WWE: Erik Underwent Neck Fusion Surgery, Lola Vice on Winning NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament, More News

Erik Injury Status Update – Erik Underwent Neck Fusion Surgery

As noted before, The Viking Raiders’ Erik has been out of action for WWE since this past September due to an unknown injury at the time.

Erik provided an injury update on Instagram stating that he recent underwent neck fusion surgery to fuse together his C6 and C7 vertebrates.

“I cannot express the proper gratitude and thankfulness to the amazing Dr Cordover and his incredible staff at @andrews_sports_medicine and St Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham, AL and to @wwe for always making sure I have the best care possible.

C6 / C7 fusion surgery was successful and recovery begins now.

I’m excited for all the possibilities once my cybernetic upgrades come fully online.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Raymond Rowe (@erik_wwe)

In regards to a potential return date, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials currently do not have any timetable for Erik’s potential return from injury.

---

Lola Vice Comments on Winning This Year’s NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament

This past Tuesday’s WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2023 Night 2 show featured Lola Vice defeating Kelani Jordan in the Finals of this year’s NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament.

Following her match, WWE held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Vice discussing her thoughts about winning this year’s Women’s Breakout Tournament.

“There’s no one like me. This tournament was just a glimpse of my knockout power.”

Vice also gave her thoughts about earning the opportunity to challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship in the future as a reward for winning the tournament.

“It is a huge opportunity. I’ve already knocked out three women, and whoever’s fourth is about to be my next victim.”

Following the show, Vice reflected on Twitter about her victory proclaiming it to be the start of the Vice era in WWE.

The Vice era has now begun. https://t.co/Kjdrf0EoW7

— Valerie Loureda (@lolavicewwe) November 1, 2023

---

WWE News & Notes

WWE filed a trademark for “Hillbilly Jim” on October 30th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is the ring name of WWE Hall of Famer Hillbilly Jim.

Dragon Lee filed a trademark for “Dragon Lee” on October 26th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the USPTO. Lee also filed a second trademark for the same term on October 26th for merchandise-related purposes.

WWE reportedly held two dark matches prior to the start of this past Tuesday’s NXT show at their Performance Center, according to PWInsider. These matches reportedly were not for a NXT Level UP taping and instead were just regular dark matches. These matches were Ivy Nile defeating Jaida Parker in a singles match and Brooks Jensen defeating Oba Fem in a singles match.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the majority of WWE’s roster will be traveling to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday for media-related work this Friday and WWE’s Crown Jewel 2023 event this Saturday. Johnson reported that John Cena had traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier on his own.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson also reported that his sources stated that Endeavor and TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO Group Executive Chairman Vince McMahon are currently believed to be traveling to Saudi Arabia for this Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel 2023 event in the country.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials made one change to the original plans for this past Monday’s WWE RAW tapings in Greenvile, South Carolina. This change reportedly involved Blair Davenport’s scheduled match that was taped prior to the start of RAW for this week’s Main Event show. Davenport reportedly was originally planned to face off against Katana Chance but WWE officials made late changes to their plans and replaced Chance with Kayden Carter instead. It was reported that the reason for this change is currently not known.

This past Sunday’s NBA game between Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers was notable for 76ers player Joel Embiid giving a D-X “Suck It” crotch chop taunt during the game. The NBA later fined Embid $35,000 for his actions. Following the announcement of his fine, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque sent an invite on Twitter to Embid for a potential appearance at next year’s WrestleMania 40 event and stated that he could do the D-X crotch chop there all day long with no repercussions. Besides Levesque, NXT head booker Shawn Michaels also sent an invite on Twitter to Embiid for a potential appearance at a future NXT show for similar reasons.

NXT talent Gigi Dolin announced on Instagram that she recently got engaged to Impact Wrestling talent Zachary Wentz, former Nash Carter in NXT. Dolin stated “Disney Wish Cruise: Halloween On The High Seas Part One 🎃🛳️🌊🖤 This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. Sorry, not sorry, I am fully a Disney adult, because I was a Disney kid. And for me it’s filled with nostalgia, warm fuzzies and family memories for generations and I have been lucky enough to find a guy who is the exact same way. It was the most amazing weekend of my life.I have been through a lot of heartache and so has @zacharywentzofficial over the years. With each other we found peace, a best friend, we found home. And of course, he popped the question on the first night at The Rose. (Very fitting 😄) There’s so much I could say, but the bottom line is my heart is so full, I couldn’t have asked for a better human. Now it’s time to take on the world because “Adventure is out there!” Stay tuned for part two and three. 🖤💍🎃 Happy Halloween!“

In a recent interview with PWInsider, Carmelo Hayes gave his thoughts about his current career in WWE’s NXT brand. Hayes stated “I feel very satisfied with everything I’ve done in NXT. I feel like I’ve helped build the brand back up. I feel like I’ve been a cornerstone to the success of NXT 2.0. I feel very satisfied. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything there is to accomplish there. You know my relationships that I’ve built there, everything that I’m willing to give back if I need to get back in. The next step for me is whenever they’re ready to let me go, I’m ready to take that next step.“