WWE had a string of bad luck with injuries last night.
We previously reported how former SmackDown women’s champion Carmella banged her head pretty badly at the company’s house show in Charleston South Carolina. The Queen of Staten Island was able to make it to the back on her own, but did have officials shielding her eyes from the lights.
Elsewhere NXT held a house show in Gainesville Florida, where rising star Tatum Paxley took on Sloane Jacobs in singles-action. Unfortunately for Tatum, she got busted open pretty badly on a ring post spot, with the belief being that she broke her nose. The referee immediately called the match off once he saw Tatum’s condition.
#NXTGainesville Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of @TatumPaxley in action due to an injury. Hopefully it's not too serious. Special thanks to the official for quickly calling off the match. pic.twitter.com/5FmOiN7XHu
As of right now WWE has yet to provide an update on Tatum, nor is it known if she will miss any time. AEW’s Jamie Hayter similarly broke her nose during her women’s title matchup against Thunder Rosa at last night’s Battle of the Belts 3 television special.
Throughout his career, Lex Luger’s character was defined by his incredible physique.
In WWE, Luger was known as Narcissus, later ‘The Narcissist’ and was referred to as the ‘Total Package’ throughout his entire wrestling career.
Famously boasting just 4% body fat, Luger’s physique would continue to impress fans until he retired from the ring.
The Accident
While Luger signed with Vince McMahon in 1992, he did not initially plan on working solely as a wrestler.
Initially, Luger did guest appearances for McMahon’s bodybuilding promotion the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) until a near-fatal motorcycle accident ended all plans for him.
Speaking to A&E for their Biography: Legends episode, Luger recalled nearly losing his arm due to the crash.
“They were talking about amputating my arm.”
Lex Luger on his near-fatal 1992 motorcycle accident.
Luger told Sting that under no circumstance should he allow the doctors to amputate his arm.
The pair called Dr. Andrews, who has specialized in athletes’ injuries, who told Luger that it seemed unlikely he’d ever have full use of his arm.
Luger would be able to keep his arm, in what the former WCW World Champion called a “miraculous recovery.”
After the Accident
Less than six months after the accident, Luger would debut as Narcissus at the 1993 Royal Rumble.
WWE would capitalize on the accident, referencing the metal plate that Luger had in his arm, which he’d use as an illegal weapon during matches.
On-screen, Luger would be forced to wear a padded armband over the metal plate, which he would remove to cheat.
Lex Luger is one of the most successful wrestlers of the past 30 years. The Total Package is the subject of the latest Biography: WWE Legends, premiering on A&E this Sunday night at 10/9C.
WWE has released a few teaser clips from the episode, including one of Luger telling a captivating story about how he chose his in-ring name.
Lex Luger Name Origin
(A&E)
Lex Luger is objectively a great ring name. Lawrence Pfohl had the look, the athleticism and the charisma to back it up. According to Luger, he came up with the name less than an hour before his debut match.
Right before his television debut for Championship Wrestling from Florida (1985), he was sitting in the office and they asked what his wrestling name would be. He replied that he didn’t have a ring name. With his in-ring debut fast approaching, everyone began scrambling of what to call him.
Lex raised his hand timidly and said, “I’ve got a name.” His favorite television show at the time was Magnum P.I. Everybody just called him Magnum. If Tom Selleck could be called Magnum, Lex figured, “I should be called Luger,” after the German firearm.
They asked if he had a first name, he took a moment and replied, “Lex,” an homage to comic book supervillain Lex Luthor.
In a humorous humble-brag, he quipped, “It kind of worked out pretty good.”
Hall of Fame Bound?
Despite a storied career that includes 2 World Heavyweight title reigns in WCW, Luger is one of the biggest names who is not part of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Luger was on bad terms with WWE for many years due to the abrupt nature of his departure in 1995. At the time, he had been working for WWE without a contract. To the dismay of his former boss Vince McMahon, Luger shocked the world by making a surprise appearance on the debut episode of WCW Monday Nitro. It was the first shot fired in the Monday Night War.
