Road to WrestleMania, AJ Styles’ Farewell, and NXT’s Star Power
It is crazy to think we are almost a month into the new year and about to kick-start the Road to WrestleMania. A lot has happened in just the first few weeks, and I expect the business to keep rocking. Major signings, big-name free agents, promotions’ television debuts—it’s been a lot to process in such a short period of time. When you analyze everything, you realize the business is on fire. As a fan, I just love it.
AJ Styles expected to have a final TNA match
When it comes to a retirement tour, I firmly believe the talent should get full control over the entire process. I don’t think everyone should always win, as I think it should be whatever fits into the story regarding who the winner is. I think the entire outcome should be up to the talent.
TNA is literally the house that AJ built. That is no knock to the rest of the incredible talent, but it is the truth. Just like Hulk Hogan built the WWE house.
Styles took a risk when he chose not to re-sign with TNA and went over to New Japan Pro Wrestling. He became the Ace of the Bullet Club and helped make them and NJPW become mainstream all over the globe. He literally became inserted in conversations worldwide about who the best wrestlers in the world are.
His work was so remarkable he forced Vince, who drools over big, tall, beefy men, to bring him in and strap the rocket to his back. His body of work became adored by audiences worldwide, and WWE wanted a piece of that.
During his 10 years in WWE, Styles has said numerous times that he is WWE for life. He became indebted to the company that set him up for life financially and gave him and his family the life so many dream of.
I couldn’t picture AJ Styles anywhere but WWE. He recently announced that 2026 is his last year doing in-ring work. After that, he plans to stay on in a backstage role, whether it be on the main roster or in NXT, but he isn’t walking away from the company for good.
Dream matches
As I am sure we have all started our dream AJ Styles retirement tour matchups, Gunther seems to have put a damper on how many of those matches we get to see. At the Royal Rumble, The Ring General Gunther will take on The Phenomenal AJ Styles with the latter’s career on the line.
As we know, Gunther loves ending people’s careers. Just ask John Cena and Goldberg. It seems like it is becoming his gimmick, so to speak. If that ends up happening to AJ at the Rumble, that might not be a bad thing.
This would give Styles the chance to have one final run with the company where he started to become a household name. Especially with WWE’s ties to TNA, the possibility is much more real.
tna?
If this isn’t in the plans, then he at least needs to have his final in-ring match with TNA. I will one-up that: he needs to win the TNA World Championship and retire as the champ. He played such an important role in getting TNA to where it is that pretty much any TNA fan will say AJ’s name when asked who comes to mind first when you think of TNA.
I don’t think every person retiring needs to retire as a champion, but when you have someone whose career helped launch numerous wrestling companies (ROH, NJPW, TNA) into mainstream media—becoming the platforms for numerous WWE and AEW icons—those few elite talents need to be recognized the right way. Retiring as TNA Champion is the company’s way of saying, “If it wasn’t for you, there would be no us.”
I am proud to have been a fan of AJ Styles from pretty much the start of his in-ring career. To see it coming to an end is an incredible journey to have been on, yet I feel selfish that it is coming to an end. All good things must come to an end, and he is going out with millions and millions of fans worldwide planning on watching everything he does up until that final bell rings and it is all behind him.
I am looking forward to seeing what is next for him within the WWE scope of things. I know he will make just as big of an impact like he has for professional wrestling thus far. AJ set the bar high for in-ring work, and I know he will do the same behind the scenes.
THANK YOU AJ….THANK YOU AJ….THANK YOU AJ.
NXT lacking star power
I find it mind-boggling that the guy who ran NXT’s Black and Gold era now runs WWE creative and doesn’t know how to use talents he pushed heavily.
Triple H’s run with NXT was some of the best stuff WWE put out in decades. Their roster was stacked to the gills, with names like Adam Cole, The Revival, Keith Lee, Ricochet, Dijak, and Ember Moon, with many becoming major forces on the main roster like Bayley, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Rhea Ripley. Still, the roster was the best roster I have ever seen, yet WWE as a whole fumbled majorly. The plus side is we now have AEW.
Remember how NXT would run their Takeover PPVs on Saturday, then the main roster would do its event Sunday, and NXT’s show would absolutely annihilate Vince’s show? Every event felt like it was a WrestleMania and each match produced a masterpiece, yet that same level of work never transferred over to the main roster. Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura are the first who come to mind when you have talents who are main event level worthy, drawing in massive crowds, yet on the main roster kind of just go through the motions with zero direction. Sad, very sad.
