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Here's your wrestling news for January 16th 2021
And your headlines for today include Why Randy Orton Was Pulled From Royal Rumble! AEW Sends Warning To Fans! Kevin Owens News! WWE News! 4 00:00:06,856 --> 00:00:10,560 Kevin Owens Becomes Roman Reigns New Royal Rumble Opponent !
Big loopholes In Certain WWE Smackdown Storyline Plots!
The Dominik Mysterio Situation On Smackdown!
Did WWE Lift Bayley's SmackDown Segment AEW?
Updated WWE Royal Rumble Card & Lineup!
Randy Orton To Be Removed From The WWE Royal Rumble Match?, Cesaro Set For The Rumble!
WWE Superstars Frustrated By Company Controlling ThunderDome Crowd Reactions!
AEW Sends Warning To Fans About Fake Casting Call!
AJ Styles Reveals How Close He Was To Leaving WWE & A Major Update On His Retirement!
WWE Changes Date For Elimination Chamber And WrestleMania 37 Pay-Per-View And More!
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown as this week’s show saw a huge change to the Royal Rumble card.
After his shocking victory last week, number one contender for the Universal Championship Adam Pearce limped out,
saying he wasn’t sure if he’d be medically cleared for his match at the Rumble against Roman Reigns.
Pearce then introduced the Tribal Chief’s new opponent at the Rumble, Kevin Owens, which follows on from rumours that the
Prizefighter would be replacing Pearce in the match. Signing the contract to make the match
official, it’ll now be Owens Vs. Reigns for the title, marking the Canadian’s third shot at the Universal title since last month’s Pay
Per View: WWE TLC 2020. It’s ironic that there was a time when fans thought Reigns himself got too many title
opportunities, and we’ll have to see if it’s third-times-the-charm for Owens on Janauary 31st.
Speaking of the blue brand, there were quite a few loopholes during the show that fans quickly picked up on.
One example is Roman Reigns saying he wanted a Last Man Standing match at the Rumble with Pearce, before the WWE
official was replaced by Owens, and although Paul Heyman addressed the stipulation to Pearce in a backstage
the authority figure seemingly had no idea what a Last Man Standing match even was.
The show also saw back-to-back matches end with distraction finishes, and whilst we’re often told that shows get put together
at the very last minute, but the whole point of scripted entertainment means you can make the finishes different.
We’re also questioning why Rey Mysterio needs to talk to new people to take down King Corbin, when Murphy should’ve
been there with the Mysterio family, though we doubt we’ll get an answer to this, or any of the other plotholes that happened this week.
From Rey to Dominik, as the past few months must have been frustrating for the up and comer, especially after his massive
debut at Summerslam 2020. Ever since his move to SmackDown in last year’s draft, the focus has been taken
off Dominik, and it’s now his father or his sister Aalyah who got the spotlight.
This week’s SmackDown saw King Corbin defeat Rey in the ring, and Corbin even made sure to taunt Dominik on commentary.
It’s strange to see how Dominik has quickly become forgotten by WWE’s creative team, as he’s certainly proven he belongs
in the ring, and at just 23 years old, has a long future ahead of him that WWE should capitalise on now.
There’s a lot of time to ease Dominik into WWE programming, especially given his age though we wouldn't be surprised to
see WWE only utilize him sporadically till he gets a bit older.
Whatever the case, it seems Dominik will now be entering a feud with King Corbin, and hopefully the focus will be on him,
and not his father or sister.
SmackDown also saw the debut of a brand new talk-show segment, this one hosted by Bayley, and her first guest of ‘Ding Dong
Hello’ was Bianca Belair. The segment was a fine-enough talk- show for the Role Model, but it comes
close on the heels of AEW’s Dr. Britt Baker launching her own talk show with Cody Rhodes this week.
The timing is a bit suspicious, and even if WWE have had this planned for weeks, it comes across as a cheap knock-off of
an idea AEW presented first. We’ve seen WWE parody concepts from WCW in the past, such as Gillberg, and
WCW did their own parody of JR with Oklahoma, but neither character got over in a way WWE had hoped.
The Obstacle course announced for next week’s show should be interesting, but we’re worried that it’ll be handled poorly,
and we’re getting some worrying flashbacks from the Sami Zayn Vs. Bobby Lashley ‘sisters’ angle.
It’s also worth noting that Bayley’s segment isn’t being presented as a parody of AEW’s resident dentist,
and hopefully the Role Model has better luck with her own talk show on SmackDown, and it’s not seen as a way to ridicule the
competition.
More Rumble news, as the Men’s Rumble match got an update during Smackdown, as Cesaro and Jey Uso both were
announced for the 30-Man match. Now, the pair join Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Otis, The Miz and 23
other names, and time will tell who walks out of the Thunderdome with a guaranteed World title match at WrestleMania 37.
One man who has been announced for the Men’s Rumble match is Randy Orton, but he may now have been pulled from
the contest. Orton announced his spot in the Men’s Rumble match during Legends Night,
despite rumours that he’d be facing The Fiend at the Royal Rumble in another stipulation match.
In an update, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Orton’s announcement for the Rumble match
was a red herring, and the plan was always to have the Fiend Vs. The Viper at the show, though everything is open
to change. Orton has been confirmed for next week’s RAW, where he’ll address the recent
fireball attack by Alexa Bliss, and there’s speculation that his segment on RAW will see the Fiend return to set up their
Firefly Funhouse match at the Pay Per View. The Fiend hasn’t been seen since Orton defeated him at the Firefly Inferno match at
WWE TLC last month, and with no reports on Orton pulling double duty at the Royal Rumble, hopefully we’ll get
answers on what the plan is for the Viper on next Monday’s edition of the red brand.
