NEWS

Wrestle Kingdom XVI Night Two
Date: January 5, 2022
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 6,379
Commentators: Chris Charlton, Kevin Kelly
It’s the second of three nights of this show and this one feels like the biggest. Last night’s main event saw Kazuchika Okada win the IWGP World Title again, which leaves him ready for his first defense against Will Ospreay. The second biggest match on the card is Kenta defending the United States Title against Hiroshi Tanahashi in a No DQ match, which could be a heck of a fight. Let’s get to it.
Pre-Show: Togi Makabe/Yuji Nagata/Tomoaki Honma vs. Bullet Club That would be Bad Luck Fale, Gedo and Jado for the Club. The Club jumps them to start but Jado and Gedo are knocked to the floor to start. Fale is fine enough to run Honma over though and the good guys are in trouble early. Honma is sent outside and Makabe gets taken into the corner with Jado standing on his chest.
Gedo and Fale take Jado’s place but Makabe fights up and brings Nagat..

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 10, 2022
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We are less than three weeks away from the Royal Rumble and the show is starting to come together. It seems that we have a pair of World Title matches and a good number of names set for both Royal Rumble matches. There are still some things that need to be done though and some of that should be taken care of tonight. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Brock Lesnar becoming WWE Champion at Day One and Bobby Lashley becoming #1 contender last week.
Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, with Bobby Lashley and MVP watching backstage. The Hurt Business comes up to Lashley and are glad to have the team back together. Lashley says not so fast because he works alone, with MVP nodding in agreement. Back in the arena, Heyman does the intro and Lesnar is happy to be here.
Cue Lashley and MVP to interrupt and the staredowns are on. MVP ha..

That explains the delay. Wrestlers are very impressive athletes in that they are asked to go out in the ring on a regular basis and put in quite a bit of effort. That is the kind of thing that can make for some difficult issues as you are going to see some people get banged up. It seems to have taken place again, as a rather important WWE star has been out of action with an injury.
During a recent interview on the Out Of Character podcast, Rick Boogs revealed that Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is currently out of action with a hand injury. Nakamura last wrestled a singles match at Survivor Series on November 21 and has only wrestled a pair of tag team matches since, both of which took place in December. There is no word on when Nakamura will return to the ring, where he is expected to face #1 contender Sami Zayn.
Nakamura is great when he can be in the ring. Check out what he can do when he is healthy:
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It’s a different side of him. There are certain wrestlers who instantly make an impact and become the biggest stars around almost instantly. That is the case with Roman Reigns in WWE today, as he has taken over SmackDown and not looked back. Reigns has been the top villain on the show for a long time now, but there are times when he mixes it up a bit. That was the case this weekend.
WWE held a live event in Boston, Massachusetts over the weekend, with Reigns teaming with the Usos to defeat Big E. and the Viking Raiders in the main event. After the match, Reigns thanked the fans for coming out during the Coronavirus pandemic. He wanted everyone to stay safe so they could see them at another show. Reigns thanked the fans again and said goodnight.
This is pretty cool to see. Check out what Reigns said and some more of his great recent moments:
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Opinion: This..

That’s a big change. We are less than two months away from WrestleMania 38 and the show’s main event has not quite started to take shape. You can start to see some pieces coming together, but there is still enough time to make some big adjustments. That very well may be the case, as there could be some major changes involving both of the world titles.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is still planning to have Brock Lesnar defend a World Title against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38, but the specifics of the plan may be changing. The original plan called for Lesnar to defend the Universal Title against Reigns, but now Lesnar is the WWE Champion. This may result in Reigns losing the Universal Title to Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble, leaving Reigns to challenge Lesnar for the WWE Title at WrestleMania.
They definitely have a history. Check out Lesnar vs. Reigns over the years:
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Not so fast? The wrestling world has been changing at a rapid pace over the last few years and those changes seem to be continuing into the new year. That can make for some interesting moves, as it can be fascinating to see wrestlers jump from one promotion to the other. It seems to have happened again twice, but one of the wrestlers has something to say about that.
According to PWInsider.com, Kimber Lee and Brandi Lauren have both left Impact Wrestling. This comes after a segment on the December 30 edition of Impact Wrestling when Su Yung fed their souls to her unborn baby. Neither Lee nor Lauren have appeared since the segment aired. Lee has responded to the report, saying that she is still signed to Impact Wrestling.
Nope…. Still signed. ?????? https://t.co/dlFJ5tJ6rB
— Kimber Lee ? (@Kimber_Lee90) January 8, 2022
Ummmmmm no….. I’m still Signed. Nice try though ??????? https://t.co/XfILyeoRyn
— Kimber Lee ? (@Kimber_Lee90) January 8, 2022
It would be nice to keep them around. ..

