Rumor Roundup (Mar. 4, 2026): WrestleMania 42 plans, Trick Williams turn, Cargill/Ripley buzz, 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 SelfMadePro, Cody Rhodes defending the WWE championship against Randy Orton is the plan for WrestleMania 42, and has been for some time. PW Insider Elite has backed this up, saying the belief is Drew McIntyre will lose the title on SmackDown this week but that’s not a reflection of his work but rather how much WWE wants to do the Rhodes vs. Orton singles match.
• WWE “seriously considering” a double turn of Trick Williams and Sami Zayn, per SelfMadePro. On that same note, Bodyslam.net is claiming WWE is strongly considering putting the two in a match at WrestleMania 42.
• For all the work/shoot talk surrounding Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley’s exchanges on social media, Fightful Select notes that either way WWE is happy with the buzz they have created.
• Sources told reporter Blake Avignon that ESPN and WWE’s partnership continues to be rocky, with one person calling it a “DNA mismatch”. Avignon’s heard ESPN is specifically unhappy about TKO’s ban on WrestleMania watch parties in Las Vegas as “a self-inflicted deterrent” to night two ticket sales, with that source pointing to “the rising cost of WWE fandom” as evidence of “Mark Shapiro’s growing disconnect from the everyday WWE consumer.“
• While discussing the different reactions El Grande Americano gets in WWE and in AAA, Konnan said on his Keepin’ It 100 podcast that what the wrestlers do on WWE television has “nothing” to do with what they do in AAA.
• Tehuti Miles, who wrestled as Ashante Thee Adonis in WWE, “has been under contract for a number of months,” according to Fightful Select.

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 with a grain of salt.