Many legends have advocated for WWE to bestow this honor on Luger, including Jim Ross and Mick Foley.
Jim Ross said, “If they want to tell stories and they want a visual, Lex is obviously, thank God, still alive. Here’s a guy that will be rolled onto the stage to tell his story, he’s in a wheelchair. If you’re looking for a story, this could be a great story and a story of success because Lex found true happiness in his faith. I think that he’ll be in and I think it will be a great induction, I truly believe that. I think that some old wounds just don’t heal as quickly as others when you embarrass the company to some degree.”
Luger recently told Sports Illustrated that he’d be so honored by a WWE Hall of Fame induction, “I might pop out of the [wheel] chair for that. I would take that chance if that moment comes. That honor would be the cherry on top of my career.”
Catch Biography: WWE Legends on A&E Sunday nights at 10/9C.
Several notable names have been missing from WWE’s premier shows the last few weeks. This list includes stars such as Kevin Owens. The former Universal champion is considered a ‘Triple H guy.’ People expected him to be featured more prominently on WWE programming after the game took over the creative duties in the company.
However, Owens was not only absent from this Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, but he hasn’t been seen all that much in the past few weeks since the Money In The Bank PPV. Fightful Select provided some update on the situation. They claimed that they haven’t heard anything about an injury that would keep KO out of action. Instead, they’re told that creative plans are being ‘cooked up’ for him moving forward.
Another notable name missing from the shows is Lacey Evans. She was scheduled to face Aliyah in a match during the July 29 episode of SmackDown but the bout was cancelled. It was said on air that Evans wasn’t cleared to compete but there are no immediate creative plans for her. Her name wasn’t discussed for the women’s gauntlet match on SmackDown this week.
Lacey Evans was a personal favorite of Vince McMahon. The boss was very hands-on and worked directly with the female star after her return to Raw earlier this year. However, there were no solid plans for her in place, and her WWE return after pregnancy in April was described as ‘chaotic and directionless.’
Finally, Omos hasn’t been featured much on Raw the last several weeks. Though the Nigerian Giant has still been on the road, being managed by MVP. The Monstrous athlete faced Ezekiel on the Main Event tapings on Monday. There is no word on when he may return to Raw or SmackDown.
The report says that several talents are in the same boat and waiting to learn their direction under the new management. Some have had meetings directly with Triple H about it, but the details of them are unavailable.
Triple H has brought a number of notable names back to WWE in the short while since he took over creative and talent relations duties, and it appears this trend will continue.
Like Kai, Karrion Kross and Scarlett made their surprise return at SmackDown this week. Fightful Select noted that their comeback also came together very quickly.
In addition to these signing, the site claims that there has been talk among Triple H and other higher ups about ‘bolstering’ the main roster. Both Kross and Scarlett were mentioned in these talks.
The Game is not expected to slow down anytime soon. Several other talents have been discussed for a return and a ‘feeling out process’ has occurred.
In his very first week as the head of creative, Triple H has already held private meetings with several talents in his quest to add depth to the WWE roster.
While the report doesn’t state any names, people like Bray Wyatt and Johnny Gargano are heavily rumored for a potential return now that Vince McMahon has stepped down.
When asked if things will change for him now that Triple H is in charge of creative instead of Vince McMahon, Balor mentioned how he gets a feeling of familiarity with The Game because of their history:
“Yeah, obviously I have a very good relationship with Triple H, but with most of the people in the company too. We have worked together a lot in NXT, you know, first and second run in NXT. So I definitely have like a familiarity, more so than I did with Vince.”
However, Finn Balor later explained that Vince McMahon was always good to him too. Balor claimed that McMahon was ‘blown away’ by his heel work as part of the Judgement Day faction:
“But, you know, Vince has always been great to me. He was absolutely blown away by my heel work, which he didn’t think I had in me. So that was nice to hear.”
The Judgement Day is currently feuding with The Mysterios. Balor is scheduled to compete in a match against Rey Mysterio on Raw this Monday.
