Twitter verification is a necessity to ensure celebrities and notable individuals, and companies are not impersonated. With Twitter recently revamping and relaunching the application process, former WWE star Ryback has again attempted to become verified. However, he has been refused for seemingly not meeting the requirements. This has prompted Ryback to tweet the companies co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey.

It isn’t known the exact reason why Twitter rejected his verification request. However, he has previously speculated that there is a social media conspiracy against him due to his ongoing dispute with WWE over the Ryback trademark. He was born Ryan Allen Reeves from birth but legally changed his name to Ryback Allen Reeves once WWE released him and feels he should own the name due to creating the character.

Ryback has not wrestled since 2018 following a severe back injury that required over a dozen stem cell procedures. Although his time away from the ring may soon be coming to an end after he confirmed last year that he is in training for a comeback.

Over the weekend, a fan dug up an old clip of the Bella Twins appearing on the July 26th, 2013 edition of E! Network’s Fashion Police. In the video, the twins were shown a photo of Chyna, who it should be noted was alive at the time, and Nicki Bella would say, “We don’t know if it’s a man or a woman.” This was followed by the show’s host, Joan Rivers commenting, “She is butch, I hate to say that, but her vagina has a penis.” You can watch this for yourself below.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”YP82GHUI” upload-date=”2021-06-28T23:02:50.000Z” name=”Fashion Police Bella’s Chyna” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

Fans on social media were shocked to hear this and were very critical of the sisters, with some outright saying the WWE Hall of Famers should be canceled. Now though, Nikki has attempted to quell the storm and issued an apology

Chyna tragically passed away aged 46, just under three years after this was initially aired. Before her death, she has been trying to rebuild her career, returning to the US from Japan, where she was teaching. Unfortunately, she couldn’t overcome her personal demons, and it’s believed her cause of death was an accidental overdose. WWE would posthumously induct her into their Hall of Fame as a member of D-Generation X. Although this did anger a section of fans who believed she should have gone on individually.

Trent Beretta recently had to sit on the sidelines for four months after suffering a partially torn pec, an injury that has plagued his career. Sadly now, after only wrestling four matches since returning to the ring for AEW, he is again hurt and currently recovering from neck fusion surgery.

Thankfully though, he would state on Twitter that the procedure “went well.” It isn’t known whether it was a single incident or a build of up wear and tear that resulted in the serious operation being required, but regardless he is likely to be away from the ring for some time.

Beretta was one of the first wrestlers signed with AEW along with tag partner Chuck Taylor. He became known to most wrestling fans when signing with WWE in 2007 before debuted as part of WWE’s version of ECW in 2009 alongside Caylen Croft as a tag team. Once Croft was let go by the company, Beretta would become a singles wrestler on SmackDown, mainly used in lower card feuds and as an enhancement talent. He’d end up on NXT in 2012 before suffering a torn triceps and being released not long after recovering and making his comeback.

Since departing WWE, he has wrestled for TNA, ROH and became a New Japan regular. In the process, he significantly increased his value, and when he signed with AEW, it was considered a risk for him because he had a good spot in New Japan.

WWE has been releasing talents across all their brand over the past few months, telling those let guy it’s due to budgetary reasons. Earlier today, another round of cuts commenced with it confirmed that Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, August Grey, Matt Martel, and Chase Parker had been cut, which we reported previously.

The belief is Nick Khan is behind the drive for these mass cuts, and now an additional six talents have been let go. With Killian Dain, Marina Shafir, Sunil Singh, Samir Singh, Curt Stallion, and Arturo Ruas also no longer with the company.

Following the release of Braun Strowman earlier this month, it’s hard to be shocked with anyone parting ways with WWE. However, Killian Dain’s inclusion was unexpected as he had the size the company loves and had not had a lengthy run on the main roster. Additionally, he was the husband of Nikki Cross, a featured performer on Raw. Although WWE has proven over the years, they don’t have an issue releasing one half a married couple with Rusev and Lana, an example of this.

WWE has been releasing wrestlers over the past few months for budgetary reasons, and today, even more cuts have been confirmed. As of writing, the talents let go are Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, August Grey, Matt Martel, and Chase Parker.

