Rumor Roundup for Friday, April 5: WrestleMania 29 Edition

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 will be taking 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.

In anticipation for WrestleMania 29, we've put together a huge compilation of all the rumors surrounding the event. Enjoy!

Rumors for the Day:

• Rumors have been popping up recently that the trio of Dolph Ziggler, Big E Langston, and AJ Lee could be in for a sizable push following WrestleMania 29. Ziggler and Langston have a match set at WrestleMania against Team Hell No for the tag team titles and, of course, Ziggler still carries the Money in the Bank briefcase for a guaranteed shot at the world heavyweight championship. Despite this, there is some doubt that Ziggler and Langston will come away with any of the aforementioned titles at the event itself. Early advertising for May's Extreme Rules pay-per-view has Alberto Del Rio taking on Jack Swagger in a submission match, so it is unlikely that Ziggler cashes in to the take the world heavyweight title out of that picture. Additionally, the tag team division is still lacking a quality "face" team behind Team Hell No. This was rumored to be a reason that Team Rhodes Scholars never got to take the titles away from Hell No. Tons of Funk may be being built up as such a team, and they are expected to defeat the Rhodes Scholars and Bella twins in a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania, so perhaps they will become the foil to Ziggler and Langston in the event they take the titles. Regardless, this is a situation worth keeping an eye on.
• John Cena recently gave an interview to NorthJersey.com. In it, he basically says a heel turn won't be happening anytime soon, or possibly ever. Granted, it could be an elaborate work, but as with any rumor hinting at any changes to Cena's "superhero babyface underdog" character, it's best to wait and see before getting too excited. Previous rumors indicated that Cena may be an "edgier" character following the event, however.
  
• Speaking of interviews, CM Punk also gave one to ESPN.com. One interesting nugget of information there is that Punk doesn't believe that WWE has any type of "locker room leader" like Undertaker used to be back in the day. Specifically:

"I’m not really sure anybody could fill Taker’s shoes, and I don’t think anybody is trying to, either. God help us all if I’m the leader, but when you look around the landscape, there’s really nobody else besides myself and John Cena. That’s about it."

• Yesterday, we mentioned that 2012 WWE Hall of Fame class headliner, Edge, would not be attending this weekend's festivities. Some of the past WWE greats who are expected to attend include: Bret Hart, Tommy Dreamer, Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, Diamond Dallas Page, and Jake Roberts.
  
• One rumored reason as to why U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro doesn't have a WrestleMania 29 match is because WWE was planning to have Sin Cara challenge for the title. (This is why Sin Cara defeated Cesaro several weeks ago on Main Event.) Sin Cara, however, suffered a concussion in a match against Jack Swagger and was not cleared to wrestle until early last week.
• While this year's WrestleMania has been blasted by critics for being too predictable, WWE may still have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep things interesting. Rumors abound of several possible heel turns at the event. In particular, major speculation is surrounding Ryback as a possible candidate to turn heel. There is also speculation that he may feud with John Cena for the WWE title following the event, using his elimination by Cena at January's Royal Rumble as a basis.
• Despite his advanced age (48) and countless injuries and surgeries (include two on his hip and shoulder since last year's WrestleMania,) Undertaker appears to be in excellent shape according to backstage sources. He reportedly returned 30 pounds overweight but has been working since then to lose the weight and improve his conditioning.
  

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.WRe