MiroMiro is now feuding with God, but he had battles with his own hamstring, as well.The former TNT Champion has only wrestled two matches since dropping the title on September 29, and wasn't actually planned to wrestle either of them. After being out of in-ring action all of October, Miro served as Jon Moxley's replacement in the World Title Eliminator, taking on Orange Cassidy and Bryan Danielson on November 3 and 13, respectively. Fightful learned that during that period, Miro was working with an injured hamstring, which is why his leg was taped up during the matches.We've been told that Miro is on the mend from the injury now.ROHFightful has learned of several more deals of Ring of Honor's that were up on at the end of 2021.Fightful reported months ago that upon being notified of ROH's hiatus, most ROH deals were up at the end of the year, but some -- including Ian Riccaboni's -- expire on March 31.We've been able to confirm that Shane Taylor (originally reported by Bodyslam and confirmed by Fightful), Silas Young all expired at the end of 2021. However, we've also found a ton of additional deals that expire.Mike Bennett, Beer City Bruiser, Josh Woods, Rhett Titus, Danhausen and Brian Milonas have all confirmed to Fightful that their Ring of Honor deals expired at the end of the year, as opposed to extending to March 31. Milonas and Beer City Bruiser had been on paid-per-appearance deals until 2021 when they signed full-time contracts. We've also learned that World Famous CB, aka Cheeseburger, is already a free agent as his exclusive PPA deal had already expired.In an update, we've actually learned that Jonathan Gresham has been a free agent for several weeks. We're told that Gresham was sent his ROH papers to finalize the end of his tenure there the week after ROH Final Battle. He still maintains a positive relationship with the ROH office, as title defenses are approved through ROH higher ups directly.WWE RawThings were dire for WWE on Monday.In addition to Big E, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Omos and others not being at the show, Bobby Roode, Rhea Ripley, Zelina, Finn Balor, Austin Theory all also didn't appear on the program. Producers were also split between the Detroit Raw and the Orlando Smackdown house show -- in which Roman Reigns didn't appear. Adam Pearce, Kenny Dykstra, Jamie Noble, Shawn Daivari, Pat Buck, Michael Hayes, and TJ Wilson all were absent from the list of names we got as producers for Raw, although some of them very well could have been there, we just haven't seen their names as of yet. In addition, Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, Kevin Dunn and others weren't at the show, which PWInsider reported was run by Johnny Ace an Ed Koskey.Those we spoke to said that this was "the most skeleton of crews" that several had seen at a WWE televised show with fans in attendance. One person referenced an ongoing conversation about it, saying that there were many times you'd seem more people around backstage at WWE Performance Center Raws than the December 27 editionVEER COMESVeer has been coming for months.Since October, WWE has aired vignettes for Veer coming to WWE Raw, where he actually already was. Fightful learned that there was "no real rhyme or reason" behind splitting Veer from Jinder Mahal and Shanky, and for a while, many thought he would just be inexplicably moved back to Smackdown to join them. WWE sources we spoke to said that WWE officials have generally thought he had the most upside of either of his pairings, whether it be with Saurav or Shanky.As to where Veer has been....he's been at Raw. Since October, Veer has appeared on several episodes of WWE Main Event, beating Cedric Alexander, T-Bar and John Morrison. He's also been at episodes of Raw in which he was not booked for, we're told. As far as creative plans, Fightful was told that as of the time the videos began airing there were no "significant creative plans in place for Veer or his debut." We're not sure if that has changed since then, but we're also told by WWE sources they are self aware of the comedic nature behind stretching this out.WWE Raw ProducersFightful has learned the following producers for the December 27 episode of Raw. In addition, several producers that had previously been shadowing other producers went solo.- Reggie & Dana Brooke vs. R-Truth & Tamina was produced by Molly Holly.- Mysterios vs. Street Profits was produced by Petey Williams, as a solo producer.- Kevin Owens vs. Cedric Alexander was produced by Jason Jordan.- Apollo Crews vs. AJ Styles was produced by Shane Helms- Abyss and Jason Jordan produced much of the RKBro and Alpha Academy work.Fightful has learned the following producers for WWE Day 1- The main event WWE Title 5-way match was produced by Jamie Noble.- TJ Wilson/Tyson Kidd and Molly Holly produced Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch.- Adam Pearce & Michael Hayes produced the Edge vs. Miz match.- Shane Helms & Kenny Dykstra produced RKBro vs. Street Profits- Abyss (Chris Park) produced Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss.