WWE NXT ‘New Year’s Evil’ Preview 1/4/22

NXT Title Match
Bron Breakker vs. Tommaso Ciampa (c)

Triple Threat for the NXT Women’s Title
Cora Jade vs. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Mandy Rose (c)

Title vs. Title Unification Match: NXT North American Cruiserweight Championship
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong vs. NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes

AJ Styles appears live to confront Grayson Waller

Imperium (WALTER, NXT Tag Team Champions Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) vs. RAW Tag Team Champion Riddle and MSK (Wes Lee, Nash Carter)

Alexa Bliss Returning To WWE RAW Soon

Alexa Bliss is set to return to WWE RAW soon.

WWE announced this week that we will begin to see Bliss’ journey back to RAW next Monday night. It sounds like a series of vignettes will be released, leading up to Bliss making her return to the storylines.

Bliss has been away from WWE since losing to then-RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on September 26. It was reported after the pay-per-view that Bliss would be taking “a few months” off due to sinus surgery. She noted on Twitter in late November that she needed “time to heal” when a fan asked about her return.

There’s been speculation on Bliss possibly returning with a new gimmick, or her old character. She was wrapping up the Lilly storyline the last time we saw her. There’s also speculation on Bliss possibly making her return in the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match later this month.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Paul Heyman Back With Brock Lesnar As His Advocate

Paul Heyman appeared with Brock Lesnar on Monday’s RAW and the two announced they are back working together as client and advocate.

Monday Night’s RAW confirmed that Paul Heyman is back working as Brock Lesnar’s advocate. No longer under Roman Reigns’ employ, Heyman has jumped back into the arms of the new WWE Champion and the two worked together Monday night, setting the stage for the Royal Rumble.

After WWE showed a highlight package from Saturday’s “Premium Live Event”, the lights went out and Heyman appeared in the middle of the ring to introduce his “client” Brock Lesnar. The new WWE Champion came to the ring and did confirm Heyman was, once again, his advocate. After sarcastically hoping Roman Reigns gets well soon, Lesnar turned the mic back over to Heyman who went on a long rant about every competitor in the Fatal 4-Way. He gave each props but said none would measure up.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1478173790530162690

Heyman really sold his client’s win on Saturday while Lesnar stood atop a self-made podium that was once being used as the ring steps. Lesnar didn’t talk much after going for a cheap pop with the South Carolina crowd and he let his advocate do the rest of the work.

This was as good a promo as one would expect from Heyman, but questions about where this leaves Lesnar as a heel or babyface are sure to follow. Is Heyman coming back to Lesnar a sign these two will go back to being heels? Or, is Heyman now a good guy too? Later on the show, WWE teased Friday’s SmackDown would offer more of Lesnar and Heyman, so potentially the WWE Universe will find out.

That Heyman is simply back with Lesnar could speak volumes when it comes to any future storyline that includes finishing off the Reigns/Lesnar/Heyman storyline. If a new No. 1 contender is crowned in the main event, perhaps the Lesnar vs. Reigns program will be pushed aside for quite a while and what Heyman was really doing all this time will take a back seat.

Source: TheSportster

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Night One) Results 1/4/2022

Yoh defeated Sho w/ Dick Togo

Bullet Club (KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Mega Coaches (Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero)

United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Sanada & Bushi)

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Ren Narita

NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Evil (with Dick Togo) defeated Tomohiro Ishii  (new NEVER Openweight Championship)

IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
El Desperado defeated Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Kazuchika Okada defeated Shingo Takagi (New IWGP Heavyweight Champion)

WWE Hall Of Famer Jeff Jarrett Makes GCW Debut At Die 4 This Event

WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett made a surprise debut at last night’s Game Changer Wrestling’s Die 4 This show in Atlantic City, NJ.  The pro wrestling veteran appeared, attacking Effy and destroying him with a guitar to the head to set up a future grudge match.

It was reported in July 2021 that Jarrett was released from WWE along with other budget cuts made at the time. Jeff Jarrett, inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018, was hired to work as a producer, but in March 2019, he was promoted to the creative team.

It was also determined last night who will be the new #1 contender for Jon Moxley’s GCW World Championship upon his return to the promotion. Homicide won the Do or Die Rumble to earn his spot to challenge for Moxley’s title at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Homicide made his intentions clear as soon as he grabbed the microphone post-match, saying he was going to “f*ck up Moxley”.

Another pro wrestling veteran is also back on the indie wrestling scene — Scotty 2 Hotty. He announced his return to competing in the squared circle this past November and suffered a loss to Joey Janela at last night’s event.

You can see the full results for last night’s show below:

GCW Tag Team Championship
The Briscoes (Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe) (c) def. Blake Christian & Alex Zayne

Calvin Tankman def. Yoya

Joey Janela def. Scotty 2 Hotty

GCW World Title Number One Contender Do Or Die Rumble
Homicide def. Jordan Oliver, Tony Deppen, Jack Cartwheel, Dante Leon, Ninja Mack, Atticus Cogar, Nick Wayne, Dark Sheik, Matthew Justice, AJ Gray, Cole Radrick, Shane Mercer, PCO, G-Raver, Colby Corino, Allie Katch, Billie Starkz, Grim Reefer

GCW Ultraviolent Championship:
Alex Colon (c) def. John Wayne Murdoch

WWE RAW Preview 1/3/22

The first WWE RAW of 2022 will take place tonight from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina with fallout from WWE Day 1.

