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Welcome to this week's edition of wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't! It's been an interesting week in the world of wrestling, particularly as we saw WWE Crown Jewel mid-week.
The event went on as planned, but there was an incident after where a majority of the WWE crew (including talent) were stranded and the plane didn't take off. Reportedly, there were some serious technical issues with the plane that kept the talent from taking off.
Luckily, SmackDown was saved thanks to an exciting invasion from NXT, which could lead to some incredible television in the coming weeks. Without going much further, let's take a look at the wrestling rumors we hope are true and those, of course, we hope aren't.
#5. Hope is true: Brock Lesnar takes WWE legends on his plane
The plane issues seemed to start before the show and although it wasn't for most of the talent, it was the case for three WWE legends - Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Jimmy Hart. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the legends had a bit of trouble getting to Saudi Arabia as the plane had a tire burst when stopping at Iceland.
While it jeopardized the legends' appearance in Saudi Arabia, an unlikely name came to save the day - Brock Lesnar. Hogan didn't outright mention his name, but made it clear by calling him "Minnesota boy", stating on Facebook:
Over there is a buddy of ours and he's got the same type of plane we were on, and he's going to be graceful enough to let us climb on board to continue the journey. Former Minnesota boy... we're going to make it."
We hope this is true because it's a reflection of how good a person Lesnar can be, particularly when he has the image of being cold and unfriendly.
#5. Hope isn't true: NXT stars needed a police escort to enter the SmackDown arena
The build to Survivor Series has an interesting new addition to make it interesting this year - RAW vs SmackDown vs NXT. Making the theme RAW vs SmackDown wouldn't have sold well this year because WWE had followed the Wild Card rule for six months.
Due to the said issues in Saudi Arabia, the majority of the SmackDown crew were stuck in Riyadh and weren't able to make it on time for the show. As a result, WWE had to resort to flying out several top NXT talent - most of whom had a significant role in the show.
However, the tension for WWE lasted up until the show because the talent flying from Orlando cut it extremely close. John Pollock of Post Wrestling revealed that the talent only landed from the charter flight at around 7:55 PM.
Moreover, they were shockingly escorted by police up until the arena. While there's no way to confirm it unless one of the NXT talents speaks out, we hope it isn't true because the entire situation seemed like a huge mess. We're glad that they managed to successfully steer through it.
#4. Hope is true: WWE's insane offer to Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega in WWE has been a long standing dream that many wrestling fans have hoped for. While some are skeptical and believe that he would be placed in the mid-card, the other side of fans have reminded them that the same was mentioned about AJ Styles.
WWE hasn't been shy about their interest in Omega and they've offered big money to sign The Cleaner. As you can see, things didn't work out for them as Omega has chosen to commit to All Elite Wrestling, even ending his legendary tenure in Japan.
According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE was willing to sign Omega and gave him quite an exciting offer.
"I'm not sure anything would have worked for sure. I think if they would have promised him a WrestleMania match that was going to go 35 minutes with AJ Styles and offered him more than 3 million a year, I think they would have had a chance. Maybe even a good chance. I don't know how close he came, but he was in fact, very impressed and very interested in their offer."
We hope this is true because Omega being so highly valued by WWE opens the door to big business someday.
#4. Hope isn't true: Cain Velasquez suffers a bad knee injury
If you're an MMA fan, you know that Cain Velasquez and knee injuries have long been associated with each other. Velasquez had a small 2-minute showing at Crown Jewel where he tapped out clean to Brock Lesnar.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Velasquez's injury is so bad that he's going to require surgery.
"Velasquez’s knee was worse than expected. The idea was always for a short match, with the Paul Heyman style Goldberg match lay out of big moves, but with Velasquez’s knee in such bad shape, they changed it to a match where nothing much happened. The belief is that he needs surgery. No word on the status of the Mexico City match but I’d think he’d want to do that one if possible. But after two very strong performances with AAA, the WWE version of Velasquez did absolutely nothing, and I can’t see anyone caring at all about him going forward. And he’s signed a high-dollar multi-year contract."
We hope this isn't true because it's terrible news for Velasquez. He just signed with WWE and can have a good future but being out for an extensive period won't help him at all.
#3. Hope is true: Tessa Blanchard to win a men's title
It's safe to assume that outside of WWE, there's no hotter female wrestler on the planet than Tessa Blanchard. While it's not known whether WWE gave her an offer or not, All Elite Wrestling would surely have tried their hand in recruiting her to be the face of the women's division.
However, Impact Wrestling has been the place that has attracted Blanchard's interest and since then, she's been an integral part of programming, becoming one of the company's biggest stars - male or female.
According to Cageside Seats, Blanchard is set to win a Men's title in Impact Wrestling. While it hasn't been specified whether it's the World title or not, her match against Sami Callihan has seemingly changed things for her in the future. This would give her a Chyna-like role, one of the rare women in wrestling to win men's championships.