- Shawn Daivari produced the New Day vs. Usos match.Chuck PalumboFightful interviewed WCW and WWE veteran Chuck Palumbo, and got a ton of great stories from him.Palumbo spoke highly of Vince McMahon, stating that he always had an open door policy with Vince, and McMahon was always kind to him. He saw Vince's responsibilities increase as time went on, but said that Vince was always supportive of him. Palumbo said that he picked up a lot of business and life experience by working with and for Vince McMahonPalumbo spoke about Shawn Stasiak and Sean O'Haire being way different personally and professionally, and thinks that if Triple H had discovered O'Haire, his career would have been way different.In case you want to know what gave him his incredible hair -- Pantene Pro V helped. He said that he never did anything to his hair because a comb wouldn't go through it. He cut his hair because when he bleached it for Billy & Chuck, it started falling out!AroLuchaIf you wanted to close the year out with Arolucha, congrats.Fightful has learned that in addition to Pencilish Animation Studios, Starlight Runner Entertainment have joined AroLucha. We're told specifically Jeff Gomez and Mark Pensavalle have joined the fray. In the past they've worked with Avatar, Transformers, Spiderman and Lucha Underground.The group are known as consultants in brand narrative, story world development, creative franchise design, and transmedia storytelling. They "specialize in the expansion of entertainment properties, premium brands, and socio-political messages into highly successful multiplatform communications and international campaigns" per AroLucha.Fightful will keep you up to date on the latest with AroLuchaMINIS!Minis are coming to MLW.MLW is rolling out the Azteca Underground show, and we're told minis are a part of the plan for it. Specifically, one character is confirmed.Fightful has learned that AAA is introducing a new version of the mini Abismo Negro character in 2022, replacing the person who has been performing under the gimmick (who played Mini Goldust) for years. We've not learned of the performer who will be replacing him, but MLW is slated to be his debut in the role.In addition, we've heard more minis are planned for the MLW Azteca project. MLW announced this shortly after our post.Toni StormFor those who missed it, Toni Storm was released by WWE, which was confirmed to Fightful by the company.Those that Fightful spoke to within WWE say that Toni Storm asked for her release from the company. This was later confirmed to me, and we reached out to people close to Toni said that things were fine when we asked about extenuating circumstances, and how she was doing.Storm worked a triple threat match at a WWE live event, and PWInsider noted that talent indicated she flew herself home. This is also what we've heard from other talent.The memo that went out did not list budget cuts as the reason, as has been tradition of late.We've been told that many within WWE were "blindsided" by the news of Storm asking for her release. One source within the company we spoke to said that it would have been difficult for WWE to justify not granting someone their release after several rounds of "budget cuts."WWE Day 1 ChangesRoman Reigns out, Brock Lesnar in.Fightful learned that a significant change was in order for the WWE Day 1 show at about 5 PM EST the night of the show, and had the news confirmed by WWE officials by 6 PM. WWE itself has confirmed it publicly, as well, revealing Brock Lesnar was joining the WWE Title match.One source that we spoke to indicated that WWE was set on making this match a good one, as a make good to fans.Drew McIntyreSaturday night's WWE Day 1 show saw an angle to set up a potential absence for former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.After McIntyre's win over Madcap Moss, McIntyre was taken out backstage in a segment by Moss and his partner Happy Corbin.WWE's Twitter posted "@DMcIntyreWWE suffered a cervical neck strain with severe contusions. Upon further evaluation by medical staff he will have a follow-up with an orthopedic cervical specialist."Fightful has learned that this angle is being used as a cover for a legit injury to Drew McIntyre, one that he's been dealing with for quite a while. We haven't heard of the specific injury or diagnosis, but that he's set to get it checked out, with the hope in the company that he won't be sidelined long-term.As a result, WWE went with a longer match with Madcap Moss and Drew McIntyre, and had him involved in the post-match attack to help make him in defeat. We're also told Jeff Hardy's release threw a wrench into the creative plans.WWE Day 1 Main event newsWWE's Day 1 saw significant changes, as the show was hit big time by Roman Reigns testing positive for COVID.We're told that match times were adjusted, segments were added, and video packages added to help make up the time lost in losing the WWE Universal Title match. Talent was informed mid-afternoon yesterday that the WWE Championship match would be changing, but they hadn't been told of the original plans for a winner before that. Those that we spoke to believe Big E was set to win at Day 1, but that's hardly confirmed.At 5 PM EST, Fightful gained information that the card was changing, so the talent knew by then. Shortly before the announcement at 6 PM EST, WWE confirmed the news of Reigns' positive COVID test and a change to the main event.All of the matches prior to the main event matched up to the times they were planned for (including entrances). However, the main event had originally been budgeted for 30 minutes, and went nowhere near that. The times had been budgeted by the time Brock Lesnar had been added to internal listings, and we weren't given a reason why it was adjusted.Also, Brock Lesnar was listed internally as a Smackdown performer last night, though he mentioned on screen he was a free agent, and won a Raw Championship. We'll find out if that internal listing changes.When we asked backstage about reactions to the move, most felt that Big E wasn't booked consistently throughout his title reign and that multiple people involved with his ongoing storyline would go "above and beyond" to make sense of things on screen to the best of their ability.
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