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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 legitimate news or fact, it's just circulating around the pro wrestling rumor mill. Remember, take it all with a grain of salt.
Rumors for the Day:
- The latest on the Spike TV/TNA Impact saga says Vince Russo's presence at the company isn't that big of a deal for the network - so his departure may not make a difference and/or have had anything to do with the contract negotiations. This issue is money, as despite their ratings, TNA doesn't generate enough income for Spike considering how much money they put into it. If that's the case, it's not great news for the wrestling business, because it's the same thing that sunk WWE properties like Main Event on Ion and even Smackdown on UPN/The CW.
- One TNA employee who might not be sweating the cancellation or renewal of Impact on Spike is James Storm, who had his own meeting with Viacom this week. Word is that the Cowboy is pitching a reality show about a bar that he owns to the media company who owns Spike, MTV, VH1, CMT and many other channels.
- Things aren't all sunshine and roses at WWE Corporate. In addition to the release of Ricardo Rodriguez, rumored cost cutting measures include cutting the amount of money they pay independent workers who they use as extras in half and reducing staff by 10% across the board.
- United States champion Sheamus hasn't been on television in a while. Initial word was that he had the flu, and then he tweeted that he was in Ireland. A report from the press there has him starring as Darth Vader in the new Star Wars movies, even though (SPOILER ALERT) Annakin Skywalker died at the end of Return of the Jedi. The Celtic Warrior joked about the rumor on social media - without actually shooting it down.
- David Otunga, who also hasn't been on TV in a while, was definitely on ABC's General Hospital yesterday, playing himself. He makes a hospital visit to a character who is a former pro wrestler.
- The SummerSlam card is said to be fairly set in stone at this point. The one area that is still in flux is the tag title picture. Early word was that it would be a Fatal 4Way to get a bunch of teams on the card, but the current move is said to be towards The Usos vs. the Xavier Woods managed team of Kofi Kingston and Big E.
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 as such. Have fun with it.