Lio Rush announced his intention to retire less than two weeks after making his AEW debut as the Joker in the Casino Battle Royale at Double or Nothing in May. However, it would later come out that Rush has stayed in contact with Tony Khan, and the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion would return to the promotion in September. Now, though Rush has shared on social media the news that he is departing AEW again and will officially be a free agent on February 14th.

It isn’t known whether Rush decided not to renew his current deal or whether AEW decided he was surplus to requirements. However, he was dropped from the storyline with Dante Martin and Team Taz and was off the television in recent weeks. No reason or this had been given, and it isn’t likely to be injury-related as he has recently worked for New Japan Strong and is booked for GCW’s show on Sunday.

Since the announcement, some have speculated that Rush’s tweet on New Year’s Eve demanding that Khan apologizes to Big Swole after criticizing her wrestling ability may have played a part in his upcoming departure. Nevertheless, it should be noted that Rush would later tweet that he had discussed this with Khan and was looking forward to working with him in 2022.

27-year-old Rush was released by WWE as part of the companies mass cuts in April 2020. And at the time, he did contemplate quitting the business to focus on music and went as far as to wrestle a retirement match against Joey Janela. Yet, he returned a few months later. Since then, he has competed for MLW, New Japan, and even wrestled as a Spider-Man-inspired character called Aracno at AAA TripleMania XXVIII. Additionally, he appeared on MTV reality show The Challenge but quit the show citing mental health issues.

On Friday, the world awoke to find out the sad news that iconic rocker Meat Loaf had tragically passed. This resulted in fans on social media paying tribute to the departed sta. However, WWE star Shotzi Blackheart has received backlash for her ill-judged tweet, which she promptly deleted. While the belief is the tweet was about Meat Loaf’s role in the 1975 movie Rocky Horror Picture Show in which his character is eaten, not many people connected it to this.

Shotzi has caused controversy on social media previously, once by attempting to sell her photos of her feces and again when she mocked Chris Jericho’s cage bump, despite him being legitimately injured. While it’s unlikely she meant any harm in this instance, her judgment on what is appropriate has again been called into question.

WWE often uses dark matches as an opportunity to watch wrestlers up close before deciding upon their future, and it appears this is what happened in Nashville, Tennessee, before this week’s SmackDown. NXT regulars Roderick Strong and LA Knight would face off with the former Impact Wrestling star Knight getting the victory. However, with both men in their mid to late 30’s and seemingly having aged out of the revamped NXT 2.0, it appears it is now or never with regards to their main roster futures.

36-year-old Strong signed a new long-term deal with WWE just last year. Yet, WWE contracts do not offer much security, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him depart the company given all the recent releases. However, the fact his three former Undisputed Era stable matches are all signed with AEW could mean WWE holds on to him rather than give their competition a full reunion of the group.

Knight, who many fans also know as Eli Drake, was previously signed to WWE between 2013 and 2014 but left due to clashing with then-head coach Bill Demott. He’d return in 2021 as Part of NXT and went on to have a memorable feud with Cameron Grimes over the Million Dollar Title. Despite this, the 39-year-old hasn’t wrestled on NXT television since December 5th, when he was part of the WarGames match representing Team Black and Gold.

This past December, MMA fighter turned pro wrestler Marina Shafir debuted for AEW on Dark in a defeat to Kris Statlande. Since then, she has wrestled twice more for the promotion defeating Valentina Rossi and Reka Tehaka. Now, while not officially announced, it appears she has signed with AEW based on a Tweet announcing her new shirt.

33-year-old Shafir is married to current NXT wrestler Roderick Strong and was released from her WWE contract in June 2021. Her run in WWE wasn’t particularly memorable as she didn’t feature much on television other than when aligned with Shayna Baszler and was mainly considered a prospect due to having an athletic background. She has since then been wrestling independents, and it appears AEW management liked what they saw during her Dark matches.

This past weekend Mustafa Ali posted on Twitter that he had requested his WWE release. Later, it would be divulged that he had previously argued with Vince McMahon over a proposed gimmick and had been home ever since. Now it has been reported by Fightful Select that WWE has turned down the wrestler’s request, which is unfortunate as he has multiple years left on his contract.

While WWE has been releasing countless wrestlers out of their contracts to save money, this typically happens on WWE’s terms. This was evident when Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado requested their own releases in September 2021 but had to wait two months for WWE to include them along with other cuts.

Ali’s last match for WWE was on the 29th October episode of SmackDown in a two-minute defeat against Drew McIntyre. Since then, he has been home, with it initially believed he was simply on paternity leave following the birth of his third child. However, that was apparently only for one show, and he has been waiting to return since.

Sami Zayn is one of WWE’s unsung heroes, who can always be depended on to put on a good match or make a segment entertaining regardless of the material. Evidently, WWE recognizes this, as Fightful Select has confirmed the Canadian recently signed a new multi-year deal with the company, like his good friend Kevin Owens.

