10 Exact Moments 2022 Changed Wrestling Forever

9. WWE Does Business With Their Rivals

Vince McMahon Raw
NJPW

In the lead-up to this year's rather underwhelming Royal Rumble it was shockingly announced that none other than the Impact Knockouts Champion would be stopping by the women's iteration of the titular showdown. And not only that, James would ultimately show up at the event sporting her Knockouts strap and Hardcore Country theme song, too!

This wouldn't be the last time WWE did unexpected business with a competitor in 2022 either, with AEW happily allowing the likes of Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho and a few more to pop by via video message for John Cena's 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Elsewhere, NJPW's NEVER Openweight Champion Karl Anderson has been present on WWE programming since returning alongside Luke Gallows earlier this year, with the Sports Entertainment giant not exactly shying away from the fact the O.C. man still holds a strap for a rival promotion.

And WWE were even happy to allow Shinsuke Nakamura the chance to wrestle The Great Muta for Pro Wrestling NOAH on their The New Year 2023 show.

Sure, the company still weren't able to come to an agreement with AEW on a DX reunion Daddy Ass appearance recently. But for the most part, it seems as though WWE's Forbidden Door is actually finally well and truly open...

Contributor
Contributor

Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...