WWE SummerSlam is tonight and the spoilers are pouring in.
The company’s hottest event of the summer goes down inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. There is a lot of buzz around the event and that has certainly been boosted by the fact that there is a new regime in WWE.
This will be the first SummerSlam event without Vince McMahon. Vince resigned from WWE amid an investigation. His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, is now the Chairwoman and co-CEO, a title she shares with Nick Khan.
WWE is known for having a few surprises for major events and tonight looks to be no exception.
Edge is in Nashville
(via WWE)
PWInsider is reporting that Edge is backstage for SummerSlam.
It had been previously reported by another outlet that Edge was set to return for the July 25 episode of Raw in Madison Square Garden in New York City. WWE ended up altering those travel plans.
It left many to wonder if Edge was being saved for SummerSlam. It looks like we now have our answer.
Edge has been out of action since he was kicked out of his own group, The Judgment Day. Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley ousted Edge in favor of Finn Balor.
Priest put Edge out of commission with a Conchairto.
Tonight, The Judgment Day will take on The Mysterios. This may be the perfect time for Edge to get some payback.
Keep it locked on the SEScoops homepage as we’ll be providing live coverage of WWE SummerSlam.
WWE SummerSlam goes down tonight (July 30) inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. In the main event, WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns will put his gold on the line against Brock Lesnar.
This will be a Last Man Standing match. A big X-factor in the main event could be Theory, who holds the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Before the premium live event begins, we’ve got a kickoff show to watch.
WWE SummerSlam 2022 Live Stream & Info
(via WWE)
When: July 30, 2022 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. ET for the Kickoff show) Where: Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee How to Watch: Peacock streaming service in the United States, WWE Network internationally
Here is a look at the WWE SummerSlam 2022 card:
Last Man Standing: Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan vs. Ronda Rousey
United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Theory
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. The Street Profits (with Special Guest Referee Jeff Jarrett)
Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch
Logan Paul vs. The Miz
The Mysterios vs. The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and Damian Priest (No Disqualification)
You can catch the WWE SummerSlam 2022 live stream of the Kickoff show below beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Seth Rollins was pulled from media obligations during WWE SummerSlam weekend.
Much has been made about the status of Seth Rollins going into the big July 30 premium live event. WWE’s biggest show of the summer will be held inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rollins was expected to share the ring with Riddle. Instead, WWE ran an injury angle where Rollins stomped Riddle’s head onto steel steps. In storyline, the injury was bad enough to cancel the match.
The angle reportedly wasn’t done to hide a real injury, it was simply a creative change.
Seth Rollins Yanked From Media Obligations
Seth Rollins (Photo: WWE)
Seth Rollins was expected to attend media day on the Friday before SummerSlam. While Seth was in the area and witnessed WWE tryouts, he ended up being pulled from his planned media interviews. Fightfulbrought word of the news.
At this time, it is unknown why Rollins was pulled from media obligations. There also hasn’t been an update on whether or not he will remain on the card.
Speculation has run rampant on who Rollins’ opponent will be if he still has a match for the show.
Names such as Dolph Ziggler and top free agent Johnny Gargano have been rumored. Nothing has been confirmed at this time.
Social media has been buzzing about WWE SummerSlam and one former superstar is rumored to be making his return.
While no one has reported that this individual will be returning to the company, some fans have speculated that with Triple H taking over the creative reins, the timing could be right.
At this moment, Seth Rollins doesn’t have an opponent for SummerSlam. WWE ran an injury angle with Riddle, which has led to his match with Seth being canceled.
Rumors have been running rampant on who could wind up sharing the ring with Seth Rollins inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee on July 30.
One name mentioned has been Dolph Ziggler, the other is a doozy.
Johnny Gargano Speaks Out on Rumors
(via WWE)
Johnny Gargano is well aware of rumors on social media about a potential return to WWE. After all, Gargano is widely considered to be the hottest free agent in wrestling right now.
