Vince McMahon

WWE announced Wednesday that WrestleMania 40 will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on April 6 and 7, 2024.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney commented after his city landed the biggest event in sports entertainment: "We are proud to welcome WWE fans from around the world to Philadelphia to be a part of the historic 40th WrestleMania in 2024. The weeklong series of events will help put a global spotlight on our great city while also generating a major impact for our local economy."

In addition to WrestleMania, WWE noted several other events will be held in Philadelphia that week, including Raw, SmackDown and the Hall of Fame ceremony at Wells Fargo Center.

WrestleMania 40 will mark just the second time WWE's landmark show has taken place in Philly with the first occurrence in 1999 with WrestleMania 15.

That show, which was headlined by the first of three WrestleMania matches between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock, emanated from Wells Fargo Center when it was known as First Union Center.

WrestleMania 15 had about 20,000 fans in attendance, but WrestleMania 40 should have tens of thousands more on each of its two nights, given that Lincoln Financial Field has a capacity of nearly 70,000 for Philadelphia Eagles games.

For the past several years, WWE has focused on holding WrestleMania at large-scale stadiums rather than smaller arenas, and fans have come out in force to support the company and the product.

In April, WrestleMania took place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for the second time, and WWE billed a total attendance of over 156,000 combined for the two-night show.

Next year's WrestleMania 39 is set to take center stage at the Los Angeles Rams' and Los Angeles Chargers' SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

WrestleMania 40 will be WWE's first potential cold-weather WrestleMania since WrestleMania 35, which was contested at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The first WrestleMania was held in 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and WrestleMania 40 will undoubtedly be a celebratory event for WWE given how huge and globally renowned the show has become over the past four decades.

It is fitting that WrestleMania 40 will be held in a city that is regarded as having some of the best wrestling fans in the world, and there will be a special affinity for Paul Heyman at the event because of his status as the creator of ECW, which has Philly as its home base.

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Details on Triple H Meeting with Talent Before Raw

On his first day as head of WWE creative, Triple H reportedly held a positive meeting with talent.

According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Robert Gunier), the meeting occurred before Monday night's episode of Raw at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was said to have gone "really well."

Triple H reportedly expressed his hope that there will be an open line of communication between the talent, himself and other people in positions of power, which is something that may not have always been the case when Vince McMahon was in charge.

Also, Triple H reportedly told the wrestlers he wants "work to be fun."

On Monday morning, WWE announced Triple H had taken over as head of creative in addition to his role as vice president of talent relations.

Last week, longtime WWE CEO, chairman and head of creative Vince McMahon announced his retirement at the age of 76 amid an investigation into him paying out millions of dollars to former female employees in exchange for their silence on alleged sexual relationships and misconduct.

When McMahon stepped down, it was initially assumed that one of his closest confidants, Bruce Prichard, would take over as the head of creative.

While Prichard remains in the fold, it is Triple H who will be the main filterer of ideas, which is a role McMahon had held since purchasing the company from his father in 1982.

Triple H is undoubtedly fit for the job, as he was essentially the McMahon of NXT from 2012-2021, giving him plenty of experience and perspective.

Many fans have longed for the day that Triple H would take over as WWE's main booker, and now, he will get the chance to prove that he can consistently produce good shows on the main roster.

Bischoff Talks McMahon's Retirement

WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff commented this week on Vince McMahon's decision to retire as WWE's CEO, chairman and head of creative.

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast (h/t WrestlingInc's Dominic DeAngelo), Bischoff discussed the surreal nature of McMahon's retirement and the fact that it took him by surprise:

"It was shocking. I'm still processing it. It's still hard for me to believe. I woke up this morning, and I saw an image on my social media, and it was a picture of WWE headquarters in Stamford. I thought, can you imagine what it's like walking into that building knowing you won't see Vince McMahon there ever again? At least not professionally as a leader?

"It would be weird to walk down those halls and not anticipate his presence. It would be really weird. I try to place myself in the shoes of like Bruce [Prichard], our buddy, and a lot of other people that I know that I'm very familiar with and close to. Gonna be a weird day for them come Monday morning, man. Really weird."

