Category: WWE

Saraya: WWE Medical Staff Said ‘Book Was Closed’ On Neck Injury, Refused To Examine

It was only a year ago when Saraya, then retired following a neck injury, found herself at a crossroads as a free agent after her WWE contract expired. Now, Saraya not only finds herself wrestling again, but a prominent member of AEW’s women’s division – part of The Outcasts with Ruby Soho and AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm.

But in an interview with “Inside The Ropes,” Saraya revealed that she could’ve gone down a different path if WWE would had taken a look at her neck to see if she had healed enough. But that was never something the promotion seriously considered.

“At WWE, I asked to see my neck a few times, and the medical said that the book was closed on that, and they weren’t gonna keep checking on it, which was really disappointing,” Saraya said. “So if I wanted to check on my neck, it would have to come out of my own pocket. Her name was Stacy — that was her who said that, by the way. So it wasn’t anything to do with like Hunter or anything, it was just that medical department, which I thought was a little unfair, but it’s okay.”

Ultimately, things worked out well for Saraya following a phone call from AEW owner Tony Khan, who offered her a job and the freedom to do whatever she wanted, including pursuing an in-ring comeback. Still, Saraya admitted she’s taken this comeback slow, in order to preserve herself as a competitor long-term.

“I was like ‘I’m smarter this time,'” Saraya said. “I have to be smarter. I’m starting my thirties here and I just want to work smarter, not harder, you know what I mean?”

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to “Inside the Ropes”

WrestleCon Welcomes Back Rick Steiner Following Transphobic Remarks At Previous Event

WrestleCon has announced that Rick Steiner will be among the guests at an upcoming convention in Detroit, Michigan, which is set to take place in August. The news arrives in the wake of Steiner’s last WrestleCon appearance back in April, which saw him lobby transphobic insults at Impact Wrestling star Gisele Shaw.

Following the incident, WrestleCon apologized to Shaw for Steiner’s transphobic behavior, suggesting that they were backing the Impact star and cutting ties with Steiner. As such, the decision to bring him back for next month’s event has been receiving blowback on social media. However, the fan convention’s owner, Michael Bochicchio, has defended his decision to let Steiner attend the event. The statement, which can be found on the event’s Twitter page, claims that Steiner reached out to make amends after the incident.

“One of the positive things Rick did, and it was not publicized, is immediately apologize. He apologized to members of the Wrestlecon staff, he apologized to many of his fellow wrestlers, and offered apologies to the members of Impact Wrestling staff that chose to hear from him at a private mediated event. Giselle chose not to attend Rick’s apology, which we 100% understood, supported, and still support to this day. She had no obligation to hear anything from Rick nor should she ever feel obligated to accept any apology from him then or now.”

Bochicchio went on to say that Steiner has learned from the experience and that he believes in giving people second chances. However, the statement also claims that Steiner will be given a permanent ban if he demonstrates the same type of behavior at future events. As of this writing, Shaw has yet to comment on the matter.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bayley Reportedly Injured In A WWE House Show Match In Salisbury, Maryland

WWE Superstar Bayley appeared to have suffered a knee injury during Sunday night’s WWE non-televised live event in Salisbury, Maryland, according to a report from PWInsider. The match was between her, Charlotte Flair, and WWE Women’s Champion Asuka and when Bayley went for a clothesline, her knee gave out.

The match was said to have been “halted” after the incident and Bayley was assisted to the backstage area by WWE officials. PWInsider also noted that they were told by WWE sources that it wasn’t a “worked spot” and it was a “legitimate situation.” Bayley has had issues with her knee in the past. The former “SmackDown” Women’s Champion suffered a torn ACL in July 2021 and didn’t make her return until July 30, 2022, at SummerSlam.

Bayley did give an update on her injury via Twitter. The “WWE SmackDown” star shared a photo of her knee bandaged and the caption, “I’ll be alright, thanks, everyone.”

At the moment, Bayley’s stable, Damage CTRL, is already down one person. Dakota Kai suffered a torn ACL during a match on the May 12 edition of “SmackDown,” when Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were defending the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles against her and Bayley. Kai underwent surgery a few weeks after. Her injury happened in the same match that Morgan injured her shoulder and the team had to subsequently relinquish the titles. Morgan and Rodriguez have since regained the titles and are the current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. They have held the titles since defeating Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler on July 1 at Money in the Bank.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bayley commented on her injury scare:

“I’ll be alright, thanks everyone.”

https://twitter.com/itsBayleyWWE/status/1680768652700704770

Breezango Set To Reunite At Upcoming Independent Show

Following his victory over Matt Cross at Next Generation Wrestling’s Wrestle Wars event, newly-crowned NGW Champion Tyler Breeze will soon reunite with his former tag team partner Fandango, who is now known as Dirty Dango. As revealed on NGW’s Twitter, Breeze will team up with Fandango at the promotion’s Nightmare in The Old City event, which is slated to take place on October 8 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The former “WWE NXT” Tag Team Champions, once known as Breezango, will now be introduced as Dirty Breeze.

