Here's your wrestling News for January 7 2022
And your Headlines for today include
Even More Names Released By WWE! Former Champion Released For The Second Time !
Fans Believe Former WWE Champion And Two-Time Hall Of Famer Is Next To Be Fired !
Update On The Backstage Morale In WWE After Latest Wave Of Releases !
Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ Next Challenger Will Come From An Unlikely Source !
Roman Reigns Medically Cleared For Smackdown After Missing Day 1 !
NXT 2.0 Superstar Reunites With Family After Three Years Apart! And More !
We’re kicking off with WWE, as more people have been released by the company.
This week saw a dozen names cut from NXT, and now Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reports that
that Samoa Joe has once again been let go.
Joe was last on TV as NXT Champion, becoming the first person to win the title three times, but after
an injury forced him to vacate the gold, he hasn’t been seen since then, and hasn’t appeared at all on NXT 2.0.
It’s worth noting that Samoa Joe had been previously released by WWE, but was rehired by Triple H
to work in NXT as a performer and Talent scout shortly after.
Joe’s release certainly adds validity to the reports that names close to Triple H are being targeted in
these releases, as almost everyone who was cut this week was either hired by the Game, or was
close friends with the WWE’s COO.
We can’t say for sure if his allegiance to Triple H cost him his job, but in their report, Fightful said
that Joe was actually released at the same time as the other recent releases, but news of his
departure has only now come to light.
It’s also reported that WWE and NXT had no plans for the former NXT Champion to return to TV,
saying that within weeks of him being stripped of the title, there’s wasn’t any chatter of him
wrestling again, and that he’d settled well into his new role.
The report adds that according to WWE, no talent were released this week, further emphasising that
in the company’s mind, Joe was done as an in-ring performer.
Given that Timothy Thatcher and Danny Burch were also released, despite having appeared on TV, it
also looks like WWE considered both men finished in the ring, as both men also held roles as
coaches at the Performance Center.
Responding to his release, Joe took to Twitter to say he is “extremely fortunate and grateful” for all
the talent he’s worked with, and said he’s excited for the future of NXT 2.0 and his own.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Joe was spotted hosting a WWE tryout, but he won’t be
working with any of these new signings after his latest, and seemingly last release from the company.
It’s not just Joe who’s been let go by WWE, as yet another name close to Triple H has been released.
On Twitter, Gabe Sapolsky confirmed that he’s now left WWE, describing his departure as “the end of the road.”
Sapolksy’s career in wrestling began in 1993, writing company newsletters for ECW, and he’d hold
various roles before the company folded, when Sapolksy became a prominent booker for Ring of honour
winning the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s ‘Booker of the Year’ award for four years in a row.
Joining WWE in January 2018 as a consultant, it’s reported that Sapolsky worked closely with Triple H in NXT, and
was being groomed for a much bigger position backstage for the main roster, if the Game had been given the reins for the company.
Though there was a time when Triple H seemed destined to inherit his father in law’s company, those days
are long gone, and now another person has lost their job, seemingly just for working well with WWE’s COO.
With some many people being let go by WWE, its no wonder that fans are speculating on who’s
next, and many believe that Shawn Michaels could be the next to go.
On Twitter, the two-time Hall of Famer’s name was trending, as since he’s Triple H’s best friend, and
these cuts seem deliberately targeted at the King of Kings, many fans believe that it’s only a matter
of time before Mr WrestleMania is cut.
While several names close to Triple H have indeed been cut, it’s worth remembering that Michaels is one of
WWE’s all time legendary performers, and that losing him to another company,
such as AEW would be a huge blow for Vince McMahon.
With Shawn Michaels also working as head trainer in NXT, and excelling as head of the brand in
wake of Triple H’s recent absence, Michaels seems safe in his role, but that’s not the case for anyone else who considers
Triple H a friend.
Even with over a dozen people being cut from WWE this week alone, there’s still plenty of names
left in the company, and the mood is unsurprisingly sombre.
During a Q&A for PW Insider, Mike Johnson said how morale is low at the moment, and that people
working there who are only there for themselves, and rarely show empathy for others
were “greatly shaken by what went down.”
In WWE Headquarters, Johnson said that those left in the company are “befuddled” and “angry
about the cuts, with some saying the company isn’t the same place it was just a few years ago.
One anonymous member of WWE even claimed that this is Nick Khan’s company now, not Vince McMahon’s.
When asked if Khan will earn backlash within WWE for his insistence on cuts, another name within
the company said that if the WWE President did leave, that it would lead to a lot of problems to
readjust, as he’s implemented so many changes
It seems no one is happy in WWE, and many are fearful for what their own futures will be, and all
record-setting profits WWE are earning mean little compared to an angry, confused, and scared staff.
At Day 1, Universal Champion Roman Reigns wasn’t there to defend his title, after a positive test
postponed his title defence against Brock Lesnar.
All reports since then have said that the rumoured Reigns-Lesnar match at WrestleMania is still on,
but in the meantime, the Tribal Chief will need someone to face, and that someone may be from an unlikely place.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said how one plan in place is for Reigns’ next challenge
to come from RAW, who’ll be moving over to SmackDown soon enough.
There’s no word on who this alleged RAW Superstar will be, but Meltzer didn’t fancy their chances,
calling them “the next sacrificial lamb.”
Tonight, Reigns will be on the same show as Lesnar, which was promised by the new WWE
Champion on this week’s RAW, and with the Beast making another appearance on RAW next week,
it’s entirely possible that Roman Reigns will follow him to the red brand for his next opponent.
Speaking of Reigns, the Universal Champion was forced to miss last week’s Day 1, but fans will get to
see the Tribal Chief on tonight’s SmackDown.
On WWE’s Twitter, it was confirmed that Reigns has been medically cleared to appear on the blue
the blue brand, and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens when he,
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are in the same arena once more.
And we’re ending with some much-needed good news, as Dakota Kai has reunited with her sister for the first time in three years.
On Twitter, the former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion shared some photos of the reunion,
saying that she’s not sure how her sibling was able to keep this a surprise.
Kai added that the last time she and her sister were in the same place was in 2018, and said that her
heart was full with emotions.
The NXT 2.0 Superstar isn’t the only fighter in her family, as her sister Nyrene is a MMA fighter, and
after a difficult week for Kai, who saw several of her friends and mentors be released from their
contracts, this reunion was a much needed boost for the former Tag Team Champion.