Bischoff has a unique perspective on McMahon in that he both opposed him and worked for him over the years.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Bischoff was president of WCW and went head-to-head with WWE's Monday Night Raw with the advent of Monday Nitro. Bischoff's Nitro even beat McMahon's Raw in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks at one point.

McMahon ultimately won the Monday Night War and purchased WCW, which led to Bischoff eventually signing with WWE as an on-screen character in the 2000s.

More recently, Bischoff had a brief stint as creative director of SmackDown in late 2019 and early 2020.

While Bischoff and McMahon were once bitter enemies, Bischoff has seemingly gained a great deal of respect for Vince over the years.

McMahon built WWE into a global juggernaut, but now, he leaves it in the hands of his daughter Stephanie McMahon, who is chairwoman and co-CEO along with WWE President Nick Khan.

Mysterio Discusses Retirement

Prior to celebrating his 20-year anniversary with WWE on Monday night's episode of Raw, Rey Mysterio discussed his retirement plans with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport.

During the interview (h/t Joshua Jones of Ringside News), Mysterio divulged that while he has long intended to retire at 50, it isn't necessarily a sure thing if he is still in good health by that point:

"It's funny because they don't prep you up now like they do for NFL players. For wrestling, I've always heard from others that they just go until they can't anymore. There's really no start and end date. You just run through it until you can't or until you step away to do something else.

"For me, now that I'm getting closer to my fifties and I see my son wrestling, I tell myself that I wanna go three more years and I don't wanna go past 50. But then I remind myself, what if I feel good? Can you still go another year? As of right now, my date has always been to not go over 50."

Mysterio has seemingly been invigorated by the progression of his son, Dominik, into a WWE Superstar over the past few years.

Rey and Dominik became the first father-son duo to ever hold tag team championships in WWE, and they have continued to team up on the Raw brand.

They are currently in the midst of a feud with The Judgment Day, and on Monday's Raw, Rey and Dominik defeated Judgment Day members Damian Priest and Finn Balor in a tag team match.

The Judgment Day spoiled the celebration, though, as Rhea Ripley got physical with Mysterio's daughter, Aalyah, and lured Rey and Dominik into an attack at the hands of Priest and Balor.

As a result, The Mysterios will take on The Judgment Day in a no-disqualification tag team match at SummerSlam on Saturday.

Rey continues to perform at a high level and receives hugely positive reactions from the crowd, and with Dominik seemingly in it for the long haul, there is no telling how much longer Rey might be willing to lace up his boots.

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Details on Shane-Vince Falling out Made Public

Shane McMahon's involvement in the 2022 Royal Rumble was nothing short of a disaster. Reports from behind the scenes said he attempted to heavily rewrite the match script—making himself look better in the process—to the point it alienated several wrestlers behind the scenes.

McMahon has not been seen on WWE television since. If departing WWE CEO and father to Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, had his way, it would stay that way.

Fightful Select reported the elder McMahon said Shane "would never get another pop in this company as long as I’m around."

Well, you may have heard Vince McMahon is no longer around. That said, the company has largely been handed off to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, with the former co-CEO'ing with Nick Khan and the latter handling talent relations and creative.

Shane McMahon and Triple H have not always gotten along swimmingly, and Stephanie seems dedicated toward pushing her father's martyr narrative forward. It seems unlikely, then, that we'll see Shane McMahon in a WWE ring anytime soon.

For those who watched the 52-year-old in his latest WWE run, we'll just say that's probably for the better.

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Paul Heyman to Land Bigger Role?

Concern regarding his at-times blunt nature aside, it's always felt like WWE was underselling Paul Heyman by having him simply work as a mouthpiece. There have been times when he's been the head of creative during his tenures at WWE, and those have largely been creative successes that were ultimately foiled by backstage politics.

Heyman most recently served as the executive director of Raw from June 2019 to June 2020 before he was dismissed from that role and returned back to a managerial capacity. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Heyman said the decision was made entirely by Vince McMahon—who, again, we must stress is no longer around to meddle in these affairs.

