Rumor Mill - All-Women's Tournament Coming to WWE?

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the WWE is planning to host a NXT women's tournament, similar to the Cruiserweight Classic sometime during early 2017.

Meltzer says this tournament will be featured on the WWE network.

No word yet on how many wrestlers will be involved and if any international female talents have been contacted to compete in the first-time tournament.

Rumor Mill - Backstage Update on Bill Goldberg Possibly Returning to WWE

Bill Goldberg will be the guest on this week’s Off the Top Rope segment hosted by Jonathan Coachman on ESPN. During the segment, Goldberg will be discussing WWE 2K17 and his current relationship with WWE.

According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com and Wrestling Observer Radio, Goldberg and WWE are said to be in very serious talks about a potential Goldberg WWE return, and a deal might already have been completed. Meltzer added a return to WWE TV could be soon for the former WWE and WCW Champion as talks between both sides are at a “very strong discussion stage” at worst.

Rumor Mill - WWE Bids For TNA

The New York Post posted an article on Billy Corgan trying to become the majority owner of TNA. Also mentioned in the article is WWE’s interest in buying the company. WWE and Sinclair Group have reportedly made bids for the company. Sinclair Group also owns Ring Of Honor. You can read the entire article here.

Corgan was quoted in the article as saying the following regarding the possible purchase of TNA:

“I would love nothing better than to stand up in front of everyone and give a clear picture of where this company is and where it’s going.”

Dave Meltzer commented on how much TNA is worth, seeming to contradict the New York Post’s report, and you can read his tweet below:

Nobody is paying $40 million. Take one zero off https://t.co/Y0kroSlYJJ

— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) September 17, 2016

Rumor Mill - Paige Reportedly Quits WWE

MMA source and occasional WWE insider Front Row Brian has posted the following tweets claiming the Paige has quit WWE:

BREAKING. @RealPaigeWWE quit WWE this week and has hired legal representation.

— FrontRowBrian (@FrontRowBrian) September 8, 2016

Issue with @RealPaigeWWE is she has a contract with WWE that extends out several years. That's the major point of contention.

— FrontRowBrian (@FrontRowBrian) September 8, 2016

This announcement from Brian came just hours before WWE officially announced the release of Paige’s real life boyfriend Alberto Del Rio.

Rumor Mill - Dixie Carter Said To Be 'Pretty Much Done' With TNA

On last night's episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer commented on the ownership situation in TNA following the announcement that Billy Corgan is the new President of TNA. Meltzer noted that former TNA President Dixie Carter is pretty much done with the company.

"Dixie's pretty much out of it now," Meltzer said. "She's out of power completely, she is completely out of power no matter what's said, but she may be gone."

Meltzer noted that Dixie was at the last set of television tapings and was there for some of the segments that were filmed, but that she left shortly after that and didn't stay for the whole week. He added that "there were some things said that were not so great about her."

"She's pretty much on her way out," he added.

As noted, Corgan appeared on Vince Russo's podcast last week and discussed his new role with the company. He said that he has an ownership stake with the company, and that it is a "fluctuating situation" that is moving "progressively into the right direction." He said that there are moves being made and that there were all good moves, but would not confirm if Dixie still owned a majority stake or not.

Rumor Mill - Details On Bo Dallas Being Kicked Off Plane, Seth Rollins Heat With Airport Gate Agents

There was an incident with Bo Dallas at the Dallas Fort Worth airport this past Friday. The details were first posted on Twitter by Steven Bell, who hosts The Late Shift podcast.

Uh oh. It would appear as though Bo has been kicked off the plane for being too intoxicated.

— Steven (@StevenFnBell) August 26, 2016

Bell told wrestlinginc.com that his wife called him from the airport to tell him that there were a bunch of wrestlers at the airport, like Roman Reigns, Bayley and Rusev. While he was talking to her, she told him that Charlotte, Bo Dallas and one of the Usos were hanging out at an airport restaurant. She said that their flight was delayed, so they were there for a few hours. In the background while talking to his wife, he could hear Bo Dallas singing a song from The Lion King as the wrestlers were leaving the restaurant to go board.

Bell said that his wife was not on the same plane as the wrestlers, but she saw Bo Dallas being escorted off the plane by the pilot. A flight attendant told Dallas that he couldn't board because of his condition. Bo was trying to get back on and was denied, and he told the pilot to "f--k themselves." He also told gate agents to "f--k themselves" before walking off.

Staff were apparently attempting to book him on a later flight when he blew up on them. Wife said he was being really loud and belligerent

— Steven (@StevenFnBell) August 27, 2016

When asked about his tweet about Seth Rollins being "a d-ck." He said that his wife overheard gate agents saying that Rollins was a d-ck.

