Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we look at the rumors from six months ago and see which played out as originally stated. Let’s jump right to it.
- Multiple outlets have stated CM Punk signed a new contract with WWE the day of Survivor Series and it’s a “multi-year deal.”
- Unfortunately he got hurt on his first televised match.
- Fightful Select notes Punk had an hour long conversation with Triple H roughly one week ago and that opened the door to everything happening but it still came together at the last minute.
- Punk also says that Nick Khan reached out to him first. But it had to go through Triple H I’m sure.
- They also say everyone involved in the main event match was informed Punk would be making an appearance at the end of the show before they went out for the match.
- They also told Seth Rollins to get pissed afterwards. But that feud is on hold given injuries to both men.
- Per PW Insider, the Drew McIntyre situation “was not a work in that there was no one filming Drew backstage,” as opposed to the Seth Rollins thing where cameras were rolling in the arena. They don’t know if McIntyre being upset is Punk related but Dave Meltzer says there are some who think that’s the case.
- Whether it’s Punk related or not, Drew and Punk are embroiled in a pretty big feud right now.
- Speaking of McIntyre, Insider also said recently that he hasn’t entered into discussions with WWE about a new deal and apparently he’s told those close to him that he’s willing to take a break for his family if need be, as they suffered through a loss recently.
- He ended up re-signing. But there are plenty of other contracts coming up, or even big ones lapsing. I think most of these folks will re-sign with WWE. Chad Gable is getting a big push as a heel and is a major player on Raw. And despite what his pal Will Ospreay says, I expect Ricochet to stay in WWE with his fiancé Samantha Irvin, where he’s used rather well.
- On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said a lot of people in WWE “are being offered very big money to stay.” There was a belief that wrestlers wouldn’t get bigger money after the TKO deal but it appears to be the opposite, and they don’t want anyone leaving.
- It’ll be very interesting to see how all the open contracts pan out.
- Dragon Lee replacing Carlito at Survivor Series was always part of the plan and was not a last minute decision, says the Observer.
- Too much of this caused Carlito to betray the LWO.
- Will Ospreay’s AEW contract is for 3+ years and is “a seven figure per-year deal”, per Fightful.
- He was a great signing for them. He feels like a massive star.
- While he added it’s not yet a formal report and at this point is just “a situation that should be monitored”, WrestlePurists’ Ibou says Mercedes Mone/Sasha Banks may be the next big name to return to WWE.
- She was not. (0/1)
- Regarding reports of Mone wrestling in AEW once she’s cleared, Ibou said very few people in AEW have updated information on that. Even New Japan’s liaison to AEW Rocky Romero “doesn’t exactly know when and where her next move is”.
- She went to AEW and just won the TBS title.
- The WWE roster’s reaction to CM Punk’s return has been “much more tepid than originally expected”, according to Fightful Select. But some have said they don’t want to work with Punk and “many WWE talent expect to speak with higher ups and gain some assurances about Punk and how he will be in the company moving forward.”
- I get there’s bad blood, but if there’s money to be made, make it. It was something they couldn’t do in AEW though.
- In a since deleted post on X, MJF said an MRI revealed he had a torn labrum but that he would still defend his AEW World title at Worlds End. Multiple outlets report the injury is legitimate. Sean Ross Sapp posted that MJF is undergoing treatment in hopes of avoiding surgery.
- MJF since returned to AEW.
- As part of the training Triple H talked about after Survivor Series, PW Insider says Jade Cargill will continue to be at the WWE Performance Center “weekly”.
- Jade has finally made to a full time roster member.
- Stephanie McMahon was backstage at Survivor Series, per Fightful. The site specified she was just visiting and not there in a work capacity. Insider added that she sat ringside with her & Triple H’s daughters to watch the show.
- She has been on TV a few times – at WrestleMania and the WWE Draft.
- Fightful Select also reported that Katsuyori Shibata needed to return to Japan before Final Battle, so he dropped the ROH Pure title to Wheeler Yuta last weekend. Shibata will be gone for an extended period. That’s why they did -match attack and callback to his brain injury, an idea Shibata “was said to love“.
- Shibata is in AEW full time now.
- WrestleVotes says they were told “everything at Raw was good last night as far as camaraderie backstage throughout the day in Nashville,” so no early problems with CM Punk on his first full night in WWE at a show.
- It would be something if it weren’t.
- PW Insider notes that Punk’s promo was originally set to go longer but it had to be shortened due to timing issues and Randy Orton vs. Dominik Mysterio going longer than planned.
- Punk probably wasn’t used to that type of timing restriction. It’s probably looser in AEW.
- They also say that at least as of right now there has been no discussion of AJ Lee making a return to WWE despite Punk mentioning her in his promo.
- She hasn’t been in WWE at all – even in the Royal Rumble, which was a bit of a bummer. (1/1)
- Last one from Insider: he still hasn’t been assigned to either the Raw or SmackDown roster internally.
- He ended up on Raw.
