This feels like a story they'd put out there to see if everyone blows up about it and feel out of it's safe or not, I feel like they do it every 6 months or so
they legit did it in the summer or prior iirc so that tracks yes.
WWE media and PR is very strong, I know ppl act like it's a conspiracy but they do this stuff and are extremely effective at reaching spaces like reddit and twitter
I am also 100% certain they did it with CM Punk too, saw that the majority of WWE fans didn't give a shit about the aew drama (and that they would even steal some punk aew marks on top of it).
Like I said, very effective. Morally fucked up? Absolutely.