NEWS

That could slow things down a bit. Injuries are the kind of things that can cause problems for anyone in wrestling at any given time. There is no way to guarantee that someone is going to be able to stay healthy, no matter how careful or skilled they may be. Sometimes these things just happen, either over time or all at once. That is the case again with a current popular star.
According to PWInsider.com, AEW star Eddie Kingston is suffering from an undisclosed injury, which will force him out of action for a few weeks. As a result, Kingston will be missing his scheduled match at this week’s The WRLD On GCW event. Kingston does not currently have a match scheduled on AEW television, though he has been feuding with Daniel Garcia and 2.0 in recent weeks.
Kingston made his AEW debut on July 22, 2020 and has become one of the more popular stars in the company. He has feuded with Jon Moxley, CM Punk and more, including challenging Moxley for the AEW World Title. Kingston has been turned in..

That makes it official. For the last several years, WWE has had a business relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company has run a series of shows in the country, often as twice a year specials. These shows have been rather big events, with some stacked cards featuring huge matches. WWE is heading back soon and now we know more about their plans.
WWE has announced that they will be returning to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, February 19. The event will feature the debut of the Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia, though there is no word on the names who will be included or what will be on the line in the match. WWE usually runs an Elimination Chamber event, with the show taking place in February most of the time. Nothing else has been announced for the show, which will be WWE’s first event in Saudi Arabia since October.
Opinion: This isn’t exactly a big surprise and it is nice to have the match combined into the Saudi Arabia event instead of having to run two shows in a month..

Sign him up. The wrestling world has changed a lot in recent years, with the rise of AEW being the main cause. The new promotion has allowed for several changes, including a new place for wrestlers to go. Several wrestlers have moved over to the company, which started with a rather talented core of wrestlers. Now though, one of them does not have a contract with the company.
According to Fightful Select, AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes is currently working without a contract, making him a free agent. Rhodes’ deal expired at the end of 2021, meaning that his deal was different than some of the company’s original three year contracts. Rhodes is still an Executive Vice President with the company and there is nothing to suggest that he will be leaving AEW anytime soon.
Opinion: I cannot imagine Rhodes going anywhere, as he is one of the founding fathers of AEW and someone who has been pushed rather hard since the company was founded. AEW certainly seems comfortable with keeping him at this ..

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 17, 2022
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We are less than two weeks away from the Royal Rumble and that means it is time for the card to be finalized. Last week saw Doudrop become the #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Title in what should at least be a fresh match. Other than that, we could use some more names being added to the namesake matches. Let’s get to it.
Here is Becky Lynch to get things going. She knows the Royal Rumble is coming up and it is time for some big names to come back for the Big Time. People like Lita, Mickie James and the Bella Twins are here, but for now, it is time to deal with Doudrop. Last week, Becky got Doudrop her title shot, which is what she does. That’s the only way Doudrop could get her shot, but here is Doudrop to say she got everything on her own. Becky says follow her lead and you could win tonight. Cue Bianca Belair doing her dance and saying she’s in the Ru..

It would be a welcome return. There are all kinds of wrestlers on the WWE roster and some of them are quite popular. One of the best things about having such a talented group of wrestlers is being able to see who shows up on any given week. It can be fascinating to see what you get, especially if one of them is a nice surprise. We might be seeing another one of them soon.
Asuka has not wrestled on WWE television since Money in the Bank 2021 back in July. Since then, she had been seen in a photo with her arm in a metal brace, suggesting that she was on the injured list. According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Wrestling Podcast, Asuka could be back in WWE at any time as she should be cleared to return soon. There is no specific date given on when she will be back.
Asuka debuted in NXT in 2015 and won the NXT Title in April 2016, holding the title for over a year and never being defeated for it. She would vacate the championship due to an injury after a 522 day reign before moving up ..

They’re sticking around. The WWE roster has been in a huge state of change over the last year and a half and a lot of those changes have been surprises. Names that you might not have expected to leave have been let go or moved on and the question becomes who is leaving next. That question came up again recently, but it does not seem to be a threat this time around.
According to Fightful Select, there is “plenty of time” left on the Street Profits’ WWE contracts. This comes after some confusion over their status, as their deals had been described as running “at least through 2021”. The team also missed some episodes of Monday Night Raw, though this was reportedly due to Montez Ford being banged up. The team appeared on last week’s Monday Night Raw.
Opinion: It’s great to see that the team is sticking around, though it doesn’t seem like they were in any danger of leaving lately anyway. The Street Profits are one of the better teams going today and there is a chance that they could wind..

