Saraya is bringing back up to AEW Dynamite tonight when she teams with Toni Storm to take on Britt Baker and AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter.
This will mark Sarayay’s second match in AEW as she worked her first match since 2017 last November at the Full Gear pay-per-view event against Bakker.
The match has drawn a lot of buzz, with many expecting Mercedes Mone to be involved in some capacity. Originally, Saraya announced that she would have a mystery partner that she would pick, which sparked speculation the former Sasha Banks would be filling that role.
The former WWE star had to wait out her non-compete clause that expired on January 1 before she made her NJPW debut just days later at Wrestle Kingdom 17 when she confronted KAIRI.
The Tease
AEW later announced that Storm would be teaming up with Saraya. There’s been speculation that Mone could show up after the match. Saraya stated during a Twitch live stream today that she has used two tickets she was given b yBaker.
Saraya stated, “Britt did give me two tickets, and they were put to good use, so thank you, Britt!”
We will have to wait and see who Saraya gave her tickets to for tonight’s Dynamite from the Forum in Los Angeles, CA.
MLW has announced its main event for the SuperFight 2023 show as Alex Hammerstone will defend his MLW World Heavyweight Title against Jacob Fatu.
This event will take place on Saturday, February 4, at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Their first match happened when Hammerstone defeated Fatu to win the MLW World Heavyweight Title at MLW Fightland 2021 after The announcement of the match was touted as the biggest rivalry in Major League Wrestling.
Backstory
Fatu earned his title shot by winning Battle Riot IV last year in New York City, but up to this point had not revealed the date and location for it. Now, they will square off in the ring to see who will walk out as champion.
Since winning the MLW World Heavyweight Title, Hammerstone has defended the title against various challengers ranging from Davey Richards to Richard Holliday as well as other top stars.
During this time, Fatu has continued to be pushed as a dominant star to crush CONTRA after having a falling out with the group and forming the Samoan SWAT Team.
No other matches have been announced thus far for the upcoming event that will serve as a taping for its weekly Fusion TV series. MLW will announce additional bouts as the event gets closer.
The January 10, 2023 episode of WWE NXT touted New Year’s Evil, aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Dijak defeated Tony D’Angelo
Winners of Gauntlet: Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey).
NXT Champion Bron Breakker defeated Grayson Waller via countout
Charlie Dempsey defeated Hank Walker
Jinder Mahal defeated Julias Creed.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Gauntlet Match
Pretty Deadly wants another shot at The New Day’s NXT Tag Team Titles after losing them at NXT Deadline.
On this show, Pretty Deadly held a gauntlet match against three teams to earn a future title shot.
They quickly beat a bootleg Rockers team. Woods and Kingston came out and gave them a real challenge against Malik Blade and Edris Enofe.
Pretty Deadly thought they were going to face Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen. Instead, Jensen & Briggs were shown laid out by a returning Gallus, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang, who then defeated Pretty Deadly.
Tony D’Angelo vs. Dijak in a singles match was booked.
The finish saw D\’Angelo tossed Stacks to the floor before Dijak hit D\’Angelo with a big boot for the pinfall win. This opened the show.
Dijak interfered in D\’Angelo\’s North American title bout two weeks ago despite Stacks\’ telling him not to do so by costing D\’Angelo the title. On last Tuesday\’s show, it was revealed that Dijak had kidnapped and tortured Stacks before their match. Dijak accepted D\’Angelo\’s challenge for New Year\’s Evil after winning a match against Stacks.
The victor of the bout between Dijak and D\’Angelo will seemingly challenge the North American Champion Wes Lee in the near future based on Lee indicating the winner of the bout will get the title shot.
Charlie Dempsey vs. Hank Walker in a singles match took place.
Dempsey vs. Walker was originally scheduled for last week’s show. However, commentators noted that Dempsey was not cleared to compete. Dempsey was shown taking off his arm sling during a match between Gulak and Andre Chase. Gulak won it via submission.
