Here is your news for January 16, 2020
We're starting off with some huge news from the road to Wrestle Mania, as D-
Generation X will reunite in March in New York City.
Not only that, but the Hall of Fame group, represented by Triple H, Shawn Michaels, X-
Pac and Road Dogg Jesse James will appear in Madison Square Garden on March 22nd,
according to the Twitter of the legendary arena.
In addition to the DX reunion, Becky Lynch Vs. Asuka for the RAW Women's
Championship has been advertised, and so is a 6-man tag pitting Kevin Owens, Samoa
Joe and the Big Show against Seth Rollins and AOP.
There's plenty of Superstars scheduled to appear, including Randy Orton AJ Styles,
Charlotte Flair, Rey Mysterio and more, as the WWE clearly wants this MSG show to
sell out on the road to WrestleMania.
We've got an update from the recent Triple H controversy, where the King of Kings
made a joke about the sexual past of former Divas Champion Paige.
The comment made by the WWE COO, was that Paige has kids "she doesn't know of",
implying that Paige has slept with so many people, she doesn't even remember.
In a tweet, the former Divas Champion tweeted that her boss' comments upset her, as
she has been harassed since private photos and videos were stolen from her and
publicly posted in 2017.
Since then, several friends and colleagues have shown support for Paige, and the
British Superstar spoke about the situation while in the UK, where she was promoting
WWE's new TV deal with BT Sport.
She told Sportskeeda's Gary Cassidy:
“Obviously I was a little bit perplexed, a little bit taken aback, because he’s someone
that I truly look up to and he’s always been very respectful, so I feel like he got caught
up, maybe, in a joke, that I just don’t think was appropriate to joke about.
I don’t know, I feel like it’s something that I don’t need to continually keep talking
about because I feel like people have done a pretty good job of that.
He’s definitely reached out. We’re going to be talking about some things, yeah.”
The Game also made a public apology on Twitter, saying that he was sorry after
making the terrible joke, and hopefully this will put an end to this story, after some
online have accused the game of quote "sl*tshaming."
Meanwhile, others have said that Triple H was just using a joke he'd used in the past regarding
male Superstars, though whilst this joke may have been used in the past, it will have been used
by Triple H in DX, during a feud, something that he is not a part of with Paige.
More Triple H news now, as the 14-time WWE World Champion did an interview with
the UK's Metro website, where he discussed Tyson Fury's status with WWE.
Last year, the Boxing megastar appeared on both RAW and SmackDown, before
defeating Braun Strowman via countout at Crown Jewel, in the King Fahd International
Stadium in Riyadh.
Since then, Fury has teased returning to the company, and possibly appearing at
WrestleMania 36, though this will be affected by his next fight.
According to the Game, the door is open on both sides for another WWE-Fury
partnership, though a lot can happen between now and Mania, namely Fury's next
fight against Deontay Wilder. He said:
“That fight on February 22nd will be huge to him, as to what his next steps are in all of
this. So, we’re open to that stuff but it needs to be right for everybody.”
The Game also noted that Fury had a blast working with WWE, and that in the Gypsy
King's youth, Fury saw himself as a wrestler, not a boxer, saying:
"The entertainment side of it, that showmanship side of him is in front. So I think he
would love to do something more with us. He’d love to do a bigger thing. I think he
understands the entertainment value. This is not for him… about, ‘I need to be the
champion, or I need to be this or that.’”
It'll be interesting to see whether Fury does return in time for WrestleMania 36, as
though fans aren't thrilled at the idea of part-timers, it's been proven that the Boxing
legend has star power.
Remaining with our British theme today, as WWE left Sky Sports after a 30-year relationship,
and their new partner BT Sports is promoting the change in an interesting way.
Recently, the Undertaker's hearse has been spotted appearing in London, in quite a
shocking, but effective piece of marketing as well.
BT Sports also uploaded footage of a passerby, who didn't quite know how to process
seeing the Deadman's legendary ride, and asked their followers how they'd react to
seeing the Undertaker's hearse in England's capital city.
Plenty of WWE Superstars, including Paige, Charlotte Flair, Andrade and Sheamus
made the trip to London to help promote the change, including Stephanie McMahon,
who helped kick off WWE's programming on their new UK network.
Though Sheamus hasn't wrestled a proper match since April 2019 when he was out of
action, but after nursing his injuries, he's dropped 40 pounds, and remains in fantastic
shape, as he's ripped, but still has plenty of power.
As part of the BT event, the WWE had a series of special matches, and Sheamus
marked his in-ring return by defeating US Champion Andrade in non-title action.
The mini-show also saw Charlotte Flair defeat Nikki Cross, and given that Ric Flair, Cain
Velasquez and Triple H showed up, it's clear WWE are looking to impress on their new Network.
We're looking at AEW now, and after this week's news, disgruntled WWE Superstars
will continue to have an alternative option and confidence that the new show won't
be cancelled.
Recently, Bryan Alvarez spoke on Wrestling Observer Live about AEW's new contract,
that will keep Dynamite on the air until 2023, saying that it means the company can
open their pocketbooks to sign new stars as they become available. He said:
“Now with this new deal they absolutely will be profitable in 2020 and they probably
will be for years to come based on how their pay-per-views appear to be doing and
their budget and everything of that nature. So, it’s a very good deal for them.”
“It’s almost double what they had been earning before in terms of the ad revenue split
and covering cost. So, that means they can open up the pocketbook and sign more
talent when talent comes do."
