WWE Star Talked With AEW’s Tony Khan, Name Change On Raw, Bray Wyatt Update – News Bulletin – October 25, 2022

WWE Star Talked With AEW’s Tony Khan, Name Change On Raw, Bray Wyatt Update – News Bulletin – October 25, 2022 AEW/WWE

A WWE star had talks with AEW’s Tony Khan, a name change on last night’s WWE Raw, an update on the status of Bray Wyatt, and more.

It is Tuesday morning, the night after Monday Night Raw, and this is all the latest wrestling news in our bite-sized bulletin to get you up to speed on October 25, 2022.

Recent WWE Signee Talked With AEW’s Tony Khan

A recent WWE signing was in talks with AEW prior to their return to the former.

WWE has undergone a commentary and broadcast team shake-up recently, while AEW acquired Renee Paquette for their own team after she passed on WWE’s offer.

Now, Fightful Select (subscription required) has reported from their sources that a recent WWE signing, Cathy Kelley, had discussions with AEW earlier this year.

Cathy Kelley interviewing AJ Styles and the OC

Cathy Kelley interviewing AJ Styles and the OC

It is not clear how far these talks went, but they were said to include directly speaking with AEW CEO Tony Khan about the possibility of joining his ranks.

Ultimately the talks, though reportedly positive, did not come to fruition as Cathy Kelley has returned to WWE as a backstage interviewer on Raw.

The report interestingly notes however that Kelley remained on “solid terms” with AEW before her return to WWE, which could be another way of saying that the door is never quite shut.

Name Change & More On WWE Raw

Last night was the Monday, 24 October edition of Raw and it has left us with plenty to chew over.

Firstly, a big name change as Nikki ASH is back to Nikki Cross. During Bianca Belair’s main event match-up against Bayley with Damage CTRL at ringside, Nikki Cross made a surprise entrance with no superhero cape in sight to attack IYO SKY and Dakota Kai. Without missing a beat, Cross took out the referee and then attacked Bianca Belair for good measure. This led to Bayley securing the win and a future title shot. And after all that, Nikki Cross made it clear that everyone was in her line of fire as she attacked Bayley post-match as well.

Raw opened with Judgment Day holding court and Dominik Mysterio riling everyone up with his self-comparisons to Eddie Guerrero. AJ Styles and The OC did not take this well, with AJ Styles instead comparing Mysterio to Carmella’s former manager, James Ellsworth. The man himself reacted to this namedrop and made a series of responses on Twitter.

This verbal interaction led to a match-up between Finn Balor and Karl Anderson with Balor taking the win. Rhea Ripley had a show-stopping moment of her own however when she bodyslammed Luke Gallows outside of the ring. You can watch the must-see clip right here.

Rhea Ripley bodyslamming Luke Gallows

Rhea Ripley bodyslamming Luke Gallows, who is billed as weight 290 lbs

Elsewhere on Raw, R-Truth defended the reputation of South Carolina mac and cheese (yes, really) against The Miz. R-Truth (and the popular dish) took the victory thanks to Gargano distracting Miz while pretending to be Dexter Lumis.

In a pre-match segment, The Miz said that Tommaso Ciampa was missing and inferred that this was down to Lumis. Johnny Gargano confirmed however that Tommasso Ciampa is injured, although no details on the injury were given.

There were a lot of distractions on this edition of Raw as Austin Theory beat Mustafa Ali with the help of Seth Rollins providing a ring-side distraction. This marked Theory’s first win since August 15. Ali did not take the distraction lightly and attacked Rollins after the match.

Omos took on and defeated four jobbers in a four-on-one handicap match in a build-up to his match against the ‘Monster of All Monsters,’ Braun Strowman, at Crown Jewel on November 5.

Omos looking down at Braun Strowman

WWE is hyping up Omos vs Braun Strowman as ‘Giant vs Monster’ for Crown Jewel

Elias had his first match since his return and beat Chad Gable. Alpha Academy launched an attack on Elias in response but he was saved with a little help from Riddle.

