Here's more wrestling news for February 4th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE addresses rumors of Shane McMahon heading to AEW! Want to speak to the competition
WWE Hall of Famer returning for huge title match at Elimination Chamber
Tag Title match confirmed for Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia
WWE makes history with record earnings in 2021. 4th quarter financial report reveals all
Former WWE U.S. Champion addresses reports he scammed wrestling students
“It’s one of the last dream matches.” AJ Styles lays out WrestleMania 38 challenge to Hall of Famer
Popular WWE tag team were going to split on their first night together before Vince McMahon stepped in
Former WWE Superstar set to return to MLW after becoming a free agent this week And more!
We’re kicking off with the Royal Rumble, where Shane McMahon made his latest return to WWE TV, but his run was incredibly short-lived.
Mere day after his return, Shane was released by his father, as he was wildly unpopular backstage thanks to his actions at last Saturday’s event, where he openly
buried producers and was more focussed on making himself look good than building the match.
While Shane is out of WWE, the odds of AEW signing him are astronomically small, but it’s a matter that has come up within WWE.
On PW Torch, Wade Keller said that those in WWE have seen the ‘Shane is All Elite’ meme, and that if that was to happen, someone should warn AEW
what they’d be signing up for
One source within WWE said that Shane would be “out of control” if he went to AEW, even worse than how he was acting at the Royal Rumble.
While Shane and his father may be at odds right now, there’s no indication that Tony Khan has any interest in signing the Best in the World, but Shane’s behaviour
last Saturday is enough that WWE would be willing to give their competition some warning.
This month, WWE will return to Jeddah for the Elimination Chamber, marking the first time the barbaric structure has come to Saudi Arabia.
These Saudi shows typically see stars from WWE’s past make an appearance, and now Bill Goldberg is heading back to the Middle East.
Fightful Select has learned that Goldberg will return soon enough to challenge Universal Champion Roman Reigns, a match that was originally meant
to happen at WrestleMania 36. Goldberg has previously claimed that he has one more match on his WWE contract, which if so will
be the match at Elimination Chamber, but he’s also claimed to be signed with WWE until 2023, and could always compete in more matches for the right price.
With Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar been the plan for WrestleMania for months, the result of this match is a foregone conclusion, but now, nearly 2 years
after it was meant to happen, two masters of the spear will finally face off.
Elimination Chamber will be the last main-roster Premium Live Event before WrestleMania 38, and another huge title match has been announced.
It’s been confirmed by WWE that the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos will defend their titles in Jeddah, this time against the Viking Raiders.
The Raiders are former NXT and RAW Tag Team Champions, but are yet to taste SmackDown Tag Title glory, but that could all change in 15 days at
Elimination Chamber.
In 2021, WWE released a ton of talent, all in the name of budget cuts, and had hundreds of employees behind the scenes lose their jobs, again as cost-cutting measures.
Now, the company has released it’s heavily anticipated earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2021, and it’s once again record earnings for WWE.
2021 marks the first full year with revenues over $1 billion for WWE, the highest grossing year in the entire history of the company.
For the fourth quarter, $310 milion was made in the last 3 months of the year, a whopping 131% in operating revenue over the fourth quarter of 2020.
That leap is thanks in part to WWE once again being able to sell tickets and merchandise at live shows, something they weren’t allowed to do in late 2020.
Speaking in a conference call to investors, Vince McMahon praised the “significant milestones” WWE reached last year, and plans for 2022, including
licensing network content in international markets and the monetization of new original series.
WWE’s business strategies may have taken a lot of criticism by fans, but they’re clearly working, and made 2021 WWE’s most profitable year to date.
Last week, Ken Anderson, aka Mr. Kennedy, faced accusations of scamming wrestling students, who claimed they’d received little to no training over
two years. It’s been said that despite things slowly getting back to normal, Anderson hasn’t re-opened the
school, and has instead gone silent to students, who now have no building to train in. Now, Anderson has addressed the accusations,
as in a Facebook post, he said that the ongoing global situation forced him to stop training, and while other academies have reopened,
he’s playing it safe by keeping shut. Anderson pointed out that other schools which have opened have been forced to deal with various
variants and outbreaks, and in refuting the claims he’s conned anyone, said that two of his students, Darius and Dante Martin, now work for AEW.
In his defence, Anderson also said that he’s working on leasing a new building to train in, though no word on how long that process will take, and until then,
his students will just have to find a way to train without a ring, equipment or Anderson himself.
In 2016, AJ Styles shocked everyone by joining WWE, and has had a career most wrestlers could only dream of.
A grand-slam winner and two-time WWE Champion, Styles has faced the likes of John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan and many more, and there’s
very little for the Phenomenal One left to do. Speaking to Steven Muelhausen of DAZN this week, the RAW Superstar was asked what
he still wants to do in the ring before retiring, and has one opponent on his mind: “I want Edge. I feel like it’s one of the last dream
matches I have left. And the fact that it wasn’t possible a couple of years ago due to him not being cleared, its something I really want.”
Styles added that if this match does happen, then it should be at WrestleMania, and has spoke in the past about how this dream match is close to happening.
With WrestleMania 57 days away, we’ll have to see if these two lock horns this April, but given Styles’ claims that his most recent contract will be his last as
a in-ring worker, the clock is ticking on this dream match.
Back to the present, as RK-Bro have proven to be a highlight of WWE TV over the past year, and continue to entertain fans on a weekly basis.
RK-Bro are one of the very few tag-teams to have received consistent booking, and have proven to be of special interest to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
Speaking on Mark Andrews’ show ‘My Love Letter to Wrestling’ Matt Riddle discussed how RK-Bro came about, and how it was the boss who realised their
potential when no-one else did. He explained: Teaming with Randy Orton, it was supposed to be one time. He was supposed to turn on me on night
one. Then Vince liked it so much, he was like, ‘Are you guys willing to see if this works?’ I was like, ‘ Yeah.’ We love working together.”
Had McMahon not changed plans, the landscape of RAW would be a much different place right now, and though there will eventually come a time when
two do split, WWE is now fully on-board with the popular former RAW Tag Team Champions.
And we’re ending today with Killer Kross, formerly Karrion Kross in WWE, who became a free agent this week.
With no 90-day non-compete clause to deal with, Kross is now free to work anywhere he wants, and it’s been confirmed that he’ll be returning to MAW.
During recent TV teasers, an hourglass has been featured, and sources have confirmed that this is indeed building to Kross’ return to the company.
Kross has had just two matches with MLW, winning both in February 2020, but the two time former NXT Champion is now set to have
a much bigger impression when he heads back to the promotion.