The Miz speaking highly of AEW Superstar MJF in a recent interview was a pretty big deal if you’re aware of MJF’s contract status with AEW. MJF’s contract is set to expire soon and according to some reports, negotiations are at an impasse and MJF already has his next landing spot in mind: WWE.
MJF is arguably the best on the mc in AEW not named CM Punk and this may be way the two have suddenly been working together onscreen. For all the promos he’s cut, if you look back you’ll notice MJF has seemingly gone out of his way to avoid openly bashing Vince McMahon and WWE too much. That’s because he likes to keep his options open. Would WWE be willing to pay him what he wants? Maybe and it’s not a bad idea to bet on yourself.
Adam Page reportedly wants out of AEW and is very unhappy with management. I’m not sure how much of it is true which is why I’m saying “reportedly”. It is true he’s looking beyond WWE though. WWE’s working partnership with Impact now being public could be carrot that lures him into Stamford, Connecticuit. We’ll see.
With Jeff Hardy’s recent WWE release, it’s looking more and more likelt the Hardy Boyz will reunite sooner than later. More so given Jeff Hardy reportedly declined WWE’s invitation to be inducted into the 2022 Hall of Fame class. My guess is he likely has his next landing spot in mind already: AEW.
During his Broken Skull Sessions interview in November, Jeff Hardy did reveal he was open to reunited with his brother “In WWE or the other place” so no one should be surprised. I do think The Hardy Boyz will close out their careers together on WWE in some fashion. We will just have to wait and see when that eventually happens.
Did you know Veer Mahaan used to be a Major League Baseball player?
Real name Rinku Singh, he was MLB’s first Indian-born baseball player. He was also known as “The Million Dollar Arm”–the’s a movie about him actually, that’s how famous he was in both baseball and India–in MLB and was a pitcher. I found some good stuff on YouTube.
Most notably, Veer was a part of Indus Sher in NXT. When he was moved to main roster and introduced alongside Shanky with Jinder Mahal. The 2021 WWE Draft saw Mahal and Shanky sent to Smackdown while Veer–now Veer Mahaan–would remain on RAW. The obvious problem is it’s been several months since the draft he has yet to redebut as a singles competator.
If Veer doesn’t appear in the 2022 Royal Rumble, you can’t help but wonder what plans if any WWE has for him. My guess is there must be something going on with him that we just don’t know about. I am not as concerned by the weeks of teases though. It’s easy to forget WWE did the same thing with Lacey Evans before she made her main roster debut at the Women’s Royal Rumble in 2019. Then she wasn’t seen or heard from again until she punched Becky Lynch in the face the RAW after Wrestlemania 35.
My guess and my hope is WWE has similar plans for Mahaan. Just have him come at a title holder or top talent, drop them and build a feud. We’ll see hopefully sooner than later.
Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions IINSPIRATION–The ICONICS in WWE–are now Impact’s Knockouts Tag Team Champions. The former WWE Superstars were a part of one of the many batches of WWE Superstars released back in 2020. The two reportedly turned down an offer to participate in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble though it’s not known if the invitation was given before or after Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James received the same invitation and accepted. Given they had to deal with bad booking since 2018, I am not surprised they declined the invite.
One person’s name that has recently come up as a possible surprise entrant into the Womens Royal Rumble match is Ronda Rousey. Rousey hasn’t been on WWE TV since her Wrestlemania 35 match. WWE is reportedly looking to have Rousey vs. Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania 38 and though it doesn’t necessarily have to be a title match, let’s be honest it would HAVE to be a title match. Time will tell.
Lacey Evans could make her surprise return at the Royal Rumble. For those who might not know or remember, she announced her pregnancy early last year and gave birth to her second daughter this past September. She’s been training to get back in ring shape literally since the day after she gave birth and as a former Marine, it’s not hard to believe she could make her return at the Women’s Royal Rumble.
Bianca Bel Air is going into the Royal Rumble as the odds-on favorite to win and become the first person since Stone Cold Steve Austin to have win the match in back to back years (1997 and 1999 though he won again in 2001 and is the only person to ever win the match three times). The only other superstars who’ve done it in back to back years were Shawn Michaels (1995 and 1996) and Hulk Hogan (1990 and 1991). If she wins this year, the next question becomes who will she choose to face at Wrestlemania. Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair or Mandy Rose?
