Here's more wrestling news for December 23rd 2021
And your headlines for today include
Kevin Owens Believes Winning WWE Tag Team Titles With Sami Zayn Is Written In The Stars!
Hannibal Verbally Eviscerates The Miz After Comments About Referee Stabbing Incident!
Huge AEW Wrestler Meets Triple H To Make A WWE Return!
Roman Reigns Has Hilarious Response To Fan Saying He Loved Him In Aquaman!
Jim Ross’ AEW Return & More Announced For New Year’s Smash!
What Is The Current Plan Of Alberto Del Rio? Which Major Pro Wrestling Company Is He Going To Join?
Multiple Title Matches Booked For WWE NXT New Year’s Evil! And More!
We’re starting off with Kevin Owens, who signed a brand new contract with WWE last week, one that should keep him around for years to come.
Around the same time, it was reported that Owens’ best friend Sami Zayn has also signed a new deal, with details still scarce on what the former
Intercontinental Champion’s new contract looks like. Right now, Owens is engaged in the WWE title picture, and will challenge for the title at Day 1,
but that’s not the only piece of championship gold on his radar.
Speaking with Pat Laparde and Kevin Raphael, Owens discussed future plans now he’s staying with WWE, saying:
“I’d like to become WWE Champion, I’d like to win the tag team titles with Sami. I mean, Sami and I winning the tag belts, that must be written in
the stars.” With Owens and Zayn on different shows, any tag title victory for the two won’t be happening
anytime soon, but as far as Owens sees it, this victory isn’t a question of if, but when.
When Devon Nicholson, aka Hannibal stabbed a referee during an independent event, the act received widespread condemnation from
across the wrestling industry. Despite Hannibal’s defence that he didn’t know his blade was stabbing referee Lando Deltoro
Hannibal has been branded as dangerous, and there’s been calls for him to never perform again. When asked by TMZ, WWE’s The Miz said that
attack on Deltoro didn’t look like an accident, and in a YouTube video, the indie wrestler fired back against the two time former WWE World
Champion: “To my knowledge The Miz doesn’t have any fighting credentials.Last I checked, you got your
ass kicked by Daniel Puder in the Brawl For All. I have also wrestled many more legends than you.” “If I were you, The Miz, I would also want me
banned from wrestling. Because I’m a better wrestler than you – both amateur and pro and I’m a way better villain, even with the WWE
backing you. We’re not sure if Hannibal’s alleged real fighting credentials mean all that much in an industry
where the matches are predetermined, and if he does want to compare himself to the Miz, it’s worth remembering that the Miz has become
a huge name in wrestling, winning world titles, headlining WrestleMania and sharing the ring with The Rock, while before last week,
the biggest thing Hannibal was known for was suing Abdullah the Butcher.
Hannibal has already lost bookings following his actions, and clearly isn’t happy about The Miz’s comments, but don’t expect a match between
the two to ever happen, in or out of WWE.
Before coming to AEW, Brian Cage made a name for himself in various promotions, and is even a former Impact World Champion, but his run as
All-Elite hasn’t exactly gone well as of late.
In July, Cage entered a feud with Team Taz after being betrayed by the group, and despite being prominently featured, his wife wasn’t a fan of
his booking, and made that clear on social media. Cage earned some heat for his wife’s comments, and it’s now been over two months since his last
televised match for AEW, where he lost to Ricky Starks on the October 6th Rampage. Speaking on Keepin’ It 100, Konnan spoke about
Cage’s status in AEW, and said he believes the former FTW Champion will eventually make his way to WWE.
Konnan said that he found out about Cage thanks to Norman Smiley, who is a trainer in WWE and told Konnan that the company had released a “
good guy,” and added that Cage was always bummed out that he didn’t make it in WWE. Konnan’s prediction that Cage will make his way
to WWE is more than just speculation, as Wade Keller of PW Torch has reported that the AEW wrestler has met with Triple H and had discussions
about coming to the company. Details are scarce as to what exactly the pair discussed, or how far along these talks went,
but we’ll keep viewers informed as more details come out. Cage tried to make it to WWE once before
signing a developmental contract in June 2008, but was cut from the company by September 2009. Now, a second chance in WWE seems to be
happening in the future, but what do you make to this? Do you think Cage should try to go to WWE, or stick with AEW? Let us know in the comments below
Now, Roman Reigns is the reigning Universal Champion, and the unquestionable top name in WWE right now, but some fans believe that the
Tribal Chief has a doppelganger. Over the years, fans have often compared Reigns to actor Jason Mamoa, and when one
fan made this joke to the Universal Champion at a recent live event, they probably didn’t expect to get a response.
In a fan-recorded video, one member of the WWE Universe said that he loved Reigns as Aquaman, the role Momoa played in the 2018 film of the
same name, and Reigns fired back, saying if it actually was him in the movie, it would’ve made a lot more money.
Reigns does have some acting credits to his name, most notably in 2019’s Hobbs and Shaw movie where he shared the screen with his cousin
The Rock, and while he isn’t the King of the Seven Seas, the Tribal Chief is well aware of the comparisons to the Aquaman star.
AEW news now, as after this week’s Holiday Bash, next week will be their New Year’s Smash, and will feature the return of Jim Ross.
JR will be making his first appearance since taking time off to battle skin cancer, and will be around for a huge edition of Dynamite, which’ll also be
the last on TNT. Next week will see Kyle O’Reilly’s AEW in-ring debut when he teams with Adam Cole and Bobby
Fish to face Orange Cassidy and the Best friends while the TBS Championship tournament will continue when Thuder Rosa takes on Jade Cargill.
Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz will take on Daniel Garcia & 2Point0, in what’ll be a huge night to end AEW Dynamite’s run on TNT.
As a former WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Royal Rumble winner and Impact World Champion, Alberto Del Rio is a huge name in
wrestling, but that doesn't mean his phone is ringing off the hook with offers. Earlier this month, the charges of assault and
kidnapping against Del Rio were dropped, but things aren't easy for him now that he's been exonerated.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reports that despite Del Rio saying there's been interest in him from WWE, that simply isn't the case, and there's
no evidence that the company are looking to rehire him. Furthermore, Sapp noted that no promotions are
interested in the former World Champion at this time, including WWE, AEW, Impact or MLW. We’ll have to see what’s next for Alberto as
although he has a lot to offer in the ring, finding a place that wants him to wrestle is proving to be a huge problem.
And we’re ending today with NXT 2.0, which on January 4th will host its New Year's Evil event, and one massive Title Unification match.
During this week's episode, it was confirmed that NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong will face North American Champion Carmelo
Hayes, with the winner unifying both belts. There's no word on what this new title will be, but it won't be the only title match on the card.
This week's NXT 2.0 also saw a rematch be announced between NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa and Bron Breakker, as well as a
Triple Threat, pitting NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose against Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade.
All of these matches will happen at NXT New Year's Evil, in what'll be a massive way for the paint splattered brand to start 2022.