When talking to Chris Van Vliet, she spoke about potentially winning the Impact World Championship:
"It’s not something that’s really been done since Chyna and that wasn’t even the world title. A lot of people compare me to her, a lot. I don’t know, I think if that were to ever happen, if that were ever to be reality, that would be another way that I can make history in my own way."
#3. Hope isn't true: Original plans for Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez wasn't exactly a hit, but according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the original plan wasn't even for Lesnar to face Velasquez - but Tyson Fury. However, the Observer reported that it never got past early talks as they were able to get Velasquez:
Fury said that the original idea talked with him about was a Crown Jewel match with Lesnar, but the idea changed when they were able to sign Velasquez. According to those internally, Lesnar vs. Fury was discussed but never got past early discussions, likely due to Velasquez having the storyline from the past and being the bigger star in the U.S. market, which is WWE’s primary market. And for Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t the matchups that were important as much as delivering matches with Fury and Velasquez.
We hope this isn't true because Fury would have been a terrible match-up for Lesnar. Velasquez was a better option and Fury had a decent showing against Strowman anyway.
#2. Hope is true: Why Lacey Evans was told to tone down her gimmick
Lacey Evans and Natalya made history at Saudi Arabia as they became the first women to wrestle there. It took WWE a lot to convince the Saudi officials, but they managed to do it successfully.
Their match wasn't anything spectacular, but they were met with a roaring Saudi crowd, most of whom chanted "This is awesome" throughout the match. One of the most notable things was how Lacey Evans was very toned down in her mannerisms.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Evans was told to tone it down:
The idea was the match was a step, and to make sure not to do anything that would be taken wrongly. Evans dropped her entire gimmick, her walk, and avoided doing anything that could be constituted as sexy, which is why her look besides her costuming was also very different.
While we aren't fans of how restricted it is for the women, we hope this is true simply because it was the right call for WWE to make. In this situation, it felt like they were walking on thin ice and from the look of things, they succeeded. Natalya was clearly overcome with emotion.
#2. Hope isn't true: No CM Punk for WWE Backstage just yet
CM Punk has been rumored for the past month to be joining the new FS1 program "WWE Backstage". Renee Young is the host and so far, her show has featured Booker T, Christian, and Paige.
She teased making a big announcement but unfortunately for WWE fans, that has nothing to do with CM Punk. Cageside Seats said:
The huge news Renee Young has teased for WWE Backstage isn’t expected to have anything to do with CM Punk.
We hope this isn't true because CM Punk joining WWE Backstage would be the best thing that could happen to the program. We know that Punk tried out as he revealed it in an interview himself and all reports have indicated that FOX wants him to come on board.
However, he hasn't given any indication of wanting to join and all we can do until then is speculate as to whether he'll be a part of the program. Renee Young has been vocally supportive of the idea of Punk joining her to host WWE Backstage.
#1. Hope is true: New Day heel turn?
It's been a very long time since The New Day were last heels. They turned face before WrestleMania 32 in 2016, which means that it's been over 3 and a half years since The New Day has turned.
They've been on an incredible run since then, establishing themselves as one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. In that time, they have also become the longest-reigning faction in WWE, never splitting once nor ever teasing a split.
It was only in late 2016 when The New Day's historic tag team title reign was concluding that fans began to get sick of them. While there were plans to turn them heel, circumstances delayed it and they haven't turned since. 2019, on the other hand, has been a strong year for them as babyfaces due to KofiMania, but now that it's over, there are huge plans for The New Day.
Sportskeeda's own Tom Colohue has revealed that there is going to be an incredible storyline with Kofi Kingston as he has a slow but sure breakdown.
We hope this is true because it sounds like an incredible angle that can play out well over a long period.
#1. Hope isn't true: Cesaro never getting that push
Cesaro is one of those talents who most feel deserves to be a main eventer, but one who can't seem to break that glass ceiling. It's clear that the higher-ups don't see a top star in him and when discussing Cesaro's standing in the company, Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio said:
"I mean, obviously everybody respects him. I think as far as do they see him as a guy who is going to be one of their top guys? I mean look, he has been there forever, he has been great forever. So the answer is no. They don't. You know, that's Vince. He's always been like that.
He continued, saying:
"He doesn't see something in you and that's it, and even when there were periods, you know, Cesaro is one of those guys where there were periods where you know you get that groundswell support and then you know when people keep pushing for you and he had that Cesaro section period, and after a while, whether it's Cesaro or Dolph Ziggler, they get tired of pushing you when you are not getting pushed, and you just kind of throw up your hands and give up.
We hope this isn't true, but it seems to be one of those bitter realities that we simply must learn to accept.
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