WWE: Rhea Ripley Dealing with Knee Issues, More on Vince McMahon Backstage at RAW, More News

Rhea Ripley Reveals She Is Dealing with Knee Issues

A recent episode of the Greg & The Morning Buzz radio show featured Rhea Ripley as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Ripley revealing that she has been dealing with a knee-related issues during her matches.

In response to a comment made by the host, Ripley stated that she did not pop out her knee during her match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39 but this issue has happened in her other matches.

“No, my knee didn’t pop out. What happened to me? Something happened. I can’t remember what it was. It might have been my knee. My knee always pops out, it’s just a reoccurring thing for me. I can never remember which matches it actually does it in.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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More on Vince McMahon Being Backstage at This Past Monday’s RAW Show

As noted before, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon was backstage at this past Monday’s RAW show in Hartford, Connecticut running the show that night.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that McMahon was not seen in the Gorilla Position running the show during the show but his influence was absolutely felt. McMahon reportedly had “re-worked” the original broadcast plans for the show and changed the order of matches and segments to fit his vision for what he wanted for that night’s show. In regards to the changes made, Johnson reported that those spoken to stated that it wasn’t overtly stressful or over the top for what McMahon had demanded.

Johnson also reported that there was not much resentment or anger from talents compared to the last time McMahon was physically present backstage running RAW. One talent spoken to reportedly stated that the major difference was that “the band-aid has already been ripped off” and the unspoken understanding backstage is that McMahon is back on the throne. Johnson also reported that the general feeling backstage is that even if McMahon is not physically present backstage at shows, he’s still back in charge and his decrees for shows will be met.

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WWE News & Notes

As noted before, Braun Strowman recently underwent neck fusion surgery. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Strowman was released from the hospital this past Monday and is currently recovering at his home.

As noted before, Major League Wrestling’s original antitrust lawsuit against WWE was dismissed this past February and had filed a new amended lawsuit this past March. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the scheduled court hearing on June 15th for WWE’s motion to have MLW’s dismissed was cancelled due to WWE lawyers would be unable to attend the hearing based on recent court records. Johnson reported that a new date for this hearing was not given.

Marvel Studios recently announced that they have changed the title of their upcoming new Captain America film from its original working title of Captain America: New World Order to its new title of Captain America: Brave New World. This upcoming film features Seth Rollins among the cast.

WWE NIL signee Derrian Gobourne recently reported to WWE’s Performance Center.

As noted before, a 2022 Panini Prizm WWE Back Prizm trading card featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sold for $126,000 and a 2022 Panini black Prizm WWE trading card of John Cena sold for $17,100 at recent auctions for PWCC marketplace. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that a 2023 Panini Black Prizm WWE The Rock trading card is currently up for auction that was stated to be the “most desirable cad in wrestling.”

As noted before, this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show drew 2,563,000 viewers and a 0.73 key demographic rating on FOX, which was the highest since the December 30, 2022 episode. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the final quarter of the show that featured Roman Reigns and The Bloodline drew 2,901,000 viewers for the quarter.

WWE is currently advertising that Brock Lesnar will be making appearances at their July 3rd RAW show in Baltimore, Maryland, their July 17th RAW show in Atlanta, Georgia, and their July 31st RAW show in Houston, Texas.

Lacey Evans was recently involved in an online argument with WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter’s daughter over issues revolving around her new ring attire at this past Friday’s SmackDown show and her borrowing more from Slaughter’s character for her current Marine-based character in the company.

As noted before, Tommaso Ciampa has been out of action for WWE since this past October due to a hip injury and surgery to repair it. Ciampa recently provided an injury on Instagram stating “Little post workout check in. This is the heaviest I’ve been in 10 years. But much leaner than I was back then. I just completed my third meso cycle using the RP Hypertrophy App. Stronger and bigger than ever before. Plus, well fed and incredible recovery. Dialed in.“

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Shayna Baszler gave her thoughts about her and Ronda Rousey’s recent WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship victory. Baszler stated “That moment at the end of the match where I crawl back in the ring, and we’re hugging was a real emotional moment. When we think back to trying to pay for enough food to eat throughout the week and still make weight and living on the beach in Venice. It’s weird to think that we talked about it, and it’s here, and it happened. I don’t think people really understand how much we had to fight for this. Maybe that’s something for a book in the future. It’s not like it’s been easy. It’s not like this is just handed to us. We had to fight and claw and demand for this opportunity.“