Tag: WWE

Charlotte Flair Explains Why She Is Taking Time Off From WWE

Charlotte Flair will be out of action for a while due to personal time and having surgery done.

Charlotte took to Twitter to explain more on why she is going to be gone from WWE for a while.

She explained how in 2018 she had silicone poisoning from her breast implants. She went to the doctors and picked the option that would be the fastest recovery time, which didn’t solve the problem. A few months ago, the same issue happened again to her.

Charlotte now has decided to go with the option that she believes will solve the issue this time, though the recovery time is longer than she would like. She also stated she doesn’t have silicone poisoning right now.

She ended her explanation with the tweet, “I’ll be back when I’m ready. The body will be rested, and the mind still focused on legacy. Focused on this job. Focused on being better. Always being better.”

Below is her full statement:

My air conditioning is broken, and we have a little free time. These tweets may be spaced out a bit, but we’re going to talk time off, plastic surgery and boobs. The entire world having an opinion on the topic bothers me more than I care to let on, so we are going to discuss it.

I’m going to save the history of my boobs for a different bedtime story, so:

Picture it. Charlotte, North Carolina, 2018. A young queen, shortly after a career-defining Wrestlemania victory, finds herself sicker than sick at her brother’s house. A trip to the doctor tells us the likely culprit is silicone poisoning, and that my implant had been leaking for quite some time. It was one of the worse cases the doctor had seen.

At that time, I had a few options to fix the issue. Each option had a specific recovery time. I love this job more than anything, so I picked the option that allowed me to return the soonest. That was the choice I made. Fast forward to a few months ago. Something felt off, so I went back to the doctor. Same issue again. This time, I’m going with an option that I believe will solve the issue long time, even though the recovery period is a little longer than I would like.

To clarify: I do not have silicone poisoning this time. The surgery is cosmetic to fix an issue from a prior surgery. I’ll be back when I’m ready. The body will be rested, and the mind still focused on legacy. Focused on this job. Focused on being better. Always being better.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Preview 7/10/20

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX episode will air from the Performance Center in Orlando with more build for “The Horror Show at Extreme Rules” on July 19.

AJ Styles Calls Paul Heyman “A Boldface Liar”, Responds To Reports About Their Relationship

As seen below, WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles took to his Mixer video game streaming channel yesterday and had some strong things to say regarding his former boss on RAW, Paul Heyman. It was previously reported that Styles and Heyman did not get along when they were working together.

“There were some rumors going around that AJ Styles left RAW to go to SmackDown because he was being bullied. That may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Styles said. “I mean, I’m a grown man. If there were some bullying going on that upset me enough to leave RAW and go to SmackDown, I would handle it. And whether I got my tail beat or not, I’d still handle it. I’m a grown man. So, I’ll just throw that out there.

“When it came to the rumor about Paul Heyman and being upset with him because he didn’t take up for Gallows and Anderson before they got released, that’s not what it was at all,” AJ continued. “It’s not even close. I’ll give you a snippet of what me, Gallows, and Anderson already know – [Paul Heyman] is a liar. Now you know; I’m sure you’ve heard that before if you go back to his ECW days, you’ll hear that. He’s a boldface liar. So, that’s my take on that. I will let Gallows and Anderson [add to it].”

Styles was reportedly “furious” over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson being released in April. Styles reportedly blamed Heyman for their releases, even though Vince McMahon was the person who made the call.

Anderson and Gallows have reportedly come to terms on a deal with Impact Wrestling. The deal would allow “The Good Brothers” to wrestle on Impact as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT: ‘The Great American Bash’ Night Two Preview 7/8/20

Night Two of the WWE NXT Great American Bash will air tonight on the USA Network from the NXT Arena at Full Sail University.

WWE RAW Preview 7/6/20

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with more build for WWE’s “Extreme Rules: The Horror Show” pay-per-view.

The only match announced for tonight’s RAW is a Champion vs. Champion match with RAW Women’s Champion Asuka taking on WWE Women’s Tag Team & SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley. Bayley’s partner Sasha Banks is expected to be at ringside, as is Kairi Sane.

WWE has not announced an official preview for tonight’s RAW as of this writing, but it’s likely we will see updates to the current feuds between Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, MVP and WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews, Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio, plus Randy Orton’s storyline, among others.

Rey Mysterio Working Without A WWE Contract

Rey Mysterio has been reportedly working for WWE without an active contract for some time now, according to F4Wonline.com.

On this morning’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer added to that report, revealing that Mysterio had recently asked Vince McMahon for a raise. Vince responded to Mysterio by saying it was a bad time and pointing out the numerous people he had released in the wake of COVID-19.

