Here is your news for January 28, 2020.
We're starting off today with some huge news following the Royal Rumble, as this
year's show saw the shocking return of Edge.
Entering the men's Rumble match at number 21, Edge returned to the ring after nearly
a decade-long retirement, and according to sources, the company are already looking
at the next opponents for the Rated-R Superstar.
On PW Insider Elite Audio, Mike Johnson said that AJ Styles and Randy Orton are two
names that Edge could be facing and that these matches could take place at Super
Showdown on February 27th, and at WrestleMania 36 on April 5th.
Whilst a match with the Viper seems very likely given the fact that it was Edge who
eliminated Orton in the Rumble, the rumored Styles all depends on how the
Phenomenal One is, after he suffered an injury following a spear during the Men's
Rumble match.
Though there was a time where the idea of Edge wrestling again seemed impossible,
fans may want to get used to seeing the Ultimate Opportunist back in the ring, as
Wrestle Votes is reporting that the former WWE Champion has signed a three-year
deal with the company for serious money.
It's unclear what this deal will be exactly, but one thing we do know is that fans
shouldn't expect to see the Rated-R Superstar in AEW anytime soon.
Of course, Edge's return led to many fans trying to snatch up merchandise of the WWE
Hall of Famer, and it seems like the WWE Shop was ready to give fans what they wanted.
Shortly after Edge's return, a new shirt and hoodie was put on sale, celebrating the
former World Champion's return to the ring.
Given how thrilled fans are to see the Rated-R Superstar back in the ring, we don't
expect these items to be around for long, and this new piece of merchandise only
gives more reason to believe that the Rumble wasn't the last time we'll see Edge
compete in a WWE ring.
Whilst Edge's performance in the Men's Royal Rumble match reeked of awesomeness,
he ultimately did not win the 30-Man contest, as it was instead Drew McIntyre, who
last eliminated Roman Reigns to punch his ticket to WrestleMania.
When the match got down to the Scottish Superstar and the Big Dog, many fans
expected Reigns to win the contest, and according to Dave Meltzer, this was the actual
plan all along.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that both Roman and Shayna
Baszler were meant to win the Rumble matches, before booking got in the way. He said:
"This has been confirmed. Shayna Baszler and Roman Reigns were scheduled to win
the two Royal Rumbles and then as they were trying to decide what was going to
happen for WrestleMania the decision was made to go with Charlotte Flair and Drew
McIntyre.”
Given his star power, Reigns could still find himself in a World Championship match at
the showcase of the immortals, and according to a separate report by Meltzer, the
plan is for Baszler to be called up to the main roster, to face Becky Lynch at
WrestleMania.
This certainly makes sense as it was Baszler who stood tall over both The Man and
Bayley at Survivor Series last year, and according to that same report, Lesnar Vs.
McIntyre, Edge Vs. Orton and Reigns Vs. The Fiend are all locked for WrestleMania.
Though these plans remain up in the air for the time being, one thing we do know is
that Drew McIntyre will have a World title at the show, much to the delight of the fans.
One fan of McIntyre in particular, is The Rock, who took to social media to share how
pleased he is to see the former NXT Champion win.
In a comment to a WWE post, the Brahma Bull said "Very happy about this. I’m a big
fan of DM," as the Great One didn't mince his words.
As a Royal Rumble winner himself, The Rock knows all about what skills it takes to win
the 30-Man match, and now can sit back and watch one of his favorites main event
WrestleMania, in Rock's home state of Florida.
Though this year's Rumble Pay Per View was a huge event for many reasons, some
fans may have known some differences between what WWE announced, and what
actually happened.
In the run-up to the show, the company announced a total 27 participants for the
Men's Rumble match, but many of those, didn't make it to the ring.
Tucker and Otis were just two names pulled from the Men's Rumble match for
unknown reasons, though Otis did appear during the Women's Rumble to help Mandy
Rose, and Kane, who was also scheduled to be in the 30-man contest, didn't appear either.
According to Dave Meltzer, Cain Velasquez was reportedly told he would be in the
Rumble match before plans changed, and Rusev and Bobby Lashley were pulled from
the match, with the explanation being that they got into a fight backstage and would
not be cleared to compete.
From one scripted brawl back stage to a supposed real one, as reports have come out
of a confrontation at the Royal Rumble, between Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle.
Since joining WWE, the King of Bros has made it clear that he hopes to retire Lesnar
one day, and according to Fightful Select, this may have been the reason for their
backstage altercation. The site claims:
"One person noted that Lesnar was the “wrong one to f**k with,” and that Lesnar
simply communicated his issues, saying “he was spoken to by Brock and he
understood.”
Fortunately, WWE was able to keep these two apart during the Royal Rumble, but it'd
be interesting to see just how the pair would work together, if they ever competed in
a match.
With that said, fans should take these reports with a pinch of salt, as often in
wrestling, rumors backstage are blown out of proportion.
One person who is questioning the validity of this story is Sam Roberts, who appeared
on the Royal Rumble kick-off show, and said on his Not Sam podcast that he didn't see
anything. He said:
“I did not hear of any confrontation backstage between Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle.
I know that the websites are talking about it, but it didn’t happen around me if it did happen.”
Of course, Lesnar isn't the only person that Riddle wants to face, as he's also been a
vocal critic of Bill Goldberg as the former MMA fighter clearly doesn't appreciate
part-time Superstars taking the top spots on the card.
We've mentioned already that wrestling news can often be a murky place, but
sometimes, it's these behind the scenes leaks that force the WWE to change its plans.
During the Women's Royal Rumble match, there were plenty of surprise returns,
including the likes of Mighty Molly Holly and Kelly Kelly, but two names fans didn't get
to see were Victoria and Lita.
