Rumor Roundup (April 23, 2014): Daniel Bryan Plans, Bray Wyatt Face Turn, Attitude Era star backstage, more!

For many fans, reading about rumors -- and trawling the sites that traffic in them -- has become as popular as watching the matches themselves. In this daily column, we take a look at the biggest rumors and weirdest stories being churned out by those pro wrestling "news" sites.

Important reminders: Rumors are "rumors" and not "news" for a reason, folks. That which has not been confirmed as legitimate news or fact will be made clear. Also, don't let these things ruin your day. It gets better.

Bearded Justice (Future Plans for Bryan and Bray):

Two of the biggest stars in the company have been the darlings of the dirt screens lately. Not surprisingly, the NEWZ sites are very interested in what the two best beards in the business are going to be up to in the coming months:

• While reasons for Daniel Bryan being written off the show for the time being are clear, it's also been announced that the vicious attack was used as a way to add the dreaded "EXTREME RULES" stipulation to his match with Kane at the titular special event. For those unaware, an Extreme Rules match is simply a No-DQ match with a WWE trademark.
• And while Nikki Bella has made public statements regarding the untimely death of Bryan's father, the storyline reason behind his absence is a stinger resulting from the three Tombstone Piledrivers he took during the opening segment of Monday night's Raw. He'll be taking the rest of the week off.
• His fellow beard enthusiast, Bray Wyatt, looks to be joining him on the side of the angels once the Shield -- or at least those members not about to be strapped to a rocket (see: Reigns, Roman) -- planned switch back to the heel locker room occurs. We assume they use locker rooms, of course, based entirely on their perpetual wetness when they come to the ring.

The Wyatt rumors are some of the more genuinely interesting bits of information to come out recently, not just because they appeared seemingly out of nowhere -- at least in terms of having been in the news before -- but because they also seem to have implications for the future booking of John Cena/WWE. If this were to result in a double turn with Cena and Wyatt or Cena convincing Bray and his Dueling Banjo band to join forces with him, it could represent a seismic shift one way or another in the direction of the company and its marketing.

The Rest of the Rumors and News Bits for the day:

• Former six-time Hardcore champion Steve Blackman was backstage at Monday night's Raw. Blackman, who is being considered for a reality show on the WWE network on his current job as a bounty hunter, has recently appeared on the JBL & Cole Show and was featured in the last "Where are They Now?" bit done by WWE.com over the past winter. A return to the ring doesn't seem to be in the cards. But it's not outside the realm of possibility given that he's stayed in shape and was quoted by in the aforementioned piece on DotCom as finding himself missing being part of the show.
• The Adam Rose party bus, the Exotic Express, has been spotted repeatedly outside of Raws since WrestleMania, but it seems as they will serve as no indicator of when or where Rose will be debuting. It turns out that it's simply used by the company like any of the other buses, it just so happens to have the EE's paintjob. There's been no word on whether or not the driver is required to wear a bunny suit while behind the wheel.
• It seems that the Extreme Rising promotion is officially done, with an announcement expected by Steve O'Neil, formerly of 5 Guys Wrestling, Inc. The company was supposed to be running a show this weekend at the ECW Arena, but it appears that those shows will be cancelled as part of the shutdown.
• Finally, former Dudley Boy Bully Ray recently filmed an episode of nick@nite's Run Dad Run, which stars Arrested Development/Charles in Charge's Scott Baio. Here's an actual thing he genuinely said regarding his future potential in the acting business after appearing on a single episode of a Scott Baio nick@nite show (emphasis added):

I'm looking into films and other things right now ... I am looking to branch my career out a little bit more into acting ... I think I fit certain roles, I'll use as an example a guy like James Gandolfini in 'The Sopranos'. I think that type of role I could pull off real well, just with my natural personality.

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.