In this WrestleTalk News, is the WWE and Impact Wrestling partnership already dead?
Details on more AEW stars leaving, a potential main roster call up for Gunther and more.
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Back in 2019 - when the world was a very different place - Hiroshi Tanahashi cut a promo where
he used the term “forbidden door” to promote his Wrestle Kingdom match with then AEW Champion
Chris Jericho.
Fast forward to December 2020, and AEW blew open that forbidden door by announcing a partnership
with Impact Wrestling that saw Kenny Omega win the Impact World title, Impact Tag Team
Champions The Good Brothers appear on Dynamite regularly, and… well that was about it.
They also did some work with New Japan, and that continues to this day.
The Impact relationship, though, came to an end.
But what was AEW’s loss, was WWE’s gain.
On an episode of SmackDown a few weeks ago, several names were announced for this year’s
Women’s Royal Rumble - including former WWE stars like Summer Rae and Lita, but also
Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James.
Not only that, but she was announced as the Impact Knockouts Champion by Pat MacAfee on
commentary, and in a follow-up tweet by WWE’s social media team.
The internet was, of course, very excited about all this.
WWE has been a closed set for many, many years.
Though they did work with NWA and ECW in the late 90s, the post-2000s has seen WWE work
with themselves and themselves alone - not even mentioning the existence of other wrestling
companies outside of their four sides of the ring.
Ringside News reported that Vince McMahon “doesn’t care” anymore about where people
are currently if they wanted to do appearances with WWE.
It also opened the door to many other questions: who else from Impact will be in the Rumble?
Will anyone from WWE go to Impact?
After all, Impact World Champion Moose has given Roman Reigns an open challenge.
As the weeks have gone on, though, it appears that Mickie James being in the Royal Rumble
is just a one-off.
Ringside News reported that WWE weren’t even aware that she was working for Impact
when they approached her, let alone that she was a top champion there.
Impact also hasn’t been mentioned on TV since; this past Monday a video package covering
the career of Bobby Lashley skipped over his incredible Walking Armageddon run in Impact.
Ringside News also added that the real reason Mickie was approached to be in the Rumble
in the first place was simply because they need 30 women to be in the match.
And according to Fightful Select, there are those in Impact Wrestling who are now turning
down offers to be in this year’s Royal Rumble.
And there’s an interesting commonality about those that are being asked.
The former IIconics - Cassie Lee and Jess McKay - who are now the Impact Knockouts Tag
Team Champions - were approached to be in this year’s Royal Rumble according to Fightful
Select.
However, they “didn't feel it was the right time to make a WWE return of any capacity.”
Fightful add that Impact told them it was okay for them to appear on the show and that
WWE was fine working on a similar agreement that they have for Mickie James, but the two
turned down the offer.
Fightful add that “McKay and Lee aren't the only releases over the past two years
who have been contacted”.
The key to that last sentence is that WWE are apparently only approaching talent that
used to work for WWE, rather than bringing in other talent from Impact or other companies.
They’re not interested in Jordynne Grace, Havok, Su Yung, or Lady Frost - just talent
released by WWE in the last two years.
Which really dispels the idea that this is a talent exchange partnership as some fans
hoped it would be.
As The Good Brothers - the current Impact Tag Team Champions - put it on their Talk’N
Shop podcast - which was released a couple of days after the Mickie James announcement
- “if they think they can make money off you they’ll bring you back”.
However there is always that WrestleVotes tweet from January 10th that WWE are trying
for an “unexpected forbidden door entrant” in the Men’s Rumble.
On that same day, Fightful Select noted that they’d heard there were, “pitches for
‘interesting’ and ‘big’ outside names.”
But that was earlier this month.
Fightful haven’t had any more on that, and the line is now that WWE are only reaching
out to those released over the last two years.
What do you think the situation is?
Let me know in the comments down below.
There’s still plenty of room for surprises at the Royal Rumble, however, and PWInsider
are reporting that two names from NXT that will be at the event are current NXT Champion
Bron Breakker, and the newly renamed Gunther.
PWInsider note that it’s “unknown” if both of them will be in the match itself,
but they will be backstage.
It’s interesting to note that Sean Ross Sapp mentioned on his Fightful Select Q&A
podcast last Friday, that he would expect to see Gunther on the main roster “sooner
rather than later”.
Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Gunther was given his name
change because WWE could not trademark the name Walter as it’s his real name, and he’s
going to be used more frequently on weekly TV.
He also adds, “they wanted to make sure he couldn’t use his WWE name elsewhere.”
For what it’s worth, WrestlingNews.co are also reporting that Austin Theory is expected
to get a lot of shine in this year’s Rumble, which would make sense with his on-going storyline
with Vince McMahon.
But we’ve had so much news over the last few years about wrestlers leaving WWE - what
about wrestlers leaving AEW?
Over the weekend, Lio Rush announced that his contract with AEW was expiring on February
14th and he would then become a free agent.
It was a bit of a surprise to many as Rush had only joined AEW last September, and Fightful
Select are reporting that he hasn’t been seen in AEW backstage since early December.
One person they spoke to said that they believe he was planned for something, but it didn’t
happen.
Rush was one of the most outspoken people within AEW following Tony Khan’s ill-advised
tweet against Big Swole’s constructive criticisms of the company, although he did follow it
up a few days later saying he’d met with Tony Khan about positive change within AEW
for 2022.
Rush has since been announced for the second Terminus show, and was at last night’s GCW
event at the Hammerstein Ballroom as a replacement for Jonathan Gresham who had to miss the show
due to COVID reasons.
Rush joins Cody Rhodes in the list of names that are either free agents now, or are set
to become free agents from All Elite Wrestling.
And they’re not the only two.
According to PWInsider, Marko Stunt has also not been spotted at AEW events as of late,
last actually competing last September, and has his contract expiring soon.
He hasn’t been with his Jurassic Express team even though they’re now the tag team
champions, seemingly being replaced with Christian Cage.
Stunt was also at GCW’s big show at the Hammerstein Ballroom last night.
Joey Janela - who lost to Matt Cardona at last night’s GCW event in the most insane
match of the evening - will have his contract expire this May.
He told Fightful that he has enjoyed his time working with AEW and is open to continue the
partnership.
Lastly is Brian Cage, who hasn’t wrestled for AEW since last October.
His wife, Melissa Santos, posted a video last September that AEW were “misusing” him,
and told Chris Van Vliet in December last year that those comments got him heat backstage
in All Elite Wrestling.
Her point was that Cage had been a champion in Impact and featured a lot in Lucha Underground,
but hadn’t really been seen in AEW.
Cage wrestled Will Ospreay over the weekend for Warrior Wrestling in what was said to
be an excellent match.
Afterwards, Ospreay cut a promo saying, “That man should be on TV every single week.”
Sean Ross Sapp over at Fightful Select notes that there are “many” contracts coming
up in the next month or so in AEW which “won't be publicly announced by the company”, but
will be allowed to expire.
This Saturday isn’t just the Royal Rumble, it’s also the annual Royal Jamble on our
livestream reactions show.
I’ll be defending my Jam That Jampionship against former champ, Pete Quinnell, and several
names have announced themselves for the 10-person Jamble match - where the winners will be in
the main events of this year’s WrestleJamia.
So far Andy Datson, Social Media Abbie, Tempest, SP3 and Sat E Niangi have announced themselves.
And our own forbidden door is now open as Dan Layton from Cineworld is joining the fray,
as is Angela and Sullivan Beau Brown from No Rolls Barred!
Subscribe to WrestleTalk Podcast to make sure you don’t miss this Saturday’s Royal Jamble!