For WWE’s next travels to Saudi Arabia, the King and Queen of the Ring were set to return. That is, until those tournaments weren’t anymore, with the premium live event for late-May rebranded to revive Night of Champions — a show that, in the past, featured every single title in the WWE arsenal being defended. But why? According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, while chalked up to a booking decision, the reasoning behind the change will become less foggy following Backlash and in the weeks leading up to the Saudi show. 

Backlash takes place in Puerto Rico three weeks prior and is set to be headlined by Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar. However, with Roman Reigns not slated to appear then, he may have no choice but to put his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line at Night of Champions. Cody Rhodes has certainly demanded a rematch to their WrestleMania bout. However, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be given that opportunity here. Adding to the intrigue of the situation, Night of Champions happens on May 27, which also happens to be the exact day that Roman Reigns will hit the 1,000-day milestone for his long-running title reign. 

As for what that means for the idea of the King and Queen of the Ring returning, it legitimately remains to be seen. Obviously, WWE had ideas about the concepts returning, but with each put on the backburner with this change of plans, there is no telling if anything more will be done with either in the immediate future.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

A new report suggests “several backstage segments involving female talents” were cut from this week’s episode of “WWE Raw,” leaving some talent who recently returned to the company nervous about seeing more potential changes now that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has been increasingly present backstage.

The new report, from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, said that there has been “a slightly bubbling paranoia” in recent weeks, especially among the WWE talent who returned once Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over creative control last year. Those nerves come after numerous reports since WrestleMania 38 that have suggested some segments have been changed or entirely scrapped at the last minute, with many linking those instances to McMahon’s return.

In recent weeks, Bayley was reportedly “pulled” from a segment on “Raw,” while fans in attendance at the “Raw” After WrestleMania show reported that Seth Rollins was flustered and “walked out” of the show after his segment was interrupted by an apparently unexpected commercial break.

Many fans and pro wrestling personalities have shared concerns in recent months after McMahon dramatically returned to the company earlier this year, half a year after he “retired” and stepped down from his role as chairman. In the wake of investigations into McMahon’s alleged sexual misconduct and numerous hush money payments made to women, Levesque, his son-in-law, took over the promotion’s creative direction as its Chief Content Officer.

Shortly after Levesque stepped into the role, he rehired several former WWE stars who were previously released under McMahon’s tenure, including Bray Wyatt, Karrion Kross, and more.

Johnson reported Wednesday that several of the recently returned stars have been particularly worried about their WWE status since McMahon’s return. “We are told there’s been no edicts of that sort, but it hasn’t stopped talents from being concerned,” Johnson reported. “This sort of ‘walking on eggshells’ feeling has slowly picked up steam since McMahon returned.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WrestleVotes reported today that WWE is working with the USA Network for a new program targeted toward kids. 

The report noted the two sides are working on a new kids’ trivia show that has a working title of “WWE Tall vs. Small.” It’s unclear when the show will air.

The report read:

“I’m hearing there is a new joint show in the works between WWE & USA Network where kids will compete with Superstars in a trivia challenge, currently titled “WWE Tall vs Small.”

https://twitter.com/WrestleVotes/status/1649050962181619723

WWE disappointed both talent and fans in the fall of 2020 when Vince McMahon issued an edict that talent had to seize operations on third party platforms such as Cameo and Twitch. There was reportedly widespread frustration among the roster, and select talent even met with McMahon in an attempt to change his mind. Additionally, Zelina Vega was released as a result of continuing to stream on Twitch following the ban.

Over two years later, it appears the Twitch ban has been lifted. Fightful Select reported on Tuesday that “WWE and Twitch have reached an agreement to allow WWE wrestlers back on Twitch with almost no restrictions.” The small caveat is that they must get clearance first before streaming with people from other companies.

Those that spoke to Fightful were “very happy” about the deal and also revealed that the revenue will be split three ways, with Twitch and talent earning “the vast majority.” This has been in the works since April 2022 when WWE informed those in a talent meeting that the ban on third party platforms was changing, although things on the Twitch end took longer than expected.

There have been plenty of conversations in the last few years regarding WWE and third party platforms seeing as though WWE talent are classified as independent contractors. In addition to Vega’s controversial firing, Mandy Rose was reportedly terminated this past December for the content she was posting on her FanTime page. The attention that the news received ultimately led to Rose earning $1 million on the platform within a month following her departure.

Source: Wrestling Inc.