Here's your wrestling news for January 25th 2021
And your headlines for today include Ryback Isnt Afraid Of WWE! Undertaker Is In News Again! Wrestling Future Of Daniel Bryan! WWE News!
WWE Announces Multiple Matches For Go-Home RAW Before Royal Rumble!
Drew McIntyre vs Goldberg Might Shock Some Fans At WWE Royal Rumble!
CM Punk Is Down To Be Included In Upcoming WWE Video Game!
The Undertaker Becomes Controversial Yet Again;Takes A Dig A Former WWE Champion!
Mark Henry Warns AEW Against Signing Ryback!
Ryback Isn’t Afraid Of WWE Or Mark Henry!
Former WWE Superstar Announces His Appearance In The Royal Rumble 2021!
Sheamus Says “It’s A Matter Of Time” Until Conor McGregor Comes To WWE!
Daniel Bryan Reveals About His Wrestling Future And More!
We’re kicking off today with RAW news, as tonight’s show will be the go-home RAW before the Royal Rumble, with plenty in store.
Tonight’s show will see Matt Riddle participate in a gauntlet match, taking on MVP, Cedric Alexander and Shelton
Benjamin, and if he wins, he’ll get another U.S. Title match against the Hurt Business’ CEO Bobby Lashley.
Women’s Tag Team Champion will face Shayna Bazler in singles action, whilst her partner Asuka will defend her RAW
Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss. It’s been over two years since Bliss last
held singles gold in WWE, and with the spirit of the Fiend on her side, we may see a new RAW Women’s Champion
crowned in a matter of hours.
Tonight’s show will also see the return of both Goldberg and Drew McIntyre to RAW, after the latter was forced to quarrantine
due to testing positive. There’s been a lot of speculation on how their WWE Championship match at the
Rumble will go, but despite concerns from fans, it looks like a new champion won’t be crowned.
That’s according to Bet Online, who posted their shocking odds for the match, and although Goldberg’s monster booking,
it’s McIntyre who is the heavy favourite to win Of course, this doesn’t mean a Goldberg
loss is guaranteed, especially with the Hall of Famer reportedly being a lock for WrestleMania 37, but the odds are in
favour of McIntyre retaining this Sunday.
Now CM Punk hasn’t competed in a WWE ring in seven years, at least not in the real world.
Whilst Punk hasn’t wrestled in a WWE ring himself, there’s no shortage of fan recreations of the former Superstar for
fans to download in various WWE games, but he’s not in WWE 2K Battlegrounds.
When a fan asked Punk on Twitter if he’d be down with being included as DLC, Punk had a very interesting response, saying:
Yeah but since it’s me, won’t happen.
Punk’s turbulent history with WWE will no-doubt cause some issues if fans want to see him in a WWE video game again,
and at this time, there’s no feature in Battlegrounds that allows you to download other fan creations.
Punk’s work with WWE Backstage from 2019-2020 did leave fans speculating whether an in-ring return was possible,
and whilst that hasn’t happened yet, a video game return is something the Chicago-Made Superstar is on board with.
More Punk news next, as after leaving WWE, the former World Champion joined UFC, where he holds an 0-2 record.
One man who worked with Punk during his WWE tenure is The Undertaker, who admitted to being confused as to why Punk
went for UFC after he walked out of WWE in early 2014. Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience,
the Phenom said: I don’t know if he had enough background [to fight in the UFC]. It was kind of late in
the game for him to make that transition. It was easier for Brock, he’s a freak athlete. Punk, I don’t know.
Punk himself has said that he went to the UFC in the backwards order, I.E. after he made it in WWE, and has also said that he
used WWE to grow his star power to get that spot in the UFC. To his credit, Punk has said that MMA was
something he always wanted to do, so we have to respect him for pushing himself, even if it didn’t go how he wanted.
We’ll have to see if Punk has a third fight in the UFC, but if he does, the Undertaker will probably be watching.
Ryback news next, a the Big Guy recently teased that he’ll be signing with AEW very soon, but that won’t happen if Mark Henry
can help it. Over the past week or so, the two have gone back and forth after Ryback called
the titles in WWE props, a statement that Henry believes was fueled by a jealous Ryback never becoming WWE Champion.
During Busted Open Radio, the WWE Hall of Famer warned AEW against signing Ryback, saying:
“I hope that the good ol’ folks at AEW sees the snake in the woodpile and says, ‘No thank you’… when you say titles are a prop,
you mean to tell me that Tony Khan is going to stand there and say, ‘Oh yea, come on over. Come on and hold our prop up.”
Henry added that he wouldn’t boycott AEW If they did sign the Big Guy, but would make him think differently about everyone involved
with the company. Unsurprisingly, these comments didn’t sit well with Ryback himself, and though most people
have been vehemently opposed to his comments, the former Superstar does have some support.
When one fan called Henry a corporate stooge, for warning AEW against signing Ryback, the Big Guy didn’t hold back, saying:
“I love it! It’s blatantly obvious what’s going on. Enough people in the business know me well enough and between this and
the company wanting my social media it should tell you all you need to know. Life is amazing and I don’t fear that company or
Mark, so let’s go The company wanting his social media is a reference to WWE, who Ryback has
accused of illegally supressing his social media account, but has provided no evidence for his claim.
We’ll have to wait and see if Henry has anything else to say about Ryback, and whilst the World’s Strongest Man has the
the great platform of Busted Open Radio, Ryback will likely stick around on twitter, calling people WWE Puppets like he’s done
so many times in the past.
