On Tuesday, WWE announced that former ESPN announcer Adnan Virk was leaving his role as Raw’s play-by-play announcer less than two months in the job. He would claim on social media that it was due to the travel schedule, which is surprising because it’s hard to believe he would have been unaware of that before accepting the role. However, regardless of the reason, his departure has left a spot open behind the Raw announce desk next to Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. While many expected Tom Phillips to return, that isn’t WWE’s plan.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has reported that former MMA fighter and commentator Jimmy Smith is set to take up the position next Monday. Unlike Virk, Smith has some pro wrestling experience, having been part of the pre-show panel at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver and analyst last week on NXT. Additionally, he hosted the second season of American Ninja Warrior, so he likely gets sports entertainment better than most coming in from an MMA background.

Smith is 43, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and has a 5-1 professional MMA record. He stepped away from fighting to focus on commentating and has worked for the Discovery Channel, Bellator, UFC, Invicta FC, and Premier Boxing Champions.

Following WrestleMania 37, both Raw and SmackDown’s teams were adjusted due to WWE hiring former ESPN announcer Adnan Virk. His recruitment saw Tom Phillips move to 205 Live, Samoa Joe released due to still being injured, and Corey Graves switching from SmackDown to Raw. The decision came as quite a surprise, as while Virk is a capable and accomplished broadcaster, he had no prior wrestling experience and was so unfamiliar with the product he actually had to visit WWE.com to learn the names of finishing moves.

Now, just seven weeks into his role as the lead announcer on the companies flagship show, WWE has announced that Virk and they have mutually agreed to part ways. No specific details were provided initially as to why, but shortly after the announcement, Virk took to Twitter and blamed the weekly travel, which is somewhat surprising because he would have been aware of that before accepting the role.

Calling wrestling is vastly different from sports, and Virk had received criticism from fans for his performances, so it is possible that also played a part in the decision. Additionally, Virk may not have been comfortable commentating on matches featuring zombies, given his sports broadcasting background.

Virk was hired by the company on the recommendation of WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan, who was previously his agent. The Canadian announcer was with ESPN for nine years and worked on Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, and ESPN College Football during that time. However, back in 2019, he was fired and escorted from the building because he had shared private information about the network’s baseball coverage with a journalist. After that, he worked for the MLB Network, NHL Network, DAZN, and on his own podcast.

Alexa Bliss has shared the sad news that her almost-four-year-old deaf pig Larry-Steve, has sadly passed away. She revealed that the pet she adopted as a piglet, that became famous on the E! reality series Total Divas, had died via her Instagram along with a black and white photo of her holding his trotters.

Bliss had initially taken to social media on Monday asking if anyone knew an emergency vet that would treat Larry as he could not move or walk. Apparently, her current vet wasn’t prepared to treat him. She would eventually get some help before leaving for Raw, although she did not appear on the show. She would then and keep in contact with him throughout the evening.

Typically a pig the size of Larry lives between 5 and 10 years, although some have lived to the age of 25, so this would have been unexpected for Bliss. While some people will see Larry as just a pig, he was Bliss’s pet, and it was clear to anyone following her on social media that she very much loved him, and he was a big part of her life. Our thoughts are with Bliss and Larry’s 90,000 Instagram followers at this time.

Last week New Japan vacated the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. This was due to then-champion Will Ospreay suffering a neck injury during his first title defense against Shingo Takagi on May 4th. The severity of the damage hasn’t been fully revealed, and Ospreay has returned to the UK while recovering. Some fans, though, have claimed that the injury isn’t genuine, citing various conspiracy theories, with some more plausible than others. Possibly trying to silence the doubters, Ospreay has taken to Twitter to show an x-ray of his neck.

New Japan’s plan to determine a new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is unknown. However, the belief is Kazuchika Okada is the most likely wrestler to win the title, having held the precursor to this title five times. Over the years, the Japanese promotion has been forced to vacate their top championship several times. Most famously when Brock Lesnar refused to defend the title over a pay dispute and took the physical belt to the newly launched Inoki Genome Federation.

The Georgia Gazette has reported that former WCW star Buff Bagwell was arrested for several offenses in Cobb County, Georgia, on Saturday, May 22. He was charged with multiple misdemeanors, including Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Open Container Violation, Reckless Driving, Speeding, and Giving False Name or Address or Birth Date to Law Enforcement Officer. 51-year-old Bagwell was detained for a total of seven hours and released to a local bail bondsman, paying bonds totaling $15,840.00.

