Riddle Shoots on Brock Lesnar; Rey Mysterio Injury Update; Buzz on WWE Raw and Amazon
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Riddle Says Lesnar Prevented Planned Rumble Win
In the wake of his WWE release, Matt Riddle said this week that he was originally penciled in to win the 2022 men's Royal Rumble match.
During an interview with Signed By Superstars (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Riddle suggested that Brock Lesnar essentially killed the idea and went into business for himself:
"I believe—you know, it's sports-entertainment—that I was told at one point, yeah, I was gonna win the Rumble and everything else, and then what was it? Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar because somebody came in and hit him with the belt or what have you. Then Brock came in, didn't wanna do business with everybody, said he was winning, and then he won, and then none of the producers… nobody stood up to him, and they let him do it. I didn't either, I didn't either. I'm like, f--k man, I'm just here."
At Royal Rumble 2022, Lesnar defended the WWE Championship against Lashley, but he lost due to interference from Roman Reigns.
Lesnar then entered the men's Royal Rumble match later in the night at No. 30 and won the match by last eliminating Drew McIntyre.
Riddle, who was one of the final four Superstars left in the match along with Lesnar, McIntyre and Shane McMahon, was eliminated by The Beast Incarnate as well.
Lesnar would win back the WWE Championship on the road to WrestleMania 38, making his main event match against Reigns a winner-take-all match for the WWE and Universal Championships, which Reigns won.
At the time of Royal Rumble 2022, Riddle was hugely over with the crowd as a babyface, and he and Randy Orton had recently dropped the Raw Tag Team Championships to Alpha Academy.
That timeline suggests WWE could have legitimately been preparing Riddle to win the Rumble before going on to challenge Lashley for WWE Championship at WrestleMania. WWE could have done Reigns vs. Lesnar for the universal title as well without Lesnar winning the Rumble.
Instead, Riddle and Orton won the Raw Tag Team Championships back in March 2022, and they successfully defended them at WrestleMania 38.
Riddle was released from his WWE contract in September, and now that his non-compete clause is over, his career is off and running again, as he has made appearances for MLW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Rey Mysterio Hoping for Royal Rumble Return
Rey Mysterio has been out of action since November due to a knee injury, but the WWE Hall of Famer has his sights set on a return in the near future.
During an interview this week with Baker Banter (h/t Mukherjee), Mysterio noted that while he underwent knee surgery, he hopes he can return to the ring in time for the Royal Rumble on Jan. 27:
"I'm really working hard on my physical therapy. I just had knee surgery, thanks to Santos Escobar, and his time will come eventually. I do hope that I can return for the Rumble, if not shortly after that. I am working very hard to make my return as soon as possible."
Mysterio last wrestled match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4. Mysterio put the United States Championship on the line against Logan Paul and lost it due to Paul's use of brass knuckles.
At one point during the match, Santos Escobar stopped Paul's lackey from handing him the brass knucks, but when he went to chase the guy off, Escobar left the knucks on the apron.
Paul picked them up and used them en route to victory, and that moment caused a fissure in the LWO.
Carlito accused Escobar of purposely costing Mysterio the match, and on the first episode of SmackDown after Crown Jewel, Escobar viciously attacked both Carlito and Mysterio.
That resulted in Mysterio needing to take some time off due to injury, but it is clear he wants to get his hands on Santos either in the Rumble match or possibly at WrestleMania 40 in April.
Amazon Viewed as Strong Candidate for WWE Raw Rights
As part of an article focused on sports media predictions for 2024, veteran reporter John Ourand of Sports Business Journal called his shot regarding WWE Raw this week.
Ourand predicted that streaming service Amazon Prime Video will secure the Raw media rights and continue to air it on Monday nights, which has been the case since the iconic show's inception in 1993.
Raw aired on USA Network from 1993 to 2000, and after a brief stint on TNN and Spike TV, it returned to USA in 2005, which has been its home ever since.
While it isn't completely outside the realm of possibility that NBCUniversal could keep Raw in the fold on USA Network moving forward, it seems unlikely since NBCUniversal acquired the future rights to SmackDown beginning in October 2024.
WWE also agreed to a TV deal with The CW for NXT, meaning Raw is the last remaining weekly WWE show without a contract locked in beyond 2024.
Many suitors are believed to be in the mix for Raw, including Amazon, Disney's FX, Warner Bros. Discovery and a host of others.
Money and term will undoubtedly play a big role in the decision for TKO Group Holdings, which is the name of the new company formed by the merger between WWE and UFC, but other factors could be at work as well.
Since WWE will already have a broadcast and cable television presence with SmackDown and NXT, it may be appealing to have one of its brands on a streaming service as well.
Streaming is likely the future of television, and by getting in now with one of the major players, WWE would be set up for future success in that area.
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