WWE: Gigi Dolin Makes In-Ring Return from Injury at 11/22 NXT House Show Event, Michael Hayes Reportedly Returned from Leave of Absence, More News

Nov 23, 2024

Gigi Dolin Knee Injury Status Update – Dolin Makes In-Ring Return at 11/22 NXT House Show Event

As noted before, WWE NXT talent Gigi Dolin has been out of action for WWE since this past March due to a knee injury that was believed to be a torn ACL. Dolin made an on-screen video appearance at this past October’s Halloween Havoc 2024 event.

Friday’s house show event for WWE’s NXT brand in Lakeland, Florida featured Dolin making her official in-ring return from injury. Dolin competed in a singles match against Cora Jade, which was won by Dolin.

Gigi Dolin pins Cora Jade for the win #NXTLakeland pic.twitter.com/H3Ofqwkq76
— ed (@ghostlykiddd) November 23, 2024

Michael Hayes WWE Absense Status Update – Hayes Reportedly Made Return at Friday’s WWE SmackDown Tapings

As noted before, WWE producer Michael Hayes has been away from WWE since early November due him being on leave of absence over personal-related issues.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Hayes recently returned from his leave of absence to WWE for Friday’s WWE SmackDown double tapings in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It was reported that upon his return, Hayes immediately resumed his work as the main producer for Bloodline-related storyline segments and took on a “heavy number” of producer assignments for Friday’s double tapings.

Prior to his return, Bobby Roode had handled Hayes’ duties when it came to Bloodline storyline segments and other stuff for shows.

WWE News & Notes

WWE held two WWE Speed matches during Friday’s WWE SmackDown double tapings in Salt Lake City, Utah. The first match was Natalya defeating B-Fab in a WWE Women’s Speed Championship First Round match. The second match was Zelina Vega defeating Chelsea Green in a WWE Women’s Speed Championship First Round match.

Variety reported that NBC Universal Vice Executive Chairman Bonnie Hammer will be leaving the company after her current contract expires. In regards to wrestling, Hammer was most known for being a major supporter of WWE for USA Network dating back to when she worked as a liaison for NBCU in 1995.

WWE filed a new trademark for “RKO” on November 22nd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is the name of Randy Orton’s finisher in WWE.

Bryan Alvarez reported in a special edition of the Figure Four Weekly newsletter that his sources stated that WWE officials have been aware of AEW’s work with the Costco Guys for the promotion of their Full Gear 2024 event. Alvarez reported that WWE officials are currently interested in the idea of bringing in the Costco Guys for a celebrity appearance work.

WWE recently released a new video featuring the New Day’s Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E surprising WWE employees with an impromptu New Day Pops ice cream party at their headquarters building in Stamford, Connecticut.

WWE also recently released one new video to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. This new video was a Survivor Series Elimination match of Aldo Montoya, Bart Gunn, “Spark Plug” Bob Holly, & Jesse James vs. Billy Gunn, Justin Bradshaw, Salvatore Sincere, & The Sultan from WWE Survivor Series 1996.

In a recent interview with CBS Sports, former WWE and current AEW talent Jon Moxley gave his thoughts praising LA Knight’s stardom rise and success in WWE. Moxley and Knight worked together during their time in the indies. Moxley stated “The thing I love about it is, it’s the perfect example of an overnight success story that took 20 years. People think, in all walks of life, they have such impatience for stuff and they give up as soon as things turn hard and as soon as there are challenges in front of them, especially in this sport with such ups and downs. Nobody’s road is consistent and good all the time to the top. They give up so quickly. No matter what anybody told him, he had his vision and intention and stuck with it for years and years and never wavered. All of a sudden, one day, people think they picked him up out of the blue like they had a WWE casting call one day and they hired him. No, it took 20 years of eating shit to get to that point. That’s a lesson people should learn from.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with PWMania, Wade Barrett gave his thoughts about how moving to commentary has changed his perspective about the wrestling industry. Barrett stated “The big change when you move from being an in-ring guy to a commentator is the show is no longer about you. The show is about enhancing everybody else who arrives on the TV. It’s every character, every storyline, anything you can do to add a little sprinkle of sugar on every minute of the show is what you’re trying to do. It’s no longer about trying to get myself over or trying to be the big star anymore. In terms of my appreciation for the industry, so say you’ve got a two-hour show or a three-hour show. Historically, Wade Barrett may have been on that show for 10 or 15 minutes. He might have had a match or a promo, whatever it was. That was really all I cared about. That’s all I’m focused on. The important part of this show is the bit that I’m on. I have to go out and make this as good as I can. The difference now is I have to have a complete understanding from start to finish of this roller coaster ride, everybody’s storyline, and how they all fit together.” Barrett continued stating “That has given me a totally different appreciation for our creative team, the management, and the kind of decisions that have to go into this. Whereas I was always annoyed because why aren’t I winning? Why aren’t I in this spot? Why aren’t I getting that opportunity? Now I understand, ‘Hey, this guy’s really good. This guy we have losing in segment three, he’s really good, but guess what? We can’t have him win here because the plan for next month is to put this match and this match together and this guy’s not going to fit in there. So, we kind of need him to make the other guy look good.’ My understanding of putting together a two or three-hour TV show multiple times a week, especially if you’ve got a premium live event, and my appreciation of how the mental gymnastics that management and the creative team have to go through to try and make this all fit together and make cohesive sense and be intriguing for the viewer, I have a whole new appreciation for that.“

WWE announced one new match for the card of next week’s WWE RAW show on November 25th in Glendale, Arizona:

Ludwig Kaiser vs. Bron Breakker