6 wrestling rumors we hope are true and 6 we hope aren't: Vince McMahon to push legend with expiring contract, Megastar not returning until WrestleMania 37?

Welcome to this week's edition of "Wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't". This week's edition focuses on the fallouts of WrestleMania 36, with WWE set to return to live episodes of RAW, SmackDown, and NXT following this.

We've got an interesting roundup for you this week, from the return of top Superstars, backstage politics, and so much more. Let's jump right into it:

#6. Hope is true: Vince McMahon set to push Jeff Hardy

One Superstar who has gotten back to the mix only recently is Jeff Hardy, who made his return a month ago on SmackDown, the brand where he last left off.

According to Paul Davis of WrestlingNews, Vince McMahon is set to give a big push to Jeff Hardy to prevent him from jumping ship to AEW, especially since his contract is expiring soon:

"I am told that this is the start of a big push for Hardy, who has almost a year left with the company due to time added on his contract because of his injury time off. Vince McMahon is said to be impressed with Hardy’s determination to get clean. Hardy went into inpatient rehab for the first time in his life in late 2019 after relapsing.

He said that Hardy is expected to get a big-money contract:

McMahon also wants to show Hardy that he will be treated well and that WWE is the better option for him. Hardy will likely get big money contract offers to stay away from All Elite Wrestling."

We hope this is true because Jeff Hardy is a much better fit for WWE than AEW. Matt Hardy is better off in the latter, as his creative vision likely matches that of Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes.

#6. Hope isn't true: Ronda Rousey's potential return date

Ronda Rousey has been absent from WWE television for over a year now, having last appeared in the main event of WrestleMania 35 in 2019. There have been many questions over her possible return, with fans first expecting her back at Survivor Series 2019 and then hoping for her to return around WrestleMania 36 season.

As it turns out, she appears to be much more content living on her farm with her husband and she recently revealed that the time away from home with WWE got to her mentally.

Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio said that Rousey can be expected next year at WrestleMania 37:

I expect her at next year's WrestleMania because it's Los Angeles. The idea is to draw this giant crowd and it's her home market and she will be heavily pushed as one of the faces of the show. I don't expect her back, I mean I haven't heard, but I don't expect her back anytime soon. I would not think that she would be back until the build for next year's WrestleMania. That's my gut on it, but no one's told me that but people there have told me that she will be back at one point for at least another match. WrestleMania does make the most sense for that.

We hope this isn't true because Rousey returning sooner for SummerSlam season would be huge.

#5. Hope is true: Original plans for Goldberg at WrestleMania 36

Goldberg was set to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36. Given that Goldberg's contract reportedly expired at WrestleMania 36, the idea would have been for The Big Dog to get another coronation at the grandest stage of them all.

However, Reigns pulled out of the match and was replaced by Braun Strowman - who was the instant beneficiary as he went on to beat Goldberg in just over two minutes to become the Universal Champion.

According to WrestleTalk, the original plan was to have Jeff Hardy against Goldberg, but WWE decided to go with Strowman instead.

Sportskeeda's Lennard Surrao wrote:

Jeff Hardy vs. Goldberg would have been a very uncommon match to witness as the former WCW Champion would have been the odds-on favorite to retain the Universal title.The creative team wanted the title to change hands and Strowman was clearly the more believable option to take down Goldberg. Jeff Hardy didn't compete at WrestleMania and Strowman was also not scheduled to be a part of the show until he was called upon for the biggest match of his career.

We hope this is true because Hardy would have been a great alternative and it could have possibly led to a great match as well. It's good to see that he's in the conversation for such matches.

#5. Hope isn't true: Reason why Randy Orton vs Edge went on for too long

Edge made a triumphant return to singles competition after nine long years away at WrestleMania 36 as he faced and defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the match was that it went on for too long, with the runtime being around 36 minutes. It was the longest WrestleMania match in a long time and many felt that it took away from what was otherwise a great piece of psychology and storytelling between the two legends.

According to Cageside Seats, Edge revealed that it wasn't the editors, but higher-ups responsible for the match going on for so long:

Speaking of Edge, he also said he was told not to blame anyone who edited Edge vs. Randy Orton because “someone at the top overruled other people.”

