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That might be next. One of the most exciting things to see in wrestling is a return, as someone coming back to a company can be quite the game changer. Someone might have to leave for one reason or another but then their comeback can allow for something fresh to start up. This time around, it wasn’t so much something fresh as much as it was picking up where they left off.
This week’s AEW Rampage featured the in-ring return of Jon Moxley, following his return to television on this week’s Dynamite. Moxley defeated Ethan Page and then left the ring, where he ran into Bryan Danielson, who was also making his return to television. Danielson mockingly applauded Moxley, who left without incident. The two had been possibly set to meet in the finals of the #1 contenders tournament at Full Gear 2021 before Moxley took a hiatus to attend rehab.
Opinion: This is a good example of picking up where you left off, as these two seemed all but destined for a showdown at Full Gear. That would have been..

Rampage
Date: January 21, 2022
Location: Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Excalibur, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho, Taz
We’re coming off a not so great Dynamite but we have another special moment this week as Jon Moxley is getting back in the ring. It was a great feeling to see him back on Wednesday and now it’s time to show that he still has it in the ring. From just a wrestling perspective, it’s a relief that he wasn’t gone that long so he shouldn’t have much ring rust. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Jon Moxley vs. Ethan Page Scorpio Sky is here with Page, who shoves Moxley down to start. Moxley kicks him in the ribs and elbows Page in the face to take over, setting up some shots to the face in the corner. Back up and Page knocks him outside, only to be sent hard into the barricade. Page goes intellectual and starts taking out Moxley’s knee, setting up a hanging spinning backbreaker for two back inside. Moxley misses a charge and goes into the post to ma..

Smackdown
Date: January 21, 2022
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole
We have less than two weeks to go before the Royal Rumble and that means it is time to finalize everything else for the show. That can take some effort and hopefully we will be seeing some of it tonight. Odds are a lot of the focus is going to be on Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins so let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s showdown between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, with Rollins having to bail from the Usos.
Here are the Usos to get things going. They are here to acknowledge Roman Reigns, who is now the longest reigning Universal Champion in history. This brings out Reigns, who takes his time getting to the ring. Reigns holds out his hand for Jimmy, who puts the microphone in his hand. After telling Nashville to acknowledge him, we get a highlight package on Reigns’ title reign, including his major title defenses and a count of his days as champion..

It isn’t going well. WWE has shaken NXT all the way to its core and those changes have been more than a bit controversial. The NXT that had been around for years is long gone with NXT 2.0 in its place. That is the kind of thing that does not come lightly and now things have been changed in a pretty huge way. However, those changes might not have gone as well as expected.
The WrestleVotes Twitter account is reporting that the backstage reaction to the launch of NXT 2.0 has not been positive. WWE was expecting more people to be drawn in by the new characters and stars faster than they have been so far. There is no word on if any changes will be made to the format in the near future. NXT 2.0 officially launched on September 14, 2021.
Internally WWE is said to be disappointed w/ NXT 2.0 in its first 4 months. Source said they thought more fans would gravitate towards the newer stars quicker than they have. Could it just be too much, too fast? Either way I don’t expect any changes to the ..

NXT UK
Date: January 20, 2022
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd
We are officially in a new era now as Walter (er, Gunther) is officially gone from NXT UK. I’m not sure how much of a difference that is going to be, but we do have a big match around here this week. The Heritage Cup will be on the line this week as Noam Dar will be defending against former champion A-Kid. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We see some clips of Sam Gradwell trying, and failing, to find a mystery partner to face Pretty Deadly. He even sent tweets to Steve Austin, Elon Musk and Paul McCartney. Gradwell also had to beat up Kenny Williams for laughing at him.
Pretty Deadly vs. Sam Gradwell/???
Gradwell does has a mystery partner in the form of…..Saxon Huxley. Gradwell locks up with Howley to start but can’t get very far. A shoulder sends Howley into the corner for some more success and it’s Stoker tagging himself in for a cheap shot. Gradwell doesn’..

Welcome back one day? The WWE releases that have taken place over the last year and a half have shaken up the wrestling world. That could be a good thing depending on your taste, as several wrestlers have been able to go somewhere else and show a very different side of themselves. One of the higher profile names has done just that but is still interested in a possible WWE return.
Former WWE star Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder, appeared on Busted Open Radio, talking about his time outside of the company. This has included time in Game Changer Wrestling and Impact Wrestling, both of which have featured Cardona in the main event scene. Cardona said that he would consider returning to WWE, though he would refuse to let go of his Major Wrestling Figure podcast with Brian Myers.
Cardona debuted in WWE back in 2007 as half of the Major Brothers with Myers. The two went on to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles before becoming Edge’s lackeys. Edge would go on to win the United Stat..

