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For many fans, reading about rumors -- and trawling the sites that traffic in them -- has become as popular as watching the matches themselves. In this daily column, we take a look at the biggest rumors and weirdest stories being churned out by those pro wrestling "news" sites.
Important reminders: Rumors are "rumors" and not "news" for a reason, folks. That which has not been confirmed as legitimate news or fact will be made clear.
Rumors of the Day:
- With Brock Lesnar not appearing on the Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV), speculation has begun already that the WWE will be using one of his precious dates for the Night of Champions PPV in order to follow up on whatever happens at SummerSlam. Which seems to indicate that not only will he be at SummerSlam -- which was essentially assumed -- but that he'll almost definitely be winning a title match at the show.
- Speaking of which, the WWE may finally pull the trigger on the long talked-about unification of the Intercontinental and US titles during this upcoming European tour, or at least began building it there, with the blowoff coming some point after. Although this has been rumored before, given the home continent of the company's current mid-card champions. that speculation has reached a fever pitch. Who would be going over between the fast-rising Bad News Barrett and the well-established Sheamus remains unclear. And, considering the lineage of the Intercontinental title in the WWE (and the lack thereof for the US title), it also remains unclear which title would be kept regardless of who would ends up ultimately winning.
- That aforementioned European tour will also reportedly be pulling a number of major stars off SmackDown this week, with Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, The Shield, Kane and Big E apparently leaving right after Monday's RAW to travel to Glasgow, Scotland for a live event on Wednesday.
- Word on the dirt screens is that former WWE superstar Sakamoto -- "superstar" meaning "Tensai's former assistant" -- has been rehired by the company, after being seen backstage at an NXT live event. The speculation is that he's being brought back primarily to serve as a translator for KENTA, if/when he arrives. And to be clear, while Sakamoto's employment status -- and whether or not his primary job would be to hold KENTA's hand through the assimilation process or if KENTA is even coming at all -- are uncertain, his being backstage for the live event was appears to have been confirmed.
- For what it's worth -- which might not be much at this point -- Batista still isn't being advertised for the Payback PPV. Though given the build towards another Evolution vs. Shield match -- and those fancy new t-shirts they had made -- it seems inevitable that he'll be there.
- According to a report from WrestlingDVDNews.com, several new show types are being floated around for the Network. Along with possible new "in-ring" shows outside of Raw and NXT shows, news shows -- both satirical, like the Daily Show and straightforward, like SportsCenter -- and more news-y documentaries similar to Daniel Bryan's Journey to WrestleMania were used to gauge possible interest from fans. Outside of the news shows, the most interesting genre being mentioned was a talk show, or shows, with one along the same lines as Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. This is especially interesting given the previous hints that the company is in discussions with ESPN anchor Jonathan Coachman to bring him back part-time on the Network. We at the Rumor Roundup are just hoping at least one of these things prevents Renee Young from leaving the company for greener pastures.
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 for as such.