Rumor Roundup (August 1, 2014): WrestleMania payouts, more heat on Ric Flair and Scott Hall, new NXT special announced and more

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:

• WWE performers reportedly got their WrestleMania 30 bonus checks this week, and most were pleasantly surprised by the amounts.  They were smaller than in years past due to the WWE Network reducing pay-per-view (PPV) buys and the lower video game royalty checks from last year.  But the figures were said to be in line with what talent expected considering those factors, so the general feeling is positive.

• We reportedly earlier that Randy Orton was in some hot water for working slow in matches with Roman Reigns on the house show circuit.  Add fellow original Evolution member Ric Flair to that list.  Flair worked as referee for those matches on the shows in question, and was said to be hanging out in the ropes away from the action and slow to get down to count pin attempts.

• Vince Russo continues to insist that he was not fired by TNA, and is now including PWInsider.com in his line of fire, alleging that the website was either lied to or talked to some unreliable people in order to get their report that he had been fired.  Russo is claiming that the decision to part ways with the company was mutual and not driven by TNA trying to save face with Spike TV, who allegedly hates his guts.

• More heat on Scott Hall, this time for refusing to sign a birthday card for a six year old who has cancer.  Most of the big names at the Phoenix autograph convention, such as Bret Hart, Maria Kanellis, Adam Copeland (Edge) and Sean Waltman, signed the card for Boston native Danny Nickerson.  Hall refused, which was seen as being in particularly bad taste since he has crowdfunded money for some of his past surgeries.

• The next NXT live special, the creatively named Takeover 2, was announced for September at last night's NXT tapings.  A special message from cSs' head NXT nerd writer, Sean Rueter, to the Rumor Roundup team: "Please heed the words of Frank Cross, who said, 'For the love of God and your own bodies, stop the G-D spoiling!'  I think that's what he said, anyway.  I only watch Scrooged at Christmas time."

• The October issue of WWE Magazine will be the last.  That's not a rumor, that's true.  The rumor part is that this is not a cost-cutting move, but more a realization that print is dying.  The magazine has been in publication for thirty years, having debuted in 1984 as WWF Victory Magazine.

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.