Here's your wrestling news for June 25th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Eva Marie Fires Back At Report She Was Moved To WWE Alumni Section!
New WWE Writer On Not Needing To Know About Wrestling, Bobby Lashley And Scotty 2 Hotty!
WWE Not Making Any Concrete Plans For After 2021 Draft!
WWE Forced To Call In Part-Timers For Major Events; Plans Leaked For A MAJOR Part Timer’s Return For
SummerSlam!
Update On Jeff Hardy's WWE Contract Status!
Plans Already Made For Kenny Omega Losing Impact World Title!
WWE NXT Close To Breaking Up Longtime Faction!
JOHN CENA Got In Drunken Fist Fight At Wedding!
Released WWE Wrestler Was Offended By Angle WWE Wrote For Her
WWE Trying To Erase Karrion Kross’ Main Event Entrance From Social Media! And More!
We’re starting today with Eva Marie, and though she’s only recently returned to WWE TV, it was believed this week that
her time with the company was already over. On WWE.com, many fans noticed that
Eva’s profile had been moved to the Alumni section of the site, where WWE usually places it’s released or former Superstars,
and that she’d been removed from the ‘current Superstars’ section on the WWE app.
Whilst we’re sure that some fans would be more than happy for Eva Marie to have been released, that isn’t the case, as
Marie herself fired back on Twitter, saying: FAKE NEWS! Tweets circulating that my Status on the WWE Roster is Alumni.
FALSE! A simple fact check reveals the truth. Don’t let the main stream fake wrestling news media try to derail
the #EVALution . We are in this together, they can’t stop us! #WWERaw Now, Eva Marie’s profile has been moved
back to the current Superstars section of WWE.com and is once again listed as a RAW Superstar, as the former Total Divas
star isn’t going anywhere just yet.
More from RAW next, and if you’ve ever watched an episode and felt like you could write a better show than what
you’re seeing, the odds are that you probably could. This week, Kenice Mobley, who was
recently hired to be a writer for RAW, appeared on the Asian Not Asian podcast, and the writer/stand-up comedian
discussed how she got the job, saying: “I have just been hired by WWE… That’s surprising. They did not require me to
anything about wrestling but I do have a background in film production and comedy writing and they’re like, ‘Perfect. Come on in.”
It appears that a knowledge of the wrestling industry isn’t essential to be a WWE writer, and it’s not like Mobley has learned things
on the job, as she added: “The people I know that are on it are Bobby — his name is either Bobby Ashley
or Bobby Lashley and I really should know that. He’s like this giant Black guy and he and the people who are part of his crew,
I know that they call — or at least as of last year, they called themselves The Hurt Business.”
It’s one thing to not be able to list every World Champion going back to Frank Gotch, but we’d have hoped that a 2021 WWE
writer would no the name of the reigning WWE Champion. At one point in the interview, Mobley was
shown an image of Scotty 2 Hotty, who now works as a performance center coach, and admitted that she’d never heard of him
and would feel very bad to be beaten up by someone who looked like the former member of Too Cool.
We’re scratching our heads as to why WWE would hire someone with zero knowledge of their product, and we can only hope
Mobley is watching closely with Robby Ashley faces Toby Kingston at the Cash in the Attic Pay-Per-View next month.
At the end of August and early September, the company is set to host a draft, which looks to shake-up WWE after Summerslam 2021.
Some moves have already been reported, such as Big E moving to RAW, whilst Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are set to be on the
brand, but little else is known about WWE’s plans for the draft, or after it. When Ringside News asked about the plans
for after Summerslam, especially those related to the draft, they were told that the company has little to no plans for anything after WWE’s
biggest party of the Summer. That same source noted that all of WWE’s focus right now is on Money in the Bank
and Summerslam, and that plans are always subject to change. Though WWE may have little-to-no plans for
after Summerslam, Big E is reportedly set to get a big push on RAW, possibly in the main- event, but the company isn’t thinking that far
ahead with any other WWE Superstar.
It wasn’t too long ago that it was reported that WWE wants Summerslam 2021 to be as big as WrestleMania 37, and that WWE is
quote “all hands on deck” for the biggest party of the summer. It’s already reported that John Cena will be
be back to challenge Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and he won’t be the only big name returning for the show.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed WWE’s lack of top babyfaces, and that the company will
keep calling in part-timers, as they’re the only big names they have to face the heels at this point.
Giving Kofi Kingston as an example, Meltzer explained that though the New Day star will face WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at
Money in the Bank, that Kofi won’t be in the title picture at Summerslam, adding that nobody on WWE’s roster is ready to face
the company’s top heels. At the start of this month, it was reported that WWE is set to bring back Goldberg for this
year’s Summerslam, with the plan being for him to face Riddle, a match that’ll see Randy Orton turn on his RK-Bro team-mate, starting
a feud that’ll lead to a match at Clash of Champions. WWE clearly has a lack of top babyfaces
on both RAW and SmackDown, as Roman Reigns’ challenger at Summerslam won’t be a full-time Superstar, and unless
something changes, the company will keep relying on part-time Superstars to fill out their card.
One man who WWE could elevate is Jeff Hardy, who’s contract was set to expire in 2020, but due to injuries and time away, his deal was
frozen and time added on. This situation eventually led to Jeff signing a new deal with WWE, and we now know how
long the Charismatic Enigma will be around. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Jeff’s latest contract was either restructured,
re-signed or extended in 2020, with it being confirmed that Hardy will use his popular No More Words theme when the fans return
next mont. Sapp reports that Jeff’s current deal runs through the end of 2022 or early 2023,
but like last time, his contract can be frozen and time tacked on the end if he gets injured.
