NEWS

Get them a star for their door. There are a lot of people on the WWE roster, to the point that they are able to split the American wrestlers into three unique brands. Every now and then those rosters will cross over, which can make for some surprising moments. To make it even weirder, sometimes you see some extra guest stars. That was the case this week in a big way.
This week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured six guest stars, either from another brand or legends making an appearance on the show. The show opened with Monday Night Raw’s Seth Rollins interrupting the Bloodline’s segment, which resulted in a tag team match being set for later in the night. Rollins’ partner would be Monday Night Raw’s Kevin Owens, with the team defeating the Usos in the main event. Later in the show, Big E. accompanied Kofi Kingston to the ring for his victory over Madcap Moss.
There were also various legends appearing throughout the show. First, Summer Rae was shown in the crowd before Aliyah defeated..

Who was that again? As is the case in almost any other job, wrestlers often move from one employer to another. In this case, wrestlers jump from promotion to promotion, which can make for some interesting moves. Some of these are a lot more interesting than others, but it can be fascinating to see where someone winds up. It can be an even bigger deal to hear them referenced again, and that was the case this week.
This week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured a confrontation between Seth Rollins and the Bloodline. During the segment, Rollins and Roman Reigns argued back and forth, with Rollins referencing the pair’s time in the Shield. Rollins said that the Usos were holding Reigns up, “just like Mox and I held you up during the Shield.” This was a rare reference to Dean Ambrose under his AEW name of Jon Moxley. In a related note, Moxley returned to the ring for the first time since October this week on AEW Rampage.
Opinion: That is one of those situations that doesn’t mean very much ..

The others aren’t happy. While the rise of streaming has changed the way wrestling is viewed, the primary means of seeing a wrestling show is still on television. Networks pay a good deal of money to air the shows every week and a network gaining a contract is quite the big deal. Now one of the companies that airs a wrestling show is not happy with another promotion altogether.
Last week, WWE issued a statement to the Toronto Star for a story the newspaper was running on WWE vs. AEW. WWE’s comment described a recent AEW match featuring Anna Jay/Tay Conti vs. The Bunny/Penelope Ford as “gory self-mutilation”. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WarnerMedia, which owns TNT and TBS, which air AEW programming, were said to be unhappy with WWE’s quote. WarnerMedia saw it as a personal attack on their company and an attempt to hurt their sales. There is no word on if WarnerMedia will attempt to retaliate and WWE has not said anything else about the situation.
Opinion: This is t..

Maybe later? There are certain wrestling families that will be recognized by almost any fan. Those names have been around forever and there is always a place for them in a wrestling discussion. You can still find several of them today, even on the major weekly wrestling shows. One of those families seemed ready to split, but it might be a little while longer before that takes place.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the long teased split between Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik Mysterio seems to have been abandoned for the time being. It was speculated that the move was postponed due to Rey being the cover athlete for this year’s WWE2K22 video game, as the companies might not want to have a father who is feuding with his son as the focal point. There is no word on if the split could still take place down the line.
Opinion: Assuming the video game is the reason, I understand the thinking here and it might be the better move anyway. Ultimately, I don’t know how much of an..

He might be around more often. The amount of roster changes that NXT has undergone in the last year and a half has been staggering. There are very few people from the previous generation of NXT still around and the few that are are not exactly receiving a lot of attention. Some of them might be in line for a call up though, and now two new names may be joining that list.
According to PWInsider.com, both Roderick Strong and LA Knight were backstage at this week’s SmackDown. As seen on Twitter, the two faced off in a dark match before the show went on the air. This comes just after NXT’s Tommaso Ciampa and Pete Dunne have been working dark matches, as well as matches for WWE Main Event. There is no word on if any of the four will be called up to the main roster.
Opening match in Nashville LA Knight vs Roderick Strong @battlegroundihr pic.twitter.com/dwnZZanqQ3
— BATTLE (@battleonair) January 22, 2022
Knight has been in NXT since 2021 and is a former Million Dollar Champion. Before hi..

The night is you. WWE regularly presents a lot of wrestling in any given week. Some of this is better than others, but there is so much content every week that it can be easy to forget some of it. The interesting part is that there is even more that fans at home do not get to see. That was the case again this week as a huge match took place after the cameras stopped rolling.
As seen on Twitter, there was a six man tag team match after this week’s edition of SmackDown went off the air. Following the show, the team of Big E., Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens defeated the Bloodline. This was an extension of the show’s main event, which saw Rollins and Owens defeat the Usos when Roman Reigns interfered. Big E. had appeared earlier in the night, accompanying Kofi Kingston to the ring for his match with Madcap Moss.
Big E, Seth Rollins, & Kevin Owens vs Bloodline in the dark match. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/CspPUgyYJo
— Tennessee Revolver (@TNRevolver) January 22, 2022
Roman was Curb Stompe..

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..