Rumor Roundup (Oct. 21, 2023): The Rock, Randy Orton’s return, Vince McMahon gone from WWE creative, 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:

• F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer says WWE is moving forward with the idea that The Rock vs. Roman Reigns won’t happen at WrestleMania 40 because The Rock’s schedule will be too busy.
• However, Dave believes that if The Rock decides he wants to do the match, then WWE will change their plans to accommodate him. If the match does happen, Meltzer was specifically told that The Rock won’t win the WWE Universal championship.
• WrestleVotes claims that “new merchandise & branding has been approved” for Randy Orton, and there will be a “large social media promotion” for his return to WWE. Orton’s return is “likely” happening on the weekend of Survivor Series.
• Regarding Ari Emanuel’s decision to remove Vince McMahon from WWE creative, Meltzer was told by someone close to the situation that, “Emanuel has a vision for how he can use the worldwide notoriety of McMahon, and that vision doesn’t include him micro-managing the weekly television shows.”
• This week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that many of the wrestlers in WWE are loyal to Triple H and think things are better with Vince not involved in the creative process. Before Vince took a medical leave for spinal surgery, he was making changes to WWE creative plans “fairly regularly,” and those changes “did get in the way of the long-term vision.”
• BWE claims that Karrion Kross was “planned for a vignette” on last night’s episode of SmackDown, but it “got postponed for later.” Karrion’s story “will go in full gear soon.”
• The Ryback said as part of WWE’s drug testing policy, he had to get in a stall with the drug tester and show that person his nipples while peeing in a cup. His nipples had to be out because there was a “developmental talent” and “other talents” using a Whizzinator to cheat the test. Ryback was randomly tested anywhere from 4 to 12 times per year and always provided clean samples. He also claims that Al Snow was taken aback by how powerful his “standard Big Guy pee” stream is.

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.