Lita vs. Charlotte Flair at Elimination Chamber or Wrestlemania 38 seems to be a lock at this point. Lita already announced she plans to be around for a while. Of course, that was before Sasha Banks made a surprise return on the January 28 episode of Smackdown almost two months sooner than expected. Banks suffered a leg injury at the beginning of the month and was expected to miss 8 to 10 weeks which meant she would have missed the Royal Rumble for the first time. She would have still been back in time for Wrestlemania 38 though. We know from when she took a mental health break in 2019 she would not rush back so my guess is her injury may not have been as severe as initially thought.
Given Charlotte retired Trish Stratus at Summer Slam a few years ago, it makes sense for Lita to come back now to avenge her rival turned friend. If Lita beats Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, she will become the first female Hall of Famer to win a title after being inducted. Goldberg was the last to do it a few years ago. With Banks back earlier than expected now, she would be an other interesting opponent for Lita.
Michelle McCool teased she might be around past the Royal Rumble. She and AJ Styles, who were both guests on the January 26 episode of WWE’s The Bump finally made up with each other. They also talked about the obvious similarities between their respective trademark finishers, The Faith Breaker and the Styles Clash. The only difference is while McMcool clasps the waist, Styles clasps the legs. Aside from that, their respective move is executed the exact same way.
WWE revealed most of the participants up front but there are still a number WWE is keeping a surprise. Two names that may appear are Asuka and Kairi Sane. Sane left WWE at the end of 2020 so she could be closer to her then new husband. It seems she maintained her connections with WWE all this time though. Asuka hasn’t been seen or heard from since last year’s Money in the Bank. It was later revealed she was out due to injury though it wasn’t made public up front.
Regardless, we’ll find out who else will be in the Women’s Royal Rumble tonight!
It’s quite interesting less is being made of the Men’s Royal Rumble Match this year and more so given there’s about 12 or so more unnamed participants. This year’s Royal Rumble only has three people who won it before: Randy Orton, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio.That means there’s a good 70% chance the winner will be someone who hasn’t won it before.
The Royal Rumble is the match were we see surprise returns and surprise debuts. Here’s my short list of names that we could potentially see:
- Chris Jericho
- MJF
- Adam Page
- Goldberg
- Kurt Angle
- Jeff Jarrett
- Tommaso Ciampa
- Bron Breaker
- Matt Cardona (as Zack Ryder)
- The Undertaker
Jericho’s Broken Skull Sessions interview is why I think of all the high-profile AEW Superstars, he is the one most likely to appear in the Royal Rumble. For those who may not know–and he has been pretty open about this–Jericho elected not to renew his WWE contract back in 2018. He wanted a more flexible schedule so he could tour with his band but since WWE wanted him to work more shows, negotiations fell through. Within a year’s time from that, he would become AEW’s first-ever Champion.
MJF and Adam Page…well, you saw what I put above. They could be in the Royal Rumble but still have WWE and AEW characterize their appearance as a one-off unless they actually do sign with WWE. Rey Mysterio made a Royal Rumble appearance while he was signed with Lucha Underground about 6 years ago–this was before he returned to WWE fulltime–and no one thought much of it.
The Undertaker coming back for the Royal Rumble…well, I think he might have inadvertently spoiled that on WWE’s The Bump. He was shown training alongside his wife during her appearance on that show. The focus was on her but I seriously doubt ‘Taker would have allowed himself to be included in the footage unless he was planning to make a brief return in the very near future. Not saying he’ll be getting in the ring but he could certainly make an on-screen appearance backstage or something.
Kurt Angle being in the Royal Rumble is probably the worst kept secret of the month. Let’s just say it would be a surprise if he wasn’t in it. Same with Jeff Jarrett and Goldberg. The reason I mentioned Matt Cardona is because of how hot he’s become since leaving WWE two years ago. For those who might not know, he’s one of the hottest indie wrestlers out there right now and he’s been on a roll. We’ll have to wait and see!
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