Category: RAW

Reason Pat McAfee Missed Monday Night’s WWE Raw (Updated)

Pat McAfee missed last night’s WWE Raw due to a reported family emergency.

Raw took place in Indianapolis, where McAfee lives and hosts The Pat McAfee Show. Despite this, McAfee was absent from the commentary team. The Miz filled in briefly alongside Michael Cole, who handled most of the commentary alone.

According to PWTorch, McAfee’s absence was due to a “legitimate last-second family emergency.” McAfee has not yet commented publicly on the situation.

Speculation arose that the storyline might explain McAfee’s absence as being caused by the Wyatt Sicks. This group, which debuted on Raw last week, had caused disruptions on The Pat McAfee Show, leading some to connect the dots.

“My normal broadcast colleague Pat McAfee, not here tonight,” Cole announced at the start of Raw. “I’m not going to read too much into that.”

It’s unclear if McAfee’s absence will be integrated into the Wyatt Sicks storyline. During Raw, a mysterious box was delivered to the commentary desk, containing a VHS tape featuring Bo Dallas/Uncle Howdy talking about Bray Wyatt’s death.

After covering for McAfee, The Miz competed in the main event, where he and R-Truth lost the World Tag Team titles to Finn Balor and JD McDonagh of Judgment Day.

Source: WrestlingHeadlines

UPDATE

Yesterday on The Pat McAfee Show, Pat announced that his Father-In-Law had passed away.

“… Yesterday was a day that is obviously a day that will be remembered forever in our family because my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly after the [talk] show ended yesterday in a hospital here in Indianapolis, Indiana,” McAfee explained on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “He had been in the hospital fighting an infection, and on Friday, we were told that he was probably going to be discharged by Sunday. They had figured it out, and he was going to be okay. So we are all in high hopes with incredible optimism, and then yesterday, literally as the show is ending, my wife calls me and says that I have to get to the hospital because there had been an emergency.”

WWE RAW Preview 6/24/2024

Tonight’s WWE Raw come live on the USA Network from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

  • Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Braun Strowman vs. Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed
  • Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Lyra Valkyria vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane
  • Karrion Kross vs. Kofi Kingston
  • Bronson Reed vs. Ludwig Kaiser
  • Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
  • Will we see another creepy appearance from Uncle Howdy and his group The Wyatt Sick6

WWE Announces Host City For Royal Rumble 2025, Future SummerSlam & WrestleMania

Wrestling fans in Indianapolis, Indiana, will have plenty to look forward to in the coming years, as WWE is bringing three of its tentpole events to the city. According to a press release put out by the company and the Indiana Sports Corp on Monday morning, the 2025 Royal Rumble and future WrestleMania and SummerSlam shows will emanate from the city as part of a unique partnership.

The first event to hit Indianapolis will be next year’s Royal Rumble, which is scheduled to take place from the Lucas Oil Stadium. No dates have been confirmed for the other premium live events at the time of this writing, but everyone involved is excited about WWE bringing three of its biggest shows to the city.

“We are excited to bring this groundbreaking partnership to Indianapolis and our state,” said Patrick Talty, President of Indiana Sports Corp. “For over four decades, our city’s sports strategy has brought in millions of visitors and priceless hours of international brand-building media coverage. This partnership with WWE continues to push that strategy forward in new and exciting ways. We look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our community and state and showing them all that Indy has to offer.”

The company will host “Raw,” “SmackDown,” and “NXT” live events across Indiana in the forthcoming months, but no dates have been confirmed yet. Similarly, WWE and the Sport Corp plan on introducing a collaborative program that will ensure the city benefits from the partnership after the announced shows are over.

While some of the announced Indianapolis shows remain shrouded in secrecy, other cities are already bracing for WWE’s biggest events. WrestleMania 41 has been confirmed for Las Vegas and SummerSlam 2026 is scheduled to emanate from the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Nikki Cross & Joe Gacy Announce ‘We’re Here’ After Wyatt Sick6 Debut

On Monday, WWE RAW ended with the return of Uncle Howdy alongside the brand-new Wyatt Sick6.

This group includes the real-life versions of Ramblin’ Rabbit, Huskus The Pig, Mercy The Buzzard, and Abby The Witch, with Nikki Cross playing the role of Abby and Joe Gacy playing Huskus. Eric Rowan and Dexter Lumis are also part of the group.

Cross and Gacy took to social media to share their reactions.

Seth Rollins Returns To WWE Raw, Will Challenge Damian Priest At Money In The Bank

While much of the audience in Corpus Christi and those watching along at home were likely anticipating an Uncle Howdy return, since the countdown clock that was propped up recently expired as “WWE Raw” hit the air, a different surprise kicked off the show as “Burn it down!” blared over the speakers. Seth “Freakin'” Rollins returned to WWE television for the first time since playing sacrificial lamb for Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, quickly reminding the WWE Universe that this was still Monday Night Rollins.

After expressing his happiness to be back, Rollins quickly got down to business, stating his immediate intentions of reacquiring the WWE World Heavyweight Championship he lost to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, and eyeballing the Money In the Bank briefcase now hanging from high above the ring as the premium live event takes the “next up” place on WWE’s calendar. But before he could get into any briefcase aspirations, the current World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest hit the ring, showing respect for Rollins before stating that “Raw” is no longer Monday Night Rollins but rather All Rise for El Campeon.