Gargano made it clear to those asking questions on his Twitch TV channel that they should probably refrain from asking him if he’ll appear at SummerSlam.
“So you guys hear any good rumors lately or what? The comments section is going to be a wild one tonight, I am sure of it.
“Yeah. Look, I know what to expect, the moderators I’m sure are going to be watching and deleting a lot of things, but I will obviously address the elephant in the room up front.
“You know the general rule on this channel, and how this thing goes, I talk very openly about professional wrestling, I talk very openly about a lot of things, but if you’re expecting to come here and me to flat out say that ‘I’m coming back here’ or ‘I’m coming back there’, ‘I’m doing this’ or ‘I’m doing that’, that’s not gonna happen. (Laughs)”
Johnny Gargano on rumors of SummerSlam appearance
“So, to save the moderators some time and effort here, if that is your question, I will answer a lot of questions, ask whatever you want, talk about wrestling, talk about all that good stuff, I have no rules as far as that goes, but if you’re going to ask me the questions that I’m definitely not gonna answer, just save yourself some time, ask me something better than that, and I will happily answer it.”
Gargano went on to say that while he isn’t in peak shape at the moment, he is physically fit to show up on TV at any moment.
“I will say, that I am about, I’m pretty much what I would like to call ‘TV lean’, I’m not ‘Takeover lean’ yet, but I am TV lean to where I could show up on television, at any point, and I could be in good shape. I know that’s gonna take a life of itself that I’m saying this, but I’m being honest with you guys. (Laughs) I’m not gonna say that I’m not.”
Johnny Gargano recently made a surprise appearance on IMPACT Wrestling. Fightful reported that the appearance was simply a favor for a friend and he is not in talks with IMPACT.
It was reported that a top free agent, who is a former WWE talent, would be more willing to return to the company now that Triple H is in charge of creative.
Whether or not the star in question is Gargano remains to be seen.
Big E broke his neck while taking an overhead belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge Holland. There is no surety that he will ever return to the ring. Though despite the circumstances, the former WWE champion is keeping a positive attitude. He says he has no ill will towards Holland for injuring him.
The New Day member recently appeared on The MMA Hour. When asked about Holland, E revealed that he has apologized multiple times and even sent presents to his house. The former champion explained that injuries are part of the business and holding a grudge will not help him at all:
“We’re good, man. Things happen. It’s a part of what we sign up for. It’s not something I ever would have wanted, but it happened. Me hating him or holding a grudge doesn’t help me at all.” said Big E, “He’s been very apologetic, so we’re good man. I hold no ill will against him at all.
I generally think he’s a good human being. I truly do. I’ve enjoyed our interaction prior, and I wish him well. I don’t want this to be the albatross around his neck, whether I have to retire early or not. I can hug my loved ones. I can live my life. My life is good. So, there’s no ill will whatsoever.”
It’s been a week since Vince McMahon retired from WWE but the fans have not seen any major change in WWE programming. Per Tommaso Ciampa, things aren’t that different behind the scene either.
The former NXT champion had an interview with Sportskeeda ahead of SummerSlam. He discussed topics such as his pairing with The Miz and more.
Speaking about the recent management change, Ciampa claimed that he hasn’t noticed any big difference. According to him, it’s business as usual in WWE:
“So I feel very much business as usual, and I mean, you control what you control, right? That’s been my MO” – Tommaso Ciampa
The former NXT star said that his MO has always been to control what you can control. This includes things such as your health and fitness. He explained that everything else sorts itself out.
When the opportunities come, you have to make the most out of them and hit a home run every time. Tommaso Ciampa mentioned how things had started to work for him under Vince McMahon on Raw with this philosophy.
He doesn’t think anything has changed now that Triple H has taken over, and the former DIY member claimed that he just has to keep doing what he is doing.
You can check out Tommaso Ciampa’s full interview below:
Happy Corbin receives a lot of heat from fans for not wrestling a specific way, but the wrestling star credits all these haters for his success.
