Rumor Roundup (June 1, 2023): Bray Wyatt & The Fiend, Trish Stratus plans, Mercedes Moné injury, 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:

• WWE wasn’t “overly fond” of the Uncle Howdy character or the Pitch Black match and have pushed for Bray Wyatt to bring The Fiend back, according to UK site Fight Fans. Their source claims talks between the two sides have been on and off since Royal Rumble but there’s “no movement currently on The Fiend making a return.”
• Which might be because ”all of the mask molds were destroyed last year.” That’s what Jason Baker, the man who designed The Fiend and other Wyatt characters, tweeted in response to another site’s coverage of the Fight Fans story.
• Zoey Stark won’t be a “proxy” for Trish Stratus on Raw, as PW Insider Elite reports Stratus will be a regular on Monday nights going forward.
• New Japan officials are “under the impression” that Mercedes Moné suffered “a severe sprain without a break” at Resurgence, per Fightful Select. Their sources close to Moné say there’s still fear of a break, and NJPW doesn’t seem to have anything “imminent” planned for her right now due to the injury.
• Fightful’s report also says Mercedes made the call to end the match and change the finish to Willow Nightingale winning the NJPW Strong Women’s title when she realized she was injured.
• Leyla Hirsch is getting ready to return to AEW, according to Fightful Select. She’s said to have resumed in-ring training in late February.

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.