6 wrestling rumors we hope are true and 6 we hope aren't: Why Vince McMahon was "angry" at Seth Rollins, RAW superstars' push reportedly "over"

Welcome to this week's edition of wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't! It's certainly been an interesting week of wrestling and as of this writing, the month of November has officially wrapped up.

In the world of wrestling this past month, the primary focus has been on WWE Survivor Series and the Interbrand Warfare, where NXT was a huge addition to the show. The Yellow and Gold brand made the build far more exciting and the PPV had a big boost as well.

The big surprise was when NXT walked out of Survivor Series as the big dominant victors, with RAW having their poorest performance in years. All of this, however, was for a reason and even with AEW, television programming and quality are only expected to increase as the year concludes.

So let's begin with the first edition of this series for December!

#6. Hope is true: Why Vince McMahon was angry at Seth Rollins this past RAW

Seth Rollins opened RAW this past week hosting a "Town Hall Meeting" where he had the entire locker room (minus Becky Lynch) at ringside and began to berate everyone for their disappointing Survivor Series performance.

It was a reflection of real-life and in the segment, he lost the locker room with his harsh words but "good intentions". One of the interesting parts of the segment was when the Chicago crowd chanted "CM Punk" only for Rollins to ad-lib and go with it, acknowledging their chants and stating that he already called him out.

"I tried to get him (Punk) here, I'm sorry, he didn't want to show up. He wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles and talk about a change he's too afraid to make himself."

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Vince McMahon was angry at Rollins because the rule of thumb is to never tease a match that they can't promise to deliver. We hope this is true because, for all his faults, this is a fair rule to set. Rollins shouldn't make impulsive acknowledgments to get a pop.

#6. Hope isn't true: Jon Moxley vs Kenny Omega under investigation by State Athletic commission for breach of rules

Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega went for a full 39-minutes at AEW Full Gear in what can easily be described as the most brutal match in the short history of the promotion. The nature of the match was a true throwback to Moxley's CZW days and both he and Omega took an immense amount of punishment that also led to an immense amount of bleeding.

This is a bit of a confusing situation as there was reportedly an investigation by the Maryland State Athletic Commission, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was reportedly an inquiry made by former WCW announcer Chris Cruise, who got in touch with the state athletic commission about the rules on blading and excessive bleeding.

Cruise wanted to know whether there was a commission doctor at ringside during the match. He also wanted some clarity on whether the wrestlers would be allowed to continue if they ended up bleeding heavily, irrespective of the cause.

The commission had confirmed that blading isn't allowed, nor is the introduction of human or animal blood. While Meltzer said he wasn't sure about the nature of the ongoing investigation, he did state that the initial report ruled out any wrongdoing.

We hope this rumor isn't true because it's a messy situation to be in.

#5. Hope is true: The Fiend was supposed to squash another superstar at Survivor Series

The Fiend is the ruler of the SmackDown Universe. The current holder of the WWE Universal Championship, he's been busy with Daniel Bryan. He faced Bryan in what was a renewal of their feud five and a half years ago, only in a different form entirely.

Apart from the red lights, the match was a masterclass of storytelling, with Daniel Bryan's character arc going to places that it's never gone before. However, the original plans at Survivor Series were not for Wyatt to face Daniel Bryan, but to be in a squash match similar to SummerSlam earlier this year.

His originally scheduled opponent? None other than The Miz. That's right. Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio had reported that the idea was for The A-Lister to face Wyatt at Survivor Series and it would have been a squash match.

However, for reasons unknown, that match was scrapped and The Miz became an interesting side character in the feud, a position that seems to have some long-term implications. We hope this rumor is true because The Miz would have been a good choice to get squashed but we're happy with how it turned out either way.

#5. Hope isn't true: EC3 suffered a concussion a few months ago

It's no secret that EC3 has had a nightmare of a year in 2019. Sure, he's getting paid well but the position that he's currently in WWE has left a lot to be desired, with fans heavily criticizing WWE for how they treated a top talent such as himself.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, EC3 has been out of action since late September due to a concussion that he suffered. It wasn't specified as to when it happened but his last televised appearance was on September 23rd, where he lost to Rusev.