That might explain a few things. Wrestlers are some of the tougher athletes that you will find in the world today. They are out there almost every single night and trying to entertain the fans, which is a lot harder than it seems. The wrestlers have to work through all kinds of injuries, some of which are a lot more serious than others. This time though, there was an issue before the match that you didn’t see.
This week’s edition of AEW Dynamite featured a match between Lance Archer and Frankie Kazarian. Archer won the match in about ten minutes with Kazarian getting in rather little offense. Kazarian has sent out a tweet from before the match, showing a case of bursitis on his elbow, which had to be drained with a syringe. Despite the injury, Kazarian said he was making no complaints about the match and praised Archer for the win. There is nothing to suggest that Kazarian will miss any ring time.
Two Hours before my match with @LanceHoyt I had a bad case of bursitis and had to have ..

I’d think he has earned it. There are certain wrestlers who do not seem to age no matter how long they have been around. It can make for some amazing moments when they continue to hang in there year after year. That is the case with a few modern legends and another of them turned back the clock again earlier this week. It was good enough for a rather nice treat.
This week’s edition of AEW Dynamite featured a main event of Sting and Darby Allin teaming up to defeat the Acclaimed. Sting wrestled a majority of the match on his own as Allin was attacked before the bell. Following the show, AEW President Tony Khan came to the ring to pay tribute to Sting, talking about how much he loved wrestling and could still do it. Sting spoke as well, talking about Allin and how he felt as good as he did back in 1997. Sting ended the night with his It’s Showtime catchphrase.
It was a great moment. Check out what happened after this week’s Dynamite ended:
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When you watch enough wrestling over the years, at some point you are going to see something that makes your head tilt to the side and your mouth drop open a little bit. Oftentimes these are some of the most memorable things you see, albeit for all the wrong reasons. WWE has a tendency to make a lot more of these decisions that any other promotion and they have done it again, this time in a pretty had way.
Let’s get straight to this. At some point over the last few weeks, WWE filed a trademark application for Gunther Stark, a new wrestling name. The company certainly has a history of coming up with one strange name after another, but this was a bit out there even for them. Then this week on NXT, Walter announced that his new name was Gunther, with the name change being made official the next day. That might seem fine enough as it goes, but there is one major detail:
Gunther Stark is the name of a Nazi U-boat captain who served in World War II.
Now, before we get going, one thing sho..

She might have a new home. There have been a lot of huge shakeups in the wrestling world and quite a few of them have come from WWE’s massive series of releases. WWE has let go all kinds of wrestlers from its main roster and NXT, many of whom have now gone elsewhere. That can make for some surprising moments, another of which might be happening sooner than later.
According to Wrestlinginc.com, AEW is planning to release a Marina Shafir shirt, which has already been announced by Pro Wrestling Tees. While not confirmed, this could suggest that Shafir will be signing with AEW in one way or another. Shafir has wrestled three matches on AEW Dark, starting in December, since her release from WWE on June 25, 2021, along with several other wrestlers.
Shafir is a wrestler and also a former mixed martial artist, including being part of the Four Horsewomen with Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke. She signed with WWE in May 2018 and spent her time with the company in NX, mainly teami..

Just in time. We are less than three months away from WWE’s biggest show of the year with WrestleMania 38. That means WWE needs to have things ready for the two shows, which will include having as much of their roster ready as they can. That is the kind of thing that can be hard to pull off, but it seems that WWE is getting some good news just in time for the show.
According to PWInsider.com, SmackDown’s Drew McIntyre is currently scheduled for the March 25 edition of SmackDown, the next to last edition of the show before WrestleMania 38. McIntyre has been out of action since Day One, when he was written off television by an attack by Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss. This was done to allow McIntyre to heal his neck, which has been damaged for several months. There is no word on what McIntyre will be doing at WrestleMania.
Opinion: It is great to have McIntyre back and they are nailing the timing here. Above all else, it is nice to see McIntyre getting his chance for a special moment in ..

That could be worse. An injury can be a terrible thing in wrestling for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, you never want to see someone get hurt in any way. Second, you never want to see someone have to miss time from the ring. Unfortunately it can happen to anyone and it has happened again to a very popular star. Now we know a bit more about his recovery time.
Last week, it was reported that AEW’s Eddie Kingston suffered an injury and would be on the shelf for a little while. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Kingston should be out for around three weeks, which will put him back in action in early February. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kingston is recovering from a fractured orbital bone, though it is not clear how or when he suffered the injury.
Opinion: The good news out of this is that the injury should not take too long to heal. While a fractured bone is a bad situation, it could have been a lot worse and Kingston is rather lucky to have it not been m..