Rumor Roundup (Jan. 22, 2022): Undertaker at Royal Rumble, NXT disappoints, McIntyre 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:

• WWE is “disappointed” with NXT 2.0 thus far, tweets WrestleVotes. A source told the account that WWE “thought more fans would gravitate towards the newer stars quicker than they have.”
• Following up on Votes’ tweet, a source told Andrew Zarian that much of the blame is being put on how abruptly everything changed, and that “fan perception of the product isn’t helping either.”
• PW Insider notes that the Undertaker will be at Royal Rumble. It’s not clear if he’ll only be there to support his wife Michelle McCool, who is wrestling that night, or if WWE has something planned for him.
• WarnerMedia was upset about WWE’s “gory self-mutilation” quote, per Wrestling Observer Newsletter. AEW’s partner took it as “an attempt at a personal attack against the company in an attempt to hurt their ad sales.”
• Drew McIntyre is “insistent on being cleared for WrestleMania,” according to the WON. He is on an aggressive rehabilitation schedule, similar to the kind John Cena used to use when returning from injury.

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.