Jay White made his AEW debut on Dynamite last night in a backstage segment with Adam Cole and the Young Bucks. Tony Khan would later post to social media that the deal to bring him in was only secured on Sunday. This was after Khan and AEW announced that there would be a big announcement made on this week’s Dynamite.

Khan said that he may have used the term “Forbidden Door” incorrectly, and this left fans assuming someone from another promotion was being brought in rather than a new signing. Evidently, Khan decided to bring in White in addition to Keith Lee to ensure these fans were satisfied.

Khan wrote:

“I didn’t secure @JayWhiteNZ until Sunday. I realized after the fact that Friday night I butchered my own definition of Forbidden Door in hyping tonight. I heard the fans’ feedback, & wanted to ensure that tonight was a special #AEWDynamite for all. Thank you everyone who watched!”

Khan’s original promise is below:

In storyline, Adam Cole brought in Jay White without mentioning this to the Young Bucks. He did the same thing with Kyle O’Reilly and just isn’t checking in with them before doing stuff. Cole also mentioned that they made an oath that they were Bullet Club 4-life. The Young Bucks, however, were concerned that White and Kenny Omega were once rivals. A Bullet Club vs Elite storyline in AEW seems imminent.

Keith Lee made his AEW debut last night on Dynamite. He is the 5th former NXT Champion to have signed with the promotion. Lee defeated Isiah Kassidy and earned a spot in the Face of the Revolution ladder match in the process.

Lee joins Malakai Black, Adam Cole, Andrade el Idolo, and PAC as former NXT Champions now with AEW.

With WWE’s rebrand of NXT to NXT 2.0, many wrestlers who do not fit the mold of what WWE wants on its main roster have been released or who left of their own accord.

Former NXT Champions In WWE

PAC – The former Neville in WWE has been with AEW since the beginning. Neville voluntarily left WWE in 2018. Currently, he’s a member of Death Triangle and involved in a feud with the stable of another former NXT Champion now in AEW.

Malakai Black – The former Aleister Black in WWE was released on June 2nd, 2021. Due to only having a 30-day non-compete clause, Black debuted for AEW the following month. He is a 11-2 in the promotion overall and has been spewing black mist in the face of many. That mist seems to be having a big effect on people.

Andrade el Idolo – Andrade requested and was granted his release from WWE in March of 2021. He made his debut in AEW on June 4th, 2021. He has a 10-4 record in the promotion thus far and appears to be entering a rivalry with Darby Allin and Sting as he had been attempting to get Darby to work for him.

Adam Cole – Adam Cole left WWE after TakeOver 36 as his contract with the promotion ran out. While attempts were made by WWE to re-sign him, Cole left for AEW and debuted at the end of the All Out PPV last fall. He is still undefeated in the promotion and at the end of last night’s Dynamite let it be known he wants the next shot at Hangman Page’s AEW World Championship.

Other Former NXT Champions Available

On top of the 5 former NXT Champions now in NXT, several more are currently free agents.

Samoa Joe – WWE released Samoa Joe in April 2021 and he signed a new deal with NXT shortly after. He was then released from that contract on January 6th, 2022. Joe is a 3x NXT Champion.

Killer Kross – Karrion Kross is a former 2x NXT Champion and was released from WWE on November 4th, 2021. His is now a free agent as his 90-days non-compete period has expired.

Johnny Gargano – Gargano’s contract with WWE expired in December and he opted not to return. The former NXT Champion is free to show up wherever he wants currently but the belief is he is taking time away for the birth of his child.

Bo Dallas: Bo Dallas was released from his contract in April last year after having been with the company for 13 years. He was the 3rd ever NXT Champion.

There have been a total of 19 NXT Champions in history:

• 10 are still with WWE: Bron Breakker, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Robert Roode, Seth Rollins, Tommaso Ciampa, Big E, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn.
• 5 are signed to AEW: Keith Lee, Andrade el Idolo, PAC, Malakai Black, Adam Cole.
• 4 are free agents: Killer Kross, Samoa Joe, Johnny Gargano, Bo Dallas.

Tony Khan recently addressed potential roster cuts in AEW. Khan was speaking with TV Insider when he noted that some more wrestlers will likely not have their contracts renewed by the company.

“When we started a lot of people had contracts that were a couple of years long and a lot of them are coming up,” Khan said. “I have really tried hard to be very considerate of the people on the roster, especially going through the pandemic. That encompassed a long period of time where we were still in our first year of television and going into our second.”

Wrestlers Kept Under Contract During The Pandemic

Khan said he didn’t want to release anyone during the pandemic. He says this was because he knew it would be difficult for them to get work elsewhere during that time.

“I kept a lot of people under contract even though I wasn’t necessarily using them on television because I wanted them to still have paying work, which was hard to come by for wrestling during the pandemic where there weren’t any independent shows. Really only two places were running and the other place was cutting people left and right.”

