Rumor Roundup (Dec. 24, 2022): Cena plan, WWE drug testing, Regal contract, Santa Claus, 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:

• John Cena is planning on wrestling at WrestleMania 39, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but his Hollywood commitments will limit the number of appearances he can make on television leading up to the show.
• Commenting on F4WOnline’s The Board, Dave Meltzer claimed that WWE changed its Wellness Policy so that talent isn’t necessarily fired after failing a third drug test: “It’s because a couple of key people have had two suspensions and we’re in a wrestling war. Plus somebody with two could intentionally fail a third to get out of their contract.”
• The Observer provided the following tidbit about William Regal’s AEW contract: “Regal did have an opt out on 2/24 but Tony Khan had an opt out on 12/22.” In other words, Regal could have opted out of the contract two months from now if he wanted to.
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer mentioned that Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland “had chances to go back” to WWE, but “they didn’t even entertain it.”
• The decision to postpone WWE’s planned show in India was made by their television partner in the country, says the WON. Sony Six wants to finalize its merger with another Indian TV network, Zee, before going forward with the show. The merger is expected to be complete by April.
• WWE opted not to have a new episode of Raw for Dec. 26 so they could give production staff additional time off, per Fightful Select.
• According to sources at the North Pole, Vince McMahon asked Santa Claus for the Christmas gift of being put back in charge of WWE. One elf close to the situation said Claus is “a big fan of flippy shit” and won’t agree to do it.

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.