The former US champion recently had an interview with TVInsider. He talked about things such as the evolution of his character and more.
Corbin has spent the majority of his career as a heel. Speaking about his haters, he said that he thanks the doubters for hating him:
“There are a lot of doubters in my world about my ability or whatever they want to complain about. That’s a pat on the back for me because I’m continuing to find success within WWE thanks to the doubters and haters because I’m the bad guy.
I’m not their favorite. I’m not doing 800 moves they want to see.” said Happy Corbin, “I don’t let social media influence anything I do on television. It all helps play to my success. I’m going to do me no matter what.”
The SmackDown star also discussed taking Madcap Moss under his wing and helping him find his footing in the main roster. He noted how Dolph Ziggler did the same thing for him early in his career.
Corbin said that you need guys like that to help lift you up. Happy mentioned that Moss has the potential to become a future world champion.
Triple H taking over the WWE creative not only changes things for WWE but AEW as well. It’s believed that many AEW talents who were previously reluctant to jump ships will now be more open to it.
One such talent in Tony Nese recently talked about this change. He took part in a virtual autograph signing for Captain’s Corner on Facebook.
Nese, who has previously worked under Triple H was asked about his opinion on The Game taking over the main roster creative. He said that a lot of people feel H is the perfect person for the job:
“In working for him, I think it’s awesome, from what I’ve gathered from talking with him, I think he’s perfect for the job and a lot of people feel the same way.
I don’t know too much, that’s past my pay grade.” said Tony Nese on Triple H, “I like his style and I was a fan of the black and yellow NXT. It doesn’t have to be the same type of people as long as the booking style comes back.”
The former WWE star joined the Vince McMahon-owned promotion back in 2016. He first competed in Raw under the cruiserweight division and later moved to 205 under Triple H.
After getting released from his WWE contract in June 2021, Tony Nese joined AEW in October. He has been competing regularly for the company since then.
The SummerSlam will be the first PPV event under the leadership of Stephanie McMahon & Triple H, and The Game is making his presence felt everywhere.
The new creative head of the company took part in the latest WWE tryouts in the spree, alongside people such as Paul Heyman and Big E.
Triple H addressed the potential recruits at the end of the tryouts. He claimed that the things they learned during the tryout will stay with them for their entire career:
“It’s not often you get to witness the future happening right in front of your eyes, somewhere in this group of people is potentially the next Rock, the next John Cena, potentially the next Roman Reigns, the next Becky Lynch, the next Bianca Belair.
The things you learned here if you have a career in this, will last you your entire career,” said Triple H, “But from day one, everyone has been amazing.”
The former world champion also noted that stepping in the ring is the easy part. According to him, stepping to the mic and talking to people they don’t know is the hard part of the process.
The King of Kings later spoke to media for the first time since Vince McMahon’s retirement. He addressed things such as Heyman’s role at the camp and more.
Happy Corbin has been feuding with Pat McAfee recently, and he took this rivalry to a whole new level during this week’s episode of SmackDown from Atlanta, GA.
The Lone Wolf attacked the SmackDown commentator out of nowhere on last week’s episode of the show. It led to a backstage brawl between the two.
This week’s episode of the blue branded show then saw Corbin coming out in the arena through the crowd. However, he didn’t get to the ring.
The former US champion was holding a sign featuring a mugshot of McAfee. He revealed that he had bought a ticket and sat behind the commentary desk.
— Fiending For Followers ?? (@Fiend4FolIows) July 30, 2022
Happy Corbin started yelling at the former NFL player to do his job. Both the stars got into a heated argument as Michael Cole tried to run down the SummerSlam card.
Some officials came down to the ring to try and remove Corbin from the ringside. The King of The Ring winner then threw his popcorn at Pat’s face. He also managed to deliver a low blow to McAfee before leaving the arena.
You can check out the full segment below:
The current WWE commentator was arrested back in October 2010. He was charged with public intoxication, a Class B misdemeanor.
