Rumor Roundup (Mar. 28, 2023): CM Punk drama, new WWE title, top guy Sami Zayn, 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 PWTorch’s Wade Keller that “the vast majority of wrestlers” at AEW don’t want CM Punk back. Keller’s heard that while there’s some tension between top guys at the company like Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho & Hangman Page, none of them get along with Punk.
• While he couldn’t rule it out, Keller doesn’t think there’s a great chance of Punk returning to WWE. There are “high-up, influential people” there who used to support him who now “don’t want him anywhere near that locker room”, and Triple H “was never in love with Punk.”
• In other Punk rumor news, on Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer expressed regret for his message board post about last summer’s AEW World title feud between Punk & Jon Moxley that seemed to trigger Punk’s quickly deleted Instagram post about Mox, Jericho & Meltzer. Specifically, Meltzer said he should have included that Punk’s recovery from his broken foot was a factor in the disagreement about his World title unification match with Mox.
• WWE has a new title belt approved and ready to introduce at any time, WrestleVotes told GiveMeSport. Other than that, the Twitter account doesn’t know specifics about things like the title’s name or if it would replace the WWE or Universal championship.
• Another source of belt talk, Belt Fan Dan tweeted he hasn’t heard anything about a new WWE title in a while. In early 2022 he’d heard a pitch for the Big Gold Belt replacing the Universal, and that Vince McMahon wanting a unified strap for WrestleMania 40, but Dan’s heard nothing since and admits he could be out of the loop.
• Another WWE higher-up pushed back on a previous rumor about WWE not seeing Sami Zayn as a “top guy”, telling Fightful Select that his current role on television & for WrestleMania and headlining a PPV (“Elimination Chamber didn’t happen in his hometown by accident”) are proof Zayn is viewed at the top level.

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.