Triple H has had discussions with AJ Styles about potential final WWE opponents

Paul “Triple H” Levesque has had discussions with AJ Styles about which opponents he’d like to face before ending his in-ring career.

While appearing on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike today, Levesque was asked if Saturday’s bout against Gunther at the Royal Rumble could really be Styles’ final match. Levesque kept kayfabe with his answer but noted that he’s had regular conversations with Styles about the goals he has for the remainder of his run.

“We’re going to have to see,” Levesque said. “You know, AJ Styles has not made it a secret this year, 2026, is going to be his last in-ring year. But he has a lot of goals and a lot of people — I know he’s with me every week making a list of people that he would want to face and that he wants to meet in the ring before he retires.

“But as Gunther was disrespecting John Cena about doing the one thing he said he would never do, which is quit or give up, Gunther made [Cena] do that in his final match. AJ Styles has taken offense to that. He put his career on the line against Gunther, saying that if he can’t beat him, if he can’t end this streak for Gunther, then he’s done.

“I, for one, hope that that doesn’t happen. I hope AJ Styles continues because he’s an incredible talent. But if it does, what an unbelievable run he’s had.”

Styles vs. Gunther is happening in Saudi Arabia on Saturday as part of the card for the Royal Rumble PLE. With Gunther having already retired Goldberg and Cena and now looking to do the same to Styles, WWE has filed a “Career Killer” trademark for Gunther’s new nickname.

If Styles makes it through Saturday, it’s unclear when his final match will take place. The only timeline he’s put on his retirement is that his last match will definitely happen in 2026.

Rocky Romero says he thinks about retirement ‘all the time’

As his pro wrestling existence drifts further and further away from the ring, Rocky Romero is frequently thinking about when he’ll hang up his boots for good.

The 43-year-old Romero has become an important behind-the-scenes figure in wrestling, including front office roles in both AEW and NJPW. He still competes in the ring internationally as well, though he isn’t sure how much longer that will be the case. Ahead of his match against Kenny Omega on Dynamite tonight, Romero told Undisputed that he thinks about retirement “all the time.” He plans on ending his in-ring career as soon as his work drops below the standard he’s set for himself.

“If this were my last match, I’d be honored for it to happen against a guy like Kenny,” Romero said. “I’m definitely slowing down, so it feels great to still have a moment like this.

“When I retire, I’ll stay involved in wrestling. I really debate how much longer I’ll be in the ring — I think about retirement all the time. There is a certain standard I want to always meet and exceed. The second that is no longer the case, then I’m done.”

Omega defeated Josh Alexander last week and is now facing off against another Don Callis Family member in Romero. Along with that, Omega is looking to prove he deserves a shot at AEW World Champion MJF.

Tonight’s match is something that Romero views as a full-circle moment. He’s had history with Omega from their time in ROH and NJPW. Now they get to face off in a high-profile match on cable television.

“My job is always constantly evolving,” Romero said. “One part that’s never changed is I’ve always loved to wrestle. Over the last two years, I’ve slowed down on the performing part. But I’m still a wrestler at heart. That’s why I got into this business.

“There is no greater high than to be out there wrestling in front of a crowd, especially in a match like tonight against Kenny. I’ve seen him grow from Ring of Honor and New Japan to where he is now, at the tip-top of the business, so wrestling him now means even more. We’ve been intertwined for so long. Some of the most pivotal years of our lives were spent together in the same company at the same time. And I got into wrestling by watching WCW on TNT and TBS. To be able to wrestle a high-profile top star on Dynamite, it’s a full-circle moment.”

Undertaker: WWE has gotten ‘too comfortable’ pulling back the curtain

As you’d probably expect given his old-school mentality, The Undertaker isn’t the biggest fan of “WWE: Unreal.”

The latest episode of Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast included a discussion about the “Unreal” docuseries. While Undertaker thinks the show is well done, he does not like pulling back the curtain in this way.

