Shane McMahon returned to WWE this weekend as part of the Royal Rumble, and it was believed he would be wrestling at both the Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 38. Now though, it has been reported by Steve Carrier of Ringside News that the son of Vince McMahon has been “let go.” While it isn’t known precisely what happened to cause this, there were rumors coming out of the Royal Rumble that many were unhappy with how Shane produced the men’s Rumble match and wanted to make the match about himself, leaving a lot of wrestlers upset.

Many fans across social media would express their dissatisfaction at the Rumble match, with some even calling it the worst in recent memory. 52-year-old Shane himself only entered the Rumble at #28. Still, when he was in the ring, he went toe-to-toe with multiple stars, including Matt Riddle and Kevin Owens, even eliminating the latter. Apparently, following this, WWE’s creative team was preparing for him to wrestle either Bobby Lashley or Seth Rollins at WWE’s biggest show of the year, but now those plans are canceled.

WWE star Shotzi Blackheart recently shared the sad news that her father, Dean Urbanski, passed away on January 30th. Now it has been announced a GoFundMe has been set up to pay for his funeral expenses. A total of $30,000 has been requested, and as of writing, $21,314 of that total has been raised from 191 charitable donors. Those who had publicly donated that are in the business include Natalya Neidhart, Sean Waltman, and Noelle Foley. Additionally, there has been a $10,000 donation from Philip Mains, Pat McAfee’s business partner.

Some fans on social media have been critical of the GoFundMe campaign, saying that a WWE wrestler should pay for their father’s funeral themselves. However, her financial situation isn’t known, and considering three years ago, she was selling photos of her feces for $5, she may still be recovering from her own financial hardship.

If you are in a position to help and so inclined, you can do so at gofundme.com/f/dean-Urbanski-memorial-funeral-fund.

Last week Riho shared a photo of herself on social media with her arm in a sling caption, “I’m taking a rest a little.” At the time, it wasn’t known exactly what the injury was and how long she was set to be out of the ring. Now, Dave Meltzer has provided more information during an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, confirming the Japanese star has a broken collarbone.

Apparently, the injury occurred during Riho’s match with Britt Baker on AEW’s Battle of the Belts special on January 8th and was in the early stages of the contest. Despite this, Riho wouldn’t alert anyone to her injury and finished the almost 13-minute match proving her toughness. Unfortunately, the belief is now she will be out of action for three months.

24-year-old Riho has been wrestling since she was just nine years old and was the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion, holding the title between October 2019 to February 2020. However, while being one of the promotions top stars, worldwide events would interrupt her run in the company, and AEW would allow her to wrestle in Japan between July 2020 and December 2020. Thankfully though, she returned to the AEW in 2021 and has since been regularly featured on both Dark and Elevation.

Last week it became known that Brian Kendrick, who had been working as both a coach and producer on NXT and 205 Live, had requested his WWE release. At the time, it was believed he’d been waiting six weeks; however, it has now been confirmed that WWE has finally actioned this, so he is officially a free agent. Making this even more newsworthy is the fact he has already been advertised for this week’s AEW Dynamite taking on Jon Moxley, showing how quickly things can happen in wrestling.

It isn’t known if he has signed a full-time deal with AEW, although you’d have to assume that he will be offered a contract if the match goes well. This will actually be 42-year old Kendrick’s first match since October 2020, although he was meant to wrestle Harland back in December 2021 on NXT, but the angle was dropped, and the timing of that would almost match that of his release request. Possibly meaning that played into his decision to quit WWE.

On November 4th, WWE surprisingly released Nia Jax along with 17 other talents. Initially, it was reported to be down to her vaccine status; however, Jax would go on to say the company never discussed this with her and disclosed she’d just requested an extension to her mental health break. Now, while speaking to her friend and former colleague Renée Paquette, she has discussed her release and revealed that the company actually contacted her about a possible Royal Rumble return.

Based on her tweets, it appears that Jax, who now goes by her real name of Lina Fanene, is finished wrestling and is looking at pursuing options outside of the business. This is understandable considering that the 37-year old Jax has no wrestling experience outside of the promotion, having trained at the Performance Center following her signing in 2014. Merely based on that, perhaps the concept of wrestling elsewhere doesn’t appeal. Additionally, during her time on Raw, she developed a reputation for being reckless with her opponents, which also likely limits her options. 

Nine months ago, Patrick Clark, better known as Velveteen Dream, was released by WWE. This was despite the alarming allegations against him regarding minors never being proven. Apparently, the company decided to cut their losses as any time he appeared on television, #FireVelveteenDream would trend on Twitter. Now, while speaking to Dana Wilkey on her podcast, the former NXT talent would open up about this period of his life. Unsurprisingly he would blame the hashtag for ending his WWE career and acknowledge his continued employment could have affected the company’s bottom line.

It should be noted that while the court of public opinion found Clark guilty, he was never arrested, and WWE investigated the claims and internally cleared him. This, though, didn’t matter to fans, and his attempted comeback was short-lived, as the first indie promotion to book him announced within two hours he was off the show due to the adverse reaction. This would seemingly indicate that his wrestling career in the US is over because if he can’t even wrestle on an independent show, it’s doubtful a major company will want to deal with the repercussions.