A 20-woman battle royal was held, with the winner facing NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez at Vengeance Day next month.
Wendy Choo vs. Cora Jade vs. Indi Hartwell vs. Thea Hail vs. Jacy Jane vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Elektra Lopez vs. Jakara Jackson vs. Nikkita Lyons vs. Kiana James vs. Fallon Henley vs. Zoey Stark vs. Tatum Paxley vs. Ivy Nile vs. Amari Miller vs. Layra Valkyria vs. Lash Legend vs. Sol Ruca vs. Valentina Feroz vs. Dani Palmer.
Last Tuesday, Toxic Attraction did a promo about how, after Mandy Rose (who wasn\’t named) lost the title to Roxanne Perez. They said they would rebuild the group brick by brick. This drew several NXT stars, which ultimately led to an all-out brawl among the women\’s roster. After that, Perez made an appearance and declared that a battle royal would happen, with the winner receiving a title opportunity against Perez at Vengeance Day in February.
Jayne and Dolin were the final two in the match. Jayne super kicked her after faking like she was going to toss her out of the ring. They both fell to the floor at the same time after brawling. There was confusion in storyline and then it was announced that both were the winners. Perez came out to stare them down.
It will be a triple threat match at Vengeance Day.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker defended his title against Grayson Waller in the main event. Waller earned the title match after winning the Iron Survivor Series match at Deadline last month.
The match was in the middle of the show.
At one point, Waller sent Bron into the corner and the rope broke. Waller hit Bron with a nasty knee strike. Later in the match, Waller fell out of the ring after the rope broke when he was on the middle rope. The finish was when Waller couldn’t get back into the ring and the match ended in a countout.
It was later announced Breakker would defend the NXT Title against Waller in a steel cage at Vengeance Day.
Jinder Mahal is once again a member of the WWE NXT roster.
On Tuesday’s episode of WWE NXT, a New Year’s Evil special, The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed), were scheduled to take on Indus Sher (Veer & Sanga).
However, Sanga came out to the ring and stated that Veer was not present for their match. Sanaga stated that he’d face The Creeds 2-on-1 but coming from behind to ambush The Creeds was Mahal. Sanga and Mahal took out both Julius and Brutus.
Mahal joined WWE in 2010, and he made his main roster debut the following year. He joined the stable 3MB with Heath Sater and Drew McIntyre after a brief alliance with The Great Khali before he and McIntyre were fired from the company in 2014.
Mahal returned to WWE in 2016 with a significantly improved physique, which led to his victory over Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in April 2017. His reign lasted for about six months. He captured the WWE United States Championship at WrestleMania 34 in 2018.
Mahal and Seth Rollins squared off in 2012 to crown the first-ever NXT Champion.
Mahal’s previous TV match was in November when he lost to Braun Strowman in a SmackDown World Cup First Round match.
Stephanie McMahon announced late Tuesday night that she is resigning as Chairwoman and co-CEO of WWE.
She issued a statement on Twitter announcing the news and mentioning her taking a leave of absence from WWE several months ago. This comes just days after her father, Vince McMahon, elected himself back as a member of WWE’s Board of Directors alongside Michelle Wilson and George Barrios. She issued the following statement:
Stephanie’s Statement
“Dear WWE Universe,
About 8 months ago, I took a leave of absence and within a few weeks, unexpectedly had the opportunity of a lifetime. I had the privilege to return as the Co-CEO and Chairwoman of the Board of WWE. I cannot put into words how proud I am to have led what I consider to be the greatest company in the world, working alongside a remarkable leadership team and one of the strongest executives I have known in my Co-CEO, Nick Khan.
Our Founder, Vince McMahon, has returned as Executive Chair and is leading an exciting process regarding strategic alternatives. And with Nick\’s leadership and Paul \”Triple H\” Levesque as Chief Content Officer, I am confident WWE is in the perfect place to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders.