The oversaturation of TV programs is a big problem with wrestling nowadays. Kevin Nash thinks that it’s one of the big issues with WWE.
The wrestling veteran talked about things such as his friend Triple H taking over the WWE creative and more in the latest episode of Kliq This.
Discussing the problems with WWE, Nash mentioned how Raw being three hours long is a big issue. Per Kevin, it’s just too f**king long:
“I think one of the problems that the company has right now is that Raw is three hours long. I thought that was the demise of Nitro when it went three hours.
Three hours is too long, it’s like asking your fanbase every Monday to watch fucking Titanic or Avatar.” said Kevin Nash, “It’s just too fucking long.”
Logan Paul has had a couple of matches with WWE so far. The YouTube star seems to be enjoying his experience in the company both on and off screen.
The internet sensation recently appeared on The Pat McAfee Show. He talked about things such as his much-talked Frog Splash at SummerSlam and more.
Speaking about his WWE experience, Paul claimed that he has never felt more accepted as an employee. He called WWE a ‘well-oiled machine’:
“I’ve never felt more accepted as an employee, like I work for the WWE. They’re so good man. It is a well-organized machine, and I’m continually surprised by how much they can do. Effectively, too. Some of the sh-t they pull off is unreal.”
Logan Paul also revealed that Triple H has given him advice about moves and the audience. Other people who have helped him include Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan and Kevin Dunn.
Paul has signed a multi-year deal with WWE and he is expected to return to the ring. Though latest report suggests that it won’t be happening anytime soon, and the 27-year-old will likely not be seen in WWE before December.
You can check out Logan Paul’s full interview below:
It appears that former SmackDown women’s champion Carmella suffered an injury during the most recent WWE Live Event from North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, SC.
The event that took place Saturday night featured a triple threat match involving The Staten Island Princess, The Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and Asuka.
Early in the match, Carmella got out of the ring and wouldn’t get back in. Her opponents started calling her chicken and the audience started chanting it too.
However, when Bianca tried to do a backflip over her, the WWE star appears to have hit her head in the corner and suffered a legitimate injury.
she got up on her own to walk away which is good, but they were like shielding her eyes from the bright lights #WWENorthCharleston
The referee threw the x sign and medical staff arrived to check on the female star. The good news is that she was able to walk back on her own, though the staff was shielding her eyes from bright lights:
Carmella’s husband and WWE announcer Corey Graves wasn’t happy that he found out about the injury via Twitter. He made a post about it, though it was deleted quickly:
Bianca Belair went on to win the match and she celebrated with the fans. There is no word yet on if Carmella’s injury is anything serious but we’ll keep you posted on her status.
Sasha Banks and Naomi made their first public appearances on Saturday since ‘walking out’ of WWE back in May.
The duo held autograph signings at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) at McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America.
Wrestling fans were eager to see the former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions for the first time in months. They will be back again on Sunday for another round of signings.
It’s interesting to note that Sasha Banks is advertised by her real name, Mercedes Vernado. However, as seen below, she’s sporting multi-colored hair, a signature of WWE’s Sasha Banks character.
Sasha Banks and Naomi were ‘suspended indefinitely’ by WWE after reportedly walking out of a Monday Night Raw taping due to creative difference. A lot has changed since then, most notably Vince McMahon’s retirement. More recently, it’s been rumored that Sasha Banks and Naomi are in talks for a return.
Other WWE legends in attendance for C2E2 include Mick Foley, Trish Stratus and Lita, who participated in a panel.
Here are some photos of Sasha Banks and Naomi from C2E2 2022:
This Monday WWE will be invading the Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse in Cleveland Ohio for another edition of their weekly episodic, Raw, and fans in attendance can expect to see a big name at the show.
WWE Hall of Famer Edge is set to appear for the red-brand, his first television appearance since he was kicked out of the Judgement Day faction on June 6th.
In fact, Edge is now scheduled to appear at every RAW in the lead-up to Clash at the Castle. While not officially announced, a showdown with Finn Balor at the Cardiff stadium show seems likely.
