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Bleacher Report catches you up on the most recent information from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.
Edge Reportedly Deliberate for Royal Rumble Return
Edge has not been seen on WWE programming since Excessive Guidelines in October, however his hiatus is reportedly set to return to an finish quickly.
In response to PWInsider.com (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside Information), Edge is “penciled in” to return on the Royal Rumble premium dwell occasion in San Antonio on Jan. 28.
Edge’s final WWE look noticed him lose an I Give up match to Finn Balor of The Judgment Day at Excessive Guidelines. The Rated-R Celebrity gave up in an effort to avoid wasting his spouse, fellow WWE Corridor of Famer Beth Phoenix, from getting hit with a conchairto by Rhea Ripley.
Ripley took out Phoenix anyway, and The Judgment Day proceeded to place Edge on the shelf as nicely with a post-match assault.
Edge has had a part-time schedule since returning to WWE after a virtually decade-long retirement in 2020, so he has had a number of situations of being written off tv earlier than returning months later.
Since returning, the Royal Rumble has been a vastly essential occasion for Edge, and it has made for some memorable moments.
He was a shock entrant within the 2020 males’s Royal Rumble match, which ended his retirement from a extreme neck harm. One 12 months later, Edge made his return from a distinct harm because the No. 1 entrant within the 2021 males’s Rumble, and he went the space in successful his second profession Rumble.
Then, on the 2022 Royal Rumble, Edge teamed with Beth for the primary time in a successful effort in opposition to The Miz and Maryse.
If Edge returns on the 2023 Royal Rumble, he might add some much-needed star energy to the lads’s Royal Rumble match.
Orton Reportedly Unlikely to Resume Staff with Riddle Upon Returning
RK-Bro was as soon as one of the vital fashionable acts in WWE, however the crew is reportedly unlikely to be reformed when Randy Orton returns from harm.
In response to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Publication (h/t Nikunj Walia of Ringside Information), RK-Bro could also be completed as a result of emergence of a brand new crew with comparable title components.
Meltzer famous that with WWE referring to Drew McIntyre and Sheamus as The Banger Bros, it might be an indication that there aren’t any future plans for RK-Bro, as WWE usually does not prefer to have groups with the identical title components.
RK-Bro haven’t competed as a crew for the reason that Might 20 episode of SmackDown, which noticed them drop the Uncooked Tag Staff Championships to The Usos in a title unification match.
That was additionally Orton’s most up-to-date match, as he has been out ever since with a again harm.
Fightful Choose (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside Information) reported in November that Orton underwent fusion surgical procedure in his decrease again. The expectation was that Orton would miss a big period of time, and Fightful added that some in WWE stated “they’d be lucky to have him again” at any level given his age and the severity of the harm.
Matt Riddle went on a singles run as soon as Orton landed on the shelf, however he has additionally been out since early December. WWE announced that Riddle suffered an harm by the hands of Solo Sikoa and could be out for six weeks.
It was broadly assumed that Orton and Riddle would break up in some unspecified time in the future regardless of their recognition as a crew, however given the uncertainty of Orton’s standing, their cut up could not require an angle.
FTR Taking Time Off to Determine Future
FTR’s Dax Harwood revealed Thursday that he and tag crew companion Money Wheeler are set to take a while away from AEW to make some selections about their future in professional wrestling.
Talking on his FTR with Dax podcast (h/t WrestlingInc’s Eric Mutter), Harwood stated he and Wheeler had been granted “the following few months” off tv to allow them to give attention to getting wholesome and planning their future:
“Now we have requested and been granted the following few months off of tv, so we will sit again, mirror, let our our bodies heal, and work out what we’re going to do for the following few years. As a result of no matter we resolve to do subsequent, would be the absolute final thing we do, so far as wrestling. I do not see myself, after I am performed with no matter we’ll resolve subsequent, in 5 years occurring the independents. I do not see myself working, in 5 years a Japan tour, or a Mexican tour, or touring around the globe and wrestling throughout locations.
“That is why these subsequent few months are an important few months for us. By April at the very least, at most, we could have a solution. However now, once more, I’ve to soak up my well being, I’ve to soak up my household, I’ve to soak up my creativity, and I’ve to soak up my private life all into consideration, about what we’ll do subsequent.”
The primary large break in wrestling for FTR got here in WWE once they glided by the names Scott Dawson and Sprint Wilder individually, and The Revival collectively.
Harwood signed with WWE in 2012, and Wheeler adopted in 2014, and by 2015 they turned NXT tag crew champions for the primary time. All instructed, The Revival had been two-time NXT tag crew champs, two-time Uncooked tag crew champs and two-time SmackDown tag crew champs, making them the primary Triple Crown tag crew champions in WWE historical past.
They had been launched from WWE in 2020 and signed with AEW shortly thereafter. FTR gained the AEW World Tag Staff Championships as soon as, however additionally they turned AAA, IWGP and Ring of Honor tag champs after leaving WWE.
FTR just lately dropped all of these titles, nevertheless, apparently in anticipation of taking a while off.
In November, Harwood instructed Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc’s Colby Applegate) that FTR’s AEW contract expires on the finish of April 2023, which coincides with the time they’re taking off.
Harwood and Wheeler are broadly considered one of many high tag groups on the planet, so it stands to purpose that each AEW and WWE will likely be vying laborious for his or her companies.
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