WWE is in such a strong position, that I have decided to return to my leave and take it one step further with my official resignation.
I look forward to cheering on WWE from the other side of the business, where I started when I was a little kid, as a pure fan. I will always remain dedicated to WWE. I truly love our company, our employees, our Superstars, and our fans. And I am grateful to all of our partners.
Thank you for everything. Then. Now. Forever. Together. -Steph.”
In December, WWE’s Board of Directors unanimously disapproved of Vince McMahon\’s return to the Board before he elected himself last week. The board had Stephanie, Nick Khan, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
WWE confirmed following the news via a press release that the WWE Board of Directors has unanimously elected Vince McMahon as Executive Chairman of the Board, and it was also revealed that Khan would be serving as the new WWE CEO.
Dave Meltzer reports Stephanie is no longer part of the Board of Directors.
Just to clarify, Stephanie is also off the Board of Directors. The election evidently took place after her resignation.
Ricochet and Samantha Irwin are set to become man and wife as the two are engaged to be married.
Ricochet took to his Instagram account to share the news when he posted three photos. He included a photo of the ring, one of him proposing and one of them kissing. Congratulations to the happy couple.
The Engagement
“She said YES! When you find that one person. The one person that when you close your eyes you could never visualize life without them… you keep them close to your heart. Now we are closer than ever. @samanthairvinwwe I love you so much,\” Ricochet wrote in the caption.
Irvin works for WWE as a ring announcer and correspondent.
Ricochet is best known for his time with various Japanese promotions before joining WWE, including Dragon Gate and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). In Lucha Underground, Ricochet competed as Prince Puma, becoming the first person to win the Lucha Underground title twice.
Ricochet found success in NXT in 2018 after signing with WWE. Ricochet began making appearances on the main roster in February 2019. Last year, he would go on to capture the Intercontinental Championship, making him the first wrestler to hold the United States, Intercontinental, and North American Championships.
The trailer for the Netflix series \’Against The Ropes\’, which will premiere on January 25, was released today, and WWE shared it.
The tweet from WWE previewed the series by writing, \”An ex-convict tries to regain her daughter\’s affection after leaving prison, but it seems impossible — until she steps into the ring.\”
The Trailer
Rey Mysterio is featured in the trailer as it shows an ex-convict\’s journey in her attempt to train to become a wrestler. According to Netflix\’s website, the synopsis is as follows:
“Released from prison, Ángela tries to regain the respect of her daughter, who loves lucha libre wrestling, by entering the ring as a mysterious persona.”
The cast includes Caraly Sánchez, Scarlet Gruber, Carmen Ramos, and Alisson Santiago, Giovanna Zacarías, among others. Check it out below:
An ex-convict tries to regain her daughter's affection after leaving prison, but it seems impossible — until she steps into the ring. Against the Ropes, featuring @reymysterio premieres on January 25, only on @netflix! pic.twitter.com/a8Vyx4U3hc
Mysterio has some acting experience as he voiced himself on \’Booyaka! Rey Mysterio vs. The Darkness,\’ which aired on Cartoon Network Latin America.
The former WWE Champion has been feuding with Karrion Kross as of late on Friday Night SmackDown. He was sent over from Raw to SmackDown last year after feuding with The Judgment Day and his son, Domnik, turning on him.
The wrestling world is still processing the return of Vince McMahon to WWE as a member of the Board Of Directors along with Michelle Wilson and George Barrios.
Last July, the wrestling world changed when Vince McMahon announced his retirement and stepped down as WWE CEO amidst the hush money scandal, leading to Triple H taking over WWE creative. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were named co-CEOs. Stephanie also took over as Chairwoman.
McMahon officially returned on January 6, 2023, as a member of the board to help with media rights negotiations and a potential sale. WWE has reportedly hired JPMorgan to advise on a potential sale. Many people believe that McMahon will find a way or force his way back into power and take over creative again.
