BS Meter on CM Punk, Seth Rollins Rumored MITB Plans, AEW Expiring Contracts and New Adds, More

A hot stretch for the pro wrestling rumor mill just keeps ramping up in temperature.

Some of it is the upped competition on the calendar itself, with World's Collide and All Out essentially going head-to-head at a time of year typically reserved for a "break" of sorts.

Much of it, though, is just simple eyebrow-raising rumors. Think free agents possibly joining new promotions, Penta's rising star and possible big returns for the upcoming Money in the Bank PLE, to name a few.

To help fans keep pace with all the buzz of the rumor mill, let's place the must-know rumors on the BS Meter, with 10 being the highest form of unbelievable buzz fans can safely dismiss.

There are more names than usual perhaps headed to free agency. According to Fightful Select (h/t Cain A. Knight of Cageside Seats), Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are both on the way to free agency with no talks about new deals in the rumblings.

It feels like the internet has had a grip on Bowens possibly being a WWE target for a long time now. Either, really, would make sense as guys who might want to jump ship and see if their star could rise further in WWE.

Buy this one on all counts. AEW has a sort of bloated-feeling roster right now, so they might not be in a hurry to do early re-signings. And looking at WWE, it's hard to ignore the fast rise for Royce Keyes, so other wrestlers might want to take similar chances.

The other side of this coin is AEW going after free agents. According to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp (h/t Knight ), Ilja Dragunov will sign when visa formalities get wrapped up, while Kairi Sane's status remains up in the air.

Both Dragunov and Sane, on the other hand, always felt like they would take this pipeline the other direction, landing in AEW's orbit. Dragunov feels like a natural for the main roster there, while Sane could always land AEW-adjacent overseas and still work with the company.

Dragunov seems like a formality and he'll be a great fit, obviously. But Sane has always felt like the much bigger deal. It wouldn't be a shock to see her debut in Japan first, not necessarily as an AEW-centric wrestler.

Penta is on the rise. According to WrestleVotes Radio (h/t Knight ), Penta's showing against Roman Reigns in Mexico City was so good that big plans have changed around the main-event scene.

No kidding. Talk about a star-making showing on that episode of Raw. It's a little jaded to think that this is conveniently coming about right near the men's Money in the Bank ladder match before Penta takes the briefcase. But sometimes, the eyes don't lie: Penta was just that good as an obvious main-event presence.

Very easy to buy into the idea that Penta's match against Reigns was planned as a one-off thing initially. That needs to change now, as it's pretty clear WWE has, not just a merch-mover, but a main-event star on its hands. Nobody is saying Penta should actually beat Reigns, but it's clear WWE needs to try to bottle the lightning here.

How close is Seth Rollins? According to WrestleVotes (h/t Knight ), the one-off showing at a live event in South America wasn't meant to suggest he's back full-go because the right creative hasn't emerged yet.

The rumor goes on to state that Rollins initially had a role in the Money in the Bank match, but that's now up in the air. And while it might sound weird, Rollins' brief return recently never felt like a full return, if that makes sense.

Fair enough. Rollins' "real" return will probably feature big storyline implications right away. And with so many names like Kevin Owens and now Penta floating around main-event scenes, it makes sense if WWE is still finding the right creative fit at this point in time.

Is CM Punk about to miss a major event? According to WrestleVotes (h/t Knight ), there was an outside chance that Punk wouldn't work the Money in the Bank show at all.

Punk won the triple threat qualifying match for the men's Money in the Bank match. Before that episode of SmackDown, there wasn't an actual title match planned for the PLE yet. This is pro wrestling, so maybe there's still a swerve coming here, though?

The knee-jerk reaction might be to wonder if an injury or simple maintenance played a role here in these rumors for the 47-year-old Punk. But sometimes good stories just need room to breathe, too. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn is certainly one. Punk getting a breather at a non-big three PLE while not holding a top title wouldn't have been a shocker. He's through to the men's briefcase match, at least for now, but the presence of this buzz makes things worth monitoring.