We hope this isn't true, but in all likeliness, it appears to be the case. While no finger should be pointed, we hope that it's a lesson for WWE to prevent matches going on that long with certain exceptions. Matches that cross 35-40 minutes are better suited to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

#4. Hope is true: Edge's expected schedule

Edge is back in the ring and in recent interviews, he's expressed his interest in facing many of the Superstars from the current roster. He even went as far as to name-drop names like Keith Lee and The Velveteen Dream from NXT.

So far, the only thing we knew about Edge's return is that he's signed a three-year multi-million dollar contract. As for when he's set to return next, it's up in the air due to the prevailing circumstances.

Tom Colohue revealed on the latest episode of Dropkick DiSKussions that Edge was likely scheduled to return for the next Saudi Arabia show and explained what his schedule might look like going forward:

It's hard to say what the current situation is because with the current situation, things are a little bit up in the air but the original plan was after this match, Edge would take about a month off and then come back to start to build towards the next Saudi Arabia show where he would have his next match and then we'd see him after that take about a month off and move on to SummerSlam. That was the plan. He's definitely here to stay, we'll see five or six matches per year. That's what he is currently booked for, could go higher. Ronda Rousey was booked for so many but decided to do more.

We hope this is true because it would be great to see Edge return to wrestle new opponents every time. There are a lot of dream matches waiting to happen in this run.

#4. Hope isn't true: Possible direction of Braun Strowman's Universal Championship reign

While Braun Strowman would likely have preferred better circumstances, he was the beneficiary to Roman Reigns pulling out of WrestleMania 36 as he replaced and beat Goldberg to capture the seemingly-elusive Universal Championship over three-and-a-half years after his singles run began.

While Bray Wyatt is his first feud after WrestleMania 36, it's not clear right now whether he's a transitional champion who got lucky or one who WWE might try to go with. Wade Keller of PWTorch said that there's a high chance of Strowman's reign being a transitional one.

He might end up being a transitional Champion. It is very much possible that he doesn't end up holding the belt for long if this is just a bridge or a band-aid to get the belt back on Roman Reigns or to go a completely different direction.

We hope this isn't true because Strowman deserves a chance to have a long run. While we're not sure how WWE would be able to protect Wyatt, Strowman deserves to have a good run with the title after so many missed opportunities.

#3. Hope is true: A big promotion for Michael Cole

Michael Cole and Roman Reigns on the March 13th episode of SmackDown

Michael Cole is a man who has gotten a lot of flack over the years. The common criticism that he received was over a "robotic" style of announcing, where WWE commentators would often drill in catchphrases among other things in and repeat it constantly.

However, many also pointed out that when he's away from the RAW/SmackDown/PPV set-up, he's capable of a lot more. The Beast in the East in 2015 is the perfect example of this, where Cole was praised for his commentary duties - proving that he can do a lot better when given the free reins.

According to PWInsider, Michael Cole has been promoted to the Vice President of Announcing.

Michael Cole is also a man who must be commended, especially with the work he's done this past WrestleMania season. He's the most experienced commentator in WWE today and was the main announcer throughout most of the shows and WrestleMania. We hope this is true because he deserves the promotion if he got one.

#3. Hope isn't true: Backstage reaction to the Firefly Fun House match

WrestleMania 36 featured two cinematic-style matches - the first of which was a 'Boneyard match' between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, while the second one saw Bray Wyatt face John Cena in a 'Firefly Fun House match'.

The Boneyard match received heaps of praise, with fans hailing it as the most unique and incredible WrestleMania main event of all time. With regards to the Firefly Fun House, there was some confusion, especially since it didn't feel like an actual match.

It was more of a segment taking John Cena through his past and according to Tom Colohue on Dropkick DiSKussions, the match wasn't as well recieved backstage:

On the other side, John Cena and Bray Wyatt sat down. Cena made some suggestions, basically, Bray Wyatt said this is all of the story. It hasn't been well-received backstage as the Boneyard match has been.

He said that there's a low chance of WWE going with the Firefly Fun House match again:

Bray Wyatt is very unlikely to do many more Firefly Fun House matches. His match wasn't so well-received backstage.

