Rumor Roundup (Mar. 5, 2026): WrestleMania changes, WWE title plans, why free agent picked AEW, 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:

• Following up on yesterday’s reports that Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton is WWE’s current plan for WrestleMania 42, Fightful Select added that Rhodes and Orton have been aware of the plan “as far back as January”.
• Fightful’s also heard that “one of the reasons the WWE Title was taken off of Cody Rhodes was so that he would be featured in the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches, adding to the draw of those shows”.
• On Bodyslam’s Patreon however, they WWE didn’t start talking about Orton vs. Rhodes until last month, and that Cody and Drew McIntyre just found out last week. They hear McIntyre will face Jacob Fatu at WrestleMania now, and that he’ll take time off immediately afterwards to go film Highlander.
• WWE offered David Finlay “a lower level contract and not a main roster level contract”, per Cory Hayes from Bodyslam.net. He didn’t want to start on an NXT deal, and decided to sign with AEW within the last week.
• Fightful also reported that timeframe for when Finlay’s AEW deal came together, and added that he signed a multi-year deal with Tony Khan’s promotion.
• Wrestling Observer’s Daily Update reminds us that Saturday’s Vengeance Day will be the last NXT event to stream on Peacock, which will only have four Saturday Night’s Main Event specials each year from here on out. No word where NXT PLE’s will land.
• A source told PW Insider that Royce Keys’ absence from WWE television is not due to lack of creative, but because he’s getting “acclimated” to the company’s production style. “99% of talents who are hired go through that process”, per the source, who also pointed to WWE’s promotion of the former Powerhouse Hobbs’ interview with Stephanie McMahon as proof they won’t be shelving Keys. 
• Insider’s report on Danhausen mentioned that he’ll be at the Performance Center in Orlando this week, and Friday’s SmackDown in Phoenix.
• Bodyslam also says Evolve Women’s champion Kendal Grey will move on from that brand soon.