Baron Corbin and Pat McAfee are scheduled to face each other in a one-on-one match at the SummerSlam PPV tomorrow night.
Paul Heyman also addressed WWE fans before being interrupted by Brock Lesnar. Money in the Bank briefcase holder Theory tried to attack Lesnar from behind but he paid the price and was sent out of the ring.
Drew McIntyre then ran down the ramp to deliver a Claymore to Theory, which was payback for Theory attacking him earlier.
After The Show
When the FOX broadcast went off the air, fans inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA were treated to a dark match. It was Raw superstar AJ Styles taking on Happy Corbin.
Ultimately, AJ hit the Phenomenal Forearm for the three-count.
After the match, Styles celebrated inside the ring and took pictures with the fans. This is the final WWE match before SummerSlam.
Much has been made about Max Dupri’s status with Maximum Male Models. It was reported that Dupri was replaced by Maxxine Dupri as the mouthpiece of the faction.
Dupri reportedly rubbed some people the wrong way as he questioned the material of his scripts. The last word from Wrestling Observer is that Vince McMahon pulled him from the group as he wasn’t a fan of his delivery during promos.
Now that Vince is gone, Max Dupri isn’t going anywhere.
During the July 29 episode of WWE SmackDown, the Maximum Male Models unveiled the 2022 Beachwear Collection.
At the end of the segment, Max Dupri appeared to the surprise of fans inside the State Farm Arena and color commentator Pat McAfee.
"To titillate the juices of your guilty pleasures."
One superstar on the WWE SmackDown brand wasn’t able to make it to the show.
The go-home episode of SmackDown just one night before SummerSlam took place inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA. The show opened with a barn burner Donnybrook match between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus.
One match that was expected to take place was Lacey Evans vs. Aliyah. That didn’t end up happening.
Lacey Evans Misses SmackDown
(via WWE)
Aliyah made her way out for a match but it wasn’t against Lacey Evans.
SmackDown play-by-play commentator Michael Cole revealed that Evans wasn’t medically cleared to be in action. As a result, Shotzi replaced Lacey and actually picked up the win over Aliyah.
Evans recently turned heel on WWE TV. She hasn’t had a match since the Money in the Bank women’s ladder match on July 2.
Instead, Evans has been cutting heel promos and laid out Aliyah in two segments but never took any bumps.
We’ll keep you posted on what’s going on with Lacey Evans once more details become available.
Drew McIntyre has punched his ticket to Clash at the Castle.
McIntyre and Sheamus collided in the opening match of the July 29 episode of SmackDown. The two clashed in a good-old-fashioned Donnybrook match.
The winner would receive a shot at the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle on Sept. 3.
When the dust settled, it was McIntyre who emerged victorious. He will meet whoever holds the undisputed gold by the time WWE heads to Cardiff, Wales.
The current titleholder, Roman Reigns will put his gold on the line against Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match. That championship match will serve as the main event of SummerSlam on July 30 inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
WWE has teased the possibility of Theory cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on the show.
Plans for Drew McIntyre’s opponent at the big September premium live event have been reported. To save you from spoilers, we won’t post that info in this piece.
If you’d like to find out who Drew McIntyre will reportedly face for the WWE Undisputed Universal Title, click here.
Triple H is back full-time with WWE following his health issues last year. While speaking with the media on Friday at the WWE tryouts in Nashville, Triple H talked about being Head of Creative and Head of Talent Relations for WWE following Vince McMahon’s resignation.
“I appreciate you asking. I feel great. A glitch in the road. Luckily for me, it was caught, right? It took a little bit to get over it, get past it. I’m over it. I’ve got a clean bill of health. I’m a hundred percent.” I’m very aware of it. I’m very aware of what’s important in life and your family and everything else. For more, I approach it a little bit differently now.”
Triple H then joked about how he realized that sleep is good for him and encouraged everyone to try it.
