Professional Wrestling

One of the greatest wrestlers of all time is set to return to a WWE ring soon.

Sixteen-time world champion John Cena announced that he will be teaming with Kevin Owens to take on Sami Zayn and WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a tag match on this year's final episode of Friday Night SmackDown on Dec. 30.

John Cena announces he's tagging with Kevin Owens against Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn on Dec. 30's SmackDown 🍿🔥

(via @WWE)pic.twitter.com/ss8dHLYzZt

— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) December 17, 2022

Cena's return to the ring will mark the 20th consecutive year he's competed in a WWE match since his debut in 2002. The 45-year-old has not yet wrestled in 2022 after successfully transitioning into a career as a full-time actor.

After his acclaimed appearance as the Peacemaker in the 2021 film The Suicide Squad, Cena starred in a spin-off series based on the character that debuted in January on HBO Max. The series received positive reviews and was renewed for a second season a month after it premiered on the streaming platform.

Cena is also set to reprise his role in the Fast & Furious franchise for the 2023 film Fast X, which is in post-production and has a release date of May 19. He had debuted in the franchise in F9 last year as Jakob Toretto, the younger brother of the main character Dominic Toretto, who is portrayed by Vin Diesel.

The last time Cena wrestled was at SummerSlam 2021 in a championship match against Reigns, which he lost. This past June, he returned to Monday Night Raw to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his main roster debut.

Cena's partnership with Owens is a fun pairing, considering Owens made his WWE debut by sparking a rivalry with the legendary performer in 2015. Owens has been engaged in a feud with Reigns, Zayn and the rest of The Bloodline for months now, so adding Cena to the mix is an exciting way to close out the year.

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Everyone may be focused on the winter holiday season right now, but the WWE Universe has already turned its attention to January and the 2023 Royal Rumble.

With wrestling fans anticipating shocking returns and memorable moments created in the always-hectic 30-person Battle Royals, speculation is running rampant about how the Road to WrestleMania 39 will kick off.

Here are three bold early predictions for the 2023 Royal Rumble.

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Roman Reigns Fighting a War on Multiple Fronts

WrestleMania 39 is setting up to be a major showcase for Roman Reigns. If Dave Meltzer's report that WWE has discussed having Reigns wrestle both nights of the show against Cody Rhodes and Dwayne Johnson are true, then the Royal Rumble is shaping up to be a wild night.

One way to ensure the two matches occur would be to have both Rhodes and The Rock enter the 30-man Battle Royal. With Reigns perched at ringside scoping his competition to start the match, this will be the perfect start to the Road to WrestleMania.

The crowd will be in a frenzy to start the bout seeing Reigns sitting ringside, and they will explode when the first theme that hits the Titantron is for The Rock. After a triumphant return entrance and a short back-and-forth with a veteran like Dolph Ziggler, he should quickly stand alone in the ring before the next entrant is announced and stare down the world champion.

Reigns should immediately jump on the apron and shake his cousin's hand, pulling him over the top rope and eliminating him from the match. The two men would brawl to the back as the third entrant in the Battle Royal is announced; Cody Rhodes.

In poetic fashion, Rhodes would return from his torn pectoral muscle and run the table against every challenger put in front of him. After an absolute war, Rhodes should last eliminate Seth Rollins and earn his chance to challenge for Reigns' world title.

The WWE Universe would be far more interested in the Road to WrestleMania if Reigns were fighting two major battles on opposing fronts.

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Sasha Banks Wins the Weekend

With Sasha Banks scheduled to attend New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January, speculation has run rampant that she could be done with WWE. What better way to make wrestling fans think she won't be in the Royal Rumble than allowing Banks to fulfill her dreams in Japan before returning?

Banks is one of the most talented female performers in the wrestling business, and she continues to generate interest from the WWE Universe and beyond about where she will show up next. The excitement level for her Wrestle Kingdom appearance is already through the roof, but her January could be truly historic.

Triple H and Company have struck a deal with Karl Anderson to work with New Japan in the coming months, so Banks could still be working with WWE behind the scenes and taking advantage of new freedoms afforded her by the new regime.

By pitting the Internet Wrestling Community against itself with a NJPW appearance and a lack of clarity about her wrestling status, a surprise return in the women's Battle Royal would have the WWE Universe in a frenzy.

And if Banks enters the 30-woman Royal Rumble after making so many waves since her departure without ever stepping into a ring, she would undoubtedly win the whole thing and challenge for a top title at WrestleMania.

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Sami Zayn Eliminates The Bloodline

One of the best storylines in all of wrestling over the last year has been Sami Zayn earning the trust of The Bloodline. With even Roman Reigns believing in the former NXT champion, WWE must capitalize on Zayn's status right now with a huge moment at Royal Rumble.

The subtle face turn has already started for Zayn, and a full-blown turn should come after he enters the 30-man Battle Royal and one-by-one eliminates every member of the Bloodline involved in the match.

The problem will come after he is eliminated and has to explain to Reigns and the boys why he went into business for himself. With everything predicted above with The Rock and Rhodes creating extra work for Reigns, the Bloodline will turn on Zayn and leave him decimated in the ring for his actions.

