Rumor Roundup (April 17, 2026): Austin at WrestleMania, Danhausen Blimp, Andre Battle Royal winner, 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:

• According to Bodyslam.net, Stone Cold Steve Austin is scheduled to be backstage this weekend at WrestleMania 42. However, it’s not clear yet if WWE has plans for him to appear on camera during the event.
• A source told WrestleVotes that as of right now, Roman Reigns, Trick Williams, and Penta are “most likely” winning their respective title matches at WrestleMania.
• PWInsider says there are plans for Danhausen to appear in a segment at WrestleMania. Meanwhile, WrestleVotes heard that the Goodyear Blimp will be floating over Allegiant Stadium during the weekend, and Danhausen will probably be doing something related to that, after he demanded a blimp from Raw GM Adam Pearce in his Raw debut.
• Bodyslam.net indicates that Royce Keys is expected to win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal on tonight’s episode of WrestleMania SmackDown.
• Votes was told that the Wyatt Sicks vs. MFT street fight tonight on SmackDown is going to be the final match of their feud. It sounds like WWE creative is happy about ending this story and finally moving on to something new.
• The outlet also mentioned that even though Stephanie McMahon is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame tonight, people in WWE do not anticipate that her father Vince will be in attendance. WWE is not planning for him to be there.
• Journalist Blake Avignon responded to MJF’s sudden AEW world title loss to Darby Allin on Dynamite by saying “MJF’s scheduled to be on set for a movie.” However, Self Made Pro claims that MJF is “not expected to miss time and is not filming a movie at this point.” The outlet says MJF is “factored into main event plans for Double or Nothing” next month.
• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter claims that people in WWE are “already talking about” trying to sign Persephone when her dual contract with AEW and CMLL expires later this year.