The 2021 Royal Rumble will be the first Rumble Pay Per View inside the Thunderdome which has proven to be a
blessing for Vince McMahon. After years of fighting fans who’ve let their voices known, even if they go against
WWE’s preferred reaction, McMahon can now make everyone in the audience react exactly as he wants.
Though this is nothing short of a dream come true for the Boss, the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that there’s
some quote “underneath talent” who are frustrated by WWE’s supreme control over fan reactions. They noted:
They realize the company creates the sound based on who they want to push and who they don’t, and then you have
face the fact that you’re not on the list of people they want to push.”
Now, lower-card talent can’t rely on the reaction of the crowd to prove to WWE higher-ups that they deserve a push,
as the company themselves control just how much a crowd will pop for any Superstar.
WWE will have this power over the crowd until they allow live fans to return to their arenas again, but until that happens,
don’t expect any ‘CM Punk’ or ‘Cena Sucks’ chants from the virtual crowd.
Now, we previously announced that Jey Uso will be in the Men’s Rumble match, and he has some pretty big plans if he wins.
During SmackDown, Jey made it clear during the show that if he wins the Rumble match, he won’t challenge his cousin, but
but will instead go to RAW to challenge Drew McIntyre or Goldberg, who he called Oldberg, whichever one holds the WWE
Championship. There’s a lot riding on this year’s Royal Rumble, which will be the company’s first
in the Thunderdome, and time will tell whether the Samoan Dynasty gets a shot at the other top prize in WWE.
If he wants to win the Rumble match, then Jey Uso will probably collide with Daniel Bryan, who’s been in something of a
slump recently. Despite entertaining segments with Chad Gable and Otis, last week saw Bryan lose
to Shinsuke Nakamura clean, and was pinned by Cesaro this week, and although there’s no shame in losing to
either man, it’s not the Daniel Bryan we’re used to. Bryan has been considered the favourite
to win the men’s Rumble match, and although this could still be the case, these back-to-back losses raise a lot of questions.
Over to AEW next, as there’s plenty of fans who’d love to be on Dynamite, and someone out there is taking advantage
of this. On Twitter, the company warned fans of fake casting calls, where people pretend
to represent AEW to scam fans out of their money with promises of being on the show, and reminded their followers
that any calls for fans or aspiring wrestlers will be mentioned on their official social media platforms.
This isn’t the first time the company has had to warn fans about fakes, as AEW recently battled fake social media accounts
of the family of Brodie Lee, including a fake account of Lee’s wife Amanda who called out a fake Account of his son Brodie Jr.
There’s no way to tell what the motive could be when someone falsely represents themselves online, but fans should
remember that if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
One man fans haven’t seen on AEW Dynamite is AJ Styles, as the Phenomenal One has made it clear he plans to stay in
WWE until he retires. When Styles’ three-year contract with WWE ended in 2019, there was plenty
of speculation that the former World Champion would jump ship to the All-Elite promotion, and when speaking to Bleacher
Report’s Graham Matthew this week, Styles explained why that didn’t happen. He said:
“This is a business. I'm going to go where business is best for AJ Styles. I like WWE, I like everything about it, and I know it. I'm
used to it. I don't want to leave. This is a business, though. This is what we do for a living. Was it close? I wouldn't say it was
close for me. Like I said, I want to be in WWE.” It sounds like Styles was very sure about
his decision to stay with WWE, despite his Club buddies Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have been appearing on
Dynamite recently, as the Impact World Tag Team Champions. Styles has said he was pissed to see
Gallows and Anderson released in April last year, but sees they’re much happier outside of WWE, but don’t expect the
Phenomenal One to join them in the Daily’s Place, or on Impact.
That wasn’t all Styles had to say about his career, as although we know he’s staying in WWE, he may not be around for
much longer. In that same interview, the Phenomenal One spoke about how long his career
has left, saying: “Some days, I feel like I can go five, six more years; and then some years I'm like,
man, I can be done this year.' As you get older, it's just changing. You have to listen to your body.”
At 43 years old, Styles is one of the oldest full-time wrestlers in WWE, and whether his career goes for another six
years or ends in six months, the Phenomenal One has lived up to his moniker in matches both in and out of WWE.
Back to SmackDown now, as next week’s edition of the Blue brand will see a huge title match take place.
After Big E retained his Intercontinental title against Apollo Crews last week with some controversy, a rematch has been
announced next week, and fans will get to see the two collide for the title once more.
Next week’s SmackDown will also see a special Obstacle Course challenge between Bayley and Bianca Belair, after the
challenge laid out by the role model was accepted during the first-ever episode of Bayley’s talk show ‘Ding Dong Hello.’
Belair has always prided herself on her physical prowess, but time will tell if it’s the EST of WWE who stands tall at the
Obstacle Course, or if the Role Model proves why she was the longest reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion in history.
Given the ongoing global situation, every plan in WWE is subject to change, and that includes the dates of their Pay Per Views
According to PW Insider, Elimination Chamber 2021 will now take place on Sunday February 21st, a week earlier
than it was originally planned.. This will give more time for the company more time to build storylines between the
Elimination Chamber and their next Pay Per View: WrestleMania 37. We’ll have to see who ends up walking into
the titular barbaric structure on February 21st, but now WWE has one less week to prepare for those matches, as well as one
extra week to build to the showcase of the Immortals.
And finally today we’re ending with some huge Mania news, as the show is meant to take place on March 28th, but could be
pushed back. According to WrestleVotes, it’s looking increasingly likely that the show will take
place on April 11th or 18th, as WWE wants to have line fans in attendance, and delaying the show, even by a few weeks
can only help WWE’s chances of making this happen. There’s no word on where the show will
take place, as both Tropicana Field and the Amway Center are booked on April 11th, so WWE has a lot of decisions to
make in very little time.