The R-Rated superstar returned at last Saturday’s SummerSlam to confront his former group, with the report stating that he will continue to feud with them moving forward.
Edge has been a prominent player for WWE since coming out of retirement at the 2020 Royal Rumble. In that time he has won another Royal Rumble, headlined WrestleMania 37, challenged for the world title on several occasions, and been involved in some blood feuds with Seth Rollins and AJ Styles.
CM Punk is one of the faces of the anti-WWE movement. He has been critical of the company’s policies since infamously walking out in 2014. Punk has been taking shots at the promotion regularly since his return to pro wrestling last year.
The Straight Edge Star recently spoke to The Hashtag Show. Talking about Sasha Banks taking a path similar to his own, the AEW world champion mentioned how he was the first guy to go ‘through the wall.’ Punk claimed that he feels solidarity with Banks, and he is always going to support anyone who stands up against WWE:
“Somebody on Twitter is gonna be mad at me. My thing is always I can’t listen to people criticise me if I wouldn’t ask advise from them. You can’t lead people somewhere you’ve never gone; I try to be as humble as I can be and I don’t like talking about myself but I was the first guy through the wall. I got fucking bloodied for it, you know what I mean?” asked CM Punk,
He continued “To watch somebody else stand up and walk out, I’m always gonna support that. One hundred fucking percent. I’ve never met Mercedes. I don’t know her, but I definitely feel solidarity with her. I know how that place is, I know how women are treated there. I’m not a woman myself, so I can’t put myself in those shoes, but there’s probably a lot of reasons why she peaced out.”
In 2012, Matt Rehwoldt signed with WWE and spent his time with the company under the name Aiden English.
One-half of the Vaudevillains, his sole championship win in WWE came as part of the NXT Tag Team Champions in 2015.
Rehwoldt held several roles in addition to being a wrestler before his release in April 2020.
Rehwoldt’s Statement
Before leaving WWE, Rehwoldt had slowly transitioned into a role outside of the ring.
In 2018, he became part of the Rusev Day stable with Rusev and Lana, and became a color commentator for 205 Live and NXT UK a year later.
Taking to Twitter this week, Rehwoldt explained how he will no longer be taking bookings as a wrestler, as he does not believe he belongs in the ring anymore.
Rehwoldt still believes he can being something and has encouraged anyone seeking him for non-wrestling roles to contact him.
“So here you go: I will no longer be taking bookings to wrestle going forward. I’ve always been most at home with a mic in front of me and am in love with the broadcast side of the biz. I’m not sure I feel I belong in the ring anymore and this year has taught me that. But I love what I’m doing now and am still technically a free agent so if you have a company/promotion that needs an entertaining and experienced voice on the mic hit me up! All in addition to continuing to explore esports/gaming, VO, and content! I DO ALL THE THINGS.”
So here you go:
I will no longer be taking bookings to wrestle going forward.
I've always been most at home with a mic in front of me and am in love with the broadcast side of the biz. I'm not sure I feel I belong in the ring anymore and this year has taught me that. 1/2
In a follow-up post, Rehwoldt clarified that he is not leaving the wrestling industry, but just will not be wrestling anymore.
Just in case this was confusing…
I'm NOT leaving wrestling. I still work with IMPACT and NJPW etc. Just leaving the in-ring part behind. This is a huge part of my life and livelihood and I ain't going anywhere.
Bayley made her wrestling debut in 2008 and joined NXT in 2013. Since then, the former women’s champion hasn’t looked back and she has only become more successful with each passing year. In her almost decade long WWE career, the former women’s champion has also inspired many young talents to pursue wrestling. One such talent is the current NXT star Indi Hartwell, who Bayley considers to be her ‘wrestling baby.’
The female star recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. Speaking about her rehab from the recent ACL injury, the former champion discussed how she worked with NXT 2.0 stars in the performance center during her recovery. She also explained why she has a soft spot for Hartwell:
“At first I went in just wanting to train with Indi Hartwell because she is, to me what I call our little wrestling baby. Because she is the first person, at least in my knowledge that [started] training because of the match I had with Sasha [Banks] at [Takeover] Brooklyn.