No matches or segments have been announced for tonight’s show but WWE is teasing that The Miz and Maryse will respond to what happened at Day 1 with WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix. A mixed tag team match has been rumored.

Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory and AJ Styles vs. Omos are possible for this week after being nixed last week due to COVID-19 precautionary measures.

The next WWE pay-per-view is the Royal Rumble on January 29, so the build for that event should begin some time soon, if not tonight.

New WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will reportedly not appear on tonight’s post-Day 1 edition of WWE RAW. PWInsider reports that Lesnar returned home on Sunday, indicating that he will not be on tonight’s RAW from Greenville, SC.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Night One) 1/4/2022

DATE: January 4, 2022 12:00 am
LOCATION: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
AVAILABLE ON:NJPW World

CARD

– New Japan Ranbo: Final Four Advance to KOPW 2022 Four-Way Match on Night Two

– YOH vs. SHO

– Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & KENTA

– BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb

– Katsuyori Shibata vs. X in a Catch Wrestling Rules Match

– NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. EVIL

– IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (c) vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (World Tag League Winner)

– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi (BOSJ Winner)

– IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada (G1 Climax Winner)

WWE Confirms Johnny Knoxville For The Royal Rumble

Jackass star Johnny Knoxville is headed to the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Knoxville took to Instagram to announce that he wants to win the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match later this month. Knoxville said he’s not impressed with the current WWE roster, taking shots at Big E and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Knoxville captioned his Instagram video with, “Happy New Year’s Day and love to everyone. I have a big announcement that I have been dying to get off of my chest. I spent a lot of times over the holiday thinking about how i wanted to start off my 2022, and I decided I want to do it kicking ass and taking names. And the best way to do that i feel is making a run for the Rumble, that’s right @WWE’s Royal Rumble. Training starts today, not that I will need a lot of it because I have seen the WWE’s current roster and it’s laughable to think anyone can throw me over the top rope. LAUGHABLE! I will be channeling my wrestling heroes like @therock, Abdullah the Butcher and the great Gorilla Monsoon. The way I’m looking at it I am giving myself a %100 chance of winning. What chance do you think I have? Sincerely, Johnny Knoxville, World Champ #roadtowrestlemania #royalrumble #wwe #jackassforever”

WWE responded to Knoxville’s Instagram video and wrote, “Good luck @johnnyknoxville!!”

Knoxville noted on the Jackass World Twitter account that winning the Rumble Match is one of his New Year’s Resolutions for 2022.

WWE ran Knoxville’s video during the inaugural WWE Day 1 pay-per-view, and seemingly confirmed him for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view later this month.

Knoxville’s Rumble appearance appears to be another promotional crossover for the Jackass Forever movie, which will be released on Friday, February 4. WWE ran a similar promotion last month as Knoxville, Chris Pontius and other members of the Jackass crew made a special appearance on the December 10 edition of SmackDown on FOX.

Knoxville’s last WWE TV appearance came on the October 4, 2010 RAW show when he was the guest star to promote Jackass 3D.

Knoxville will not be the first celebrity to compete in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match as WWE Celebrity Wing Hall of Famer Drew Carey made an appearance in the 2001 bout.

The 2022 WWE Royal Rumble will take place on January 29 from The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1477483868651352064
https://twitter.com/jackassworld/status/1477369464970567681

Drew McIntyre Reportedly Written Off WWE TV Due To Neck Issues

Drew McIntyre is reportedly suffering from a legitimate injury.

As noted, Saturday’s WWE Day 1 pay-per-view saw McIntyre defeat Madcap Moss in singles action. WWE later ran a backstage segment where Moss and Corbin attacked McIntyre during an interview. The attack ended with Moss and Corbin wrapping a chair around McIntyre’s neck, and then smashing it with a piece of lighting rig. WWE announced after the pay-per-view that McIntyre suffered a cervical neck strain with severe contusions during the backstage attack. It was also noted that upon further evaluation by WWE medical staff, McIntyre will have a follow-up with an orthopedic cervical specialist. There was some speculation on this being a storyline injury announcement, but now we know that there is more to it.

In an update, PWInsider reports that the Day 1 beatdown angle was done because McIntyre has been dealing with some legitimate neck issues for several weeks.

McIntyre now needs to undergo medical testing on his neck, which is why WWE wrote him out of the storylines as a way to be proactive about the situation.

There is no timeframe for McIntyre’s return to the ring, but there’s hope within WWE that his absence from the ring will be short-term. His status was described as “up in the air” until he gets checked out by doctors.

There’s been a feeling within WWE about how “insanely hard” McIntyre has been working in recent weeks, despite the issues with his neck. It was also noted how he’s pulled double duty at recent WWE live events on the annual Holiday Tour. One WWE source said McIntyre “went down swinging” to injury for the company.

McIntyre was seen leaving the State Farm Arena with a neck brace on after Saturday’s Day 1 pay-per-view.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Star Rohit Raju Announces He’s A Free Agent

Impact star Rohit Raju (Hakim Zane) is now a free agent.

Raju announced via Twitter, “As of today I am a free agent. Where would you like to see me next?”

His last match with Impact was on December 18 at the Throwback Throwdown II special, where he lost to Josh Matthews. Before that match, he lost to Josh Alexander on the December 16 edition of Impact Wrestling.

Rohit Raju made his Impact debut in 2017. During his career, Raju was part of the stable, Desi Hit Squad and held the X Division Championship for over 100 days in 2020.

Source: Wrestling Inc.