Several new names have joined the promotion lately. This has led to others on the roster not being utilized as frequently. Ultimately, those not being utilized may not have their contracts renewed by the promotion.

“I did want to give some job security to people,” Khan continued.”Now with so many wrestlers coming in, I can’t renew all the contracts. I’ve had to make some tough choices based on ability, fan response, or both. I try to maintain the best roster I can for the company and fans.”

Lio Rush’s contract with AEW runs out on February 14th and he has announced he will be a free agent after. Peter Avalon’s contract was not renewed. Big Swole’s contract was also not renewed. Others that have been talked about as possibly not getting renewed include Brian Cage and Joey Janela, though that is just speculation.

Tony Khan believes that tonight’s AEW Dynamite will satisfy a lot of fans. He was a guest on today’s episode of Busted Open Radio and noted that he’s changed course from what he had originally planned and believes he’s made the show even better.

“I am going to try to satisfy a lot of fans tonight, I had a lot of thoughts over the weekend on what that means. I pivoted some plans in the last few days in a good way to make tonight’s show even better,” Khan said to Busted Open.

Perhaps the most notable part of the show being promoted is the debut of a new signing. The new signee will face Isiah Kassidy in a qualifying match for the Face of the Revolution ladder match. Khan said that the new signing is a “major one” for the company.

The new signing is only one aspect of the show that Khan believes will satisfy fans, however. Some of those things have not been announced yet.

“There’s a lot of fun things already announced & then there’s more things we’re gonna do that we have not announced yet,” Khan continued to say about tonight’s broadcast.

He wouldn’t go into detail regarding what those “fun things” are, however.

“I don’t want to get too specific to say exactly what’s going to happen, but it’s going to be a great night for the fans. I promise there’s definitely one surprise, and I think there’ll be some other really fun stuff along the way too,” Khan said.

“It’s because I listen to the fans and their voice and what they want to see. There’s a lot to look forward to on this show,” Khan continued..

Tony Khan Says This Won’t Be A “Higher Power” Moment

In reference to the infamous “Higher Power” angle from the Attitude Era, Tony Khan said tonight’s surprise will not disappoint the fans.

“I remember when I was a kid and the higher power turned out to be Vince, that was very disappointing because at school we had spent so much time speculating who it might be & I think our big fear is that it was just going to be Vince. So I don’t want that to happen here,” Tony Khan said to PW Insider.

AEW Dynamite 2/9

AEW has only announced two matches for tonight’s show. In addition to the new signing facing Isiah Kassidy, the world title will be on the line in a Texas Deathmatch between champion Hangman Page and challenger, Lance Archer. Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle are also scheduled to have something of a team meeting as well.

H/T to F4WOnline and @WrestlePurists for the above transcriptions

Joey Janela’s contract with AEW runs through April 30th. Despite rumors that Janela will not be re-signed by the company, the Bad Boy is hopeful to remain All Elite.

Janela appeared on Barstool’s Rasslin podcast this week and told Brandon Walker, “4/30 my contract is up, April 30th, I don’t know what the f**k is going on.”

When asked if he thinks AEW will renew contract, Janela is keeping an optimistic outlook. “I think it will,” said Janela. “If it doesn’t I look like a f**king idiot right now.”

Janela has been with AEW since January 2019. Tonight’s AEW Dynamite takes place from his hometown of Atlantic City, so it will be interesting to see if and how he’s used.

Joey Janela on The WRLD on GCW

Janela also addressed GCW’s PPV from The Hammerstein Ballroom, the WRLD On GCW. He was defeated by Matt Cardona on the show.

GCW’s first pay-per-view was plagued by timing issues. Several of the top matches were rushed due to poor planning. The main event featuring the Briscoes taking on Matt Tremont and Nick Gage was cut to under 6 minutes.

“I don’t think the show was timed correctly,” Janela said. “I don’t think they added in the time for the video packages and stuff.”

“We had to be off at 11 but that’s been the problem when people first start doing the PPV thing. Barely Legal, All In, it’s just a part of history now. We are just in that realm of rushing to the finish line.”

Joey Janela’s full appearance on Rasslin’ can be viewed below.

If you use any of the above transcriptions please credit Rasslin’ with Brandon Walker with a H/T to SEScoops for the transcriptions.

NXT UK’s Candy Floss is no longer a member of the roster. She posted to social media recently to state that her contract with WWE has now expired. Candy Floss has not wrestled since 2019. Her statement is below.

“In May 2019, I lost my mum to cancer. Then in January 2020 I signed with NXT UK,” she began her statement (grammatically edits have been made.).