This could be the start of something big. The wrestling world has been changing in a lot of different ways over the last several months, with one of the biggest changes being the end of the original Ring of Honor. The promotion let all of its contracted workers go, meaning they are now available to work elsewhere. A large group of them might have found a new home, and now we might know something more about them.
This weekend, Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay per view included an invasion by a group of former Ring of Honor wrestlers. Matt Taven, Vincent, PCO, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis all appeared, with all but Kanellis attacking Eddie Edwards, Rhino, Heath, Rich Swann and Willie Mack. According to PWInsider.com, neither Taven, Vincent, PCO nor Bennett are currently under contract to Ring of Honor. Kanellis’ contract status is unclear but she will be part of the group in Impact Wrestling.
It was a big moment. Check out who is coming to Impact Wrestling:
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They make a great team. There are certain pairings in wrestling that just work better than others. Some of them get your attention no matter what they are doing because they are just that good at what they do. You don’t get to see them very often these days, but there is still one prominent team around, and now WWE is giving their history some extra attention.
Last week’s edition of Monday Night Raw saw Paul Heyman reunite with his client, the new WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. This marks another pairing of the two, who have worked together on and off since Lesnar debuted in 2002. As a result, WWE is looking back at the Top 10 Lesnar and Heyman moments, which include various entries from throughout their history together, ranging from Lesnar’s WWE debut to earlier this year.
The video is quite the tribute. Check out the top 10, plus some more in-depth moments:
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That would have been a different way to go. We are less than three months away from WrestleMania 38 and that means it should long past the point where WWE knows the card. The company needs to start setting things up on the Road To WrestleMania, including what they need to do to get there. That seems to be the case, though it seems that a plan has changed.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the original plan for WrestleMania 38 called for Seth Rollins to defend the WWE Championship. This would have included Rollins winning the WWE Championship at Day One, but Brock Lesnar was added to the match and won instead. There is no word on who Rollins would have defended his title against or what he will be doing at WrestleMania instead.
Rollins has done well at WrestleMania. Check out some of his previous matches at the show:
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Opinion: This could have been in..

It was a historic match. The Women’s Revolution changed women’s wrestling in WWE for good and things have been moving forward since. However, WWE was far from the first promotion to treat women’s wrestling seriously, with Impact Wrestling being one of the leaders in the movement. The company still has some firsts to cover though, and one was checked off the list this weekend.
On Saturday night at Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill, Tasha Steelz won the first ever Knockouts Ultimate X match. According to PWInsider.com, Jordynne Grace and Steelz were the two who mainly pushed for the match but did not know that it was coming until the match was announced on television. In addition, there were no major injuries reported from the match, though all six participants were said to be banged up.
It was certainly a busy match. Check out some of the participants in the first women’s Ultimate X:
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Hard To Kill 2022
Date: January 8, 2022
Location: The Bomb Factory, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, D’Lo Brown
The company is back on pay per view for one of only four times this year. The show has some big matches set, including Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey challenging Moose for the World Title in a three way, plus Knockouts Champion Mickie James defending against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Deathmatch. Let’s get to it.
Pre-Show: Madman Fulton vs. Jake Something Fulton forearms him to the floor to start but can’t hit a chokeslam off the apron. Instead, he settles for knocking Jake into the ring and unloading in the corner. A neckbreaker gets two on Jake and a high crossbody gives Fulton two. Jake fights up in a hurry and clotheslines him outside though, setting up a big dive. Back in and a Batista Bomb gets two but Fulton grabs him by the throat and nips up from the mat. The chokeslam gets two but Fulton tries it again, allowing Jake to slip out. Into the Void gives Jake t..

Dustin Rhodes battled Sammy Guevara for the Interim TNT Championship at AEW Battle of the Belts. The event took place on Saturday, January 8 from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte North Carolina.
Though Rhodes came up short in his bid to become champion, he once again proved his worth to the company. He turned in a performance that hooked the audience and reminded fans of just how good he is. Dustin Rhodes has found the fountain of youth and it was evident in this match.
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Answering the Call Oddly enough, Rhodes had nothing to do with the TNT Championship heading into January 8. For the most part, he works the occasional match on TV and he contributes behind the scenes wherever AEW needs him. But the company doesn’t often feature him in prime main event spots.
However when the time comes to step up, that’s exactly what The Natural does. Dustin Rhodes answered the call to replace his brother Cody in the TNT title match at Battle of the Bel..