Samoa Joe to Miss the Rumble, Mysterio/Impact News, New Belts

Samoa Joe has been absolutely destructive ever since he debuted on Raw last year. Joe has never gotten the chance to participate in the Royal Rumble match before, so fans were delighted to hear Joe declare his entry on Raw this past Monday night. Unfortunately, it was revealed that following day that Joe suffered a foot injury. He has since been removed from the Mixed Match Challenge, but he remains a Royal Rumble entrant at the moment. Despite this, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Joe’s injury could take between two weeks or two months to heal from. Therefore, even though he is still scheduled for the match, his name will likely be removed shortly.
Speculation suggesting that Impact Wrestling will be signing one of the most famous wrestlers in the world continues to heat up. It was mentioned earlier this week that talks between Impact and Rey Mysterio have resumed and have been going nicely thus far. PWInsider has updated the story by claiming that Mysterio was set to appear at the ongoing tapings, but the agreement fell through and Mysterio is now in Mexico. Regardless, the talks are still progressing along, but as far as Chris Jericho appearing in Impact is concerned, Don Callis dismissed the rumor during a recent media call, (transcription provided by WrestleZone) “I’ve heard about Chris Jericho which, if he is, I wish he’d tell me since we’ve been good friends for so many years. I don’t put a lot of stock in rumors.”
Impact Wrestling is going through a rebranding phase at the moment. The new Ed Nordholm, Don Callis, and Scott D’Amore regime already managed to surprise fans by bringing Austin Aries back to the promotion. Aries captured the world title during the most recent set of tapings, and on the subject of championships, D’Amore revealed that Impact will be receiving new title belts very soon. During a media call for Impact Wrestling, D’Amore confirmed that all of the titles in the company will be renovated soon as the company continues to change. He confirmed that the new championships should be unveiled by April.