Khan’s Take
While speaking on In The Zone, AEW President Tony Khan was asked if he\’s been following the news of Vince\’s return to WWE. Khan responded,
\”Yeah, absolutely. I\’m following it very closely.”
– Tony Khan
Khan was asked what separated AEW and WWE and if there was room for both companies. Khan thinks there is enough room for both promotions but thinks what separates them are the fans of AEW, as they’ve built a loyal fanbase and cited the television ratings.
WWE’s media rights for WWE Raw on USA Network and WWE SmackDown on Fox are set to expire in 2024. They will be gearing up for its next set of negotiations with TV networks later this year for media rights.
Andrade El Idolohasn’t used the way he and fans thought he would be in AEW when he signed with the promotion. He was believed to be on his way out of the company at one point. He has further ignited the fuel by posting a cryptic message.
El Idolo made a name for himself in Mexico before signing with WWE, where he was a top NXT star. However, expectations weren’t met on the main roster due to his booking, so he left the company in March 2021.
El Idolo made his debut in AEW in June 2021. When he first debuted, some fans thought he would have a better run in All Elite than he had in WWE. However, that clearly has not happened.
Andrade is sidelined with an injury, and it’s been heavily reported that he was unhappy in AEW and wants to leave the company despite having years left on his deal.
The Post
On social media, he shared a photo that showed his mask packed in a bag with a goodbye message in the caption.“Bye!!!”
A fan asked Conrad Thompson why Andrade is not following him on Twitter. Andrade saw the post and responded, \”someday I will be with you in the podcasts and I will talk about everything….Sueña Interesante!\”
If Andrade does leave AEW, it will be interesting to see if he returns to WWE under the new management led by WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H.
Edge hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since his latest absence, as he lost an I Quit Match to Finn Balor at the Extreme Rules show in October.
The company already had some plans for him months ago, according to Fightful Select. As of late November, WWE had Edge penciled in for the first couple of PLE events of 2023.
Working Plans
The working plan was for Edge to take on Finn Balor upon his return to pick up their long-running feud. WrestlingNews.co reported that they would be competing at Royal Rumble.
The reason for the rivalry being spread out comes down to Edge working limited dates. Fightful also confirmed WrestlingNews.co\’s report that as of that point ahead of Survivor Series, it was slated to be a Hell in a Cell match.
Fightful reports that Edge wasn’t the only one to be planned for the Elimination Chamber PLE in February. In November, WWE’s tentative plan was for Edge\’s wife, Beth Phoenix, to be involved in the Montreal event by teaming with Edge to take on Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor.
It should be noted that things can change and can\’t be considered official until WWE officially announces it themselves.
Fans can expect to see Chelsea Green make her WWE return anytime now.
It has been reported that WWE has discussed bringing Green back to the company. She finished up with Impact Wrestling in late 2022. Other indications that she was going back to WWE were her shutting down her OnlyFans page and Major Pod having to limit new Green merchandise production due to her signing.
Other Stars
According to Fightful Select, Green has been under contract with WWE “for quite some time and is still awaiting creative.”
Once it was reported that WWE was interested in bringing back Green, there was speculation that her husband, Matt Cardona, could be on his way back to the company as well.
However, Fightful reports that WWE sources have indicated that “Cardona is not signed, but that we shouldn\’t rule anything out for the future.”
There was speculation that Kylie Rae may be the next name to be signed with the company after she was brought in for a tryout and later used for a match on Main Event. Fightful notes that Rae is still a free agent.
Fans have wondered who is behind the mysterious Uncle Howdy since the character made his first appearance on WWE television.
Various names have been speculated, from Bo Dallas to Vincent to Cameron Grimes.
As previously reported, WWE has been playing its cards close to its chest with the character as the person behind the costume wears the mask backstage to hide their identity. It looks like fans are one step closer to finding out who is behind the Uncle Howdy mask.
Confirmation?