This is because earlier that day, fans had leaked video footage of the pair practicing
their entrances at Minute Maid Park, and the WWE chose to cancel these appearances
due to the leaks.
It sucks that fans of both former Women's Champions missed out on seeing them
because of other fans ruining the surprise, but we can't help but wonder what WWE
would have done had Edge's return to the ring, been spoiled before the show went live.
We've spoken a lot about the men's Royal Rumble match, but on Sunday night, 30
women also gave their all for a championship match at WrestleMania.
One participant who went above and beyond was Beth Phoenix, who suffered a nasty
cut to the back of her head during the contest, but still managed to last for over 23
minutes, and was the second to last woman eliminated.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave more details about the Glamazon's
injury, saying:
“Beth Phoenix hit the back of her head on the post so that’s where all the blood was
coming from the back of her head. She was bleeding tremendously and worked a lot
of the time, but it’s not a serious injury.”
If it's not a serious injury, then fans should expect to see Beth at the commentary desk
this Wednesday on NXT, as the Hall of Famer has proven it takes much more than a
nasty cut to keep the Glamazon down.
Though Beth Phoenix was able to leave Minute Maid Park without any major injuries,
the same sadly can't be said for AJ Styles. During the Men's Rumble match, the
Phenomenal One received a spear by Edge that caused Styles to rotate in the air,
meaning the former WWE Champion led at an awkward angle on his shoulder.
After a physician checked on Styles mid-match, the decision was made to have the
Phenomenal One be immediately eliminated from the contest, and according to
Meltzer, Styles is dealing with shoulder separation.
An injury of this magnitude means Styles will need to take time off and it could mean
that he might miss WrestleMania, though WWE are hopeful that he'll be fully healed
by April.
With the road to WrestleMania just beginning, this injury couldn't come at a worse
time for Styles, and we'd like to send our best wishes to the former WWE Champion
on his own road to recovery.
Speaking of injuries, Samoa Joe only recently returned to the ring after dealing with an
issue with his thumb, but it seems that the former NXT Champion may be back on the
bench soon.
During this week's RAW, Joe teamed with Kevin Owens to face RAW Tag Team
Champions Buddy Murphy and Seth Rollins, but after a dive to the outside, Joe was
clutching his head, and the medical crew chose to not allow the Samoan to continue.
The rest of the match had to be done on the fly, and we'll give you more updates on
Joe as news comes out, as it looks like he the former Impact World Champion is at risk
of missing WrestleMania.
From one Impact World Champion to another now, as Bubba Ray Dudley has done
plenty ever since he left the WWE a few years ago.
Now competing as Bully Ray in Ring of Honor, the former Tag Team Champion has
perfected an old-school heel dynamic, but this week will be appearing on WWE's The Bump.
Despite being with ROH, it looks like it's okay for Bubba to appear on the Bump, and
fans can expect the Hall of Famer to have plenty to say about his career, as well as
wrestling as a whole in 2020.
We're heading back to news from the Royal Rumble, as whilst there was plenty of
action in the arena, there was also some outside the gates.
Shortly before the Pay Per View, AEW star Sammy Guevara appeared outside of
Minute Maid Park on a Children's Tank, and re-enacted the famous DX invasion of
WCW, when the defunct promotion appeared at the Norfolk scope.
Though Guevara, AEW and WWE haven't commented about the invasion, many fans
have taken to Twitter to post their own footage of the war re-enactment, and it's
definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the young AEW prospect.
Onto some sad news now, as former WCW star Van Hammer has been arrested after
Driving under the influence.
Not only that, but Hammer's car collided with a 5-year-old boy on a bicycle at the
time, according to the Palm Bay post.
The article by the Post reveals that the child was practising riding with training wheels
on his bike when he was hit by Hammer, real name Mark Hildreth on Sunday morning.
The boy was taken to the hospital with internal injuries and “road rash," and
thankfully, according to police, the injuries are not life threatening.
Hildreth appeared in court on Monday with bail set for $125,000, and this
unfortunately isn't the first time the former WCW star has driven under the influence,
as he did just that in 2004.
And finally, we're looking at news from RAW, as the red brand had a tough act to
follow, after an incredible Royal Rumble Pay Per View.
Following his victory in the Men's Royal Rumble match, Drew McIntyre wasted no time
in challenging WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and went on to defeat
the OC in a handicap match.
Post-match though, the Beast would strike, levelling his future opponent with an F5,
sending a clear message to the Scottsman, that his road to WrestleMania goes
through Suplex City.
Up next fans saw the RAW return of MVP, who came up short against Rey Mysterio,
before Aleister Black defeated local competitor Kenneth Cameron in a squash match.
After Samoa Joe was pulled from the RAW Tag Team title match, Seth Rollins and
Buddy Murphy made quick work of Kevin Owens to retain the titles, whilst Humberto
Carillo would get a DQ win over Andrade, before levelling the United States Champion
with a Hammerlock DDT of his own, onto the concrete.
Up next, Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka by Disqualification thanks to an InSane Elbow
by Kairi Sane, and though R- Truth would win back the 24/7 Title from Mojo Rawley,
it'd be Mojo who'd end the show with the Green title.
After Liv Morgan defeated Lana and Erick Rowan dispatched of local competitor
Branden Vice, fans finally got to see Edge appear, though things didn't go as the
Rated-R Superstar planned.
After referring to Edge as his family, Randy Orton would strike, demolishing the Hall of
Famer in the ring with a series of brutal chair shots.
Though Edge made it clear he doesn't know how long he'll be back for, it seems that
the Viper, still seething from his Rumble elimination, is hoping to end Edge's dreams
for good, as the road to WrestleMania for both men, took a very ugly turn.