Zayn has been with WWE since January 2013 and held the NXT Championship and Intercontinental Championship twice during his time with the promotion. While never pushed as a top star over the past year, WWE has had him work with celebrities Logan Paul and Johnny Knoxville, showing how highly they value and trust him. Therefore his re-signing makes sense, and if his deal was anywhere close to what its rumored Owens is now earning, Zayn likely received a significant increase.

Two weeks ago, Rey Fenix took a scary-looking bump through a table on the floor. It was clear from the video his arm had bent the wrong way when he landed, and initial reports were that it was broken and would require surgery. Thankfully though, this wasn’t the case and instead badly dislocated.

Now, Dave Meltzer, on his Wrestling Observer Radio show, has provided an update and confirmed the luchador would be able to return to the ring in mid-February. Of course, whether he returns to the ring straightaway remains to be seen, but the timing does allow Tony Khan to put the Lucha Brothers in a meaningful match ahead of Revolution in March.

Earlier this week, WWE caused controversy on social media when it was revealed that the name they were applying to trademark “Gunther Stark” was also that of a Nazi U-Boat Commander. Few people believed WWE did this intentionally. However, the company was called out and mocked for its lack of due diligence.

Despite the fan outrage, WWE would still be going ahead and renamed Austrian wrestler Walter as Gunther on NXT but noticeably avoided giving him a surname. Seemingly they had recognized the mistake, and now trademark application records confirm that the company has abandoned their trademark for the name. Whether the company decides to file a new application to give Gunther a surname in the future remains to be seen. Still, currently, he is listed with just a mononym ring name on WWE.com.

Lucha libre legend Konnan has been dealing with ill-health for many years and is currently awaiting a second kidney transplant surgery. Sadly though, it has now been reported by F4Wonline.com that he also has had heart issues related to COVID-19 and recently spent six days hospitalized after having to undergo surgery. Thankfully though, Konnan is now home and has been interacting with fans on social media.

Recently the former WCW star appeared on AEW television being attacked by FTR due to his relationship with Santana and Ortiz, and initially, he believed the pain was caused by the broken ribs he suffered at the time. Hopefully, now things will start to look up for the man who is regarded as a mentor by many of the top luchadors worldwide and considered a huge creative influence in the Mexican wrestling industry.

On January 13th, WWE applied to trademark the name “Gunther Stark.” However, this resulted in controversy on social media when a Google search revealed it was the same name as a Nazi U-Boat commander during World War 2. Obviously, WWE wouldn’t have set out to use a name connected to real-life evil, although it was assumed that the company would abandon the application once they were made aware. Yet, during Tuesday night’s episode of NXT, Austrian wrestler Walter would defeat Roderick Strong and, following the match, declare his new name to be Gunther.

Walter wouldn’t reveal a surname, so WWE may intend to choose an alternative to Stark, although, given Vince McMahon’s love of mononym ring names, he may just go by Gunther going forward. Why the company decided to rename Walter at all, given how long he has been with the promotion, is unknown, although if it helps him receive a push, his fans won’t complain in the long run.

In December, Jeff Hardy was released by WWE after he walked out midway through a match. Specify details explaining why haven’t yet been revealed, although his brother Matt says that Jeff was drug tested at the time and clean. Whether this is accurate, we may never know, however, subsequent appearances by Jeff appear to show him in good health and drug-free.

Now, it has been announced that the brothers are set to wrestle again for the first time together since a SmackDown house show in April 2019. The pair are booked for a Big Time Wrestling show on March 12th, which would be just after Jeff’s WWE non-compete expires, and the tweet below promises it is just one of many matches as a Hardy Boyz 22 tour is announced.

The expectation is that Jeff, who is still one of the most popular wrestlers in the business, will end up alongside his brother Matt in AEW. Yet, given the circumstances of his WWE departure, it would be understandable that he needs to prove himself on the independents before becoming All Elite. This tour would seemingly give him the ideal opportunity to do this.

Trademarks are serious business in the world of wrestling, and where possible, WWE likes to own these in an attempt to make sure someone they believed they created can’t take their name with them. Because of this, WWE’s trademark filings will reveal proposed new characters every month, and multiple sources will keep an eye on these to see who could be debuting.

Now though, one of the names has caused some controversy on social media. This is because a simple Google search reveals that the name “Gunther Stark,” which the company is trying to trademark, was also the name of a Nazi in World War 2. This person was a U-Boat commander who potentially was involved in multiple deaths and died himself on June 8, 1944, in the English Channel at the age of 27.

Obviously, WWE didn’t set out to use a name connected to a Nazi. However, it is still embarrassing for the company and shows a real lack of due diligence. Only time will tell whether WWE decides to abandon the name and choose something else or proceed with their plans regardless of the name’s connection to real-life evil.