We hope this isn't true because the "match" was good in its own right, but it felt a bit odd advertising it as a contest. WWE should revisit the concept later with a few tweaks.

#2. Hope is true: John Cena's input on the Firefly Fun House match

John Cena taking a trip down memory lane

Regardless of the criticism, the Firefly Fun House match was done at the right time and it was another unique style of storytelling - one that many feel WWE should bring back.

Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that John Cena made changes to the Firefly Fun House as well, mostly for the better:

'The Firefly Fun House was Bruce Prichard and Bray and there were a lot of changes made by John Cena, so, supposedly for the better. That's what was told to me.

We hope this is true because Cena still has a great creative mind. For nearly five years now, Cena has utilized his part-time role to help put over other Superstars rather than take the spotlight for himself.

He's been one of the most selfless legends in WWE history, truly believing in the future and stepping back when he felt the need to. We don't know how long or how often we're going to see John Cena around, but we hope that he keeps returning.

#2. Hope isn't true: The reason why Goldberg beat Bray Wyatt

The decision to have Goldberg beat 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt clean at Super ShowDown and win the Universal title remains questionable and it's clear that in hindsight, the title should have stayed on Wyatt.

Many wondered why WWE decided to go with Goldberg at the end, especially since the original plan was leading to an inevitable Roman Reigns-Bray Wyatt showdown.

According to WrestleZone, Goldberg politicked in the last-minute and didn't want to lose to Bray Wyatt as he felt it would risk damaging his image:

We were told that Goldberg going over was a last-minute decision, apparently because Goldberg didn’t want to risk damaging his image. It was noted that Goldberg bargained for creative control and pushed for the title win because 'The Fiend' was a monster and the younger fans needed to see him come out victorious, or it would ruin his character

We hope this isn't true as it was a bad move and a short-term one. When Roman Reigns was asked before about who he wanted to face at WrestleMania between Goldberg and Bray Wyatt, he chose the latter, explaining that he was more invested in the future.

It's clear which direction WWE should have gone in, and it wasn't the one they went for.

#1. Hope is true: The end of Bobby Lashley and Lana is near

It seems as though the Bobby Lashley-Lana storyline was one that shouldn't have been done, to begin with. The least that could have happened was a basic conclusion, but Rusev's untimely injury meant that we would never see how it would last.

Perhaps the frustration for fans lies in the fact that WWE invested over four months in the storyline - which accumulated some of WWE's highest-viewed YouTube videos, social media interactions, and more.

While it was working both in terms of getting attention and getting Rusev over as a babyface, the abrupt end of it meant that WWE isn't left with much else for Lana and Lashley.

With Lashley teasing a break-up after his loss to Aleister Black at WrestleMania 36, Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that the end is near for the on-screen couple.

“They were already having problems before the marriage. They were already doomed — it was not a wise relationship in storyline from the start. She is quite beautiful and quite the worst woman in the world that you’d ever wanna be with. That’s kinda her character, so there you go.”

We hope this is true because it's high time they start pushing Lashley as a serious performer again, possibly even setting him up for a dream clash against Brock Lesnar in 2020.

#1. Hope isn't true: Legitimate backstage heat for Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey isn't a woman who's going to be welcome back in the WWE locker room with open arms. She was recently on the Wild Ride! with Steve-O podcast, where she made unflattering comments.

While she praised WWE and wrestling in general, she used the term "fake fighting" and directly insulted the fanbase - citing it as the reason why she hasn't returned to the ring. She even labeled them as 'ungrateful' and to no surprise, this hasn't gone down well with the locker room, according to Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue:

To what I'm sure will be the surprise of nobody, Ronda Rousey's recent comments haven't gone down too well in the #WWE locker rooms.
— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) April 11, 2020

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We hope this isn't true because it all seems to be a work. Rousey referenced a confusion Hulk Hogan tweet on Instagram, indicating that she purposely said what she did to get her name out there again.

Either way, WWE will always welcome a Superstar of Rousey's caliber and if she's only going to return in 2021, then fans may forget about the comments she made. It'll be interesting to see what capacity she returns in if she ever does.

Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE