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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:
- Taking a page from TNA's book, word on the dirt screens is that WWE's referees are not happy about recent payouts. Their reported dropoff -- which appear to be a result of lowered gates from live events -- has lead to issues with several people backstage, including Batista and others. While it might be a bit of an exaggeration, it's said that some of the referees are "having trouble making ends meet", and considering they also have to put up travel expenses, it definitely seems plausible.
- Also unhappy with payouts and without contact between himself and the WWE is CM PUNK. This, according to the most recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Apparently this time it's from a source close to Punk. When CM Punk started living in an episode of ABC's Scandal remains unclear, but it's important to recognize that this could also literally be Dave Meltzer calling up someone who knows Punk and asking them why they think he left and nothing more.
- It appears that the reasons behind the delayed WWE 2K15 release -- it's being pushed back from the fall until around the time of WrestleMania 31 -- is mostly a marketing decision. More importantly, it's also been rumored that the game will feature a WWE version of the "My Player" mode. The extremely awesome mode was made famous by the extremely well-regarded NBA 2K series, also created by WWE 2K15's studio Take-Two.
- The Usos and Bray Wyatt's Dueling Banjo Band -- Luke Harper and Erick Rowan -- appear poised to face one another for the WWE tag team titles at the Payback PPV. Whether they would be allowed at the adult table and actually appear on the main show isn't clear.
- Cesaro, like John Cena before him, was held off Raw so that people would tune into Main Event to see him. This seems to be a way that they are both using people to get subscribers to the Network and seeing who can move the needle as well.
- The feeling in TNA is that Kurt Angle is basically out the door at this point, and is almost 100% assured to not return there when he contract is up.
- Our long international nightmare is now over, and the WWE has finally come to terms with the former three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Prince Devitt. He will be arriving in August to the Performance Center.
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.