PWInsider and Fightful Select report that former WWE star Bo Dallas, the brother of Bray Wyatt, is backstage at tonight’s Raw show in Birmingham, Alabama.
On last week’s WWE Monday Night Raw, Alexa Bliss viciously attacked Bianca Belair during their Raw Women’s Championship match, which led to Belair needing stitches from the attack. WWE has confirmed that Bliss will explain her actions last week on tonight’s show.
With Dallas being present backstage, it would sure seem that Dallas is the man behind the Uncle Howdy mask.
Bray Wyatt is set for his first match since returning to WWE at the Royal Rumble by taking on LA Knight in a Pitch Black match.
Mandy Rose is set to address her WWE release for the first time.
Rose, real name Amanda Saccomanno, will appear as a guest on this Tuesday\’s edition of \”Tamron Hall.” This is a syndicated talk show that airs on ABC stations.
According to the promotional material, the episode description notes that the former NXT Women\’s Champion will address her \”controversial firing\” from WWE in an exclusive interview with Hall.
Breaking Silence
“Tamron has an exclusive interview with former WWE’s MANDY SACCOMANNO addressing her controversial firing from the WWE. Five-time Grammy and Emmy nominee, actress and comedian MARGARET CHO stops by to chat about her new comedy tour \’Live and LIVID.\’ Plus, an All-New Shop Tam Fam!!”
Last month, Rose was released from WWE after learning of adult-themed photos and videos Rose posted on her FanTime subscription service.
Her release came less than 24 hours after dropping the NXT Women\’s Championship to Roxanne Perez on NXT TV, which was pushed up from when it was originally supposed to happen in January. This was done because Rose was being released.
Rose\’s reign as NXT Women\’s Champion lasted 413 days before losing the title to Perez. Since her departure, Rose has made big money by earning $1 million on FanTime.
Following the news that Vince McMahon would be returning to the company as a member of the board of directors, WWE hired JPMorgan to advise on a potential sale of the company.
McMahon claimed that he was returning to WWE to help assist WWE in their media rights negotiations.
While speaking on What Happened When, Conrad Thompson said a WWE sale has been brewing for a while. He also noted that when Nick Khan first joined WWE as an agent to help negotiate the TV deals that they eventually landed with FOX and NBC Universal, he heard an interesting thing. That was when Khan made a deal with Vince that he would get paid big money should he help with a sale of the company.
The Claim
\”My friend was represented by the same company that Nick Khan was sort of running, and when my friend sees that the guy who runs this big agency is now going to WWE, he thought, ‘What the f**k? This doesn’t make any sense.’ So he called his contact and said, ‘Dude, what’s up with Nick going, blah, blah, blah.’ He said, and this is years ago now, ‘Yea. He’s got a deal with Vince where in his contract, he gets a big payday when he helps facilitate the sale.’ He told me the number, and I won’t say the number because that’s talking about somebody’s money and that’s not cool, but let\’s just say this, it’s more than AEW’s TV contract is for a year. It’s a lot. It’s a lot, a lot. So when you hear it’s a lot, a lot, you think, ‘Well why would this guy go here?’, Ah ha, and now, Ta Da. I’ve heard backchanneling before Mean Gene passed away, he said, ‘Well, I heard from’, and I won’t say who he heard it from, ‘When the stock gets to so and so,’ This has been brewing for a while. I know a lot of wrestling fans have been thinking, ‘Well this is just a brand new development.’ It’s years old.\”
In 2020, Khan joined WWE as President & Chief Revenue Officer. He previously worked for CAA.
He also helped negotiate media rights deals for top companies such as Top Rank Boxing and the Southeastern Conference.
Becky Lynch is returning to Young Rock to portray the role of Cyndi Lauper.
The former Raw Women’s Champion previously appeared in the role of Lauper on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s show which is currently airing every Friday night on NBC last November.
That episode included a young Rock meeting Lauper at a party she threw around WrestleMania I in 1985.