“Unfortunately, my dream career with WWE got put on hold when, during the pandemic, I was diagnosed with severe PTSD and anxiety because of the trauma I experienced witnessing my favourite person, my mum, fight for her life. I decided I needed to put my mental health first and WWE couldn’t have been more supportive. In December 2021, my contract with WWE expired. It is very sad for me as I wish my journey with WWE didn’t have to end like this as I’ve worked so hard to get signed. I just want to say thank you to WWE for dealing with me so well as I know it’s not an easy situation, I’m very grateful for it all.”

“From fighting in the ring nearly every day, I found myself being in the biggest fight with my mental health. On a positive note, I am doing so much better! My dream isn’t over, life just decided to be very unfair (not so sweet) towards me. Hopefully, I will be back in the ring again sometime soon and hurt my 90-year-old back again.”

“Thank you to everybody for supporting me!”

Floss announced last summer that she was on leave from the company. The 22-year-old was trained by the Progress Wrestling Dojo before signing with WWE.

During last night’s WWE NXT 2.0, there were times when a camera operator was standing directly in the ring during a match. The performers would work around them as they wrestled. According to a report from PW Insider, this is something the company is experimenting with.

“Several readers who are at tonight’s WWE NXT taping have sent word (and photos) of a WWE camera operator entering and standing inside the ring while talents are wrestling with the talents working around the camera,” wrote Mike Johnson.

It was noted that this took place during the match featuring The Creed Brothers and the Grizzled Young Veterans as well as during other matches.

WWE’s production has been criticized by fans for frequent camera cuts during matches that make the show feel overly produced.

WWE NXT 2.0 2/8 Results

Last night’s episode of NXT 2.0 was the go-home show for next week’s Vengeance Day. Mandy Rose defended the NXT Women’s Championship, 2 Dusty Rhodes Classic semi-finals matches took place, and Tiffany Stratton’s father’s credit card was on the line when she faced Wendy Choo.

Quick Results:

1. Creed Brothers def. Grizzled Young Veterans
2. Tiffany Stratton def. Wendy Choo.
3. Pete Dunne def. Draco Anthony.
4. LA Knight def. Sanga.
5. Sarray def. Dakota Kai.
6. MSK def. Blade/Enofe
7. Mandy Rose def. Kay Lee Ray to retain NXT Women’s Title

Tony Khan has promised a “huge signing” to debut on AEW Dynamite this week. The new signing will also take on Isiah Kassidy in a Face of the Revolution Ladder Qualifying match.

Khan spoke to Sports Illustrated about the signing and doubled-down on the hype.

“It’s a huge signing for us,” said Khan. “I have created some debate about what it means to open the ‘Forbidden Door’ and that’s what we are going to do on this show. The fans are going to get a great night of wrestling, and I hope everyone is surprised—and comes back for the matches this sets up.”

The Element of Surprise

Tony Khan also spoke about the importance of keeping his roster fresh during the interview.

“I’m continually looking to improve the roster and bring in new stars and create fresh matchups, and that’s what you’re going to see this Wednesday,” Khan continued. “We now have such a strong roster of wrestlers under contract that we can put fresh, exciting matches on Dynamite every Wednesday on TBS and Rampage on TNT.”

Fresh Match-Ups

Khan continued to tease the new signing and the impact they will have on AEW programming.

“It’s going to be a big reveal on Dynamite. It sets up this week’s Rampage and puts a lot of irons in our fire. We have created an environment in AEW where people routinely expect great wrestling matches, and we have the wrestlers to live up to those high expectations.”

Dynamite & Rampage Previews

AEW will present Dynamite this week from the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The venue hosted WrestleMania’s IV and V. The following matches are booked for the show:

• AEW World Championship
  Texas Death Match
  Adam “Hangman” Page (c) vs Lance Archer
• Face of the Revolution Qualifying Match
  Isiah Kassidy vs TBA

Chris Jericho will also an Inner Circle meeting on the show.

Then Rampage will be taped following the live edition of Dynamite. Matches booked for that show include:

• AEW World Tag Team Championships
  Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (w/Christian Cage) (c) vs. The Gunn Club (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) (w/Billy Gunn)
• Hook vs Blake Li 

Ronda Rousey recently spoke on why she sometimes takes trash-talking from fans personally. Comments by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio suggested that Rousey is bitter towards the fans for having turned on her previously in WWE.

Rousey stated on her Facebook gaming stream that even though she is playing a character on television, she’s still Ronda Rousey and it’s hard not to take some comments personally.

“It’s hard not to take [trash talk] personally from the fans because I don’t go out there as — I mean I do go out there as a character, but I am also actually Ronda Rousey, so I don’t play Ronda Rousey on television. So sometimes I take it personally from the fans, not so much from the wrestlers. The fans, I do,” she said.

Rousey also commented on why she is wearing different gear than she did during her first run with the company. She said that after having had a baby only four months ago, she’s not ready to wear her old gear just yet.