“The actual presentation and everything is wonderful, right? From my aspect and my end of the business, I don’t like it,” Undertaker said. “And everybody’s going to say, ‘Oh my God, that’s an old-school guy trying to protect kayfabe.’ Look, I don’t care if it’s 2025, it’s 1990, or it’s 1984. Everybody understands what wrestling is. Everybody knows. Ain’t no big veil been lifted — except I don’t want to go to see a magician and know how he’s doing everything. And I understand that there’s a huge part, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, I want to do that.’ But there’s still that aspect…

“Everybody knows what we do, right? But when I’m in the ring, my whole goal, my motivation is to get one person, just one person to think, ‘Wow, Undertaker just clocked him. I don’t care what everybody else is doing. That right there, that was the real thing.’ So there’s always the doubt.”

Undertaker admitted that he knows people on the internet will take issue with his comments and feel like he’s out of touch. Still, he wishes pro wrestling would not expose the business as much as it does. Even hosting his own podcast can be difficult for Undertaker given his reluctance to pull back the curtain.

“I think we’re too comfortable now in talking about our business. And I struggle on these podcasts too, because it’s hard to talk. It’s hard to talk and tell stories without lifting it up a little bit,” he said. “But I think we’ve gone too far. And again, I understand. Everyone knows what it is, what we do. But there’s got to be a little bit of mystery.”

The second season of “Unreal” premiered on January 20, and the series has already been renewed for season three.

Undertaker retired in 2020 and is now involved behind the scenes in WWE, helping lead creative for Lucha Libre AAA.

Former WWE star Braun Strowman hospitalized with infection

Adam Scherr (the former Braun Strowman) is currently in the hospital battling an infection.

On Tuesday, Scherr informed fans that he had spent the night in the hospital due to a knee infection that “came out of nowhere.” He shared a new update today letting everyone know that he’s still in the hospital waiting to find out answers. The pain from the infection is pretty bad, but Scherr is confident that everything is going to be okay.

“I just wanted to take a second to come on here and say thank you everybody that’s been reaching out and all the well wishes on my post about this infection,” he said. “I’m going on day two in here, still plumbed up to IVs, waiting on cultures to come back to find out exactly what it is. Pain’s pretty bad, but we’re still breathing. We’re still kicking. God’s got me, and I trust him and everything’s going to be okay. So it’s going to take a little bit to get over this hump, but y’all know me. Nothing keeps ‘The Monster’ down. So, again, thank you for all the well-wishes and thoughts and prayers and everything and everybody reaching out. It doesn’t go unnoticed. I love all of y’all very much. Thank you.”

Scherr, 42, currently stars in the USA Network food series “Everything on the Menu,” which has been picked up for an expanded second season after a successful first run of episodes. He has not wrestled anywhere since being released by WWE in May 2025.

TNA announces signing of Elayna Black

The former Cora Jade is officially under contract with TNA Wrestling.

Following her debut on Impact’s AMC premiere, TNA announced today that Elayna Black has signed with the company. The 25-year-old Black was featured in WWE NXT prior to being released from her contract in May 2025. She briefly returned to the indies after that before taking a mental health break for the remainder of 2025. Upon the start of the new year, she joined the TNA Knockouts division.

Black’s contract with TNA is believed to be a one-year deal.

In their announcement, TNA referred to Black as “one of the most exciting rising stars” in pro wrestling. She competed in one match for the promotion back in 2019 and later crossed over into TNA during her WWE NXT career.

“The signing marks a homecoming for Elayna, who began wrestling in 2018 and made her first TNA appearance in 2019,” the announcement said. “Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Elayna trained under Bryce Benjamin, Isaias Velasquez and TNA’s own Mustafa Ali – dropping out of school at age 15 to pursue her wrestling career full-time.”

Black and Daria Rae (the former Sonya Deville) both debuted for TNA on the AMC premiere. Deville is playing an authority figure, with her character being credited with signing Black to the promotion.

This Thursday’s episode of Impact will feature Black facing off against a yet-to-be-announced opponent.

