Here is your news for January 3, 2019
We're starting off today's news by looking ahead to April 5th this year, when the WWE
will host WrestleMania 36 in Tampa, Florida.
Though this will be the biggest show of the company's calendar, fans know very little
about what the show will actually be like, and that feeling is reportedly the same backstage.
According to an anonymous source who spoke to Wrestle Votes, very little has been
booked for the showcase of the immortals thus far, and the source can't remember a
WrestleMania with so little planned in advance over the past decade they have been
with the company.
In a tweet, Wrestle Votes said that their source found this lack of a clear goal to be
both refreshing and frustrating, as hopefully fans will get a better idea of what will
happen in the coming weeks.
One major match that has been rumored is Universal Champion The Fiend Bray Wyatt
taking on Roman Reigns, though there are concerns about undoing the goodwill the
Big Dog has received since his return in February last year.
Another match that has been discussed for Reigns is for him to take on The Rock,
despite the Great One confirming his retirement last year, 3 years after his final official
match at WrestleMania 32.
With the 2020 Royal Rumble less than a month away, hopefully the January tradition
will give fans an idea of who will be entering WrestleMania as champion, and who will
be challenging them.
One man who knows all about the Royal Rumble is 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, as the
Rattlesnake is the only man to win the match on Pay Per View on three separate occasions.
Winning the 30-man match in 1997, 1998 and 2001, Austin's final win was arguably his
most impressive, as in 1999, the Bionic redneck received neck surgery due to injuries
that could have forced him to retire.
On the latest episode of his 'Something to Wrestling With' podcast, Bruce Prichard
discussed Austin's health issues, saying that the Rattlesnake would start exhibiting
symptoms of nervous system damage that worried everyone. He said:
"You could tell that there was just something off a little bit in the way that Steve was
working. Whether he was a little bit more careful in the ring, and the way that he
moved in the ring. So for Steve to step up and say ‘Hey,’ raise his hand and say
something in the first place, you know it’s gotta be hurting him really bad."
Needing Austin to be written off of TV, an angle was made where the Rattlesnake was
run down at the 1999 Survivor Series, allowing him to be absent from the ring for
almost a year before returning.
We shudder to think what could have happened had WWE not opted for the surgery,
but it's clearly good that they did, as despite retiring over 16 years ago, Stone Cold is
still physically fit enough to raise some hell and drop some stunners whenever he
appears on WWE TV.
We're looking at some news from Impact Wrestling now, as the company's World
Champion Sami Callihan received a very special present recently, over the festive period.
On Twitter, the OVE leader revealed a new championship belt design that he will now
be defending at shows, which includes a new red and black design on the
championship plates.
Since debuting with Impact in November 2017, Callihan has been one of the most
unique and controversial stars, after he smashed Eddie Edwards' face in with a
baseball bat, and now that he is Impact World Champion, the Callihan Death Machine
shows no signs of slowing down.
From Impact to AEW now, as Billy Gunn has done a lot as a trainer in the new
promotion but has also served as an occasional wrestler on TV.
Recently, the former WWE King of the Ring winner appeared on AEW Dark alongside
his son Austin Gunn, and it seems that the pair are serious about Austin becoming a
wrestler, as they have trademarked the Austin Gunn name for wrestling and
entertainment purposes.
Though the second-generation star hasn't been wrestling for long, Austin has show
great potential in the ring, and with the right training from his father, could definitely
make it big, as a literal, Son of a Gun.
More AEW news now and if fans weren't too happy about how the wedding between
Lana and Bobby Lashley went down on RAW, there's still more love in the air, as Chris
Jericho and his wife recently renewed their wedding vows.
After Jericho and his wife Jessica married in 2000, the pair have welcomed three sons,
and this recent vow renewal ceremony is a clear sign of their devotion to each other.
On Twitter, former WCW announcer David Penzer shared his congrats to the couple,
whilst also saying that he is 1 of 5 people to have been at both the vow ceremony and
the original wedding 20 years ago.
Since joining All Elite Wrestling this time last year, Jericho has had a blockbuster
career, including becoming the first AEW World Champion and releasing his own line
of bubbly Champagne, and it seems that Y2J is looking to have that same level of
success, both in and out of the ring, in 2020.
Back to WWE now, and though this week's edition of NXT was focused mostly on the
end of year awards, the show did reveal the participants of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag
Team Classic.
The eight-team event will take place on the Gold brand over the coming months, and
will not only feature NXT stars, but Superstars from NXT UK, including the reigning NXT
UK Tag Team Champions Gallus.
In the first round, it'll be champions vs champions as Gallus take on the NXT Tag
Champions the Undisputed Era, whilst Imperium face off against the Forgotten Sons.
Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne will need to co-exist when they take on Flash Morgan
Webster and Mark Andrews, and the Grizzled Young Veterans of NXT UK will face
Kushida and a mystery partner.
Time will tell who Kushida's tag team partner will be for the show, but with former
Classic winners including the AOP, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, and Ricochet and
Aleister Black, it's clear that all teams involved will be wanting to join this elite list of winners.
