Rumor Roundup for Wednesday, December 25: WrestleMania 30, Shawn Michaels wrestling again, 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:

• Although Shawn Michaels has remained steadfast in his refusal to come back for one more match, it is believed that there are those within WWE who are actively trying to get him to come back to work WrestleMania 30. Some believe he will, some believe he won't. If he does, it will be Michaels vs. Daniel Bryan in a match that would almost surely steal the show and quite possibly be one of the best matches in the history of the event.
• If you've noticed that John Cena has been mentioning Hulk Hogan's name quite a bit lately, both on television and off, it's because WWE wants him to do just that. It's no accident that Cena is the guy who is largely being tasked with getting the fans ready for "The Hulkster" to return. There was talk for a while of doing a tag team match with the two aligning against a heel duo at WrestleMania 30 but it's looking more and more like Hogan won't get clearance and he'll have to simply have someone run into his punches in a pre-planned spot to get a big pop on his name. Hogan is reportedly pushing for more, but there's only so much give and take here. If Hogan somehow convinces the powers that be to let him work a match, it will be in a tag team to protect him, that much is certain.
• While advertisements leaked word early on Batista's return, it's now being said that WWE had always planned to announce the date he's coming back (Jan. 20, 2014) on this past Monday night's episode of Raw. The leak was unfortunate, but it was apparently already set that the video that aired this week would do so.
• Sting is now being advertised to work some house shows for TNA in early January. His contract expires that very month, so it's unclear what this means, if anything, but considering how many big names the company has let go or failed to re-sign in the past year, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was the latest to bail. For his part, Sting has been wanting to get out of the business for years now and this might be the perfect time to do it. There's still talk of Sting at WrestleMania 30, but who knows on that.

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.