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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Owens' Eye Injury Reportedly Required Stitches
Kevin Owens reportedly required stitches after the area around his eye was busted open during Friday night's tag team main event on SmackDown.
According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Matthew Wilkinson), Owens is "doing fine" despite the injury, although it is unclear if he will be forced to miss any in-ring time.
While tough to pinpoint the exact time the injury happened, it appeared during the match that it may have taken place when Roman Reigns saved Sami Zayn from getting pinned by pummeling KO with punches to the face.
Despite Owens' injury, he scored the winning pinfall with a Stunner on Zayn, giving Owens and John Cena the victory over the two Bloodline members.
The match was Cena's first of 2022, keeping a long-running streak intact, as Cena has now wrestled at least one WWE match every year since 2002.
It also marked the continuation of the rivalry between Owens and The Bloodline, as Reigns has been unable to dispose of the pesky Superstar thus far.
Zayn seemingly turned his back on Owens once and for all at Survivor Series WarGames when he hit KO with a low blow in the WarGames match, but Reigns has remained unconvinced that Zayn has fully moved on.
That was the purpose of Friday's match, but while Zayn appeared to remain loyal to The Bloodline during it, there could be repercussions for him taking the fall.
Either way, there is little doubt that the issues between Owens and The Bloodline are far from over.
Mandy Rose Made $1 Million on Fantime in December
Despite her release from WWE last month, Mandy Rose is enjoying a huge amount of financial success.
Fantime revealed in an Instagram post this week that Rose made $1 million on the platform in December.
Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reported last month that WWE released Rose because of the company's belief that her Fantime page contained content that was "outside of the parameters" of her contract with WWE.
While Rose primarily posted bikini photos and videos, she also posted some more explicit photos and videos that contained nudity.
Rose had held the NXT Women's Championship for 413 days before surprisingly dropping it to Roxanne Perez last month, ending the third-longest reign in the history of the title.
The report of Rose's release surfaced the next day, and while WWE never made an official announcement regarding her departure, she is now listed in the alumni section on WWE's website rather than as an active roster member.
It remains unclear if WWE gave Rose the option to take her Fantime page down before releasing her, although it may not have mattered.
The exact details of Mandy's WWE contract aren't known, but it is unlikely she even made $1 million in a full year with the company, whereas she has now made that much in a single month on Fantime.
It seems possible WWE would be open to Rose returning at some point, given how big of a push she received prior to her release, but it is tough to blame Rose for not wanting to move on from Fantime for as long as it is this lucrative.
Aldis Says He Is a Free Agent
Former two-time NWA world heavyweight champion and one-time TNA world heavyweight champion Nick Aldis divulged this week that he is officially a free agent.
In an interview with SportsKeeda (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Aldis discussed his free agency and his desire to be "free of a contract and a certain brand commitment."
Aldis wrestled for NWA from 2017 to 2022, but he announced in November that he had requested his release from the company.
In the interview with SportsKeeda, the 36-year-old Brit simply said it was "just time to move on."
Aldis played a big role in restoring prestige to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and putting NWA back on the map. His second run as champion lasted for 1,043 days, which was the longest reign since Dan Severn held it for 1,479 days from 1995 to 1999.
Before his run in NWA, Aldis wrestled under the name Magnus in TNA/Impact Wrestling from 2008 until 2015. Holding the promotion's world title for 128 days in 2013 and 2014 was his greatest accomplishment in TNA, but he was also a two-time TNA world tag team champion with Samoa Joe and Douglas Williams.
While Aldis showed immense potential in TNA, it wasn't until he went to NWA that he began to realize it.
His presentation was similar to many NWA world champions from decades prior, with Ric Flair being the clearest example, as Magnus wore expensive suits, cut fiery promos and preached the importance of the title.
Now, Aldis will have the opportunity to ply his trade elsewhere, and it comes at an ideal time with WWE and AEW in a constant battle over signing top talent. It stands to reason that both companies would have interest in Aldis, and any type of bidding war between them could help land him a sizable contract.
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