Buy or Sell Latest Details on WWE's War on AEW, Karrion Kross Contract Rumors, More
As expected, the pro wrestling rumor mill continues to be especially noisy on the WWE side for the second and final half of John Cena’s retirement tour.
In fact, Cena takes center stage on the mill again this week, mostly because buzz continues to run rampant about where his final match might actually take place.
The usual rumor mill suspects share the same space, making for one of the busier times in months, too. Rumblings (and grumblings, apparently) about injuries to major stars, booking plans and heel turns and how WWE moves against AEW share prominent spots and deserve the spotlight, too.
To help fans keep pace, here’s a look at the most notable rumors on the mill right now and whether fans should buy or sell on each as legit.
John Cena match timing buzz
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The Rumor
When will Cena collide with Brock Lesnar? Say goodbye? According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), the Lesnar match should take place in September or October. As for Cena’s final match, WrestleVotes (h/t Ortman) reports that NBC wants it on December 13, while WWE wants it on December 27.
Reaction
Shocker alert: Everybody wants a piece of the pie when it comes to Cena’s final match. What’s a little more surprising is the timing of the Lesnar match, as Clash in Paris on August 31 seemed to make sense to clear the schedule. Instead, he’s fighting Logan Paul there.
Buy or Sell?
Buy it all. The booking timing of Cena’s goodbye remains in flux, as does his final opponent. The Lesnar match timing will likely head for a Crown Jewel or Survivor Series, perhaps, though more interesting is whether it’s a one-off or starts a series.
Backstage anger about Seth Rollins?
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The Rumor
The Seth Rollins injury fallout continues. According to PW Insider (h/t Ortman), “a lot of people who work behind the scenes for the company, as well as talents who are in-ring performers,” are upset about how WWE and those in the know handled the situation.
Reaction
This is more funny than surprising. WWE needed to keep one of its biggest twists in years a secret and didn’t go around making sure everyone backstage felt super-informed about it beforehand. As a result, something didn’t leak beforehand and Rollins did a great job of still pretending to be injured while appearing on even small social media clips.
Buy or Sell?
Sell on the idea people are actually mad about this. This is pro wrestling and pulling off swerves, especially in 2025, takes work. In fact, this almost sounds like something the ones doing the swerving would leak just to make the whole thing look even better.
Asuka heel turn fallout
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The Rumor
Those who feel like the Asuka heel turn happened too quickly might be correct. According to PW Insider (h/t Ortman), Asuka going bad was a response to the Naomi injury, which sped things up well past the intended rate.
Reaction
A shame, but sometimes these things happen. Naomi couldn’t compete against Iyo Sky this past week, so Asuka clashed with Sky after a Roxanne Perez upset win. Nothing wild just yet, but it did have a little out-of-nowhere feel, and not in a good way like an RKO.
Buy or Sell?
Buy. WWE has been pretty good about slow-walking character developments like this under Triple H and there was no other discernible reason to rush it. Add in the very real Naomi medical and/or injury situation and it all starts to make sense.
Cena vs. AEW?
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The Rumor
That prior mention of WWE still moving around Cena’s final match? It’s apparently related to AEW. According to Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez (h/t Ortman), WWE has considered moving Saturday Night’s Main Event back to December 27, potentially to compete with an AEW pay-per-view.
Reaction
Are we really at the point that WWE will mess around with Cena’s final match just to counterprogram smaller competition? AEW has Worlds End on December 27, but is it really worth shoving around the farewell for one of the greatest of all time?
Buy or Sell?
An unfortunate buy and believable as an oh-so-WWE thing. Unnecessary, but also feels likely. WWE enjoys a stacked roster with plenty of things they could use to counterprogram, should the power in place really want to.
TNA vs. AEW?
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The Rumor
Speaking of WWE counterprogramming AEW, Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated reported that WWE has considered moving TNA to one of its broadcast partner networks and Wednesday nights to directly go against AEW’s weekly Dynamite.
Reaction
There’s another oh-so-WWE thing. Whether TNA could actually make a dent in AEW’s viewership is really hard to say. But WWE itself has been gobbling up other stuff and has the assets to move around for good reason.
Buy or Sell?
Buy. What’s perhaps more interesting is just how much WWE lends help to TNA in these efforts with their Superstars or not. The company already has an oversaturation problem with so many shows and events year-round. TNA feeling like mini-WWE could backfire.
Karrion Kross and WWE contract buzz
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The Rumor
Let the mill tell it, the Karrion Kross situation is par for the course. According to Meltzer (h/t Ortman), WWE will handle contract negotiations differently based on how they view the Superstar. The big names get extensions well before their expiration date.
Reaction
This one sort of falls under the duh column. WWE is obviously going to work harder to make sure a Becky Lynch or Roman Reigns stays under contract well before the cutoff date. And slightly in its defense, those more fringier wrestlers do get a chance to put feelers out and see what else might be out there, should they want to, so there’s a little good and bad here.
Buy or Sell?
Buy on the implication that WWE dragged things out with Kross until the last minute. It feels like the Triple H era earnestly tried to get him over with fans multiple times, yet it kept falling flat. Yes, it would be nice to see the company not wait until the last second on any wrestler’s contract, but the ship seems to have sailed on this long ago, to get cliché.
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