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Asuka is expected to remain aligned with WWE, according to sources. She is currently in town ahead of Monday Night Raw in Knoxville, Tennessee.
According to PWInsider, CM Punk is not expected to appear on this week's WWE RAW in Knoxville and was not backstage at WWE Backlash despite fan speculation connecting him to Danhausen's mystery partner storyline. Punk has not appeared on WWE television since the April 20 episode of RAW.
WWE has officially announced that Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, and Rey Fenix are confirmed for AAA Triplemania 34. The event will take place across two nights in November.
According to PWInsider, WWE still internally lists Brock Lesnar as an active performer and classifies him as a "Free Agent" despite moving him to the alumni section of WWE.com following his apparent retirement at WrestleMania 42. After losing to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42, Lesnar left his gloves and boots in the ring while Paul Heyman watched from ringside, with WWE later airing tribute-style video packages and moving Lesnar to the "forever" section of SmackDown's intro video.
Ronda Rousey explained her AEW Revolution appearance was a one-off to support her longtime friend Marina Shafir and promote her MMA comeback fight, while also serving as a subtle shot at WWE. Rousey criticized WWE's creative control, saying she felt like she was "doing somebody else's impression of myself" and specifically cited struggles with Vince McMahon's leadership, while praising AEW's less restrictive environment that allowed her to be more authentic.
A backstage report is providing information about Asuka's WWE status after what appeared to be a send-off following her loss to IYO SKY at Backlash.
According to PWInsider's Mike Johnson, Asuka is believed to remain aligned with WWE despite retirement speculation following her emotional post-match scene with IYO SKY at Backlash. Asuka is physically present in Knoxville, Tennessee for Monday's WWE Raw and is ready to appear if WWE creative dictates, though it's unclear whether she will actually appear on the show. The report also notes that Asuka signed a long-term WWE contract during summer 2024, with most WWE deals from that timeframe lasting roughly five years.
Royce Keys, who performs on Friday Night SmackDown, has stated that improving his microphone skills is a major goal for him in WWE. Keys emphasized that "you can always get better at promos" when discussing what he wants to work on most.
Booker T claims there's new opportunity for somebody in WWE NXT to become the "next big thing" on the brand. He says someone needs to "step up" to become the new face of WWE NXT.
Vince Russo responded on his YouTube channel to recent comments by Sheamus questioning the in-ring quality of Attitude Era matches, with Russo arguing that modern wrestling cannot replicate the emotional reactions and mainstream popularity of that period. Sheamus had claimed on The Late Run podcast that many Attitude Era matches relied on basic offense while crowd reactions carried the presentation, stating "if you go back and look at a lot of those matches, they're just like 6,000 kicks, 6,000 punches." Russo defended the era's cultural impact and criticized modern wrestlers for attempting to downplay how mainstream wrestling became during that time, when stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were household names.
WWE veteran Dan Spivey thanked Michael Hayes after making an on-camera appearance at WWE Backlash 2026. Spivey shared a thank you message following the event.
Kevin Hart included Hulk Hogan on his joke "Mount Rushmore of racism" during The Roast of Kevin Hart, referencing Hogan's racist comments that became public in 2015. The joke comes after Eric Bischoff recently defended Hogan on Keepin' It 100, arguing people should judge Hogan based on decades of behavior rather than comments made during what Bischoff described as an extremely difficult period in Hogan's life involving physical pain, divorce, and family problems.