Tag: RAW

Backstage Update On Rhea Ripley Injury Angle From WWE NXT

Former WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley was attacked by Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez on Tuesday. Ripley left bloodied next to her car by an unseen attack after visiting the “NXT” locker room to give the women’s roster words of support. It appears the attack was a way of writing Ripley off television while she deals with a legitimate injury.

“[Rhea has] got a fractured orbital bone,” Dave Meltzer said on “Wrestling Observer Radio” recently. “So the injury they announced is pretty much legit. It happened last week…Probably the last TV thing because she didn’t work any house shows.”

Meltzer believes it was the confrontation and physicality with Rodriguez on the October 21 “Raw” that injured Ripley. There is no timetable on Ripley’s return but Meltzer doesn’t sound optimistic about the chance at a speedy recovery.

“She is going to be out for a while,” Meltzer said. “It happened last week and then they did [the NXT attack] as a cover.”

The injury is Ripley’s second major injury of the year; Ripley was forced to vacate the WWE Women’s World Championship earlier this year after suffering a shoulder injury. She’s has been embroiled in her feud with Morgan, not only because of Morgan’s budding relationship with Rhea’s former beau “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, but also to get back the very title she never lost. As it stands, it will be a while before Ripley can pick up where she left off with her historic 380-day title run.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Miz Gets Kidnapped Following WWE RAW By The Wyatt Sicks

The Miz has been kidnapped by The Wyatt Sicks, as revealed by Karrion Kross and Scarlett in a tweet following this week’s episode of WWE RAW.

In recent weeks, the group has taken aim at The Miz and The Final Testament, which has resulted in Kross demanding that The Miz figure out what’s going on.

In the post-RAW video, Kross responded to Scarlett by saying that The Miz was “dead for sure.” The two then went looking for him – and the rest remains to be seen!

Source: eWn

WWE Raw Preview 10/28/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

  • Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
  • Dominik Mysterio vs. A Former World Champion
  • WWE World Tag Team Title Contenders Tournament Final: New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) vs. Latino World Order’s Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee
  • Zelina Vega vs. Ivy Nile

Lillian Garcia Returns To WWE, Replaces Samantha Irvin As Raw Ring Announcer

Veteran ring announcer Lilian Garcia is back with WWE following the departure of Samantha Irvin on Monday. Garcia was brought out during a commercial break on Monday’s edition of “WWE Raw,” and WWE posted the video on X (formerly known as Twitter). It was reported earlier in the day that Garcia was backstage at the show.

During the commercial break, Joe Tessitore got on the microphone to the live audience and told them to use their high energy to welcome back the veteran announcer, who had previously worked for the company for ten years from 1999 to 2009, before taking a two-year hiatus. She returned to WWE in 2011 and left the company once again in 2016, but made sporadic appearances throughout the years, before officially making her return as “Raw’s” ring announcer on Monday. Garcia also spoke to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania crowd during the break and said it felt good to be back.

Irvin’s announcement came as a shock to many on Monday afternoon when the fan-favorite announced she had finished with the company via a statement on her X account. Garcia seemingly passed the proverbial torch to Irvin during a “Raw” segment in May. While Irvin didn’t make her future plans known in her statement, her fiancé, former WWE star Ricochet, joined AEW back in August.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Ring Announcer Samantha Irvin Announces WWE Departure

In a surprising move, Samantha Irvin has announced that she has finished her run as the ring announcer for “WWE Raw” and is leaving the company. Irvin took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reveal the news, with a lengthy statement offering a goodbye.

“WWE Universe, my time has come to an end as your Monday Night ‘Raw’ ring announcer,” Irvin wrote. “I love you all tremendously and this does not mark the end of my art, I have a lifetime more to share. Thank you to every WWE fan who accepted me.”

Irvin went on to give a special thanks to the wrestlers, especially her fellow women in the WWE locker room, as well as the company’s crew and a number of people behind the scenes who have helped her along the way. That list included Paul Heyman, Michael P.S. Hayes, Michael Cole, Brian “Road Dogg” James, and more.

It’s currently unknown if Irvin intends to stay within the world of professional wrestling or will look to branch out into other areas of broadcasting. Irvin is engaged to Ricochet, who recently departed WWE before arriving in AEW this past August. While that may lead some to speculate Irvin is bound for AEW, it’s worth noting that she also had a career as a singer prior to becoming a wrestling announcer.

Along with posting the announcement, Irvin updated her X page to black out her profile picture and banner. Additionally, her bio simply reads: “ARTIST.”

