WWE: Shawn Michaels on WWE “Taking It Slow” with Giulia & Stephanie Vaquer Due to Language Barrier Issues, Samantha Irvin Departure Update, More News

Oct 23, 2024

Shawn Michaels Comments on WWE “Taking It Slow” with Giulia & Stephanie Vaquer in NXT Due to Language Barrier Issues

A recent episode of the Busted Open Radio podcast featured WWE SVP of NXT & Talent Relations Shawn Michaels as the guest. One of the topics discussed included his thoughts about the challenges in working with and developing two already established stars in regards to Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer in WWE’s NXT brand.

“The most challenging thing, right now, is the communication aspect and making sure they are understanding what you’re conveying. Especially when you’re talking about those subtleties. That’s something that, myself personally, I’m trying to really do my best. Sometimes words mean different things in other languages. Making sure that I choose my words carefully with the two of them has been the biggest challenge from my standpoint. From a coaching standpoint, the response has been fantastic. They’re both very talented ladies. When it comes to helping them accentuate that presence that they already have and help them with that presentation, that’s where, for me, it’s most challenging. We’re also taking it very slow because of that language barrier. We’re being patient, they’re being unbelievably understanding, and they’re doing their best to try and find better ways to communicate with us and ways to allow us to help them with things they feel they need to work with. A lot of that is asking them and getting their feedback and finding areas we can help them the most.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Samantha Irvin WWE Departure Update

As noted before, WWE RAW brand ring announcer Samantha Irvin announced this past Monday that she has departed from WWE. Irvin’s departure is believed to have been due to Irvin and WWE officials not being able to come to terms over Irvin’s outside music projects.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that most people within WWE did not expect Irvin to resign and she was well liked and respected for her work in the company.

In regards to the reasons for Irvin’s departure, Johnson reported that one source spoken to stated that WWE’s road schedule was a key reason due to the amount of time Irvin was on the road away from her daughter. Those spoken to reportedly stated that there were discussions of Irvin working a reduced schedule but this was something that never came to pass. Johnson speculated that due to Irvin’s fiance Ricochet no longer being with WWE and working a vastly different schedule, that could have also factored in her decision as well.

In regards to Irvin’s outside projects, Johnson reported that those spoken to stated that it was becoming increasingly hard for Irvin to concentrate on her outside endeavors without having a reduced work schedule in WWE. Johnson reported that Irvin currently intends to focus primarily on her music career going forward and this was not the case of her seeking to jump from WWE to AEW.

Johnson also reported that WWE owns the trademark on the Samantha Irvin name and she would not be able to use it outside of WWE. Irvin reportedly had previously used her real name Samantha Johnson in her other musical and acting endeavors.

Johnson also reported that Irvin is currently not believed to be on any non-compete clause for her departure due to she had been a WWE employee and not an independent contractor.

In a separate report, Johnson reported that WWE officials have left the door open to Irvin for potential return appearances in the future.

WWE News & Notes

Wednesday’s WWE Speed show on Twitter featured Bron Breakker defeating Cruz Del Toro to advance to the next round of WWE’s newest #1 Contender’s tournament for the WWE Speed Championship. Breakker will be facing off Sheamus in the next round of WWE’s current tournament.

“All Ego” Ethan Page recently released a diss track music video titled “Child’s Play” focusing on Trick Williams ahead of their NXT Championship Devil’s Playground match at this Sunday’s NXT Halloween Havoc 2024 event.

WWE NXT General Manager Ava announced on Twitter that Tony D’Angelo had requested and was approved for his Tables, Ladders, & Scares match against Oba Femi for the NXT North American Championship at NXT Halloween Havoc 2024 to be decided by pinfall only. Ava stated “@TonyDangeloWWE requested the North American Championship Table, Ladders and Scares Match this Sunday at Halloween Havoc be decided by pinfall – with tables, ladders and chairs legal to use as weapons. After the events of tonight & Oba’s actions …request granted! 🙂‍↕️“

ECW legend and WWE Hall of Famer Bubba Ray Dudley, also known as Bully Ray, reportedly is currently scheduled to be in attendance at WWE’s NXT show on November 6th at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to PWInsider.

WWE recently announced that they have partnered with the NBA for the release of WWE Legacy Championship belts for all 30 NBA teams for the 2024-25 NBA season.

WWE also recently released two new videos to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was a collection of WWE toys commercials from the 1980s and 90s. The second new video was a Last Man Standing match of The Undertaker vs. Big Show from WWE Cyber Sunday 2008.

As noted before, Carlito was involved in an incident during this past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over a controversial and derogatory line directed towards Japanese people he stated in a backstage promo segment. The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported that his sources confirmed Fightful Select’s report about Carlito’s line was something that was not scripted nor planned for him to say. Alvarez reported that Carlito had ad-lib his line for the segment.

This past Monday’s NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Arizona featured Baron Corbin among those in attendance.

As noted before, WWE dropped all of their plans for Brock Lesnar’s potential return to the company due to his involvement in the on-going Vince McMahon sex trafficking lawsuit. In a recent episode of The Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore podcast, co-host Booker T gave his thoughts about him wanting to see Lesnar return to WWE soon. Booker T stated “Tell you what man, I don’t know if that’s going to happen. Could I see that happening? Yeah, of course. But the game-changer would be just Brock reappearing back on WWE TV in any way, shape, or form. That’s what I think. That’s the game-changer. Lot of people I’m sure have thought they may not see Brock Lesnar anymore after this hiatus he’s had because he’s been gone for quite some time, and no one’s said anything, so I’m sure if some words are being dropped [on commentary/in promos] yeah, it might be some plans in the work. But yeah, Brock Lesnar would be a huge game-changer. But everything right now is going so well, it would just add more fuel to the fire, especially with The Bloodline stuff that’s going on. Is he gonna join in with Roman? There’s so much data to work with, so yeah, I’d love to see Brock Lesnar back in the fold.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

WWE announced two new matches for the card of next week’s WWE NXT show on October 28th at their Performance Center:

NXT Tag Team Championship – Je’Von Evans & Cedric Alexander vs. Axiom & Nathan Frazer (c)
NXT Heritage Cup Championship – Lexis King vs. Charlie Dempsey (c)