Big Name Fired By WWE, Triple H Re-Signs Another Released Star, Logan Paul Backstage Heat – News Bulletin – August 9, 2022

Big Name Fired By WWE, Triple H Re-Signs Another Released Star, Logan Paul Backstage Heat – News Bulletin – August 9, 2022 WWE

A big name has been fired by WWE, Triple H has re-signed yet another released star, potential backstage heat on Logan Paul, and more.

It’s Tuesday morning, and what better way to start the day than getting caught up on all the latest wrestling news – I’m Liam Winnard for WrestleTalk.com, and this is our news bulletin for August 9, 2022.

John Laurinaitis Fired By WWE

In the wake of his involvement in sexual misconduct allegations and investigations, former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis has been terminated by WWE.

PWInsider had posted a report indicating Laurinaitis was still officially with WWE because the investigations were ongoing and the company couldn’t fire him until they were complete, but just minutes later, word came out that he actually was gone from the company.

PWInsider added that the termination happened within the last week or so and was being kept very quiet, with only a small circle of people knowing about it.

John Laurinaitis preaching 'people power'

One top WWE star reportedly called John Laurinaitis the “biggest snake in the business”

Laurinaitis had initially been put on “administrative leave” during the investigations, but was quietly let go from the company completely.

Laurinaitis was not a favorite of WWE talent, and Fightful Select has documented several WWE stars’ comments being happy that he’s gone.

As well as being head of creative, Paul Levesque (Triple H) is now also WWE’s EVP of Talent Relations.

PWInsider noted the investigation is still ongoing despite Laurinaitis’ termination.

Triple H Re-Signs Dexter Lumis, Lumis Returns On Raw

Triple H shows no signs of stopping when it comes to bringing back some of his favorite talents from his time as lead booker of NXT.

We had Dakota Kai, we had Karrion Kross and Scarlett, and now we can add Dexter Lumis to the list.

Lumis appeared at the end of last night’s Raw, where he was spotted in the crowd being restrained by security as he was seemingly trying to get to AJ Styles.

Dexter Lumis returns to Raw, escorted out by security

Dexter Lumis appeared just after AJ Styles had beaten The Miz in Raw’s main event

Lumis signed with WWE in February 2019, and remained on the NXT brand until he was released in April earlier this year.

There was also a mysterious segment on Raw earlier in the night that involved a car crashing in the parking lot behind an interview. Some fans expect this to be related to Lumis, but it wasn’t made clear.

Raw also saw the brackets for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship revealed, which notably includes the duo of NXT stars Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark, who aren’t a tag team in NXT.

Also noteworthy was the announcement of a six-woman tag team match for Clash at the Castle, which will be Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY taking on Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka, as well as a match being made for the August 22 episode of Raw in Edge’s hometown of Toronto, Canada, where he will face Damian Priest.

And in a potentially surprising result, Bobby Lashley actually retained the United States Championship over Ciampa. The match was full of references to Johnny Gargano, which may have just been Ciampa paying homage, but many have taken them as teases that Gargano could be another name on the growing list of returns.

Angelo Dawkins also had an impressive outing against Seth Rollins although Rollins won. Fans praised Dawkins after the match, and so did Natalya, who pointed out that he drives hours and hours every week to train to get better.

Logan Paul Backstage Heat?

Despite his in-ring performances largely being met with a lot of praise, there have been a few hints that there might be some backstage heat on Logan Paul in WWE.

The first of these came from Logan Paul himself, who said on his imPAULsive podcast that he can sense some of the talent in the locker room with “a bit of a chip on their shoulder”, because he’s being given the opportunity to have big matches right off the bat.

Even in saying that, he did come across well and says he respects everyone who’s worked hard to get to WWE, and said he intends on earning their respect too.

Logan Paul performing a frog splash from the top rope onto The Miz on the announce table

Logan Paul shone in his singles match debut against The Miz at SummerSlam

More recently, United States Champion Bobby Lashley made some comments to TVInsider about Paul backstage, saying that he hasn’t been following the traditional etiquette of shaking everyone’s hand.

Guys, wrestlers LOVE shaking each other’s hands. It’s a bit weird. But it’s just a thing they do.

Lashley said it “would be good for him to shake a little more hands and get to know more people”.

Other Stuff

In other little bits of news…

Dave Meltzer reported that Roman Reigns vs The Rock is still “100%” the plan for WrestleMania 39 as long as Rock is available.

Meltzer also stated that WWE is looking to sign a big Japanese star right now, and Konosuke Takeshita fits the bill of “exactly” what they’re looking for.

Scarlett and Karrion Kross threatening Roman Reigns after returning to WWE

Karrion Kross has immediately been inserted into the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship picture

PWInsider reported that Karrion Kross is listed on WWE’s internal roster as the #2 heel on SmackDown, behind Roman Reigns. Scarlett isn’t expected to wrestle, but the “door is open” for it.

WWE stars seem to be very happy that the words wrestler and wrestling are no longer banned. Gunther took to Twitter to proclaim himself the ‘Pro Wrestling Champion’, while Natalya’s bio is now simply “WRESTLER”.

Andrade El Idolo followed in Miro’s footsteps and liked a tweet that was critical of how he’s being used in AEW.

Tatum Paxley provided an update on the injury she suffered this past weekend, saying she’ll be ok and getting blood everywhere is “super heavy metal”.

Ivy Nile giving words of encouragement to Tatum Paxley

Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley were unsuccessful last week in their attempt to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship

Your favorite wrestling couple Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti had their wedding with many recognisable faces including Tony Khan in attendance.

VICE TV announced that The Rock, Seven Bucks Productions and Dark Side of the Ring producers are collaborating on a new series called Tales from the Territories, which will premiere on October 4.

PWInsider noted that early speculation is that WWE could look to head to San Antonio, Texas for the 2023 Royal Rumble event.

And set for tonight’s episode of NXT 2.0 is Zoey Stark vs Cora Jade in a match that if Cora Jade wins, she replaces Stark in challenging Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship at Heatwave next week; Nikkita Lyons vs Kiana James; Wes Lee vs Trick Williams in a “rounds match”; and Tony D’Angelo and Santos Escobar meet for “a final one-on-one accord”.

Be sure to stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com throughout the day to keep up with all the news from the world of pro-wrestling, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning for another round-up.

If you’re in the UK but didn’t manage to get tickets to Clash at the Castle on September 3, WrestleTalk is hosting a watch party at The Joiner on Worship in Shoreditch, London, and we’d love for you to join us! Click here for more details.

2 years ago by Liam Winnard

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