The two men jawed back and forth, with Priest reminding Rollins that he was the first to challenge for his then-newly created World Heavyweight Championship, and admitting that he lost then because Rollins was better. That, however, is not the case now, according to Priest, and ultimately, he told “The Architect” that he didn’t need to worry about ladders or briefcases and instead, challenged him to a championship match at Money In the Bank.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

They’re Here: Uncle Howdy, Firefly Funhouse Characters Make Chilling Debut On WWE Raw

The wait is over, and the stable paying homage to Bray Wyatt’s ideas and memory, which appears to be officially named “Wyatt Sick6,” arrived at the end of “WWE Raw” on Monday. The faction waited until the end of the night, though the countdown on the website which held the main clue to their debut date ended right as “Raw” began. The teases began right at the beginning of the broadcast, however, with glitches appearing during the “Then, Now, Forever, Together” opener and continued through various segments throughout the night.

Following Jey Uso’s victory over Finn Balor and Rey Mysterio in a Money in the Bank qualifier, the lights in the audience went dark, followed by the lights over the ring. Piano music began playing softly and a door appeared backlit on the stage. When the door opened, someone came slowly crawling out of it, down the dark ramp. The figure appeared to be Nikki Cross, and she crawled toward Wyatt’s signature lantern on the ramp. Cross pointed behind her, and the camera went through the door, and focused on various crew members and wrestlers laid out in the back, including Paul “Triple H” Levesque, “Raw” General Manager Adam Pearce, William Regal, Shane Helms, and TJ Wilson.

The first figure seen was presumably Erick Rowan, wearing a rabbit mask and holding a mallet that said “help.” The camera continued to gorilla position, where more people lay strewn all over the floor, with lights popping and smoke filling the area. The camera focused on a person in the corner in a buzzard mask, presumably Dexter Lumis, then someone else in a pig-like gas mask, potentially Joe Gacy. Previous clues on a Twitch stream from a QR code led many fans to the identities of the faction members, which had previously been reported by Pro Wrestling Insider.

Chad Gable was also seen taken out, with blood coming from his forehead. The camera then panned toward Uncle Howdy, who walked past Gable and the other figures followed him through the door onto the stage back to Cross. Howdy grabbed the lantern and the group posed as the copyright logo came up to end the broadcast. Howdy said “We’re here” and blew out the lantern to end the show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 6/17/2024

Tonight’s WWE Raw comes to us live on the USA Network from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

  • Fallout from Clash at the Castle
  • The expected of Uncle Howdy and his group that fans have labeled The Wyatt 6
  • Money in the Bank qualifying matches begin
  • Carlito vs. Dragon Lee
  • Karrion Kross vs. Xavier Woods

Backstage Update On WWE Contract Status Of Chad Gable Ahead Of Clash At The Castle

Chad Gable has been a central topic of conversation, not only on WWE television but also behind the scenes, where the off-screen drama surrounding Gable’s contract with WWE has begun to overshadow his rise to mid-card title contention on screen.

According to Fightful Select, Gable’s contract was said to expire this past Friday, June 7, but the former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion was announced for a match at the upcoming Clash at the Castle event in Scotland. While that would lead many to assume he’d re-signed with the company, there has been no confirmation of Gable putting pen to paper. There have been reports of wrestlers working on per-appearance deals with WWE during the immense contract turnaround currently taking place, though there is no word on whether Gable is one of those rumored to be per-appearance. There are sources within both AEW and WWE who are already under the assumption Gable has re-signed with the company.

According to PWInsider Elite, Gable and WWE are close to terms at the very least and Gable will remain with WWE for the foreseeable future. Like Fightful, there is no confirmation one way or the other, but sources indicate both Gable and WWE are carrying on as if his retention is a done deal.

Gable has become a prominent figure on WWE programming, as he heads into WWE Clash At The Castle: Scotland, where he will face WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, with whom Gable has been feuding since just after WrestleMania in April. Gable’s contract is just one of many that are up for expiration, including former WWE Women’s World Champion Becky Lynch, as well as former WWE Speed Champion Ricochet, who is reportedly set to be written off WWE television on “WWE Raw.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Raw QR Code Finally Confirms Arrival Date Of New Stable Themed Around Bray Wyatt

Bo Dallas’ new stable themed around the late Bray Wyatt, as well as his own Uncle Howdy character, seemingly has a confirmed arrival date to WWE, with a new QR code seen on “WWE Raw.” On Monday, during Rey Mysterio’s entrance, an image popped up on the broadcast, complete with the code for fans to scan to find more clues about the mysterious faction. When scanned, it leads to a countdown, which ends next Monday during the broadcast.

“Your patience will be rewarded,” the staticky onscreen image during the broadcast read, before flashing again to read, “Your impatience will be punished.” The image then flashes to the code, then very quickly shows what appears to be a figure, assumably Uncle Howdy. When the code is scanned, the phrases “You refused salvation” and “The reckoning is inevitable” surround the real-time countdown.

The biggest clues surrounding the stable came from a Twitch stream almost three weeks ago. Those clues seemed to potentially spell out the exact date of the faction’s debut, which fans also determined to be next Monday, as well as who would be involved. Letters written to various “family members” seen on the stream seemed to include the recently re-hired Erick Rowan of the original Wyatt Family, Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis, and former Schism leader Joe Gacy. Alexa Bliss’ involvement with the stable has not been confirmed, though some eagle-eyed fans thought they spotted her backstage during a recent “Raw.”

The most recent code on Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown” led to a letter thanking fans, telling them, “this is all because of you.” Last Monday, a code featured Firefly Funhouse puppets when scanned, as well as poetry and images from a journal that seemingly belong to Uncle Howdy. After months of fans scanning codes and deciphering clues to be shared and speculated about online, it seems like the fun and games could be coming to an end after WWE’s Clash at the Castle premium live event. Or, knowing Wyatt and Uncle Howdy, this could be just the beginning.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 6/10/2024

WWE RAW will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.

  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn vs. Otis in a non-title match
  • Lyra Valkyria vs. IYO SKY
  • Ilja Dragunov vs. Bron Breakker