“Well, I just had a baby four months ago and I didn’t really feel confident enough to don my regular wrestling gear yet but I’m working towards it… because you know, it’s hard when you’re coming back and being judged directly to how you looked three years ago,” Rousey said.

Rousey also spoke about wanting to team with Shayna Baszler now that she’s back and Baszler is on the main roster. She is scheduled to team against Baszler at a Laval house show next month. Rousey is booked to team with Sasha Banks to go up against Charlotte Flair and Baszler.

H/T To Post Wrestling for the above transcriptions.

The Boogeyman, Marty Wright, recently posted a video to social media of him signing a new contract with WWE. It is not clear what type of deal he has signed with the company, although it is most likely a legends deal similar to what many WWE alumni are under.

His post announcing the news is below:

Boogeyman also posted the below video with the hashtag #WWELegend. Someone evidently decided to let the him hold their 1-week old child while he was in “full gear”.

Boogeyman performed over the weekend at an ACW event in Maryland.

The Boogeyman In WWE

Marty Wright got his start with WWE in 2004 after a notable audition for the Tough Enough contest. At the time, Boogeyman was 40 years old but he told officials he was only 30. The cut-off to enter the contest was 35. He was later called out on this by Al Snow and dropped from the contest. WWE would decide to give him a chance following this, however. He began training at OVW in early 2005 and Vignettes promoting the debut of the Boogeyman in WWE would begin airing later that year.

In 2006, Boogeyman was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The same award was won by Jade Cargill for 2021.

Nick Gage has officially signed with Game Changer Wrestling. The promotion does not normally contract talent but an exception was made for Gage. GCW owner Brett Lauderdale took to social media recently to announce the news.

“This is the first & likely the last contract GCW will ever offer. Nick has earned the right to finish his career on his terms w/ dignity & a focus on the future he deserves. I’m proud GCW can give him that. For the hard work, sacrifice & loyalty over 23+ years, MDK ALL FN DAY!” Lauderdale posted to Twitter.

Gage won the GCW World Tag Team Championships along with Matt Tremont at the WRLD on GCW PPV from The Hammerstein Ballroom.

Coming Up In Game Changer Wrestling

The following matches have been booked for upcoming GCW events.

2/19 from Atlantic City – GCW Believe Me

• Matt Tremont vs. Hoodfoot
• Mascara Dorada vs. Joey Janela
• Atticus Cogar vs. Allie Katch
• The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) vs. The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo)
• John Wayne Murdoch vs. G-Raver
• GCW Ultraviolent Championship
  Alex Colon (c) vs. Reed Bentley

2/20 from Atlantic City – GCW Don’t Tell Me What To Do

• 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Gringo Loco
• Atticus Cogar vs. Alex Zayne
• Drago Kid vs. ASF
• Joey Janela & Marko Stunt vs. The Second Gear Crew (AJ Gray & Matthew Justice)
• GCW World Tag Team Championships
  The H8 Club (Matt Tremont & Nick Gage) (c) vs. The Rejects (John Wayne Murdoch & Reed Bentley)

Jacob Henry, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, has won the 6A District Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.

The World’s Strongest man posted footage of Jacob’s victory to social media.

You can see how proud Mark Henry is in this photo:

Jacob has quoted several AEW stars in recent social media posts about his victory, including Cody Rhodes and Sammy Guevara:

Jacob Henry also took inspiration from The Young Bucks by encouraging followers to check out his “New Bio!”

AEW stars Powerhouse Hobbs and Sammy Guevara took notice of Jacob Henry’s latest wrestling championship:

Jacob Henry To Follow In Father’s Footsteps

Mark Henry has noted previously that his son plans to follow in his footsteps and be a pro-wrestler. Jacob has said that even if he is a Pro Bowl level football player, he would still give it up to go into wrestling.

“If there is going to be a second-generation wrestler to come out of the Henry family, it will probably be my son Jacob, who is a superfan. He really loves wrestling and has said that he doesn’t care if he is a pro bowl player, he’s only going to play for about four or five years and then he’s going to quit playing football and start wrestling,” Mark said of his son.”

“I’m like, “Well, what if you end up being the best guy in the league?’ He’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to have to make enough money early so I can go and establish my life and I can do what I want to do, which is wrestling.’ I’m like, ‘More power to you. When you get there, hopefully, I will still be alive,’ but if I’m not here to enjoy it, I’m sure that the fans will really enjoy it.”

H/T to Fightful for the above transcriptions.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is set to make an appearance during the pre-game festivities at Super Bowl LVI. He noted on Twitter that he finally gets to achieve his dream of being on the field for the big game.

It seems like the Rock is everywhere these days. He most recently introduced the USA Olympic Team for the Winter Games as well.

