According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, WWE has recently let go of two writers on their creative teams – Steve Guerreri, who was one of the lead writers on SmackDown and Steve Oppenheim, who was the in-office or “home team” leader writer on Raw.
Both were released from the company last week but it was neither of WWE’s new Executive Directors, Paul Heyman or Eric Bischoff, who made those decisions.
Tonight’s big WWE RAW Reunion special will take place from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida with appearances by several former Superstars, Legends and Hall of Famers.
* WWE Hall of Famers and Legends to descend on Raw Reunion
* How will Seth Rollins gear up for The Beast?
* “A Moment of Bliss” will welcome Becky Lynch on Raw Reunion tonight
* Will Ricochet get retribution after vicious assault at the hands of Styles, Anderson & Gallows?
Stick with us throughout the day for updates on tonight’s show and be sure to join us for live coverage at 8pm ET.
Below is the line-up of stars advertised for tonight:
* Alicia Fox
* Alundra Blayze
* Booker T
* Candice Michelle
* Christian
* D-Von Dudley
* DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, “Road Dogg” BG James)
* Eric Bischoff
* Eve Torres
* Gerald Brisco
* Hulk Hogan
* Hurricane Helms
* Jillian Hall
* Jonathan Coachman
* Jerry Lawler
* Jimmy Hart
* Kaitlyn
* Kelly Kelly
* Kevin Nash
* Kurt Angle
* Lilian Garcia
* Mark Henry
* Melina
* Mick Foley
* Pat Patterson
* Ric Flair
* Rikishi
* Ron Simmons
* Santino Marella
* Scott Hall
* Sgt. Slaughter
* Shawn Michaels
* Sid Vicious
* Steve Austin
* Ted DiBiase Sr.
* The Boogeyman
* The Godfather
Plus there are reports that John Cena could be appearing tonight at RAW Reunion.
Since being named the new executive director of RAW, Paul Heyman’s influence has started to get noticed. Whether it be physical segments involving talent or the Mike and Maria Kanellis segments, the man who innovated ECW is looking to do the same with WWE’s flagship show.
That apparently also includes promo work.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Heyman has been trying to make backstage interviews come across as more realistic. Similar to what we saw with Drew McIntyreand Cedric Alexander on Raw this past Monday, Heyman wants there to be consequences to everyone’s actions and for the atmosphere to feel authentic.
In the past, Heyman has worked with a number of wrestlers when it comes to in-ring and promo work including Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey and Aleister Black. Rousey had publicly talked in the past about Heyman working with her, including with some of her promos on Becky Lynch.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Bray Wyatt has finally returned to RAW after months of WWE airing his “Firefly Funhouse” segments on WWE TV.
Wyatt made his return to RAW on tonight’s show from Long Island following Samoa Joe’s win over Finn Balor. After the match, Joe attacked Balor but Balor fought him off and stood tall. That’s when the lights went out and music started playing in the arena. Wyatt appeared, wearing “The Fiend” mask that he debuted a few months back, and dropped Balor with Sister Abigail in the middle of the ring.
The segment ended with Wyatt laughing across the arena as RAW went to commercial.
It looks like Wyatt vs. Balor will be one of the matches for the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Wyatt took to Twitter after the show and made two comments. The first said, “Worth the hurt, worth the healing”
Wyatt then wrote, “I’ll forgive you, when it’s done brother. The sickness is gone. We owe them. And Yowie Wowie is it gonna be a spectacle!!!”
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, NY with the fallout from WWE Extreme Rules.
WWE has not confirmed that new WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will be on tonight’s RAW. No matches have been announced for tonight but it looks like Roman Reigns might appear as he was announced locally on Sunday.
* The Brock Party resumes – Brock Lesnar reclaimed the Universal Title last night at Extreme Rules after cashing in MITB on Seth Rollins after the main event in which Rollins and Becky Lynch retained their Titles.
* Club house rules: new WWE United States Champion AJ Styles
* What friends are for: fallout from the 2-on-1 Handicap Match for the SmackDown Women’s Title
WWE’s upcoming RAW Reunion show will feature appearances from lots of wrestling legends — but Jim Ross says he turned down an opportunity to be one of them.
Ross revealed during a Q&A over the weekend at his Grilling JR live show that Vince McMahon recently made the pitch to him — according to WrestleZone correspondent Dominic DeAngelo.
The AEW announcer said Tony Khan was all for him doing it, but he ultimately turned WWE down.
WWE’s advertisement for RAW Reunion aired during Extreme Rules and teased appearances from Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Kurt Angle, Sgt. Slaughter, Christian, Ted DiBiase, Eric Bischoff, Boogeyman, Jimmy Hart, The Hurricane, Santino Marella, D’Von Dudley, JR’s former broadcast partner Jerry Lawler and more.
The show will take place next Monday night – 7/22/19.
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1150551491364577280
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
WWE will be returning to Madison Square Garden in New York City for TV tapings on Monday, September 9 and Tuesday, September 10.
The back-to-back RAW and SmackDown TV events will be the first WWE MSG TV tapings since a RAW taping on November 16, 2009. WWE last ran MSG for their annual post-Christmas show this past December.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley announces the MSG TV tapings in the video below, and encourages fans to register for the pre-sale. The Ticketmaster pre-sale will be announced soon and we will have the passcode when it’s available.
WWE will run MSG just just a few days before AAA’s debut at the arena on Sunday, September 15, and a week before New Japan Pro Wrestling runs a show at the nearby Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday, September 28.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
As noted last week, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson had reportedly agreed to terms with WWE on a new five-year deal, but it wasn’t clear if they had officially signed.
On Saturday morning’s Wrestler Observer Radio it was updated they have “absolutely signed” with WWE and Dave Meltzer reported WWE is making bigger offers than people think, Gallows and Anderson being one of them. They had previous turned down deals worth $500,000, so WWE obviously upped the ante to keep the tag team around.
Melter also noted WWE isn’t looking to lose anybody right now, and it’s unlikely anyone will be fired, aside from disciplinary reasons.
Last week, WWE put The Club back together as we saw AJ Styles turn heel at the end of Monday’s RAW by attacking WWE US Champion Ricochet.
Styles is expected to have another match against Ricochet at WWE Extreme Rules and in WWE’s RAW preview for tonight – WWE is wondering if The Club is “taking over the red brand,” possibly teasing new opponents for the stable.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ with the final red brand hype for WWE Extreme Rules.
* Andrade & Zelina Vega throw down the gauntlet
* Is The Club taking over the red brand?
* Roman Reigns & mystery partner to face Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre before No Holds Barred Tag Team showdown at Extreme Rules
* Rey Mysterio returns to Raw this Monday night
* R-Truth wants his “baby” back!
* Will “Jealous” Joe get payback against the WWE Champion?
* What’s next for Braun Strowman after Falls Count Anywhere Match incident?
Following an injury that forced him to drop the United States Championship, Rey Mysterio will return to Raw this coming Monday.
WWE.com announced the following:
Following the unbelievable set of circumstances in which he was forced to relinquish the United States Championship due to a shoulder injury, Rey Mysterio will return to Raw this Monday night.
What will The Greatest Mask of All Time have to say upon his return and how will he impact the ever-changing landscape of the red brand? Find out when Raw goes down this Monday night at 8/7 C on USA Network.
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