Rumor Roundup (Jan. 8, 2026): NXT call-up, WWE creative structure, LA Knight, 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:

• Lola Vice has been discussed for a call-up, per Bodyslam+. Vice would likely join the SmackDown roster with her boyfriend Damian Priest.
• A PW Insider Elite report broke down the WWE’s creative structure. Triple H of course has final say over storylines, with long-time WWE employees Bruce Prichard and Ed Koskey giving input while handling the day-to-day operations of the department. In a relatively new development, Ryan Ward is now WWE’s Vice President of Creative Writing and helping lay out plans for both Raw and SmackDown. Alexandra Williams and Jonathan Baeckstrom then serve as co-leads for Raw creative, with a team of writers beneath them. The same is true on the SmackDown side for co-leads Brian “Road Dogg” James and John Switaka.
• While shooting down a fake rumor about LA Knight being repackaged, Sean Ross Sapp pointed followers to a WrestleVotes/Fightful Select report that Knight is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia for Royal Rumble.
• Despite Jay White’s appearance at Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement ceremony Sunday, Fightful says AEW hasn’t factored White into any creative plans, and he “isn’t expected to be back imminently.”
• Adam Copeland is working on his second book, according to PW Insider’s “publishing world” sources. Those sources didn’t have many details, but did say the presumed follow-up to 2004’s Adam Copeland on Edge will be out in October of 2026 from HarperCollins.
• Another Insider report confirmed two names for the WWE tryouts scheduled for next week: Joshua Hillen, a former Marine who now does Strongman competitions, and recently won “America’s Strongest Veteran”, and James Karnik, a 6’9” 27-year-old who’s played basketball in both Canada and Czechoslovakia.

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 with a grain of salt.