Here’s what matters today in wrestling 👇
Image Credit: WWE
Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship win last Friday was well received by the fans and well deserved for the new champion. It also had the effect of making people wonder what was happening at WrestleMania, as most of us thought Cody Rhodes would hold the title until facing Roman Reigns for their third WM main event. The re-match was heavily teased at the end of Roman’s last appearance with the company at Survivor Series. Dave Meltzer says that there was a mistake in an advertisement that revealed that Reigns would be returning to Raw next week, whether that ends up happening or not one would expect him back before the Royal Rumble.
The easiest solution seems to be Drew losing the WWE Championship before WrestleMania and Cody vs. Roman going on as planned. I wonder how the fans would feel about it. Times have changed since 2014, but I can’t help but see a world where the fans reject Cody vs. Roman in favor of Drew getting the big championship push. Maybe not, like I said, times have changed and wrestling fan sensibilities are a bit different now. The kids are still behind Cody & Roman as far as I see. The Drew element adds a twist to WrestleMania season, and it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.
WRESTLING HEADLINES 👊🏽
•Backstage Report: TNA Initially Wanted AJ Styles vs. Current Champ on AMC Debut
Image Credit: WWE
This is one of the bigger weeks in recent TNA history, as Impact debuts on AMC this week. Granted, AMC isn’t the powerhouse it was during the days of Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul, but it’s still a huge step up from AXSTV. AJ’s history with TNA is well-documented, as is his history with current champion Frankie Kazarian. This match should happen sometime in 2026, if it was me in charge I’d put it on Slammiversary. AJ wins there, does a big match or two on key Impact dates, then drops it at Bound For Glory to whoever TNA thinks their next top guy is. It makes sense to me anyway, not sure what anyone that’s actually involved thinks.
Image Credit: WWE
Can we all agree that threatening an independent wrestler over a booking they took to make some money is clown behavior? Even if you want to get all political over things these days (and there are certainly reasons to do so), there’s never any legitimate reason to fire up your burner account and threaten people you’ve seen on television with horrible things. I feel terrible for Priscilla and others that have been in her shoes in the past, and those that will be in the future because the types of folks that do this rarely learn to be better.
MORE MUST-READ LINKS FROM 411MANIA
→Hall's WWE Raw Review 1.12.26
→William Regal and the Importance of Learning from Those Who Came Before
→Anthony Bowens Says It's 'Remarkable' To See Pro Wrestling's Move Toward LGTBQ+ Support
Thanks for reading,
- Steve Cook