WWE updates plans for WrestleMania 42 main event

WWE has changed course for its WrestleMania 42 main event.

The plan had been for a third Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns match to headline the show. However, Dave Meltzer wrote in today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Paul “Triple H” Levesque soured on the idea of running a third Rhodes vs. Reigns match in four years.

Meltzer wrote:

“The way it was explained is that Paul Levesque took another look at the Rumble-to-Mania planned direction and decided that doing a Rhodes vs. Reigns match for the third time in four years and spending months building the direction would lead to audience fatigue.”

The change in WrestleMania plans and the decision to have Drew McIntyre win the WWE Championship were made within 48 hours of the title change taking place.

There are now two potential WrestleMania main events under consideration: Rhodes vs. McIntyre, or a three-way with Rhodes vs. McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu.

Meltzer continued:

“We were told that Reigns will be the odd man out of the WWE title picture. He is scheduled to return at the Rumble and one would expect his direction to be clearer there.”

“The two ideas for Mania at this point are a three-way for the title with Rhodes, Fatu and McIntyre, or just McIntyre vs. Rhodes.”

Meltzer also noted that both McIntyre and Rhodes pushed for McIntyre to win the WWE Championship, with the idea that Rhodes going into WrestleMania chasing the title rather than defending it would be a fresher story.

New WWE Champion Drew McIntyre is set to appear on today’s episode of WWE SmackDown in London, where his angle with Fatu and Rhodes is expected to continue.

The full edition of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available here.

Three matches, two segments set for next week’s TNA Impact

TNA Wrestling has announced three matches for next week’s episode of Impact.

The Thursday, January 22, 2026 edition of the show will feature the return of the Feast or Fired match, although no entrants have been announced.

Also booked for the show is Jeff Hardy vs. Mustafa Ali. The match comes after The Hardys and Elijah defeated Ali’s Order 4 on the AMC premiere episode. The Hardys are scheduled to defend the TNA Tag Team titles against The Righteous at Genesis on Saturday, while Ali is set to face Elijah.

Indi Hartwell vs. M By Elegance is also scheduled. The match was set up during a backstage segment on the AMC premiere that saw the newly crowned Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Elegance Brand interrupt a backstage interview with Hartwell.

In addition, The System will announce a new member to their faction, and recently signed Elayna Black will speak.

Next week’s show is scheduled to take place at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The updated lineup is below.

TNA Impact lineup for Thursday, January 22, 2026:

  • Feast or Fired match
  • Jeff Hardy v. Mustafa Ali 
  • Indi Hartwell v. M by Elegance
  • The System to introduce a new member
  • Elayna Black will speak 

TNA World title match stipulations set for Genesis after Impact goes off air

The show continued after TNA Impact went off the air on Thursday night.

As Santana was celebrating his TNA World Championship win over Frankie Kazarian, Nic Nemeth’s music hit and he walked to the ring, appearing intent on cashing in his Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy for a world title shot. However, security pulled Nemeth and Santana apart before Santino cut a promo.

Santino confirmed that Kazarian will get a rematch for the world title against Santana at Genesis, adding that the match will be a Texas Death match. Then newly signed TNA authority figure Daria Rae came out and announced that Nemeth will serve as the special referee.

TNA Genesis takes place Saturday, January 17, 2026. The updated lineup is below.

Current TNA Genesis 2026 lineup for January 17th, 2026 | Garland, Texas

  • TNA World Champion Mike Santana defends against Frankie Kazarian in a Texas Death match with Nic Nemeth as special referee
  • TNA Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee defends against Zaria
  • Joe Hendry vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Moose in a three-way
  • Mustafa Ali vs. Elijah
  • JDC vs. Eddie Edwards in JDC’s retirement match.
  • TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardys (Matt and Jeff Hardy) defend against The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch)
  • AJ Francis vs. Rich Swann
  • Joe Hendry concert

New TNA World Champion crowned on Impact AMC premiere

Mike Santana is once again the TNA World Champion.

He defeated Frankie Kazarian in the main event of tonight’s Impact on AMC premiere. The finish saw Kazarian attempt his own version of Santana’s Spin The Block rolling lariat but Santana avoided it and hit his own version for the win.

As a result of the win, Santana will now defend the title against the former champion Kazarian at TNA Genesis on Saturday, January 17, 2026.