Fandango is the most prominent name of all those let go having been with the company since 2006, where he was initially assigned to developmental territory Deep South Wrestling. He originally went by the name Johnny Curtis and won the fourth season of NXT when it was a competition.

His career would really take off when he was repacked as a ballroom dancer and famously defeated Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29. However, he wouldn’t reach those heights again and slipped down the card before he went on to form a tag team with fellow releasee Tyler Breeze called Breezango. The duo would win the NXT Tag Team Championships in 2020, which would be Fandango’s only title victory in WWE.

Booker T has been suing Activision Publishing, Activision Blizzard, and Major League Gaming Corp since 2019. He believes their character David “Prophet” Wilkes in Call Of Duty: Black Ops was based on his G.I. Bro gimmick. Booker T had used that character on Texas independents, WCW, and in a comic book and felt he deserved compensation. Activision had attempted to get the case filed dismissed, but a judge ruled it could proceed.

It’s now been confirmed that a jury has heard the case and found in the defendant’s favor, meaning Booker T lost. Activision lawyer’s defense stated that Booker T didn’t own the right to G.I. Bro as he’d contracted them to WWE. However, Booker T’s side disputed this, saying that it was only in regards to pro wrestling. Additionally, lawyers argued that Booker T had exaggerated the similarities between himself and the character.

Unrelated to this lawsuit, Activision was previously sued by AM General, the manufacturer of the Humvee, for trademark infringement, due to including the vehicle in Call of Duty video games. The case was dismissed because a judge ruled the vehicle’s use was integral to the game wanting to produce a historically accurate and realistic portrayal of warfare.

This wasn’t the first lawsuit involving a wrestler and video game. In July 2003, Maxx Payne (Man Mountain Rock in WWF) sued Rockstar Games, 3D Realms, Gathering of Developers, and Remedy Entertainment for taking his name for the video game Max Pain. He wanted $10 million but ended up settling out of court.

Three months ago, Bea Priestley wrestled her final match in Japan at World Wonder Ring Stardom at their Dream Cinderella In Spring event. She’d unsuccessfully challenge their champion Utami Hayashishita and afterward said on the mic that it had been her final match for the promotion. It’s understood she had turned down the opportunity to re-sign with Stardom, as well as rejected a contract offer from New Japan where she had featured alongside her boyfriend, Will Ospreay.

Instead, she returned to the UK and signed with WWE for their NXT UK brand and has since been training for her debut. That appears to be coming soon, as WWE has shared a video hyping her debut with her opening a briefcase, taking out a contract, and signing it “Blair Davenport,” therefore confirming her new WWE ring name.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”2yCOCk7Q” upload-date=”2021-06-24T22:37:03.000Z” name=”Blair Davenport NXT UK” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

Priestley had previously turned down a WWE contract in favor of signing with AEW in 2019 due to them allowing her to continue wrestling in Japan. At the time, it was thought to have been a good decision. However, due to travel restrictions stopping her from getting to the United States, AEW released her on 13 August 2020. Now though, she has a second opportunity to make an impact with Vince McMahon’s promotion, where she is expected to be a prominent performer.

WWE released Ruby Riott on June 2, 2021, four years after debuting for the promotion. As with most wrestlers without an established name, WWE had her create a new ring name and trademarked it. It was assumed she would revert to her prior name of Heidi Lovelace to continue her career, however, that is not the case.

Speaking on the Wrestling Perspective podcast co-hosted by Lars Frederiksen from Rancid, she explained she isn’t a fan of her old name, and it had given to her when training. She then revealed she initially chose the name Ruby because of the Rancid song Ruby Soho which prompted Frederiksen to suggest she used that from now, and he could arrange it for her. Now, a few days on from the podcast being published, she has updated her Instagram account to state her name is now “Ruby Soho,” seemingly making it official.

Ruby started wrestling on the indies in 2010 as Miss Heidi and began making a name for herself in OVW and Shine Wrestling in 2012, now going by Heidi Lovelace, where she built a cult following. She’d sign with WWE in December 2016, aged just 25, and was fast-tracked to NXT and debuted on the March 22, 2017, episode. Later that year, she would be called up to the main roster alongside Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan as the Riott Squad. With Logan having been released in 2020, this now leaves Morgan as the only member remaining with the promotion.

