WWE talent reacts to roster cuts; Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk planned

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Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images | Getty Images Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we look at the rumors from six months ago and see which played out as originally stated. Let’s jump right to it. April 25, 2026 Fightful Select heard that a lot of WWE talent were “worried” about roster cuts coming yesterday, before the news officially broke about the long list of stars who were being let go. I wonder if they kind of get word its coming or if it’s just often out of the blue. The outlet says the majority of these WWE departures were “outright releases,” as opposed to contracts running out and not being renewed. Those usually come with 90 day non-competes. Sean Ross Sapp said the Motor City Machine Guns will “certainly” get an AEW offer after being released by WWE. They’re part of a best of 5 with FTR in AEW right now. (1/1) The Wrestling Observer Newsletter indicates that the negative reaction of the WWE talent was a big factor in Pat McAfee’s decision to opt out of his angle with Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Jelly Roll. That makes sense. It was easy to read that room – no one was happy it sounds like. That’s backstage and in the stands/at home. It’s also possible he feared for his life. Per WON, it sounds like McAfee’s decision to leave the angle early contributed to a chaotic situation behind the scenes where WWE changed the WrestleMania finish away from the original plan of Orton winning the WWE championship, and instead move in a direction of Rhodes vs. Punk for the title. The stipulation that McAfee would leave forever if Randy lost did kind of force their hands. I suppose Randy could have won and Pat left anyway, but that would be odd narratively. The Observer also claims that WWE “talked about” CM Punk beating Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42 and then losing the title to him at Backlash, in order to “protect Punk’s position” and keep the two stars “even.” That was a great main event match. Jade Cargill wasn’t at SmackDown last night because she asked for the day off a while ago, per Fightful. Makes sense. Fightful also mentioned that Punk faced no disciplinary action from WWE for slapping the phone out of that creepy man’s hand at the WrestleMania hotel. It sounds like a situation of their own making. F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer speculates that the teaser video posted on Lucha Underground’s X account yesterday might be for “some kind of a deal made somewhere to air the old episodes,” rather than a reboot of the promotion. I think nothing came of this? The account hasn’t tweeted anything since this and I don’t recall some new deal for their episodes. After Ric Flair said he wouldn’t be surprised if AEW President Tony Khan buys WWE one day, Meltzer responded with, “That is not going to happen.” That would mean there’s a seismic shift. WWE filed to trademark the name “Mason Rook.” Mason Rook is an NXT talent, though unfortunately out injured, maybe for a good while. April 27, 2026 On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer spoke on the recent releases, noting that “nobody above Paul Levesque is saying who to cut.” Before we start, I will note this is the start of the Rumor Roundups that lead off with a big paragraph of rumor or rumors, and I’ve been debating how to address these. I’ve come to the conclusion that instead of copying the entire paragraph, I’ll just parse out the actual rumors and list it as bullet points. Feel free to let me know if you’d prefer to see the whole thing (though that day’s Roundup is always accessible in the link of the date). As for this specific rumor, we don’t know for sure, it makes sense Triple H has last say. Meltzer also said that it’s possible there is a salary cap of sorts, one that would be set by Nick Khan and Triple H would be the one in charge of keeping them under it. I would assume this is the case. That they have to keep the roster at a limit of probably both size and cost. Triple H may not be the one making every decision by his lonesome. He’s most likely not. But he’s signing off on them I’m sure. However, Fightful Select has sources telling them it was Triple H, Nick Khan, and WWE talent relations who were the “primary decision makers” regarding the cuts. They also said the releases were done with the idea of making room for new talent coming in, such as main roster call ups and in the case of NXT, new Performance Center signings, more of which will be announced soon. This does refute the Observer report because for all intents and purposes, Nick Khan is above Triple H, which would mean The Game is not the complete final say. (1/2) Bodyslam+ notes SmackDown will be moving back to two hours within a few weeks. It was in July. (0/1) The WON notes there was “a ton of chaos backstage” regarding TKO’s involvement in the creative of WrestleMania 42. They have final say but almost never use it, and only chose to do so at what was called “the most inopportune time.” I understand why they’d want to meddle in the biggest show of the year, but it certainly doesn’t help. We are getting a Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk program right now because Pat McAfee bailed early after all the backlash surrounding his involvement with WrestleMania, says the Observer. Randy Orton was originally going to win the title, and then McAfee backed out and everything had to be changed around. McAfee was taking some heat and we know he doesn’t like criticism, despite releasing a music album about thriving in it. Regarding Ric Flair not being invited to WrestleMania due to a situation with Ludwig Kaiser as he claimed, Fightful Select indicates the belief is he is still signed to AEW and WWE doesn’t seem to remember any issue with Kaiser. Ric is still with AEW apparently. He’s lately had some health issues after taking a fall. AEW filed trademark a trademark for “Royal Redemption” Friday, which follows April 14 filings for “Redemption” and “AEW Redemption”. I don’t believe they used Royal Redemption. April 28, 2026 PW Insider brings word there has been no change in the status of Kairi Sane and she’s actually already returned to Japan, despite some outspoke support for her on social media. The “We Want Truth” thing was a rare time that type of noise led to a change. That was loud online and I think backstage. Not that Kairi wasn’t well respected backstage, but folks weren’t as