WWE released Kurt Angle in 2020, and despite offers from AEW, he has remained a free agent. Then last week, there was speculation that Angle could be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match due to him being scheduled to be in town for community and media events. That didn’t happen; however, Angle has stated on his podcast that he is set to return to the company, seemingly in an onscreen position.

Precisely what Angle will do isn’t known, still, the chances of an in-ring return does seem doubtful as the Olympic gold medalist is known to be physically in a bad way. Additionally, he has previously stated that his wife told him she would kick his ass if he came out of retirement. That would seemly leave him open to playing an authority figure, which he has experience doing, or alternatively, perhaps he will work with Alpha Academy or Gable Stevenson in a managerial or mentor role.

Wesley Richards, best known to wrestling fans as Davey Richards, has caused much chatter today on social media after an explicit video featuring himself was shared without his consent. Many fans initially thought he was pursuing a new career in adult entertainment; however, he has subsequently stated on Twitter that the video was intended to be something private made for his wife. He would also include a couple of lol’s, seemingly indicating he isn’t overly concerned by its release and is handling it well.

As of writing, it isn’t known how the video leaked, but it appears Richards has no intention to take legal action, saying in a later tweet when asked about this, “Nah- they can look at my wiener if they want.” It should be noted that while Richards was previously to TNA star Angelina Love, she wouldn’t be the wife mentioned in his tweet, as they divorced in 2017. Since then, he has married a woman named Melissa.

The 38-year-old currently works in the medical profession but does remain in wrestling, having signed with MLW in 2021. Most fans, though, will know him best for his work in ROH and TNA, where he held multiple tag team titles and ROH World Champion for 321 days between 2011 and 2012. It is also believed he almost signed with WWE in 2013 after making a single NXT appearance under the name Derek Billington. Still, no deal was agreed, and he later revealed he never grew up watching the WWE product, so working there was never a career goal.

WWE’s long-term goal has been to have Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar headline WrestleMania this year, and that now appears set after Lesnar won the Royal Rumble. Yet, it turns out the decision to have Lesnar win the Rumble wasn’t always WWE’s plan, as PWInsider has reported that Matt Riddle was the initially planned to be the winner; however, they added Randy Orton was also considered at one point.

Given that Universal Champion Roman Reigns was always going to wrestle Lesnar at WrestleMania, it seems that Riddle or Orton would have challenged WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at the event. Whether WWE intends to have either man take that position remains to be seen, as with over two months until the event, there is still plenty of time to establish a challenger.

Ric Flair first got married in 1971, and since then, has tied the knot a further four times. So it was hoped by all that Flair had finally found the woman he would he’d spend the rest of his life with when he married Wendy Barlow, known as Fifi in WCW, in 2018. Sadly though, Flair has announced that the couple has decided to separate and would request fans request their privacy.

16-time world champion Flair’s life has been uncertain since he departed WWE in August 2021. There were differing reports on exactly how amicable the split was, with some saying he quit and others saying he was fired. Regardless It was anticipated Flair was headed to AEW to work with Andrade after leaving WWE. Yet, speculation stopped following the now infamous Dark Side of the Ring episode focusing on The Plane Ride From Hell. This has left his career is in limbo, and unfortunately, his personal life is now also unsettled.

Lio Rush was one of the biggest names at this year’s Battle Of Los Angeles event and expected to go far in the tournament. Sadly, though, he had to drop out of the tournament on the second day as he was injured during his match with Buddy Matthews following a Curb Stomp. Exactly how severe his injury wasn’t known; however, he did need medical attention at a local hospital. Since then, he has provided fans an update where he revealed he isn’t doing well but will recover.

Rush is currently signed with AEW, although his contract expires on February 14th and isn’t being renewed. While the belief is he still intends to wrestle for companies like GCW, Defy, and New Japan, he did recently sign a record deal with the Universal Music Group, so he does have another career to pursue while he recovers. Hopefully, though, it won’t be long until he can entertain fans in the ring.

Over the years, Kofi Kingston has wowed fans with his unique ways of avoiding elimination in the Royal Rumble match. However, at this year’s event, a replay would clearly show that his feet hit the floor when he landed on the barricade, and therefore he was eliminated. The belief is Kingston was meant to be involved in an additional spot later in the match with Big E, so plans had to change. Seemingly though, Kingston hasn’t let the botch get him down and has taken to Twitter and paraphrased a famous quote.

The botch actually wasn’t that obvious, and likely many people would have suspended disbelief if WWE hadn’t shown a replay. Yet WWE’s policy is for referees calling things as if a shoot, even if it alters a finish. In fact, WWE takes this so seriously that there were genuine concerns that Rod Zapata would be fired for counting the pin on Ronda Rousey’s at WrestleMania 35 when it was evident her shoulder was up. Thankfully for Zapata, he wouldn’t lose his job and is still employed by WWE. Nevertheless, it is believed he received a significant fine at the time.