“After all these years, my football dream of standing on the SUPER BOWL field has FINALLY….come true,” the Rock wrote on Twitter. “This will historic, this will be my honor. This will be ELECTRIFYING. I’ll see you THIS SUNDAY! LFG!!!”

The Super Bowl takes place this Sunday featuring the Los Angeles Rams taking on the Cincinnati Bengals. The game will be held in Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, the same venue as WrestleMania 39. The Rock is rumored to be facing Roman Reigns on that show.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg (Sasha Banks’ cousin), Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar will all be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show this year.

The Rock’s Football Career

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson received a scholarship to play for the Miami Hurricanes in 1990. He played in a backup role to future NFL Hall of Famer, Warren Sapp. Miami won the National Championship with Johnson on the team in 1991. Following his time with the Hurricanes, Rock signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was cut from the practice squad just two months into his only season, however. After that, he met with Jim Ross about signing with the WWE and the rest is history.

The Rock and his ex-wife Dany Garcia are now owners of the XFL, having purchased the league in 2020. There had been talk of a merger between the XFL and CFL but those talks did not lead to anything. The league is now planning to launch again in 2023.

WWE has encouraged Ronda Rousey to act less like a heel after a prickly appearance on last week’s Monday Night Raw.

After winning the 2022 Royal Rumble, Rousey expressed frustration with WWE fans by stating she “fall for” the fans reaction again. When asked about how she felt about winning the Royal Rumble, she said she’ll be going home to love her baby, because her priorities have changed.

She also said, “There was quite a reaction tonight, and you can expect me not to fall for it this time.” Some saw Rousey’s demeanor as a sign that she will be portraying a heel character in WWE, but that’s not the case.

Rousey’s hot-and-cold relationship with the WWE Universe was apparent again on last week’s Monday Night Raw. As seen below, WWE “sweetened” the crowd reaction for her promo. WWE fans on social media took notice.

Ronda Rousey’s Rocky Return to WWE

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Rousey really is bitter towards the fans for having turned on her previously.

WWE officials reportedly asked Ronda Rousey to “let go” the fact that fans have given her mixed reactions in the past. She appeared to take this advice in stride, as we saw on Friday’s SmackDown.

“She was very, very bitter coming back, and I think that was not a good attitude to have, especially considering she’s being portrayed as a babyface,” Meltzer said.

It was also noted that Ronda is happy to be back in WWE, just not overly happy with how the fans treated her previously.

“It was explained (to Rousey) that you have to let that (fans turning on her last time) go because if you’re going to be bitter about that…” Meltzer continued. “You’re not supposed to be a heel & if you’re bitter at the fans you’re not going to be a very good babyface.”

On Friday’s SmackDown, Rousey was visibly in a better mood and acting much happier to be there. During the appearance, she revealed that she’s chosen SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair as her WrestleMania opponent.

Tama Tonga sent a message to Tony Khan on Twitter that may imply he’s hoping to walk through the forbidden door. The 39-year-old last performed for NJPW on the World Tag League tour in December. He did not perform on the Wrestle Kingdom shows on January 4th, 5th, or 8th.

“Hey @TonyKhan wanna burn bridges? I love burning bridges,” Tonga wrote on Twitter.

Tama also seemingly noted that he is a free agent, although he included the hashtag #misinformation along with that post, so it’s really not clear.

Tonga has been wrestling in Impact as of late. He made his Impact in-ring debut at the tapings in Florida recently. He’s scheduled to take part in Impact’s tapings in New Orleans coming up later this month. This includes the No Surrender PPV on February 19th where the Guerrillas of Destiny are scheduled to face The Good Brothers for the Impact World Tag Team Championships. The match continues the angle between Bullet Club and Anderson & Gallows that really kick-started this summer in NJPW of USA and continued in Impact.

Fundraising For Tonga

The island of Tonga, which has produced wrestlers such as Haku, the Barbarian, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and HIKULEO, wad devastated recently by a volcanic eruption. NJPW has released a “Pray for Tonga” t-shirt to raise money for the region.

Lance Storm is back with Impact Wrestling. The company recently announced Storm would be part of the Gut Check competition, which is returning soon.

Lance Storm later told Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline that he’ll also be working backstage in Impact as a producer and coach.

“This is a chance to make the decision I should have made two years ago,” said Storm. “I had done a couple of tapings with Impact as a producer back when I still had my school. Then when I decided to close my school and was looking at options, I talked with Impact and I talked with WWE.”

“I really liked it in Impact but both my wife and me too liked the idea of the security of WWE, which is ironic considering it ended up being a 6 month gig.”

Lance Storm Back with Impact

Storm noted that he will be going to Impact’s tapings in New Orleans later this month. He will be working as a producer and coach but will not have an official role on the creative team.

“I’m quite sure Scott is more than willing to hear an idea or two if I happen to suggest one but that is not part of my current job description,” Storm continued.

