Here's your wrestling news for June 21st 2022
And your headlines for today include
Vince McMahon makes Another WWE appearance! What did he say on Raw?
Jim Cornette shares idea for “biggest f***ing Pay Per View” if Vince goes for good
Elias returns to WWE Raw after 10-month absence, reunites with his brother
Major changes confirmed for Money in the Bank – Original title match plans scrapped
WWE Hall of Famer to undergo partial amputations
John Laurinaitis placed on administrative leave – Future looks bleak for the former Raw GM
More bad news for Tammy Sytch in ongoing legal battle
Bryan Danielson’s status for AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door remains unclear And more
We’re kicking of today with Monday Night Raw, which saw another appearance by Vince McMahon.
The former WWE CEO appeared during last week’ SmackDown, his first public outing since stepping down from his many roles with the company, and rather than address the allegations against him,
merely welcomed fans to the show.
On Raw, McMahon had a similarly strange appearance, as he once again didn’t discuss the alleged affair and $3 million hush money payout, and instead, he repeated what he said on SmackDown.
Reminding fans of the tagline ‘Then. Now. Forever. Together,’ McMahon again welcomed fans to the show, though did add that a huge return is coming next week, namely John Cena.
It was yet another bizarre appearance by McMahon, who is keeping himself in the spotlight despite the allegations against him, and we’ll have to see what he has to say should he show up on this
Friday’s SmackDown
The allegations against McMahon are arguably the biggest threat the billionaire promoter has faced in decades, and could see him lose his role as CEO and Chairman of the company permanently.
McMahon losing his role for good with WWE would be the biggest story in decades, but it may not be the last we see of him.
On the latest episode of the Drive Thru podcast, Jim Cornette weighed in on McMahon's situation, and said that no matter what, fans haven't seen the last of Vinnie Mac:
In what world would anybody not want – not matter how this turns out – Vince McMahon on television one more time to say whatever the fu*k he wants to say. They can advertise that on pay-
per-view, especially if they said, 'Hey Vince, guess what, we're taking the company away from you and you can't come back. But, we'll do a pay-per-view and you can say anything you want.' That
would be the biggest fu*king pay-per-view they could possibly do”
It's worth stating that many in WWE believe that McMahon will survive this scandal and will return to his role as CEO, but that John Laurinaitis won't be as lucky.
We can only imagine what McMahon will have to say, on TV or not, if he does lose his company to this investigation, but with Vince getting massive responses during his two appearances post-
investigation announcement, Cornette's right to say that the controversial ex-Chairman is still a draw.
Raw also saw the long-awaited return of Elias, who appeared for the first time in ten months on the red brand.
The feud between Ezekiel and Kevin Owens has been a highlight of Raw since the post-WrestleMania 38 episode, and while some have argued that this angle is beneath the man who faced Stone Cold
Steve Austin, Owens has done fantastic in his role. WWE did an equally brilliant job with Elias’ return this week, keeping him and Ezekiel together on
screen, but apart simultaneously, and it was the former 24/7 Champion who got the last laugh, beating down a still unconvinced KO
We’ll admit we’re not sure what the end of this angle will be, as either Owens will finally get his redemption, or continue to be trolled by everyone around him.
Either way, Owens, Ezekiel and Elias all did fantastic during t he latter’s return this week, and this angle still has a lot of love with the audience.
On July 2nd, WWE will host their annual Money in the Bank event, often considered the fifth big Premium Live Event due to the two titular ladder matches.
This week’s Raw saw the build towards Money in the Bank 2022 continue, with several changes made to the show.
Bianca Belair appeared on Raw to announce that Rhea Ripley has not been medically cleared to compete, and it was later determined that Carmella will take Ripley’s place and challenge the EST for
the Raw Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank. Bobby Lashley won a gauntlet match to earn a shot at United States Champion Theory, while in the
main event, Asuka got one step closer to becoming a two-time Ms. Money in the Bank, qualifying with a victory over Becky Lynch.
WWE has just one episode of Raw left, and two of SmackDown, before Money in the Bank, but there’s still plenty of time to build towards this year’s unique show.
We’ve got some sad news to report now, as WWE Hall of Famer ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham is set to undergo partial amputations on his body.
A former WWWF Champion, Graham broke the news over Facebook, saying that an infection in his foot has made it necessary for surgeons to partially amputate some of his toes.
Graham added that he will be away from social media for a few weeks due to this, as he’d like to spend his entire focus on his recovery.
Graham may be best known by fans today for his controversial comments on social media, but this is no doubt a scary time for him, and we’re wishing him the best on his upcoming surgery.
Back to Raw, as plenty of big names appeared during the show, but one name who wasn’t around is John Laurinaitis.
PW Insider is reporting that Laurinaitis was not backstage at the tapings in Lincoln, Nebraska, despite usually being at all televised shows as Head of Talent Relations.
This marks the second show in a row Laurinaitis has been absent from, after missing last Friday’s SmackDown.
In an update, WWE announced that Lauriniatis has been placed on Administrative Leave, and a memo sent around WWE has confirmed that Bruce Prichard will be taking over as interim head of talent relations.
Like Vince McMahon, Laurinatis’ name was also brought up in the now infamous Wall Street Journal article, as it’s claimed McMahon ‘passed on’ the paralegal it’s alleged he was sleeping with to Laurinaitis.
While McMahon has been appearing on TV, a sign that he’s not going anywhere, Johnny Ace has been nowhere to be seen, and the future doesn’t look good for the former Raw and SmackDown General Manager.
We’ve got an update in the Tammy Sytch case now, as the WWE Hall of Famer is continuing to face a DUI manslaughter charge that could lead to her spending decades behind bars.
This latest update isn’t from Sytch, but rather her lawyer, who i s looking to get as far away from this case as humanly possible.
As first reported by PW Insider, Sytch’s lawyer, Steven deLaroche, has filed a motion requesting he be allowed to withdraw himself from being Sytch’s legal counsel going forward.
In his motion, deLarcoche cited several reasons for his request to be withdrawn, claiming that Sytch has not complied with the terms of employment between them, and has said it is now impossible for
them to work together in the future. Sytch has pled not guilty to the DUI Manslaughter charge, claiming a medical condition is what killed
driver Julian Lasseter at the time of the three-vehicle collision, but her legal counsel wanting to leave is not a good sign for the controversial WWF diva
And we’re ending today with, AEW and New Japan, who will team up this weekend to host their Forbidden Door crossover event, which will unfortunately go on ahead without some major names.
Kenny Omega, CM Punk and Kazuchika Okada are all set to miss the show, and there's been a lot of questions about the status of Bryan Danielson.
One of the most popular stars in AEW, Danielson is conspicuous by his absence on the Forbidden Door card, though he has been out with an injury in recent weeks.
Speaking on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that Danielson's medical status is still unclear, despite Zack Sabre Jr. calling him out at the recent Dominion event.
Given Bryan's history of injuries, the last thing AEW want to do is rush his recovery and bring him back too soon, but we'll hopefully have a clearer picture after Danielson addresses the
the fans of tomorrow night’s AEW Dynamite.