Major NXT Star Leaving WWE, Sasha Banks Backstage Talk, WWE Talent Meeting Details – Audio News Bulletin – July 4, 2022

WWE

A major NXT star is likely leaving WWE soon, some insight into what people backstage are saying about the Sasha Banks situation, details on a WWE talent meeting at Money in the Bank, and more.

Happy Fourth of July to any Americans out there, and to everyone else, happy Monday, and what better way to start the week than getting caught up on all the latest wrestling news. I’m Liam Winnard for WrestleTalk.com, and this is our audio news bulletin for July 4, 2022.

Listen to this morning’s round-up here:

Io Shirai NXT Contract Expiring

NXT has seen many, many new faces come in over the past number of months with the transition to NXT 2.0, and there are very few names left on TV from the black and gold era.

One of those names who is still on the roster that has been there for several years is Io Shirai, but that might not be the case for much longer.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Shirai is set to become a free agent next month if she doesn’t sign her new contract offer, which she hasn’t yet.

It looks unlikely that she will because Shirai has reportedly told people in Japan that she wanted to return there when her contract came up.

Shirai is a former NXT Women’s Champion and has been with WWE since 2016. She hasn’t wrestled since April due to injury.

Sasha Banks Backstage Talk In WWE

From one potential WWE departure to another, as we have another update on the Sasha Banks situation.

There’s still no concrete answer as to whether Banks has been released or not, but we do have some insight into how talent backstage are reacting to the proceedings.

As noted in the Wrestling Observer, talent also don’t know whether Banks has been released, but no-one really talks about it because every day there’s a new development to the point it’s not actually worth caring about until people know more details.

There were reports that Banks had been released, but no official confirmation from the main sources like Fightful or PWInsider. However it has been acknowledged by the Wrestling Observer that Banks’ lawyers were at least in talks with WWE about a potential release.

WWE Talent Meeting At Money In The Bank

WWE held Money in the Bank this past Saturday, which saw Liv Morgan win the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match before cashing in on the same night to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and Theory win the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match after being a late addition following his United States Championship loss to Bobby Lashley earlier in the show.

Before the actual show itself though, there was a meeting backstage with talent hosted by interim WWE CEO and Chairwoman Stephanie McMahon.

The news was originally reported by WrestleVotes, who said the meeting was received well by those in attendance, and some more details have now come to light.

Fightful Select reports that Triple H and Nick Khan also spoke in the meeting. Neither Fightful nor PWInsider heard of Vince McMahon being involved.

According to Fightful, Stephanie, Triple H and Khan are generally well-liked by talent, and Stephanie especially seems to be quote “outright adored”.

During the meeting, it was reiterated that Triple H is now back working full-time for the company, and their doors are open for any talent who wants to talk to them.

Fightful reiterated that the meeting was “unanimously positively received”, and PWInsider mentioned that some talents were putting their matches together for the show later than usual because of the meeting.

Other Stuff

In other little bits of news…

Speaking of Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and Nick Khan, they, along with Vince McMahon and Pat McAfee attended the UFC show straight after Money in the Bank. With the exception of Nick Khan, they were all highlighted on-screen during the broadcast.

McAfee was actually wearing a neck brace, which was done to sell an attack from Happy Corbin after Money in the Bank went off the air. Shortly after, a match between the two was made official for SummerSlam on July 30.

A mysterious dark vignette aired during Money in the Bank which left fans guessing who it could be for – Fightful Select is reporting that the working plan is for it to be Edge.

Off the back of her win at Money in the Bank, Dave Meltzer reported that the plan is to have Liv Morgan defend the SmackDown Women’s Title against Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam.

Meltzer also said that there are people backstage in WWE pushing the idea of using Montez Ford as a singles star, especially now that he’s gotten bigger. They have started teasing a split for the Street Profits on TV.

Some follow-up news emerged after Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho and Paul Wight all made cameo appearances on Raw last week for the John Cena celebration. Mark Henry reportedly also filmed a video but it didn’t make it to air, and it was Bruce Prichard who contacted Tony Khan about using some AEW stars.

Khan also came out and said he had no problem giving his permission to them to do it, but left the decision up to the guys themselves.

Titus O’Neil spoke with Wrestling Inc and said he will definitely return to the ring at the right time.

Fightful Select reported that WWE has been seriously discussing calling Solo Sikoa up to the main roster from NXT. A little while ago Sikoa revealed in an interview that WWE had originally been considering having him debut with the Bloodline without even working in NXT first.

According to Dave Meltzer, WWE has been considering a shock heel turn for Cora Jade in NXT, with her turning on her tag partner Roxanne Perez.

After reports that Bayley was set to return “somewhat soon”, Fightful mentioned that she has actually been training in the ring ahead of said return, so it could be coming up very soon.

A couple of notes from Forbidden Door – it was reported that NJPW booker Gedo’s plan was for the Young Bucks to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a match against Jeff Cobb and Great O’Khan to make them double champions along with their AEW World Tag Team Championship. However, it was changed and the Bucks were on board with the idea that it’s cool for FTR to hold the IWGP, AAA and ROH tag titles.

Early estimates suggest the show did around 127,000 pay-per-view buys, which is down from just over 155,000 for Double Or Nothing, but that was expected, and it was still a really good number.

It’s believed that Adam Cole suffered a “very serious concussion” at Forbidden Door. He tweeted yesterday, “Thank you so much for all the love, support, and kindness. It means the world”.

WWE talent are reportedly very surprised that Claudio Castagnoli joined AEW considering the amount of money WWE offered him to stay.

Tetsyta Naito tweeted: “Unfortunately I was not invited to the “AEW x NJPW” show that is being talked about all over the place. Not invited = not needed Right? Because of that frustration, I haven’t watched any footage of this show. I’m genuinely upset about it…”. There is however talk that is just a work.

Andrew Zarian said on Wrestling Observer Live that WarnerMedia wants more pay-per-views from AEW. They’re not going to force AEW to do more than four a year, but they would love them to do more. It was said that the upcoming ROH pay-per-view could be a bit of a test in that regard.

Alan Angels, whose AEW contract expired on July 1, the very next day made his debut for IMPACT in a match against Mike Bailey.

And on tonight’s episode of Raw, The Miz will respond to Logan Paul’s challenge for a match at SummerSlam.

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.

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