NGW Nightmare in The Old City will mark the pair’s first tag team appearance since June 15, 2021, when they defeated Imperium’s Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel (Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser) on “WWE NXT.” Ten days later, WWE released both Breeze and Fandango. Upon their exit from WWE, Fandango returned to the independent circuit and later appeared in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he formed The Dirty Sexy Boys with JTG. After a stint in NWA, Fandango arrived at Impact Wrestling, where he is currently signed to.

Despite his release from WWE in 2021, Breeze reportedly remained under the company’s payroll. While it’s unclear if Breeze has any specific wrestling-related provisions in this deal, he is seemingly prohibited from appearing on AEW programming. In the meantime, though, Breeze continues to serve as a co-trainer at the Flatbacks wrestling school alongside AEW star Shawn Spears. He is also a regular guest on Xavier Woods’ UpUpDownDown YouTube channel. 

After a two-year wrestling hiatus, Breeze finally made his return to the ring on July 8, where he won the aforementioned NGW Championship.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Update On WWE’s Interest In Brian Pillman Jr.

Brian Pillman Jr. may be on his way to WWE after his contract with AEW expire as was spotted training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL on Thursday.

His AEW contract expired earlier this month and his profile was removed the company website.

Fightful Select reports that Pillman had been under a two-year deal with AEW.

“When we asked WWE sources, they confirmed that as of now, Pillman had not been signed, but was working out at the facility. We’re told that what he’s doing resembles a bit of a “get to know you” meeting, and that WWE had immediate interest when he became available.We’re told that things regarding a lot of the people they bring in are being kept close to the vest, but that Pillman was in plain sight of many others at the PC,” the report read.

Source: eWn

WWE SmackDown Preview 7/14/2023

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • WWE Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs Bianca Belair
  • How will Roman Reigns respond to Jey Uso’s Title Match Challenge?

WWE Keeping A Close Eye On Potential SAG-AFTRA Strike

There are several people in WWE who are keeping a very close eye on the possible SAG-AFTRA strike.

For those unaware, the actor’s union is currently in negotiations with the major production studios. There is a deadline set for Wednesday night at midnight, and at this time, it appears a strike will take place as the two sides are still far part on issues pertaining to higher wages, increased residual payments, and the use of AI. If no deal is agreed to by Wednesday night, the actors will be on strike alongside the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America). This would mark the first time in 63 years that both actors and writers are on strike at the same time. This would obviously shutdown Hollywood for the time being.

According to a report from Pwinsider, numerous people within WWE are waiting to see what happens and they feel the strikes could actually benefit the company. The strike would result in actor’s not being able to promote any new films, and network shows would have to air reruns. Of course, WWE and AEW will continue to provide new content on a weekly basis because wrestling is not part of any unions. As we previously reported here on eWn, The Bloodline segment that took place on last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown brought in 3 million viewers which was the most-watched segment in many years. The reruns of some popular shows may entice people to check out other shows with new content.

Finally, it was said that with WWE and AEW in negotiations for new media rights, the WGA strike and potential SAG-AFTRA strike come at a perfect time. The strikes will put WWE and AEW in a much better position for the entertainment world.

Source: eWn

WWE NXT Preview 7/11/2023

Tonight’s on WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network: 

  • Andre Chase & Duke Hudson vs. Drew Gulak & Charlie Dempsey
  • The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley, and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio) appears
  • Number One Contenders Match For NXT Title: Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov
  • Cora Jade vs. Kelani Jordan
  • Freedom or Trial for Tony D’Angelo: Joe Coffey vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo
  • Bronco Nima & Lucien Price debut
  • Tiffany Stratton vs. Ivy Nile

Bray Wyatt Still Not Medically Cleared For WWE Return

Bray Wyatt disappeared from WWE television in March due to a reported illness, with his last match happening in February.

This caused WWE to nix his plans for a WrestleMania 39 match with Bobby Lashley.

According to a report from Fightful Select, Wyatt is still not “medically cleared” to make an in-ring return.

“When Fightful Select inquired about Wyatt’s status, a WWE higher up confirmed to us that Wyatt is still sidelined, and not cleared for action. We’re told that he’s still awaiting clearance and hopeful for a return whenever that occurs,” the report noted.

The report added that there have been no significant creative pitches for him since he was sidelined.

Source: eWn

WWE RAW Preview 7/10/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network and will emanate from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.

  • No Disqualification Match: The Miz vs. Tommaso Ciampa
  • Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark
  • Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle vs. Two members of Imperium
  • Face-To-Face with Logan Paul and Ricochet
  • Cody Rhodes to delivers a “special message” to Brock Lesnar
  • Chad Gable and Otis to throw a Graduation Ceremony for Maxxine Dupri