Rumor Roundup: WrestleMania 39 plans, Pat McAfee return, Rey Mysterio, 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:

• The current plan is still for Cody Rhodes to challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal championship in the main event of WrestleMania, per the Observer. There has been no change based on what has happened with Sami Zayn, at least as of yet.
• PW Insider notes that Pat McAfee’s return was kept so close to the vest that no one in WWE even knew it was happening, including Michael Cole and Corey Graves, who had prepared to call the entire show with just the two of them. It’s unclear as of now, however, if McAfee is back on the desk on SmackDown on a regular basis again or if this was just for this show.
• According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the reason Rey Mysterio didn’t work the Royal Rumble like he was supposed to is because he was injured on SmackDown during his match with Karrion Kross.
• He also said he thought they were going to do some teases for a Dominik vs. Rey match at WrestleMania in the Rumble match.
• Kurt Angle said on his podcast that Hulk Hogan recently underwent another back surgery and he now can’t feel his legs, so he has to use a cane to walk around.
• Vince McMahon has been working more normal hours at the office lately, says Wrestling Observer Radio. He used to stay all night but it’s not like that anymore, and he’s mostly working on the sale.
• MLW sent a cease and desist letter to WWE after they reached out to some of their talent about appearing on Raw XXX (believed to Jacob Fatu and Lance Anoa’i), says the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

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.