Admittedly, his run has been underwhelming in WWE and what his future is going to be from a creative perspective is yet to be seen. Simply put, he seems to have been inserted into the higher-ups' category of "low-level talent" and sometimes, it's hard to get out of that box.

We wish EC3 nothing but the best and a speedy recovery. One thing WWE does right is their concussion protocol and it's good he's been kept away for now.

#4. Hope is true: Shayna Baszler's call-up plans

WWE appears to have huge plans for Shayna Baszler. The NXT Women's Champion won the main event of Survivor Series. WON reported that Shayna Baszler is being "groomed" to face Becky Lynch at some point in 2020.

Becky Lynch is WWE's long-term plan as the face of the Women's division and as of now, she has virtually run out of challengers and looks to be challenging for the tag team titles instead.

However, the fact that Baszler hasn't already been called up has led many fans to question whether the AEW effect has pulled in and WWE wants to make the Yellow and Gold brand as strong as possible and it turns out that they're right. WON further reported that the AEW dynamic has greatly changed things and as a result, Baszler has stuck around.

However, with the rise of Rhea Ripley and a stacked women's division on NXT, we won't be surprised to see Baszler move to RAW in the first half of 2020.

#4. Hope isn't true: 2-time Champion being kept off TV because of The Usos

The Usos have been absent for a while now

The Usos have been the centerpiece of WWE's tag team division for years now. However, they've been absent for a while now and it probably has to do with the multiple DUI charges that Jimmy Uso faced this year, the most recent of which was in September.

According to WON (via Cageside Seats), WWE has been holding off on Naomi's return since The Usos aren't back yet. Naomi had posted some cryptic tweets a while back indicating that she had to deal with some personal issues, so we hope that she's ok.

However, if she's good to go, does it make sense holding off on her return just because The Usos aren't back? Perhaps it's to give them some time away from the company. It's possible that WWE simply has nothing for them creatively, though the women's division could use the addition of Naomi on RAW while the tag team division could use the addition of The Usos.

We hope the rumor isn't true because Naomi is a standalone performer and should be given the spotlight.

#3. Hope is true: Vince McMahon's big NXT push

Many were worried that at Survivor Series, NXT would get the short end of the stick. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when NXT ended up winning with a score of 4-2-1 against SmackDown and RAW respectively.

Sportskeeda's own Tom Colohue said that while Triple H had to do some prodding, the final decision to put NXT over strong was down to Vince McMahon only:

"There is no doubt that Triple H did a lot of prodding and poking and a lot of encouragement but he said himself it is a collaborative effort. The three Executive Directors in charge of each brand got together and decided how we were going to do this. But when it comes to the decision to put NXT over this strong, that comes down to Vince McMahon."

One would imagine that AEW's influence had a lot to do with the decision.

"He was the one who wanted NXT put over this strong. I don’t know how strong of an influence Triple H had on that, but the three executive Directors got together to execute Vince McMahon’s vision."

We hope this is true because putting NXT over strong was one of the best decisions they made.

#3. Hope isn't true: WWE taking legal action against AEW

Tony Khan revealed a week or two ago that Cody Rhodes went on a "trademark binge" where he sat one night and decided to file for various trademarks. Some of these include old WCW names.

According to Sean Ross Sapp on Fightful Select, there is a sense of unhappiness in WWE over Cody Rhodes using the "Bash at the Beach" PPV name for AEW and there could be some attempts to thwart it.

Some within WWE weren't happy with AEW promoting a Bash at the Beach, and there's talk that they may attempt to take action to stop it."

Cody Rhodes referred to the potential legal case on Twitter. Before deleting it, he said:

"Sounds like I'll be going to court soon, time to go suit shopping."

The trademark binge may have landed Cody Rhodes in a bit of trouble and we hope this isn't true because a legal battle between AEW and WWE wouldn't be pleasant.

