Rumor Roundup (Jan. 29, 2022): Rousey contract, Royal Rumble surprise, NXT call-up, 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:

• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter states that Ronda Rousey is under contract with WWE. It might be a brand new deal, but it’s also possible that WWE simply froze her original three year contract after she left with more than a year and a half remaining on it.
• PW Insider says Kaitlyn and WWE Hall of Fame star Ivory are in St. Louis, which is the site of tonight’s Royal Rumble event. At least one source said Kaitlyn is expected to be a surprise entrant in the women’s Royal Rumble match.
• The WON claims there has been talk of having more main roster stars appear on NXT 2.0 in order to help ratings. It was also noted that the company is very high on LA Knight and he will be called up to the main roster in the spring, perhaps right after WrestleMania 38.
• According to F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer, WWE has considered the idea of signing independent wrestlers to non-exclusive six week contracts to work with some of the younger talent in NXT.
• Meltzer also mentioned that the FOX network likes the idea of having surprise cameos on SmackDown (like Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff recently). There is talk of bringing in more outside talent for surprise cameos on WWE programming to create buzz over who might show up next.

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.