WWE: Adam Cole Free Agency Update, Sasha Banks Status Update, Updated SD Ratings

Adam Cole WWE Status & Free Agency Update

As noted before, Adam Cole’s short-term contract extension with WWE officially expired this past Friday.

Fightful Select reported that Cole did not sign a new contract with WWE this past week and is currently a free agent. It was reported that Cole was not seen backstage during this past Friday’s tapings of SmackDown nor was he involved in a last minute meeting with Vince McMahon as the reason why he cancelled his planned gaming streaming session that night.

In regards to the reactions within WWE, there have been some mixed reports over how Cole’s departure announcement was handled. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the company sent an internal email to everyone stating that Cole was officially gone from the company. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that several of his sources stated that they never received an internal email about Cole’s departure but Meltzer speculated that the story was still likely accurate.

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Sasha Banks Status Update

As noted before, Sasha Banks has been out of action for WWE since earlier this month due to unknown reasons that are not injury related.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Banks was not in attendance backstage during this past weekend’s set of events and his sources within WWE stated that Banks is currently not expected to be backstage for this week’s events as well

Johnson reported that WWE officials are currently hopeful that Banks will be able to return by the weekend of September 10th for their Super SmackDown taping at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

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Updated WWE Friday Night SmackDown Ratings

This past Friday’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a final viewership of 2,250,000 on FOX, according to ShowBuzz Daily. This was down compared to the initial overnight number of 2,870,000 viewers on the network.

The reason for the large discrepancy between the numbers was due to the intital overnight number also included viewership from NFL pre-season games that aired that night on several FOX television stations