loud online and I don’t recall hearing that wrestlers were really upset like they were with Truth. WWE backtracking or changing like that only happens very rarely and unfortunately, not for Kairi, who has been on and off linked to AEW. But it was lame that she was part of a prominent storyline when she was let go. Bryan Alvarez said on Wrestling Observer Live that may not have anything to do with her release, as she has traveled back to Japan “at least once or twice per month, every month since she signed.” That’s a difficult. I wonder if her home base in the states was closer to the west coast instead of Florida like a lot of talent. WrestleVotes has echoed word that she won’t be returning, as WWE doesn’t want to set a precedent that decisions like this can be reversed by a vocal portion of the fan base complaining loudly enough. They like to say the fans have the power but they want to do as much as possible to really just make it seem that way. (1/1) PW Insider claims Triple H’s new deal with WWE is a “multiple year deal, possibly as long as three years.” They also say the deal was completed prior to WrestleMania weekend. He’s still their guy for now. More from Insider: EVIL has yet to be assigned to a brand yet after signing with WWE, as he’s listed internally on the “MISC” roster, which is where they put legends and injured talent. He’s an NXT talent. On Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez said Andre Chase was hired with the intention of helping people learn in NXT but there was “never any intention of calling him up to the main roster.” That’s a tough position to get boxed into. He also said there may very well be more cuts coming on the developmental side. I don’t see any that happened after the slew that happened. (0/1) Lastly from Alvarez: Zoey Stark was cleared from her injury when she was cut, she simply wasn’t being used on TV. She’s a tag team champion with Shayna Baszler in TNA currently. April 29, 2026 Self Made Pro claims there was originally talk of doing a multi-man match involving MJF at the big Double or Nothing pay-per-view on May 24 in Queens, New York, but that has since changed. Now, MJF will get to challenge Allin for the title and what’s more, it will have a special stipulation. That was the match. The stip was hair vs. title. MJF won so no one got shaved. (2/2) According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, Triple H’s status with WWE was talked about internally leading into WrestleMania 42 because of how much was being changed with the shows leading up to that event. The chief concern was how much control Triple H actually has. He’s obviously since re-signed with the company and was publicly given a show of support from TKO leadership. They used Mania 40 to “crown” Triple H, but heavy is the head when things aren’t as smooth. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said he thinks a reason Kairi Sane was cut by WWE was a desire to move back to Japan. I wish they worked something out for her to finish off her role in the Asuka/Iyo story at least. Per the Observer, Stephanie Vaquer’s injury is legitimate and the diagnosis they shared on Raw is accurate. It’s just unknown when exactly the injury happened. She since returned but is now out again. Chris Jericho will be missing Dynamite this week because he’s in New York City filming a TV project, says PW Insider. Maybe Dexter: Resurrection? They also bring word AJ Styles was at the WWE Performance Center this week. It sounds like he may be very involved there in the future. Santos Escobar is expected to resume discussions with CMLL now that he’s been let go by WWE, per Fightful Select. He’s worked two matches since WWE, but has not made a deal with CMLL yet. Regarding a possible Aleister Black return to AEW, Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer said he hasn’t spoken to Tony Khan about it, but others he spoke didn’t view the idea of a reunion “fondly.” Meltzer and the general opinion of Black at AEW is “pretty negative.” I don’t think we’ll see him in AEW again. April 30, 2026 The lead rumor involved audio from a TKO town meeting for the staff. In that meeting, Nick Khan addressed the announcement of Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on June 27, saying of ongoing hostilities in the region between Israel & the United States and Iran & its proxies that, “we’re only going if it’s safe or if we’re allowed there.” They did make it for Night of Champions, but I think it’s very clear that “safe” isn’t their top priority given how they’re handling Crown Jewel. In fact, I’d say “money” is a couple tiers higher than “safety” at this point. The former agent took the blame for the decision to run WrestleMania in Las Vegas for a second-straight year, which is something many attributed the decline in ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 to. “That was ultimately my decision,” Khan told those assembled. “Maybe we don’t do that one again in terms of back-to-back, but ultimately it ended up being a successful event.” Yeah, that didn’t go well. But they were also really hitting that first real lull in the current creative era. Though another city hosting it probably would have had better ticket sales just given the novelty of a new venue and a new market of local folks. Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported, “Nashville has put in a bid for WrestleMania 2028, $3.5 million dollars plus tax breaks.” I’m not even sure if that bid is good at that point. WWE filing a trademark on “Nox Raijin” had a lot of folks thinking it could the new name for EVIL, who debuted in NXT this week. But TC of WrestleVotes says WWE has yet to decide on a new name for the former New Japan titleholder. That was for EVIL. Once Bronson Reed returns from injury, Self Made Pro claims there are plans for Reed to feud with Roman Reigns during his world heavyweight title run. We’ll have to wait and see on that. Reed couldn’t beat Oba so I don’t see a Roman feud in his near future. They also say Jon Moxley himself rejected the idea of Death Riders turning on him, and in turn cementing him as a babyface. Felt like they laid the groundwork for that for a bit. According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, Talla Tonga is out with an undisclosed injury but is expected back soon. I don’t recall him missing much time. Sean Ross Sapp posted that he was “outright told this week that Kevin Knight is considered a priority in AEW.” I can see that. This week: 5/8 – 63% April 2026: 66/93 – 71% Overall: 6,571/11,120 – 59.1% Have a great week, everyone!