RUMOR ME THIS

Sometimes people jump the gun when they believe something to be true. Let's take a look at some recent rumor...and the relevant truths.

Most recently, Steve Corino was at SmackDown with 'reports' he was "in talks" for a commentating spot on SmackDown for the brand extenstion. On Steve Corino's commentary from his site though, he vehemently denies any such "talks."

Chris Benoit, drafted by Vince MacMahon for SmackDown, has been rumored to return since before WrestleMania. In reality though, he reports to HWA on April 1, according to the Ross Report, and isn't expected to return for months. He was even with HWA and their superstars in Cincinatti's Easter Parade.

The XWF, which some thought had a shot becomming the next big thing, has been quiet for months, not announcing anything official since January. Even though the post-poned shows they announced were later cancelled. Rumors range from their national television deal telling them to hold on from doing anything now, to running shows out of Universal Studios in Orlando, FL this summer, and to just a dead stop. Josh Mathews, from MTV's Tough Enough who wrestled for XWF stated on his latest commentary, he hasn't heard anything from them.

On the independent level, there's always talk of "the next person" to make it to at least the developmental stage. "Who's next?" "I'm next!" runs rampant at times.

When fans perceive someone who should be at that level, they speculate more. When someone leaves the WWF or developmental deal, there's again questions. Isn't Jeff Starr or Red picked up? Why didn't Mike Modest and Chris Daniels ever really get picked up? Why did Adam Pierce back away from WCW and semi-retire from wrestling? Why did Reckless Youth leave the WWF? Why hasn't Mike Quackenbush been picked up?

Jim Ross once said in his report a few months ago that he was surprised with one rumor at what people could come up with and even more so when people said they got their info from a reliable source, yet his office had received no phone calls on it.

People, especially in wrestling, sometimes seem to want to jump out and be on top of what's going on. But, they do so at times with half speculation and rumor.

Check it out, follow it up. Find the answer. Don't believe half of what you hear and even less of what you read.

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With any news or comments, feel free to e-mail Nate Stein.  You can find Nate Stein now on 411wrestling.com, nepawrestling.com, and his archive site Nate Stein X-treme.