Cody Rhodes says WWE return was a big gamble, had ‘a good gig’ at AEW

When Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022, he knew he was taking a really big gamble.

The decision ended up paying off for Rhodes, who has been one of the top stars in WWE ever since coming back. But just looking back on the risk that he took brings up anxiety for Rhodes. He reflected on the situation while appearing on a new episode of Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, saying it might have been an even bigger gamble than when he left WWE in 2016. Rhodes feels he had “a good gig” in AEW — and there was no guarantee that a WWE return would work.

“The situation, looking back at it now, so many things were happening,” Rhodes said. “I had two television shows that were on Discovery now, but Warner Media programming. I had to juggle that, I had to really weigh it out. Obviously, opportunity is amazing, but I had to really weigh it out. Is this a mistake, right? They didn’t see it the first time. They saw a little of it, but they didn’t see it. Is this the biggest mistake ever? You think the first time leaving is the biggest mistake ever. Coming back, my fear was like, this could be the biggest gamble of all. I had a good gig. I had, contrary to what you hear, and you guys know how the internet likes to internet, but I had a good gig. I had an executive job. I loved the Bullet Club guys. But evolving and moving myself forward, it was just a lot to weigh out.

“And again, it could have been a big — had I gone out there and belly flopped in the pool, like, it wouldn’t have hurt WWE at all. It would have been, ‘See, he wasn’t. He was Little League all along.’ You know? Now I’m getting anxiety over it now, and it’s over. We already did it, you know? We’re good, we’re good.”

Rhodes has had two WWE Championship reigns since being brought back to the company. This weekend, he heads into the men’s Royal Rumble match looking to earn another World title shot after recently dropping the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre.

One of the biggest reasons Rhodes has succeeded in his return is that he’s been presented as a different version of himself than we saw during his first WWE run.

“I was presented as if I never existed there before, in a way,” he said on Six Feet Under. “Like, I was presented as this fully polished, ready, if you didn’t know, and you were a young kid watching, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool. Like, you jumped right in. And if you did, you were rewarded for knowing the journey.”

Triple H hypes ‘epic’ WWE Royal Rumble, says ‘a lot of surprises in store’

While appearing on ESPN’s Get Up this morning, Paul “Triple H” Levesque hyped that WWE has an “epic” Royal Rumble in store this weekend.

Saturday’s PLE is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and will be the first Royal Rumble since WWE’s new PLE deal with ESPN began. When asked what casual fans can expect, Levesque said there will be surprises like the Royal Rumble has always been known for. He also said both the men’s and women’s Rumble matches will feature stacked lineups of established stars.

“The Royal Rumble is one of those events that’s amazing to see, because every couple of minutes there is a new entrant that enters into the fray, right? So as this match goes on over the course of the hour that it takes or so, you’re getting constantly surprised by who is next,” Levesque said. “And the strategy of what happens when that person comes out. This year is going to be no different.

“There’s a lot of surprises in store, but also it’s one of the most star-studded Rumbles that I can recall. You’ve got Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul’s going to be in there. On the women’s side, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan. They’re just stacked cards. This one is going to be epic.”

The NFL has its Super Bowl coming up soon, and Levesque told Get Up that WWE is now starting its own playoff season with the Royal Rumble. It will begin the road to WrestleMania 42, which takes place in Las Vegas this April.

Saturday’s Rumble PLE has a 2 p.m. Eastern start time, airing live on the ESPN app in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.

Kenny Omega singles match added to AEW Dynamite

Update —

AEW has also announced a Continental Championship eliminator match between Jon Moxley and Ace Austin for Wednesday’s show. If Austin wins, he earns a shot at Moxley’s title.

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For the second straight week, Kenny Omega will be competing in a singles match on AEW Dynamite.

AEW has added Omega vs. Rocky Romero to the lineup for Dynamite in Cedar Park, Texas this Wednesday. Omega, who is coming off a win over Josh Alexander, will continue his feud with the Don Callis Family by taking on another member of the faction in Romero.

