Rumor Roundup (Sept. 5, 2023): CM Punk/WWE, Gunther vs. Gable on Raw, Crown Jewel, 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:

• People close to CM Punk told Fightful Select that in December of last year Punk was interested in leaving AEW so he could rejoin WWE, specifically to return for the 2023 Royal Rumble. The site has not heard that AEW was considering releasing Punk at that point, or that WWE had any interest in bringing him back.
• A rumor that Fightful heard from WWE talent (not from Punk’s camp) was that Punk wanted to have a WrestleMania match against the person who eliminated him from the Rumble, and that Kevin Owens name was “thrown around” for that.
• Also from Fightful: Gunther vs. Chad Gable happened on last night’s Raw instead of Payback to keep the PLE’s “runtime in order”, have the match closer to when Gunther will officially break Honky Tonk Man’s record for longest Intercontinental title reign, and to give the match a bigger spotlight than it would have had at Payback.
• WWE Crown Jewel is set for Sat., Nov. 4, per PW Insider. This is the same date Wrestlenomics reported back in July.
• Insider also says Bobby Roode and Nick Aldis worked last night’s Raw & Main Event taping as producers. Aldis’ work was still described as a “tryout”.
• One more from PW Insider: after reports of WWE re-signing AOP for an NXT run, the site says Paul Ellering was spotted in Orlando on Monday.
• According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE’s discussed having Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo get involved with the LWO after their repackaging in NXT. The WON includes the caveat the idea is “one of those things down the line that could easily change”, however.

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.