Recently former TNA commentator Don West sadly revealed that he has been diagnosed with a brain lymphoma and has begun immediate treatment. This resulted in many in the wrestling business expressing their sadness on social media, including his former employer Jeff Jarrett who said he had spoken to him and he was still in good spirits.

While the exact treatment West will undergo hasn’t been made public, he has a tough battle ahead of him dealing with this rare disease that represents under 4% of all brain tumors. Surgery is not usually an option due to the risk of severe side effects. Instead, chemotherapy is usually the first cause of treatment, along with steroids to control brain swelling.

This will undoubtedly be costly, and therefore his sister-in-law has started a GoFundMe campaign in an attempt to help raise funds. As of writing, $11,600 has been raised, and donations have been made by wrestlers, including Cody Runnels, Matt Cardona, Max Castor, Gail Kim, and Christopher Daniels.

Due to his diagnosis, West is currently on hiatus from his job as a radio presenter for News Radio 560 KPQ in Wenatchee, Washington, having previously worked as director of sales and marketing for the Wenatchee Wild ice hockey team following his TNA departure. He had been with promotion between 2002 and 2012 after coming to fame as a host and salesman on late-night television and caught the attention of Vince Russo. The controversial writer tried to recruit West for WCW, but he declined. However, when TNA later needed a color commentator, Russo would suggest West again. This time, he accepted the offer of employment.

In very sad news, former bodybuilder Melissa Coates, best known for her role as ECW legend Sabu’s valet under the name Super Genie has passed away aged 50. As of writing, her cause of death has not been made public. However, she had been suffering from poor health, and several months ago was hospitalized with several artery blockages, and doctors had no other choice but to amputate her left leg.

After receiving worldwide publicity by appearing on the front covers of several magazines, including Muscle&Fitness, and Ironman, Coates would begin her pro wrestling journey where she initially trained under Killer Kowalski before becoming part of WWE’s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling between 2005 and 2007.

Since then, she wrestled on the independent circuit until moving into a valet role once she met and began dating Sabu in 2014. Her last high-profile appearances were for Impact Wrestling, where she accompanied Sabu throughout his 2019 and 2020 run.

Trademarks are a big deal in wrestling, and WWE looks to take ownership whenever they can. However, their attempt to trademark the name “Keith Lee” looked to have failed after Keith Lee filed to trademark his birth name for himself. WWE applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark his name when he was still in NXT. Still, the law requires Lee to sign a consent form giving WWE permission. Lee didn’t do this, but now his own application has encountered issues.

The first issue is the fact that WWE’s application is still pending and was filed before his. Secondary Lee’s evidence of prior usage was deemed only to confirm him as a specific individual and not as a service mark to identify a service. It appears Lee’s attorney mainly used news articles and a YouTube video of him wrestling Scott Mckenzie on the independents from 2008 to verify his application.

What this means for the trademark remains to be seen, with it appearing both WWE and Lee applications are in limbo, much like the state of his career presently. Lee hasn’t wrestled for WWE since February, and there have been rumors that Lee has been suffering from health issues and been unable to get cleared to return. However, that hasn’t yet been officially confirmed.

Following WrestleMania in April, WWE released multiple wrestlers from their contracts. While many of them weren’t a big surprise, Peyton Royce’s inclusion was unexpected. However, speaking on her Off Her Chops podcast which she has launched with Billie Kay, she revealed a conversation with WWE’s head honcho Vince McMahon might have played a part in why she was chosen.

Vince McMahon is known for liking larger-than-life superstars, and over the years, has used wrestler’s passions and former careers as part of their gimmicks. Seemingly Royce didn’t give McMahon much to work with, and when making budgetary cuts were decided upon, he considered her expendable.

Neither Royce nor Kay has wasted any planning their non-WWE futures by filing trademark applications on their new names. Royce, whose real name is Cassandra McIntosh, applied for “Cassie Lee,” and Kay, whose name is Jessica McKay, filed for “Jessie Kay.” Additionally, the duo’s company JLTM Inc has applied to trademark “The IInspiration” as they can no longer be collectively known as The IIconics.