Rumor Roundup (July 9, 2019): Hope for Raw, Black’s opponent, free agent news, 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. 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:

• Sources told Fightful that Paul Heyman told several Raw creative team members Vince McMahon is “coming to grips with the fact” the show needs to be upgraded. It’s led to more optimism change is really coming this time.
• Cesaro was the original plan for Aleister Black’s opponent for Extreme Rules, according to WrestleVotes, but that may have changed after Heyman & Eric Biscoff were hired.
• AEW and New Japan were both interested in signing Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, says PW Insider, but the promise of a push with AJ Styles and “ridiculously amazing” 5 years offers cemented their decision to stay in WWE.
• Insider also reports John “Johnny Impact” Hennigan finished up with Impact at Slammiversary on Sunday, but he may re-sign with the promotion.
• Wrestling Observer says LAX also finished up at the PPV, and the team already has offers from WWE and AEW.

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. And check our weekly Rumor Look Back here to keep track of how often rumors turn out to be correct.