• NJPW Champions Reject WWE’s Offer
New Japan Pro-Wrestling closed the door on outside speculation without issuing a statement – it happened live, in the ring.
At the New Year’s Dash event, reigning IWGP Tag Team Champion Yuto-Ice used a post-match moment to address his future directly. Without referencing specific reports, he made it clear that he and tag team partner, Oskar, are not preparing to leave New Japan.
The comments landed after weeks of quiet uncertainty surrounding the Knock Out Brothers, who had been linked to WWE as part of its international talent expansion. Rather than letting the speculation linger, Yuto-Ice opted to confront it publicly, framing the team’s next chapter as firmly rooted in NJPW.
The outside interest traces back to a December report from Self Made Pro, which claimed WWE had extended formal offers to both champions. That report described the Knock Out Brothers as priority targets following a breakout year that elevated them from rising contenders to centerpiece tag champions.
Their 2025 run included a strong World Tag League showing and culminated in capturing the IWGP Tag Team Championships from Taichi and Tomohiro Ishii at Destruction in Kobe. These performances reportedly drew significant attention outside Japan.
• Triple H’s WWE Creative Team Revealed
WWE creative is being run through a layered chain of command, with multiple senior figures handling control long before anything reaches Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s desk.
PWInsider reports that two long-established executives, Bruce Prichard and Ed Koskey, continue to manage the engine room of WWE’s creative operation. Prichard remains responsible for the overall direction and flow of creative, while Koskey’s role centers on scripts, revisions, and keeping the product aligned with broader corporate goals.
Much of the weekly television output is now funneled through a single coordinator. Ryan Ward has assumed responsibility for overseeing creative on both RAW and SmackDown, effectively placing him in charge of organizing and shaping storylines across WWE’s two flagship programs.
Beneath Ward, individual show teams handle the construction of angles, segment layouts, and short-term continuity. Their work moves upward through review stages rather than straight to Triple H, passing first through Koskey and Prichard before any final decisions are made.
Triple H retains ultimate approval authority, but the system in place is designed to distribute responsibility across multiple levels.
• SmackDown Star Relinquishes His Championship
Matt Cardona has signed with WWE and returned to the company on the January 2nd episode of SmackDown.
Before returning to WWE, Cardona held multiple titles on the indy scene. He previously relinquished the ACW World Championship. He has now relinquished the World Series Wrestling Championship as well.
Cardona issued the following statement:
“Hey guys, this is the complete Matt Cardona. I’ve got some good news, some bad news, but this is more good news. Good news, after five years of busting my a$$ all over the world for places like World Series Wrestling, I am finally back in WWE. But unfortunately, that means I must vacate the World Series Wrestling Championship.
I won’t be there in May, but the good news is the show goes on without me. The good news is that the Rise Against tour, there will be a new World Series Wrestling Champion. I was proud, so proud to be the champion, not once, not twice, but three times.
World Series Wrestling, all your fans in Australia. Adrian, I love you guys. You guys are like gambler to me, and I will miss you all. Somebody. Please have some Hungry Jacks for Matt Cardona. See you later, guys.”