Reprise
Lynch posted a tweet on Monday revealing that she\’s back filming on the \”Young Rock\” set. She wrote the following about the news:
\”She’s baaaaaaaack! Delighted to be back on set with the incredible #YoungRock cast and crew playing the iconic Cyndi Lauper! Stay tuned.”
In a tweet after the season three premiere, Johnson thanked Lynch and gave her props for the job she did playing Lauper on the show.
The show is based on Johnson\’s life and tells the story of how he was shaped into the person he is today as he went from being a football player to being one of the biggest wrestlers in the history of the business to a top movie star.
After being sidelined with a shoulder injury at SummerSlam last July, the top star returned to in-ring action in November at Survivor Series by working the Women’s WarGames Match.
Charlotte Flair may have one of her wishes come true regarding a dream match that she recently talked about.
Flair made a recent return to WWE television as she won the SmackDown Women\’s Championship on her first night back against Ronda Rousey on December 30.
Fans are looking forward to seeing \”The Queen\” work against some of the current talent on the roster such as Shotzi and Raquel Rodriguez. However, there are some names from the past that she’s interested in stepping into the ring with. Flair recently spoke to WWE\’s The Bump about several legends she wants to face.
The Tweet
Mickie James, Lita, and Michelle McCool were all names that she mentioned. McCool made it clear on Twitter that she is open to the idea of them working a match against each other.
She let Stephanie McMahon and Triple H know as she said, \”Real Talk….RESPECT! Oh…..& I stay ready for anytime @wwe @TripleH or @StephMcMahon call! #FlawlessQueen.\”
McCool wrapped up her full-time career in 2011, but has since worked one-off matches for the company. The first being in 2018 at the Royal Rumble as the former two-time Women\’s and Divas Champion. She followed that up by competing in the 20-woman battle royal at WWE\’s Evolution premium live event and then was part of the 2022 women\’s Royal Rumble match.
On last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Ricochet mocked Top Dolla for his botched dive during SmackDown a few weeks ago, which upset Top Dolla. The big man got fired up and shoved Ricochet.
This confrontation led to a match between the two, which was announced for the following week.
The Turn
Fast forward to Friday’s show, Ricochet defeated Top Dolla to qualify for the men’s Royal Rumble match. Post-match, Dolla offered Ricochet a handshake and raised his arm, but it was all a ruse as Ashante “Thee” Adonis blindsided the former WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Adonis hit Ricochet with a super kick before Top Dolla, and B-Fab also took part in beating Ricochet down until Braun Strowman ran down to the ring to make the save and send Hit Row retreating.
Ricochet now joins Kofi Kingston in the men’s Royal Rumble match. Kofi Kingston previously qualified for the match. 28 other stars will make up the match, with the winner earning a shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Title that is currently held by Roman Reigns, who will also be in action on this show as he defends against Kevin Owens.
Saudi Arabia\’s Public Investment Fund is emerging as a potential bidder for WWE.
WWE has close ties to the Middle Eastern kingdom through its 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority, which sees WWE present two events per year in the country.
Their first show was held in April 2018 with the Greatest Royal Rumble. It was originally supposed to feature one event before the partnership was expanded to two large-scale events per year in late 2019.
PIV\’s Backing
This is according to sources of Front Office Sports. The fund controls $620 billion in assets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as Chairman.
LightShed Partners analyst Brandon Ross told Front Office Sports: \”In the same way they did LIV, there\’s an unlimited faucet of dollars there. The Saudis are already a decent part of the profitability of the company just on those two [Saudi-based WWE] events alone. They\’re trying to be relevant in the entertainment world.\”
The fund has looked into getting more involved in sports as they’re the majority shareholder in English Premier League football club Newcastle United, having acquired the club in October 2021.
Front Office Sports reported that PIF isn\’t the only possible bidder, as other potential buyers would be Amazon, Comcast, Endeavor, Liberty Media, and CAA.