Irvin first joined WWE in 2021 and credits Mark Henry for helping her enter the industry. After a short time on “205 Live,” Irvin was made the announcer for “WWE NXT” before being promoted to main roster duties in early 2022, less than a year after she started.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

UPDATE

Pwinsider has shared details on the factors contributing to Irvin’s WWE exit.

According to the report, WWE was taken aback by Irvin’s decision to resign, as she was held in high regard within the company.

Several factors played a role in her choice to leave, with a major concern being her scheduling conflicts, as Irvin was juggling her responsibilities between WWE and her family.

Even though WWE’s travel demands have decreased compared to past years, Irvin still had to be away from her daughter for long periods.

Moreover, there had been conversations about Irvin possibly taking on a lighter schedule, but those plans fell through, which may have impacted her decision to resign.

With her partner Ricochet no longer part of WWE and having a different schedule in AEW, this scenario might also have contributed to Irvin’s decision to leave WWE, though sources have not explicitly confirmed this.

Furthermore, the absence of a reduced schedule made it more challenging for Irvin to explore outside ventures. The fame she gained via WWE television also drew greater interest from external parties, creating opportunities that influenced Irvin’s decision to resign months ahead.

WWE Raw Preview 10/21/2024

WWE Raw will air tonight on the USA Network from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

  • WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Bron Breakker
  • WWE World Tag Team Championship Contenders Tournament: New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. Authors Of Pain (Akam and Rezar)
  • WWE World Tag Team Championship Contenders Tournament: LWO (Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee) vs. American Made (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed)
  • Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed go face-to-face

Erik & Ivar Return To WWE Raw As The War Raiders

The War Raiders’ Erik and Ivar made their triumphant return from injuries on “WWE Raw” on Monday, defeating Alpha Academy’s Otis and Akira Tozawa to advance in the recently-announced tournament for the World Tag Team Championships. “Raw” General Manager Adam Pearce had just announced the tournament to champions JD McDonagh and Finn Balor earlier in the night, and the returning War Raiders (previously known as the Viking Raiders) won the first match of the tournament, their first win together since September 2023. Their return had been alluded to in video teasers featuring the runic alphabet in weeks prior.

Otis and Ivar started off the match before Tozawa was tagged in. Erik slammed Ivar on top of Tozawa and the returning team took control of the match. Erik and Ivar took turns sending the smaller man into one another’s knees. Otis attempted to turn the match back around, but Ivar interrupted his caterpillar attempt. Tozawa tried to hit a missile drop kick, but was caught by Ivar. The War Raiders hit their new finishing move on Tozawa, with Erik throwing his opponent into the line of fire of Ivar’s splash from the top rope, for the victory. The bracket for the tag team tournament had not yet been revealed as of this writing, but the War Raiders are moving on for a shot at the World Tag Team Championships.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Raw Preview 10/14/2024

WWE Raw will air tonight on the USA Network from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill (c) vs. Damage CTRL (IYO Sky and Kairi Sane)
  • The Miz vs R-Truth
  • Bron Breakker vs Kofi Kingston
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to appear
  • WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther to appear

WWE Raw Preview 10/7/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Raw reverts back to a 2-hour format for the rest of the year.

  • Fallout from Bad Blood
  • WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Xavier Woods
  • Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook: Pete Dunne vs. Sheamus
  • Seth Rollins set to appear following his return last week

Braun Strowman Injured In Last Monster Standing Match On WWE RAW

This week’s edition of WWE Monday Night RAW ended on a high note with Braun Strowman defeating Big Bronson Reed in a Last Monster Standing match that saw not only the ring collapse, but the return of Seth “Freakin’” Rollins to interfere and cost Reed the match.

Unfortunately, that victory for Strowman didn’t come without its negatives, as it appears he may have suffered an injury during the brutal brawl.

On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez claimed Strowman sustained a torn groin injury. He said,

“I did get it confirmed – if you watched the Raw show last night, the Last Monster Standing match. They went to a commercial break, and they came back, and Braun Strowman got hit by Bronson Reed with a Samoan Drop. Braun Strowman grabbed his thigh/groin area, and then they were gonna do a spot where he knocked Bronson Reed off the apron through some chairs. (Strowman) starts running, and I knew immediately, this guy’s hurt. He normally can’t run all that fast, but he couldn’t even walk the ropes – he was limping the ropes. He knocks (Reed) off the apron and there was a long period where he just kind of laid there in the corner and the ref’s furiously communicating with the back. He may have torn his groin is what it’s looking like. That’s certainly what they thought yesterday.”

Source: eWn