WWE: More on Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch Match Pulled from SummerSlam, Randy Orton Injury Update, More News

More on Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch Match Plans Pulled from SummerSlam 2023

As noted before, WWE had plans at one point for a match between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus to take place at this Saturday’s SummerSlam 2023 event. That match was announced to be taking place instead at the August 14th RAW show in Winnipeg, Canada.

Fightful Select reported that their sources provided more details regarding why this match was pulled from WWE’s match plans for SummerSlam.

It was reported that while their sources within WWE had originally stated that there was a “good reason” why this match was delayed to mid-August and implied it was something physical related, it was later confirmed from other sources that both Stratus and Lynch are actually healthy and were available for SummerSlam.

It was also reported that the real reason was due to WWE officials being adamant about wanting to limit the amount of matches and runtimes for their Premium Live Events, which has caused some matches that were being built for SummerSlam to be moved elsewhere. Those spoken to reportedly stated that they believed this match would have been severely limited for time and this played a role in the decision to move it to a future RAW show instead.

It was also reported that neither Stratus nor Lynch were thrilled over their match being dropped for the plans for the final card for SummerSlam.

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Randy Orton Injury Status Update

As noted before, Randy Orton has been out of action for WWE since May of 2022 due to a back injury and had underwent back fusion surgery this past November.

Fightful Select reported that their sources within WWE stated that WWE officials currently do not have any creative plans for Orton’s potential return to the company. One WWE source spoken to reportedly stated that they have not heard of any plans for Orton to be involved in this weekend’s SummerSlam 2023 event.

Those spoken to reportedly also stated that Orton has yet to be medically cleared for in-ring training or in-ring action nor has there been any extensive talks about what the plans will be for Orton.

Doctors reportedly have told Orton that him continuing wrestling in the future is not a good idea but Orton has been insistent on wanting to return to in-ring action. Despite not being medically cleared, Orton has recently resumed working out and will likely be brought to WWE’s Performance Center once he’s ready for in-ring training.

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WWE News & Notes

Iconic comedy actor Pee Wee Herman, real name Paul Reubens, passed away on this past Sunday at the age of 70. In regards to wrestling history, Reubens made two notable appearances in WWE under his Pee Wee Herman character which were as a guest host for an episode of WWE RAW in 2010 and a cameo backstage appearance at WrestleMania 27 in 2011.

Former NXT UK brand talent Aleah James announced on Twitter this past Monday that her contract with WWE recently expired and she is currently a free agent. Prior to her departure, James had been signed with WWE since 2020 but had not wrestled since March of 2022.

NXT talent Cora Jade recently deleted her Twitter account for reasons currently not known.

As noted before, NXT brand talent Arianna Grace has been out of action for WWE since this past October due to a currently unknown injury. Grace recently provided an update on Twitter stating that she recently started taking bumps for her rehab training for her in-ring return.

WrestleVotes reported that their sources stated that famous musician Kid Rock will be the voiceover narrator for the cold open video for this Saturday’s SummerSlam 2023 event.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE’s original plans for Zelina Vega and Rhea Ripley’s match at this past May’s Backlash 2023 in Puero Rico was for Ripley to win in a quick squash. Those plans reportedly were changed due to WWE wanting Vega to get a stronger reaction from the crowd and Ripley was in full support of the change. It was also reported that Vega’s strong crowd reception and performance in that match was the reason for her push she received afterwards.

Post Wrestling’s John Pollock reported that this past Sunday’s NXT Great American Bash 2023 show on the WWE Network in Canada was plagued by serious issues affecting its live broadcast. Pollock stated that these issues revolved around recent changes made to the UI of the service that has made it harder for Canadian viewers of the WWE Network to watch live events and programming on the service. Pollock also reported that Rogers Sports & Media, distributor of WWE Network in Canada, is currently working on resolving the issues but it is not known if it will be resolved in time for this Saturday’s SummerSlam 2023 event.

This past Sunday’s WWE house show event in Coral Gables, Florida featured Seth Rollins defeating Finn Balor to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Rollins gave a speech directed towards a fan in attendance who had a sign that said Rollins was a “fake-ass champion.” Rollins stated “Being a fighting champion is taking its toll on me. I have one guy over here, that guy right there is calling me a fake-ass champion. I am here in your city, sweating buckets, bleeding my own blood. I am far from a fake-ass champion. I am a fighting champion because you guys deserve a champion that’s gonna show up, a champion that’s gonna sweat buckets, a champion that’s gonna bleed his own blood. You deserve The Visionary, you deserve The Revolutionary, you deserve the world champion Seth [Rollins].” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the NotSam Wrestling podcast, Cody Rhodes gave his thoughts about the lack of a happy ending for his recently released American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes documentary on Peacock. Rhodes stated “I felt, to be totally honest, I felt like I let the crew down because the documentary is clearly…the guy is supposed to win at the end. I felt like I had let them down. You have to let it get out of your hands. It’s about you, you can’t touch it. You have to let them tell their story. I’m very proud of the story they told. I thought it was fair, I thought it was honest. I have to thank Matt and Nick Jackson for allowing BTE footage and allowing a collaboration to exist in the first place. It’s about me, so I can’t say, ‘it’s amazing, it’s terrible.’ I’m very interested to see how the whole pro wrestling world takes it and if they enjoy it. It was a special thing to film and as much as I was very annoyed by their presence on a regular basis, I was annoyed more when they weren’t there and they were gone. I kept saying, ‘Come back. I’m going to wrestle Brock. It’s a cool thing.’ I hope we can do a part two, I really do. If we can’t, it’s okay, I’m going to make my own part two.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)