Rumor Roundup (June 17, 2023): CM Punk heat, AEW damage control, WWE tampering, HOOK, 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 CM Punk’s controversial interview with ESPN, Fightful Select indicated that many people in AEW didn’t think it was as bad as the hype suggested it would be.
• According to Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez, “There was a lot said in this interview that did not end up in print.” Furthermore, those missing parts made people angry backstage in AEW.
• This week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that “AEW was hoping that the comments Punk made about Adam Page would not be part of the article” and “There was an attempt at damage control” before the article was published.
• The Observer states that the July 4 episode of NXT will be taped on either June 27 or June 28.
• “WWE is not going to risk any tampering when it comes to AEW” right now, per WON. This is partially due to the fact that MLW’s lawsuit against WWE “still hasn’t been thrown out.”
• BWE claims that Taz wants his son HOOK to go to WWE. Triple H and HBK want him too. For what it’s worth, BWE thinks HOOK could be “the first of many” to make the jump.

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.