WWE: Becky Lynch Reportedly Taking “Extended Leave” from WWE, Shawn Micheals on Ethan Page’s NXT Debut Being “Last Minute Thing”, More News

Becky Lynch Reportedly Taking “Extended Leave” from WWE

As noted before, Becky Lynch’s contract with WWE is currently set to expire on June 1st and is expected to be taking a break from WWE and wrestling afterwards.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources confirmed that Lynch will be taking a break from WWE once her current contract expires.

Meltzer reported that Lynch made the decision to not sign a new deal and will be taking an extended leave from WWE. Those spoken to reportedly stated that this will not be for a short period of time and instead Lynch is looking at being away from wrestling for a “long time out.”

Meltzer also reported that Lynch also likely made the decision to take the break due to her husband Seth Rollins is currently out of action and not traveling for WWE due to him recovering from knee surgery.

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Shawn Michaels Comments on Ethan Page’s WWE NXT Debut Being a “Last Minute Thing”

As noted before, this past Tuesday’s WWE NXT show featured former AEW talent Ethan Page making his surprise official debut for WWE.

Adrian Hernandez held a recent interview with NXT head booker Shawn Michaels. One of the topics discussed included Michaels’ thoughts abut Page’s recent debut in WWE and revealed that Page’s debut appearance was a “last minute thing.”

“We’re talking about big stuff. Of course, All Ego Ethan Page. A lot of questions still that I have to get answered on that one because that was kind of a last minute thing.”

Michaels also gave his thoughts about WWE’s current philosophy when it comes to signing new talent for their NXT brand.

“For us at NXT, it’s always been about finding the best performers and best wrestlers we can find, but also cultivating our own. No different than, even though it put me at odds with people when I was younger, this business is a little something for everybody. People always want to narrow everything down to one way of doing things. I’ve never done this job that way. What you like might not be something the person next to you likes. What I like is not the same as what others like. It’s about having variety. It’s certainly the philosophy that I’ve had and Hunter [Triple H] has. We just want to bring the best sports entertainment we can for everybody watching it. We want to put on banger after banger, fantastic wrestling matches. If we can have one that is entertaining in one way or a different way. The more open you are on different ideas and different creative possibilities, for us, putting ourselves in the seat of the fans. Hunter and I, at our core, are wrestling fans. That’s certainly all we’re trying to do. The possible matchups, these are all things we’ve thought out. Why not see if it’s possible to see how many we can make happen. Can’t hurt to give it a try.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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WWE News & Notes

Westside Xtreme Wrestling’s streaming deal with WWE for their content on the WWE Network officially expired on Thursday and their content will be removed from the service, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that this was not a case of WWE terminating their deal with wXw and instead just simply the deal had expired.

WWE Hall of Famer and former United States President Donal Trump was found by a New York court jury on Thursday to be guilty of 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records over hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that WWE generated a live gate of $18,433,325 for their WrestleMania 40 Night 2 event on April 7th at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based on a recent public records request. Thurston reported that WrestleMania 40 Night 2’s event set a new all-time record for largest ever live gate for a single-day pro wrestling event. Thurston reported that WrestleMania 40 Night 1 event on April 6th had generated a live gate of $17,656,965.

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan reported that his sources stated that NXT talent Gigi Dolin was not in attendance backstage at this past Tuesday’s NXT show at WWE’s Performance Center. Brennan reported that those spoken to confirmed that Dolin’s storyline with Arianna Grace has been dropped and the reason why is currently not known.

As noted before, WWE’s office staff was impacted by a new round of layoffs last week at WWE’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that his sources stated that Senior Marketing Manager Michael Izzi was also among those laid off by the company last week. Thurston reported that Izzi had worked under WWE Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Beth Fisher, who also had been let go by the company last week. Prior to his departure, Izzi had been working in WWE since 2012.

As noted before, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit this past January against TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon accusing McMahon of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards her during her time in the company. Post Wrestling’s John Pollock and Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that Grant is currently being represented by The Agency Group (TAG) with Carolina Hurley being the prominent agent working with Grant. It was reported that Hurley had worked in the White House during Donald Trump’s Presidential administration as part of the White House Communications Office. When contacted for a statement, Grant’s lawyer Anna Callis stated “Carolina disclosed the Trump connection before we hired TAG. Our team had confidence that her team, comprised of competent and experienced women, led by a woman with a stellar resumé was the optimum way to assist Janel in getting her message across while dispelling all of the negative onslaught that we knew was coming her way.” It was also reported that Hurley was never part of Trump’s political campaigns and had reported to the White House Communications Director, which was a position held by many individuals during her tenure there. Hurley reportedly had worked on many of Ivanka Trump’s initiates including activities to combat human trafficking.

In a recent interview with the Daily Star, Grayson Waller stated that his in-ring in WWE was partially inspired by NBA player Grayson Allen. Waller stated “The cool thing about NXT that people online don’t seem to know, cause they always complain about the NXT names, is that we get to have some say in our names. We basically get to put forward names, which I think is a really cool thing. So, the next time you’re on Twitter/X complaining about someone’s name, just know they probably chose it. For me, Waller was something that I wanted, something close to Wahlberg to connect to my Australian indie roots. Then, there’s a player in the NBA called Grayson Allen and I think he’s an encapsulation of what Grayson Waller is. He spits on people, he trips people over, that type of vibe. So at the time I felt like Grayson was a perfect fit for me here, and I think its worked quite well.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

As noted before, this past Tuesday’s NXT show featured current TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace making a surprise appearance for WWE’s NXT brand. In a recent interview with Adrian Hernandez, NXT head booker Shawn Michaels gave his thoughts about Grace’s recent appearance in NXT. Michaels stated “Right now, a lot of things are still being worked out internally. There are people above me that I leave to making those kinds of decisions. What I enjoy doing is what we did last night, which is having the opportunity to putting real surprises and real ‘oh my God’ moments back to WWE, wrestling, and NXT. That’s what we had last night. I have been very public about being a fan of Jordynne Grace. I expressed to Hunter [Triple H] privately that I was very jealous that he had her for the Rumble. He owed me. We’re thrilled to have her for Battleground and next week. This is going to be an epic event. To one up ourselves, which we always try to do, having TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace contend for the NXT Women’s Championship, fighting Roxanne Perez, is going to be really big.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)