WWE: Johnny Gargano on Potential DIY Reunion, Rhea Ripley on Airport Incident with Fans, More News

Johnny Gargano Comments on Potential DIY Reunion with Tommaso Ciampa

Catch Club held a recent interview with Johnny Gargano. One of the topics discussed included Gargano providing an update on Tommaso Ciampa’s current rehab from hip injury.

“He’s currently rehabbing. He’s trying to get back. He’s one of the toughest, most resilient guys I’ve ever met. He is so incredibly talented. I’ve known that for a very, very long time. We’ve all known that for a very, very long time. What he’s had to put his body through to do this is so inspirational. The amount of surgeries he’s had, the amount of times he’s come back, the amount of time and effort he’s put into this and being great at this. I’ve obviously known him for a long time, but even knowing him and being side by side with him throughout basically our whole journey in WWE together, and to kind of experience all that together, and to be told no together, and to kind of rise up and be where were are today is a really awesome story that will hopefully be told the full one day, but he is he’s doing well. He’s in good spirits and he hopes he’s back soon.”

Gargano also gave his thoughts about the potential of a DIY reunion with Ciampa in the future in WWE.

“You never know. I think as long as me and Tommaso Ciampa are in the same company, or even in wrestling, in general, we will always be linked together. There was always that idea of what would happen if DIY was on Raw and SmackDown, the amount of dream matches that could kind of that. So and I think we haven’t scratched the surface of that yet. So people would love to see it. It sounds that way.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

---

Rhea Ripley Comments on Her Recent Airport Incident with Fans

As noted before, Rhea Ripley was involved in an incident at an airport earlier this week over unruly fans hounding her for autographs and not respecting her personal privacy.

USA Insider held a recent interview with Ripley. One of the topics discussed included Ripley providing details regarding her recent incident with fans at an airport and her decision to go public over the issue.

“It’s sort of an entitled thing when some fans expect us to just do it and they start making a fuss if we say no. So I had a fan follow me outside the airport today because I said no to them because I didn’t have the time and it was all of the same stuff they wanted signed. It was one fan specifically, he’s notorious, he’s always at the airport getting our signatures and selling them on eBay — we know his face, we know who he is. He was the main instigator, he followed me out and others followed him too and they all followed me as I’m trying to find my Uber. So I’m trying to tell them no and they’re all being persistent and I ended up getting lost, I had no idea where my Uber was, and I ended up down the stairs away from everyone else and I’m just surrounded by these five guys and they’re just hassling me.

I don’t think people understand how threatening that is. Especially because you don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know these people.”

---

WWE News & Notes

Fightful Select reported that their sources within WWE stated that the recent rumors of the company offering a deal worth around $20 million to YouTube personality Lele Pons are not true. Those same sources reportedly did not confirm nor deny that WWE has had any recent interest in Pons. The rumor originated from a recent episode of Logan Paul’s ImPaulsive podcast where Pons and her husband stated that they were offered a huge monetary deal from WWE to work for the company.

This past Wednesday’s episode of The Masked Singer on FOX featured Alexa Bliss being revealed as the masked Axolotl singer and her elimination from this season’s contest.

During a recent interview with Metro, Wade Barrett stated that he feels that WWE should sign former NWA talent Nick Aldis since he has a lot that he can contribute to the company as a star.

Pro Wrestling NOAH recently announced that Kaito Kiyomiya will be traveling to the United States to accompany Keiji Muto for his upcomign induction into WWE’s Hall of Fame. It was also announced that Kiyomiya will not be joining WWE nor be working at their Performance Center during his time in the U.S.

SoFi Stadium announced on Facebook that WWE recently started their construction for the stage and production setup for next month’s WrestleMania 39 event at their venue.

In a recent interview with the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin revealed that he had turned down multiple offers from WWE prior to accepting a match against Kevin Owens at last year’s WrestleMania 38 event in Arlington, Texas. Austin also stated that only did some carido training and no in-ring training to prepare for his match against Owens.

This past Tuesday’s World Baseball Classic 2023 Championship game between the United States and Japan featured IYO SKY and Akira Tozawa among those in attendance at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida.

WWE recently revealed the official logo for this year’s SummerSlam event, which takes place on August 5th in Detroit, Michigan.

As noted before, Brian Cage’s contract with AEW and Ring of Honor is currently expected to expire after next month’s ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 event. Cage recently teased on Twitter about potentially joining WWE once his current contract with AEW and ROH expires. Cage also gave his interest over the idea of making his official debut for WWE at next month’s WrestleMania 39 event.

As noted before, WWE is currently dealing with a lawsuit filed by a fan over claims of negligence committed by the company resulting the fan being injured while attending last year’s WrestleMania 38 event in Dallas, Texas. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE filed two motions, the first on February 17th requesting for the lawsuit to be moved to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division and the second on February 24th requesting for the lawsuit to be moved to arbitration. Marvin Jackson, the fan who filed the lawsuit, reportedly filed a motion on requesting for the court to rule against WWE’s request for arbitration.