[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer WWE has confirmed the announce teams for Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The men's Royal Rumble match will be called by Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jerry Lawler, and JBL. Lawler had noted on his podcast that he'd be calling the match with Cole and JBL. Renee Young, Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips, and Graves will be the announce team for the women's Royal Rumble match. The other Raw and SmackDown matches will be called by the usual announce teams for each brand (Cole, Graves, and Young for Raw and Phillips, Graves, and Byron Saxton for SmackDown). Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson are calling Buddy Murphy's Cruiserweight Championship defense against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami. Mike Rome and Greg Hamilton have been announced as the ring announcers for the event.

Originally Posted by PWI Dolph Ziggler was not backstage at last night's Monday Night Raw and was only scheduled for this past weekend's live events. Ziggler lives in Phoenix so if WWE wants to place him in the Royal Rumble match, they could do so rather easily at the last second.

If they don't use in the Rumble, another possible sign that Ziggy isn't staying in the WWE since his contract expires soon.

Originally Posted by PWI The International Wrestling Syndicate tweeted the following, announcing that tag team 3.0, who have been seen in the past in CHIKARA, have been signed to WWE NXT deals: Well the cats out of the bag! IWS pro wrestling would like to congratulate former IWS tag team, canadian and world champions and IWS dojo trainers Big Magic and Scott Parker on signing with NXT . Tear the house down boys !!! Were so proud of you !!! pic.twitter.com/BAXqnVJAjO — IWS (@IWSHardcore) January 22, 2019

Originally Posted by Observer WWE put out a press release saying they are now partnering with New Era Cap, who will make hats and other headwear for WWE going forward.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Lavie Margolin at Wrestling Inc looks at the streaming numbers for Impact Wrestling and AAA from Twitch this past week. He notes that Impact peaked with 7,866 live viewers for this past Friday’s episode, compared to a high of 10,422 for the debut on Twitch the week prior. Impact was the most-watched program among wrestling programming on the service with AAA in second place.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc Otis Dozovic has been removed from the WWE NXT team for the Worlds Collide tournament that will take place during the Royal Rumble Axxess sessions this coming weekend, likely due to his main roster call-up. Otis has been replaced by Shane Thorne.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc The WWE RAW and SmackDown viewership will be delayed this week due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc As we previously reported, former Impact X-Division Champion Trevor Lee recently announced that he has signed with WWE. He will be starting at the WWE Performance Center in early February with several other recognizable names. Former TNA Gut Check winner Sam Shaw will also be reporting to the Performance Center in February. Shaw worked for TNA from 2010 through June of 2015. Rachael Ellering and Karen Q will also be a part of the February class. Both women competed in the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament. Ellering also worked the 2017 Mae Young Classic, as well as several matches in NXT. ACH will also be a part of the February class. ACH had recently been working for NJPW. Other names for the February class include Canadian tag team 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews), Jonah Rock, Elliot Sexton and former Monster Factory Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Nick Comoroto, who is 6 ft. 3 inches and weighs 275 lbs.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A John Cena’s injury is not legit, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. WWE announced last night that Cena was “questionable” for the Royal Rumble after suffering an ankle injury from a Drew McIntyre ankle lock last week, then re-aggravating the injury while he was working out. Meltzer speculated that WWE originally wanted to have Lars Sullivan attack Cena and “injure” him to take him out of the Royal Rumble, but Sullivan’s debut hasn’t happened yet, reportedly because of anxiety issues.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Luke Harper was training for his return at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando yesterday. Both he and Harper have been cleared to return and could be back as early as this week. Rowan has been out since August with a torn right bicep and while he was out, Harper underwent surgery on his left arm.