Here's your wrestling news for January 29th 2022
And your headlines for today include
SmackDown segment sets the stage for huge title change tonight!
More names spotted in St Louis ahead of the Royal Rumble
“They have an idea in their heads!” SmackDown Superstar hits back at fans who say he’s unhappy
Shinsuke Nakamura cleared to compete after nearly two months injured
“We were rooting for AEW!” Former NXT Superstar reveals shocking truth about the Wednesday Night War
Former WWE Champion moved to SmackDown, reunites with former tag partner
Former World Champion turns down WWE return and Hall of Fame induction. Is AEW next?
More bad news for Triple H and NXT 2.0 And more
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown, as this week’s show was built around tonight’s Universal title match between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Meeting in the ring, the pair gave a fantastic example of long-term storytelling and referencing a Superstar’s history, something that WWE rarely does these days.
Typically, the memory of WWE Superstars is metaphorically wiped clean after every feud, so for WWE to reference their history in the Shield was a
huge deal. 2022 will mark a decade since the Shield’s debut, and 8 years since the stable split for the first time
and given all that’s happened since then, especially the Roman Reigns heel turn fans never thought they’d see, last night’s segment referencing the
group made for some great storytelling. As for the segment itself, Rollins knew he was in Reigns’ head, doing all he could to rile up the
Universal Champion, and addressing Rollins’ betrayal in June 2014 Reigns retorted saying that he could never forgive what Rollins did to “us” another
indirect reference to AEW’s Jon Moxley. Whatever happens tonight, fans should expect a great match between two wildly compotent main
eventers, and this could be the night the Head of the Table is dethroned. Rollins was meant to win the WWE Title at Day 1,
and with Reigns now holding the record for the longest Universal Championship reign, this could be time for him to release his iron grip on the title.
Today is day 517 of this reign, which has seen the Tribal Chief dispatch of Daniel Bryan, The Fiend, Edge, John Cena and others, but it could finally
come to an end in a story nearly a decade in the making.
Later today, WWE will host it’s fifth annual Women’s Royal Rumble match, which will be a mix of both current-day Superstars and names from the past.
Now, yet another name has been leaked, so if you don’t wanna be spoiled, skip the next minute seconds of this video.
PW Insider reports that former WWE Superstar Aksana is currently in St. Louis, and is scheduled to appear in the 30-Woman match.
Signing a developmental deal in 2009, Aksana was the first-ever Lithuanian wrestler to wok with WWE, until her release in June 2014, and hasn’t wrestled
since being let go. Another name spotted in St. Louis is Sarah Logan, who last competed on the April 13th 2020 RAW in
losing effort to Shayna Baszler, days before her own release from WWE
Former Divas Champion Kaitlyn has also been spotted in St. Louis, as has former Women’s Champion Ivory, both of whom last competed for WWE in 2018.
These people being in St. Louis does not guarantee they’ll be in the women’s Rumble match, although it does seem likely, and we’ll only know for sure tonight
at the Royal Rumble.
Sami Zayn is hoping for a good showing in the Men’s Royal Rumble match, after he officially signed a new contract with WWE earlier this month.
This new contract, which will see the former Intercontinental Champion remain with WWE for many more years, was only signed after several
fans called on Zayn to leave, saying he’d do better in another promotion such as AEW. Sitting down with Pat Laprade and Kevin Raphael
this week, Zayn confirmed the reports of a new deal, and addressed those fans who think he’d rather be in another promotion:
They have an idea in their heads that everyone in WWE is unhappy being there, unhappy with their role, that they want more or feel oppressed,
or I don’t know what. For me, I’m really happy with my role While Zayn my have been a huge signing for AEW
he’ll be sticking with WWE for at least the next few years, and despite what some on the internet may say, is more than happy with his role in the company.
As of late, Zayn has been in a pseudo-feud with Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, which has been derailed because of an injury.
For over a month, Nakamura has been out with a hand injury, with his last televised match being on the December 10th SmackDown, but the King of Strong
has now been cleared to compete.
On Instagram, Nakamura announced that he’s finally been medically cleared, and is looking back to get back in the ring.
Nakamura’s injury meant that the announced title match with Zayn at Day 1 had to be pulled, but now that match is back on the table, as well as a
possible appearance in tonight’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.
When AEW Dynamite started in 2019, the show went head to head on Wednesday Nights with WWE NXT, and after a war which saw Dynamite win the majority
of ratings battles, NXT was moved to Tuesday nights. Within WWE, the company’s COO and head of
NXT Triple H was blamed for losing the 76-week war, but even the Superstars of the gold brand didn’t fancy their own chances.
That’s at least according to Kyle O’Reilly, the former NXT Superstar now working for AEW, who on Talk is Jericho this week, claimed that even NXT were
wanting to see AEW win the Wednesday Night Wars: On the other channel in AEW were talents who we came up with in this industry that we are
rooting for, we were rooting for AEW to kick ass because that elevated our game. I know our game being elevated would elevate AEW’s game you know
AEW did indeed kick ass, and would emerge victorious in the Wednesday Night Wars, and while NXT 2.0 has received a mixed reception so far, AEW continues
to go from strength to strength after winning the war.
More from SmackDown now, as Big E made an appearance on last night’s show, and fans can expect to see plenty more of him on the blue brand.
During the show, Kayla Braxton mentioned that the former WWE Champion is officially back on SmackDown, and not long after, WWE’s official
Twitter account confirmed the move.
It appears that a trade of some kind occurred, but there’s no knowledge on who RAW received in receipt of the former World Champion.
Now, the New Day are all back on the same show, and with Big E a favourite to win tonight’s Men’s Rumble match, things will certainly be interesting now that he
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are all on the same show.
In early December, Jeff Hardy was released from WWE, after a concerning spectacle at an untelevised live event.
After the incident, Jeff refused to enter rehab, forcing WWE to cut ties with him, and now Hardy wants no part of his old employer.
In the Observer, it’s noted that WWE’s Head of Talent Relations John Lauriniatis was recently in touch with Jeff, and pitched a 2022 Hall of Fame induction
and possible return to in-ring competition. Jeff has turned down these offers, and reportedly asked for his drug test results from December,
as the Charismatic Enigma is confident that he wasn’t going to test positive for any recreational drugs
The feeling within WWE is that Jeff is the big name they don’t want to see in AEW, as the last thing WWE needs is for the Hardy Boys to reunite in
another company, something that seems more likely now that Jeff and Matt are already accepting indie dates together
Currently under a 90-day non-compete clause, Jeff can’t sign with anywhere else until March 9th at the earliest, but WWE is already regretting
letting the former World Champion go.
And we’re ending today with Triple H, who suffered a cardiac event shortly before the launch of NXT 2.0, and hasn’t returned to the company since.
In his absence, NXT has greatly shifted from the show he once run, with those who were close to him like William Regal and Road Dogg losing their jobs
and somehow, things have got even worse for the Game.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s reported that WWE has zero plans for Triple H, either in NXT or as part of WWE’s creative team.
Obviously, the focus right now is that Triple H recovers from his cardiac event, and that’s what he’s been doing for months now, but with no
plans in place for him to return to, NXT 2.0 is certainly not the brand he once made so popular.