NXT and Dynamite continued to deliver as the best shows with the Wednesday Night War heating up, but the other shows didn’t do so bad themselves. AEW was in the midst of the fallout from Full Gear and there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the rival promotion.
As for WWE, the build to Survivor Series continued with the second-last week of programming wrapping up before the 4th biggest PPV of the year. There’s still a whole week of programming left, which means that we’ll be getting 3 episodes and 6 hours of overall content, so it’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Without going much further, let’s take a look at the rumors that we hope are true and those we hope aren’t!
#7 Hope is true: Why WWE is releasing a few superstars
In 2019 following Tye Dillinger/Shawn Spears’ exit from WWE (where he was granted his release request), the company has stopped granting superstars their release. Naturally, with AEW and more options popping up, many superstars who are creatively frustrated have realized that the Sports Entertainment Giant isn’t their only option to earn money and apply their craft.
Luke Harper and Sin Cara are two such recent examples of superstars who were denied their release. However, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that WWE will be giving a few superstars their release - but only the ones who they feel won’t go to AEW or won’t make a big difference:
We hope this is true because, in an increasingly crowded roster, a few superstars getting released upon their request won’t do any harm.
#6 Hope isn’t true: WWE scrapped plans for a title change
The original plans for the Survivor Series “mid-card title match” was originally going to feature Daniel Bryan as the Intercontinental Champion, which meant that he would have defeated Shinsuke Nakamura for the title, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
While Bryan vs Styles vs Strong would have been a dream match-up, we hope this isn’t true because Bryan is better of challenging for the Universal title, even if he isn’t winning it.
#6 Hope is true: WWE changing their booking following Rollins-Wyatt controversy
Sportskeeda’s own Tom Colohue was talking about the upcoming Women’s Champions Triple Threat match at Survivor Series featuring Becky Lynch (RAW) vs Bayley (SmackDown) vs Shayna Baszler (NXT).
When asked about the possibility of Ronda Rousey getting involved in the match, Colohue stated that it was possible, but unlikely since WWE has changed their direction with the finishes of matches. The discussion backstage was reportedly increased after the controversial Seth Rollins-Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell finish, with WWE looking to have more clean finishes to appease fans. He said:
We hope this is true because WWE needs to start having clean finishes more frequently. The excessively over-booked finishes are a thing of the past and should stay that way.
#5 Hope isn’t true: Becky Lynch to challenge for another championship
Becky Lynch may have run into a small predicament on RAW following her win over Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell. She rightfully won a fantastic match and continued to be the face of the women’s division on RAW (and WWE in general), but with Banks being drafted to SmackDown, it meant that The Man would have a serious downgrade in the level of competition.
Yes, we know that Charlotte Flair is on RAW as well, but they’re not running that back for another few months atleast and right now, she seems to have a lack of challengers post-Survivor Series. It’s fine for now since she’s occupied with Shayna Baszler and Bayley, her Survivor Series opponents, but after that, there seem to be different plans for her.
TLC is the final PPV of the year and will culminate from Minneapolis, Minnesota in December. According to the venue Target Center, Becky Lynch will be teaming up with Charlotte Flair to take on The Kabuki Warriors in a Tag Team Championship match, which is also going to have the TLC stipulation.
While the match will undoubtedly be amazing (and could even be the main event match-up), we hope it isn’t true because we want Becky Lynch to be defending the RAW Women’s title and not challenging for other titles. For all we know, it could result in The Kabuki Warriors losing the titles.
#5 Hope is true: The bridge between CM Punk and WWE is essentially rebuilt
CM Punk broke the internet when he confirmed the rumors and appeared on WWE Backstage, much to the shock of everyone. Various reports were stating that WWE gave FOX their blessing to hire Punk and Vince McMahon is open to Punk re-joining, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll be returning in an in-ring capacity anytime soon.
On an episode of Dropkick DiSKussions, Tom Colohue revealed that FOX took WWE’s consent before hiring Punk
He even stated that nearly 6 years after his WWE departure, the bridge has been rebuilt between the two parties after all the bad blood:
We hope this is true because Punk has always been a valuable superstar to the company and to have him on good terms again just goes to show that time can heal most wounds.
#4 Hope isn’t true: Vince McMahon’s reaction to fan backlash of the Lana-Rusev-Lashley storyline
It’s no secret that the Lana-Rusev-Bobby Lashley love triangle storyline is the most controversial one in WWE today. It’s gotten so much heat that even Corey Graves on the After The Bell podcast (the official WWE podcast, might we add), slammed the storyline and openly admitted his disdain for the entire angle, hoping for it to end.
Since it’s gotten mostly negative reactions, the buzzword that WWE has used is that it’s “polarizing”, with Renee Young on WWE Backstage being the only one on the panel to admit she likes the drama. Paige, on the other hand, was also vocally against it.
Vince McMahon is listening and reading all the negative reactions, according to Wrestlingnews.co. The website stated that McMahon is allegedly getting a “kick” out of all the backlash and feels it’s helping Bobby Lashley garner a lot of heel heat. The report also stated that Rusev is expected to get the right payoff at the end of it all and that the feud is expected to continue for another two months atleast.