Lance Storm old briefly worked with Impact Wrestling backstage in 2019 before signing with WWE as a producer. He was then released at the onset of the global pandemic in the spring of 2019.

• Moose Says Impact’s Shows Are Just As Good As AEW or WWE

During WWE’s 4th quarter earnings call this week, Nick Khan noted that he is hopeful to run more events per year from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is believed that WWE brings in $50 million per show for each event they run from the country.

The upcoming Elimination Chamber show on February 19th will be WWE’s 7th event in Saudi Arabia as part of their deal with the Kingdom. The first event was The Greatest Royal Rumble held on April 27th, 2018, just weeks after that year’s WrestleMania. Braun Strowman won a 50-man Royal Rumble event that year. Other matches on that show saw Brock Lesnar defeating Roman Reigns in a steel cage match for the Universal Championship and the Undertaker defeating Rusev.

Crown Jewel in 2018 saw Shawn Michaels return to the ring. He teamed with Triple H and faced The Undertaker and Kane.

Elimination Chamber Lineup

• Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley defends against Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Riddle, Austin Theory, and AJ Styles.
• RAW Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch defends against Lita.
• WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships: The Usos defend against the Viking Raiders.
• Universal Championship: Roman Reigns defends against Goldberg.
• Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss.

TBS Champion Jade Cargill has commented on why she decided to sign with AEW over WWE. Cargill was on the Talk is Jericho podcast and revealed she was offered a contract to sign with WWE prior to joining AEW.

“So they sent the contract, they wanted me to do it,” she explained. “AEW came about, and I came here, I got the experience, and I felt calm. I remember you and I had this conversation in the car. It made me feel at ease about the decision that I wanted to make, I didn’t have to relocate, I felt at home.”

Cargill said Tony Khan’s availability to talent made her feel comfortable in AEW.

“I could call the owner of our company and talk to him, you know, he knew my name and knew my purpose,” she said. “He knew that I wanted to do this and that I wasn’t just a number. He knew exactly who I was, so that made me feel comfortable.”

AEW Offered More Security

Cargill related her experience with AEW to that of her friend, E. J. Nduka, in WWE. She noted that Nduka, who is now with MLW, gave up everything to commit to WWE but he was cut with no warning or reason.

“There’s more security, there’s a safety net here,” she said. “Like I said, I just named one of my friends [Nduka] who gave up everything he had, had a newborn baby, and got cut with no warning. He gave everything. I remember when I told him I was thinking about coming here, he couldn’t believe it. Why would you ever choose [AEW over WWE]? And I’m like, you don’t understand, I feel good here. I don’t want to be cut. I don’t want to have to worry.”

WWE cut over 80 wrestlers in 2021, including Nduka. WWE also announced that they brought in over $1 billion in profits last year, making it their most profitable year ever.

Jade Cargill is still undefeated in AEW and in her professional wrestling career. She holds a 26-0 record. In her most recent match, Cargill successfully defended her title against Julie Hart on last week’s AEW Rampage.

Keith Lee could become All Elite in the near future. The former NXT Champion became a free agent earlier this week following the expiration of his 90-day WWE non-compete clause.

According to the Wrestling Observer, AEW officials have discussed signing Lee. Dave Meltzer speculates that Lee may already be signed to Tony Khan’s promotion.

“Keith Lee is on that list and we’re told that he’s been talked about for [AEW], if not has already agreed to a deal here,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

He added, “Lee was one of the most impressive wrestlers on the independent scene doing a hard hitting and high flying style, neither of which is favored in WWE.”

Keith Lee’s WWE signing was announced on May 1st, 2018. During his time with the company, Lee won the NXT Championship, the NXT North American Championship, and was awarded the NXT Year-End Award for Breakout Star of the Year in 2019.

He debuted on the main roster in 2020, but struggled with inconsistent booking. He was also out for an extended period of time after suffering from a heart issue stemming from a bout with COVID-19.

As recently as this week, Keith Lee has made it known that wrestling fans have not seen the last of him:

Shane McMahon’s recent departure from WWE stems from his actions backstage during the Royal Rumble on Saturday. According to comments made by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Shane acted unprofessionally in response to Vince McMahon vetoing some of his ideas for the Rumble.

“They just kept changing the match over and over again. He wanted to do it one way and then Vince would veto it, Brock Lesnar would push for other things. Brock got a lot of what he wanted and Shane didn’t get a lot of what he wanted. And then Shane complained to a lot of people and I guess talked down to people.”

Meltzer added in the latest Observer newsletter that Shane McMahon made a scene backstage at the Rumble. One source said Shane’s behavior was worse than what we’ve been hearing so far.

“Every single story you’ve already heard, multiplied many times over,” said the source. “He was unprofessional the likes of which left Vince no options but to fire him.”

