Tonight’s season premiere of WWE RAW live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
The fallout from WWE Extreme Rules will also be felt. The event saw Bray Wyatt make his shocking return to the company, revealing himself to be the man behind the “White Rabbit” clues seen on WWE programming in recent weeks.
WWE has officially announced changes to the commentary teams for all three brands – RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
Kevin Patrick & Corey Graves will be the commentators for Raw while Cathy Kelley is back and will work as an interviewer and Byron Saxton. For SmackDown, the team is Michael Cole & Wade Barrett, while NXT’s team will be Vic Joseph & Booker T.
Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.
WWE issued the following:
WWE announces updates to commentary teams
Today WWE announced that Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Premium Live Events will all have updated announce booths starting with this week’s season premieres. The news was first reported by Variety on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday Night SmackDown, the commentary table will be headed by Michael Cole with Wade Barrett doing color commentary. Samantha Irvin will be the ring announcer, and interviews will be conducted by Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant.
On Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves will still be providing his colorful insights and will be joined by Kevin Patrick on play-by-play. Mike Rome will continue to announce from the ring, and Byron Saxton will transition from the commentary booth to backstage interviews. Also joining Saxton in backstage interviews is none other than Cathy Kelley in her return to WWE.
Over on NXT, Vic Joseph will be assisted by six-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Alicia Taylor will still provide her exceptional voice to ring announcing, and McKenzie Mitchell will once again be conducting interviews.
On the Premium Live Event side, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will come together again to announce from the booth.
Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.
The “White Rabbit” QR Code teases continued on Raw, referencing Joe Gacy and the site of Extreme Rules. The latest QR Code let to a URL that features an image of Samson & Delilah, specifically the painting of that name by Jose Salome Pina which was completed in 1851. Samson was the Biblical strongman who was betrayed by Delilah, his lover who cut his hair and thus robbed him of his strength.
The URL for the QR Code is 01000111 01000001 01000011 01011001, which spells out “Gacy” in binary. In addition, the coordinates 751720W appear on the right side of the page if moused over, which is the location of the Wells Fargo Center where Extreme Rules takes place on Saturday.
In further addition, below the image is a mouseover message written in the written language of the Yautja — aka the titular aliens from the Predator franchise. The message translates to “Before me things created were none, save things. Eternal, and eternal I endure.” The quote is from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, which precedes the more famous line “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”
As noted by Fightful, Bray Wyatt posted a similar photo of Samson & Delilah the day before he was betrayed by Alexa Bliss at WrestleMania 37 last year.
Former NXT Superstar Candice LeRae made her surprise return to WWE during Monday night’s episode of Raw. LaRae squared off against Nikki A.S.H. and picked up a win over A.S.H.
This is LaRae’s first appearance on WWE television since May 4, 2021. She took time away from WWE due to her pregnancy. After her contract expired this past May, she was among including her husband Johnny Gargano that were speculated to sign with AEW. Gargano made his surprise return to WWE during the August 22 episode of Raw that took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Will we see the return of “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, who is believed to be behind the White Rabbit QR code teaser videos. Or will will just get another clue
The rumors of Braun Strowman’s WWE return were indeed true.
Last night on “WWE Raw,” the Monster Among Men showed up midway through a Fatal Four-Way Match to determine the #1 contender for The Usos’ Undisputed Tag Team Titles, laying waste to all eight men in the match before posing for the fans. During the beatdown, Strowman also did his signature sprint around the ring before shoulder tackling Otis through the barricade and power slamming Angelo Dawkins through the announce desk.
The segment ended with Strowman beating up a bunch of security members, who ran down to the ring to try and end his carnage. Strowman received a loud ovation for his return, eliciting chants such as “Welcome Back!” and “Get These Hands” from fans in Kansas City, MO.
While it’s unknown if Strowman will be a babyface or heel character on the red brand, he appeared to play to the crowd at one point, indicating that he will be on the heel side of the roster.
The former WWE Universal Champion was released by the Vince McMahon regime on June 2, 2021, as part of the company’s budget cuts. The chatter of his return picked up once Paul “Triple H” Levesque took charge of WWE’s Talent Relations and Creative departments in July. Since Triple H has assumed those roles, others such as Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Dakota Kai, Hit Row, Dexter Lumis and Johnny Gargano have also returned to the company.
Strowman appeared in a backstage interview later on the show to announce he will be on “WWE SmackDown” later this week.
Just 48 hours after WWE’s “Clash at the Castle” premium live event in Cardiff, Wales, the company returns to the United States on Labor Day for “WWE Raw” at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO.
Only one match is announced for the show so far, bout set is the previously-announced US Championship match that will see Bobby Lashley defend his title against The Miz in a steel cage.
The preview for the episode currently reads as follows:
Bobby Lashley to battle The Miz in a United States Title Steel Cage Match This Monday on Raw, The Miz will challenge Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship inside the dreaded Steel Cage!
Last week, chicanery from Miz and his cohort Ciampa allowed The A-Lister to gain the advantage in a match with The All Mighty. Before he could capitalize with the Skull-Crushing Finale, however, Miz suddenly spotted Dexter Lumis in the crowd. The distraction proved costly when Lashley seized the opportunity and cinched in the Hurt Lock to force his shocked opponent to tap out.
Despite being on vacation, Miz took to social media over the weekend and claimed that he would have had the U.S. Champion beat if not for the distraction. He demanded a rematch for the United States Title where he didn’t have to worry about anyone or anything: a Steel Cage Match. The All Mighty was more than happy to oblige and is now poised to dish out The Most Must-See Hurt Lock in WWE History inside the unforgiving structure!
Don’t miss the United States Title Steel Cage showdown on Monday Night Raw at 8/7 C on USA.
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