Here's more wrestling news for January 25th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
MAJOR plans revealed for WrestleMania! Fans can expect a whole week of activities
Why did Seth Rollins reference AEW on latest SmackDown?
Favourites to win the Royal Rumble matches revealed. Unlikely choices for both men’s and women’s matches
Is WWE ready to give Alexa Bliss another major character change?
WWE forced to use NXT 2.0 Superstars despite earlier rule banning them from the Rumble
Two NXT 2.0 Superstars set for main-roster call-up after the Rumble event
Eva Marie teams with fellow WWE alum for latest film
Current Superstar/former World Champion announced for new advertising campaign outside WWE And more!
We’re kicking off with WrestleMania 38, which like the two prior years, will be a two-night event, with action on both Saturday April 2nd and Sunday April 3rd.
All of this action will air from AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, but these aren’t the only plans in place for this coming April.
This week, the Dallas Morning News ran an article that outlined plans for an entire WrestleMania week, which will include episodes of RAW and SmackDown
as well as a WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
Given the last two years, WWE hasn’t been able to have a proper ceremony for a very long time, but fans will finally be able to attend the ceremony in person.
The article adds that NXT 2.0 will also be part of WrestleMania week, with a Stand and Deliver event also planned for the festivities, though no
date has been confirmed. After a difficult couple of years, these plans are much like what WrestleMania was like before the
world shut down, and it’s great to see these events making their way back into the fold.
On last week’s SmackDown, RAW’s Seth Rollins continued his feud with Roman Reigns, and had some interesting verbiage for the Universal Champion.
Referencing their days in the Shield, Rollins said that Reigns was carried by both himself and ‘Mox’ referencing AEW’s Jon Moxley, but without using
his WWE name Dean Ambrose. Given that it was only a few months ago that John Cena said Reigns ran Ambrose out of WWE, many
have questioned why Rollins said Moxley’s name, and whether this was a botch, or the Architect going off-script.
When Ringside News asked however, they were told that Rollins neither made a mistake or went off-script, and that he was always meant to refer
to Moxley in his promo. Some have speculated that this reference was made because Moxley will be in the men’s Royal
Rumble match, but with reports that no All-Elite talent are expected at this Saturday’s Premium Live Event, don’t expect the former AEW World Champion in
a WWE ring, no matter what he’s called.
This Saturday’s Royal Rumble will be headlined by the two titular Rumble matches, as two Superstars will soon have a guaranteed title opportunity at
WrestleMania 38. At this time, there’s still 8 spots to fill in the Men’s match, and 9 to fill in the women’s but some
names are already standing out as the favourites. According to Bet Online, Bianca Belair is the favourite to win the Women’s Royal Rumble match,
and if she does, she’ll make history as the first ever two-time Women’s Rumble winner, while Ronda Rousey, despite not wrestling for several
years, is also a favourite As for the Men’s match, it’s expected that Big E will walk away the victor, but interestingly, reigning
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is the second favourite, while Universal Champion Roman Reigns is the third favourite.
Both men will have title matches this Saturday, and theoretically could be in the Rumble match should they lose their titles.
The fact that the injured Drew McIntyre is the fourth favourite to win only goes to show how little legitimate winners WWE has for the Men’s match,
as it appears that Big E and Bianca Belair will be back in the title picture very soon.
In recent weeks, Alexa Bliss has teased returning to the ring, and there’s been plenty of speculation over what her character will be like when she
wrestles again. While Bliss has been appearing on RAW under her Fiend persona, she did tease a change on social
media when she posted a dramatically different look, and now a new trademark by WWE may be providing another hint.
On January 19th, WWE filed a trademark for the term ‘The Goddess’ a name Bliss called herself for years in NXT and on the main roster, long before
she aligned with Bray Wyatt. If WWE does plan for Bliss to be the Goddess again, it could mark the end of her darker character,
which some fans have been calling for ever since Wyatt’s release in July last year. On last night’s RAW Bliss opened up about her
relationship with Lilly, her creepy doll destroyed by Charlotte Flair last year, but it may be just a matter of time before the former Women’s Champion
leaves her more demonic side behind.
More Rumble news now, as WWE have faced a major problem with their Women’s Rumble match, as there’s not enough eligible participants on the main roster.
It had been previously reported that despite this, WWE was refusing to have Superstars from NXT 2.0 appear, believing that using names from their developmental
brand would only highlight the lack of depth on the main roster, but those plans have changed.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alverez discussed the 9 remaining spots in the Women’s Rumble match, and said that fans can expect
Raquel Gonzalez to make an appearance this Saturday. Alverez added that it’s likely that Toxic Attraction
could appear this Saturday, in what’d be a main- roster return for NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose, and a main-roster debut for Gigi Dolin and
Jacy Jayne. In their efforts to fill the Women’s Rumble match, 7 spots have been filled by wrestlers who aren’t
active Superstars, and that still wasn’t enough, and despite WWE trying to avoid using NXT talent, they may not have any say on the matter.
The Royal Rumble is a big night for NXT Superstars to receive their main roster call-ups, and two names from the Paint Splattered brand could be on their
way very soon. That’s according to PW Insider who note that LA Knight and Roderick Strong are expected to be
called up in the near future, and were spotted at last night’s edition of RAW. Both men were not only backstage, but competed
during the Main Event tapings, with Knight defeating Cedric Alexander, while Strong fell to T-Bar.
The pair were also backstage during last week’s SmackDown, and worked a dark match against each other, just days after Strong fell to the
newly-renamed Gunther on NXT 2.0. While both men have been featured prominently on NXT 2.0, neither has been racking up wins
as of late, an indication that their days on the brand may be numbered. It’s also worth mentioning that both men were
signed during the previous era of NXT, and that the new NXT 2.0 has already seen plenty of names from the old show be released or leave
of their own accord, but for Strong and Knight, their departure could be a main-roster call-up happening very soon.
Last year, Eva Marie was cut from WWE for the second time, but the former Total Divas star has kept active, and has a brand new film project
with another former Superstar. The new film, titled ‘Phoenix’ will feature Eva as the lead, a U.S. Army Seargant in Afghanistan
who returns to Florida when she learns her father, played by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, has been murdered.
The killer in question will be a drug kingpin played by Vladimir Kozlov, in one of the biggest roles for the former WWE Tag Team Champion.
Since leaving WWE, Kozlov has appeared in several TV shows and films, including as a stuntman in Fast and Furious 6, and we’ll have to see how this new
film fares when it’s eventually released.
And we’re ending today with Bobby Lashley, who aims to regain the WWE Championship this Sunday, but he’s also looking to help sell some discount
furniture It’s been announced that Lashley has partnered with ‘Bob’s Discount Furniture’ as part of their
new celebrity campaign called ‘Assemble the Bobs’ which’ll feature others with the same, or similar name.
This campaign launched yesterday across TV, radio and online, and in addition to Lashley, features an impression of Bob Ross,
actor Rob Schneider, and rapper Vanilla Ice, aka Rob Van Winkle, alongside Bob’s Discount Furniture founder Bob Kaufman
Founded in 1991, Bob’s is one of the fastest growing retailers in the U.S. and we imagine Lashley’s involvement will bring even more
interest to the company