Speculating on the rumors surrounding pro wrestling is a favored pastime of many fans, perhaps second only to actually watching the matches. In this daily column, we take a look at the latest rumors being churned out by the pro wrestling rumor mill.
Important reminder: Rumors are just that — rumors. None of this has been confirmed as fact, it’s just circulating around the pro wrestling rumor mill. We track rumor accuracy in a weekly feature called Rumor Look Back you can find here. Remember, take it all with a grain of salt.
Rumors for the Day:
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer mentioned that as of a couple weeks ago, WWE was not planning to have Sami Zayn win the men’s Royal Rumble match. Going further back, Meltzer says Zayn’s story with The Bloodline was originally planned to last only three weeks, but WWE kept going with it because Sami got over.
Fightful Select says Ronda Rousey’s SmackDown women’s title defense against Raquel Rodriguez on the Dec. 30 episode was originally planned for Royal Rumble 2023. As of early December, there was an idea to book Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey vs. Rhea Ripley as the WrestleMania 39 women’s title matches.
The site goes on to say that before Rousey dropped the title to Flair, Ronda “was presented with several creative options, but they didn’t work out.” WWE then made the decision to move up the Rousey vs. Rodriguez match to Dec. 30 and have Flair beat Rousey for the title.
According to PW Insider, Vince McMahon was spotted at Titan Towers this week, and it looks like he’s back in his old office.
Per Meltzer, Bray Wyatt is listed as the number one babyface on the SmackDown brand.
Meltzer also claims Natalya “is hurt” and might not be ready in time for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Fightful notes that because Mark Briscoe’s debut match on Dynamite was a late addition to the show, time had to be trimmed from Darby Allin’s match and the Family Therapy segment in order to make room for Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal.
If you have heard of any interesting rumors that you’d like to add, feel free to post them in the comments section below. Just remember they are rumors and not confirmed as fact, so please take them as such. And check our weekly Rumor Look Back here to keep track of how often rumors turn out to be correct.
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