Once Zayn hits his lowest point and bares his soul about losing his friends, Kevin Owens should come to his side and the duo should dismantle The Bloodline. At WrestleMania, it can start with Owens and Zayn stealing the tag team titles from The Usos.

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AEW star Chris Jericho is playing the lead in an upcoming horror movie entitled Dark Match.

According to Andreas Wiseman of Deadline.com, filming for Dark Match recently wrapped in Edmonton, which is fitting since Jericho is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The film is written and directed by Lowell Dean, produced by John MacDonald and backed by Dept. 9 Studios.

Joining Jericho in the cast are Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Sara Canning, Michael Eklund and Jonathan Cherry.

Jericho is seemingly a perfect fit for the movie since it puts a horror-related spin on his craft of professional wrestling. Per Wiseman, the plot sees a small wrestling company accept a large payout to put on a show in a backwoods town, however, the wrestlers soon learn that something sinister is at work since the town is run by a cult leader.

The 52-year-old Jericho has previous acting experience, primarily appearing in comedies such as MacGruber, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, although he did recently get more involved in the horror genre, appearing in KillRoy Was Here and Terrifier 2 this year.

Jericho has also long been the lead singer of the rock band Fozzy, plus he has been a pro wrestler since 1990.

He is perhaps best known for his runs in WCW from 1996 to 1999 and WWE, where he wrestled on and off from 1999 until 2018.

Jericho shocked the wrestling world by signing with AEW in 2019, and he eventually became the inaugural AEW world champion. Jericho also held the ROH World Championship, and remains one of AEW's top stars.

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Some in WWE Reportedly Claim Rose Asked for Release

In the wake of Mandy Rose's reported release from WWE this week, new details are emerging regarding what led up to it.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Manik Aftab of Ringside News), some within WWE have said Rose requested her release from the company two weeks ago, although there has been no legitimate confirmation of those claims.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp broke the news of Rose's release Wednesday, reporting that WWE made the decision that some of the content she posted on her FanTime page was believed to be "outside of the parameters" of her contract.

Rose posted explicit photos and videos on FanTime behind a paywall, although some of her content was leaked onto social media.

The reported decision to release Rose came one day after she dropped the NXT Women's Championship to Roxanne Perez on Tuesday night's episode of NXT.

Rose had held the title for 413 days, which is the third-longest NXT Women's Championship reign of all time, and her loss seemed sudden.

Despite her apparent release, Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) reported this week that WWE remains open to bringing her back at some point if the two sides can get back on the same page.

While the terms of her potentially returning were not reported, it seems likely that WWE would want her to either get rid of her FanTime page or tone down the content because of its status as a PG product geared toward children.

For now, Rose is a free agent, meaning she could potentially test the waters with other companies such as All Elite Wrestling or Impact Wrestling.

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WWE Reportedly Weighing Multiple WrestleMania Ideas

WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, is less than four months away, and WWE is reportedly still considering many different potential matches and moments for the show.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Mukherjee), WWE is batting around "multiple ideas," and every top talent in the company is being considered for "multiple different things" at the event.

While many possible matches have been speculated about, WWE has yet to announce anything for WrestleMania or give any true indication regarding what direction they are leaning in.

The most popular match that has been discussed by fans is undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns going up against his real-life cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

WWE hasn't so much as teased Reigns vs. The Rock, and it is completely unclear if The Rock is willing or able to clear his busy acting schedule enough to have the time needed to participate in a WrestleMania feud and match.

Fans have also speculated on Reigns putting his titles on the line against Cody Rhodes, provided he returns from his torn pectoral muscle and wins the men's Royal Rumble match.

There has even been talk of Reigns wrestling on both nights of WrestleMania with The Rock and Rhodes as his opponents, and Meltzer (h/t Andrew Ravens of WrestlingNews.co) reported that it is something WWE is at least considering.

Several other big names need to be figured into the plans as well, including Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley and possibly even a returning John Cena.

Whatever WWE's plans are, they figure to become far more apparent over the next couple of months, especially at the Royal Rumble in late January.

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Shotzi Reportedly Out with Legit Injury

WWE seemingly writing Shotzi off television a couple of weeks ago was reportedly done to account for a legitimate injury.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Sunil Joseph of Ringside News), the storyline injury is meant to cover for a real injury Shotzi suffered.

The exact nature of Shotzi's injury is unclear, but in the storyline, Shotzi injured her hand after Rousey and Shayna Baszler apparently slammed it in a car door in the parking lot.

Shotzi has picked up a lot of steam on SmackDown in recent months, especially since turning face. She was even rewarded with the first one-on-one title match at a premium live event of her career.

After beating Lacey Evans, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Sonya Deville and Xia Li to become No. 1 contender, Shotzi fell to Rousey at Survivor Series WarGames last month.

Shotzi has not competed in a televised match since the loss to Rousey, although she faced Rousey at a live event on Nov. 27.

Until Shotzi is able to return, it appears as though Rodriguez, Morgan and the returning Tegan Nox are getting pushed as the top babyface women on the SmackDown roster.

