Rumor Roundup (April 14, 2023): CM Punk power play, AEW roster split, Edge’s final match, Hardy, 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:

• Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer believes that Dax Harwood’s public proposal of CM Punk & FTR vs. The Elite at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium is a disingenuous “power play” to make The Elite look bad if they don’t agree to work with Punk or do the match.
• According to Fightful Select, the launch of AEW’s new Saturday television show might come with a “soft roster split” that could be used to keep certain wrestlers away from each other.
• The site was also told that Jeff Hardy is still recovering from recent surgery, so AEW has “alternate plans” for him in the coming weeks that don’t involve working a match.
• PW Insider heard the decision to change the name of King & Queen of the Ring to Night of Champions was a “creative choice” that allows WWE to “revive” the Night of Champions PPV and “bring it to an international market.”
• WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport that WWE would be “very surprised” if Edge moves on to working for AEW after wrestling his last match for WWE in Toronto in August 2023.
• Meltzer heard that the upcoming Dark Side of the Ring episode on Marty Jannetty “might be insane.” Meltzer added that “Marty Jannetty is completely insane” so “there will probably be a lot of insanity” on that episode.
• Meltzer clarified that Kenny Omega has not signed a new contract with AEW, despite Konnan’s podcast remarks suggesting otherwise. Tony Khan extended Omega’s existing deal until November or December 2023 to make up for the time he missed last year due to injury.

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.