Rumor Roundup (July 15, 2022): WWE Raw PG rating, NXT name changes, AEW injury, Lacey Evans, 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:

• Regarding the ongoing story about WWE Raw possibly losing its PG television rating, Sean Ross Sapp claims “there were mixed signals given internally” about the decision at the USA Network. For what it’s worth, Fightful has not heard about a change of direction for WWE’s programming.
• Wrestling Observer Radio’s Bryan Alvarez said the Young Bucks’ Matt Jackson suffered a stinger around three to five minutes into the main event tag team championship match on Dynamite. He was hurt on a “basic vertical suplex” from Powerhouse Hobbs and Keith Lee.
• PW Insider has confirmed that WWE is giving new ring names to the Grizzled Young Veterans in NXT. James Drake will now be Jagger Reid, and Zack Gibson will now be Rip Fowler.
• The Observer’s Dave Meltzer mentioned that WWE always planned for Lacey Evans to turn heel, it was just a matter of deciding the right time for the move.
• Meltzer also noted that it could be “tough for WWE to use” top prospect AJ Ferrari, because he is now the subject of a sexual assault investigation that caused his removal from the Oklahoma State wrestling team. Ferrari has generally been regarded as WWE’s second best prospect in their NIL program, with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson ranking number one.

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.