Rumor Roundup: Roman retaining, Vince influence on Raw, Pat McAfee, 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:

Sources told Fightful Select WWE’s sale to Endeavor had nothing to do with the decision to have Roman Reigns retain the WWE Universal championship in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
In an earlier report, the site said it had confirmed Reigns was set to win as of “several weeks ago”. While “several people” were aware of the plan, it’s not known when the talent were told.
After yesterday’s Endeavor news, WWE held an all-employees meeting led by Nick Khan, Frank Riddick & Triple H. Wrestlenomics‘ Brandon Thurston tweeted that the message was “Endeavor won’t interfere with creative or production,” but there was “no hint what the merger will mean for staff in other departments.”
An internal email Vince McMahon sent after the sale/merger was announced, also reported on by Wrestlenomics, specified that “Paul Levesque will remain WWE’s chief content executive.”
There remains a great deal of talk about Vince’s role in creative, however. WrestleVotes claims last night’s Raw had a “large Vince McMahon feel and presence to it”.
About an hour into the Raw After WrestleMania, Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp tweeted that “this show is categorically different than how it was laid out even a few hours ago.”
Fightful Select says WWE wasn’t happy with Ric Flair’s induction speech at the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, though it’s unclear what exactly was the issue with it. Meanwhile, they did really like Konnan’s speech.
On his YouTube show, Pat McAfee said his surprise appearance at WrestleMania 39 was kept a secret from everyone, as he hid backstage for hours before making his entrance. Neither Michael Cole or The Miz knew until just before he went out.

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.