Rumor Roundup: Hulk Hogan on Raw, Lynch vs. Ripley, SmackDown focus, 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 Dr. Chris Featherstone, Hulk Hogan will be appearing on the Raw on Netflix premiere episode. Stone Cold Steve Austin was also apparently discussed to make an appearance but “that has been scrapped.”
• Speaking of Hogan, Fightful Select notes that there have been discussions within WWE of bringing him in for some upcoming appearances. This would obviously seem to be one of them.
• We can “expect a Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley rematch very soon,” says Ibou of WrestlePurists.
• A major focus of WWE for SmackDown right now is to “showcase more underutilized talent” now that it’s is a three hour program, says Dr. Chris Featherstone. Blair Davenport’s name has apparently been brought up.
• He also says Tiffany Stratton is not listed as a babyface in WWE’s internal roster, so she’ll be a heel starting her run as women’s champion.
• PW Insider was told that Gabe Sapolsky “signed a new deal with WWE late last year.” He has been “overseeing the WWE ID brand thus far” and is rumored to “be in charge of the creative” for WWE’s potential revival of Evolve.
• Per The Observer, there was a “a shocking level of increase” in late buys on traditional pay-per-view for Survivor Series 2024 over the last couple weeks of December. Most of these late buys were from rural areas. As a result, Survivor Series became the second most purchased WWE event on traditional pay-per-view in 2024, only trailing WrestleMania 40.
• The Costco Guys told Cultaholic that Big Boom AJ plans to return to the ring at the AEW Revolution 2025 pay-per-view in March.

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.