Shane McMahon wanted to build the ending of the Rumble around himself and was unprofessional after his ideas were struck down by Vince McMahon.

Shane McMahon Plans Scrapped

Shane was scheduled to be part of the Elimination Chamber match and was slated to wrestle with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. That program was to start in the Elimination Chamber.

Shane pushed for Rollins to be included in the Rumble match to start the angle then, however. Vince vetoed this so that Rollins could sell the chair shots he received from Roman Reigns earlier in the show.

While Shane was working as a producer for the Royal Rumble match, and did so previously in 2020 and 2021, he has no official backstage role in the company. He is under a talent contract, however. There has been no talk of him being Vince’s heir apparent since returning.

It was also noted that Shane may not even hold any stock in the company anymore.

“I’m guessing that his stock, that he sold it for his other ventures a long time ago,” Meltzer said. “But there is no executive position or anything like that.”

WrestleMania 38 is still months way, but we’re already looking ahead to the 2023 installment of WWE’s biggest premium live event of the year.

WrestleMania goes Hollywood on Sunday, April 2nd, 2023 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The new state-of-the-art venue will host the upcoming Super Bowl LVI game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.

WrestleMania 39 Main Events

WWE will once again leverage two if its biggest box office attractions to ensure WrestleMania 39 shatters records.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is planning for The Rock to be part of a blockbuster double main event at next year’s show of shows.

If all goes as planned, the top matches for WrestleMania will see The Rock battle his cousin Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey clashing with Becky Lynch.

The idea is to lead to the biggest WrestleMania ever in 2023 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, with Reigns vs. The Rock and Becky Lynch vs. Rousey”

– Wrestling Observer Newsletter (February 7, 2022)

The Rock vs. Roman Reigns is arguably the biggest match WWE could present at this time. If they can get The Rock to sign on for WrestleMania 39, there’s no question this show will do record business. Both men have spoken publicly about wrestling one another. You can read their most recent comments in the links below:

• The Rock Speaks On Potential WrestleMania Match With Roman Reigns
• Roman Reigns Comments On Potentially Facing The Rock

Ronda Rousey returned to WWE last month and won the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble match. Her agreement with WWE takes her through WrestleMania 39.

There is new information available regarding if the planned Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns match at WrestleMania will be title for title. Lesnar has mentioned on WWE programming that he wants to win the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber and make his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania title for title.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the belief on WWE’s creative team is that the match will have both championships on the line. Earlier reports suggested this would not be the case but Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar have pushed for it.

“At this point, the feeling on creative is that Vince will make the call to go with title vs. title, hence putting Lesnar in the chamber. There were those internally including Heyman and Lesnar pushing for it,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

“The feeling internally was Vince was leaning in the direction of title vs. title, which would mean the originally planned WWE title match, whatever it would have been, is now off.”

Although plans could change, and have changed throughout the early build-up to WrestleMania, currently the belief is one person will walk away from Mania with both titles, although that has not been set in stone.

WWE Undisputed Champions

One of the biggest title vs title matches in WWE history took place a little over 20 years ago. At WWE Vengeance in 2001, a mini-tournament was held with the winner earning both the WWE and WCW Championships. Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the WCW Championship in his first match and then defeated Steve Austin to win the WWF Championship in the finals. Austin had successfully defended the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle in the other semi-final.

The Undisputed title in WWE lasted until September 2002. Triple H was then given the “Big Gold Belt” which was renamed to the World Heavyweight Championship on September 2nd, 2002 and would be the champion on RAW.

There wasn’t another undisputed champion until 2013. With the brand-split temporarily ended, John Cena and Randy Orton met in a TLC match for both belts on December 15th, 2013 with Orton coming away the winner.

This period would last until 2016, when Finn Balor won the inaugural Universal Championship at SummerSlam that year.

Other Title vs Title matches in WWE history include:

• Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior – WrestleMania VI (Intercontinental Championship vs WWE Championship).
• Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania X Ladder Match – (Intercontinental vs Intercontinental).
• Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair – WrestleMania 35 (RAW Women’s Championship vs. Smackdown Women’s Championship).
• CM Punk vs John Cena (WWE Championship vs WWE Championship) – SummerSlam 2011
• John Cena vs Seth Rollins – SummerSlam 2015 (US title vs WWE Title).
• Rob Van Dam vs Tommy Dreamer – RAW August 26th, 2002 – Hardcore vs Intercontinental Unification match.
• The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) vs. The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) – Survivor Series 2001 – WWF Tag Team Titles vs WCW Tag Team Titles
• Edge vs. Test – Survivor Series 2001 – WWF Intercontinental title vs WCW US Title

The Winter Olympics are here and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is set to introduce Team USA during NBC’s Primetime airing of the Opening Ceremonies.

