Sami Callihan staying close to WWE as part of Royal Rumble weekend Evolve line-up

Word on the wrestler once again known as Sami Callihan was that his departure of WWE and their Florida-based Performance Center was a a mutual decision with no hard feelings.

We'll never know if that's 100% true (both parties obviously had high hopes for his NXT run as Solomon Crowe or they wouldn't have signed a contract in the first place, so there's bound to be some disappointment), but the latest WWN  news is probably a good sign that they're still open to doing business with one another.

The Gabe Sapolsky-booked promotions that are partnered with Triple H and WWE's developmental program are holding a couple of big shows in the Orlando area to coincide with Royal Rumble weekend in 2016. And in fleshing out the cards for those shows, Evolve revealed that Callihan will be a featured player on the January 23 and 24 shows. In addition to the live performance, both events will be broadcast on internet pay-per-view (iPPV).

Ticket and stream purchases can be made here.

In addition to the two shows Sami will appear at, Evolve has another show on Friday, the 22nd. Over the course of the weekend, they'll be holding a tournament to crown the promotion's first tag champs, and the names competing are full of folks we've already seen or are likely to one day see in NXT.

The eight-team field is:

-EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher & Zack Sabre Jr.
-Chris Hero & Tommy End
-Roppongi Vice of Trent Baretta & Rocky Romero
-The Premier Athlete Brand of Caleb Konley & Anthony Nese with So Cal Val
-Johnny Gargano & Drew Galloway
-Drew Gulak & TJ Perkins
-Harlem & Lancelot Bravado
-Team Tremendous of Dan Barry & Bill Carr

Anybody headed to Rumble and/or Evolve 53 - 55? Think we'll see Callihan/Crowe back in WWE someday? Are there other names you're scouting for a future NXT run?