Category: RAW

Report: Becky Lynch’s WWE Contract Weeks Away From Expiration With No New Deal Signed

If WWE is planning to re-sign reigning Women’s World Champion Becky Lynch, they might want to do it soon. A new report from Fightful Select on Saturday claims Lynch has approximately three weeks left on her current deal, and as of this writing, she has not signed a new one.

The news comes less than a month after Lynch won the vacant Women’s World title in a 14-woman battle royal on “WWE Raw” and eight days after it was reported that Lynch’s husband, former World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, signed a lucrative new contract with WWE. Lynch had previously confirmed that her deal was up this summer and that she hadn’t been approached about a new one, but WWE’s new leadership under the auspices of TKO Group Holdings has been getting a lot of last-minute contracts drawn up lately, re-signing Rollins, Finn Balor, and Drew McIntyre over the last few weeks. Fightful reports that talks between Lynch and WWE have been ongoing, but nobody has put pen to paper yet.

Given Lynch’s stature in the company — she’s arguably the most popular female star in WWE history and the winner of the first women’s WrestleMania main event — one would assume WWE will make keeping her under contract a priority in the coming days. It’s also worth noting that Lynch is scheduled to defend her championship against Liv Morgan at King & Queen of the Ring on March 25, days before her deal expires.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

TKO Earnings Report Reveals Who Will Broadcast WWE Raw During Final Quarter Of 2024

For the first time in the show’s history, “WWE Raw” will air exclusively online from the beginning of 2025. WWE struck a deal with streaming giant Netflix at the beginning of 2024 worth $5 billion that will see “WWE Raw” air live each week on the platform from January 2025, with the rest of WWE’s programming following over time. However, there was one lingering question: WWE’s current deal with USA Network expires in October 2024, meaning that there was a possibility “Raw” might not have a home for three months.

Fortunately for WWE, that won’t be the case. In the TKO Earnings Report for the first quarter of 2024, it was revealed that WWE has agreed to a deal worth $25 million with NBCUniversal to continue airing “Raw” on USA Network until the end of 2024. This means that for the fourth quarter of the year, USA Network will have both “WWE Raw” and “WWE SmackDown” on their network, as “SmackDown” is set to join the network when the show’s current deal with Fox expires in October. Analysis by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics suggests the deal represents something of a bargain for USA, as their current “Raw” contract amounts to about $66 million per quarter.

While the United States will only experience “WWE Raw” on Netflix, various other locations across the world will be able to experience virtually everything that WWE produces as places like the United Kingdom, Canada, and Latin America are set to get all of WWE’s weekly programming on Netflix, as well as the company’s Premium Live Events, and potentially the company’s extensive tape library which includes other promotions WWE has bought out like WCW and ECW, though that last has yet to be confirmed by WWE.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Another QR Code Airs On WWE RAW

We saw another QR code air on this week’s episode of WWE RAW.

On this week’s show, a QR code led fans to a new video and puzzle. The video had a crow at the bottom of it that led to a puzzle, which reads:

“YOU KNOW NOTHING
HELL IS ONLY A WORD
REALITY IS MUCH
MUCH WORSE”

Source: eWn

WWE RAW Preview 5/6/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

Fallout from Backlash

2024 Draft roster changes take effect

  • First-Round King of the Ring Tournament Matches:
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor
  • Kofi Kingston vs. Rey Mysterio
  • Ricochet vs. Ilja Dragunov
  • Gunther vs. Sheamus
  • First-Round Queen of the Ring Tournament Matches:
  • Zoey Stark vs. Ivy Nile
  • Shayna Baszler vs. Zelina Vega
  • Lyra Valkyria vs. Asuka
  • IYO SKY vs. Natalya

Braun Strowman Returns On WWE Raw, Confronts Logan Paul & NFL Star Patrick Mahomes

“The Monster Among Men” has returned to WWE after being on the shelf for almost a year, due to a serious neck injury that required fusion surgery. Braun Strowman was drafted to “WWE Raw” during Night Two of the WWE Draft, going to the red brand in the second round. Strowman was last seen on WWE television at the beginning of May 2023, when he was seemingly being poised for a tag team push alongside Ricochet.

Strowman was not just drafted on “Raw,” but also appeared to help Jey Uso against United States Champion Logan Paul and The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh. Paul and friend and streamer IShowSpeed announced the second round picks before Paul headed to the ring, cutting a promo on Uso before Balor and McDonagh showed up, entering the ring while Uso’s back was turned. As The Judgment Day’s Irish contingent beat down Uso, Paul headed ringside to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had been seen greeting Paul at the beginning of the show. Paul took Mahomes’ three Super Bowl rings and tried to attack Uso while wearing them, but hit McDonagh instead.

