WWE: EVP of Television Reportedly Departs from WWE, Rhea Ripley Shoulder Injury & Return Plans Update, More News

Jun 25, 2024

WWE EVP of Television Reportedly Departs from Company

WWE Executive Vice President of Television Chris Kaiser reportedly recently departed from the company, according to PWInsider.

Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Kaiser departed from WWE on Monday afternoon and his departure was due to him being the latest WWE executive to be cut by the company since their merger to form TKO.

Dave Meltzer reported in a special preview edition of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources confirmed that Kaiser had left WWE. Meltzer reported that Kaiser’s departure was due to his position being eliminated as a cost cutting measures by TKO.

Prior to his departure, Kaiser had been with WWE since 2015 and started as their Senior Vice President of TV Production. Kaiser had been WWE’s EVP of Television since 2021. Kaiser’s tenure in the company included him being the Executive Producer for numerous WWE reality television series and documentaries, including WWE 24, WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, Total Divas, Total Bellas, and Miz & Mrs. Kaiser was also a key person in the creation and production of WWE’s Thunderdome during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Update on Rhea Ripley Shoulder Injury & WWE Return Plans

As noted before, Rhea Ripley has been out of action for WWE since this past April due to a shoulder injury.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials currently have some hope that Ripley can return from her injury in time for this August’s SummerSlam 2024 event.

Those spoken to within WWE reportedly stated that WWE officials has things “constructed” in a manner where Ripley can be slotted in a wrestling or non-wrestling capacity whenever she is ready.

WWE officials reportedly have held recently internal talks about Ripley’s involvement in the WWE Women’s World title picture upon her return. One source spoken to reportedly stated that the story avaliable at the time will determine what programs Ripley is involved in. It was reported that it is currently not known if there are any active creative plans for Ripley at the moment.

WWE News & Notes

Monday’s WWE RAW show in Indianapolis, Indiana featured The Judgement Day (JD McDonagh & Finn Balor) defeating Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) to become the new WWE World Tag Team Champions.

As noted before, WWE has been working on plans for Chad Gable to form a new heel faction with the Creed Brothers. Monday’s WWE RAW show in Indianapolis also featured the tease of Gable and the Creed Bros & Ivy Nile potentially joining forces soon. Following Gable being spooked by the Wyatt Sicks over Sister Abigail’s surprise appearance, Gable headed to the back and tried to make amends with Alpha Academy only to be told off by Otis and the rest of the group. Before Gable left, the Creed Bros and Nile showed up and asked him if he was alright, which led to an upset Gable stating that he was not alright and needed help.

WWE filed a trademark for “Samoan Werewolf” on June 23rd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes. This is the nickname that was given for Jacob Fatu when he made his official WWE debut at this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show.

Monday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show featured the Wyatt Sicks interrupting the show’s feed with another video message stating “You Lied.” This was the third episode in a row that Pat McAfee’s show has been interrupted by the Wyatt Sicks. McAfee himself was noticeably absent from this past Monday’s RAW show for reasons that RAW commentator Michael Cole did not want to bring up, implying the Wyatt Sicks were responsible for it.

WWE announced one new segment for this Friday’s WWE SmackDown show on June 28th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. This was announced to be a Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony segment.

WWE also announced four new matches for the card of next week’s WWE RAW show on July 1st in Boston, Massachusetts:

WWE Women’s World Championship match – Zelina Vega vs. Liv Morgan (c)
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Qualifying Triple Threat match – Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Ilja Dragunov
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Qualifying Triple Threat match – Zoey Stark vs. Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio

WWE also announced one new match for the card of Tuesday’s NXT show:

Wes Lee vs. Joe Coffey