“After his win vs Josh Alexander, Omega said that @TheDonCallis Family doesn’t have a member that can beat him in his current condition, but Rocky wants his chance TOMORROW!,” Tony Khan wrote while announcing the match.

Last week’s victory was Omega’s first match of 2026. He’s set his sights on entering back into the AEW World Championship picture, with Omega, Swerve Strickland, Hangman Page, and Andrade El Idolo among those who want a shot at MJF’s title.

Strickland vs. Andrade is also part of the Dynamite card for this Wednesday. The show is being held at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

AEW Dynamite (Wednesday, January 28) —

  • AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander defends against Thekla
  • AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against Jake Doyle & Mark Davis
  • TNT Champion Mark Briscoe defends against El Clon
  • Swerve Strickland vs. Andrade El Idolo
  • Kenny Omega vs. Rocky Romero
  • AEW World Champion MJF appears
  • Continental Championship eliminator match: Jon Moxley vs. Ace Austin

Doc Gallows praises AJ Styles as ‘the definition of professional wrestling’

Doc Gallows believes his good friend AJ Styles is someone who embodies everything great about professional wrestling.

While speaking with Undisputed, Gallows praised Styles ahead of his impending retirement. We know that Styles will be stepping away from the ring at some point in 2026, but that could potentially come as soon as this weekend. Styles is set to face Gunther in a career-threatening match at the Royal Rumble. If Styles loses, he will not wrestle again.

“AJ is the definition of professional wrestling,” Gallows told Undisputed. “He belongs in the same category as Hiroshi Tanahashi. It’s really only been the last decade that the WWE audience got to see AJ. There were those 18 years prior. The years in Georgia, putting TNA on his back in an era where they didn’t have a lot of recognizable faces. When the company then became flooded with wrestling superstars, AJ still stood head and shoulders above everybody else. That’s what happened everywhere he went.”

Gallows is hoping that Styles makes it through this weekend and gets a full WWE retirement tour. With Tanahashi and John Cena having just had their own final matches, Gallows would like to see things spaced out more.

“In my opinion, there has to be a retirement tour,” Gallows said. “As a fan, I wish we had more of this spread out. I wish we had the Tanahashi retirement run for a year. Then John Cena’s retirement tour the next year, then AJ’s. Karl [Anderson] and I are so busy with traveling to Japan that it’s hard to see everything, but with these retirements, it’s even harder.”

Gallows has previously been aligned with Styles in both NJPW and WWE. Now, Gallows and his tag team partner Karl Anderson are signed to Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. Gallows told Undisputed that he feels NOAH is in a renaissance period — and there is an opportunity to gain ground on NJPW with Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI recently joining the NOAH roster.

“Naito and Bushi jumping to NOAH has caused a lot of rumblings. The Good Brothers joining is huge,” he said. “We’re scheduled to spend a lot more time there. We both have young kids at home, so there’s a difficulty with that, but we want to take NOAH to number one. We’re seeing another mass exodus from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, surrounded by the Tanahashi retirement. NOAH has a great opportunity to make noise right now and we’re excited to be part of it.”

CM Punk, AJ Lee appear on ‘Hot Ones Versus’

To promote WWE Royal Rumble 2026, married couple CM Punk and AJ Lee appeared together on the popular Youtube series Hot Ones Versus.

The theme of the web series is that contestants either have to answer questions honestly or eat incredibly hot chicken wings. It ended with Lee winning 3-0, despite cheating to win the last round.

Among the questions asked was Lee naming Chyna, Lita, Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, herself, and Bayley as her “six grandfathers” of women’s wrestling. She joked that Punk has history with a lot of those names, with Punk having dated all three of Lita, Phoenix, and James before marrying Lee.

Lee also listed Lyra Valkyria, Roxanne Perez, Rhea Ripley, Jade Cargill and Becky Lynch as modern-day wrestlers who could take up one of those spots in addition to Bayley.