- Meanwhile, Haus of Wrestling is saying Punk is “looking to move past the drama of AEW entirely and has no plans to address any of what happened there.”
- He addressed it pretty thoroughly on Ariel Helwani’s show. (0/1)
- Wrapping up on Punk: Fightful Select brings word that Bryan Danielson led the disciplinary committee that ultimately made the decision to fire CM Punk from AEW.
- It was the right decision.
- The original plans for the Tag Team Turmoil match on Raw this week were changed around a bit, per Fightful. Originally, DIY was to defeat Alpha Academy and then lose to the Creed Brothers, who would also defeat the final three teams ending with The New Day. Instead, DIY defeated Indus Sher after Alpha Academy, and the Creeds went over Imperium to win the match.
- I expect the Creeds to join up with Gable officially very soon. Well… unless Gable doesn’t re-sign.
- In talking about Dynamite/Collision running long, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Tony Khan/AEW is doing well with TBS because they can simply ask for more time, even on the fly, and have that request granted.
- Dynamite goes long weekly.
- Regarding QT Marshall’s departure from AEW, Haus of Wrestling notes his influence backstage “deteriorated quickly” following Cody Rhodes’ departure and “he believes AEW is heading in a more NJPW-related direction that is more focused on matches than storytelling.”
- He’s back with them.
- Following up on their earlier report that Bruce Prichard was in charge at Raw this week as Triple H wasn’t there, PW Insider says Trips & Nick Khan have been in Los Angeles this week “working on securing the media rights deal for Monday Night Raw going forward.”
- Bruce still has a lot of control, even in this new era.
- Insider says there are currently several “suitors” in the mix to be Raw’s next home.
- They landed with Netflix.
- PW Torch’s report matched up with what we’d already heard about good vibes with CM Punk backstage at Raw on Monday, but adds that one source told them “about half the wrestlers are iffy” on whether Punk has actually changed.
- I understand the skepticism.
- One wrestler told the Torch that Punk “knew he kinda had to be” on his best behavior. Fightful Select says they haven’t confirmed it, but “some in WWE were told by higher ups that there is a behavior clause associated with [Punk’s] contract”.
- I wonder what the specifics of that are, if true.
- Regarding QT Marshall’s resignation from AEW, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Marshall “wants to be a wrestling star”. That was part of his frustration with AEW, and a reason he may not be headed to join his friend Cody Rhodes in WWE where they’d likely want him to coach. Meltzer “would be shocked” if Rhodes wasn’t trying to get QT hired at WWE, though.
- I guess he realized “wrestling star” wasn’t in the cards.
- And of course there’s a Punk connection… Wrestle Purists claims that after a few QTV segments aired on the early episodes of Collision, Punk decided he didn’t want Marshall on the show and “didn’t see QTV as a productive part of Powerhouse Hobbs’ presentation.” Tony Khan took the blame with QT, which damaged their relationship.
- I mean the QTV stuff did not work for Hobbs. Punk was right if he said that.
- As they did last year, NXT will tape their last two episodes of the year. Per Fightful Select, that taping will take place on Weds. Dec. 13.
- That they did. (1/1)
- According to Fightful Select, now that CM Punk is back in WWE, several people in the company are pushing for the long-awaited dream match between Punk and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Many people in WWE are optimistic the match will finally happen, with one source indicating that CM and WWE have already discussed multiple ideas for it.
- I just don’t see Austin having another match.
- It sounds like a lot of the negativity Ric Flair referred to on social media is fan outrage related to a promo line taped for Rampage where he apparently invited all women in the audience 18 to 28 years old to meet him at his hotel room, no boyfriends or husbands. The line is expected to be cut from the broadcast that airs tonight.
- It looks like it was cut. (1/1)
- Per Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, Sammy Guevara was cleared to return to AEW over one week ago from the concussion he suffered in October at the WrestleDream pay-per-view. His return was delayed until after Tay Melo gave birth, so he’ll be back soon.
- Right now, he’s still out on suspension. (Or the suspension is up but he still hasn’t returned.)
- PW Insider was told that Impact Wrestling made a “fantastic, massive offer” for Will Ospreay to sign with them. The offer was apparently in the seven-figure range. Many wrestlers in Impact expected Ospreay would sign after he cut a promo about wanting to wrestle in a TNA ring.
- If you are a star like Ospreay and can go to WWE or AEW over TNA, probably best you do.
- Meltzer and his co-host Bryan Alvarez speculated that The Devil in AEW might end up being Mustafa Ali or Sami Callihan, who have worked previous gimmicks as hackers. Meltzer bolstered Sami’s case by saying “he’s been backstage at shows.”
- It was Cole. (0/1)
- Even though AEW has yet to announce next week’s Gold League matches in the Continental Classic tournament, Meltzer claims that Tony Khan has the entire tournament completely planned out from start to finish.
- That ended up being a pretty solid end of year tournament.
This week: 3/6 – 50%
November 2023: 49/73 – 67%
Overall: 5,104/8,873 – 57.5%
Have a great week, everyone!
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