Confirmation from boarding staff that Bo was booted for being drunk. And apparently Rollins is a dick.

— Steven (@StevenFnBell) August 26, 2016

Police arrived at the scene, but it is not known if Bo actually got arrested. Bo was arrested for drunk driving in 2013, however there are no arrest records for him from over the weekend.

Oh shit. Police have arrived at the terminal and are going off with the managers to look for the very disruptive Bo Dallas.

— Steven (@StevenFnBell) August 26, 2016

Bo was scheduled to compete at last night's WWE live event in Puebla, where he was slated to team with Curtis Axel to face The Usos. Bo was not at the event, and Jey Uso faced Axel in a singles match instead, with Jimmy Uso in Jey's corner.

Rumor Mill - Backstage Altercation Between Chris Jericho And Brock Lesnar At WWE SummerSlam

The finish to Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton at WWE SummerSlam went pretty much as planned but led to a big incident between Chris Jericho and Lesnar backstage.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, multiple sources report that Jericho came to the gorilla position as the match ended, apparently to find out exactly what happened and to see if Orton was alright. Jericho asked WWE producer Michael "PS" Hayes if that was the planned finish and Hayes wouldn't respond. Jericho then said, "That's bulls--t."

Jericho's "bulls--t" comment came just as Lesnar was returning backstage. Lesnar, thinking Jericho was talking about the match, called Jericho a "p---y," according to one version, or just said "shut up," according to another version, and for Jericho to mind his own business. They came face to face and had words. One version of the story says they were shouting at each other the whole time.

Lesnar reportedly pushed Jericho with his fingers. Jericho then did what was described as the "Rousey-Tate" forehead press. Another version of the story said Jericho shoved Lesnar into the wall. The two were then tangled up against the wall when Lesnar told Jericho to either punch him or kiss him. Triple H then jumped in and broke things up. The two went at it again but this time Vince McMahon broke it up. Jericho was then yelling about Lesnar and Vince told him that everything was a work, and to be professional.

Triple H reportedly told Vince that Lesnar started the fight, and that Jericho was just standing up for himself. No more words were exchanged but Jericho saw Orton's condition and got mad. It was noted that Jericho was concerned with Orton's health and safety, but Orton assured him that he knew what was going to happen.

Rumor Mill - Details on Shawn Michaels Accepting a New WWE PC Job

Shawn Michaels has been offered a full-time role as a coach down at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, to lead talents in their “finishing classes”. HBK was reportedly offered the role to substitute for Terry Taylor, who has been absent from the WWE PC following neck surgery.

PWInsider.com has since updated its story noting a “highly placed source” has informed them the HBK – WWE deal is not yet done, and Michaels is not at the WWE PC today nor is he scheduled to be at the PC this week. Michaels has had two appearances as a guest coach at the PC as of late, and the “ball is in his court” if he wants to accept the full-time job. Apparently the hold up right now is the decision Michaels will have to make to relocate his family from Texas to Florida.

Rumor Mill - WWE To Crown Cruiserweight Champion in the CWC?

According to PWInsider.com, the live WWE Cruiserweight Classic finale, airing on September 4th, will likely be to crown the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion. The report added no talents have officially been signed for the division as of yet, but as we noted over the weekend, CWC talents Kota Ibushi and Gran Metalik have signed WWE deals.

WWE will likely be looking to sign additional CWC talents such as Zack Sabre, Jr., Lince Dorado, Jack Gallagher, Akira Tozawa and Cedric Alexander for the returning Cruiserweight division, and they might also use veteran Cruiserweight talents such as Brian Kendrick and Tajiri so there are some familiar faces on Raw in the division.

Rumor Mill - WWE Reportedly Orders Roman Reigns To Apologize To Locker Room

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting WWE ordered Roman Reigns to go to the locker room and apologize to everyone after his 30 day suspension was announced.

According to a source, Reigns went to the locker room and apologized to everyone before flying home, and it came with mixed reactions. The Observer noted the source said there was no need to humiliate him, but other people disagreed. The request reportedly was made by Mark Carrano, which would mean it came down from Paul Levesque, not Vince McMahon.

On a related note, Reigns won’t get paid any wrestling pay during the suspension, which was guessed to be around $100,000, less than what he’d miss out on if he was suspended from any PPV’s too. Reigns will still get paid merchandise and royalty checks, but will miss out on live event, PPV and downside guarantee money.

Rumor Mill - Backstage News on the Upcoming WWE Brand Split and Its Impact on NXT, Talk of Extending the Length of WWE PPV Events and More

According to F4WOnline.com, WWE has informed Sky Italia to start reserving extra time for PPV events as the duration of the shows will vary. This implies all future WWE PPV events, not just WrestleMania, might start running past 11pm. Prior to the existence of the WWE Network, when WWE was running PPV events via actual PPV providers, they weren’t allowed any PPV overruns. With WWE basically being able to do whatever it wants with the WWE Network, overruns, as he have seen in the past with Steve Austin podcasts, are entirely possible.

