AEW Records Reset, Kris Statlander Match Postponed, New WWE Raw Announcer Rumor

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe. 

AEW's Records to Reset Every Jan. 1

All Elite Wrestling announced Thursday that its wrestlers' records will reset on Jan. 1 and will continue to do so annually:

AEW added that cumulative career records will still exist for each wrestler as well.

Since the company's inception, those in charge of AEW have insisted that win-loss records matter. They have also played a role in AEW's weekly rankings, which loosely determine who is next in line for shots at the AEW World, AEW Women's and AEW Tag Team Championships.

As of now, Jon Moxley sits atop AEW's men's singles rankings, but since the annual records will reset next week, it is unclear what that means for Moxley in terms of a potential opportunity at Chris Jericho's AEW World title.

Since wrestling fans tend to tune out around the Christmas holiday before getting back into the swing of things early in the New Year, resetting the records is seemingly a smart move on AEW's part since it gives everyone a blank slate and can allow for new rivalries and storylines to be crafted.

If AEW uses the reset for that purpose and builds anticipation, then it could be a date that fans circle on the calendar every year moving forward.

AEW Postpones Statlander's Scheduled Title Match

After previously announcing that No. 1 contender Kris Statlander would face Riho for the AEW Women's Championship on next week's episode of Dynamite, AEW reversed course Friday.

AEW announced that "prior commitments" will prevent Statlander from facing Riho, so she will instead face the winner of a Fatal 4-Way match between Riho, Nyla Rose, Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida for the title on the Jan. 8 edition of Dynamite:

AEW President Tony Khan further explained the decision:

According to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, Statlander was already booked to compete at a Bar Wrestling show in Los Angeles on Jan. 1, which is where the conflict came into play.

Statlander has been on a roll since making her AEW debut, as she owns singles victories over Shida, Baker and Bea Priestley.

Riho has had an extended absence from AEW programming, as her last match came back on Nov. 13 when she and Baker beat Statlander and Big Swole in a tag team match on AEW Dark. Riho hasn't wrestled on Dynamite since Nov. 6 and her last singles match was a successful title defense against Emi Sakura at Full Gear on Nov. 9.

Given the fact that Statlander vs. Riho was already announced, it seems likely that Riho will retain next week so that their match can still happen.

If not, Rose could be a candidate to win the AEW Women's Championship since she would seemingly match up well with Statlander due to her size and power.

Samoa Joe Reportedly Transitioning Off Raw Commentary

Samoa Joe's brief stint as a Raw commentator is reportedly coming to an end.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Monday's episode of Raw will feature a replacement announcer taking over for Joe.

It isn't an unexpected move since Joe got involved physically at the end of the Dec. 23 edition of Raw when he attempted to stop Seth Rollins and AOP from putting Rey Mysterio through the announce table.

Joe had replaced Dio Maddin as the third commentator on Raw alongside Vic Joseph and Jerry "The King" Lawler while recovering from a wrist injury. Now that Joe is apparently healed, he is set to return to in-ring action.

It is unclear who will replace Joe, but WWE has no shortage of options at its disposal. A Maddin return is possible, or WWE could turn to Booker T, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Davis Otunga or Jonathan Coachman.

Pulling Nigel McGuinness or WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix from NXT may also be in play.

Regardless of who WWE opts to put on Raw commentary, it will be difficult to live up to what Joe did, as he proved that he has a future at the announce table once his wrestling career is over.

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