Wade Keller of PW Torch reported Heyman could wind up with some creative input again with Vince out of the picture.

"As I’ve talked about in recent months, it seems like to people that have seen them that Heyman and Stephanie get along," Keller said. "You know like, genuinely, there’s a chemistry and a dynamic between them that’s very positive. And that’s very different than you know, 15-20 years ago. So, Heyman is someone to watch. He’s really, really smart. And he is a wrestling guy.”

The more Heyman input on the WWE product, the better. While he does have some questionable impulses—please, no more of whatever that Mike-Maria Kanellis storyline was—he's a wrestling savant who may still be the best talent evaluator in the business.

Heyman working in concert with Triple H on a revamped product sounds like an IWC fever dream.

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CM Punk Still Has No Timetable for Return

It does not sound like we'll be seeing CM Punk back in an AEW ring anytime soon.

The AEW champion appeared at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend and said he's still experiencing pain in his foot, which he categorized as "shattered" at the time he underwent surgery.

"It's healing. It's not healed," Punk said. "It feels like it's on fire every day, partly probably because of how much you know I was on my feet all day yesterday. I just don't wear the boot, but that's mostly because I want people to recognize that I don't want them near my foot. I'm working hard to come back; It's just, it's a s--tty injury you know, not being able to walk and like my entire calf on that side kind of shut down so learning how to walk again is f--king frustrating, but I'm better than I was yesterday, I'll be better tomorrow, and hopefully I'll see everybody soon."

Tony Khan would not commit to Punk being available for September's All Out pay-per-view when asked about his status over the weekend.

Jon Moxley was crowned interim AEW world champion at last month's Forbidden Door pay-per-view and would likely headline All Out with Punk should he be able to return.

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WWE creative now belongs to The Game.

The company announced Paul Levesque, better known to wrestling fans as Triple H, will take over the creative duties ceded by Vince McMahon last week. Levesque was previously announced as the new head of talent relations, replacing John Laurinaitis.

The departures of McMahon and Laurinaitis came after two Wall Street Journal reports that unearthed past acts of misconduct with female employees.

McMahon suddenly announced his retirement Friday after initially being defiant amid the reporting. Details on why the 76-year-old McMahon changed his mind have not been made public, but the reverberations around the wrestling world are expected to be significant.

Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were named as co-CEOs to replace McMahon on the corporate level.

From a fan perspective, Triple H's ascent to running creative will be the most important change. The 14-time world champion spearheaded WWE's most beloved creative endeavor of the last decade—the black-and-gold era of NXT—before it was rebranded to NXT 2.0 last year. Around the time of the NXT rebrand, Levesque suffered a "cardiac event" that forced him into in-ring retirement and led him to reduce his executive duties.

Now back at work full-time, he will have the most responsibility he's ever had running the company.

It's unclear how much creative will change. As a publicly traded company—one that will want to give a sense of calm to its shareholders—WWE is unlikely to change much in the immediate future. WWE will want to see through Vince McMahon's vision in the coming weeks, likely out of deference, before Triple H can begin reshaping the company.

That said, McMahon's outdated outlook on the business was often cited as one of the biggest frustrations with talent. Fightful Select reported there is a "general excitement" about having Triple H take over the creative direction.

One source also told Fightful that "this is an exciting change."

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Longtime WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon announced his retirement from the company Friday, one month ahead of his 77th birthday.

At 77, time for me to retire.
Thank you, WWE Universe. 
Then. Now. Forever. Together. #WWE #thankful

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 22, 2022

The longtime WWE figurehead purchased the company from his father in 1982 and made it into a global phenomenon that boasts multiple billion-dollar television deals and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

McMahon said in a statement that his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, and current WWE president Nick Khan will take over as co-CEOs. Stephanie will also serve as chairwoman.

Last month, McMahon announced he was temporarily stepping down from his role as chairman and CEO but remaining as head of creative after the Wall Street Journal reported that WWE's board of directors was investigating him for paying $3 million to a former WWE paralegal in exchange for her silence about a sexual relationship between them.

A subsequent Wall Street Journal report found that three additional women who worked for WWE allegedly signed nondisclosure agreements.

