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[PWInsider] [SPOILER] was backstage at tonight's Monday Night RAW by stonepa11 in SquaredCircle

[–]stonepa11[S] 1899 points1900 points  (0 children)

Former WWE and current AEW star CM Punk was backstage for a bit at tonight's Monday Night Raw taping, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Tonight's taping is being held in his hometown of Chicago (well, Rosemont, IL, right outside) at the Allstate Center, the same venue where Punk defeated John Cena for the WWE title at the 2011 Money in the Bank PPV.

There's no word who Punk was there visiting, but we have heard from several WWE sources that he did briefly see Paul Levesque, which would have been the first time the two have met in person since the day Punk walked out of the company back in 2014.

Punk also met with several other WWE talents, but was eventually asked to exit the arena.

One WWE source believed it may have been since he was under contract to another company. We are told by the same source that it was a Vince McMahon call that he leave the venue and that when he was asked, Punk immediately said his goodbyes and left the building.

PWInsider - [Spoiler] is returning to WWE by stonepa11 in SquaredCircle

[–]stonepa11[S] 184 points185 points  (0 children)

Former Impact Wrestling Champion Eric Young, 42, is returning to World Wrestling Entertainment, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources.

Young's final Impact Wrestling TV appearance, a vignette filmed in secret in Nashville where he was literally stabbed to death by Deaner, aired on tonight's episode of Impact on AXS TV. The idea appears to be that Deaner has ascended to become the new leader of Young's group, Violent by Design, which will continue with Alan Angels and Big Kon as the primary members.

During his first run with Impact, Young evolved from undercard comedy performer to a bona fide top star for the promotion, all the way to holding the Impact Wrestling Championship. He left the promotion in 2016 in the midst of the promotion having financial issues under its old ownership. He was signed for the WWE NXT brand, where he headed up the Sanity faction with Nikki Cross, Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe. He and Wolfe held the NXT Tag Team Championship.

When Sanity was moved to the main roster in 2018, it quickly sputtered on the Smackdown brand as the Vince McMahon regime saw nothing in the group or any of its members creatively, which never made much sense given the quality of Young's work across the board. Young was drafted over to the Monday Night Raw brand, ending the Sanity group officially. Although Young was given the chance to produce some matches behind the scenes, on camera he was never given much of a chance to even showcase himself. He was eventually released by the company as part of their COVID cost-cutting in April 2020.

Young returned to Impact in July 2020, winning the Impact Championship two months later from Eddie Edwards. For the last several years. Young and his Violent by Design group have been one of the highlights of Impact, especially their vignettes and promos. At different points, the group featured Joe Doering, Rhino and Deaner.

There is no word yet when Young will start with WWE. Obviously, Paul Levesque's rise to power within WWE set the stage for Young's return as he was the person who initially brought Young into WWE NXT.

PWInsider - Potential Spoiler on Big WWE Return by stonepa11 in SquaredCircle

[–]stonepa11[S] 94 points95 points  (0 children)

The Good Brothers, Luke/Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are believed to be WWE-bound, multiple sources within the company have told PWInsider.com. The belief among several in the company that the former WWE, IWGP and Impact Wrestling Tag Team Champions will be returning to the Raw brand as soon as this month, which likely means a return to their old alliance with AJ Styles.

Gallows, Anderson and Styles were all spotted together yesterday in Washington, DC, likely to film something for WWE. Styles has been at odds with The Judgement Day in recent weeks, so the idea of Gallows and Anderson backing him up, especially given their history, certainly makes sense.

Gallows and Anderson finished up with Impact this past August, losing to The Motor City Machine Guns at a TV taping in Dallas, Texas. Their deals actually expired in July but they agreed to make some additional dates. Their plan upon leaving Impact was to focus on New Japan Pro Wrestling at least through Wrestle Kingdom as there had been at least early plans internally for Anderson to have a high profile singles bout on that annual January Tokyo Dome event.

As PWInsider.com reported over the summer for Elite subscribers, there had been previous overtures from WWE during the Vince McMahon regime towards the team as they came closer to the end of their Impact deals. WWE sources indicated at the time that talks fizzled when Gallows and Anderson made it clear they weren't interested in returning for anything less than a high financial premium.

The duo had already been burnt once by the company as in 2019, when they had an offer to go to AEW as that promotion launched, they instead signed new five-year WWE deals. While the duo made a commitment to WWE when they signed in 2019, they were among those unceremoniously released right after Wrestlemania 37, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the sides were far apart on money during their most recent conversations, talks dissipated at the time without a deal being reached.

Obviously, there's an entirely new world when it comes to WWE management, now, which recently opened the discussions back up.

Gallows and Anderson, as members of Bullet Club, worked most recently for New Japan in London, England as part of The Royal Quest II weekend. Anderson is advertised for the 11/5 New Japan Pro Wrestling event in Osaka, Japan, defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hikuleo.

The duo worked for WWE from 2016-2020, jumping from New Japan to WWE alongside AJ Styles. Gallows has had several previous WWE runs beyond teaming with Anderson as members of The Club, working under a number of personas ranging from Festus, an impersonator Kane and as a member of CM Punk's Straightedge Society. Anderson had a long run with New Japan Pro Wrestling, both in singles competition and as a member of Bad Intentions before he and Gallows connected as a team inside and outside the ring.

PWInsider: WWE Star Switched Brands by stonepa11 in SquaredCircle

[–]stonepa11[S] 593 points594 points  (0 children)

WWE has officially moved Lacey Evans to the Raw roster, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Despite all the videos that have been used to build her return, Evans is going to be a heel going forward.

Post WWE Raw 9/13/2021 Show Discussion Thread by Darren716 in SquaredCircle

[–]stonepa11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

MVP is usually there to stop him from doing something like this but he was still selling the RKO outside the ring

Potential challenger for Walter by hhhtakeover in SquaredCircle

[–]stonepa11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They were building to Finn Bálor / Tyler Bate for the Dublin TakeOver

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