Royal Rumble news next, as this year’s show will see a total 60 Superstars compete in the two titular matches, with a World or
Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania on the line. Kevin Owens isn’t booked for the men’s
Rumble match, as he’ll be facing Universal Champion Roman Reigns that night, but that didn’t stop the Prizefighter from speaking to
Fightful about what he’d change about the Rumble match format. He said:
They had done the 40-man Rumble one year, which I really liked. I wish we'd go back to that. The more people involved
the better. The longer it is, the better. If I were to pick any changes to make, I would add more people
2011’s 40-Man Rumble was won by Alberto Del Rio, though it’s Braun Strowman who won the Greatest Royal Rumble
2018, which had 50 participants. Almost all other Rumble matches have had the traditional 30 Superstars, but with
an ever-growing roster, perhaps WWE will take Owens’ suggestion into consideration in the coming years.
If WWE ever does increase the Rumble size, they’ll need more names, and luckily one former Superstar is eager to return
to the company. When WWE’s Twitter account asked fans who they’d like to see in this year’s Rumble
matches, former Superstar The Boogeyman replied, teasing he’ll be one of the 30 Superstars in the men’s contest.
Fans most recently saw the worm-eating Superstar on RAW’s Legends Night, where he helped R-Truth regain the 24/7
Championship, and given that he signed a legends contract with WWE a few years ago, we’ll have to see if the Boogeyman is
smashing any clocks at the 2021 Royal Rumble.
We’re entering the Octagon next, as Conor McGregor entered UFC 257 full of confidence, but his ego didn’t save him from
losing to Dustin Poirier. One person who was watching the fight closely was Shayna Baszler, and the
former NXT Women’s Champion and MMA fighter weighed in on social media.
On Twitter, the Queen of Spades praised Poirier, saying he showed how to cut a tree down, and called out fan who dismiss
Mixed Martial Arts as ‘just leg kicks.’ Baszler certainly knows what she’s talking about, with 15 wins on her MMA record,
and with yet another loss on his own record, there’ now talks once again of the Notorious One joining WWE.
The Queen of Spades wasn’t the only current WWE Superstar watching the match, as Sheamus also watched his fellow
countryman come up short in the Octagon. Speaking to Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy, the former World Champion addressed the
rumours and speculation of McGregor joining WWE, and is pretty sure it’ll happen sooner rather than later:
I don’t think anyone would raise eyebrows if he came in to WWE. I don’t think it’s if, I think it’s a matter of when to be honest
Sheamus is by far not the only Superstar to reference the UFC fighter, as Drew McIntyre sarcastically wished him luck
prior to the Poirier match, dubbing him ‘McT apper.’ At this time, McGregor remains under
contract with UFC, but if he ever does move to WWE, there’s plenty of names already lining up to take a shot at the Notorious One.
Now, Daniel Bryan is one of the favourites to win the Men’s Royal Rumble match, and the fact that he’s able to wrestle at all
is nothing short of miraculous. It wasn’t too long ago that Bryan gave an emotional retirement speech on RAW in
2016, and now that he’s back, the former World Champion has no plans of stopping now.
In an interview with Solo Wrestling, Bryan explained that he doesn’t think he’ll be a full-time wrestler for much longer,
but doesn’t see himself as retiring. He a dded: I want to wrestle until I’m old! And when I
mean REALLY OLD! I love wrestling! A lot of times I’m inspired by people like Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk and even some
European wrestlers like Johnny Saint who will still go out there and wrestle in their sixties, maybe even seventies
Bryan may have plans to wrestle on a part- time basis for decades to come, but he added that he’ll probably have to change his
style if he does. After his retirement five years ago, any match Bryan has is a treat for the fans,
and if the Yes! Man gets his way, fans can expect the former World Heavyweight Champion around for years and decades
to come.
Speaking of retirements, it was at Unforgiven 2006 that Trish Stratus hung up her wrestling boots for the first time, but not everything went
according to plan. Competing for the WWE Women’s Championship in her hometown of Toronto,
Canada, Stratus suffered a botch during her entrance, when she took a tumble while making her way to the ring.
Speaking to the Wilde On podcast recently, Stratus said she’s grateful that not many fans remember that part of her retirement
match, and joked that the WWE may have erased it from the memories of fans.
Instead, fans remember her incredible match with Lita, which saw the Canadian become a seven-time WWE Women’s Champion
before the title was vacated the next night on RAW. Like most retirements though, Stratus would
eventually return to the ring, most recently facing Charlotte Flair at Summerslam 2019, and we’re confident that the Hall of Famer
is all the more careful from now on whenever she makes her way to the ring.
Trademark news next, as the WWE has filed paperwork on six names it plans on using.
According to recent filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office, WWE is filing for Cora Jade, Zoey Stark and Gigi Dolin,
the new names of Elayna Black, Lacey Ryan and Priscilla Kelly respectively.
Dolin and Jade competed last week in the Women’s Dusty Rhodes classic, losing to Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell, whilst Stark
will team with Marina Shafir to face Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon.
WWE also filed paperwork on the names Duke Hudson, Sareena Sandhu and Rohan Raja, and we’ll have to see how these
wrestlers fare in the WWE.
And we’re ending tonight with a lookback at the 1999 Royal Rumble, as that’s the night that one of Mick Foley’s most
memorable matches took place. In the infamous I-Quit match against the Rock, the Hardcore Legend recently
celebrated the 22nd anniversary of the match, describing it as the night that he and the Brahma Bull went a little too far.
The I-Quit match, which saw Rock win by using a tape-recorder, is arguably Foley’s most second iconic match, behind
the Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998. Part of what made the match so memorable
is the incredible Beyond the Mat documentary, which documented the match and the dozen unprotected chairshots to Foley’s
skull, and over two decades later, it’s impressive that Foley can remember anything from that brain-scrambling night.