Below are some top WWE news stories of the day, involving CM Punk and Sami Zayn.
• WWE’s current TV rights deal with NBC Universal is expiring in October 2024. The company, having already secured new deals for SmackDown and NXT, is now focusing on negotiations for the red brand.
Triple H and Nick Khan have been engaged in talks, and the recent signing of CM Punk is seen as a significant boost, with reports suggesting that Punk is a “huge selling point” for WWE, potentially impacting the ongoing negotiations for a new TV rights deal.
Here’s what the Wrestling Observer reported:
“Things are changing greatly. Let’s just say things changed greatly with RAW negotiations from a few weeks ago. And Punk is a huge part of the selling point.”
• On last week’s episode of RAW, Drew McIntyre defeated Sami Zayn. McIntyre later assaulted Zayn in a backstage segment.
This was done to write Zayn off TV. On this week’s RAW, WWE announced that Zayn is injured and is dealing with a partially torn meniscus.
On a recent episode of his podcast, former WWF/WCW writer Vince Russo said the following about Sami:
“My heat with Sami Zayn is, can I be honest with you, bro? Bro, you are in the opening of RAW, you look like a f***ing slob. You look like a slob, bro.
And if I’m a casual fan watching this at home, if I happen to stumble upon this, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Who is this slob in the ring?”
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