Rumor Roundup (May 21, 2026): WWE’s Baron Corbin plan, Nikki Bella return, ESPN/AEW, more!

Being a Bum Ass was the standout portion of his first WWE run, but it looks like Baron Corbin’s return is all but official now — and one role that’s been speculated on for him could end up his best gimmick yet.

A today’s top rumor:

Remember on Monday when had an item about Baron Corbin — who’s been working on the indies as Bishop Dyer since his WWE contract expired and wasn’t renewed in 2024? Well, seems those discussions moved fast.

Per Fightful Select, Dyer has finished up his non-WWE commitments. That includes MLW, where Dyer was in The Skyscrapers tag team with Donovan Dijak. In addition to that clue, Fightful’s also heard from multiple industry sources who believe Dyer/Corbin has already signed with his former company, or is about to.

As for what Baron Corbin’s second WWE run could start with? This is just speculation from Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio (where the “Corbin-to-WWE” story began over the weekend when Meltzer reported the 41-year-old’s return was being “talked about” at the company), but Dave thinks Corbin could be playing Danhausen’s next science project, after Backlash’s minihausens:

“On the SmackDown show when Danhausen was talking about something bigger, my gut was that that’s who it is. That’s just my speculation.”

We were just reminded in yesterday’s Roundup of how hot Danhausen is right now. Sounds like a spot Corbin can excel in, at least for a while. But you can tell us what you think, after…

More rumors!

• Nikki Bella told USA Today she’s now targeting late next month for her return from ankle surgery: “End of June would be incredible”.
• There was much discussion yesterday about Andreas Hale’s Darby Allin profile for ESPN.com, and not just because of its quality. It was also because that was the first AEW-focused article ESPN has done in a long time, and because it was written by Hale, who was at the center of the PLE grade flap and was went public about being denied a media credential for WrestleMania 42 after writing about Janel Grant’s latest allegations against Vince McMahon and WWE.
• All of the champions are favored in their matches at May 23’s Saturday Night’s Main Event on betonline.
• False Finish says Cutler James of DarkState will be appearing on upcoming editions of Evolve.
• Fabian Aichner has filed a trademark on “Il Gladiatore” for his nickname in TNA and elsewhere.

Not our best, but seems like a decent crop of hot gos to yours truly. Weigh in about that or specific rumors in the comments below, or float a take to your fellow wrestling fans in The Feed!