Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Latest on Nia Jax's WWE Return
The end of Raw saw the surprise return of Nia Jax, who inserted herself into the women's world title picture by attacking Raquel Rodriguez during her main-event match against Rhea Ripley on Monday night.
WWE @WWENIA JAX IS BACK!!!<a href="">#WWERaw</a> <a href="">
After Ripley hit Rodriguez with the rip-tide for the pin to retain the title, Jax went after the champion with a headbutt, leg drop and banzai drop.
Per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Jax signed with WWE more than one month ago as the first major addition since Vince McMahon came back to the company earlier this year:
"Fightful Select had noted on recent shows that we'd heard she was headed back to the company, and we're told she's been signed over a month, and that the hiring freeze effectively was ended this summer.
"She's the first signing that was made since Vince McMahon forced his way back into the company that returned on Main Roster TV. The Endeavor-WWE merger is happening this week, but we're told it's unrelated to her popping up on TV. Several within the company actually thought she'd return before this."
Jax was released from WWE amid a series of roster cuts in November 2021. She had been with the company since 2014 and was involved in several high-profile feuds, including against Ronda Rousey in 2018.
Given the lack of depth on the Raw women's roster, Ripley certainly needed new challengers. Her list of opponents since beating Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39 includes Rodriguez, Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell, Natalya, Zelina Vega and Lyra Valkyria.
While there are good wrestlers in that group, none of them have ever been pushed like a top star. Jax is a limited in-ring worker, but she was often booked like a main-eventer during her previous run.
Vince McMahon Made Changes to Raw
It appears Vince McMahon is recovering well after undergoing spinal surgery earlier this summer.
Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Vince McMahon made "significant" changes to Monday's Raw throughout the day before the show went on the air even though he wasn't at the arena in Virginia:
"So if the show was–a lot of stuff wasn't advertised on the show, most of it, and the reason is they were changing all day long. But Vince is back, Vince made significant changes to the show and I don't know what the changes were, all I heard was they were probably changes for the better but there were many of them.
"But Vince is back from his surgery leave, he was not in the chair, he was not [at the show], but he was involved in the production of the show."
There wasn't a lot advertised for the show ahead of time. The Ripley-Rodriguez match, Gunther's celebration of becoming the longest-reigning intercontinental champion of all-time and a Cody Rhodes segment were all that was known.
All three things did happen, which is a vast improvement from the years when McMahon was changing things so often that advertised matches wound up not taking place on Raw or SmackDown.
Meltzer also noted that Triple H, who is WWE's chief content officer, made "multiple changes" to the show at the last minute.
McMahon's return comes after WWE announced earlier this summer he had "pretty intensive" spinal surgery. He had been on medical leave as a result of the procedure.
The 78-year-old's return also coincides with the expected closing of the merger between WWE and UFC on Tuesday.
Update on LA Knight's Contract Talks
Amid a recent report that LA Knight was nearing a new deal with WWE, it appears things may not be as close as initially believed.
Per Sapp (h/t Upton), no deal has been agreed on between Knight and WWE with the two sides "far apart on money" at this point.
PW Insider reported on Sept. 7 (h/t Upton) that Knight and WWE had either completed a new five-year deal or were close to doing so.
In the most recent issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t SEScoops.com), Meltzer noted Knight was "expected to get a megapush going forward given that the ratings for his segments and his merchandise sales have both been very strong."
Even though it doesn't appear as if Knight has a new contract right now, Sapp noted there's no truth to the idea that a push is tied to him signing a deal and his current contract "runs well into 2025, and has over a year and a half left on it."
Knight has emerged as one of the key superstars for WWE this year. He's one of the best talkers in the company and is starting to get high-profile matches on television.
Given how valuable Knight has made himself, it would seem likely a contract gets worked out at some point. There doesn't have to be a rush to get it done now since he's signed for all of next year and at least a part of 2025.
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