Rumor Roundup for Monday, November 18 - Shane McMahon, Ryback, Sting, and More!

Speculating on the rumors surrounding pro wrestling is a favored pastime of many fans, perhaps second only to actually watching the matches. In this daily column, we take a look at the latest rumors being churned out by the pro wrestling rumor mill.

Important reminder: Rumors are just that -- rumors. None of this has been confirmed as legitimate news or fact; so remember to take it all with a grain of salt.

Rumors for the Day:

• With rumors swirling all across the pro wrestling landscape about who may or may not be involved when WrestleMania XXX rolls around, another blast from the past has popped up on the radar. WWE, specifically Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, are interested in having Shane McMahon return for the event. Shane, brother of Stephanie and son of Vince, has been away from WWE since resigning in 2009. He has spent his time working on other projects since then, but made some minor news back in September when it was announced that he would be stepping down as vice president of "YOU on Demand," a Chinese company he had been working for. There has even been talk that his participation in the event would be as a wrestler, representing his father Vince against brother-in-law Triple H for (kayfabe) control of the company. While the match certainly wouldn't be a technical wrestling masterpiece, Shane has had no issue in the past selling out his body in violent matches.
• Speaking of potential WrestleMania XXX matches, we may be moving closer to seeing Brock Lesnar vs. Ryback at that event. Rumors suggest that Paul Heyman would return with Brock sometime around Royal Rumble early next year to get revenge on Ryback, who Heyman blames for his injuries at the hands of CM Punk. This would mesh with rumors that cropped up late last week suggesting that Ryback may be turning face in the near future, as Heyman and Lesnar would serve as the heels. The rumors around Ryback generally seem to bounce back and forth between Ryback having heat on him for a multitude of reasons backstage and Ryback still having a lot of potential as a main event superstar in the eyes of those in power. Using one of Lesnar's limited matches, at WrestleMania XXX no less, would seem to indicate that the powers that be have faith in Ryback in the long term.
• One rumor the Ryback/Lesnar plan would not mesh with is one that has been floating around since WrestleMania 29: that Undertaker would be battling Brock Lesnar. Indeed, Undertaker told several people at last year's WrestleMania Axxess program that his ideal opponent for WM30 would be Lesnar. Apparently, that still is the backup plan for WWE, who have their heart set on snagging Sting for a match with the Deadman when Sting's contract with TNA is up at the end of this year.
• There was some talk late last week that it was under consideration by WWE to return SummerSlam to the United Kingdom at some point in the next couple of years. Unfortunately for our UK readers, this idea reportedly didn't get very far before being rejected. In order to make the event work, the start time in the US would have needed to be 3pm eastern, which WWE felt would "kill" pay per view buy rates.
• Wade Barrett has gotten the work visa issues which were keeping him from returning to the US solved, and has returned with the rest of the talent from their European tour. It has been expected for several weeks now that Barrett will undergo a repackaging (possibly as his popular "Bad News Barrett" character) before returning to television.
• Some other superstars were not so lucky when trying to return to America following the European tour, as weather delays diverted their flights. All talent is expected to be in Nashville, TN, for tonight's Raw, however.
• Whatever slim chance remained of Hulk Hogan returning to TNA has gotten even slimmer. Over the weekend, Hulk Hogan responded to a fan on Twitter asking if Hulk was going to return to TNA. Hogan replied that "I won't be coming back."
• As expected, AJ Styles successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight title against Seiya Sanada at a Wrestle-1 event in Japan yesterday. Once again, Styles defending the (officially vacated) TNA title in other countries is part of the storyline.
  

If you have heard of any interesting rumors that you'd like to add, feel free to post them in the comments section below. Please remember, these are merely rumors. Try not to take them too seriously, just have fun with them.