Rumor Roundup: Royal Rumble edition (Possible SPOILERS)

As usual, there’s a lot of chatter about an eventful night at WWE’s annual Royal Rumble premium live event later on this evening in San Antonio.

This special edition of our Rumor Roundup feature is a way to put those various tidbits in one place and give you a chance to discuss them. Feel free to share anything you’ve heard or read in the comments (usual rumor caveats* apply)!

Rumble Rumors:

• The site hasn’t been able to confirm it, but several people who claim to have connections at WWE swear to Fightful Select The Rock is showing up tonight.
• Dwayne Johnson posted an Instagram this morning about a late night filming on his Amazon movie Red One, but many people have pointed out Ronda Rousey did something similar before her debut at the 2018 Rumble.
• There are multiple reports of Edge and Beth Phoenix being in town, say both PW Insider and Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.
• Multiple outlets have also reported that the best selling merch in San Antonio this weekend has been Cody Rhodes.
• While Rhodes wasn’t medically cleared when his comeback videos started airing, Insider says he’s fully cleared now. Cody will be back on Raw full-time starting Monday.
• Cody and Rhea Ripley remained the favorites to win their respective Rumble matches when online sportsbooks posted their final odds before the show. Roman Reigns, Bianca Belair & Bray Wyatt are also favored to win their singles matches.
• Bo Dallas is in town, according to Fightful. WWE has Uncle Howdy costumes on hand at the Alamodome.
• Several WWE talents told Fightful they think Pat McAfee will return to the company soon. One said they heard McAfee’s name mentioned for the Rumble.
• Matt Cardona has continued to tease a possible return to WWE on social media. Insider says talk at last week’s Impact tapings was that the former Zack Ryder is done with that promotion, and that he & wife Chelsea Green will show up tonight.
• No NXT wrestlers were used in the Rumble matches last year, which Fightful says was the result of a “strict decree” at WWE. That’s not the case this year.
• In fact, PW Insider says Indi Hartwell, Zoey Stark, Ivy Nile & NXT Women’s champion Roxanne Perez have been brought in for the show.
• Regarding the possibility of New Japan’s Jay White debuting tonight, Fightful says “NJPW sources claim he’s still under contract to them as of the Royal Rumble.”
• Insider says that while Ric Flair was at one point going to be at the Rumble, he instead was the Grand Marshall at today’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa.
• Roster members not currently booked but reported to be in town for the Rumble include Dexter Lumis, Doudrop, Alpha Academy, Street Profits, Titus O’Neil, and Mia Yim.
• This afternoon, CJ “Lana” Perry posted an Instagram video she made with Damian Priest in San Antonio.

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.