“I’m back, I’m 100%, I’m ready to go, I’m ready to tear through this and put on a big pair of shoes. I have a new appreciation for life. It’s precious, it doesn’t last long. Embrace it, and get everything you can out of it. It can be over in a second. Embrace your family. Embrace your friends.
Tell them you love them, be upfront with it, and the things you love to do in life, embrace that. Work hard because it doesn’t last long. People ask me about my career. Am I sad not wrestling? No, I gave it everything I had. I rode it until the wheels fell off and that’s what you’re supposed to do. Luckily for me, they told me, ‘you shouldn’t do this anymore.’ Sweet, I’m done. I was wrapping it up anyway. To me, there didn’t need to be a perfect out.”
"I have a new appreciation for life, it's precious, it doesn't last long, embrace it, get everything you can out of it!"
Naomi is set to make her first public appearance as she has been booked for C2E2 2022, which takes place from August 5 – 7, 2022, at McCormick Place.
She is going by her real name, Trinity Fatu, and will be doing a signing with fans at the gathering. This is the same first public appearance for Sasha Banks, who is also going by her real name, Mercedes Varnado, and is hyped as “Sasha Banks” and from The Mandalorian, since they walked out of WWE.
Banks and Naomi walked out of a WWE Raw event in May due to creative differences. WWE noted in their statement that Banks and Naomi felt they weren’t respected enough as champions and later referred to them as ‘unprofessional.” WWE suspended them and stripped them of the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
The latest on their status with the company is that Banks and Naomi were taken off the company’s internal roster. Banks’ attorneys were still working on her release, but she has not been released yet.
They may get brought back now that Vince McMahon has resigned from the company.
WWE is holding talent tryouts ahead of Saturday’s SummerSlam event to sign the next Performance Center class.
While speaking with the media on Friday at the WWE tryouts in Nashville, Triple H talked about Paul Heyman possibly being involved in creative and development aspects.
Heyman, who had been the Raw Executive Director from 2019-2020, was at the tryouts to help scout talent.
“I want ideas from everybody, I want thoughts from everybody,” Triple H stated. “To me, this is inclusive. When I say, that goes for the talent. When I say this is going to take all of us, it’s going to take all of us. I want that, Paul is one of the best promos in the history of this business. Who better?
When I asked him to be part of this, he was thrilled. We both joke about the fountain of youth at these things. Paul always does this (rubbing his chest). Who better to come here to talk about that skill? Paul has the gift of gab, always has. Who better to come here and motivate these kids?”
Triple H mentioned Big E and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair as people who have helped out with the tryouts.
Heyman worked on the WWE creative team from 2001-2003, including the lead writer for SmackDown from July 2002 to February 2003.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit with an h/t toSEScoopsfor the transcription.
It’s been one week since Triple H was named EVP, Talent Relations of WWE, and Vince McMahon announced his decision to retire from WWE, stepping down as CEO.
This past Monday morning, it was announced that Triple H would assume all creative duties that were previously held by this father-in-law. It was the first time he had been in charge of creative since stepping away from his duties with NXT last year due to health issues.
While speaking with the media on Friday at the WWE tryouts in Nashville, Triple H talked about the undertaking of replacing Vince McMahon.
“You’ve gotta watch the show…there are a massive pair of shoes to fill that I am trying to step into, but I do not dream, for one second, that I can fill those shoes by myself. It’s going to take a lot of us. It’s going to take a team, it’s going to take everybody here to fill those shoes and continue this on, but we will.”
Triple H continued, “the intent is to continue the legacy of what has been going on, that made me fall in love with this business that he created and to take it to new levels. To take it beyond where it is now. The only way we’re going to do that is as a team. That’s with Steph [McMahon], Nick Khan, myself, Kevin Dunn, everybody that is here. That is with all this talent. The great hardest working talent in the world. I have no doubt in my mind that with this team, we can do it, not an inkling of doubt. It’s just a lot of hard work, and we’re all going to grind. We have the greatest fans in the world, and we’re going to make sure they get everything they want out of this product and then some.”
