Carmella & Corey Graves Expecting First Child Together 

WWE superstar Carmella (Leah Van Dale) and husband Corey Graves are expecting their first child together. Speaking to Good Morning America Monday morning, the former “WWE SmackDown” Women’s Champion revealed she found out the news in March. This exciting announcement follows a revelation from this past October, when she opened up to the world about a previous miscarriage as well as a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.

Yet despite admitting to GMA that she’s been more tired than she’s ever been, Carmella couldn’t be happier, saying “But I’ve never been so happy to feel so awful.” The couple are expecting to welcome their baby around November.

Backstage News On Why Bray Wyatt & Other Notable Superstars Weren’t Included In WWE Draft

Fightful Select has provided an update on several Superstars who were not included in the WWE Draft, including two-time WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt.

Wyatt was pulled from WWE programming due to a physical issue on the Road To WrestleMania 39. As a result, his WrestleMania feud with Bobby Lashley was also nixed and the All Mighty didn’t get to wrestle at the Showcase Of Immortals this year.

According to the report, Wyatt was overcoming illness during WrestleMania weekend. He has recently been telling his friends about his excitement to return to work as soon as he can.

Additionally, Big E, Randy Orton, R-Truth, and Robert Roode are all dealing with injuries and weren’t part of the 2023 WWE Draft.

Both Truth and Roode are expected to miss most if not all of 2023. Truth tore his quad this past year and Roode recently underwent neck fusion surgery. Big E is still recovering from a broken neck and Orton has been dealing with back issues. WWE is currently uncertain about when these four Superstars can return to work.

On the other hand, certain wrestlers are simply absent because they’ve been missing from television, namely, Aliyah, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Shanky, and Uncle Howdy.

Shanky hasn’t wrestled since Triple H took over WWE Creative. Aliyah hasn’t been seen since September, following her recovery from an AC sprain and rib injury.

Alexa Bliss was shelved due to skin cancer treatment and hasn’t been included in creative plans. Uncle Howdy, played by Bo Dallas, likely won’t return until Wyatt does.

Carmella’s absence has not been explained, but she vanished ahead of WrestleMania 39.

Gable Steveson was drafted to RAW in 2022 and has been undergoing training ever since. No creative plans were in place at the time and the move was described as a publicity stunt.

Jinder Mahal is now considered to be on the NXT roster.

Finally, part-timers like Lita, Logan Paul, and Maryse were also excluded from the Draft.

Lita is out selling a storyline injury and isn’t expected to be doing much ringwork in the future. Her appearances with Becky Lynch were simply meant to advance the storyline with Trish Stratus.

Speaking of Paul, even though he was included in the official Draft graphic, he’s viewed as a free agent and will appear wherever WWE needs him to.

Maryse was also included in the graphic but went undrafted. She will just appear whenever The Miz does, and The Hollywood A-Lister was drafted to RAW.

Source: eWrestlingNews

More WWE Draft Picks Announced On SmackDown LowDown

Yesterday on “The SmackDown LowDown,” WWE announced even more picks, and here’s who’s headed where.

Drafted to “Raw” are the trio of The Viking Raiders and Valhalla, Dexter Lumis, Candice LeRae, Natalya, “WWE NXT” call-ups Zoey Stark and JD McDonagh, Apollo Crews, the team of Sonya DeVille and Chelsea Green, and the Maximum Male Models with Maxxine Dupri. Headed to “SmackDown” are the Hit Row trio of Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, and B-Fab, as well as Lacey Evans. Interestingly, that puts all four members of former “NXT” stable The Way on the “Raw” roster, although Johnny Gargano may possibly be drafted to “SmackDown” when more picks are made official on Monday night.

In a surprising move, “The SmackDown Lowdown” also confirmed that a few WWE stars in the first draft pool are set to be free agents, able to appear on either show, at least for now. In that category are Omos with manager MVP, Mustafa Ali, Dolph Ziggler, and “NXT” call-up Von Wagner. In Omos’ case, the onscreen explanation for his free agency is that MVP negotiated him into that position. However, it remains unclear why exactly Ali, Ziggler, and Wagner weren’t drafted to a specific brand.

WWE SmackDown:

  • Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashante “Thee” Adonis w/ B-Fab)
  • Lacey Evans

WWE RAW:

  • Maximum Male Models (ma.cé, mån.sôör & Maxxine Dupri)
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Candice LeRae
  • Natalya
  • Apollo Crews
  • Chelsea Green
  • Sonya Deville
  • Zoey Stark
  • JD McDonagh

Omos & MVP, Mustafa Ali, Dolph Ziggler, and NXT’s Von Wagner are free agents. NXT’s Zoey Stark, JD McDonagh, and Apollo Crews were also called up. 

