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Here's your wrestling news for January 9th 2021
And your headlines for today include Seth Rollins And Matt Riddle Settle Their Beef! Tessa Blanchard In AEW? Adam Pearce Fate! WWE News! 4 00:00:06,589 --> 00:00:12,429 Roman Reigns vs Adam Pearce Set For WWE Universal Title Match At Royal Rumble!
Major Face Turn For WWE Smackdown Superstar, Shinsuke Nakamura!
More details on Damian Priest coming to WWE SmackDown!
Seth Rollins And Matt Riddle Squash Real-Life Beef; What Happened Backstage Revealed!
Pull Within AEW To Sign Tessa Blanchard!
"It hurt my feelings" - Hall of Famer on Vince McMahon removing him from WWE Introduction
Why Jim Ross Resumed His Work With WWE!
When AEW Was Told About Brodie Lee’s Illness?
WWE Wrestler Was Told He Can’t Be Trusted With A Live Microphone!
BIG Disappointment For WWE Fans In India!
Sonya Deville's New Role On SmackDown And More!
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown news, as Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ next challenger has been decided.
On the show, Reigns started by saying he actually likes Kevin Owens, but blamed what happened to him the prior week on
‘Scrap Daddy’ Adam Pearce. Accusing Pearce of not doing his job, things got tense, and later in the show
Paul Heyman used his sway to put Pearce in the Gauntlet match main-event.
The match saw Rey Mysterio eliminate Sami Zayn, before Shinsuke Nakamura made Mysterio tap to the Armbar.
The King of Strong Style then fended off King Corbin, as well as Daniel Bryan, and it seemed that it’d be Reigns Vs
Nakamura at the Royal Rumble. That wasn’t the case, as the Tribal Chief and Jey Uso destroyed Nakamura,
and after knocking out the reluctant Pearce, dragged him over the downed Japanese Superstar, giving Pearce the win.
The Gauntlet match is always a solid way to begin an interesting story and a match that WWE tends to do right,
and last night was no different. Now, it’ll be Adam Pearce who challenges for the Universal title at the Royal Rumble,
and though he’s a five-time NWA World Champion, it’s been six years since he had a match, a fact that Roman
Reigns knows very well and on Twitter, the Tribal Chief said Pearce should enjoy his trip to the island of relevancy.
It’ll be an interesting match to say the least, and what do you make of this angle? Let us know below.
Shinsuke Nakamura had a very strong showing in that gauntlet match, despite not winning a shot at Roman Reigns
In arguably his best performance since his main-roster call-up, last night was a return to form for him, after years of falling
off the radar and accusations of phoning it in. It’s been reported that WWE is
Nakamura’s retirement plan, and on SmackDown, the 40-year-old Superstar proved he can still excel when he wants.
SmackDown did so much to help forward the blue brand, as it gave Adam Pearce a story as the clear underdog against
Reigns, as well as built to a potential feud for the future. In the process of his incredible
gauntlet-match performance, Nakamura turned babyface in the process, meaning he could be an excellent choice
to face the Tribal Chief down the line. Fans of Nakamura have been wanting this for so long, as although he impressed
in his tag-team with Cesaro, it’s being a singles star that could elevate him to the next level.
Could the King of Strong Style be the one to dethrone the Tribal Chief? WWE certainly teased a possible feud last night.
Pearce and Nakamura aren’t the only ones seeking the Universal title, as we previously reported that Daniel Bryan is
the favourite to win the men’s Rumble match, but now a new report has suggested a different Superstar will win.
According to a source who spoke with Sportskeeda, Big E is the favourite to win’s the men’s match, giving him the
World-title push fans have been wanting for years. If this is the case, that means the reigning
Intercontinental Champion would presumably lose his title between now and WrestleMania, though it’s unclear who to.
Their report also indicated that RAW’s Keith Lee was originally planned to win the Rumble match, but Vince McMahon
now feels the former NXT Champion isn’t ready for such a big push yet. But who do you want to see win the
Men’s Rumble match? Are you rooting for Bryan, Big E, Lee, or someone else? Let us know in the comments below.
Speaking of SmackDown, Seth Rollins was moved to the blue brand in last year’s draft, which was reportedly done to keep
him away from Riddle, who was drafted to RAW due to real-life heat between the two.
That heat is now reportedly a thing of the past, as according to Fightful who spoke to several Superstars at the 2020
Survivor Series Pay-Per-View, the feeling is that both men have buried the hatchet, despite Rollins refusing to
to look at the King of Bros during their Survivor Series match. Post-match, it was noted that both men
met backstage to discuss their issues, and that after these issues were rectified, that they’d be open to working with each
other in the future. Their beef was made public when the former Universal Champion was a guest
on WWE’s Watch Along for the Draft, and he said:
I've got no interest in facing Matt Riddle at any point in my career, so he can go to RAW as far as I'm concerned."
True to form, Riddle was drafted to RAW, away from Rollins, and it was believed that this comment wasn’t a storyline insult,
but a very real comment by the Beast slayer. Further investigations found that this
heat reportedly stemmed from an Instagram post from Riddle’s wife, who mocked Rollins’ fiancé and other female
Superstars for being quote “straight skinny jiggly fat.” With that in mind, it turns out that Riddle’s
disdain for Rollins is older than that, as during the Survivor Series 2019 weekend, the Original Bro constantly bad-mouthed
the Architect, saying he’s stale, he doesn’t take care of his opponents in the ring and how he hasn’t evolved as a
performer past his Shield days. Riddle is known for rubbing people the wrong way with his confrontational attitude,
with Goldberg and Brock Lesnar also being names he’s tried to cross. The different with Rollins is that he and
if they do end up on the same show, an entertaining feud that includes some real-life material would make for an
excellent watch.