Triple H later added after recapping his week so far, “like I said, it’s going to take all of us to fill a big pair of shoes, but we’re hell-bent on doing it.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit with an h/t toSEScoopsfor the transcription.
Kurt Angle has revealed what he texted to Vince McMahon after it was announced that McMahon has retired.
As noted, there have been a lot of changes within WWE as of late. Vince McMahon stepped down as WWE CEO after some sexual misconduct allegations came to light.
He then decided to retire, handing the reigns of WWE creative over to son-in-law Triple H.
Now, various professional wrestling stars have offered up their reactions to the news. Recently, WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle was interviewed by Bleacher Report and offered his take on the situation.
Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon
Angle revealed that he actually texted McMahon after the news of his retirement broke, and divulged some details on the conversation.
“I text him five days ago when he decided to retire. I said, ‘Love you, Vince.’ I didn’t want to go into detail, what happened, this and that. He said, ‘I love you too.’ That’s all we said to each other.
“Vince has always been kind of a father figure to me. We did have a falling out in 2006, but we mended that in 2017 and I love the guy to death. He’s such a great individual.
“We all make mistakes as human beings and Vince is no different, but he’s an excellent individual.“
Kurt Angle and McMahon worked closely together when the former Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler was brought into WWE in the late 90s.
He would go on to become one of the company’s biggest stars of his generation.
Although he doesn’t wrestle anymore, having retired and been inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, Angle still regularly gives his take on the current goings on within the business on his podcast, “The Kurt Angle Show.”
One WWE superstar has made the trip to Nashville despite his match being canceled.
We are officially in the midst of SummerSlam weekend. WWE has opened up media availability and a lot of questions are being answered.
This will be the first major premium live event under the new regime in WWE. Stephanie McMahon is the new Chairwoman and co-CEO, sharing that title with Nick Khan.
Triple H is in charge of creative and he’s already made his presence felt when it comes to one big SummerSlam match that was originally planned.
Seth Rollins at SummerSlam Location
(via WWE)
The first major move Triple H made was putting the hammer down on an initially scheduled SummerSlam match between Seth Rollins and Riddle. An angle was done on the go-home episode of Raw where Rollins injured Riddle by giving him The Stomp on steel steps.
The injury is just for entertainment as Triple H reportedly has bigger plans for the match at Clash at the Castle on Sept. 3 in Cardiff, Wales.
The good news for Seth Rollins fans is that he has been spotted in Nashville for the WWE tryouts. Whether or not he’ll stay on the card remains to be seen.
Rumors have been swirling about a potential new opponent for Rollins on the show. Names such as top free agent Johnny Gargano and Dolph Ziggler have been rumored.
Nothing has been confirmed on that end at this time.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news about the WWE Board of Directors investigating McMahon over a $3 million settlement that McMahon had agreed to pay a former employee with whom he allegedly had an affair. They also reported he paid them more than $12 million to four women formerly with the company to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.”
Since Vince’s resignation, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan have been named co-CEOs, while Triple H has been named Head of Creative.
Linda helped launch Titan Sports alongside her husband, where she served as president and CEO of WWE until leaving the company in 2009. Since her departure from WWE, he attempted to secure a seat in the Senate in 2010 and 2012 but was unsuccessful.
Former US president Donald Trump named McMahon the head of the Small Business Administration in 2020.
One current member of the WWE roster has been approached about a possible showdown with Mike Tyson.
Tyson may be 56 years old but he is more marketable than ever before. The former undisputed heavyweight champion of boxing has become a pop culture icon.
This of course has many promoters fawning to try to get him to fight again. Back in Nov. 2020, Tyson took on fellow boxing legend and Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout.
While a winner wasn’t determined, the general consensus is that Tyson got the better of Jones.
Could a WWE superstar be next for “Iron” Mike?
Mike Tyson vs. Bobby Lashley?
