Rumor Roundup (April 16, 2021): WWE roster cuts, Aleister Black’s return, WrestleMania 38, 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:

• Sean Ross Sapp was told that John Laurinaitis made calls to the wrestlers who WWE released yesterday, explaining the decision was made due to budget cuts. Dave Meltzer notes that none of these performers can sign with another wrestling promotion until July 14 due to a 90 day non-compete clause.
• Fightful says that multiple released talent previously asked about their job security over the last couple of months, and were told they would not be cut.
• Per Fightful, Mickie James and Samoa Joe both recently expressed their desire to continue wrestling. Joe was not cleared by WWE.
• According to PW Insider, WWE is filming promos for Aleister Black’s return to television. The vignettes are somewhat based on his childhood.
• WrestleVotes says the current plan is for next year’s WrestleMania 38 event to go back to being one night.

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.