As the men looked at each other in the ring following Paul’s mistake, Paul and Balor looked to team up on Uso. Strowman’s music then hit and he stormed down to the ring. The former Wyatt Family member chased Paul out of the ring and delivered a chokeslam to Balor. He then got in the face of Mahomes at ringside, who was flanked by two Chiefs linemen, but was calmed down by Uso before things got physical.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Raw Preview – WWE Draft Night Two 4/29/2024

  • WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
  • Night two of the 2024 WWE Draft
  • The Judgement Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor & JD McDonagh) vs. Jey Uso, Andrade & Ricochet 
  • United States Champion Logan Paul appears

QR Code Leads To More Clues, ‘Coming Soon’ Video On 4/22 WWE RAW

Another week, another set of clues on “WWE Raw,” seemingly teasing the return or debut of a mysterious figure or figures. While most predictions center around Uncle Howdy (Taylor Rotunda, FKA Bo Dallas) perhaps in some sort of new stable, there haven’t been any clear-cut giveaways to that end just yet.

Tonight, as Chad Gable took the ring to address his actions after an Intercontinental Championship match with Sami Zayn last week, similar images to others we’ve seen in previous weeks — the glyph of Pluto and, an image of a raven — hit the screen, followed by a QR code. That link led to an interactive landing page at the wwe.com/55555, where the text “You will bear witness. Begin the endless crawl. Type the number of sense organs. And you shall behold all.” Entering the number five renders more text, “Preparing your invitation,” and the a call-to-action to “Proceed.” That button takes the user to another page, wwe.com/invitation, where a video is hosted.

The video leads with various old school graphics saying, “Coming soon,” before cutting to a shot of a creepy house, where a figure throws a note on the front porch that says, “Remember who you are.” The figure (seemingly holding the camera) then retreats before another series of images — different variations of the glyph and the raven, plus a shrouded figure and a lot else that is difficult to see clearly. In numerology, the number five, prominent on that first landing page and the answer to the question leading to the second page, often represents freedom, curiosity, and change but beyond that, the clues don’t seem to be meant to be too revealing at this point, all still very reminiscent of the buildup to the late Bray Wyatt’s 2022 return.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 4/22/2024

Tonight’s WWE Monday Night RAW live on USA Network from the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH.

  • World Tag Team Championship: Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) (c) vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa)
  • Battle royal for the vacant WWE Women’s World Championship: Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Maxxine Dupri, Ivy Nile, Chelsea Green, Piper Niven, Natalya, Tegan Nox, Katana Chance, Kayden Carter, Indi Hartwell, Candice LeRae, Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark
  • Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh vs. Andrade and Ricochet
  • Former Intercontinental Champion Gunther to appear

Backstage Update On Former WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley’s Injury

While the company is still riding a wave of momentum from WWE WrestleMania 40, last night’s “WWE Raw” opened with Rhea Ripley making the unfortunate announcement that she was vacating the Women’s World Championship due to injury. Many speculated that the injury came about during last week’s angle with Liv Morgan, with the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio” offering some insight into what may have occurred.

“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw,'” Bryan Alvarez said. “She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action.”

Alvarez and co-host Dave Meltzer interpreted last night’s segment as a double-turn, with Morgan becoming a heel while Ripley was turned into a babyface due to the circumstances. It’s not clear if this was the definitive intent of the segment, but it’s undeniable that the crowd was behind Ripley last night and keeping her as a villain upon her return would likely be a difficult task.

“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw,'” Bryan Alvarez said. “She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

QR Code Flashes On WWE Raw, Reveals Cryptic Message

A series of cryptic symbols and a QR code leading to hidden messages, and ultimately, a mysterious video appeared on “WWE Raw” as The New Day made their entrance for the Triple Threat number one contenders’ tag team match. It’s hard not to be reminded of 2022’s “white rabbit” teases that led to Bray Wyatt’s eventual return with the uptick in these types of Easter eggs of late, especially amid speculation that the Uncle Howdy character could soon make a return.

As Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their way down the ramp, the screen glitched before showing what appeared to be the glyph representing Pluto, followed by an image of a raven, followed by the QR code, which led to a puzzle of its own at the WWE-hosted URL wwe.com/qrisme. Laying those two images over each other revealed another URL, wwe.com/UEDNJ51A, where another image is found depicting the raven held by a hand in front of a flame, and behind a man, who appears to be looking toward the shadowed projection of the bird in front of him. There is also a video below the image, in the style of an old VCR tape, broadcasting the messages, “Time to wake up,” “Take my hand,” and “Things will be better,” before ending with “Trust me,” and repeating the glyph and the bird images.

Wyatt’s real life brother Taylor Rotunda, FKA Bo Dallas, has been rumored to make an eventual return as the Uncle Howdy character who ran alongside Wyatt in his final WWE run and the conjecture has only heated up since the release of the Wyatt documentary “Becoming Immortal” on Peacock, which ended with a tease of its own. Soon after on another episode of “Raw,” hidden messages and social media takeovers furthered speculation even more and it continued again tonight.

Source: Wrestling Inc.