Rumor Roundup (Aug. 18, 2022): Gargano WWE return, AEW at Wrestle Kingdom, Top Dolla heat, 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:

• Sources tell Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net that Johnny Gargano is open to returning to WWE now that Triple H is in charge of creative.
• Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that there are currently plans for AEW wrestlers to appear at New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom show in the Tokyo Dome next January.
• Mark Henry said on Busted Open that rumors of Top Dolla being hard to work with during his first WWE run were the result of talents who were worried about losing their spot “putting out negative propaganda,” and because “people can’t take a powerful black dude telling them the right thing to do.” Henry said Triple H recognized all that and “stopped the bleeding” before bringing Hit Row back to WWE.
• There’s speculation from WrestlingNew.co and elsewhere that Pete Dunne could be returning to his Bruiserweight gimmick after he recently changed his Twitter handle to Pete “BUTCH” Dunne, and tweeted this tease about Clash at the Castle.
• Deonna Purrazzo is currently negotiating with Impact about her future with the company, per Fightful Select. Impact believes her current contract has an option for 2023, “but it isn’t clear cut.”

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.