Baron Corbin defeated Gargano thanks to some interference from JBL. This is the first time JBL has got physical since his return.

The show then closed with the aforementioned Bayley vs Belair match and the return of Nikki Cross.

Raw also saw the return of Triple H backstage after COVID-19 prevented from him overseeing last week’s editions of Raw and SmackDown in person. According to PWInsider,  he remained in constant communication with staff to ensure the broadcasts went ahead as planned while he recovered at home and adhered to WWE’s company COVID-19 protocols. Reportedly, he was feeling ‘fine’ during his isolation.

DX reunite in the ring on Raw

Triple H made numerous WWE TV appearances before his COVID-19 absence, including the DX reunion on October 10

And finally, NXT’s Kiana James made her debut on the main roster in a taped match for Main Event before Raw, losing to Dana Brooke.

NXT’s Von Wagner made another appearance on Main Event, this time successfully defeating Cedric Alexander.

Bray Wyatt WWE Roster Status Update

Fireflies will be keen to know that there is a big update concerning Bray Wyatt’s WWE roster status.

As confirmed via PWInsider, WWE has internally placed Bray Wyatt as their top babyface for the SmackDown brand, replacing Drew McIntyre who is now listed second.

Bray Wyatt in the ring for his SmackDown return

Bray Wyatt will reportedly be exclusive to the SmackDown brand following his return

WWE is said to be very pleased with the reception of Bray Wyatt, whose return has been a major merchandise shifter.

The new merchandise associated with Wyatt has been the company’s top seller in recent weeks, and they are said to be commissioning more items with plans to release plush versions of the  Firefly Funhouse characters.

Other Stuff

The November 4 edition of WWE SmackDown may be pre-taped as part of a double taping on October 28 due to WWE travelling to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel on November 5. WWE’s events page doesn’t list a live SmackDown show for November 4.

WWE announced Elimination Chamber 2023 will take place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Bell Centre on Saturday, February 18. The 2022 edition earlier this year took place in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to NBC’s Ten Count, the New Day’s Kofi Kingston has said fans should expect more surprise returns during the Triple H era of WWE.

Kingston also recently offered an update on injured stablemate Big E, telling NBC Sports Boston: “He’s getting a lot better too for those who are concerned and whatnot. He was actually roller skating the other day. I was like, ‘Oh my God. You’re alright.’ He’s coming along and he’s in great spirits”.

Big E

Big E has been absent from WWE TV since he suffered a broken neck on March 11

During an episode of his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, on the topic of whether he would return to WWE, Hardy had positive things to say about the Triple H regime but said he wasn’t sure and ultimately, he could see himself retiring in AEW. Matt Hardy recently signed a contract extension with Khan’s promotion earlier this year.

Speaking of AEW, Eddie Kingston has made some comments on the backstage conflicts within the company. In an interview with ESPR, Kingston said: “It’s real simple, you have a bunch of people back there with egos. Some people believe other people don’t deserve to be in AEW, other people do believe they deserve to be in AEW, so when you have a bunch of men and women who don’t know how to use their words, things are going to happen in the back.”

Xavier Woods is living up to his gaming reputation and will be making an appearance on ABC’s Wheel of Fortune on October 30.

And an update concerning the hearing between MLW vs WWE.  The U.S District Court, California Northern District (San Jose) canceled a scheduled hearing for this coming Thursday, October 27 in the lawsuit brought by MLW against WWE. According to PWInsider, the hearing has been pushed back to December 5. Full details on this story can be found right here.

The mystery Schism member wearing a smile mask

The mystery Schism member under the smiley mask will be revealed on tonight’s NXT

And finally, tonight’s NXT will feature all the fallout from Halloween Havoc with both tag team titles on the line. The 25 October edition will see:

  • Pretty Deadly (c) vs. Edris Enofe & Malik Blade – NXT Tag Team Championship
  • Katana Chance & Kayden Carter (c) vs. Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark – NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship
  • Shotzi vs. Lash Legend
  • The mystery member of Schism will be revealed

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 we’ll be back tomorrow morning for another round-up.

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1 year ago by Laura Cude

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