Rumor Roundup (Oct. 22, 2022): AEW is anti-Punk, Triple H COVID, Wyatt plan, 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 reports WWE’s planned changes to their premium live event lineup for 2023 include adding an annual UK event, and having fewer shows centered around a gimmick.
• PW Insider said Triple H wasn’t at last night’s SmackDown taping because he’s still in WWE’s COVID-19 protocol. He’s feeling fine and is expected back at next week’s TV tapings, pending test results.
• CM Punk is not popular backstage at AEW, per the Observer Newsletter. Most of the talent are “decidedly anti-Punk” because of how he went after the “very popular” Hangman Page, made AEW look bush league by saying Page had done nothing in his career, and how everything Punk was involved in after All Out made the company look bad overall.
• F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer indicated that Ace Steel was surprised AEW released him.
• Despite reportedly being present for the post-All Out brawl, Meltzer notes that Ace Steel’s wife was never spoken to during the investigation into the matter.
• According to Fightful, WWE prepared travel arrangements for Billy Gunn to appear at the 25th anniversary celebration of D-Generation X on Raw. One of the ideas for mentioning that he works for AEW on air included a “lower third graphic with an AEW logo.” WWE ultimately decided not to do it.
• The WON also says WWE is considering Vincent & Dutch, the former ROH tag team known as The Righteous, for Bray Wyatt’s faction.
• It seems indie promotion GCW has “something going on with WWE,” as the Observer says “Joey Janela not only was plugging for people to watch Raw and also told everyone on the roster to do the same and promote Raw this week.”

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.