WWE and Mysterio have reportedly been working out some sort of a deal for a while now. However, it was noted that at this point, Rey could technically show up on any wrestling show at any time with no legal repercussions against him.

As of late, Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik have been in a storyline with Seth Rollins and his stable on RAW. There is apparently a plan for Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins in an “Eye for an Eye Match” for Extreme Rules.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Preview 7/3/20

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will air on a tape delay from the WWE Performance Center in Orland, Florida with more build for the “Extreme Rules: Horror Show” pay-per-view.

WWE Reportedly Writing Kairi Sane Out Of The Company

Kairi Sane is reportedly returning to Japan to be with her husband.

While Sane is returning to Japan soon, she is scheduled to return to RAW soon as she is listed for the tapings being held today at the WWE Performance Center, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. These would be for the episodes that air on July 6 or July 13.

WWE has known about Sane returning to Japan since May, if not earlier. The move has been in the works for a while.

Sane has been out of action since suffering the cut on her head during the RAW match with Nia Jax, which aired on June 1 and was taped on May 26. This is why Sane has been off WWE TV but she has been cleared to compete since then. WWE made the decision at the time to not harp on the injury on TV, and pretty much ignore it publicly, which is why it was never played up and Sane hasn’t been talked about since.

The idea before that last Sane vs. Jax match was to do a career-ending injury angle with Sane at a later time, before it was time for her to return to Japan. That angle would have set up a SummerSlam match between RAW Women’s Champion Asuka and whoever they went with to put Sane out of action. The Observer noted that this has likely changed since Paul Heyman was dismissed from his role as RAW Executive Director. It’s believed that this spot would have went to either Charlotte Flair, who may or may not be back in time for the SummerSlam build, or Shayna Baszler. Original plans did not call for Jax to be the one who ended Sane’s WWE in-ring career.

There’s no word yet on what WWE has planned for Sane after she returns to Japan, but the Observer reports that there had been talk that once her contract was up, she would wrestle for one more year in Japan and then retire from action.

The 31 year old Sane was married to her longtime partner back in February of this year.

Sane signed a three year WWE deal back in March 2017. She worked the Mae Young Classic in 2017, and won the tournament by defeating Baszler in the finals. She would go on to become a one-time NXT Women’s Champion before debuting on WWE’s main roster in April 2019 after WrestleMania 35. She has held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles with Asuka on the main roster.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter via Wrestling Inc.

WWE Purchases EVOLVE Wrestling

WWE has officially purchased EVOLVE Wrestling, PWInsider reports.

The deal was recently finalized after several months of negotiations. WWE now has the complete right to use the EVOLVE brand name and produce EVOLVE events.

WWE has also acquired the EVOLVE video library.

EVOLVE had been going through some financial issues and the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse. The cancellation of WrestleMania 36 Week in Tampa was catastrophic for the promotion.

EVOLVE was founded in 2010 by Gabe Sapolsky. Since 2015, the promotion has had a working relationship with WWE. When they signed that deal, EVOLVE created a new LLC, which is the company WWE has acquired. WWE has not purchased WWNLive, which will still reportedly go on.

As for talent, PWInsider reports that the existing EVOLVE/WWN talent contracts are not part of the sale. Though there is an expectation of at least four talents that will be signed and go to WWE NXT.

Apollo Crews, Austin Theory, Drew Gulak, Keith Lee, Johnny Gargano, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, and Oney Lorcan are just a few who used the promotion as a stepping stone to get to WWE.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mickie James Was Medically Cleared To Return Before Pandemic Hit, Still Has Big Plans For Comeback

We haven’t seen Mickie James in a WWE ring for over a year, but it turns out she was just weeks away from returning before COVID-19 struck.

James, who tore her ACL during a house show last year, had apparently been medically cleared and was close to making a comeback. “The doc had already cleared me, so I was literally just getting that last two weeks to get cleared to come back to in-ring action and everything got shut down,” she told Chris Van Vliet in a new interview. “So, I went home and I just haven’t been back since.”

For the time being, James is fine with staying away from the Performance Center. “Theres no need to take that risk of going there if I’m not doing anything,” she explained. “I would rather bide my time and wait for the perfect opportunity.”

When she does return, James has some (mostly tongue-in-cheek) goals in mind. “I’m going to go in and take all the championships,” she said. “I’m going to be my own tag team partner and I’m going to go in there and take those championships first, and then I’m going to take both of the women’s championships at the same time.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet