NEWS

Some people don’t stick around. AEW has built a large roster of wrestlers over its history with a variety of talent from around the world. As a result, the company is able to showcase different kinds of wrestling with stars of differing levels of experience. There are several names who are still gaining experience, but now one of them is officially gone from the company.
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According to Fightful Select, AQA has officially been removed from the AEW roster page as her contract with the company has expired. This comes after AQA announced in July 2022 that she was stepping away from wrestling. There is nothing to suggest any hard feelings between AQA and AEW. AQA only wrestled seven matches for AEW, as well as a handful of matches for NXT under the name Zayda Ramier.
There isn’t much to remember of her. Check out some of AQA’s time in wrestling:
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Working on it? Eight months ago, Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out on WWE, resulting in the Women’s Tag Team Titles being vacated. While Banks has moved on to New Japan Pro Wrestling under the name Mercedes Mone, Naomi has yet to make an appearance in wrestling. Now we know some more details about Naomi’s current WWE status and how things were going before she left.
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Fightful Select has more details on Naomi’s WWE departure and current status. Naomi is reportedly still in contact with WWE and according to one “higher-up” in the company, it is expected that she will return to the company at some point. When Naomi originally left, her contract with WWE was set to expire, with both sides being interested in a new deal. Naomi is said to have been likely to sign the biggest money contract of her career.
Naomi was a star while she was around. Check out some of her time in WWE:
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The roster grows. WWE has a roster with enough talent to fill up three weekly television shows, but those wrestlers have to be kept moving. At some point the roster is going to get a bit stale and needs some fresh blood, which is why WWE also brings in fresh talent every so often. Now they are doing that again, this time from other sports outside of professional wrestling.
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PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE has signed two new stars to NXT. First is Alexis Gray, who was a track and field star at Texas Southern University, where she earned a degree in biology. Second is Ezekiel Balogun, a 6’6 former basketball player from the University of North Florida. There is no word on when either of them will officially start training at the Performance Center.
The two of them will have good training facilities. Check out the Performance Center:
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That makes sense. One of the big stories coming out of Raw this week was the announcement that Cody Rhodes will be making his official return to WWE at the Royal Rumble. While some have thought that he should have been a surprise entrant, some insight has been given as to why this was not the case.
According to a tweet from WrestleVotes:
Asked a source the reasoning behind Cody’s Rumble return being announced as opposed to a surprise…
Source said it’s twofold, one being that nearly everyone expected it to happen already & two, source states they are “more than pleased” w/ the other surprises that are lined up.
Asked a source the reasoning behind Cody’s Rumble return being announced as opposed to a surprise…
Source said it’s twofold, one being that nearly everyone expected it to happen already & two, source states they are “more than pleased” w/ the other surprises that are lined up.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) January 19, 2023
Rhodes has been out of action since Hell in a Ce..

That’s a big one. Vince McMahon is back in charge of WWE and that has led to a string of questions about what is coming next. No one is quite sure about where things are going in the future, but there is also the question of a variety of issues from McMahon past. Now though, he has wrapped up at least one of them with the help of his rather large bank account.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: It Was A Great Ride: WWE Hall Of Famer Parts Ways With Company
According to the Wall Street Journal, McMahon has agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement with former WWE referee Rita Chatterton, who has accused McMahon of raping her in a limousine in 1986. McMahon’s lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, said that still denies the charges and settled with Chatterton to avoid the cost of a trial. There is no word on the exact amount paid, but it is said to be a lump sum followed by annual payments. This is the latest in a string of such payments to women who have accused McMahon of sexual misconduct.
Payoffs have a h..

It was a great run. There are certain wrestlers who are successes in the ring, but also know how wrestling works. There is something about them that lets them understand wrestling better than others and it makes sense for a wrestling promotion to keep them around after their in-ring career is over. That was the case with a WWE Hall of Famer, but now the two sides are parting.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WATCH: WWE Legend Backstage At AEW Dynamite
WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley has announced that he and WWE have parted ways. Dudley had been working for WWE as a producer in NXT since retiring from the ring in 2016. There is no word on why the two sides split, though there is nothing to suggest that Dudley was fired or that the decision was anything less than amicable. Dudley thanked WWE and various higher ups, along with Jesus for giving him the chance to do his work. He did not say anything about what he would be doing next.
I would like to say thank you to everyone out there Who has supp..

To the other side. There have been all kinds of wrestlers over the years and a good number of them have wrestled in WWE at some point. The names who have wrestled for WWE are often far better known than most other stars, as WWE is the most viewed promotion in the world. It can mean a little something when one of its former stars goes elsewhere, and that is the case for at least one name.
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As shown in Renee Paquette’s Instagram stories, Danielle Moinet, formerly known as Summer Rae during her time in WWE, was backstage at this week’s AEW Dynamite in Fresno, California. There is no word on why she was there or if she filmed any content for the company. Moinet was also backstage at Monday Night Raw earlier this month. She last appeared in the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble.
It’s always cool to see her around. Check out the video, plus some of her time in WWE:
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They need the help. We are coming up on the Royal Rumble and that means things are going to get rather complicated rather quickly. The show will feature two matches with sixty people between the two of them and that is going to require a bunch of people working together. Some of those people will be behind the scenes and now WWE might be bringing in outside help for the show.
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According to Fightful Select, independent wrestler Jason Cade is being brought in to help produce the women’s Royal Rumble match. Cade is said to have comprehensive experience, which would be valuable for a match like this. There is no word on if he could be hired as a WWE producer full time or if this should be seen as a tryout of some kind. Cade has wrestled for every major American promotion, including some appearances for WWE.
The match has a lot to deliver. Check out some moments of women’s Royal Rumbles pas..

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net. It could be anything from modern WWE to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
Royal Rumble 2017
Date: January 29, 2017
Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 52,020
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, David Otunga, Tom Phillips
It’s kind of amazing how much this show has been forgotten in just about a year. Other than AJ Styles vs. John Cena, I can barely remember a single thing about this show. I know who won the Rumble and who were some of the bigger stars in the match but the rest is kind of a blur, which isn’t a good s..

They have something to say about it. WWE is in the biggest state of upheaval in its history and it all centers around Vince McMahon returning to the company for the expressed intent of selling it off. That is the kind of thing that would completely rock the industry and it is going to change a lot of lives. Now some people involved with those lives have something to say about what is going on.
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According to Sportico, the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System have fired a lawsuit against Vince McMahon, attempting to prevent McMahon from taking over the Board Of Directors. The lawsuit claims that McMahon breached his fiduciary duties by trying to “impose his personal will on WWE and it’s ‘board’”. It also refers to McMahon’s return to the company as a “corrupt and unlawful dealing” following the Board Of Directors’ previous decision to not reinstate McMahon. There is no word on when th..

That wouldn’t have worked. The wrestling world was rocked this week by the shocking death of Jay Briscoe at age 38 in a car accident. The news broke on Tuesday and since then, all kinds of tributes and memories have been posted online by wrestlers and wrestling fans. Thankfully something like this does not happen often, but it turns out that it caused a big change to a wrestling show as well.
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According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com, Briscoe’s death caused a planned segment on this week’s NXT to be changed. The original plans called for Pretty Deadly to hold a funeral for New Day, but the news of Briscoe’s passing caused New Day and WWE executive Shawn Michaels to scrap the idea. In addition, Michaels made the call for commentator Vic Joseph to mention Briscoe during the broadcast.
There was a planned NXT segment tonight where New Day would hold a “funeral” for Pretty Deadly's title shot. When word of Jay Bri..

They’re on the other team. There are all kinds of wrestlers on the AEW roster and sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of everyone. Occasionally a wrestler needs to do something to mix it up a little bit, some of which involves changing from one side to another. That was the case this week, but in this case it was a pair of wrestlers instead of just one.
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This week on AEW Dynamite, Toni Storm defeated Willow Nightingale, partially due to a distraction by Saraya. After the match, Storm and Saraya attacked Nightingale, turning heel in the process. Nightingale’s occasional partner Ruby Soho ran in for the save. The turn marks the first time that either Saraya or Storm have been a villain during their time in AEW.
There are some interesting stars in this. Check out some of the people involved:
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