Morning Daily News Update: January 2, 2026 – WWE Stars Go To Hell…’s Kitchen
By Conor Renshaw on 2 January 2026
Good morning, all!
I hope you all enjoyed the first day of 2026, but now it’s back to reality as the holiday season ends. But it’s not all sad news, because we have the Morning Daily News Update to keep us company.
We’ve also got some new blog posts from yesterday, as we’ve got Alex Podgorski with a new (Almost) 5-Star Match Review, Kat with a new classic SmackDown review from September 16, 1999, and Scott Herrin has the latest TNA Impact review.
Liv Morgan, Big E, and Braun Strowman guest star on Hell’s Kitchen
On yesterday’s Season 24 episode 12 of Hell’s Kitchen, WWE stars Liv Morgan and Big E, along with former WWE star Braun Strowman, appeared as special guests on the show. Morgan was introduced as the WWE Women’s World Champion, and she was still carrying the belt, meaning this episode was likely shot sometime last year, as Morgan lost the belt on Raw’s Netflix premiere on January 6, 2025.
Netflix Makes Big Announcement Regarding Expanded WWE Deal
After it was reported that WWE’s classic shows were being removed from Peacock, and that a number of classic WWE shows were shown as “coming soon” on Netflix, the streaming giant has now issued a statement on the status of these classic shows coming to its platform and said that a large number of older shows are now available.
Tonight, SmackDown becomes a three-hour show once again, and two big matches have been booked for the show as Damian Priest squares off against Aleister Black in an Ambulance Match, and there will be an eight-woman tag team bout as Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss face off against the team of Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Asuka, and Kairi Sane.
Madison Rayne announces retirement following Ring of Honor loss
Former five-time TNA Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne has announced her retirement from wrestling following her loss on ROH on HonorClub last night in a tag match where she teamed with Deonna Purrazzo to face Billie Starkz and Diamante.