Rumor Round-Up: Title unifications, big pushes for Ziggler and Cesaro, and much more

Rumors float and pro wrestling fans like yourself typically find them interesting, so instead of asking you to click into a thousand different posts with two lines and calling it a story, we're just going to pass along all the latest rumors in this new column we're simply calling the "Rumor Round-Up."

Remember: None of this is confirmed as legitimate news or fact, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Let's get to 'em:

• CM Punk could have worked the TLC pay-per-view (PPV) and was willing to do so but WWE actually made the call to hold him out to make sure he recovers in plenty of time for his match against The Rock at Royal Rumble.
  
• Speaking of which, apparently there was an idea pitched to have Brock Lesnar cost The Rock the title in his match with Punk leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania 29. Don't expect that to happen. The chances of Rock not winning the title are really slim right now. Promises and future plans and all that.
  
• John Cena will not be winning Dolph Ziggler's Money in the Bank briefcase at TLC. If he does, expect Ziggler to win the Royal Rumble. Word is WWE knows Dolph is ready for the big time and he's going to be in the main event scene shortly. To that end, if Cena wins the briefcase, it could very well lead to a title unification match at WrestleMania 29.
  
• Sin Cara is back in the doghouse for not being committed enough.
  
• Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Randy Orton, and Antonio Cesaro are the guys WWE will be pushing big throughout 2013. Orton should be turning heel shortly and Cesaro has really impressed higher ups.
  
• John Cena is, in fact, dating Nikki Bella.
  
• Monday Night Raw will be a two hour show once again by the time WrestleMania rolls around next year. Even if this is a weird shot in the dark, this needs to happen long before then.
• Ric Flair really won't be wrestling again and the same holds true for Hulk Hogan. That means we may very well have seen the last matches in the careers of two of the biggest legends in the history of the industry.
  
• Sting is going to come back for yet another run with TNA. The chances of his ever wrestling in WWE are somewhere between slim and none, leaning heavily towards the latter. He wanted the match with Undertaker but has resigned himself to the fact that it just won't be happening.
  
• Matt Hardy has been talking about going back to WWE with his brother Jeff once Jeff's contract with TNA expires but that's absolutely not going to happen both because Matt isn't welcome back in WWE and Jeff is going to re-sign with TNA.
  
• No one is happy about Brooke Hogan getting a big push on television, for all the obvious reasons. Honestly, she doesn't belong anywhere near a wrestling ring but she's being given a prime slot over more deserving talent. Garrett Bischoff is also expected to get a key role in Aces and 8s soon, and a lot of folks don't like that either.
  

There you have it, Cagesiders. Feel free to post your thoughts on all these rumors -- and remember, they're just that right now -- in the comments section below.