As we noted yesterday, Triple H indicated in this week’s NXT Takeover media call that he’s not sure how the upcoming WWE Draft and Brand Extension will change WWE NXT and its roster. He added that whatever happens, even if a bunch of talent from NXT gets called up to the main roster for the brand split, he has 80 to 90 talents at the WWE Performance Center ready to make the jump to NXT.

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, people involved have been told that “NXT is being raided for the Draft big time”, and more details are expected to be revealed soon.

Rumor Mill - WWE Potentially Seeking UFC Fighters to Appear at SummerSlam as Part of Brock Lesnar Deal

Since news broke that Brock Lesnar would be fighting at UFC 200 in July, there has been a lot of speculation as to what WWE would be getting in return for Lesnar appearing at a such high profile UFC event. It seems quite obvious that UFC will be promoting WWE in some fashion, likely the WWE SummerSlam PPV in which Lesnar will return to a WWE ring.

Additionally, PWInsider.com is reporting WWE might be seeking UFC fighters to appear in a segment at SummerSlam, similar to the way Ronda Rousey appeared at WrestleMania.

Specifically, WWE might want some of the female UFC fighters to appear at SummerSlam in an angle involving the women, and a particular name that has come up is Paige VanZant (pictured above), who recently placed second in the finals of Dancing With The Stars.

WWE reportedly reached out to VanZant’s manager and there was at least some communication between both sides.

Rumor Mill - Backstage News On WWE's Major Goal For Stephanie McMahon's Memoir, Big Marketing Push Planned

As noted, Stephanie McMahon is currently working on her memoir to be released this September.

The book is expected to be big news over the next few months as WWE is hoping to use Stephanie's memoir as a way to really put the spotlight behind her and get her out in front of the general public more.

One of WWE's goals is to get more eyes on Stephanie and have her build a relationship with the audience so when it's time for her to replace Vince McMahon when he steps down, she will be seen as the heir apparent that has already been groomed and put out to the public. This new book will be a big part of that goal.

WWE and publisher Regan Arts are planning a major marketing campaign for the release of the book, including media appearances and book signings, at least in the Northeast.

Rumor Mill - Backstage News On TNA Being Behind On Pay Again

In regards to rumors of TNA being behind on pay to production workers, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the company is behind once again but not as far behind as they have been in the past. TNA's financial issues continue and they are likely low on cash again.

At the last set of Impact Wrestling tapings in late April, there were some workers paid in full but some workers not paid at all. There was an issue with paychecks as some were there and some were not. TNA blamed it on a snafu and told the workers that all checks would be mailed out the next day, Monday, April 25th. As of this weekend, the workers who were not paid at the tapings still have not received their checks.

This is not the first time TNA has fallen behind on pay to production workers. It will be interesting to see what happens as they head into the June tapings with the Slammiversary pay-per-view.

Rumor Mill - CM Punk Not Progressing Well as a Fighter, Concerns About How He Has Fared In Sparring

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that CM Punk is not progressing well as a fighter. Punk’s original fight date was pushed back because of back and shoulder injuries. His first scheduled opponent is Mickey Gall.

It is, reportedly, expected that Gall will “run through” Punk whenever they do fight. So far in his short career, Gall is 2-0. The rumors WON is hearing is that Punk has not fared well live sparring.

The concerns with Punk’s progression have grown because it has taken him so long. Cain Velazquez had the same surgery as Punk a few weeks earlier and is on the UFC 200 card.

Punk’s first fight was originally hoped to be in the summer of 2015 or the fall. Injuries and transition into MMA have caused the delay for his UFC debut. As for the FS1 reality show that will determine Punk’s opponent, WON has not heard anything new other than that they have begun taping the show.

Since the injuries, UFC has kept a low profile on Punk. The signing of Punk brought massive media attention, and WON still thinks Punk’s first fight will still garner media attraction.

WON notes that since he may not be able to pull off proving his critics wrong, the next moves for Punk could be interesting.

Rumor Mill - UFC Owners Reportedly Negotiating Sale Of The Company

In the middle of one of the biggest pay-per-view years in company history, it appears as if the owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship may be selling the company.

According to an ESPN report this evening, there are at least four bidders that have submitted offers to purchase the company. Those bidders are WME/IMG, The Blackstone Group, China Media Capital and Dalian Wanda Group. The likely winning bid will end up somewhere between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, says ESPN.

UFC VP of public relations Dave Sholler wouldn't comment on the matter, saying the UFC doesn't discuss speculation.

