10,625 articles
Kevin Owens was backstage at WWE Backlash 2026 despite not appearing on the show, according to PWInsider. The former world champion is still recovering from neck surgery he underwent in July 2025 following his last match against Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber 2025, and there remains no official timetable for his return to active competition.
Cody Rhodes revealed that Nintendo sent him a cease and desist letter over his use of the Triforce symbol from The Legend of Zelda franchise on his wrestling boots during his original WWE run in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Rhodes explained that he connected the symbol's themes of power, courage, and wisdom to wrestling and life, and noted that Nintendo's cease and desist was polite and that he wasn't the first person to receive one for using the Triforce.
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.