Over to All Elite Wrestling, and the company is eager on signing one of wrestling’s hottest free agents.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was noted that there’s a pull within the company to bring in Tessa Blanchard,
who was released from Impact last year during her World Championship reign. With that in mind, there’s also some
pushback on the subject, considering the bullying and racism allegations against her, and the company’s policy
against that behaviour in the past. AEW has a women’s division that could do with Blanchard, who does have
experience with the company, as she worked the All In event that was largely responsible for the genesis of AEW.
Whether she ever makes it to AEW remains to be seen, and though she’d be an excellent talent, the rumours,
baggage and her reputation could be a real hurdle.
Speaking of AEW, Jim Ross was with WWE for decades before coming to the All-Elite promotion, and he knows first
hand about how Vince McMahon has the final say on all his broadcasts. This week’s Grillin JR’ podcast focused
on the January 7th, 2008 RAW, and JR spoke about how he took great pride to hear his voice in the intro video for the
show, noting: "I took that as a great source of pride when some of my bites were featured
in those open. I thought it was pretty cool, so it was a source of pride for me. When it got changed, when I got eliminated
from it, it hurt my feelings, egocentrically. I wanted to be part of the open."
Nowadays, WWE used images of various Superstars and legends in their ‘Then. Now. Forever’ intro, before a video
package of the Superstars of that particular brand. This can get confusing, as ‘The Search
by NF is used for RAW’s theme currently, and although Drew McIntyre is the WWE Champion, it’s Randy Orton who gets the
final spot in the introduction. When AC-DC’s Are You Ready opens SmackDown, it’s Universal Champion
Roman Reigns who gets that coveted final spot, and unsurprisingly, Jim Ross is nowhere to be seen in any video packages.
It’s no secret that JR’s with AEW, but he hasn’t cut ties with WWE completely.
As part of the WWE documentaries with A&E that are in the works, JR was interviewed for a number of shows,
even though he’s an AEW employee now, and we’ll have to see what the legendary commentator has to say about his time in
Vince McMahon’s company.
More from AEW next, as the company is continuing forward after the tragic passing of Brodie Lee, who died aged 41 of a lung
disease. Although Lee’s passing was a shock to all fans, the company did reportedly
know about it in advance, as according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, strings were pulled to get him into the
Mayo Clinic on October 31st.
It’s reported that they knew at that time that Lee’s condition was grim, and that on November 7th, Amanda Huber,
Lee’s wife told AEW about his condition, though all the key people that worked with him already knew.
It’s impressive that AEW was able to keep this story quiet, and goes to show how much respect the company had for the
former TNT Champion, especially as he was in such a bad way that he didn’t qualify for a lung transplant.
Following his father’s death, AEW have tried to console Brodie Lee Jr. even signing him to a contract, but he has a
lot of time before this is official. In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s noted that this contract cannot be
executed until his 18th birthday, and that’s only if Brodie Jr. who’s 8, chooses to go into wrestling.
It was also reported that his promo on Marko Stunt on Dark was written by Brodie himself, and though this isn’t
setting up for a match, who knows what the landscape of AEW will be like in a decade.
Now, as the leader of Retribution, Mustafa Ali has had a lot to say, but after he berated the legends on RAW Talk, where
he discussed Retribution being snubbed, we may have heard the last of him. On Twitter, Ali shared a photo from his
RAW-Talk Promo, with a quote seemingly from the company, telling him they can’t give him a live mic again.
Much of what Ali said resonated with fans, as a lot of modern-day Superstars were snubbed for brief, unnecessary cameos,
and whilst WWE are telling Ali he can’t be trusted with a live mic, the Retribution leader clearly feels very differently.
WWE Network news, and despite a population of 1.3 billion people, the company’s streaming service is no-longer
available in India. Those fans who had the Network received a message saying their
subscriptions wouldn’t be renewed and that WWE content will only be available via Sony LIV and other Sony channels
from now on.
NXT now, as the black-and-gold brand may soon be adding Jay White to their roster.
After his loss to Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 2, White said he’s done with New Japan, and with rumours he isn’t
going to extend his contract which ends this month, the belief is that WWE is making a strong play to sign him.
The Super-J Cast also reported that there’s a 50/50 chance whether he’ll stay with New Japan or go to WWE, so don’t
be too surprised to see him making a shocking debut when the time is right.
One person who knows about making their name is Sasha Banks, who had an incredible 2020, and according to Sports
Illustrated, there’s no wrestler who did better over the past 12 months. In their annual top-10 list, Sports
Illustrated named the reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion as their top wrestler of last year, with AEW’s Jon Moxley taking
silver, and reigning WWE Champion Drew McIntyre in third place.
Banks’ incredible teaming and rivalry with Bayley was part of the reason she received the top spot, and she’s also the
And we’re ending today with Sonya Deville, who returned last week on SmackDown and already has a new role.
It appears that Deville has taken on the role of Adam Pearce’s assistant, and it wasn’t specified if she was a face or heel,
though her last two SmackDown appearance suggested it’s the latter. It’ll be interesting to see how Deville
does in the role, especially as she could be involved in the Universal title feud that’ll see Adam Pearce compete
at the Royal Rumble, and we’re pleased to see Deville have a story sorted so quickly after her return.