(via WWE)
Bobby Lashley is the current WWE United States Champion. While his MMA days have been behind him for a few years due to his WWE exclusivity, he hasn’t lost the itch to compete again.
Promoters are aware of this, which is why he was approached with an offer to fight Mike Tyson.
Fightful was told by Lashley that a rep from a bare-knuckle boxing company put out a feeler to see if such a bout would be possible.
Lashley said that the promotion in question had listed Madison Square Garden in New York City as a possible destination. Fightful wasn’t able to confirm which company approached Lashley.
Even though Lashley would be clearly outmatched by Tyson on the feet, “Iron” Mike isn’t a spring chicken these days. TMZ Sports recently recorded footage of Mike Tyson moving around NYC with a cane.
The outlet received word that Tyson is dealing with a sciatica flare-up. The source for TMZ claimed that this wasn’t due to a new injury, but rather wear and tear over the years.
This was a storyline that Vince McMahon came up with and was fully behind. McMahon had worked with Dupri on his promo and how he should sound because McMahon did not want him to sound like his LA Knight character in NXT.
An Update On Max Dupri
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that Dupri being removed was a Vince call made “after one of the early segments of the deal when Vince blamed the segment being bad on his delivery of the lines, and apparently, he also spoke up about some of the scripting.”
With McMahon resigning and Triple H now in charge of creative, Dupri may show up on TV again. However, as of right now, he is out of the group.
Last Friday, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, after four decades as the unquestionable leader of the promotion.
A month after stepping down as CEO and Chairman of WWE, McMahon’s retirement saw him relinquish his role as head of WWE creative, which has been filled by Triple H.
In addition to being the head of WWE creative, the former WWE World Champion now serves as head of Talent Relations.
Kevin Dunn Staying
Much has changed behind the scenes in WWE, and one name fans expected to depart the company is Kevin Dunn.
Dunn, who serves as WWE’s Executive Vice President of TV Production has worked with the company for years, but is reportedly not liked by Triple H among others backstage.
It was recently reported that Dunn was expected to leave WWE within the next year, either of his own choice or by being forced out.
It now appears that Dunn will be sticking with WWE after all, as in a recent talk with the media, Triple H name-dropped Dunn as one of the people who is doing important work in the company.
“The Game” spoke about building on the company Vince McMahon created and seemingly confirmed that Dunn will be staying despite the reports.
“To take it [WWE] beyond where it is now, the only way we’re gonna do that is with a team. That’s with Steph [McMahon.] That’s with Nick Khan. That’s with myself. That’s with Kevin Dunn.”
Triple H on the team who will lead WWE into the future in the post-Vince McMahon era.
On last week’s episode of SmackDown, it was reported that Lesnar, who was initially advertised for the show, walked out hours before the show began after news began to circulate that Vince McMahon retired.
However, later on in the night to close the show, Lesnar did end up coming out, attacking Theory to close the show.
Meltzer adds that exact details of what happened are being kept confidential, but Lesnar did return to the TD Garden in Boston at around 8:30 PM, about seven hours after his walkout.
It’s said that WWE management kept in constant contact with Lesnar after his walkout. They then “made a deal with him” to come back. It’s not known whether this deal was regarding creative or a more lucrative financial deal.
(via WWE)
As for the reason for his walkout, it remains unknown if it truly was because of McMahon’s retirement, or if it was “brilliant business” on his part given the situation. The only person who truly knows, Lesnar, will likely never tell.
One source told WON that Brock Lesnar, who is unarguably WWE’s biggest star, walking out would have sent a “terrible public message,” creating the image of the company being “in chaos” without McMahon.
With that being said, WWE went out of their way to get Lesnar back on the show, seeing him as a must-have.
Meltzer also confirmed that alternate plans were in place if Lesnar didn’t return. Several names were pitched as potential replacement opponents for Reigns at SummerSlam.
It’s said that Lesnar seemed “very happy” when he returned to the arena, which could be an indication that, whatever deal WWE gave him, clearly did the job.
