WWE's Top Stories, Rumors and Buzz for Week of January 16

The 2016 Royal Rumble is right around the corner, and the past week has seen a few interesting developments relating to the event's card.

It was confirmed Brock Lesnar will be in the pay-per-view's namesake match during Raw, and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match was announced on SmackDown.

While the PPV is a major priority right now, it's not the only thing making headlines.

Sting Headlining 2016 WWE Hall of Fame Class

Lesnar's participation in the Rumble match was one of the biggest stories to come out of Monday's Raw, but an even bigger story was the announcement Sting would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

As usual, WWE had a spectacular video package to highlight Stinger's historic career to go along with the news, but there's still no official word regarding who will induct him.

"

Well it's official - I have accepted the invitation to be inducted into the WWE HOF! HONORED!!!!

— Sting (@Sting) January 11, 2016"

Obvious choices would include his long-time friend and rival Ric Flair or his WrestleMania 31 opponent, Triple H.

Flair is the more likely of the two as he and Sting have been linked since the late '80s. Regardless, just knowing Sting will finally take his rightful place in the Hall of Fame will make his legions of fans happy.

Trial Date Set for Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker Trial

Hulk Hogan has been in the process of suing Gawker for a few years, and a start date has finally been set according to Peter Bernard of WFLA.com.

Hogan is suing the site for $100 million for publishing part of a tape containing a sexual encounter between Hogan and Heather Clem, who was the wife of his good friend and radio personality, Bubba the Love Sponge.

Hogan had no idea he was being filmed, which is why it was illegal for anyone to post the footage without his consent. The two parties will meet in court on March 7 to begin proceedings.

CM Punk's First UFC Opponent

UFC president Dana White recently appeared on an episode of Off The Record, and he revealed some very interesting news regarding CM Punk's UFC future.

"

I’m bringing Mickey Gall in and he’s going to fight a kid named Michael Jackson. They’re going to fight on the prelims on February 6th on Fight Pass and if he wins that fight, Mickey Gall will fight CM Punk and CM Punk will be there at the fight to watch.

"

Gall has a 1-0 record, and if he wins at UFC 196, he would take part in one of the most publicized debuts in UFC by squaring off against CM Punk.

Since Punk left WWE in 2014 to pursue a career in MMA, fans have been clamoring to find out whom he would be facing first.

White is smart to put him in the ring with someone who is not a veteran. He is hoping Punk can be a huge draw who brings in a lot of viewers, and potentially embarrassing him in his first fight by having him face someone with a lot more experience wouldn't make sense.

Whether you love him or hate him, it's going to be interesting to see how Punk does in his first professional UFC fight.

The Miz Cast in a Role He Was Born to Play

The CW show Supernatural has tackled a lot of strange subject matter in its 11 seasons, and it looks like the Winchester brothers will soon take on a subject we all know and love with a pro wrestling-themed episode.

Vlada Gelman of TVLine has confirmed Mike "The Miz" Mizanin has been cast to play a young wrestler in the indy circuit looking to make an impact.

The Miz has been acting steadily for the past several years, but his first love has always been pro wrestling. Even when he was a kid on The Real World, he talked about wanting to be a pro wrestler constantly.

Supernatural is a show dealing with, well, supernatural beings and occurrences. When it entered its 11th season last year, it officially became the longest-running American sci-fi series in history.

Casting an actual wrestler for this role was a smart move as it will entice WWE fans who otherwise might have skipped it altogether to check out the show.

What do you think of the choice to cast The Miz? Will you be checking out the episode when it premieres sometime this spring?

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor.