Rumor Roundup (Jan. 1, 2022): Royal Rumble plans, Toni Storm release, Dreamer return, 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:

• Because Drew McIntyre has been working house show main events with The New Day against Roman Reigns & The Usos, there’s a lot of speculation that McIntyre vs. Reigns for the Universal title is the plan for Royal Rumble.
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Toni Storm was not originally scheduled to work the WWE live event in Washington, DC the night before she quit the company. She was told at 8 AM the morning of the show of the change in plans. Burnout has been cited as a factor in Storm’s decision to request her release.
• WrestleVotes says multiple ideas like “different rope colors, mat colors, camera angles etc” were pitched to change the look of Day 1, but all were rejected.
• AEW is still testing unvaccinated wrestlers for COVID on a weekly basis, according to the WON.
• Per Fightful, Tommy Dreamer is “back in the fold” at Impact Wrestling. He was suspended in September after his inappropriate comments aired on Dark Side of the Ring. There was initially heat on Dreamer at Impact for those comments, but certain people in the company now believe the “punishment fit the offense.”

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.