WWE Draft Night 1 Results, AJ Styles Returned

ROUND 1:

  • SmackDown No. 1: The Bloodline (Undisputed Universal World Champion Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa & Paul Heyman); the World Heavyweight Championship thereby exclusive to Raw
  • RAW No. 1: Cody Rhodes
  • SmackDown: Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair
  • RAW: Becky Lynch

ROUND 2:

  • SmackDown: The Street Profits
  • RAW: Imperium (Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
  • SmackDown: Edge
  • RAW: Matt Riddle

ROUND 3: 

  • SmackDown: Bobby Lashley
  • RAW: Drew McIntyre
  • SmackDown: The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson & Michin)
  • RAW: The Miz

ROUND 4:

  • SmackDown: Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky
  • RAW: Shinsuke Nakamura
  • SmackDown: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn (NXT Women’s Tag-Team Champions)
  • RAW: Indi Hartwell (NXT Women’s Champion)

Undrafted superstars: 

  • Candice LeRae
  • Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green 
  • Omos
  • Hit Row
  • Maximum Male Models
  • Dolph Ziggler
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Natalya
  • Mustafa Ali
  • Viking Raiders
  • Lacey Evans

Additional picks will be announced on today’s edition of “The SmackDown LowDown”.

AJ Styles returned from injury last night after he was drafted along with the rest of The O.C. Styles has been off TV since suffering a broken ankle at a live event in December.

The O.C. was interrupted by the Viking Raiders, but Styles had The OC “handle their business” and the group made short work of their opposition.

WWE SmackDown Preview 4/28/2023

WWE SmackDown airs live tonight on FOX and will emanate from the American Bank Center Arena in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Details On Plans For AEW Brand Split

AEW will launch Collision on June 17th, 2023 with it airing on TNT as a two-hour program airing every Saturday night. 

It will be built around CM Punk as a way to separate him from those who have issues with him and vice versa dating back to the All Out incidents.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that The Elite will remain on Dynamite while Punk and FTR will be used on Collision.

“If the idea is a talent split, with one group working Wednesday and another working Saturday, because Rampage is likely to be taped on Wednesday, that would mean it would have the Wednesday night crew predominately. The Saturday crew will be headed by Punk and FTR, and the Wednesday crew by The Elite and BCC,” Meltzer wrote.

AEW Rampage Preview 4/28/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage will have a special start time of 5:30 PM ET. on TNT.

  • Ricky Starks & Shawn Spears vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson)
  • Cash Wheeler vs. Jay Lethal
  • Anna Jay vs. Ashley D’Amboise
  • Naturally Limitless (Dustin Rhodes & Keith Lee) vs. TBA
  • We’ll hear from The Outcasts
  • The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass address the people

WWE Revealed Complete List Of Eligible Stars For 2023 Draft

The 2023 WWE Draft will kick off on tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown and then carry over to Monday’s edition of RAW.

On Thursday, WWE posted a complete list of stars eligible to be drafted on each night. While the NXT brand will be involved, the names who could potentially be called up from that specific brand have not been announced.

You can check out a complete list of the eligible names below:

Night One: Friday on SmackDown

  • Becky Lynch
  • Bianca Belair
  • Bobby Lashley
  • Candice LeRae
  • Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville
  • Cody Rhodes
  • Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY & Dakota Kai)
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Dolph Ziggler
  • Drew McIntyre
  • Edge
  • Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashante “Thee” Adonis w/ B-Fab)
  • Imperium (GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
  • Lacey Evans
  • Matt Riddle
  • Maximum Male Models (ma.cé, mån.sôör & Maxxine Dupri)
  • Mustafa Ali
  • Natalya
  • Omos (w/ MVP)
  • Shinsuke Nakamura
  • The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa)
  • The Miz
  • The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson & Michin)
  • The Street Profits
  • Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar w/ Valhalla)
  • Select NXT Superstars

Night Two: This Monday on Raw

  • Akira Tozawa
  • Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable)
  • Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo
  • Asuka
  • Austin Theory
  • Baron Corbin
  • Braun Strowman & Ricochet
  • Brock Lesnar
  • Bronson Reed
  • Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin
  • Charlotte Flair
  • Dana Brooke
  • Elias
  • Emma
  • Johnny Gargano
  • Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
  • Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett)
  • Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
  • LA Knight
  • Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
  • Nikki Cross
  • Piper Niven
  • Rhea Ripley
  • Rick Boogs
  • Riddick Moss
  • Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
  • Seth Rollins
  • Shotzi
  • Tamina
  • Tegan Nox
  • The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch)
  • The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde & Zelina Vega)
  • The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
  • The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
  • Trish Stratus
  • Xia Li
  • Select NXT Superstars

Backstage Impact Wrestling News

Impact Wrestling Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry is dealing with an injury. As of this writing, there is no word on what the actual injury is or how long he’ll be out of action. The last time we saw Hendry compete was at the April 17th tapings in Toronto, Canada.

D’Lo Brown was working as a producer during the latest set of Impact Wrestling TV tapings. As of this writing, there is no word on whether he’s back working full-time with the company. It should be noted that D-Lo is well-respected in the Impact Wrestling locker room.

And finally, Melissa Anderson (aka Cheerleader Melissa and Alyssa Flash) received a tryout as a producer at the recent set of Impact Wrestling TV tapings.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Impact Wrestling Preview 4/27/2023

IMPACT tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Jordynne Grace vs. Masha Slamovich
  • Knockouts Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Taylor Wilde
  • Bullet Club (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) vs. The Design (Angels and Kon) in a non-title match