She said she watched that match and the next day she signed up for wrestling training.” revealed Bayley, “So the fact that she made it to NXT and she’s been there for a few years has been [incredible]. When she got signed, I couldn’t believe it. I’m like ‘Our little baby made it!’ So I always had a soft spot for her.”
The days of one “Undisputed WWE Universal Champion” are numbered.
At WrestleMania 38, Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to unify the company’s top World Championships.
Called ‘the biggest main event in WrestleMania’ history, the win saw Reigns be crowned the ‘Undisputed WWE Universal Champion,’ a title he holds to this day.
Since unifying the two championships at WrestleMania, Reigns has been carrying the two title belts to symbolize being the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
That could all change very soon however, following Karrion Kross’ return to WWE during last night’s SmackDown.
Undisputed No More?
Fightful Select reports that Kross’ impactful return, attacking Drew McIntyre and having a face-off with Reigns, is the sign of a big push for the two-time former WWE NXT Champion.
An idea suggested backstage is for Kross to be inserted into the current feud between Reigns and McIntyre.
There has also been a pitch for Kross to challenge Reigns, but for one of his championships, effectively ending the title unification.
De-Unifying the Titles
It was Vince McMahon who made the decision for the WWE and Universal Championships to be unified, but its the USA Network who are in support of the titles being split.
USA Network executives are said to be unhappy with how few appearances Reigns makes on Raw and wants a World Championship of their own.
Per Fightful, the network has also pitched the idea of having an interim World Champion, similar to Jon Moxley being the interim AEW World Champion due to CM Punk’s injury.
The report notes that it’s unclear how seriously WWE considered the idea, as Reigns is not injured, and having an interim Undisputed WWE Universal Champion would make little sense.
This week’s episode of SmackDown ended on a high note with Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and the WWE return of Karrion Kross & Scarlett.
The returning star attacked The Scottish Warrior from behind. He then sent a message to the current WWE Universal Champion, hinting at a future feud.
Though this wasn’t the end of the night, and fans in the Bon Secours Wellness Arena got to see the United States champion Bobby Lashley defending his title against Ciampa in a dark match after SmackDown.
The bout was about 10 minutes long, and it saw the former NXT champion playing the heel. He gained the upper hand over Lashley early on after rolling out of the ring and making the champion run after him.
The ending of the bout then saw the All Mighty reversing a move from his opponent and delivering a big spear to win the match and retain his title.
Tommaso Ciampa had been paired with The Miz early in his main roster run and presented as a mid card talent, but things have changed since Triple H took over the WWE creative.
The episode saw the former NXT star picking up not one but two big victories to become the new #1 contender for the US title. He is now scheduled to challenge Lashley in a Televised match on Raw next Monday.
WWE has confirmed that the announced tournament to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions will finally begin on Raw this Monday.
The tag titles have been vacant since the last champions Sasha Banks and Naomi infamously walked out of the May 16 episode of the Red Branded Show.
The duo reportedly left the women’s tag titles on the desk of the then Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.
WWE went on to bury both Banks and her partner on TV after this, and they announced a tournament to crown new champions.
However, the company provided no update on the announced tournament in the following weeks, leaving fans puzzled about the future of the titles.
WWE saw a big behind the scene change between this, with Vince McMahon retiring from the company and Triple H taking over the creative duties.
Now the promotion has confirmed that the tournament will finally begin on Monday. Though they have not revealed the brackets for the same just yet.
There has also been reports that both Sasha Banks and Naomi could be returning to WWE soon but there is no update on if any creative plans are in place for the former champions.
At the end of Friday’s episode of SmackDown, they returned as Drew McIntyre was cutting a promo on Roman Reigns ahead of their match at Clash at the Castle in September. The screen went grey with music playing as an hourglass appeared on the entrance ramp.