We hope this isn’t true because the reaction seems quite surprising and almost as though the audience’s reaction is falling on deaf ears.
#4 Hope is true: NXT talent getting a huge upgrade in pay for Survivor Series
NXT talent works just as hard, if not harder than main roster superstars but due to the “developmental” tag attached to the show, the pay they receive is usually lower and they have to wait for an official call-up before getting a pay raise.
Tom Colohue reported that NXT talent, with all the work they’ve been doing this month building up to WarGames and Survivor Series, will be expecting a big bump in their pay.
An internal source of Colohue told him that they’re in a much better bargaining position with all the work they’ve been doing and they expect to be rewarded for it.
We hope this is true because they deserve a big pay raise for the amount of work that they’ve been doing.
#3 Hope isn’t true: Cody Rhodes to legitimately not challenge for the World title again
AEW Full Gear saw Cody Rhodes challenge Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship. It was a fantastic feud as a whole, with Rhodes being a top-tier babyface and even added the stipulation that if he lost, he would never challenge for the AEW World title again.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW plans to stick to this and Rhodes will legitimately not challenge Jericho or anyone holding the World title again.
While we completely respect the logic behind the decision, we hope that this is one of those “never say never situations”. Cody Rhodes is the founding member of the company and one of the core parts of the franchise. To think that he would never challenge for the World title again is shocking because he of all people deserves to have a run with it, even if it’s a few years down the line.
All it takes is the right story to do so, but until then, we hope that this rumor isn’t true.
#3 Hope is true: Daniel Bryan having a lot of creative control
It’s no secret that Daniel Bryan is one of the brightest minds in wrestling. Nearly two years into his in-ring comeback, he still stands tall as one of the best in the world and WWE trusts him more than ever with the creative process.
In a conversation on the Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez revealed that Daniel Bryan was in the production meeting, with Dave Meltzer confirming that Bryan is heavily involved in the backstage process of his own angles, giving him creative control.
We hope this is true because Daniel Bryan is the kind of superstar who deserves to have creative control of his character as the last thing he’ll do is exploit it to put himself over constantly.
#2 Hope isn’t true: Vince McMahon’s backstage reaction to the “Big Dog” segment
The latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown was an underwhelming one and many fans have claimed that the Roman Reigns-Baron Corbin feud has killed off a lot of interest in Friday Nights. That may reflect in the ratings and the segment where Corbin brought out a man dressed as a big dog was one such segment that sparked a lot of negative reaction.
According to a report by Wrestlingnews.co, Vince McMahon was “howling with laughter” during the segment and appeared to love the entire thing.
For obvious reasons, we hope that this isn’t true, but we tend to believe that it is true. The reason why is the Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley podcast on Talk is Jericho a few months ago where he revealed that Vince McMahon was crazy about the segment where Ambrose was getting injected in the backside, calling it “good s**t”.
This seems to be the type of humor that only Vince McMahon seems to love, but we hope that it isn’t true either way.
#2 Hope is true: Rey Mysterio got a special contract from WWE
Rey Mysterio is enjoying a great run in WWE right now, one where he will be challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series. Although he’s expected to lose, it’s still a good position to be in and the company seems to be putting a lot more value in him now than they did towards the end of his run over five years ago.
Dave Meltzer, on the Wrestling Observer Radio, revealed that the Lucha Legend got a 2-year contract with WWE and it will enable him to give his notice after 18 months should he leave. He said:
The ultimate point of that discussion was that wrestlers should sign short-term deals instead to prevent any future regrets. Sin Cara, for example, has requested his release from WWE but recently signed a 3-year deal with the company which works against his favor.
As for Mysterio, he will enjoy a contract that most superstars don’t get.
#1 Hope isn’t true: A ridiculous stipulation match for Roman Reigns is being considered at TLC
As mentioned, the Roman Reigns-Baron Corbin feud has been one that looks to be killing off a lot of interest in SmackDown and this is exactly how to undo the brilliant work they’ve done with The Big Dog this year.
As far as Baron Corbin has come, it seems as though the booking of him is a momentum killer for other superstars as well. With Vince McMahon reportedly being a fan of the segment where the man in the dog costume came out, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that WWE plans to hold a ludicrous stipulation match for Roman Reigns at TLC - a “dog collar match”:
We hope this isn’t true because that’s new levels of ridiculousness that will hurt every superstar involved!
#1 Hope is true: Becky Lynch’s WrestleMania 36 plans
Becky Lynch has risen to a whole new level of superstardom in 2019 after WWE established her as the face of the Women’s division following a win in the main event of WrestleMania. She’s yet to lose the title and from the look of things, is going to be the champion for the rest of 2019.
Not only that, but her title reign may even last for well over a year. According to Tom Colohue on Dropkick DiSKussions, the plan for WrestleMania 36 may very well be Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey.
We hope this is true because it’s a match that will have far more interest than Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair again. They need to keep the two away as long as possible and a win against Rousey would further cement Becky Lynch as the face of WWE’s Women’s division.
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