Not so fast. The Royal Rumble is in less than two weeks and that means we are going to be able to see some of the most important matches of the year in WWE. The show’s namesake matches are going to help set up this year’s WrestleMania 38 and the women’s field has some interesting entrants. One of them, in addition to a recent rumor, had some people speculating about something bigger, but it does not seem likely.
Earlier this week, a rumor broke that WWE was considering bringing in a male wrestler from another promotion, known as opening the Forbidden Door, for the Royal Rumble. Later in the week on SmackDown, WWE presented a look at Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, which included some shots of Dean Ambrose, who now wrestled in AEW under the name Jon Moxley. However, according to Dave Meltzer, this will not be the case and WWE will not be working with AEW on the show. It should be noted that WrestleVotes never mentioned AEW or Moxley.
Opinion: I don’t think this is the biggest surprise,..

And now, the response. WWE and AEW have been rivals since the latter came into existence three years ago. AEW certainly has caught fire since then, with the company going from barely existing to the second biggest promotion in the world today. Both companies present themselves in different ways, and it seems WWE does not care for AEW’s style. Now it is time for AEW to fight back.
Earlier this week, the Toronto Star published an article comparing the two companies. WWE sent in a statement for the article, criticizing AEW’s violent content while promoting its own family friendly content. The statement included a reference to a No DQ match between Tay Conti/Anna Jay vs. the Bunny/Penelope Ford, in which all four bled. Conti, Jay and the Bunny have all sent out photos on Twitter, showcasing the results of the violence in the match.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ? pic.twitter.com/lAw1cm5oVB
— TAYNARA MELO (@TayConti_) January 15, 2022
? pic.twitter.com/wjGyGOL4eQ
— Anna Jay (@annajay___) Januar..

That would do it. Like him or not, there is no one in the wrestling world as powerful as Vince McMahon. The right or wrong take from McMahon can determine where a wrestler’s career goes and there is little that can be done to chance that. These issues are often for the worse and unfortunately that seems to be the case again with one of the more underused WWE stars.
Earlier today, WWE star Mustafa Ali announced that he was requesting his release from the company, saying that he is unable to deliver the message that he wants to deliver while working for the company. According to Fightful Select, Ali has been ready to return to WWE television since the beginning of December, following one week off for the birth of his third child.
Ali had been expected to return with his New America gimmick, which never made air, though Ali did release an unaired promo on Twitter. Instead, McMahon changed his mind and pitched something Ali never would have done, leading to a “heated argument” between th..

Start making your picks. Tournaments are an easy concept in wrestling, as they are all about a group of entrants being cut down to one. That can come in more than a few forms but most of the time, the process can be a lot of fun. WWE has had its fair share of tournaments over the years and now we know the field for one of its longer running and more fun events.
WWE has released the brackets for the 2022 men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The annual tournament will begin this week on NXT and features eight teams. As is traditionally the case, the winners will receive a future shot at the Tag Team Titles. There is no word on when the title match will take place or when the finals will be held. Here are this year’s brackets:
MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter)
Jacket Time (Kushida & Ikemen Jiro)
Malik Blade & Edris Enofé
Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza)
Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs
The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed)
Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drak..

His vision his elsewhere. Earlier today, WWE superstar Mustafa Ali sent a tweet out requesting that he be released from the company.
The tweet featured a short video, with the following message: “I have a message that is much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling. Despite my best efforts, I will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE. Therefore, I am requesting my release from WWE.”
i am requesting my release from wwe pic.twitter.com/Q1QP8SA5zV
— Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) January 16, 2022
Ali has had a career of ups and downs in WWE. He has been with the company since 2016, beginning on 205 Live, eventually making his way to the main roster in 2018 as a member of Smackdown. He would eventually become the leader of the stable Retribution in 2020, before feuding with Mansoor in the later part of 2021.
We will continue to monitor this story and provide updates as they become available to us.
Editor’s Opinion:
I honestly don’t blame Mustafa Ali for want..

Acknowledge him. It’s no secret that for several years, Roman Reigns has been a main fixture of WWE programming and has been featured in many prominent storylines. He has made history in several categories, and as of today, has done that one more time.
Today, Sunday, January 16, 2022, marks Reigns’ 504th day as the Universal Champion. This officially makes him him the longest reigning Universal Champion in history. This ran began at the Payback 2020 pay-per-view, when he defeated Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat match.
History-making. Record-breaking.@WWERomanReigns is officially the longest-reigning #UniversalChampion at 5??0??4?? days and counting.
Acknowledge the ??. pic.twitter.com/yao4srTPIR
— WWE (@WWE) January 16, 2022
From WWE.com:
This Sunday marked Reigns’ 504th day as the Universal Champion, surpassing Brock Lesnar’s previous record of 503 days from 2017-2018 which came to an end at the hands of none other than The Head of The Table himself.
After maki..