Here's more wrestling news for June 11th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Vince McMahon laughed backstage after Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of Raw!
Ex-AEW star set to join Impact Wrestling very soon
Ric Flair calls out Vince McMahon for huge match before his in-ring career ends
WWE extremely high on upcoming SmackDown Superstar
Real Reason for Stephanie McMahon’s absence from WWE revealed!
Vince McMahon looking for a publisher for his new memoirs
Paige is already teasing a return to WWE after announcing her departure
Nyla Rose weighs in on whether she wants AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships And more
We’re kicking off with WWE, and it’s been just under a month since Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out during an episode of Raw, over a difference of opinions with their creative direction.
Since then, both women have been suspended, called unprofess ional and have been removed from WWE programming, but we’re now learning more about the immediate response after the walk out.
Speaking on his After the Bell podcast, Corey Graves spoke about how that night was, and said Vince McMahon saw the funny side of things after the tattooed talker went backstage:
“I walked back through the curtain and I walked up to our fearless leader, and he had a grin on his face. ‘Hey, it’s live TV, nothing can go wrong, right?’ And he just laughed and shook my hand and
and went about his business.”
Graves had been the one who had said Banks and Naomi had acted unprofessionally, and while he has faced backlash from fans, these were words he had been instructed to say.
Both women’s contracts are set to expire this year, though WWE could theoretically freeze their deals, but only time will tell what McMahon does next with the former Women’s Tag Team Champions.
In April, Jack Evans’ contract with AEW expired and was not renewed, bringing his three years with the company to an end.
Evans has since said that the high dollar contract made him feel like he’d gone soft, but now the ex-AEW star is taking his talents elsewhere.
In the latest Observer Newsletter, it’s noted that Evans will soon be making his way to Impact Wrestling, and it’s believed by many that he’ll have better luck there than with Tony Khan.
Evans debuted with Angelico in AEW, but never made quite an Impact, so here’s hoping he fares better in the veteran promotion.
Next month, Ric Flair will wrestle his final ever match, bringing to an end one of the most influential, greatest in-ring careers of all time.
Details are still sketchy for Flair’s last match, with conflicting reports on who he will face, but we know of one person the Nature Boy wants to share the ring with one last time.
Speaking on his To Be The Man podcast, Flair expressed his desire to face off against Vince McMahon and has the perfect date to throw down with the Boss:
“I’m gonna text Vince today and say, ‘I think you and I should have one last encounter at SummerSlam… we deserve it… before I retire the next day. Vince McMahon against Ric Flair… I’ll take
the bumps, Vince just punches me, I’ll take a blade. The crowd will go crazy! I’ll fall on my face. How easy is that?” McMahon’s most recent official match came at WrestleMania 38
though the Chairman’s work in the ring was limited to say the least, but that won’t stop the Nature Boy wanting one last match with Vince before hanging up his boots for good.
Now, when WALTER was given the new name GUNTHER, and called up to the main roster, fans weren’t sure what to make of it, fearing the Austrian would be ruined by Vince McMahon.
Instead, GUNTHER has proven to be a dominant force each week on SmackDown and don’t expect his push to slow down anytime soon.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reports that GUNTHER has impressed “many people of influence” in WWE, and there’s several heavy hitters who are behind the Austrian powerhouse.
It’s added that GUNTHER’s recent weight loss and willingness to move to the United States have only made more people get behind him, especially as he was previously hesitant to make the move.
On last night’s SmackDown, GUNTHER captured his first piece of championship gold on the main roster, dethroning Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship, but by the sounds of it, this
won’t be his last big win on the main roster.
Last month, Stephanie McMahon shocked everyone by announcing a leave of absence from WWE, with much of her responsibilities now being overseen by company President Nick Khan.
What’s been most surprising about this situation is that WWE officials have reportedly been burying Stephanie, leading to specul ation that not only will she not be back with WWE anytime soon,
but she may not be back in the roles she once had at all. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that Stephanie had been wanting
to leave for months before her announcement, which shouldn’t be too surprising given her husband Triple H’s cardiac event last September.
The most surprising part of the report is that it’s believed McMahon’s absence may be related to WWE’s ongoing lawsuit with MLW, as the latter promotion has accused WWE of tampering with their business.
The lawsuit alleges that it was Stephanie herself who reached out to FOX to encourage them to cancel their plans for Tubi TV to stream MLW content.
It’s also alleged that Stephanie even went as far as to threaten FOX, saying that allowing Tubi to stream MLW could cost the Murdoch-owned broadcaster the rights to air WWE SmackDown.
Whether McMahon’s decision to take a break coincides with the MLW lawsuit is hard to tell at this point, but with WWE’s legal trou bles being blamed on Stephanie, it may be a long time before she
has any major role with her father’s company.
From one McMahon to another now as Vince McMahon has led an interesting life to say the least, from being beaten by his stepfather in a trailer park to becoming the most powerful person in pro wrestling.
Now, fans will be able to learn the secrets of making a multi-billion dollar wrestling empire, as a new memoir has been written about the boos.
The memoir will give fans a never before seen look at McMahon’s life, and the New York Post reports that the Chairman is now looking for a publisher.
This isn’t the only book being shopped around about the WWE CEO, as a memoir titled ‘Ringmaster’ written by Abraham Riesman, will be published in early 2023.
The difference between the two books however, is that the new memoir has had direct involvement by McMahon himself, something t hat Ringmaster did not get, so time will tell if the Chairman can
find a publisher for what will no doubt be an interesting read.
We’ve got an update in the Paige situation, as the former Divas Champion recently announced that her time with WWE is coming to an end.
In a tweet, Paige confirmed that July 7th will be her last day with the company, and there’s already been speculation of her showing up in AEW.
There’s no guarantee yet on where Paige will be heading, but she’s not ruling out a return to WWE entirely.
While Paige announced her departure over Twitter, she had a much different message on Instagram, sharing a picture of the night she retired from in-ring competition, and told WWE “goodbye… for now.”
It appears Paige is already teasing a possible return to WWE, and it’s good that she’s open to not closing the door entirely on Vince McMahon’s company.
Paige has always insisted that she will wrestle again one day, and if WWE allows her return match to take place in one of their rings, then her upcoming departure from the Sports
Entertainment juggernaut may be short lived.
And we’re ending today with AEW, who are set to crown their first All-Atlantic Champion at Forbidden Door next month.
In addition to that title, it’s been rumored for years that the company has plans for trios six-man tag team titles, but one wrestler is hoping to see some different gold getting defended.
In an appearance on The Sessions with Renee Paquette this week, Nyla Rose was asked about her goals for AEW at this point in her career, and has big plans for the new titles.
“I would love a second title run [as AEW Women’s World Champion. ] At this stage, in AEW’s lineage, I’d personally would love to bring in some tag titles (for the women). That’s just me, well I shouldn’t
say that’s just me, that’s a lot of people. We’ve got to wait for the right time. But I’m being impatient about it. I want it right now. Let’s do it, right now.”
Rose is just the latest star of the company to call for women’s tag titles, with Anna Jay expressing her desire for the new championships to be introduced in an interview last month.
Ultimately, it’ll be Tony Khan’s decision as to when, if ever, AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles are revealed, but it could be jus t a matter of time before the promotion joins WWE and Impact with
their own female tag gold.