WWE News & Rumor Roundup – Big talks in progress with AEW, interpromotional match teased for Roman Reigns, possible title switch (January 9th, 2022)

It's that time of the day again where we look at the biggest news and rumors from WWE.

Mickie James' surprise return has seemingly opened the proverbial forbidden door as a top executive from Vince McMahon's company is reportedly in talks with AEW regarding an upcoming project.

A reigning champion from another prominent company teased a massive inter-promotional match with none other than Roman Reigns.

We also have all the details regarding the possible plans for the world titles heading into WrestleMania 38.

A retired superstar's name has also trended on social media following the announced returns of multiple veterans for the women's Royal Rumble match.

We wrapped up the roundup with an exciting story about an alternate in-ring name for Liv Morgan.

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#5. WWE reportedly in talks with AEW regarding future projects

WWE no longer has any borders as the company is reportedly willing to work with contracted talent outside the company.

RingSideNews reports that John Laurinaitis has talked with Tony Khan about biographies featuring talent presently in AEW. The report further stated that the company's Head of Talen Relations has thus far gotten along with Khan as they are in discussions about possible projects:

"AEW is in discussions about projects with [John] Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis has spoken with Tony Khan about biographies on certain talent that is now in AEW," a source told RSN.

The AEW roster predominantly consists of former superstars, and the likes of Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, and Jim Ross could be on the company's radar for future content.

It should be noted that there have been no discussions about having AEW talent wrestle in Vince McMahon's ring. Still, the initial contact between both parties is a positive sign, even if it's about creating documentaries.

Mickie James was announced as a Royal Rumble entrant despite being the reigning IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion, which shows that anything is possible in professional wrestling. 2022 will be a very interesting year indeed!

#4. Moose teases an inter-promotional match against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns

There is a sense of optimism right now in the wrestling world as WWE has seemingly expressed its intention of doing business with competitors.

Reigning IMPACT Wrestling Champion Moose addressed all the chatter surrounding the forbidden door and teased a dream match against Roman Reigns.

The self-proclaimed wrestling god is ready to share the ring with the Head of the Table, as his tweet suggests:

"I Claim to be the Wrestling God. He claims to be The Head of the Table. With all this Forbidden Door talk….. what if….,, @WWERomanReigns," wrote Moose.

2022 has kicked off with the hope that Vince McMahon and his team could be willing to expand its product and get familiar names from other companies for special appearances.

However, Vince McMahon's focus presently would ideally be on the road to WrestleMania 38, which could feature a significant world title switch.

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#3. Original plans for the world titles, possible brand switch before WrestleMania 38

Roman Reigns testing positive for COVID-19 led to several last-minute booking changes at the Day 1 show. As reported by Dave Meltzer, Seth Rollins was slated to win the Championship and defend it at one of the WrestleMania nights.

Brock Lesnar was supposed to dethrone Roman Reigns and put the Universal title on the line in a WrestleMania rematch:

"The plan for Day 1 was that Seth was gonna be the WWE Champion coming off of the show and Lesnar was gonna be the Universal Champion coming off of the show," revealed Dave Meltzer.

While the plans have been altered drastically, a source revealed that the promotion still wants to arrive at its original WrestleMania matches. Seth Rollins could capture the Universal title at Royal Rumble and take the championship over to RAW.

In such a scenario, Brock Lesnar is the favorite to retain his belt over Bobby Lashley before resuming his storyline with Roman Reigns on SmackDown:

"I was kind of told it's gonna end up where it's supposed to be. So I wonder if that means they're gonna switch belts, like the Universal belt with Seth goes on Raw and the WWE belt that Roman would end up most likely, I'm gonna guess but Brock would have, would be on SmackDown," Meltzer added. H/t WrestlingNews.co

Are you excited about the reported creative direction heading into 'Mania?

#2. Paige trends after WWE's Royal Rumble announcements, several stars react

The announced return of former stars for the WWE Women's Royal Rumble match has resulted in Paige's name making it to Twitter's trending section.

While Paige was not part of the confirmed entrants, many fans shared their desire to see the retired wrestler make a comeback. Paige is least surprised by the social media hype as her name often comes up during Royal Rumble season:

The former Divas champion has not wrestled since 2017 after being forced to retire due to a neck injury. Paige has since dropped many hints about an in-ring return and has drawn inspiration from the likes of Edge and Daniel Bryan.

Paige has also received much support as a few top female stars reacted to her name trending on social media.

The 29-year-old has mentioned in the past that she would ideally want her return to be her surprise if it ever happened. Could Paige be one of the hidden surprises for the Royal Rumble?

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#1. WWE pitched a different name for Liv Morgan

Liv Morgan revealed that the company initially had another name for her when she joined the company in 2014.

While speaking on Wrestling Inside The Ropes, Liv Morgan recalled the experience of building her character during her early days at the Performance Center. Wrestlers were supposed to send a list of names to the officials, and Liv Morgan wasn't too convinced with her creations:

"The real background [of my on-screen name] is that, you know, when you arrive to the Performance Center when it's time to create your character, you send in like a list of names, right? And I must've sent in like three different lists of names, and I thought, 'All my names are so terrible.' All the names that I picked, they thought it was so bad," revealed Morgan.

The RAW superstar was given two options - "Liv Gallows" and "Liv Morgan" - and she instantly picked the latter despite initially not being a fan of the second name.

The former NXT star said she loves her current moniker and spontaneously mentioned a few puns using 'Liv.'

"So literally, I show up to TV one day at Full Sail for an NXT taping, and they pulled me aside, and they were like, 'All right, you're either Liv Morgan, or you're Liv Gallows' and I was like… 'I guess I pick Liv Morgan' and I always liked the name Liv. I didn't really like 'Morgan,' you know? But I grew to love it, I grew to love it all, and I found so many little puns to use 'Liv' for and fun little things I can use, so I grew to really — SmackDown Liv, You Only Liv Once, Liv is Life, Watch Me Liv, I mean I can go on and on. [It says on my titantron right now], 'Liv is the best," Morgan added. H/t POST Wrestling

Liv Morgan's star power has increased tremendously ever since she began her feud with Becky Lynch. While Morgan has been unsuccessful in winning her maiden women's title, the 27-year-old star is quite over with the fans and is still involved in the championship picture.

Will Liv Morgan become a women's champion in 2022? Do you see it happening before WrestleMania 38? Share your thoughts in the comments section.