Kross appeared and attacked McIntyre from behind before having a staredown with Reigns. Scarlett was carrying the hourglass and turned it upside down before pointing at Reigns.
Kross’ first run in WWE saw him be pushed as a top star in NXT, and became a two-time NXT Champion. Alongside his wife and on-screen partner Scarlett Bordeaux, they immediately got over with their entrance.
However, when he was sent to the main roster, WWE stripped him of what made him stand out, such as his entrance, look, and Scarlett. He was also the NXT Champion, but was booked to do jobs for various stars.
WWE had planned to repackage him again before he was let go last November. When he was released, he reportedly had interest from several promotions, but he never signed a full-time deal.
Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) might be returning to the WWE soon.
According to Fightful Select, Kross has been someone discussed as a name that WWE is interested in bringing back. Many people believe that he will return, including one source who indicated they believed it was already in the company’s plans.
Kross had been rumored to make an appearance for ROH this past April at Supercard of Honor before the company was sold to AEW President Tony Khan. He was also contacted for an AEW booking that he passed on against Wardlow on an episode of Dynamite, which led to WH. Morrissey appeared and lost to the popular AEW star.
Triple H had booked Kross to be a top star in NXT as he won the NXT Title twice and got over with the fans for his presentation alongside Scarlett. Many fans thought he would be a top star on the main roster.
Kross was brought up to WWE Raw last year without any major creative plans for him, and without his wife. After being repackaged, he was released. Kross has worked Major League Wrestling and NJPW dates since his 2021 WWE release.
One WWE Hall Of Famer has teased that they have one last match left in them.
Stevie Ray, one-half of the WWE Hall Of Fame tag team Harlem Heat, took to Twitter recently to share a video of himself working out at the gym. He captioned the video by suggesting he may have one last match left in him.
Ray is a longtime veteran of the professional wrestling industry. After getting his start in the business back in 1989, Ray and his brother, Booker T, joined WCW as Harlem heat in 1993.
Together, he and his brother racked up 10 WCW World Tag Team Championship runs. As a singles competitor, Ray captured the WCW World TV Championship. Ray then became a color commentator for WCW Thunder before the promotion went under in 2001.
WCW was bought by WWE, but Ray was not one of the talents who joined WWE. He worked sporadically over the next several years, with his last match taking place in 2017 for Booker T’s Reality Of Wrestling.
Former WWE star Lana (real name CJ Perry) has offered her thoughts on the current situation surrounding Vince McMahon and his retirement.
During a recent interview with Liam Alexander-Stewart of ITRWrestling.com, Perry was asked for her thoughts on the situation with McMahon. While Perry said she had a great relationship with McMahon, that doesn’t mean everyone else has.
“Oh, gosh, it’s I feel like such a controversial issue right now and it’s really unfortunate everything, to be honest.
“I’m a big believer that we should bring things into the light and even though I had amazing relationship with Vince, and he was very kind to me and taught me so many things that I’m going to take with me for the rest of my life, It doesn’t mean that other people didn’t have a very different experience.”
“I… in general, not with people in WWE, but in general, but being a victim of sexual harassment and being a victim of people trying to pull favors from you that I really just don’t ever really talk about, and maybe one day will be more comfortable with talking about at a bigger on a bigger level.
“But, you know, I have compassion and empathy for those women, and I think it does need to be handled properly, however it is.”
Lana
McMahon was forced to step down as WWE CEO after several allegations of sexual misconduct came against him. This left his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan to step up as co-CEOs.
Shortly thereafter, McMahon decided to retire as head of WWE creative. This was shortly after reports surfaced that several investigations into McMahon’s misconduct were now underway.
His son-in-law, Triple H, has now been named the new head of WWE creative. There have already been several changes made to how WWE operates under the new regime change – positively received for the most part.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the promotion is easing up on certain terms that have been restricted in the past. Specifically, the words “wrestler” and “wrestling” are not considered to be “dirty words.”