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Sasha Banks' rumored departure from WWE reportedly came after the company refused to make her one of the highest-paid female Superstars on the roster.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t James Holder of Inside The Ropes), Banks wanted pay similar to Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, but people with knowledge of the situation said WWE never made her close to that type of offer.

Sources also told Meltzer that Banks is not viewed internally as "somebody who would be on top for the next five years," but rather as a wrestler who has already "peaked as a star."

Banks and Naomi walked out prior to an episode of Raw in May because of apparent unhappiness over how they were being booked. WWE subsequently stripped them of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships and suspended them.

Neither of them has done anything in a wrestling capacity since then, but PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reported this month that Banks is expected to make an appearance at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on Jan. 4.

Meltzer (h/t Ian Carey of F4WOnline) followed up by reporting that Banks negotiated the Wrestle Kingdom appearance and other appearances with NJPW rather than through WWE.

It was noted that Banks negotiated her release from her WWE contract over the summer, but she agreed to not have any involvement in wrestling until the start of 2023.

Meltzer added that while Banks and WWE had contract talks after Vince McMahon retired in July and was replaced by Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, they were far apart on money.

If Banks did indeed request to be paid the same as Lynch and Flair, it is understandable why, as she played a huge role along with them and Bayley in the advancement of women's wrestling in WWE.

Known as the Four Horsewomen, Banks, Lynch, Flair and Bayley changed the perception of WWE women's wrestling in NXT and enjoyed massive success on the main roster as well.

Lynch and Charlotte were part of the first-ever WrestleMania women's main event at WrestleMania 35 when they faced Ronda Rousey in a Triple Threat, but Banks also repeated the feat two years later, headlining Night 1 of WrestleMania 37 with Bianca Belair.

The 30-year-old Banks also racked up a ton of other accolades in WWE, including being a five-time Raw women's champion, three-time WWE women's tag team champion, one-time Raw women's champion and one-time NXT women's champion.

On top of that, Banks has a huge social media presence and rabid fanbase, plus she has crossover appeal based on her appearance in the Star Wars series The Mandalorian as the character Koska Reeves.

Given her importance to the growth of women's wrestling and how popular she is, WWE could come to regret its reported decision to not pay her a top rate, especially if she moves the needle for New Japan.

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The status of Sasha Banks remains a hot topic in the world of professional wrestling, but things are starting to become clearer for the former multi-time WWE Women's Champion.

Banks, who has been using her real name Mercedes Varnado, raised eyebrows when it was reported last week that she'd be making an appearance at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's marquee event, Wrestle Kingdom 17, at the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 4.

According to a new report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (h/t Sunil Joseph of Ringside News), Banks is free to take bookings starting on Jan. 1 and her departure from WWE was known for quite some time:

"It was confirmed to Fightful that Mercedes' WWE exit was negotiated 'months ago,' likely when Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc. reported as much. However, WWE has yet to officially confirm this, and she remains listed on the company's official website."

Giri reported in June that Banks was released from WWE following her walkout from an episode of Monday Night Raw alongside her tag team partner Naomi over creative differences. When longtime WWE chairman Vince McMahon retired in July, it had been speculated that Banks and Naomi would return to the company at some point, but that no longer appears to be the case.

It remains to be seen what the future has in store for Banks, but as one of the biggest stars in the wrestling business, she will surely have no shortage of options.

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Two-time WWE champion Drew McIntyre is out of action with an injury, but he doesn't intend on being out for too long.

During an appearance on WWE's The Bump on Wednesday (h/t Smita Singha Roy of Ringside News), McIntyre gave an update on his status:

McIntyre said he will be back "very very soon," and that he's "not going to miss" WrestleMania season.

WrestleMania 39 is not until April, but WrestleMania season is usually considered the time from the Royal Rumble in late January up until WrestleMania. That suggests The Scottish Warrior could potentially be back in time to compete in the men's Royal Rumble match.

While WWE has yet to announce the exact nature of McIntyre's injury, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc's Matthew Wilkinson) reported that the injury is indeed legitimate.

On Nov. 26, McIntyre competed in a WarGames match at Survivor Series WarGames, teaming with Kevin Owens and The Brawling Brutes in a losing effort against The Bloodline.

One night later, McIntyre was part of an eight-man tag team match at a live event that saw him, Owens, Butch and Ridge Holland defeat Bloodline members The Usos, Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa.

McIntyre has not wrestled since then, and he was even removed from a scheduled match on SmackDown last week, as he and Sheamus were supposed to face The Usos in an undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship match.

Butch filled in for McIntyre as Sheamus' partner, and The Usos won the match to retain their titles.

McIntyre has been one of WWE's top babyfaces since 2020, which was when he won the men's Royal Rumble and went on to beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.

He has not been champion for quite some time due to Roman Reigns' stranglehold on both world titles, but McIntyre often finds himself in the mix and near the top of the card, which underscores his importance.

McIntyre figures to have a significant role on the WrestleMania card, which is why it is paramount for WWE to get him back in the near future.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).