WWE: AJ Appearance Invitation Set for 1/23 WWE SmackDown [Update: Styles Accepts Invitation], Seth Rollins on Possible Return From Shoulder Injury for WrestleMania 42, Netflix Releases Viewing Data for WWE PLEs, SmackDown, & NXT Shows for July to December 2025

Jan 22, 2026

AJ Appearance Announced for Jan. 23rd WWE SmackDown

Update:

AJ Styles responded on Twitter accepting SmackDown GM Nick Aldis’ invitation offer to make an appearance at this Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Montreal.

I appreciate that. The forecast for G-ville is bad weather. Why not go to a place where snow and ice are not that big of a deal? See you soon. https://t.co/BBoLIPIkwg
— AJ Styles (@AJStylesOrg) January 22, 2026

WWE SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced one new segment for the card of this Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec Canada.

This new segment announced was Aldis offering an invitation to AJ Styles to make an appearance on the show.

.@RealNickAldis invites @AJStylesOrg to SmackDown this week… 👀

📺: FRIDAY 8e/7c on @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/6mUdcumdUy
— WWE (@WWE) January 22, 2026

Current card for January 23rd WWE SmackDown show:

WWE Tag Team Championship – Two members of The MFTs (Talla Tonga, JC Mateo, Tama Tonga, & Tonga Loa) vs. Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) (c)
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Triple Threat match – Giulia & Kiana James vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax & Lash Legend
Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest
Johnny Gargano vs. Nathan Frazer
AJ Styles to appear

Seth Rollins on Possible Return From Shoulder Injury for WrestleMania 42

As noted before, Seth Rollins has been out of action for WWE since this past October’s Crown Jewel: Perth event due to a torn rotator cuff injury and surgery.

Men’s Health held a recent interview with Rollins. One of the topics discussed included Rollins’ thoughts about the possibility of him being able to return from his injury in time for this April’s WrestleMania 42 event in Las Vegas. Nevada.

“Don’t know. Don’t know the answer to that yet. The timeline for shoulder surgery and repair is, you know, 4-6 months or so. Did my rotator cuff back in October. I’m rehabbing. As long as there’s no setbacks, I hope to be cleared by the time WrestleMania rolls around in April. But, I mean, at the end of the day, that decision isn’t mine. I just can do the best I can day after day, get myself in a good position, and hope for the best.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

Netflix Releases Viewing Data for WWE PLEs, SmackDown, & NXT Shows for July 2025 to December 2025

Netflix recently released their “What We Watched” engagement report for the months of July to December of 2025.

In regards to WWE, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that WWE’s PLEs global views for that time period ranged from a low of 900,000 views for Evolution 2025 to a peak of 1,900,000 views for Wrestlepalooza.

WWE’s PLEs global views data for second half of 2025 on Netflix:

Survivor Series WarGames 2025 (Nov 29) – 1.8M
Crown Jewel Perth (Oct 11) – 1.4M
Wrestlepalooza (Sep 20) – 1.9M
Clash in Paris (Aug 31) – 1.3M
SummerSlam 2025 Sunday (Aug 3) – 1.7M
SummerSlam 2025 Saturday (Aug 2) – 1.5M
Evolution 2025 (Jul 13) – 900K

In regards to WWE SmackDown, Thurston reported that WWE’s non-United States global views for SmackDown shows for that time period ranged from a low of 700,000 views to a peak of 1,300,000 views. SmackDown currently airs on USA Network in the United States.

In regards to WWE NXT, Thurston reported that WWE’s non-United States global views for NXT shows for that time period ranged from a low of 100,000 views to a peak of 300,000 views. NXT currently airs on The CW in the United States.