The Fertitta brothers own over 80 percent of the company, with Flash Entertainment owning 10 percent and UFC President Dana White as another minority owner. The Fertitta's company Zuffa LLC purchased the UFC in 2001 for just $2 million. The company had financial struggles for several years before turning a corner on it's way to being a pay-per-view juggernaut.

The ESPN report says that Chinese-based Dalian Wanda Group is the leader to buy the UFC. The company's chairman happens to be Wang Jianlin, with a net worth estimated between $28 billion and $35 billion.

Rumor Mill - Bret Hart Describes Tension Backstage At WWE Payback Between Shane, Stephanie & Triple H

With Shane I sensed he was really relaxed but I also sensed a distance there. In the backstage area I never saw Stephanie, Triple H and Shane all in the same room. I’m just reading between the lines without knowing anything. I could see that there was real tension there. They were all really friendly to me when they saw me but you never saw anybody at the same time. I noticed when I saw Shane after Natalya’s match that he didn’t go into what they call the Gorilla Position. He wasn’t in there. He wouldn’t go in there. He kind of stayed out and I realized then that it was just Stephanie and Triple H that were in there. I don’t know, maybe there’s real tensions there. I’ve said it before and I don’t know anymore than what I’ve said in recent broadcasts. I do sense there is some real tension in the family. I got the impression from watching it on TV, just like the fans do, that Vince is loving it. He loves the tension between them and this little storyline that they have seems like it’s true and based on a real situation. A lot of times that’s what Vince likes to play on. He likes to play on real sensitive issues. Even like what he did to me in Phoenix a few years ago. It was all based on, “You screwed me,” and, “Bret screwed Bret,” and all these things that were so sensitive a few years before. He wanted to milk that as much as he could and get as much mileage out of it as possible. I sensed a lot of that in Chicago. There’s a lot of real tension in the air and Stephanie, Triple H and Shane aren’t really comfortable with the attention but Vince is loving it. He’s just throwing more gas on the fire.

Rumor Mill - Ryback Reportedly Pulled From Television and Sent Home From Raw Following Big Contract Dispute

According to PWInsider.com, WWE star Ryback was pulled from TV indefinitely and sent home from Raw tonight following what was said to be a contract dispute between The Big Guy and WWE. The report added one source claimed Ryback himself asked to be taken off WWE TV.

Ryback’s current WWE contract is said to be expiring sometime this summer, and the two sides have not been able to come to terms on a new deal. Ryback last competed at WWE Payback and lost a U.S. Title match to Kalisto.

Rumor Mill - ROH Owners Interested In Purchasing TNA Wrestling?

Rumors have been flying for weeks about the possible sale of TNA Wrestling, and a new development has occurred, which has put the owners of Ring of Honor in play.

Ring of Honor owners Sinclair Broadcasting have also been surrounded in rumors that they'll be re-branding the Tennis Channel as the American Sports Network. With that, they'll likely be expanding their sports content, and Ring of Honor could fit well in that programming schedule.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Sinclair Broadcasting has been rumored to show interest in acquiring TNA, but there are a lot of things in play. The main attraction as it pertains to TNA for Sinclair is that they have a large tape library, and have international TV deals already in place.

A big hangup on the sale continues to be that Dixie Carter is still hoping to retain majority ownership in the company. There have been negotiations with Aroluxe, but no sale has been completed as of yet.

As of now, the Tennis Channel has clearance in 40-50 million homes nationwide. Recently, Ring of Honor Joe Koff mentioned that there's a possibility that ROH TV could also expand to two hours of TV time per week.

Rumor Mill - Chyna Reportedly Drinking Heavily Before Death, Over Bad Relationship With WWE

The documentary director who was with Chyna in the final months before she died says the ex-wrestler was incredibly broken up about not getting an invite this year to attend WWE‘s Hall of Fame ceremony — and it’s one of the reasons she began to drink heavily before passing away.

Erik Angra tells Pro Wrestling Sheet Joanie Laurer had been distressed over not being invited to the big event to see old friends, and it’s partly why she backed out of flying to Dallas.

For those who missed it, Chyna was scheduled for a meet and greet at WrestleCon but cancelled at the last minute and promoters said it was because she wouldn’t get on the plane.

Sources tell us Laurer expected the documentary she was filming to shine a light on her Hall of Fame situation, and was hoping it would lead to an invite to get the conversation started with company officials. When that didn’t happen, we’re told she began to drink more than usual.

Angra says Chyna was also feeling emotional over attempts to reconnect with her family, and the full story will be seen in their documentary — which they still plan to release in the wake of her passing.

Reports say Chyna’s death is being investigated as a possible overdose — and Angra tells us those working on the film “saw the signs were there” in regards to her addictions.

Official word on her cause of death is pending further investigation.