Rumor Roundup (May 31, 2023): Braun Strowman injury, AJ Styles on Raw, NXT 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:

• According to PW Insider, Braun Strowman is currently out with an “unspecified injury” and he is “not expected back anytime in the near future.”
• They also say AJ Styles being on Monday Night Raw this week was a late addition to the show from none other than Vince McMahon. The rest of the show, however, was largely the same as originally planned.
• Lastly from Insider, there was backstage praise for both the Tiffany Stratton vs. Lyra Valkyria and Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak matches from NXT Battleground this past weekend.
• WRKD Wrestling echoed that while also saying there is still talk of calling Dragunov up to the main roster after SummerSlam as the fourth member of Imperium.
• According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is a list of wrestlers in AEW — Bandido, Vikingo, Rush, Komander, Penta, Fenix, Andrade, Dralistico, and maybe others — who likely won’t be allowed on the card at Forbidden Door due to New Japan’s “strong ties” to CMLL. “The rules are different if you are Mexican.”
• WWE’s talked about signing former MLW star Richard Holliday “because of the story of his beating cancer”, per the Observer. There’s also continued talk of signing New Japan’s Tama Tonga.

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.