What is the story about?
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:
- After WWE revealed Pat McAfee as Randy Orton’s mystery caller on SmackDown, F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer posted “Ari call” on X. He seems to be saying it was TKO CEO Ari Emanuel’s decision to insert McAfee into the WrestleMania 42 program between Cody Rhodes and Orton.
- PW Insider also says the belief in WWE is that this decision on McAfee came from the corporate side rather than the creative side, and could be related to WWE’s business deal with ESPN.
- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter indicates there will be 14 total matches across both nights of WrestleMania 42, with seven matches planned for each night.
- In addition to the 12 matches that are official for WrestleMania, people in WWE confirmed to The Observer that The Vision & IShowSpeed vs. The Usos & LA Knight is also scheduled for the event. The 14th match is “penciled” in as Asuka vs. IYO SKY right now.
- Meltzer says the belief is that Chris Jericho is “back in AEW for the long-term,” and the idea of him going back to WWE “is now dead.” WWE apparently “only wanted to bring him in for a retirement tour and farewell.”
- The latest odds at BetOnline show that Joe Hendry, Lola Vice, Zaria, and Tatum Paxley are favored to win their respective matches tonight at NXT Stand & Deliver.
- Fightful Select says the “working plan” is for Thunder Rosa to be offered a dual AEW and CMLL contract. Her current AEW deal is believed to expire some time in 2027.
- During a virtual signing with Signed by Superstars, Road Dogg called Chelsea Green a “national treasure” who says yes to every creative idea presented to her. While working in WWE creative, Road said he tried to push Chelsea and “Make America Green Again.” However, “not everybody was a fan of Chelsea Green like I was,” and “they were sitting there getting hot at me.”
- At the same virtual signing, Daddy Ass said his son Colten Gunn was medically cleared this week, after suffering an injury last summer. It sounds like Colten is “good” to return to AEW.