Here's more wrestling news for January 27th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
When will Brock Lesnar LOSE the WWE Championship?! Latest announcements reveal all
Ring Of Honor make huge announcement! More announcements expected next week
Another name in WWE has requested their release! Will the company let them go?
WWE Hall of Famer says WWE refusing to release Ali is a good thing for SmackDown Superstar
WWE prospect involved in serious car accident! Future in the ring in jeopardy
Top AEW stable set to split up soon after years on top
XFL 3.0 already running into problems. What will The Rock do?
Ex WWE Superstars set to wrestle again starting next week And more!
We’re kicking off with WWE Day 1, which was meant to see Brock Lesnar challenge for the Universal title, but the Beast instead left as WWE Champion.
Since then, Lesnar has been more prominently featured on RAW, with his feud with Roman Reigns put on the backburner for now.
Lesnar will be defending against Bobby Lashley this weekend, a match many expect Brock to win, but even if he does, his title reign is coming to an end,
according to the latest advertisements. It’s been announced that Lesnar will be appearing on the post-Royal Rumble RAW, implying that
he’ll retain his title this Saturday, but his last announced appearance will be on February 21st, the first RAW after Elimination Chamber.
This would imply that Lesnar loses the WWE title in Saudi Arabia, and after the February 21st RAW, all future appearances for him are scheduled to
happen on SmackDown. Despite his title win at Day 1, WWE’s plans for Lesnar Vs. Reigns at WrestleMania have not
changed, and it’s said that only one title will be on the line between the two this April, and according to these announcements,
it appears Lesnar’s Days as Champion will be over next month at the very latest.
Earlier this week, Ring of Honor promised that a huge announcement was coming, ahead of the company's return to programming this coming April.
Now, we know what this announcement is, as via their website, ROH have confirmed that a Ring of Honor Hall of Fame is in the works.
There's no word on when a ceremony will happen, but the first inductee will be announced this coming Monday, with subsequent inductees announced
in February 7th, 14th and 21st. Each episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling in February will be devoted to a Hall of Fame
inductee and there will be weekly YouTube specials on the inductees.
Although ROH has hosted plenty of talent worthy of an induction, many of them are signed to other promotions, including WWE and AEW, which
should make for an interesting first class in Ring of Honor's Hall of Fame.
In 2016, Brian Kendrick returned to WWE, as part of the Cruiserweight Classic, and had had both on and off screen roles with the company.
In recent years, Kendrick has served as a trainer, but now the former Cruiserweight Champion is wanting out of his contract.
PW Insider has learned that Kendrick has requested his release, and it's estimated that he asked about six weeks ago and hasn’t made any appearances
at NXT 2.0 or 205 Live since then. Last month, Kendrick was meant to make his in- ring return to face Harland, but that match never
happened, and he was instead attacked backstage by Harland which ended with the cruiserweight being thrown down a flight of stairs.
At the time, it was believed that a positive test of some kind had derailed plans, but that now appears to not be the case.
Now, there’s been no word on whether WWE will grant Kendrick’s release, but the Superstar-turned- trainer-turned-producer is ready for his next move
outside WWE.
Kendrick isn’t the only one seeking to leave WWE, as Mustafa Ali publicly requested his release earlier this month, which has since been denied by higher-ups.
WWE’s refusal to release the SmackDown Superstar, even after months of not using him has led to the #FreeAli movement on social media,
but there are some on WWE’s side in all this. Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T spoke about the Mustafa Ali situation, and said that
being denied could be a good thing for the former Retribution leader:
“Sometimes you speak up and you’re ticked off about something and you’ll say anything, you know what I mean? Maybe, you need time to cool down a little bit,
maybe time to think about it a little bit. Maybe even have a real conversation, because sometimes I know you can get some respect when you speak
your mind.” Ali has said he has a message, one that can’t be told while he’s working for WWE, and while he
won’t be able to tell that message just yet, that’s not a bad thing according to Booker T.
We've got news from AJ Ferrari, who’s one of the brand new names recently signed to WWE.
Ferrari is one of the fifteen names signed to the company’s NIL programme, which gives collegiate athletes opportunities in WWE as well as the
the chance to earn money through their own likeness, but Ferrari has been in a serious automobile accident.
ESPN broke the story that Ferrari was driving home from Oklahoma State University when he attempted to pass three vehicles, but was struck by an
oncoming vehicle.
Ferrari's car overturned several times before cresting in a ditch, and smoke began billowing from the vehicle.
OSU’s football offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn, was coincidentally in one of the cars Ferarri passed, and he and a passerby pulled Ferrari
from the car, which then caught fire. In a statement after Ferrari was transferred to a local hospital, AJ's father said that his son has
internal bleeding, fluid in his lungs and bad bruising, but is said to be in fair condition by doctors.
This is an awful situation which could've been much worse, and we'll have to see how this crash affects AJ's prospects in WWE.
AEW news next, as the Inner Circle has been the dominant stable in the company’s brief history, having held the TNT and AEW World Championships.
Together, Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz have been 5 of the top names in AEW, but all good things must one day come to an end.
Speaking with Stephanie Chase, Santana and Ortiz opened up about the group, saying that there has been discussions about splitting the Inner Circle up.
The belief is that the Inner Circle has done all they’ve needed to do, and now is time for the 5 to go their separate ways, and possibly reunite down the line.
Right now, the only titles the Inner Circle are eligible for but haven’t held are the AEW World Tag Team Championships, and while Santana and Ortiz may
one day become Champions, they may not do so as members of the Inner Circle.
In a year’s time, the XFL will kick off once more, this time as a company run by the Rock, but the re-revamped Football League is once more
running into some problems. That’s because the NFL are no longer the only competition for the XFL, as a new league,
the USFL has been announced, with FOX and NBC simulcasting their season opener on April 16th.
It’ll be the first scheduled event to air on competing broadcast networks since the first Super Bowl in 1967, and both FOX and NBC are contracted to
air all 43 games of the USFL’s upcoming season. What this means is that the XFL are going to struggle for air time now, which is bad news for
the Brahma Bull and his business partners, as once more, the XFL is running into its fair share of problems.
And we’re ending today with WWE, who have released hundreds of names over the past two years, and now some of those names can finally
look at appearing elsewhere. When WWE released names last November, those cut from the main roster had a 90-day
non compete clause, which will expire very soon. Starting from next Wednesday, the likes of
Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Nia Jax, Eva Marie and Mia Yim will be able to negotiate and sign with any company they choose, while the likes of
John Morrison, Hit Row, Drake Maverick and Tegan Nox will be free from February 16th.
At this time, there’s no word on where these n ames, and the others released last November
will go, but expect to see plenty more former Superstars appearing on TV very soon.