Vince McMahon reportedly made changes to Monday’s WWE Raw

According to F4WOnline, although Vince McMahon was not at tonight’s Raw in Chicago, he has still made major changes to Monday’s show.

PWInsider said they were told there had been some major changes to Monday’s Raw script, which were done remotely at Vince McMahon’s request.

PWInsider in their Elite subscription section said that McMahon changed finishes on several matches. The report also notes the match between The Street Profits and Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin was added to the show after McMahon’s changes. 

Fightful reported that Piper Niven and Candice LeRae were scheduled for a backstage segment, then a match, but that The Street Profits vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin was done instead.

PWInsider Elite and Fightconcluded by noting It was also reported that “a number of segments” with the female talents were cut from the show. That would include a backstage segment that was planned with Candice LeRae and Piper Niven. There reportedly was another segment cut that involved Adam Pearce, Sonya Deville, and other female talent. The decision to cut that segment was reportedly made so that they could spend more time on setting up the six-woman tag team match with Damage CTRL. It is interesting that LeRae and Niven were cut because they were also cut at the last minute on the Raw after Mania. Vince McMahon was backstage and running that show.

Source: WrestleView

Details On CM Punk Visiting WWE Raw, Reaction Internally And In AEW

CM Punk was backstage at “WWE Raw,” but fans shouldn’t expect to see him return to his former company anytime soon.

According to PWInsider Elite, Punk met several WWE talents and employees while they were on the same flight. After finding out that “Raw” was being held at the Allstate Arena, which isn’t far from Punk’s home in Chicago, he visited the venue and hung out in the common area for around 20 minutes. He wasn’t hidden, nor was his visit expected.

The report states that Punk had conversations with employees such as Paul “Triple H” Levesque and The Miz. Furthermore, his chat with Miz supposedly led to them clearing the air after having heat with each other. The overall impression was that people were happy to see Punk and many of them greeted him in a positive manner. Those who didn’t were more confused to see him than anything. Punk was asked to leave by WWE security shortly after arriving, and he did so respectfully.

Of course, Punk’s appearance has led some people to believe he may have been gauging interest for a WWE return. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that people within AEW are under this impression; however, the PWInsider notes that he still has a lot of time left on his AEW contract and was merely there to visit some people and clear the air. 

Regarding his relationship with Tony Khan’s promotion, it’s been reported that Punk will return to AEW later this year and be part of the rumored Saturday show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Triple H Announces Revival Of WWE World Heavyweight Championship

On Saturday, May 27, a brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned. Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque teased a major announcement ahead of the April 24 edition of “WWE Raw,” and after praising the current reign of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, he delivered on it by reviving and revealing a new incarnation of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. With the Draft set to return, starting this Friday on “SmackDown,” Levesque announced that Roman Reigns will take his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to whichever show drafts him. As for the holder of the new title for the other show, that will be decided at the Night of Champions event in Saudi Arabia.

“This will be a champion you can be proud of,” Triple H declared. “This will be a champion you can respect, that you can admire. This will be a champion that will defend this championship anywhere, any place, any time, all over the world.”

Then, in a not-so-subtle dig at Reigns, he finished his announcement by saying, “This champion will not have to demand your acknowledgment. This champion will earn your acknowledgment, and will earn the title of World Heavyweight Champion.”

Originally, the latest editions of The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments were planned for late May in Saudi Arabia. It would’ve marked the first time since October 2021, when Xavier Woods defeated Finn Balor to become King while Zelina Vega won the first-ever Queen’s Crown tournament by toppling Doudrop (Piper Niven) in the final. Now with the WWE Draft right around the corner and the fact that almost every star from the main roster on down through “NXT” is eligible, it remains to be seen just how WWE will crown its new World Heavyweight Champion come May 27.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 4/24/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network and emanate from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL.

  • The host of WWE Backlash Bad Bunny returns to Raw in search of payback
  • Rey Mysterio vs. Damian Priest
  • More build up for Backlash

WWE RAW Preview 4/17/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network and emanate from the Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, AR.

New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Crowned On RAW, Trish Stratus Turns Heel

We have new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions in the form of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.

During Monday night’s episode of RAW, we saw a segment where Lita was found laid out in the backstage area. Following a commercial break, Trish Stratus offered to step in to help Becky Lynch defend her and Lita’s WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships in a previously scheduled match with Morgan and Rodriguez. The finish of the match came when Morgan ducked a Chick Kick and quickly rolled Stratus up for the win.

While Lynch wasn’t thrilled with losing the titles, she raised Stratus’ hand and hugged her. At that point, Trish turned heel and nailed Becky with the Chick Kick.

When backstage correspondent Byron Saxton attempted to get an explanation immediately following the betrayal, Stratus simply walked on by. So for the time being, the WWE Universe will only have certain questions to sit on. Until we get an explanation from Stratus herself, there’s going to be a lot of speculation. For the time being, fans may take some solace in the fact that this is already her second match of 2023. Given her actions Monday night, it seems certain that there’s more to come.

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus has been rumored to be taking place for several months now. It was reported last month that there were plans for Stratus to turn her heel and work a program with Lynch through SummerSlam. 

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that this is still the plan as WWE is going to extend the feud through the summer, leading to a SummerSlam match on August 5. 

Sources: eWrestlingNews and Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 4/10/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network and emanate from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA.