Neither Punk nor Lee have matches announced for Saturday’s Royal Rumble PLE in Saudi Arabia. Punk holds the World Heavyweight Championship and could find out his WrestleMania 42 challenger by the result of the men’s Rumble match.

Lee vs. Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch is in the works for Mania, though it remains to be seen how WWE will get there. Those two have been feuding ever since Lee made her WWE return in September 2025. This would be Lee’s first time competing at a WrestleMania since WrestleMania 31 more than a decade ago.

Update on Rey Mysterio after WWE Raw injury

Not much is known about the injury Rey Mysterio suffered on WWE Raw last night, but the early signs are trending optimistic.

Our Dave Meltzer notes that he’s heard Mysterio’s injury is “not serious.” There’s no further indication of what that means yet, nor is there any word on whether Mysterio will be sidelined by the injury. Mysterio has been among the entrants scheduled to compete in the men’s Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia this Saturday, so there should be more information regarding his status in the coming days.

Mysterio was facing Austin Theory on Raw last night when the injury happened. The exact issue is not known, but — after finishing the match — the referee had to get Mysterio out of the way during an angle where The Vision (Theory, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Logan Paul) beat down Dragon Lee and Penta. The ref put up the “X” signal, calling for medical attention as Mysterio clutched at his ribs/arm. There was also a moment during the match where Mysterio appeared to be limping.

The last spot in the match was a stomp where Theory got the victory after Mysterio was distracted by The Vision brawling with Lee and Penta.

Mysterio, 51, spent several months out of action in 2025 after suffering a torn groin in April prior to WrestleMania 41. He’s been back in the ring since November.

CM Punk shares heartfelt moment with AJ Styles after WWE Raw

After WWE Raw went off the air last night, CM Punk and AJ Styles shared a heartfelt moment in front of the Toronto fans.

A World Heavyweight Championship match between Punk and Styles headlined Monday night’s show, ending in a disqualification when Finn Balor interrupted. It was Punk and Styles’ first time facing each other in a one-on-one match in more than two decades. Though they’ve had their issues in the past, the two have gotten over that and have developed a mutual respect for each other.

Punk and Styles spoke to the crowd after Monday’s broadcast ended, and Punk expressed appreciation for his former rival as Styles approaches what could be his final weekend as an active wrestler.

“Look, I don’t know what happens in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when AJ Styles takes on Gunther. I just know that I’m going to be glued to the monitor watching just like all of you,” Punk said. “And I mean this when I say it. AJ, I whispered it to you earlier, I don’t care who knows it publicly — it has been a privilege to know you. It’s a privilege to call you a friend. It’s an honor to be in the ring with you. I speak as a fan, I hope Saturday’s not it. But if it is, man, what a hell of a career. I love you, brother. Thank you.”

Styles has confirmed that he will retire at some point in 2026. His final match could happen at the Royal Rumble this Saturday, with Styles agreeing to put his career on the line against Gunther at the PLE.

With the result of last night’s match, Punk heads into Royal Rumble weekend still holding the World Heavyweight Championship. The men’s Rumble match could potentially determine his WrestleMania 42 challenger.

TNA confirms signing of recent roster addition

TNA Wrestling has announced some more contract news, confirming that Mr. Elegance is officially signed to the company.

The Mr. Elegance character debuted this month as the culmination of a storyline where The Elegance Brand held a talent search looking for a new member. It was said that the winner of the talent search would receive a one-year TNA contract — and AJZ (Andreas John Ziegler) was unveiled to be Mr. Elegance on TNA Impact’s AMC premiere. He confirmed during an appearance on the Battleground Podcast that he is now signed to TNA.

AJZ graduated from the Firestar Performance Center in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2019 and has competed on the indies for promotions like Ohio Valley Wrestling.

The Elegance Brand also includes Ash By Elegance (the former Dana Brooke), Heather By Elegance (Heather Reckless), M By Elegance (Maggie Lee), and their Personal Concierge (George Iceman). Heather & M became the new TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions when they won the belts from The IInspiration on Impact’s AMC premiere.