The only thing the main roster did perfectly was transition its NXT women into main event stars. There were a few fumbles like Ember Moon, Shayna Baszler, and Dakota Kai, who for some reason weren’t given the chances. Heck, you can even throw Asuka in there as well because her NXT run was literally the greatest run NXT produced. It was iconic and she was showcased like the true beast she is.
who is the next star?
Fast forward to 2026 and the NXT roster is weak. Besides Ricky Starks, Ethan Page, and Blake Monroe, the roster is in rough shape when it comes to star power. Joe Hendry is just biding his time until he is main roster bound. Lexis King has a boatload of potential; he just needs to find the right character. Zaria hasn’t been showcased like a true menace.
Don’t get me wrong, the roster has some great workers. I love Tony D’Angelo and I think Myles Borne will be a megastar within the next 5+ years with WWE, but with WWE’s current roster’s age, they don’t have anyone to slide into the spots of current superstars whose careers are winding down and are one bad injury away from calling it quits.
While the Women’s roster lacks star power, the ring work reminds me of the Black and Gold Women’s matches. They steal the show on a consistent basis and if they just had a few big-name indie stars mixing it up, it would put them towards the top of who has the best women’s division in professional wrestling.
The recent WWE tryouts heavily featured indie stars instead of this ex-athlete schtick they have been leaning towards. You would have thought that the Black and Gold era had shown Triple H that indie darlings are the key to keeping the business flowing perfectly. WWE can still snag their ex-football players (Bron Breakker) but you need the ones who already come with experience and a following to maintain fan excitement.
black & gold
The rosters from the Black and Gold era compared to today’s are night and day, and it shouldn’t be. HHH has the proven formula that works wonders, but my guess is that new position of his came with the same Vince McMahon mindset, which isn’t a good thing.
I know WWE is trying to land the services of David Finlay and Gabe Kidd, and they are also dealing with AEW, who are trying to sign up big names before WWE for spite—even though they use a very small portion of their already overly bloated roster. But AEW will be in the same boat as well with their roster’s aging.
With today’s indie scene a lot different than back in the day, thanks to the internet, indie wrestlers are more well-known. For the most part, debuting a newly hired indie darling should garner a solid crowd reaction. If WWE is unsure about the wrestler being known, then the usage of a simple but useful vignette highlighting their work goes a long way.
WWE, NXT, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels need to really add some star power to the 3rd brand and bring it back to how it was… Selling out the great Barclays Center and giving Raw and SmackDown a run for their money. Nothing better than healthy in-house competition.
The Rascalz appear on AEW Collision and Trey Miguel released from contract
This one is a head-scratcher. AEW announced all 4 members have signed, yet 2 days later only Zachary Wentz, Dezmond Xavier, and Myron Reed made their official AEW debut in a backstage skit on Collision. The oddball was Trey Miguel—he was nowhere to be found.
A few days later, AEW announced that Miguel was released from his contract. Trey made a post on his socials stating he was taking a break and urged fans not to tag him in or send him anything wrestling-related, while asking them to continue supporting his crew.
Fans were so confused as this made literally no sense. Many were worried about Trey’s mental health. It was the strangest thing. Miguel then shed some light on the situation, saying he has grown as a person and is not the same person he was back then. This all led back to some ignorant comments he made on X.
To make things even more confusing, word got out that his firing came from the top. Like everyone else, I assumed Tony Khan was the top, but I guess his father Shad and TNT or HBO Max wanted to cut all ties. So, Tony doesn’t have full control.
digging up the past
This situation sucks. It really does. If it is due to his past controversial remarks, then I think Trey should have been given the chance to show that he has grown. I am not sticking up for his actions. They were wrong. I am saying that if he truly has learned and grown from this, then he should have been at least given the chance to show the higher-ups through conversation.
Social media is a blessing and a curse; that’s why before you hit that send/post button you need to really think about what you are sharing as it can truly hurt you down the road. Plus, we have all made mistakes, said stuff we shouldn’t, and hopefully we have all learned from it. Nobody is perfect and that is a fact, but how we handle the mistakes and our actions to make sure they never happen again are the important parts that society forgets about, with the main focus on the negative.
same for all?
