Rumor Roundup (Nov. 16, 2023): AEW’s Devil, Santos Escobar turn, Mickie James, 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:

• Despite some of his recent Instagram Stories teasing/trolling that he is, both Fightful Select and Haus of Wrestling report that CM Punk is not AEW’s “Devil”.
• Fightful’s report notes that the person wearing the mask on television is believed to be the person who will play the character post-reveal, and that’s also true about the other masked assailants. Several people in AEW are said to know who’s under the masks, but they’ve “done well at keeping it quiet.”
• They also ruled out Britt Baker as the Devil.
• Santos Escobar’s heel turn didn’t happen because of Rey Mysterio’s injury, according to PW Insider. However, if Mysterio wasn’t injured “they would gone right into live events doing Rey vs. Escobar.”
• Speaking of Escobar’s turn, Insider says Zelina Vega got a lot of praise backstage for her role in the angle.
• Mickie James is no longer listed on the Impact roster. PW Insider’s sources tell them she’s taking “a break” from the company, but remains on good terms and could return “at any time.” Fightful previously reported that James hasn’t had a contract with Impact since returning to the company in 2021, meaning she’s technically a free agent.
• WrestleTix noted that the WrestleMania 40 week shows at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center won’t have a stage in order to maximize seating capacity. Instead, they’ll likely use an entrance tunnel like WWE had at Backlash in Puerto Rico earlier this year.
• Kurt Angle told the True Geordie Podcast a movie about his life is “gonna start filming probably next year.” Angle says he’ll be an advisor on the film.

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.