One of them said she was coerced into giving McMahon oral sex while she was a wrestler for the company before getting demoted and not having her contract renewed in 2005 when she refused to engage in additional sexual encounters.

McMahon reportedly paid her $7.5 million in a 2018 settlement.

A second woman, who was a WWE contractor, reportedly received a $1 million payout in 2008 when she showed the company nude photos McMahon sent her and alleged that he sexually harassed her on the job.

Another payment reportedly occurred in 2006 when McMahon paid $1 million to a woman who was a former WWE manager and allegedly had a sexual relationship with McMahon, who has been married to his wife, Linda McMahon, since 1966.

Further information regarding McMahon's alleged affair with a paralegal was uncovered as well, including an allegation that McMahon "gave her like a toy" to head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.

McMahon and Laurinaitis have been under investigation by WWE's board of directors ever since. Another move Friday suggests Laurinaitis is also out of the picture.

WWE announced earlier Friday that Stephanie McMahon's husband and Vince McMahon's son-in-law, WWE legend Triple H, had taken on the role of executive vice president of talent relations.

While McMahon is permanently out as chairman and CEO, he didn't make an announcement about the role of head of creative.

If it is assumed McMahon will retire from that position as well, creative will likely be a collaborative effort among the writing team, although longtime WWE executive and McMahon confidant Bruce Prichard would perhaps be the top candidate to take the lead.

For a period in the early-to-mid 1990s, McMahon, Prichard and the late Pat Patterson made all of WWE's creative decisions. With Triple H's promotion, Prichard can pivot from the role of interim head of talent relations that he had reportedly been occupying.

During his time at the helm, McMahon helped change the course of professional wrestling by eliminating the territory system and making WWE an international brand.

He also created WrestleMania, which is the biggest event in all of pro wrestling or "sports entertainment," and was pivotal in WWE's establishing itself as the clear market leader in the business.

Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, John Cena and Roman Reigns are just a few of the Superstars who reached international prominence under the McMahon-led WWE.

While McMahon is vacating his official positions with the company, he noted in his statement that he remains WWE's majority shareholder and will "continue to support WWE in any way I can."

In the wake of a recent report that WWE executive Vince McMahon allegedly paid a woman $3 million to keep a sexual relationship between them confidential, a new report alleges that McMahon did the same with three other women as well.

According to Joe Palazzolo, Ted Mann and Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal, McMahon paid four different women a total of more than $12 million over the past 16 years in exchange for their silence regarding alleged infidelity and sexual misconduct.

Among the three newest allegations is one from a former WWE wrestler who said McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex, demoted her and then declined to renew her contract in 2005 when she refused to engage in additional sexual encounters.

The woman and her attorney reportedly negotiated a $7.5 million settlement with McMahon in 2018.

In 2008, a WWE contractor reportedly presented the company with nude photos McMahon sent her and said he sexually harassed her on the job, leading to a nondisclosure agreement and $1 million payout.

The earliest payout was reportedly given in 2006, when a former WWE manager was given $1 million to remain silent about an alleged sexual relationship with McMahon.

The allegation that began the WWE board of directors' investigation into McMahon originated a few weeks ago, when the board received an anonymous email alleging McMahon had an affair with a WWE employee who was hired in 2019 before leaving in January 2022.

McMahon reportedly hired the woman, whose resume said she had attended law school, after meeting her at his condo in Stamford, Connecticut.

The 76-year-old McMahon, who has been married to Linda McMahon since 1966, allegedly had an affair with the woman and later paid her $3 million in exchange for confidentiality.

In the anonymous email, it was said that McMahon "gave her like a toy" to WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, who is also under investigation by the board.

McMahon reportedly transferred the woman from WWE's legal department to talent relations under Laurinaitis in 2021.

It was also alleged that McMahon suggested raising the woman's salary from $100,000 to $300,000 at one point before the company agreed to raise her salary to $200,000.

In the midst of the investigation, McMahon stepped down as WWE chairman and CEO temporarily in mid-June, handing the duties over to his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, on an interim basis.

