Rumor Roundup (July 18, 2023): Wyatt Family plans, Aldis/WWE, Mercedes, Bayley & Callis injuries, 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:

• Back in January, prior to Bray Wyatt’s illness, Fightful Select reports WWE had plans to use Eric Young in “a new-style version of the Wyatt Family” with Bray and Bo Dallas (as Uncle Howdy) that would start after WrestleMania. Prior to her pregnancy, there were pitches to involve Alexa Bliss in the group as well.
• While it apparently never got past the pitch stage, Fightful’s report also mentions that Paul Heyman suggested having Young and Mike Bennett teamed with Wyatt prior to their releases in 2020: “It ended up getting pitched more than once, including an idea for Mike Bennett to perform as Sister Abigail.”
• PW Insider reported that Nick Aldis & Zicky Dice wrapped up with Impact over Slammiversary weekend and are now free agents. “Numerous WWE sources” told PW Insider Elite there’s “high interest” in signing Aldis, and that the company’s discussed using the former NWA Worlds champion as a producer.
• Mercedes Moné attended Slammiversary to support Trinity as she won the Knockouts title, and Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer said she was still in a walking boot and using crutches as she recovers from a presumed surgery on her injured ankle. Meltzer added that Moné “has been quiet about everything”, and reiterated that there’s still no word on a timetable for her return.
• Bayley was seen limping when she left the arena in Maryland where she suffered an injury on Sunday night, but she was not using crutches. Fightful’s WWE sources say that’s being taken as a good sign, but they’ll “likely need to wait for any swelling to go down before finding out what was wrong”.
• Regarding Don Callis’ status after he was mistakenly tackled during an angle at AAA Triplemania, WOR’s Meltzer said Callis “got hurt but he’s okay” and he’s still expected to be in Boston for Dynamite’s Blood & Guts match on Wednesday.

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.