The title change was the 65th in the history of the TNA World title. Santana becomes the 16th wrestler to win the belt multiple times. His first reign ended after just 32 days. Kazarian’s run with the title ends after 63 days and two title defenses on TNA programming. He defended it against JDC at Final Resolution and then against Bear Bronson on the episode that aired on New Year’s Day.

Dixie Carter appears at TNA Impact on AMC premiere show

Dixie Carter appeared on the debut episode of TNA Impact on AMC.

Carlos Silva brought the former TNA president on stage before the main event. Carter briefly addressed the live crowd, saying:

“I cannot believe 24 years ago. How many of you have watched TNA almost that long? I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you all for being here tonight. What an incredible honor. This company is on AMC launching a brand new chapter. I couldn’t be more proud of the locker room, all of you fans, thank you for everything you’ve done. It’s a very sentimental night for me so thank you so much.”

As Carter finished her speech, Bully Ray came out to the stage and had a brief stare down with his former rival. Bully and Carter hugged before Bully walked to the commentary table.

Carter served as president of TNA Wrestling from 2003 to 2016.

The segment is available below:

Change made to TNA Knockouts World title match at Genesis

A change has been made to the Knockouts World Championship match at TNA Genesis.

During tonight’s debut episode of Impact on AMC, Santino Marella announced that “due to an international visa crisis,” Dani Luna will not be able to make her scheduled match against Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee. This led to Sol Ruca and Zaria coming out to the ring, with Ruca suggesting that Zaria challenge for the title instead. Zaria then signed the contract and the match was made official.

Earlier on Thursday, Fightful reported that a number of TNA wrestlers scheduled to be at today’s show were unable to make it due to their visas not being completed on time, with Luna being one such wrestler.

Current TNA Genesis 2026 lineup for January 17th, 2026 | Garland, Texas

  • TNA World Champion Mike Santana defends against Frankie Kazarian in a Texas Death match with Nic Nemeth as special referee
  • TNA Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee defends against Zaria
  • Joe Hendry vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Moose in a three-way
  • Mustafa Ali vs. Elijah
  • JDC vs. Eddie Edwards in JDC’s retirement match.
  • TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardys (Matt and Jeff Hardy) defend against The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch)
  • AJ Francis vs. Rich Swann
  • Joe Hendry concert

New TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions crowned on AMC premiere

New TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions were crowned on Thursday.

The Elegance Brand’s Heather By Elegance and M By Elegance defeated The Iinspiration’s Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee on the Impact debut on AMC.

The finish saw interference from Mr. Elegance, the newest member of the Elegance Brand who was revealed before the show. With the referee distracted, he clipped Lee’s knee allowing M to roll her up for the win.

In the back after the match, The Elegance Brand interrupted an interview with Indi Hartwell, with Hartwell saying she’d fight any member of the faction.

Shortly after the conclusion of the match, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful posted to social media that McKay and Lee have finished up with TNA Wrestling and that the pair have interest from outside of TNA, writing, “The IInspiration have finished up with TNA, myself and @FightfulSelect have learned. They have gained interest from companies outside of TNA.”

Update on future of WWE tryouts in 2026

An update is available regarding the future of WWE’s tryouts.

WWE tryouts are taking place this week with several independent wrestlers attending. It’s the first time the company has held tryouts with independent wrestlers invited since 2022. However, our own Bryan Alvarez reports that the company plans to continue scouting indie wrestlers and more tryouts are expected to take place throughout the year.

Alvarez wrote to his subscribers on X:

“We are told that WWE will be holding significantly more tryouts this year, and like this most recent set they are back to looking for in-shape indie talent who can work and cut good promos.”

The list of athletes attending this week’s tryouts in Orlando is below.

Men:

  • Starboy Charlie (independent wrestler who has worked for GCW)
  • Leon Lokombo (independent wrestler)
  • Jack Pasquale (independent wrestler)
  • Manny Lo (independent wrestler)
  • Jeremiah Lakhwani (social media influencer from Bali who competed on Netflix reality series Physical: Asia)
  • Blade Brown (independent wrestler)
  • Ben Finneseth (college football)
  • Jariel Rivera (independent wrestler)
  • Bhupinder Gujjar (independent wrestler that has previously worked for TNA)
  • Tyler Jordan (independent wrestler)
  • James Karnik (Canadian basketball player)
  • Manny House (independent wrestler)
  • Bruss Hamilton (independent wrestler who also won the 2025 America’s Strongest Marine competition)

Women:

  • Nor ‘Phoenix’ Diana (independent talent, recently lost title to Mercedes Mone)
  • Elli Finch (track and field at Michigan State)
  • KJ Johnson (gymnastics regional champion)
  • Regina Tarin (Mexican MMA fighter)
  • Casey Schaeoff (basketball, lacrosse, cross country)
  • Sallie Grace (social media sports influencer)
  • Alyssa Daniele (vlogger & snowboarder)

ROH x Metroplex Wrestling Global Wars announced for HonorClub

Ring of Honor and Athena’s Metroplex promotion are teaming up for a joint show.