Nine months ago, Bagwell was hospitalized with broken ribs, a broken hip, a broken eye socket, a broken nose, and a torn right groin muscle after losing control of his Chevrolet Tahoe. At the time, investigators believed the cause of the accident was that Bagwell was impaired by prescription medication. This was the second serious car accident that Bagwell had been involved in as on April 23, 2012, he suffered a seizure while driving and broke bones in his neck, face, and jaw, and required breathing and feeding tubes. Despite having four plates inserted in his face, he resumed wrestling on the independent circuit.

Bagwell was a big star for World Championship Wrestling in the 90s, holding the promotions tag team championships five times. However, once the promotion was purchased by WWE, he soon found himself out of work due to his attitude and displaying a sense of entitlement. He would go on to wrestle for TNA and on the independents but never came close to reclaiming his past glory. There have been stories of his life spiraling out of control for many years. Hopefully, Bagwell can get the help he needs to turn his life around.

Keith Lee hasn’t wrestled since February, having been replaced by John Morrison for a triple threat match with then United States Champion Bobby Lashley and Riddle at Elimination Chamber. Since then, there has been much speculation on why he has been absent, with the most prevalent rumor being that Lee has been suffering from health issues. However, that hasn’t been confirmed by anyone reliable.

On Sunday, Lee would reply to a fan on Twitter asking him what’s next? And he would respond, “Good question. Unfortunately, only time will tell my friend.” This seemingly indicated he is unsure when he will reappear. This has again sparked curiosity, and now Lee’s fiancée Mia Yim has taken to replying to fans on Twitter, saying that the reason he is not currently wrestling is no one’s business and requests fans are patient.

It seems fans will need to wait to find out why Lee’s absence from WWE television. He is a popular talent, so it’s understandable why people are concerned that he was abruptly taken off the television with no explanation. However, they need to accept Lee either isn’t ready or is permitted to discuss at this time. Hopefully, though, it ends up not being anything too serious, and he can resume his career sooner rather than later.

Who is the best wrestler in the world has been the subject of debate with wrestling fans over the years. In the 80s, fans would argue between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, in the 90’s it was either Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels, and in the 2000s, it was between Chris Benoit or Eddie Guerrero. Nowadays, the names most commonly suggested are AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, or Kenny Omega.

Now Chris Jericho, a wrestler with his own claims for being the best and has shared a ring with all the names mentioned above, has taken to Twitter to say who he believes is the current best, naming AEW rival Kenny Omega. He’d also note that the AEW Championship is the most protected title in the industry, which is hard to argue against, considering only three men have ever had the honor of holding it.

Jericho and Omega have competed against each other seven times across three promotions, with two of them being singles matches. Perhaps their most famous contest was at New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 event for Omega’s IWGP United States Championship. Omega would be victorious in the no disqualification match, but it was about the performance both men put on for most fans. Wrestling historian and analyst Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter would go on to rate it five stars.

Last week WWE released multiple NXT talents, and among them was Patrick Clark, who wrestled as Velveteen Dream. Clark had become a popular performer with his Prince-inspired gimmick, and many fans and critics predicted a big future for him once called up to the main roster. However, after serious allegations were made against him both before and during the Speaking Out movement last year, fans turned on him. WWE says they carried out an investigation and found no evidence of any wrongdoing, but that didn’t alter the opinion of many, with fans regularly calling for him to be fired.

Now via his Instagram Stories, Clark has opened up on those allegations in a very long post which you can read in its entirety below. Although to summarize, he said his interaction with the first accuser was due to them asking him for advice about getting started in pro wrestling. That was why he asked the 17-year-old about his height and weight in a leaked audio clip. He claimed that further conversations and screenshots had been faked, and he had reached out to WWE talent relations about this. Regarding the second accuser, he would reveal he met him at a meet and greet and developed a friendship. He would, though, cut off contact with him when he refused to follow his advice following a concussion and see a doctor. Seemingly allegedly, his accusations came through spite.

With Clark’s conclusion in saying that Dream is officially over, but Patrick Clark lives to fight another day, it isn’t clear if he is stepping away from the wrestling business or abandoning the character. Given the controversy his signing will provoke by any other major wrestling promotion, it is possible his career on the big stage could be over at the age of 25. Although addressing these allegations may help restore his reputation as many considered his previous silence to an admission of guilt.

Keith Lee was scheduled to work a triple threat match with then United States Champion Bobby Lashley and Riddle at WWE’s February Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The match was booked to get the title off Lashley and onto Riddle without beating Lashley, so Lee would have lost the match. However, he ended up getting replaced by John Morrison, who Riddle pinned. Since then, Lee has been noticeable by his absence from WWE television.