Along with that title win, The Elegance Brand got some good news recently with Ash By Elegance declaring that she’s now “back.” She had been working to get medically cleared from an undisclosed issue that seemed like it could end her in-ring career.

The start of 2026 has been a busy period for TNA contract news with Nic Nemeth among those who have signed new deals to stay with the company.

Tommaso Ciampa releases new merchandise following WWE exit

Update —

Tommaso Ciampa’s profile has now been moved to the alumni section of WWE’s website, further confirming that he is no longer under contract.

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As he enters post-WWE life, Tommaso Ciampa has released some new merchandise items on his Pro Wrestling Tees store.

Five T-shirt designs and a hoodie have been added to the store. They utilize the terms “Psycho Killer” and “Psycho Kid” as nicknames Ciampa could be using following his WWE exit. The “Psycho Killer” moniker is one that has been associated with Ciampa for a while, and he filed a trademark for that term — along with a trademark for “Psycho King” — on January 21.

News first broke around the start of 2026 that Ciampa would be leaving WWE when his contract expired. He confirmed that decision last week, posting a statement where he thanked everyone in the company. The 40-year-old Ciampa said he feels like he has another decade left in his career, and he’s accepting bookings for appearances, signings, photo ops, seminars, movies, TV appearances, fitness collaborations, sponsorships, and more.

It remains to be seen where Ciampa will wrestle next, but our Dave Meltzer reports that there’s been talk regarding a potential NJPW debut.

“There is talk of him trying to get into New Japan,” Meltzer wrote. “He’d fit in style wise with AEW but AEW has such a large roster filled with top talent so it’s a tough place to break through. The fact he’s pushing indie bookings would seem to indicate he didn’t leave for AEW and a deal there, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see such a deal happen given Tony Khan signing so many people and he’s a strong in-ring wrestler.”

Ciampa is a former NXT Champion for WWE and had been featured on the SmackDown roster prior to departing the company.

Seth Rollins names five ‘incredible’ young WWE wrestlers

Seth Rollins views Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Austin Theory, Je’Von Evans, and Carmelo Hayes as young stars people should be watching out for at the Royal Rumble this weekend.

A shoulder injury will prevent Rollins from competing in the Rumble himself. Still, he made an appearance on ESPN First Take yesterday to promote the PLE. Rollins named Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Austin Theory, Je’Von Evans, and Carmelo Hayes as young stars that casual fans should be paying attention to when they watch the show.

“WWE is full of extremely incredible young talent right now,” Rollins said. “You look at NXT, which is our developmental brand, and there’s tons of guys who have come through there, myself included, who are ready to take the next step. Bron Breakker’s the first one that jumps off the page. He is one of the Steiner Brothers’ kids, so he’s got that Steiner DNA in him. You look at Logan Paul. You look at a guy like Austin Theory. There’s a cat on Raw named Je’Von Evans, the bouncy kid. I love him, I love what he’s doing. Carmelo Hayes is the United States Champion over on SmackDown, he is incredible.

“So there is a ton of young talent. And the cool thing about the Royal Rumble is: it’s meant to make stars. That’s what it’s there for. And so anything can happen when you get 30 guys in there going at it at the same time for a shot at the main event of WrestleMania.”

Of those five, Hayes is the only one who has not yet been officially confirmed as a Rumble entrant. Breakker, Paul, Theory, and Evans all declared for the match on Raw last night.

Rollins is missing out on the Rumble but hopes to be able to return to the ring in time for WrestleMania. When he does come back, it’s possible that he could be feuding with Breakker, Paul, and Theory. After Rollins suffered his shoulder injury in October, WWE ran an angle where he was betrayed by Breakker and kicked out of The Vision. Paul and Theory have now been added to the faction with Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman.

The Royal Rumble takes place from Saudi Arabia this Saturday (January 31) and will stream live on the ESPN App in the United States and Netflix everywhere else starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time.