Asuka Defends Nia Jax Against Injury Criticisms; Wrestling News September 13th 2023

WWE President Nick Khan has discussed Stephanie McMahon’s WWE departure after the return of her father to the Board Of Directors earlier this year.

When Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE in July last year, Nick and Stephanie took on the mantle of co-CEO of the company despite Stephanie taking a leave of absence just over a month prior. When Vince returned to his executive position this past January, however, Stephanie once again bowed out and has not returned to the fold since.

Speaking on The Bill Simmons Podcast, the now-WWE President gave his thoughts on Stephanie’s departure. He admitted that he wished she hadn’t stepped away but respected her decision.

“She decided to step away. Initially, she was on leave of absence, some of the Vince stuff started to happen, he stepped out for a moment. She was asked by Vince, by myself, by the board, to come back. She came back, which we were extremely gracious for her in doing so.

“Ultimately, when Vince came back, she decided she was ready to go and step out. I respected the decision, I wish she hadn’t done that, and she knows that from me personally, she’s a terrific executive and a terrific person. That’s her decision, her relationship with Vince is theirs and when she made it, I have full respect for the decision.”

WWE has announced that the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble will be held at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida on January 27th.

In a press release earlier today, the company also announced that the RAW after the Premium Live Event will emanate from Amalie Arena in Tampa on January 29th. This will mark the first time a Royal Rumble event has been held in the Tampa Bay area in almost 30 years, with the last taking place in 1995.

Despite that, however, the Tampa Bay area is no stranger to WWE events in general. WrestleMania 37 was held in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa just over two years ago and Tropicana Field itself was the long-time venue of the WWE ThunderDome during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nick Khan has announced that a long-time WWE Board member and senior executive is departing the company in an internal memo.

Fightful Select reports that WWE Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick will be leaving the company. The news was revealed by a leaked internal memo from Nick Khan, who announced the news to WWE staff earlier today. Riddick was one of four executives who received a multi-million dollar bonus from the completion of the company’s merger with UFC.

Riddick initially joined the WWE Board of Directors over a decade ago and will remain in both his Board position and Chief Financial Officer role until his departure at the end of the month. Riddick also served as WWE President from July 2022 to January 2023 when Khan became co-CEO alongside Stephanie McMahon.

“After over thirteen years on our Board of Directors and almost two years after joining WWE full time as our CFO and serving as President/CFO, Frank Riddick will be leaving WWE post the TKO close at the end of this month.

Frank is a highly respected colleague, and it has been a pleasure to work alongside him. We are grateful for his counsel, support and dedicated years of service and wish him only continued success moving forward. Nick Khan.”

Former NXT North American Champion Wes Lee has seemingly announced his departure from NXT.

Lee competed in the opening match of last night’s show against Ilja Dragunov with the winner earning a title shot against NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes at NXT No Mercy later this month Despite his best efforts, Lee ultimately fell to the Russian-born star who will go on to face Hayes on September 30th.

Later in the night, Lee was seen in the background of a segment featuring Hayes and Trick Williams clearing out his locker and removing his nametag. He was shown for a third time on the show leaving the arena with his wife standing at the door. He told her that he had “cleaned out his locker” and was “done” before walking away.

"I'm done."

What do you mean @WesLee_WWE?! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/Z7sSHHQEYV

— WWE (@WWE) September 13, 2023

Nick Khan and Triple H are just two of several executives who received big money bonuses following the merger of WWE and UFC.

A new filing has revealed that four major executives of the TKO Group Holdings have recieved major bonuses after the official merger of WWE and UFC and the subsequent formation of the new company.

WWE President Nick Khan recieved the biggest amount at $15 million whilst Executive Vice President Kevin Dunn was provided $7 million. Meanwhile, Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque and Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick have both recieved $5 million.

The NYSE welcomes TKO Group Holdings Inc. in celebration of its listing! 🔔 $TKO @TKOGrp | @ufc | @WWE | @Endeavor | @danawhite | @TripleH | @BiancaBelairWWE | @dc_mma pic.twitter.com/55SSVlQpdw

— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) September 12, 2023

To celebrate the official merger between WWE and UFC into TKO Group Holdings, figures from the two organizations as well as Endeavor were invited to the New York Stock Exchange yesterday to ring The Opening Bell.

Top executives of the newly-formed TKO Group Holdings were present including Ari Emanuel, Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Dana White, and Triple H. However, some big-name talent from both WWE and UFC were also at the event to celebrate the merger.

Also spotted at the event were Bianca Belair (who has been absent from WWE since SummerSlam last month), Montez Ford, and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.

What do you think of WWE and UFC’s merger? Let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook or Twitter down below!