In a backstage segment on tonight’s broadcast of ROH on HonorClub, Tony Khan revealed the news, saying ROH x Metroplex Wrestling Global Wars will take place at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, January 24. The show will air on HonorClub on Thursday, January 29 and will feature wrestlers from both Ring of Honor and Metroplex.

Athena has been running Metroplex Wrestling since 2022. The promotion runs weekly shows on Friday in Bedford, Texas.

“For the first time ever, ROH is going to collaborate, we’re going to team up with Metroplex Wrestling, which is run by the CEO of Metroplex and the match-maker of Metroplex, the ROH Women’s World Champion, the Fallen Goddess Athena.”

Athena said, “When my minions prove that we are the best in the entire world, we are going to continue this forever.”

Khan and Athena’s announcement is below:

Report: Update on AAA live schedule on FOX

According to a new report, AAA will air live on FOX in Mexico and Central America every three weeks.

AAA is set to debut on the network on Saturday, January 17 in Mexico City with a live show airing on Fox Tubi and Fox One, with a delayed airing starting at 9 p.m. local time on Fox.

On Thursday, WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select reported that the plan is for AAA to go live every three weeks and tape another two weeks of television at each show.

Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed AAA’s TV deal on Wrestling Observer Radio earlier this week, with Meltzer saying, “This new TV deal, it feels right now it’s not nearly what it was cracked up to be. But they are sold out.”

Saturday’s show will stream internationally on WWE’s YouTube channels. The lineup for the show is below.

Lucha Libre AAA Fox Latin America debut (Saturday, January 17) —

  • El Hijo del Vikingo vs. El Grande Americano to determine number one contender to Dominik Mysterio’s AAA Mega Championship
  • Non-title match: AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Flammer vs. Lady Shani
  • Six-man tag match: Nino Hamburguesa, La Parka & Mr. Iguana vs. Abismo Negro Jr., Taurus & Histeria

AEW tag team announces return

The Butcher and The Blade are set to return as a tag team.

The Blade made his in-ring return last month in his hometown of Buffalo after nearly two years away. He had been out of action with a serious back injury since February 2024 and underwent spinal fusion surgery that September.

His tag team partner The Butcher has also wrestled sparingly over the past year. His last appearance on AEW programming came on the May 2, 2025, episode of AEW Collision, where he lost a singles match to Gabe Kidd.

The last time The Butcher and The Blade appeared under the AEW/ROH banner was the January 10, 2024, Ring of Honor taping from Daily’s Place, where they lost a tag match to Top Flight’s Dante and Darius Martin. It was also the last time the two wrestled as a team.

Both The Butcher and The Blade posted to Instagram on Thursday announcing the return of their tag team.

The Butcher wrote, “Butcher and Blade are back bitch. Watch your mouthes tag teams. @aew”

The Blade wrote, “The Butcher And The Blade 2026. Coming soon to professional wrestling near you #wrestling #prowrestling #aew #allelitewrestling”

Israeli promotion IPWA issues statement on Priscilla Kelly pulling out of show

The Israel-based wrestling promotion IPWA has issued a statement on Priscilla Kelly pulling out of one of its shows.

Kelly, formerly NXT’s Gigi Dolin, announced on January 11 that she had accepted a booking with the promotion for its Passover Bash show on April 6. Shortly after, Dolin deleted her post and released a statement that she would not longer be participating in the show, writing, “My intention was never to make a political statement, but to entertain those who were not tied to horrific humanitarian crisis, I do not want to be a part of this any further or give the idea that I condone the actions of the government in any way.”

Dolin’s social media accounts appear to have been deleted the following day.

IPWA released a statement about Dolin pulling out from the show, writing that Dolin was not educated properly as to the situation.

IPWA posted:

“I am not mad at Priscilla. She wanted to do something nice. She’s a bit clueless and her agent did not educate her properly on the situation. She did nothing wrong. And I truly regret that her social accounts were taken down. I hope her social accounts will be restored soon.”