Several WWE Superstars have been rumoured to be joining the opposition when
they're free, including the Revival, who could leave WWE in spring, and Matt Hardy,
whose contract ends in early March.
Last year, Luke Harper, Sin Cara and the Ascension were all released on the same day,
and their no-complete clause will expire on March 8th, so don't be surprised to see
these WWE Superstars, possibly under new names, appear in AEW.
More AEW news now, as the company has released their official rankings for the week.
In the table, Jon Moxley is sitting on top of the singles ranking, with Cody Rhodes at number 2,
an interesting place for the man who can never compete for the AEW World title.
Kenny Omega and Pac are in the 3 and #4 spots with a yearly record of 0-0, whilst
Sammy Guevara, who is 2-0 takes fifth place.
The women's division sees the top three spots go to stars with no wins this year, as
Hikaru Shida, Nyla Rose and Kris Stadtlander are holding down the top spots in that
order, despite each being 0-1.
In the tag division, Proud n Powerful, the Young Bucks and Best Friends are in the 1-2-
3 spots respectively despite 0-0 records, but given that the new year has just started,
expect these records to change over the coming 12 months.
Back to WWE now, and Cain Velasquez's WWE debut didn't go quite as well at Crown Jewel.
Facing WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, the beast sort-of avenged his 2010 loss in UFC,
by tapping Velasquez out in just over 2 minutes.
Since the loss, Cain has competed at a house show and gone back to training, leading
to rumors and speculation on what comes next for him.
In an interview with The Sun, the 38-year-old said that he could return at the Royal
Rumble, but didn't sound sure, saying:
“I think I’m doing it [the Rumble match], right, I think so.
I can win it, hell yeah, that’s my mentality for everything. For everyone as well, that
is how your mentality has to be. I’m going in to win this thing.”
Regarding losing to Lesnar last year, Velasquez said:
“I thought with the MMA that would be enough, go in there with the same style and
same gameplan. But this is a different animal. Brock is the man here, so I ended up
getting caught, the match was going my way, he caught me at the end. I just have to
keep pushing forward. I am never going to stop fighting to go out there and beat him again.
I don’t know if it’s going to be 2020, but the trilogy will happen some time or another. The more
I am here, the more time we spend in between, I am getting better and better.”
It's obvious that Cain wants another shot at the Beast, and given that he knows that
Lesnar entering the Rumble first, it's likely that Cain has his sights set on winning the
match, before challenging Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.
We've got some very sad news to report now, as WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson
has died at the age of 75.
There is no current cause of death for his death on January 15th, 2020, but Johnson
left a lasting impression in wrestling, and is famously known as the father of the Rock.
The Cauliflower Alley Club broke this sad news via Twitter, and WWE also gave a
heartfelt statement about his passing.
A huge star of his day, Johnson was so big that years later, his son would play him in
an episode of 'That 70s Show', showcasing the top stars of the decade.
Johnson was also part of the first black WWF Tag Team Champions, and accolades like
these led to him being inducted into the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame.
This is truly a sad day for wrestling, and we'd like to send our deepest condolences to
The Rock and his family at this terrible time.
Back to the ring now, and it looks like Jinder Mahal may finally be returning to the ring.
The former WWE Champion hasn't been seen on TV since last summer, when the
company announced that a knee injury would keep him out of action for 6-12 months.
Mahal was drafted to RAW in October, so that will be where he ends up when he
returns, and according to a post by Mahal on Instagram, he will be back soon, and the
Modern Day Maharaja even gave an example of his exercise regime saying 'The
Experiment is back on'.
After losing the WWE Championship in November 2017, Mahal has fallen down the
company's totem pole, so maybe he'll be better pushed once the former World
Champion eventually returns.
We're finishing with looking at the Wednesday Night War today, as AEW held their
Bash at the Beach event.
At the show, Cody Rhodes accepted the stipulations to fight MJF down the line, whilst
Jon Moxley defeated Sammy Guevara, only to be attacked by Chris Jericho afterward.
PAC got a win over Darby Allin, whilst Kenny Omega and Adam Page, defeated the
Best Friends, the Young Bucks, and Santana and Ortiz in tag team action.
Though Brandi Rhodes was supposed to team with Awesome Kong, an unfortunate
illness meant that Kong wasn't cleared, and Rhodes teamed with Mel, coming up short
against Kris Stadtlander and Hikaru Shida.
Also on the show, MJF teamed with The Butcher and The Blade, to defeat QT Marshall, DDP and
Dustin Rhodes, and it was MJF who got the pin, sending a message to Cody Rhodes.
Over on NXT, and the show started in a huge way, with the Undisputed Era taking it to
the number one contender for the North American title, Keith Lee.
In the Dusty Classic, the Broserweights, Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle defeated Mark
Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster,
In the ring, Tomasso Ciampa called out the Undisputed Era, but though it looked like
the Blackheart would be the next victim of a beatdown, Johnny Gargano was able to
even the odds, as DIY held off Adam Cole and his men.
In another first-round match, NXT UK's Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Kushida and
Alex Shelley, whilst Isiah Scott toppled both Lio Rush and Tyler Breeze, to earn a spot
in the NXT Cruiserweight Championship match at Worlds Collide.
In our main event of the show, Bianca Belair won a battle royal to earn an NXT
Women's title match at the upcoming TakeOver Portland show.