BS Meter on Rhea Ripley, Bayley Return Rumors, A Radical New WWE Idea, Latest on New Level, More

What once served as a small, quiet part of the pro wrestling calendar now has massive events from both WWE and AEW.

While AEW works through the paces of some massive shows, WWE has expanded its historical calendar a bit with some heavyweight matches on things like Sunday Night's Main Event. That, before the obviously huge Money in the Bank in October and two major events in November.

The pro wrestling rumor mill has the urgency to match these not-so-quiet times, too. This week, we've got rumblings about major returns and booking plans for other notables.

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

Will fans see Rhea Ripley soon? According to WrestleVotes (h/t Geno Mrosko of Cageside Seats), there are those in WWE who hope that she will be back in time for Wrestlepalooza on December 12.

The rumor even goes on to point out that Ripley will be at the show either way. Makes sense, given her Australian roots. As far as in-ring work goes, though, fans haven't seen her since early June around the time of her injury and yes, it would be fun to see her have a special main-event moment, given the locale in December.

Easiest rumor to buy all week, really. Ripley always felt like a guarantee to be at Wrestlepalooza one way or another. And if that turns out to be true, it's a pretty nice way to start ramping things up for her going into the early WrestleMania build of 2027.

Speaking of big returns, Bronson Reed could be back even sooner. According to PW Insider (h/t Mrosko ), Reed is fully healthy and will be back as a full-time wrestler over the course of the next month or so.

Reed recently went super viral in the wrestling world for an Instagram post showing off his big transformation. So, there's more hype than usual for his comeback. Getting him back in the mix well ahead of faction-based stuff like Survivor Series would be a boon for everyone.

Can anyone else smell from a mile away that Reed could be throwing interference in the Bron Breakker-Oba Femi matchup at Sunday Night's Main Event? It feels like early this month was the point to start watching for him, and WWE just happens to have a match between two juggernauts that they might not want to have either actually lose…

Kofi and Austin Creed are in AEW as The New Level and, according to Self Made Pro (h/t Mrosko ), will pretty quickly get involved in a program with The Elite.

Shocker alert, right? One of the big talking points of hype around the idea that Kofi and Creed would even go to AEW was getting into a promotion that takes tag wrestling very seriously and, as such, happens to roster most of the best teams on the planet. Going right to this is expected.

No need to draw this one out. This is pro wrestling. New Level are part of the Trios title picture and it shouldn't stop there. The Elite are next. Capitalize on the hype and, frankly, get out in front of any possible injury issues or whatever else that could spoil this ever happening.

There's been some buzz lately about WWE doing a Lil Yachty concert at Sunday Night's Main Event. Now he's on the card and Quavo has been announced. According to WrestleVotes Radio (h/t Cain A. Knight of Cageside Seats), this is all a master plan about testing the waters for halftime-like performances during big events.

This is…an odd one. WWE has always had so-so live performances at times, plus some crossover bands performing a wrestler's entrance and stuff. Sunday Night's Main Event isn't exactly a mega-event either, so it's kind of a weird place to test it out.

Yes, this sounds like TKO scratching and clawing for more celebrity attention and to be more sports-like. No, it probably won't end well. The whole point of making major events two-night affairs was to make the shows better and less exhausting. Adding a (likely mid) halftime show, diluting the shows with non-wrestling content, would just be silly.

Buzz about Bayley sticking with WWE just keeps coming. According to False Finish (h/t Knight ), there are even those in WWE who believe that she has already re-signed with the company.

The report even goes on to mention that Bayley, on this supposed new deal, might get to do other things behind the scenes. One can imagine that means performance center and hosting, etc. Regardless, as fun as it was to think about her in AEW, she's one of those WWE lifers who probably stays with WWE for, well, life.

It's fair to still play this one down the middle. Bayley did a really good job with the vague posts on social media hinting at change. And she'd be really fun in AEW. Who knows, maybe there's a tug-of-war going on right now. No matter what happens, everyone can agree that pro wrestling is much better when she's active.

Is there another AEW-to-WWE hop on the way? According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Harry Smith of Wrestle Ops), WWE has interest in soon-to-be-free-agent Anthony Bowens.

It's easy to handwave this off as WWE having a passing interest in almost anyone. But Bowens has been solid in stables and solo stuff and certainly has the look of a WWE Superstar. There's certainly upside at the age of 35, too.

Makes plenty of sense. Hard to predict one way or another if it happens. But Bowens feels like a guy who could really excel in the WWE ecosystem with the right onboarding. It certainly helps that a recent success story like Royce Keyes has panned out so well.