WWE Rumors on Cena's Retirement Match, Kross and Scarlett's Departure, AAA Signings

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Reported Date for Cena Retirement Match

There is reportedly a leader in the clubhouse when it comes to the date of John Cena's retirement match.

According to WrestleVotes (h/t Andrew Ravens of WrestlingNews.co), Dec. 13 is NBC's preferred date to hold Cena's last match.

WrestleVotes added that while there have been discussions about having the event on Dec. 27, which would coincide with AEW's Worlds End pay-per-view, it is considered "unlikely" to happen on that date due to scheduling conflicts.

A Peacock-exclusive NFL game is set for Dec. 27, and NBC does not want to compete against its own programming, per WrestleVotes.

The NBC aspect of the report suggests Cena's retirement match will be part of a Saturday Night's Main Event, and WrestleVotes added that all signs point toward the show being held at TD Garden in Boston.

Since Boston is less than a one-hour drive away from Cena's hometown of West Newbury, Massachusetts, it would be the ideal setting for the last match of Cena's illustrious career.

It isn't yet known who Cena's final opponent will be, but he is currently embroiled in a rivalry with Logan Paul, and a match against Brock Lesnar is undoubtedly on the horizon as well after Lesnar shockingly attacked Cena at the conclusion of SummerSlam.

Although Cena dropped the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, he regained the respect of the fans by ditching his ill-fated heel run and going back to the babyface character the WWE Universe knows and loves.

Because of that, Cena's final match promises to be a raucous celebration of the legacy he has built in WWE, regardless of his opponent or when the show ultimately takes place.

Reported Doubt Over Kross, Scarlett Leaving WWE

Although Karrion Kross has gone on record as saying that he and Scarlett are no longer under contract with WWE, there is reportedly some belief within the wrestling world that there is more to the story.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlePurists), someone with involvement in independent wrestling said Kross and Scarlett are charging a "very high price tag" in order to make indie appearances.

Because of that, the person told Meltzer they "aren't buying any of this" as it relates to Kross and Scarlett departing WWE.

During an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show this week, Kross insisted that him and Scarlett leaving WWE is legitimate and not a work:

Kross went on to explain that while he did receive a contract offer from WWE shortly before his deal expired last weekend, WWE pulled the offer when he didn't immediately accept it:

"I got the offer. I wanted to know how they came to the valuation of that offer. Just wanted some information, some metrics, some analytics that's supporting to 'Hey, this is how we got here.' When I inquired about that, they were unwilling to provide me that information and told me I had 24 hours to agree to the offer or they were rescinding it.

"The next day we talk, I ask if they have the information, they don't. And I said, 'I can't make an informed decision without the information. And I'd like to keep the dialogue open.' And they rescinded the offer. That's actually where we're at."

Kross went on to admit that although he and Scarlett are free agents, they still desire to return to WWE and would like to re-open negotiations: "The goal has always been to be with WWE. My wife and I still want to be with WWE. I'm still at the table for conversations. I did not step out of the conversation. We still wanna be there, we still wanna work it out."

Despite Kross' comments and a report from WrestleVotes that people they spoke with in WWE corporate believe Kross and Scarlett are indeed gone from the company, a narrative still exists that WWE may be trying to work fans and reporters.

That likely comes from the recent work that saw Seth Rollins fake a knee injury before cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to beat CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam.

It is unclear what a worked departure would accomplish for WWE when it comes to Kross and Scarlett, but if there is any validity to it, perhaps WWE is looking to drum up some interest and hype before bringing them back to WWE programming.

Several AAA Stars Reportedly Now Under WWE Contracts

Ahead of AAA's massive Triplemanía event in Mexico City on Saturday, WWE has reportedly locked in some additional AAA talent into WWE contracts.

According to Meltzer (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee), WWE is selling merchandise for Microman, La Hiedra, La Parka, Faby Apache, Niño Hamburguesa, Mesías, and Lady Flammer, which indicates they are all now under WWE deals.

During WrestleMania 41 weekend in April, WWE announced that it had purchased Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, which is a legendary Mexican wrestling promotion that was founded in 1992.

In June, WWE held an event called Worlds Collide, which pitted WWE and AAA talent against each other.

It is believed that the AAA talent on that show such as El Hijo del Vikingo, Mr. Iguana, Psycho Clown and a host of others signed WWE deals beforehand, but several AAA wrestlers scheduled for Triplemanía were not part of Worlds Collide.

Faby Apache, Niño Hamburguesa, Mesías, and Lady Flammer are included in that group.

Meltzer noted that any wrestler who appears at Triplemanía will likely do so while under a WWE contract since WWE officially owns AAA.

The main event of Triplemanía will see Vikingo put the AAA Mega Championship on the line against three WWE Superstars in Dominik Mysterio, Dragon Lee and El Grande Americano.

If WWE's first official integration into Triplemanía is a success, it figures to go a long way toward WWE continuing to invest in AAA talent and set up interactions between WWE and AAA stars.