IPWA later sent the following to PWInsider:

IPWA STATEMENT REGARDING PRISCILLA KELLY ISRAELI BOOKING CANCELLATION

Priscilla had no knowledge of the conflict in the region. She treated it as a regular booking. She did nothing wrong. I kindly request people to leave her alone and not bother her after she activates back her accounts. Priscilla is a good person and a kind soul and she does not deserve this type of emotional stress.

Did you know that I am the only person in the Middle East that brings wrestling superstars to meet not only Israelis but also Palestinians? So by bullying Priscilla out of this booking you screwed Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Druze, Russians, Ukranians, Ethiopians, Christians and many more who live here in the region.

Did you know that my IPWA in Israel is the only place in the Middle East that promotes Women’s Wrestling and treats women equal to men?

In 2022 at WrestleMitzvah (which is available on Fite TV) we featured a Womens Championship match which was the first ever Women’s Championship in the Middle East and also the first time ever Women Main Evented a wrestling card in the Middle East.

In Israel – women have the same rights as men, so on our shows female wrestlers can dress however they choose and are NOT forced to be covered from head to toe. In Israel we empower women and Women’s Wrestling, featuring female wrestlers from all over the world of all faiths and religions.

Did you know that in my IPWA in Israel we are the only place in the Middle East that puts the spotlight on openly gay wrestlers? We support and treat them equally. While in other dark Islamic regimes being gay equals the death penalty.

When I bring former WWE superstars I take them to meet everyone in this area, with one message – that the wrestling language is the language of peace!

Chris Masters alone, during his last trip brought Israelis and Palestinians to watch his match with John Cena and for couple minutes we entered a magical world – in that moment we all were just die hard wrestling fans interacting with a real life superstar. Seeing a real WWE superstar who actually wrestled John Cena made Masters look like God. Nobody cared about politics anymore. John Cena brought everyone together.

So instead of hating, bullying and boycotting – I call upon everyone to come here and see things for yourselves. Then and only then form your own opinions.

I also would like to extend an official invitation to WWE and AEW to come here for one show in Tel Aviv for the Israelis and another in Jericho for the Palestinians. Peace through wrestling is not a fantasy, nor a dream. It’s possible to turn the dream into a reality. We can make a real difference this time – for the sake of future generations.

Respectfully,
Gery Roif
IPWA WRESTLING
Owner, Promoter & Trainer since 2001″

CM Punk estimates potential timeline for retirement

CM Punk estimates that he won’t wrestle past the age of 50.

Punk made the comments during a recent interview with CinemaBlend, saying that he should “maybe gracefully bow” around that time.

Punk said:

“When I was 15, if you asked me if I’d be wrestling when I was 40, I would tell you ‘No, that’s crazy. 40 is so old.’ I’m 47, and I don’t feel old yet. Terry Funk wrestled for a long time, Ric Flair wrestled for a long time. I mean, there’s luchadors that are like in their 70s that are still doing it. Do I want to be doing that? Probably not. I would estimate probably the big 50 is when I should maybe gracefully bow out. Knock on wood, if nothing else horrible happens.”

The 47-year-old Punk will turn 50 on October 26, 2028. In previous interviews, he has brushed off the topic of retirement. He told Metro in an interview last April that with WWE running fewer shows and him wrestling less frequently, performers are putting less mileage on their bodies. During WWE’s visit to Japan last October, Punk said he plans to wrestle “until the wheels fall off.”

Up next for Punk, he is scheduled to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Bálor on next week’s WWE Raw from Belfast, Ireland.

AEW wrestler reveals contract extension

Queen Aminata has revealed that her AEW contract has been extended.

Aminata shared the news in a video posted to YouTube on Wednesday, saying:

“AEW also extended my beautiful, juicy contract until February 2027. What can I say at this point? I’m happy. Even though my neck is messed up right now and I can’t wrestle, I’m very happy and very, very motivated. I can’t wait to go back.”

Aminata has not wrestled since the October 29, 2025 edition of AEW Dynamite. She was scheduled to compete in the Women’s Blood & Guts match on November 12 but was pulled from the bout due to a neck injury and has been out of action since. She was also forced to withdraw from the ROH Women’s Pure title tournament because of the injury.

Aminata began working AEW events on Dark and Dark: Elevation in the spring of 2021. She officially signed with the company in February 2024.

Aminata’s video is available below: