Rumor Roundup: Royal Rumble mishap, Nia Jax change, Kevin Owens praise, 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:

• Drew McIntyre was supposed to be eliminated by Damian Priest before Logan Paul entered the Royal Rumble, per Fightful Select. The elimination ended up happening after Paul’s entrance, and Paul was working with LA Knight when McIntyre, Priest & Jey Uso went for their spot, which is what set Drew off.
• PW Insider Elite said the spot was delayed by several Knight sequences, including his face-off with Roman Reigns. Insider’s sources tell them the final straw for McIntyre came when Knight’s “errant movement killed the drama and momentum” of his elimination spot, causing what was supposed to be a feud-starting moment to come across in a “clunky manner.”
• WWE officials aren’t blaming Knight, however. Bodyslam.net says there’s no heat on him for what happened.
• Nia Jax was supposed to have even more eliminations than she did in the women’s Rumble, says Fightful Select. It’s not clear why plans changed, but speculation is that timing issues and the flow of the match dictated it.
• WWE “adored” working with IShowSpeed at the Rumble and would love to use him again in the future, possibly even at WrestleMania 41. That from PW Insider.
• They also reported that Kevin Owens received a lot of praise backstage at Royal Rumble, both for the bumps he took in his match with Cody Rhodes and for the work he put into laying the match out.
• According to Fightful Select, Alexa Bliss’s new deal with WWE is for five years.

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.