Talent Morale Sinking Backstage In WWE, Reaction To Vince McMahon, RAW Changes

There were some big changes made to both WrestleMania 39 and Monday night’s episode of RAW.

Fightful Select is reporting that talent morale took a huge blow backstage Monday night on RAW. Many talents were frustrated after noticing how firmly Vince McMahon was back in control of WWE creative, especially considering that Triple H and Nick Khan held a meeting immediately before RAW promising that nothing would be changing.

Vince McMahon rewriting RAW before the show went live and even while it was airing, as well as being in gorilla position all night and having his own office at the venue struck fear in the heart of the locker room.

Some talent didn’t even necessarily consider that the creative decisions were poor, just that the whole matter was handled dishonestly after what Triple H had informed talent at the meeting, and that McMahon has a dirty history of firing so many wrestlers on the current roster.

Female talent grew increasingly demoralized and frustrated after WWE scrapped the mini-tournament to determine the #1 contender to the RAW Women’s Title. Many resented Vince McMahon’s return to creative considering how smoothly the past several months have been under Triple H.

Omos vs. Elias was a last-minute addition, as Omos wasn’t even planning on wrestling and was in catering and scrambled to get his ring gear ready.

The Cody Rhodes – Brock Lesnar tag team angle was finalized on Monday morning.

The report suggests that talent morale hit its lowest point since before WrestleMania 38 when it reached near all-time lows. Some talent opined that WrestleMania weekend was a passage for Vince McMahon to get himself back in control, with Friday’s SmackDown after WrestleMania already being eyed as a crucial event to determine how involved McMahon was at RAW and whether his involvement was a one-off scenario or the new normal.

At least two top WWE Superstars cited that they might request their releases if things continue like Monday. Many wrestlers are already looking into their options if Vince McMahon does indeed continue to be heavily involved with respect to the creative and overall WWE product.

Source: eWrestlingNews

‘Worst Raw’ Trends As Wrestling Fans Fume The Night After WWE WrestleMania 39

Last night’s post-WrestleMania 39 “WWE Raw” trended like it does every year, except this time, for all the wrong reasons. The sentiment of “worst Raw” spread around quickly on Twitter, with thousands of WWE fans voicing their displeasure about the show. In the past, the “Raw” following WWE’s biggest show of the year was filled with surprise returns, debuts from new wrestlers, the start of new stories or new chapters in existing ones, and even sometimes, a WrestleMania-caliber main event. Instead, WWE fans were treated to just one return, that being Matt Riddle, who WWE reportedly suspended in December after a second drug test failure. Riddle’s return was also arguably marred by the sexual assault allegations against him.

Not only did fans not witness any debuts, but the marquee main event tag team match they were promised repeatedly for over two hours proved to be a bait and switch tactic, as Brock Lesnar viciously attacked Cody Rhodes prior to the match starting. Lesnar continued beating Rhodes down for nearly ten minutes, leaving both fans watching at home and in the arena stunned.

Add to the mix reports of Vince McMahon being fully in charge of WWE creative last night, and the morale among both WWE talent and fans following the most financially successful WrestleMania in company history has quickly plummeted. This comes less than a day after McMahon himself said that he wouldn’t be getting back into the weeds like he used to, with reports now suggesting he was changing creative last night as talent walked out from the Gorilla Position. Many of the tweets surrounding the trend of “worst Raw” featured photos of McMahon from the CNBC interview, mocking him and calling him out due to his seeming dishonesty.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Vince McMahon Reportedly ‘Firmly Back In Charge’ Of Creative During WWE Raw

Vince McMahon told CNBC over the weekend that he’d no longer be “in the weeds” as it pertains to WWE creative, and that he’d only get involved with “higher level” decisions. However, that wasn’t the case during last night’s “WWE Raw,” the fallout episode from WrestleMania 39 and the first television taping since Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE.

According to PWInsider, McMahon was “personally and heavily involved” with Monday’s show, and ordered “a number of late rewrites” for the show about 15-20 minutes before “Raw” went live on the air. Furthermore, the changes were described as not a “feeling” that talents and staff had come to expect under the regime of Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

The report added that changes to the “Raw” script were made even after the show went on air and that they “came directly from McMahon,” who had his own office, just as he did before his “retirement” last July. 

It was further noted that although last night’s show began with Levesque on the headsets, McMahan became “more and more involved” as the point person running the show as the night progressed. For most of the night, McMahon was in Gorilla position, “directly overseeing the proceedings,” PWInsider added. This was not the case during WrestleMania 39, where he was on the headset only producing a few segments, but not involved with all decision-making. 

Among talents PWInsider spoke with, there was a “negative shift in morale” as they realized that operations had reverted to “exactly where they were” before Levesque took over as WWE’s creative team. One source said the “place felt nuked” and the feeling was that McMahon would likely be “overseeing everything again” going forward, leaving the creative to his “whims and sensibilities.”  

Other talents were less disheartened by McMahon’s return to Gorilla, noting that they always suspected “all roads” would eventually lead to his return to WWE’s creative process. There was also optimism that McMahon’s heavy involvement was likely a one-off, seeing as Triple H still holds the title of WWE’s Chief Content Officer. Regardless, multiple sources confirmed to PWInsider that McMahon was “firmly back in charge following the Endeavor acquisition of the company.” This was expected after Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel stated that he wasn’t going to let McMahon retire and that he wanted the iconic promoter to remain at the helm of WWE.

Source: Wrestling Inc