WWE hadn’t used Jeff Hardy a lot on RAW until recently, where he’s found himself in a feud with Cedric Alexander, and whilst
many fans would love to see a Hardy Boys reunion in AEW, that won’t be happening just yet.
Earlier this month, WWE released Ruby Riott, and we now know what her new ring-name will be.
On Instagram, Riott has changed her name to Ruby Soho, and fans of punk rock may find the name familiar.
After all, Ruby Soho is the name of 1995 punk rock song by Rancid, during an appearance for the Wrestling Perspective
which is co-hosted by Rancid Guitarist/vocalist Lars Frederiksen, the musician offered Ruby the rights to use the Ruby Soho single as
her entrance theme. In that same interview, the former Superstar said that she has no plans on competing
under her pre-WWE name Heidi Lovelace, saying that she’s grown attached to the Ruby name, and fans will get to see Ruby
Soho compete when her 90-day non- complete clause expires on August 31st.
One person fans can see plenty of is Kenny Omega, who’s the reigning AEW, Impact and AAA Mega Champion, and has been booked
as one of the best champions in recent memory. All good things must come to an end though,
and during Wrestling Observer Radio this week, Dave Meltzer explained that plans are in motion for the Cleaner to lose the Impact
World Championship. He explained: “Before Omega ever won the title, they had their battle plan all mapped out on what it’s
gonna be, who’s gonna be on what show, and when it’s gonna be, and when IMPACT can get their title back. That was all part of the deal
way ahead of time.” Today marks day 61 of Omega’s reign as Impact World Champion, and we’ll have to
wait and see who Impact has had planned all along to dethrone the consistently well-booked AEW wrestler.
Back to WWE now, and recently, NXT saw the debut of the Diamond Mine, but now a different faction could be on the way out.
In January 2020, Robert Stone introduced the Robert Stone brand, which currently includes Jessi Kamea and Aliyah, but that
will be ending soon. That’s according to Dave Meltzer, who noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that
the obvious plan is for Franky Monet to suck-up to Stone, all the while stealing Kamea and Aliyah for herself.
As to what WWE has planned for the trio of Monet, Kamea and Aliyah is unclear at this time, but it seems Robert Stone doesn’t
factor into any plans for the upcoming all-female stable.
If you know about John Cena’s life out of the ring, you’ll know that the 16-time WWE World Champion has four brothers, one older and
three younger, and like any set of brothers, the group were no strangers to getting into fights.
While on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the Superstar/actor discussed an incident at one of his brother’s weddings, where he
opened up a bar and put everything on his tab for the guests. He added: “I thought it would be a nice gesture to open
the bar. Drinks are on me, that’s my gift to the bride and groom. Nobody would have to pay for anything.”
“I found out it was a mistake when my brother Dan and I got into a fistfight in the middle of the dance floor and closed the wedding down.”
Cena added that it was at that moment that you could tell who were guests and who were Cena family members, as whilst guests
pleaded for the pair to stop, the Cenas encouraged the boys to continue grappling, saying “let ‘em figure it out.”
We’re not sure what possessed Dan Cena to scrap with his world Champion brother, but we’ve gotta give props to the 16-time
Champion for paying for everyone’s drinks, and being ready to throw down at a moment’s notice.
Earlier this year, Mickie James was released from WWE, after going through a lot in Vince McMahon’s company.
Fans haven’t forgotten the tactless ‘Piggy James’ angle from 2010, which played off WWE’s genuine belief that Mickie was too
heavy to be in WWE’s Divas division, and whilst that angle definitely wouldn’t fly nowadays, the company didn’t change
their ways when she returned in 2016. Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, James discussed a 2017 angle with Alexa Bliss
where Bliss continuously made jabs at James’ age, as she was 38 at the time. In one segment, Bliss presented the former
Women’s Champion with Depend products and a Walker, something that James said was offensive, but agreed to do it as a
professional. She added: “It isn’t fair, but I think it has always been a culture. I remember when I first came on,
was when you are 35, women are done in this business and women had much shorter careers. Maybe it has something to
do with the fact I have been relevant on TV for the last 15 years in some capacity. I am all about building the future, but you can’t sh*t
on your former champions and the history that was made.” In March this year, James called out WWE’s
double standard on women, saying that women’s wrestlers in their mid-30s are considered over the hill, whilst her male
counterparts continue to hold titles into their 40s and even 50s. Whether it be Piggy James, jokes about
her age or sending her personal items in a trash-bag, WWE has a history of disrespecting Mickie James, and the former
Women’s Champion will soon be found competing at the NWA’s 73rd anniversary show, as she’s far from finished.
And we’re ending today with NXT Champion Karrion Kross, who made his main-roster in- ring debut this week, defeating Shelton
Benjamin on Main Event. Kross, alongside Scarlett are being considered a top-priority, and expected to
be called-up full-time very soon, but fans weren’t pleased with the Champion’s entrance during Main Event.
In his usual NXT entrance, the Capitol Wrestling Center become a dark place and chaos ensues, whilst Scarlett’s vocals ring
out ‘Fall and Pray.’ During main-event though, Kross simply came out to a slightly altered version of his theme,
with no lighting or effects, and most noticeably, no Scarlett. On social media, fans haven’t been happy
about these changes, and WWE have definitely noticed this, as they’re now using copyright strikes against any
accounts that post Kross’ main-roster entrance. It seems WWE wants fans to forget this
match ever happened, and although Vince McMahon may have thought that most fans don’t watch Main Event, Kross’ match went
viral for all the wrong reasons. Hopefully, WWE has learned it’s lesson and Kross will receive his usual theatrics
when he moves to the main-roster permanently, and we can only hope that he is reunited with Scarlett, who’s set to
receive a tryout match before tonight’s edition of SmackDown.