantime.

When he does return, he'll be assigned a creative role where he'll work from the WWE Headquarters at Stanford, Connecticut and won't be on the road. This is viewed as a step down.

We hope this isn't true because Ward usually has a history of writing good storylines and he was in charge during peak SmackDown in 2016. Hopefully, things will be resolved soon.

#1. Hope is true: Liv Morgan to get a huge push after Bayley's heel turn

Liv Morgan's time to shine may be coming soon

In hindsight, the separation of the Riott Squad earlier this year may have been for the best. Ruby Riott had surgery on both shoulders and will be out for a while, and Sarah Logan has been in a bit of creative limbo.

Liv Morgan, on the other hand, has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for her turn. According to Cageside Seats, the wait may be over for her soon and it has to do with Bayley's heel turn.

One of the major reasons for Bayley's heel turn is reportedly that WWE intends to push Liv Morgan as a top babyface title challenger. It also has to do with an eventual Horsewomen reunion down the line.

Bayley’s actions from last night’s RAW triggered speculation about Liv Morgan being pushed as a face challenger on SmackDown, and that there’s a long term plan in place to split the NXT Horsewomen for a big reunion moment down the road.

We hope this is true because Morgan is still young and has a lot of time left. Sometimes, timing is key and this may be the moment to try and start something with her. It should be a long build to eventually establish her as a top babyface on the blue brand.

#1. Hope isn't true: The Undertaker not wrestling at MSG

The Undertaker returned a couple of months ago

The Undertaker is scheduled to appear on SmackDown Live next week owing to the fact that it's returning to Madison Square Garden. Obviously, the decision to bring him in was made to boost ticket sales, similar to the reason why 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin will be appearing on RAW one night prior.

There were some rumours earlier that The Undertaker's appearance at MSG might lead to a match of sorts, perhaps a tag team one. Fans were happy to hear this because he had his best match in 4 years this past July at Extreme Rules. The simple reason for it was that he teamed with Roman Reigns and The Big Dog was able to do a bit of the heavy lifting for the team.

Drew McIntyre's presence helped as well and it showed that The Undertaker can still have a fun match if he's in a tag team or multi-person match.

Unfortunately, The Phenom won't be wrestling at MSG this coming Tuesday, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We hope this isn't true because The Undertaker being featured in a nice fun tag team match is the best use of him rather than having him face old legends who are past their prime.

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