Talk of WWE being sold comes after Vince McMahon returned to the company where he elected himself, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios to the Board of Directors. He has angled his return as wanting to oversee the sale of the company should there be bidders ahead of its television rights deals which expire next year.
It was emphasized that WWE might not be sold while taking the company private and was also touted as another \”possible avenue\” if it was \”the best outcome for shareholders.\”
Kevin Owens looks to right a wrong from 2021 at this year’s WWE Royal Rumble event when he steps into the ring once again and challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title.
In recent months, Owens has been a thorn in the side of Reigns and The Bloodline. Owens has that he hasn’t gotten over the fact that he would have been WWE Universal Champion if not for Paul Heyman and Jey Uso getting involved in his match two years ago.
At that event, Owens and Reigns battled in a Last Man Standing bout, but dealt with interference from The Bloodline, a pair of handcuffs, and a referee\’s decision not to count all the way to 10 eventually led to his loss against “The Tribal Chief.”
How We Got Here
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Owens challenged Reigns to a match at the Royal Rumble. This was as Reigns was in the middle of talking down to Sami Zayn.
Owens made it clear that Roman’s problem wasn\’t with Zayn, but rather it was with him. Owens said he would see Roman at the Royal Rumble and see Zayn if he ever made the decision to get his balls out of the pocket of Roman Reigns.
This will be Reigns’ first defense on pay-per-view since facing Logan Paul at WWE Crown Jewel.
After a major upset last week, @WWERomanReigns wants to know one thing:
It’s been a wild 24 hours for WWE as Vince McMahon maneuvered his way back into WWE and got himself a seat on the Board of Directors. He brought Michelle Wilson and George Barrios with him.
WWE held an all-hands-on-deck meeting with employees, as talent was not invited. The meeting lasted for 10 minutes.
Pwinsider.com put together highlights from the meeting that noted employees were told there would be no changes to management or their responsibilities at this time.
What Was Said?
Paul Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, and Frank Riddick III will remain in place in their current positions and jobs.
They stated the move was a big positive and made to give the company everything they needed to make the most of their future rights revenue sales (TV rights deals for their weekly television shows) in addition to gauging the market for a potential sale of the company with the idea that with Vince McMahon back, the entire company would all be on the same page in maximizing WWE\’s potential leading into the future.
The idea is they would be looking at potential sale offers ahead of any rights negotiations and would benefit more than another round of just selling TV rights. It was also greatly emphasized that a sale may not happen, and it should not be assumed it would. Vince McMahon has the final say as the controlling shareholder.
A \”possible avenue\” for the company could be for it to be taken private again if it was \”the best outcome for shareholders.\” This was among the potential strategic options. They did not take any employee questions.
It’s unclear whether Triple H will hold a talent meeting with wrestlers at Friday Night SmackDown.
WWE is keeping talent and those backstage at events in the dark regarding who is playing the role of Uncle Howdy.
There has been a lot of speculation among fans regarding who is behind the character. Apparently, WWE talent backstage is wondering the same thing, but the person portraying the gimmick isn’t talking.
Keeping Kayfabe
Fightful Select reports that WWE is playing everything close to the vest in regard to the identity of Uncle Howdy, and the person in the outfit is kayfabing people backstage by going as far as to keep his outfit on backstage so nobody knows who it is.
There have been various guesses among fans regarding who the person is, with Bo Dallas’ name being heavily rumored. It’s likely there won’t be a confirmation until whenever they decide to do a big reveal.
Wyatt is slated to compete against LA Knight in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view later this month. WWE confirmed the match on last Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
The segment to announce the upcoming match saw Knight and Wyatt exchange words. Before they could brawl, Uncle Howdy appeared, standing alongside Wyatt before hitting him with Sister Abigail. Knight quickly exited the ring.
WWE may be bringing back another wrestler that they had released a few years ago, and that’s EJ Nduka.
