Rumor Roundup: Brock Lesnar return, Tama Tonga debut, WWE change, 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 Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that they were told “a few weeks ago” that unlike Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis, Brock Lesnar actually will be back in WWE “at some point.” It’s just not clear when that will be. That said, it won’t be anytime soon.
• Per Fightful Select, WWE was most pleased with the reception Tama Tonga received during his debut despite working most of his career overseas and having little exposure on U.S. television.
• PW Insider says WWE is planning to pull back on using augmented reality on weekly shows and keeping it for premium live events only. They’ll also be scaling back on some aspects of production for weekly shows.
• East Coast Pro Wrestling revealed on its Facebook page that Erick Rowan would not be able to make appearances for them due to “new contractual obligations,” which has led to speculation he may have signed with WWE.
• There was some speculation that Matt Riddle may be done with NJPW after losing the TV title to Zack Sabre Jr but Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that “at least as of right now” he still has upcoming dates for them.
• Sid Scala was released by WWE over the past week, says PW Insider.
• According to Fightful, though there was concern that Julia Hart may have been injured on Dynamite she is still listed for Dynasty and is expected to work the show.

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.