McMahon has maintained his role as WWE head of creative and has even appeared on Raw and SmackDown on a few occasions since stepping down as chairman and CEO.

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Vince Had Positive Reaction to Adesanya's UFC 276 Entrance

SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee said Tuesday that WWE executive Vince McMahon reacted positively to Israel Adesanya's Undertaker-inspired entrance at UFC 276 last weekend.

Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of ThirstyForNews.com), McAfee said the following about the entrance, which he witnessed live alongside Vince, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in Las Vegas:

"I'm sitting there and the obvious question is, 'Did you guys know this was coming? Did we just so happen to be here when one of these things happened?' I don't think they knew that was coming. I'm not saying they were upset about it, though, I think they loved that it was happening.

"At one point I actually looked at Vince and was like, 'Hey, you should think about f--king doing this, seems like a pretty cool thing.' Got a big pop out of him. I guess [Adesanya] is a big WWE fan, we were honored to be over there and got a chance to sit directly behind his corner."

Adesanya had the internet buzzing after making his way to the Octagon with the accompaniment of WWE legend and Hall of Famer The Undertaker's entrance.

The UFC star also wore an Undertaker-style hat and carried an urn with the name of his opponent, Jared Cannonier, engraved into it.

Adesanya backed up the grandiose entrance with a unanimous-decision victory to retain the UFC middleweight title and improve his pro record to 23-1.

Later, in an interview with BT Sport (h/t WrestlingInc's Ross Berman), Adesanya was asked about potentially making the leap to pro wrestling one day, and he revealed that he is a longtime WWE fan who "definitely" plans to wrestle for WWE one day.

Adesanya apparently already has a fan in McMahon, which bodes well for his chances of transitioning to the sports entertainment giant in the future.

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Lashley Views Theory as Future Top Star

United States champion Bobby Lashley and Mr. Money in the Bank Theory are in the midst of an on-screen rivalry, but in reality, Lashley sees greatness in Theory.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport (h/t Nitish Vashishtha of Ringside News), Lashley praised Theory and his potential to be the face of WWE:

"Man, by the time he's my age, he's going to be on a stack of money as high as this building. He's gonna be a super-duper star. [Twenty-four] years old, that kid has everything in his future. I can see him being a multiple-time world champion. He's gonna be going after [John] Cena's record, he's gonna be after Ric Flair's record. He's going to be setting some records that you would never, never imagine. The kid is extremely talented."

Lashley alluded to the fact that both Cena and Flair are 16-time world champions, which is a lofty goal for Theory to potentially accomplish.

While he hasn't been world champion yet, Theory was the youngest United States champion in WWE history before dropping the title to Lashley at Money in the Bank.

It was still a great night for Theory overall, though, as he won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match after being a late addition to the match, meaning he can now cash in a title opportunity whenever he desires.

Theory is also continuing his feud with Lashley, as it was announced on Monday's episode of Raw that he will receive a rematch for the U.S. title at SummerSlam later this month.

Regardless of whether Theory wins, he is in an ideal spot, as he can cash in the Money in the Bank contract for a world title match at a time and place of his choosing for the next year.

WWE clearly views Theory as a top star in the making, and Lashley has gotten a firsthand look at just how good he can be.

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Rhodes Explains Why He Returned to WWE

In a discussion with fellow WWE Superstar Montez Ford of The Street Profits, Cody Rhodes shed additional light on why he decided to leave AEW and return to WWE this year after six years away.

On the latest episode of WWE's Grit and Glory, Rhodes noted that he would give Ford a "somewhat arrogant answer" but added that he didn't mean for it to sound arrogant:

All roads lead to @CodyRhodes 💪 @MontezFordWWE takes a ride with the American Nightmare and discusses his WWE return, in this all new episode of Grit and Glory presented by @ChevyTrucks Silverado.

Full Episode: https://t.co/O2SRCleMmB pic.twitter.com/NT4DnPeoNL

— WWE (@WWE) July 5, 2022

"For two, three years nobody’s been able to touch me in the ring, and the only way you can say that without having a little bit of doubt is having that chip. Having extra motivation for the biggest prize in our world, which would be the WWE Championship."