The former NXT star was let go in May 2021 after having been with the company since 2019. He made his MLW debut the following month when his non-compete clause expired.
In this week\’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE has expressed interest in bringing Nduka back to the company.
The Interest
Meltzer wrote: “EJ Nduka, who has gotten rave reviews from management [in MLW], has his contract coming due imminently, and there is interest in him from multiple promotions, including WWE having expressed some interest in bringing him back.”
Meltzer continued by noting that his name has come up in AEW as well as Japan.
Heis currently one-half of the promotion\’s Tag Team Champions along with Calvin Tankman. The tag team will defend their titles against The Samoan Swat Team (Lance Anoa\’i & Juicy Finau) on Saturday\’s Blood & Thunder event from Philadelphia.
Nduka is also booked for a show with the KAOZ promotion on February 26, 2023, in Monterrey, Mexico.
Before breaking into the wrestling business, he played for both the Indoor Football League and Canadian Football League.
WWE is looking to load up the Raw 30th Anniversary show later this month.
Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey are being advertised for the show on WWE’s website, which will emanate from Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2023. The company will celebrate three decades since Raw first appeared on television on January 11, 1993.
The Other Names
According to the company’s website, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Bobby Lashley are also advertised. WWE is expected to bring in Legends, but it’s unknown who will be used. WWE will likely load up the card with big matches as well.
Ric Flair recently said on his To Be A Man podcast that he has also been invited to the show, while Kurt Angle stated in a recent interview that he expects to be there.
WWE started working on plans in October for this special edition of the show, as the first episode took place on January 11, 1993.
WWE celebrated Raw\’s 25th anniversary in 2018 with a special episode that took place across two locations – in New York City at both the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center – as the Manhattan Center was the original home of Raw in 1993.
A day after John Laurinaitis\’ first public appearance since being fired from WWE was announced, it was nixed.
On Wednesday, Bobby Fulton announced that Laurinaitis would take part in a Big Time Collectibles event in Los Angeles over WrestleMania Weekend.
Fulton announced Laurinaitis for the event by writing, \”John \’Johnny Ace\’ Laurinaitis will be making his first-ever appearance WrestleMania Weekend in LA, courtesy of Big Time Collectibles! More info coming soon!\”
However, on Thursday, Fulton revealed that Big Time Collectibles will no longer be working with Laurinaitis because of the negative feedback they have received since the announcement.
Nixed
Fulton wrote: “Yesterday we announced John Laurinaitis would be doing an appearance with Big Time Collectibles. Upon announcement we received only negative feedback. After much consideration we have decided to not work with him. We apologize to those that were offended by us working with him.”
Last August, Laurinaitis was released from WWE following allegations of misconduct in a Wall Street Journal article. His departure ended a 21-year run with the company as he had been with the company since 2001.
Dominik Mysterio has announced his engagement. In a recent post on Instagram, the 25-year-old posted a picture of his longtime girlfriend, Marie Juliette wearing an engagement ring on January 2, 2023.
This past November, Dominik posted about his and Juliette\’s 11-year anniversary.
SEScoops extends our congratulations to the happy couple.
Dominik’s Progression on WWE TV
Dominik is involved in an undefined relationship with Rhea Ripley in the storyline, as the two stars are part of The Judgment Day faction with Damian Priest and Finn Balor. On television and social media, Dominik refers to Ripley as \”Mami.”
He has attempted to bring her to his father\’s home on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the latter leading to the police being called and Dominik being sent to prison for a short time.
In a segment on Monday Night Raw this week, he revealed on Raw that the experience really impacted him.
Ripley commented on Dominik\’s engagement post but didn’t keep kayfabe as she wrote\”Congratulations\” to the young couple.
In September, Dominik turned on his father and Edge at Clash at the Castle. He would officially join the Judgement Day group two nights later on Monday Night Raw. Before this, The faction had been recruiting him in the weeks leading up to the event.
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