Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Damian Priest's Injury Reportedly Currently Considered 'Not Bad'
Damian Priest's knee may feel like "trash," but he's not believed to have suffered a major injury.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said tests will still need to be done, but there is optimism Priest will not be on the shelf for a long time.
"The preliminary news wasn't bad. They were actually saying it's like a miracle. That could change Monday, but it wasn't as bad as they feared. ... Nothing is conclusive. It's not like, oh, he needs surgery. You can't say that. You can't say he's fine. We don't know. But, we do know, as time went on, there was a hope that he's OK."
Priest was injured when his foot got caught in the rope during his World Heavyweight Championship defense against Drew McIntyre at Saturday's Clash at the Castle event. He continued to wrestle through the match and came out victorious but was noticeably hobbled.
WWE's creative plans would take a massive shift if Priest winds up having to miss time. His next feud will almost certainly be with Gunther ahead of SummerSlam, and he's directly involved in the Liv Morgan-Judgment Day ongoing story as well.
Uncle Howdy Faction Reportedly to be More Realistic, Not Supernatural
WWE appears to be taking a more grounded approach with the upcoming Uncle Howdy faction.
Fightful Select reported there are no planned supernatural elements, with the plan being to steer into a more realistic approach.
Uncle Howdy, who will be portrayed by Bo Dallas, was originally part of Bray Wyatt's story after his 2022 return to the company. The character never made an official in-ring debut as Wyatt dealt with the illness that led to his untimely death at age 36.
WWE has been teasing the return of the Uncle Howdy character for months. He's expected to lead a faction that includes Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis and Erick Rowan. Additional members could be added at a later date, as the faction was once rumored to have the Wyatt Six name.
The faction has been teased with a series of on-screen messages and QR codes—much in the vein of Bray Wyatt's former characters—and is seemingly gearing up for a formal debut soon.
The Rock Already Back in the Gym After Suffering Elbow Injury
It turns out The Rock's gnarly elbow injury wasn't too serious.
The Final Boss showed off bruising suffered while filming his upcoming movie, The Smashing Machine, leading some fans to worry about his potential future in the wrestling ring.
"Since you guys know, I am filming a movie called The Smashing Machine and anytime your film is called The Smashing Machine, well you are gonna get smashed up. Look at that sucker right there, it's like having a cantaloupe up my elbow. I got banged up pretty good today, you know scenes and there might be some soft tissue damage, that's a lot of fluid, we'll see, I got to get it out of there first before I got any kind of MRI."
Dwayne Johnson @TheRockFunctional medicine, holistic medicine, modern medicine - I'm an advocate for it all when we get banged up.<br>But don't sleep on the power of the "healing Teremana hooch" 😂🥃<br>Sunshine & pain 🌞💪🏾<br>Smashing em up soulman 😉🕊️ <a href="">
He would later update fans on his condition, saying he suffered a ruptured bursa sac and was already back in the gym training.
The Rock has been off WWE programming since the night after WrestleMania but clearly has finished business with Cody Rhodes and potentially Roman Reigns. At age 52, his health is paramount to him being able to return to the ring, as WWE will always be secondary to his acting career.
Now that there are no production delays and The Rock is right back in the gym, fans can still hold out hope he'll be back in a ring before the end of 2024.