Dana White has blasted a statement suggesting that the ultimate goal of WWE & UFC’s merger is to combine their fanbases.

UFC COO Lawrence Epstein divided opinion yesterday when he claimed in an interview with ESPN that the ultimate goal of TKO Group Holdings’ formation is to create a significant crossover between fans of WWE and UFC: “Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan.”

Dana White himself has now responded and didn’t hold back with his thoughts. Speaking during a Dana White’s Contender Series press conference, the UFC President blasted the quote as “one of the dumbest statements of all time” and stated that he “could not disagree with him more” as he believes the two fanbases are too different to bridge much crossover between them.

“Lawrence, I love you, one of the dumbest statements of all time. I don’t know why he said that. I don’t even know what to say to that. No. There is no…there is some crossover. Some people like WWE, some people like UFC, some people like both.

I don’t think there is ever going to be a day where we turn every UFC fan to a WWE fan or every WWE…what’s beautiful about the synergy between these two fanbases is they are very completely opposite. There is very little crossover.

Maybe he was misquoted, I hope that was the case because I could not disagree with him more.”

h/t to Fightful

Becky Lynch has become NXT Women’s Champion for the very first time in her career!

The Man headline last night’s edition of NXT in an NXT Women’s Championship match against Tiffany Stratton. Despite the best efforts of the champion, however, Lynch ultimately came out victorious and held the title for the first time in her 9-year WWE career.

Lynch was an integral part of the NXT women’s division back in 2014/15 alongside the likes of Bayley, Charlotte Flair and the then-Sasha Banks but never captured the brand’s top female prize. She has previously challenged for the belt twice, both in early 2015 at NXT TakeOver: Rival and NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable respectively.

JoJo Offerman has paid tribute to her late partner Bray Wyatt in the wake of his sudden passing.

The former WWE announcer took to her Instagram to post a heartbreaking tribute to Wyatt who passed away from a heart attack last month.

“Ive written and rewritten this post so many times because there are no amount of words in this world to describe Windham and what he means to me. But I’ve also been avoiding it because in some weird way it makes all of this all too real. I miss the love of my life so much it hurts. He was everything I ever wanted and everything I never knew I needed, and I let him know that everyday.

I’m so grateful that he allowed me to love him fiercely. But I am so blessed he loved me fiercely in return. He was and always will be the best person I know, my best friend, and my soulmate. Windham truly gave me a love that will last a lifetime and oh baby I thank him for that.

He was the kindest, funniest, most caring man in the world. He made me feel beyond special every single day. He made everyone feel special, which was one of the million things I loved about him. Our bond was magical, something only the two of us understood. And that beautiful bond brought two perfect babies into the world.

That’s another thing, he was the BEST daddy to Knash, Hyrie, Cadyn, and Kendyl. Family was EVERYTHING to him.

Windham knew me better than I knew myself and he always knew how to calm my storm, as I did for him. He was the only person in the world that I could be unapologetically myself around and not only did he accept it, he loved it.

I cry because I wish we had more time baby, but I smile because I was so blessed to be loved by you in the time we did have. I will always love you Windham. I will always show our kids how incredible their daddy is. I will always make sure they know how much you love them. And I will always make you proud just like you made me proud. I love you forever baby, until we meet again ❤️”

Asuka has come out in defense of Nia Jax against claims from fans that the returning star is known for injuring her fellow stars!

Across multiple posts to her X (formerly Twitter) account, Asuka has hit back at the idea that Jax has injured stars in the past – in particular Asuka’s previous tag team partner Kairi Sane.

The former WWE Women’s Champion first responded to a post asking if Jax returning is the right move, claiming it to be “rude and bullying” and even questioned if the poster had a heart.

She went on to address claims that Jax caused a notable head injury to Kairi Sane, responding that “Wrestlers fight knowing that there is a possibility of injury. Kairi doesn’t blame anyone for her injuries. She is not stupid. But are you a victim?”

Jax returned to WWE on RAW earlier this week. She interfered in the WWE Women’s World Championship main event between Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriquez, attacking the former and costing her the match.

Wrestlers fight knowing that there is a possibility of injury.
Kairi doesn't blame anyone for her injuries.
She is not stupid.
But are you a victim? https://t.co/KQ5fDcrfuk

— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) September 12, 2023

Morning everyone, hope you’ve had a good week so far!

Welcome back to the TJRWrestling live blog! I’ll be with you from 7am to 1pm EST covering the latest stories & breaking news from WWE, AEW, NJPW and elsewhere across the wrestling world!

Today’s top stories are:

• Asuka Defends Nia Jax Against Injury Criticisms
• JoJo Offerman Pays Tribute To Late Partner Bray Wyatt
  
• Becky Lynch Wins The NXT Women’s Championship