#2. Hope is true: Becky Lynch no longer the #1 merchandise seller in WWE

Becky Lynch has been the top dog in WWE in terms of merchandise sales for a while now. It may surprise some as that spot used to be dominated by top men in WWE including John Cena and Roman Reigns, but her persona from last year till now has seen her popularity rise immensely.

While we love the fact that she was in that spot, she would inevitably be overtaken at some point or the other. It was just a matter of which character was strong enough to do it. The answer to that is The Fiend.

The current Universal Champion is now the top merchandise seller in WWE according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Fightful reported earlier in the year that The Man was at #1 but she has now been dethroned in that spot.

We hope this is true because Wyatt deserves to be WWE's top merchandise seller and has worked hard to make The Fiend character work wonders. Merchandise sales at that level will only ensure a continued push.

#2. Hope isn't true: The confusing direction of Seth Rollins' character

Seth Rollins had a very interesting direction change this past Monday on RAW after Survivor Series. After RAW was humiliated, Rollins, the locker room leader, held a Town Hall meeting and berated the roster, only for them to walk away from him.

Given the ending to RAW (and we won't spoil it here, but you should watch it), there has been a lot of questions as to whether Rollins turned heel, whether he's turning heel or the seeds have been planted.

According to Tom Colohue, things are a bit complicated on that front. He explained on Dropkick DiSKussions:

"I’m not entirely sure it’s a full heel turn, anybody I’ve spoken to and asked about this has been quite clear that it’s complicated. That we may see Seth be a heel in one feud, and a face in another feud, much like Roman Reigns has been. Like he was a heel against AJ Styles and then he was a face against Seth Rollins for a brief time and back after he beat Triple H at WrestleMania 32. So I wouldn’t call it a full-fledged heel turn but there are certainly a lot of heel elements and Seth himself is definitely playing up to it including with the way he has been challenging CM Punk."

We hope this isn't true because there should be a straight forward direction for his character and they shouldn't make it more convoluted than it needs to be.

#1. Hope is true: Vince McMahon was mad at the Survivor Series main event

Survivor Series was one of the best PPVs of the year and in the eyes of many, the best PPV of the big 4 in 2019. That's a rare occurrence because Survivor Series is usually the most underwhelming one of the four and the least-anticipated as well.

However, the big mistake of the PPV came at the end, where the women main evented without any real payoff. While we're not against the women main eventing at all, there needs to be a reason when they do. In this case, the return of Ronda Rousey was what was anticipated but fans were disappointed that the end was relatively flat.

Dave Meltzer on the WON wrote that Vince McMahon wasn't happy with the main event either and rightfully so.

It got so bad that Vince McMahon was really mad about it as it was going on. There was a story going around Vince was so mad he was telling the ref high spots for them to do as the match was going on, but those in the company have only said McMahon was mad, saying he had every right to be, but said he was not sending high spots to the referee while the match was going on."

We hope this is true because McMahon had every right to be mad.

#1. Hope isn't true: Vince McMahon ends RAW superstars' push

The Street Profits and Humberto Carrillo

It's hard to get pushed in WWE. The up-and-coming Humberto Carrillo may have learned that the hard way as his brief TV push may have already come to an end, as per Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio:

"Vince is done with Humberto Carillo for the time being. He’s given him the Cedric Alexander, where you’re still going to see him on TV, I’m sure he’s going to win here and there but like it’s exactly like Cedric Alexander. He got a few weeks, Vince thought he wasn’t getting over and so, he’s done with that big push."

To be fair, Carrillo never had much of a chance if Cedric Alexander didn't. Alexander has a bigger upside than Carrillo does and the language barrier, lack of personality and lack of promo ability would always end up being detrimental to the Mexican.

Hopefully, he has a good run in the mid-card and perhaps he can end up with a few championships in his WWE career. Ultimately, he's still young but if WWE is looking for a top Latino talent, Andrade is their answer.

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Edited by Habil Ahmed Sherule