It is a tough position to be in and the easy way out is to cut ties. Isn’t AEW being a little hypocritical here? There are numerous members of its roster who have posted inappropriate things online or have made racist or homophobic comments during promos on the independent scene. I think if AEW wants to take a stand on hatred then it needs to be company-wide and not just for a select few.
I think the wrestling world tends to punish some while forgiving others. Just look at Stone Cold Steve Austin…
At the end of the day, Trey was wrong, has admitted he was wrong, and stated he has learned and grown from his immaturity and ignorance regarding how impactful words are. Should he have been fired? 100% no. If he wasn’t apologetic or put in the work to grow his mindset on topics he viewed differently then yes, but that is not the case. I think AEW went overboard here, and at the end of the day, it’ll be their loss and wherever he lands gains.
Update: Trey Miguel re-signed with TNA and returned on TNA television.
This & That:
El Hijo del Vikingo signed directly to a WWE contract
Truthfully, I figured once WWE purchased AAA that Vikingo’s talent played a major role in that. While he has had his fair share of injuries due to his wrestling style, WWE would tame him down to fit more of the company’s mold. I don’t expect him to be in AAA for much longer, and once he has ironed out all of his kinks to match what is more in-line with the WWE style, he will show up on Raw or SmackDown.
NXT isn’t the place for him. I think where he is at now is exactly where he belongs. This opens up the WWE fans’ eyes to him so they become familiar with his work while he finds his rhythm working the WWE style. It is only a matter of time before he is in a big position on the main roster.
Dragon Lee set for big push
Lee has truly come into his own and has shined in WWE. His hard work has gone unnoticed and WWE management views him as being an essential part of the company’s future. It has been reported that he is being prioritized ahead of all other luchadors.
I am a huge fan of his work and am looking forward to seeing where WWE goes with him, especially heading into WrestleMania season. Would I place him above Penta, Rey Fenix, or Santos Escobar? I am not sure, but I do respect WWE’s decision to go all in on Dragon Lee. I do see where they are coming from and understand that he could be a big draw. Since WWE has been trying for so long to find the next Rey Mysterio, they need to give newer talent the chance to elevate their status on the card.
Tommaso Ciampa’s WWE departure
Shocked. I was totally shocked. Being 40 years old, I figured he would stay where he is until he decides to hang it up. Good on him for believing in himself and going for a big run elsewhere while he is still in peak form.
I am surprised the Paul Levesque WWE didn’t push him like he was when HHH was leading the charge in NXT. Ciampa at one point was the biggest heel in the world, entering the stage with no music with the jeers that were deafening. He had incredible matches with #DIY partner Johnny Gargano and held the NXT Championship. Not sure why that wasn’t replicated, so to speak, knowing what he can do as both a heel and a face.
I hope he doesn’t end up in AEW as they have been on a hiring spree already, adding more to their incredibly massive roster. I feel like he would just end up getting lost in the shuffle or be a filler in some faction. He deserves to be treated like a big deal.
For me, TNA is where he should go, especially with TNA running a weekly television series on AMC. His name is big enough to bring in more eyes to the product, and he is extremely capable of being their top guy. It’s the perfect spot to be a main event talent all the while helping build the newer stars up. It is a win-win situation for all involved.
EVIL — WWE bound?
Word in the wrestling world is that New Japan Pro Wrestling star EVIL gave his notice to management and is headed to WWE. This would be a huge signing for WWE and their chance to make sure they don’t drop the ball like they did with Shinsuke Nakamura.
The leader of NJPW’s House of Torture, EVIL could really make a huge mark in WWE. His work, his look, and his style will get over with the WWE audience quite quickly. The company would be wise to use footage from NJPW to create some top-notch vignettes hyping his debut so when he officially does debut the audience will be ready for him.
He better not go to NXT either. I understand why some do go there first, but have him workout at the Performance Center and at Nattie and TJ’s Dungeon while the vignettes air. Use social media as well, as that is an incredible tool to use, and it costs zero dollars.
WWE will have a huge star here; I just hope they know how to use him properly. If they do, the WWE audience is in for a real treat.
Well, that is all from me. Time to go stack up on my storm chips and whatever else I feel I will need as I bunker down for the weekend’s wild storm. By then hopefully there will be some major wrestling news that will cause the internet to explode with excitement as lately the news has been quite the Debbie Downer. Give us something to unite us all please, wrestling God.
Nick Whitworth
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