Rumor Roundup (Sept. 20, 2023): Vince McMahon comments, WWE creative, Rhea Ripley, 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:

• Fightful noted at the recent WWE employee meeting, Vince McMahon told everyone the company had plateaued and they did the merger with UFC so they could “get to the next level.”
• Meanwhile, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has said “talent noted to us that Levesque had been in charge of creative and they hoped with the new company that Vince would stay out of it.”
• If it wasn’t clear, the injury WWE mentioned for Rhea Ripley is storyline and she’s in Australia right now, says PW Insider. There’s speculation she’s there to announce the WWE premium live event headed there.
• They also say one of the changes made to Monday Night Raw this week was pushing back the Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ricochet match. It was supposed to be second, right after Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio but they wanted “to push more star power in later segments as Seth Rollins would be involved.”
• There is a video going around online, from Wrestle Ops on X, showing Randy Orton apparently arriving to the WWE Performance Center yesterday. Take it for what you will.
• Jade Cargill is getting “main roster creative” and it’s a “high priority” for WWE right now, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
• El Hijo Del Vikingo suffered a “serious” hip injury at last weekend’s Ring of Honor tapings, says the Wrestling Observer. His AAA title match this coming weekend in Mexico is in jeopardy.

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.