One former WWE Superstar fans shouldn't expect to see on NXT anytime soon is
Cameron, as the Funkadacytl has kept her distance from WWE following her release in 2016.
This week though, Cameron revealed that she will be returning to the ring as part of
an independent show in Tampa, Florida during WrestleMania week, which will be the
first time fans will see her in the ring since March 2016.
Part of the 2011 season of Tough Enough that aired on the USA Network, Cameron
didn't win the reality show, but was later signed to a WWE contract and was featured
as one half of The Funkadactyls with Naomi.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of reception Cameron receives in Tampa when she
returns, as the former Total Divas star has been noticeably quiet about wrestling since
her departure, almost four years ago.
Speaking of reality shows, one man who knows all about the genre is The Miz, as it
was on reality shows like MTV's The Real World, that the future A-Lister got his big
break in entertainment.
Now, the Miz and Mrs star will be returning to MTV, but this time not as a contestant,
as Miz will be hosting the new eight-week special: "The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars".
A spin off of one of MTV's most iconic brands, Champs Vs Stars will see teams of
former Challenge champions take on athletes, for a cash-prize donation to a charity of their choice.
Interestingly, The Miz was a regular on The Challenge before he made it in WWE, and
the former Money in the Bank winner said he was thrilled to be back on the show
after so much time away. He said:
"I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for this iconic show, I never would’ve had the
confidence to fulfill my dream of becoming a WWE Superstar. ‘The Challenge’ has
evolved since my days of playing and now it’s pitting the biggest celebrity athletes
against the best ‘The Challenge’ has to offer. It’s must-see television at its finest!”
Whether the show will be a hit with the viewers or not remains to be seen, but after
years being in front of the camera in WWE, as well as movies and multiple TV shows to
his name, The Miz certainly has the personality to pull this off.
Now, we're looking at WWE Backstage next, as though the show hasn't been around
on FOX for long, it always seems to get fans talking.
This week, the viewing figures weren't great, as the show had just 97,000 TVs tuning
in, down from the week prior's 153,000, according to the PW Insider.
This low figure isn't entirely WWE's fault though, as the latest edition of Backstage
happened late at night on New Year's Eve, when many people will be celebrating with
their family, instead of watching wrestling content.
With that said, 97,000 is still far less than what the WWE or FOX want to have as the
viewing figure for Backstage, so hopefully this number will increase in the coming
weeks, especially with CM Punk returning to the show in person, on January 21st.
From Backstage to SmackDown now, and as the blue brand prepares for the annual
Royal Rumble Pay Per View, one Superstar fans could consider a dark horse to win the
30-Man Rumble match is Sheamus.
Though he hasn't been in the ring since suffering a concussion in April last year, the
former WWE Champion has kept in great shape in his absence, and on Twitter this
week, posted an image of his ripped physique, in his wrestling attire.
Interesting, Sheamus has ditched his mohawk hairstyle he's had for the past four
years, in favour of his more traditional look, and according to reports, the Irishman's
return should be any day now.
In November last year, Sheamus made his return to WWE TV via a vignette,
announcing that he will be coming back to the ring soon, and with a new look and
attitude, the 2012 Royal Rumble winner could be looking at winning the historic match
for a second time in just a few weeks.
Whilst Sheamus may be ready to return to WWE, one Superstar who may be looking
to leave soon is Drew Gulak, as the former Cruiserweight Champion hinted at
departing the company this week.
Recently, Gulak filed a trademark for the term 'Catch Point', which long time fans of
his will recognize as the name of a stable Gulak was a part of during his time with the
EVOLVE promotion.
The group, which also included WWE names such as Matt Riddle, former Superstar TJP
and NXT manager Malcolm Bivens, was first used in at Evolve 38 event in March 2015,
where Gulak came up short against Chris Hero, who fans now know in NXT UK as Kassius Ohno.
It's interesting that Gulak would trademark the name despite being a part of WWE,
and some have speculated that this is a sign of the former Cruiserweight Champion
wanting out of his WWE contract.
In November 2016, Gulak signed a three-year deal with the company, though there
are rumors that that deal was extended to five years, but so far, nothing can be confirmed.
Regardless of what the state of his contract is, this trademark could prove to be very
useful for Gulak, if he decides to leave WWE over the coming year.
And finally today we're ending with news from Bayley, as the WWE SmackDown
Women's Champion has shown she is willing to pick a fight with anyone.
After Johnny Gargano won the 2019 NXT Match of the Year for his 2 out of 3 falls war
with Adam Cole, the NXT Triple Crown holder pointed out that he has won Match of
the Year three times, which drew the attention of the former Hugger.
When Bayley mentioned that she won the Match of the year award in 2015, Gargano
quickly pointed out that this was before he joined NXT, and even challenged Bayley
to a mixed tag team match this Wednesday on NXT, pitting Gargano and Candice
LeRae against Bayley and the Prince of NXT Finn Balor.
Telling Gargano "You're done for" in a reply on Twitter, the match would certainly be
something different for fans to see on the Gold brand, but we're not quite sure yet
whether it will actually happen.
Well that's all the news we have for you today. If you liked this video, don't forget to
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