Although the ceremonies took place this morning, NBC will air an “enhanced primetime presentation” of the Opening Ceremony, from 8-11 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. In addition to the Parade of Nations ceremony, there will be a special focus on the athletes of Team USA.

In a press release sent in to SEScoops, The Rock spoke about the honor of being part of the opening ceremonies.

“Our athletes representing Team USA at this year’s Winter Olympics are some of the most talented and determined men and women in the world,” said Johnson. “They have dedicated their lives to their sport, pushing through injuries and personal setbacks, training through the toughest of conditions, to rise up and join the elite who have the opportunity to represent their country in the most iconic competition in the world.”

The Rock at the Winter Olympics

The Rock continued, “It’s my honor to once again be asked to participate in the presentation of the Opening Ceremony. And on behalf of our country, I will proudly introduce our U.S. Olympians to the world as they take that first step of defining their legacy.”

For a complete archive of 2022 Winter Olympics press releases, click here.

This is not The Rock’s first involvement with the Olympics. He introduced Team USA during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year.

Young Rock Season 2

The Rock’s sitcom for NBC, Young Rock, is gearing up to begin airing episodes from Season 2. The show also released a special Christmas episode in December. Season 2 begins airing on March 15, 2022. In this season, viewers will get a glimpse of The Rock’s early wrestling career.

Santino Marella has announced that WWE has signed his daughter, Bianca Carelli. The 26-year-old from Mississauga, ON, Canada wrestled on the NWA Empowerrr show this August. She later moved to Florida in order to further her wrestling career.

Santino was on the Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw show when he announced the news.

“So, my daughter’s 26. My daughter is starting at the PC in two weeks,” Marella said. “She got hired, she’s a beast, she’s gonna be an absolute top-tier player.”

“…From a young child, she won her school speeches, she was a Miss Teen Ontario, she’s a television personality, and she’s tall and she’s strong,” Marella said. 

“I can’t wait to go to WrestleMania, just as a parent to watch their kid.” 

Bianca Carelli attended a WWE tryout in 2019 but was not signed at that time. Then back in May, Santino sent out a Tweet addressed to WWE asking them to take a look at her.

Santino has also posted footage of Bianca in training.

During an interview with Sportskeeda last year, Bianca spoke about there being additional pressure on her after her father sent out the above Tweets.

“I still have a lot more training I want to do a lot better that I want to get. I’ve had quite a few matches but I would like to learn a lot more, so I guess there is an expectation now, but I’m… okay! my next match I have to be perfect. There’s a little more pressure but it’s good. I’m one of those people, I like pressure.”

The full interview with Santino is available below.

Riddle made some comments last year about Roman Reigns “not being a needle mover” that evidently did not sit well with the Tribal Chief. The Universal Champion does currently have a “Needle Mover” t-shirt available at WWE.com, however.

“You’re not moving needles. I’m the real stallion, RK-Bro is moving the merch, we’re moving the needle, and that’s it. I don’t want to say too much, I’m not trying to get in trouble,” Riddle said to the Bleacher Report last summer.

Riddle recently spoke with Mark Andrews and noted that he wrote an apology to Reigns for his comments. After showing Randy Orton his planned apology, however, his RK-Bro teammate decided to re-write it for him. Riddle then sent that apology off to Reigns who reportedly did not accept it.

Randy Orton Writes Riddle An Apology To Roman Reigns…Reigns Does Not Accept

According to Riddle, you should never have Randy Orton write apologies for you.

“One thing I have learned is don’t ask Randy to write an apology for you. The other day, I said some things about a gentleman that I work with. He’s on a different brand, he’s a champion, he’s a chief, one might say. I said some things he didn’t like. I told Randy, ‘I said some things, I’m pretty sure he’s not happy about it. What should I say? I should make this better.’ I sent Randy an apology that I wrote for this person. Randy looked at it and was like, ‘Nah, this is all wrong, this is what you write.’ He sent me an apology back and there was no apology at all. It was basically like, ‘My bad.’ He knows this Chief better than I do. So I sent this apology and let’s just say that he did not accept it. I was like, ‘Damnit Randy. I can never ask you to apologize for anything.’ I’ve learned, don’t ask Randy to do an apology for you,” Riddle said.

Also during this interview, Riddle noted that his team with RK-Bro was only supposed to last one night. More on that is available in the link below:

RK-Bro To Face Alpha Academy In A Quiz Bowl

Riddle and Orton are scheduled to face the Alpha Academy in a Quiz Bowl Challenge next week on RAW. Orton missed this week’s RAW but is currently advertised to appear next week. He was also only in the Royal Rumble for 2 minutes and 21 seconds despite it being held in his hometown of St. Louis. Orton entered into the match at #29, teamed briefly with Riddle, and then was eliminated by Brock Lesnar.

H/T To Fightful for the above transcriptions.