Buy or Sell Shane McMahon Going to AEW, Brock Lesnar's WWE Status and More Rumors

Without diving into heat-related puns, it's important to point out just how wild and active the pro wrestling rumor mill is right now as both WWE and AEW head to landmark summer events.

For WWE it's all about SummerSlam, arguably the second-biggest show of the year that features some major matches with long-running implications. And while there isn't a rumor specific to it right now, there's the growing fan specuation that a certain Tribal Chief might come back around to clean some things up.

On the AEW side, All In is a little farther off, yet the rumor mill for that company got one of its biggest boosts ever when the word McMahon popped up around the promotion this week.

So, here is a look at the most important rumors to know at this critical juncture and whether fans should buy or sell on each.

WWE-Shane McMahon Buzz

Shane McMahon is the one in question, as most fans have probably seen by now.

What they might not have, though, is a rumbling connecting him back with WWE again.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Shane has looked that direction in the past, only for WWE to be a firm "no interest" status on the whole thing.

That's an easy buy, really. WWE has moved past the era of leaning on older, part-time talents for ratings pops and there is a level of toxicity around the McMahon name now, some of which stems from Shane's poor showings his last few times out.

In fact, the next rumor on this list makes this even more of a buy—because it sure feels like Shane is on the market attempting to create some leverage.

Verdict: Buying

Shane McMahon to AEW?

Let's just sell on the whole Shane-to-AEW thing, too.

By now, anyone with even a remote interest in pro wrestling has seen the viral photo of Shane meeting with AEW's Tony Khan.

But it feels like a leverage play that Shane hopes eventually leads to WWE, nothing more. And WrestleVotes (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats) spoke to a WWE employee on the matter who said that Shane "taking a preliminary meeting doesn't surprise anyone here."

Even if we ignore the savviness of a McMahon to use this type of leverage, the whole thing doesn't make a ton of sense for AEW, either. Seeing a McMahon on AEW programming for one night would be wild, yes. But otherwise, the company is trying to reestablish long-term storytelling that keeps fans invested and bringing on yet another WWEer to muddy up a crowded roster might not be the best move for the long-term.

Verdict: Selling

Pat McAfee's Status with WWE

There was some speculation about Pat McAfee's future with WWE now that he's got "College GameDay" on his slate this fall.

But according to Fightful Select (h/t Ortman), despite the big change for the fan-favorite announcer, McAfee's schedule won't change at all.

This is in stark contrast to the past when the schedule conflict apparently created problems. But that occurred when McAfee was an announcer for SmackDown, which understandably created scheduling problems given that college football operates on the weekends.

In other words, it's an easy buy that arguably WWE's most over broadcaster on live shows right now won't have any problems sticking to the typical schedule because he's currently a member of the Raw crew on Monday nights.

Verdict: Buying

Brock Lesnar Latest

The status of Brock Lesnar with WWE has been a big point of speculation for fans, to say the least.

Lesnar hasn't been seen on WWE programming in the ring since the 2023 edition of SummerSlam for that feud-ender with Cody Rhodes.

According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Hedlines' Joseph Galizia), Lesnar's hiatus from WWE is both out of his hands and will continue until WWE's legal team decides to give the all-clear in the wake of the Janel Grant lawsuit.

This one makes plenty of sense. While WWE has largely steered away from part-timer talent on its programming in prominent spots, Lesnar is a different sort of exception.

Considering Lesnar could still be useful in putting over the next generation such as Gunther, it's reasonable for fans to expect that both parties would like to make it happen at some point if possible.

Verdict: Buying