FWL Season 5 Rumors/Updates

[Fnord]

Here is where I will post random superstar rumors/updates/injuries and the whatnot for all to know in case they have them on their team. Like this for instance...

You may remember former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries being backstage at WWE NXT TV tapings last year. There's been a lot of speculation on Aries possibly coming in, especially after he didn't work the recent TNA Impact Wrestling tapings.

Aries was in Pittsburgh, PA this week, according to PWInsider, and the belief is that he's there to undergo the required pre-signing WWE medical tests.

For what it's worth, some believed that Aries could debut for NXT earlier this month but that obviously didn't happen.

[Fnord]

Source: PWInsider Elite

There were some people within WWE down on Tyler Breeze after he asked for permission to leave a recent WWE TV taping early. Once word got out that Breeze did leave early, other people started talking and this led to some members of WWE management, who did not know about the request, getting angry with Breeze.

There was a feeling that Breeze just came from NXT and was already disrespecting the business and the company, so they would just "squash him out" because of the heat. No word yet on how long the "de-push" will last but hopefully not much longer.

[Fnord]

AJ Styles is finally coming to WWE, according to PWInsider. Styles is set to begin his run with WWE this week as he will be at the Royal Rumble on Sunday, RAW in Miami and then the SmackDown tapings in Tampa.

This does not mean Styles will be in the Rumble, as has been speculated, but Styles is set to make his WWE debut very soon.

[Fnord]

- There are incorrect reports going around the web saying AJ Styles will be debuting on the post-Royal Rumble RAW next Monday, instead of the Rumble itself, because WWE officials don't believe he will get a reaction in the 30-man main event. The reports are being credited to Bryan Alvarez of F4Wonline.com but he did not report this story. This does not mean AJ won't be on next week's RAW or the Rumble itself, but the report going around is not true. As of this writing, WWE has not issued any confirmation on exactly when AJ will make his WWE debut.

[Fnord]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

- Sin Cara isn't expected to be back in action until February some time. Cara suffered a dislocated shoulder on December 28th in a RAW match against Big E. He worked a 12-man match at a WWE live event two nights later but had a limited role.

[Alex Smiley]

Figured I'd share this, since my favorite indy fed in the world is in FWL this year lol...

- Filed under "Take This With A Grain Of Salt": Chuck Taylor was recently moved to the Alumni section of the CHIKARA roster page. There was talk last year of Taylor retiring due to what appeared to be frustration with not getting signed to WWE, so this brought concern to quite a few fans of CHIKARA. For what it's worth, Taylor continues to be quite involved in CHIKARA's training school, the Wrestle Factory, and...

[spoiler]...Mr. Azerbaijan, Chuck's masked character in the fed, is still an active part of the roster. I put this in spoiler tags because I generally don't want to make details like this more public than it needs to be. It's a force of habit chatting with fellow CHIKARA fans, and generally respecting the kayfabe of the CHIKARAverse lol)[/spoiler]

[Fnord]

- The dark match before tonight's WWE Main Event tapings in Memphis saw Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley defeat The Dudley Boyz in a big upset. The two teams shook hands after the match and "The Hype Bros." got a good reaction.

The next NXT team to be "called up"?

[Alex Smiley]

Here's an update on the Chuck Taylor situation in CHIKARA:

- At National Pro Wrestling Day, a man some identified as Stokely Hathaway came out to cut a promo about Chuck Taylor's false retirement resulting in the Kentucky Gentleman losing the rights to his name. This was later confirmed by the former Chuck Taylor, who went by the name Scoot Tatum and making his "debut" in a win against Wally Scott.

This is more for Fnord's info, so that when keeping track of points he knows what's going on. Taylor, I mean Tatum, later said he hated the name and was planning to change it, so apologies in advance to Fnord if CT changes his name every show lol.

[Mike Powers]

Chikara gives me a brain ache.

[¿PapaPancho?]

Chikara gives me a brain ache.

[Fnord]

- Awesome Kong seems to be teasing a potential WWE return for Kharma on her Instagram account. It's likely she's just trying to generate buzz and we haven't heard anything about her returning but stranger things have happened in the world of pro wrestling.

[Fnord]

- In an update on Cameron from Friday, it appears she is back working the main roster and was not just visiting at Saturday's WWE live event in Fresno, CA. She teamed with Tamina Snuka and former partner Naomi but lost to Sasha Banks, Natalya and Becky Lynch.

[Drama Queen]

Tama Tonga teamed with fellow Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi to win the NEVER six-man tag title from the Briscoes and Toro Yano. They lost them back again the next day, but I believe this means Tama Tonga moves from non to mid. (Fale is already classed as mid, I did not check Takahashi)

[Fnord]

As many have expected, Brie Bella is expected to be finishing up with WWE soon. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio last night that while her exact final date isn't known, she will be leaving the company soon apparently to start a family. He noted that her decision was made before Daniel Bryan announced his retirement last week.

"It has nothing to do with Daniel Bryan, in the sense that she had made that decision that she was leaving early this year or mid this year, there's a certain date that she's gone," Meltzer said. "That date was decided before Bryan Danielson decided to retire."

Brie has been vocal about wanting to start a family for years now. She told E! Online in May 2014 that she "was fighting baby fever so bad," and has often been discussing life after wrestling on the past several seasons of Total Divas.

[Fnord]

- Awesome Kong seems to be teasing a potential WWE return for Kharma on her Instagram account. It's likely she's just trying to generate buzz and we haven't heard anything about her returning but stranger things have happened in the world of pro wrestling.

- We noted over the weekend that Awesome Kong apparently posted several photos on what appeared to be her Instagram account of photos from her WWE days as Kharma. The Instagram account has been open for almost a year and has the same handle as her Twitter account, @MeanQueenK. However, it appears as the Instagram account is a fraud, as Kong stated on Twitter that she doesn't have an Instagram account.