Rumor Roundup (July 9, 2020): Orton plan, new WWE belts, change to ring intros, Otis push, 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 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:

• Both WrestleTalk’s Louis Dangoor and TalkSport’s Alex McCarthy report that although Randy Orton wanted to work with either Adam Cole or Tomasso Ciampa at SummerSlam, the lack of top heels means he’ll be Drew McIntyre’s challenger.
• According to Twitter’s Belt Fan Dan, a new, larger version of the current NXT title is on the way. WWE’s had new SmackDown Tag title belts since WrestleMania 35, but obviously haven’t used them.
• Fightful is the latest site to report the boss is responsible for Otis’ push. The site’s sources say the Money in the Bank winner is a “total Vince McMahon project.” Both members of Heavy Machinery have made “positive impressions” backstage.
• At last week’s tapings, WWE decided not to have an announcer in the ring for pre-match introductions. That’s the new normal, says Wrestling Inc. The site also says that going forward ring announcers may join wrestlers inside the ropes for some title matches.
• Alberto El Patron has hired his defense team and is waiting for the sexual assault charges against him to go before the grand jury, per PW Insider.

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