Rhodes said that his goal in calling himself the best is for everyone else to view themselves as the best as well, and Ford suggested that it "makes everybody greater."

Since making his return to WWE as Seth Rollins' surprise opponent at WrestleMania 38 in April, Rhodes has established himself as a massive fan favorite and perhaps the hottest babyface in WWE.

The only thing that has slowed Rhodes down is a torn pectoral muscle, which he worked through in beating Rollins in a classic match at Hell in a Cell.

WWE subsequently announced that Rhodes will miss nine months, but Cody has been insistent in wanting to be back sooner, and many fans expect him back as an entrant in the Royal Rumble match before ultimately winning it.

Given how well things have gone for Rhodes since returning to WWE, it is difficult to say he made anything other than a fantastic decision.

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It turns out fans weren't the only ones who felt Vince McMahon should have stayed off television amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Fightful Select (via WrestlingInc) reported several members of the WWE locker room were displeased with McMahon's appearance on SmackDown, with one wrestler calling the appearance "tone-deaf and embarrassing."

McMahon appeared at the opening of Friday's SmackDown and addressed the crowd but did not discuss the allegations that led to him stepping down as chairman and CEO of WWE. The 76-year-old instead seemingly made the appearance in an act of defiance, finishing his short promo by tossing his microphone out of the ring.

“I’m happy it didn’t last long, so I didn’t have to sit through whatever bulls--t he was going to say," a former wrestler told Fightful. "But it shows that he has no accountability, especially when something is directly his fault.”

WWE's board of directors is currently investigating McMahon and head of talent relations John Laurinaitis for misconduct related to the employment of a former paralegal.

Joe Palazzolo and Ted Mann of the Wall Street Journal broke the news of a $3 million settlement McMahon reached with the woman after the two allegedly had an affair. According to the report, McMahon increased the woman's salary from $100,000 to $200,000 when the affair began. He later assigned her to the desk of Laurinaitis as his assistant.

WWE has maintained the relationship was consensual.

WWE's decision to bring back Brock Lesnar as Roman Reigns' opponent at SummerSlam was reportedly made three weeks ago.

According to Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), a Lesnar vs. Reigns rematch had been in the works for quite some time, and people backstage began talking about Lesnar potentially appearing on Friday night's episode of SmackDown about three hours before the show started.

After Reigns beat Riddle in the main event of the show to retain the undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Lesnar confronted him and hit him with an F-5 to end the episode.

Shortly after SmackDown went off the air, WWE announced that Lesnar vs. Reigns was set for SummerSlam on July 30 in a Last Man Standing match.

The Beast Incarnate had not appeared on WWE programming since dropping the WWE Championship to Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 38 in April.

Lesnar's return and the subsequent announcement of the SummerSlam match came as something of a surprise because of reports of what WWE previously had planned for Reigns at the July 30 event.

Last month, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc's Sai Mohan) reported that WWE was planning to have Reigns defend against Randy Orton at SummerSlam.

That match would have made plenty of sense because Reigns and The Usos attacked Orton last month following a tag team title unification match that saw The Usos beat RK-Bro.

Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Dominic DeAngelo) reported earlier this week, however, that there was "fear" within WWE that Orton would require surgery for a back injury, possibly keeping him out for the rest of 2022.

Riddle has mentioned in promos since the loss to The Usos that Orton was dealing with a back injury, but the ailment may be far more legitimate than fans initially thought.

There had also been some speculation regarding WWE bringing Lesnar back for Friday's SmackDown as a means of overshadowing the controversy surrounding WWE chairman Vince McMahon.

McMahon temporarily stepped down as both chairman and CEO this week amid an investigation by WWE's board of directors into allegations that he paid a woman $3 million to not speak publicly about an affair they had while she worked for WWE.

While McMahon's daughter, Stephanie McMahon, is serving as interim chairwoman and CEO, McMahon has retained his role as head of creative, and he cut a short promo at the start of SmackDown.

Given that the allegations against McMahon were only made public this week, it appears as though Lesnar's return was in place far before that given the timeline provided by Fightful.

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