In the former regime, talent weren’t allowed to use those words without prior authorization. Talent backstage consider it to be a positive change. In fact, since Triple H has taken over as head of creative, morale backstage amongst talent has been positive and fresh.
However, some people are still taking a “wait and see” approach. Women, in particular, are said to feel like there will be more focus on them. Other talents are said to be worried about their spots now that Vince McMahon is gone.
(via WWE)
With that being said, Triple H is said to be someone who comes across as though he cares about the talent. He assumed the role of head of creative after Vince McMahon decided to retire.
McMahon made the announcement on his retirement shortly after investigations begin into his sexual misconduct allegations as WWE CEO – a position he has also since stepped down from.
We have some notes to pass along regarding the changes that were made to WWE Monday Night RAW from Madison Square Garden last week.
As noted, last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW from Madison Square Garden was the first episode of RAW without Vince McMahon. McMahon retired shortly after investigations began into his sexual misconduct allegations.
It was noted that the show had already been written and approved days before McMahon retired.
However, there were some slight tweaks made to the show. Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that an in-ring promo between Drew McIntyre and Theory was scheduled before their match.
However, it was cut after Roman Reigns’ opening segment ran long. Also, because of the change due to time, the match was called in the ring instead of being planned out completely.
WWE has decided to now let their talents improvise more in their matches. The only exception being certain key spots with particular top stars.
For example, the Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus match on the following SmackDown was called in the ring, with the exception of the key spots and run-ins that were laid out beforehand.
Thus far, the changes implemented under Triple H as the new head of creative have been welcome ones.
Now that Bayley is back on WWE television, she is looking to help behind the scenes and lead the locker room.
Bayley returned from a torn ACL at SummerSlam, bringing along Dakota Kai and IYO SKY as a new faction.
While speaking on WWE After The Bell, Bayley discussed how it will be a long road to get certain people and the locker room on the same page. She believes if they worked a little less selfishly, everyone would see the bigger picture as she thinks it feels like they’re in this tunnel of showing the bosses what they have and what it takes. That makes them turn against each other.
“No, let’s show them all what we can do. If we all show them that we can get along and do a show and we’re not going to complain about every little thing, then it will make them want to give us more because we’re easier to work with. There is a fine line between fighting for what you believe in and then trying to make the best out of every situation. I think I can help the girls that I bring in navigate these things to further the division. I want the tag titles to come back and play a very important role on the show.”
The Women’s Tag Team Titles haven’t been used since WWE stripped Sasha Banks and Naomi of the titles after they walked out in May. WWE had plans to do a tournament to crown new champions, but since that announcement, no further details have been given.
Bayley continued by stating that she gets along with almost everybody and thinks she can have everyone realize she’s not doing this to be selfish but rather because she wants things to be better for everyone.
During the May 16, 2022 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of the show, over a creative difference with the planned main event.
Shortly after, WWE suspended the duo, branded them “unprofessional” on TV, and stripped the pair of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
There was a time when it appeared that Banks and Naomi would be gone from WWE for good, but the recent change of leadership could bring them back.
Banks’ Appearance
Since her suspension, Sasha Banks has been silent on Twitter, up until this week.
In her first tweet since the May 16 walkout, Banks promoted her upcoming appearance at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Convention (C2E2.)
Banks told her followers that she is excited to see them this weekend when quoting a tweet from C2E2 which has since been deleted.
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) August 5, 2022
In addition to Banks, Naomi is also scheduled to appear at the convention, with tickets available for photos with the pair of WWE Superstars.
WWE Hall of Famers Mick Foley, Lita, Trish Stratus, and The Undertaker are also scheduled to be at the convention.
AEW star Danhausen has also been announced for C2E2.
Renewed Hope
While the idea of Banks and Naomi seemed farfetched just a few weeks ago, there is renewed hope that they will return.
It has been reported that Banks and Naomi’s main issues backstage were with Vince McMahon, and that both have had good relationships in the past with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Banks has been pulled from a celebrity flag football match which is scheduled for today, fueling speculation of a return on tonight’s WWE SmackDown.