Now, Lee has taken to Twitter to reply to a fan asking him what’s next? And he would answer, “Good question. Unfortunately, only time will tell my friend.” This seemingly indicated he is unsure when he will return. There have been rumors that Lee has been suffering from health issues and been unable to get cleared to return. However, that hasn’t been confirmed by anyone reputable.

Lee’s main roster call-up hasn’t gone to plan despite initially receiving a big push which saw Vince McMahon tell Randy Orton to make him a star. The belief is McMahon hasn’t been happy with his ring work, and Lee was instructed to participate in twice-weekly training sessions with Drew Gulak and Adam Pearce to change his ring style.

Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore occasionally wrestlers on the independent scene, and on Saturday night, was competing on an SWE Fury event in Dallas, Texas. His debut for the promotion was one of the show’s main selling points, and he was facing Ivan Warsaw. Sadly for Enzo, things didn’t go to plan as according to fans in attendance, he was legitimately knocked unconscious following a DDT outside the ring. This resulted in the match being stopped, and he was taken away on a stretcher and to hospital.

Not much is known about Enzo’s health, with neither he nor the promotion addressing his condition. However, he did tweet “Thanks everybody” seemingly indicating he is doing better. Enzo’s next match appears to be on SWE Fury’s June 19th television taping as he is featured on the poster, so he a little under a month to recover if he did suffer a concussion.

Enzo has been out of the spotlight since being released by WWE in 2018 after failing to tell WWE management about a sexual assault allegation. The investigation ended up getting dropped due to insufficient evidence. Still, WWE didn’t bring him back due to him not being upfront with them. He did try a stage his own return by buying tickets for the 2018 Survivor Series and attempting to get on television but was subsequently ejected from the building.

At last Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view, WWE used several developmental wrestlers as lumberjack zombies for The Miz vs. Damian Prist match. It was done to promote Netflix’s just-released Army of the Dead movie starring former WWE Champion Batista and resulted in much mocking by wrestling fans across social media. While it’s unlikely, WWE was happy with how fans reacted, what will comfort everyone involved is the reported $1 million-plus deal that Nick Khan, the man behind WWE’s agreement to move the WWE Network to Peacock, managed to negotiate.

Netflix has worked with WWE previously with both The Big Show Show and the movie The Main Event, which featured multiple WWE wrestlers, including Keith Lee, The Miz, Sheamus, and Kofi Kingston. Additionally, they are currently working on a docuseries on Vince McMahon. Not much is known about the series other than it is being produced by Chris Smith, who directed Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, which was about the ill-fated Fyre Festival of 2017. Also on board is Bill Simmons, who is behind ESPN’s 30 For 30, the acclaimed André the Giant documentary for HBO.

Thankfully, the match itself was only seven minutes in length, and while it is destined for a future WrestleCrap induction, most fans who still follow WWE will likely forget the match before long. Though what will be a constant reminder of the match will be The Miz’s absence from television, as during the match, he tore his ACL when Priest landed on him. It isn’t known yet how long The Miz will be out for, but if it was a complete ACL tear and requires surgery, he’ll be out for a minimum of six months. WWE explained The Miz’s absence from Raw by saying he had been eaten by The Zombies after the match the following night, adding insult to injury.

This wasn’t the first time WWE has used zombies on their shows. During WWE’s version of ECW on Sci-Fi, they would have independent wrestler Tim Arson dress as a zombie, making fun of the content that typically aired on the network. Plus, at last year’s Halloween Havoc NXT special, various zombies would be involved in a Haunted House of Terror cinematic match between Dexter Lumis and Cameron Grimes.

Once wrestlers began passing away at a young age in the 1990s and 2000s, many fans would directly blame Vince McMahon. Many considered the demands he put on his talent to be too much, and this caused them to turn to drink and drugs to cope. However, many wrestlers have worked for McMahon and never developed drink or drug addictions, and one of them is RVD. While his pot use is well-known, he began smoking years before working for McMahon and never caused him any harm. Now the recent WWE Hall of Fame inductee has defended McMahon following a fan saying he is responsible for ruining lives on Twitter.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the same willpower that RVD does, and with constant travel, bumps, and little time to recover, it is understandable that some people look for ways to cope. WWE did look to address the issue by introducing a Wellness Program following the tragic passing of Eddie Guerrero and does send former wrestlers to rehab if asked. Some speculate that the company does this because wrestlers dying makes them look bad. Still, regardless of the reason, it has undoubtedly helped save lives.