WWE: ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro on ESPN Being Interested in Rights to WWE Library, Dominik Mysterio Confirms His Rib Injury Was Legitimate, Backstage Update on Ashante “Thee” Adonis WWE Departure

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro on ESPN Being Interested in Rights to WWE Library

As noted before, WWE recently signed a new media rights deal with ESPN to air their Premium Live Events (PLEs) on ESPN’s new streaming service in the United States starting in 2026.

A recent episode of The Ringer’s The Press Box podcast featured ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Pitaro’s thoughts about ESPN being interested in the potential rights to WWE’s library content.

“Yeah, we’re always interested in content of that quality. I will tell you that we will have the archival rights for the events that we are airing, but yes, in terms of their library, we certainly would be interested if and when those rights are available.”

Pitaro also gave his thoughts about one of the benefits of their new PLE deal with WWE is that WWE events will help ESPN fill some holes on their sports calendar and keep people subscribed to their new streaming service.

“One of the things that we are focused on from a direct-to-consumer perspective is churn and minimizing churn. And when we first started to look at these premium [live] events, we immediately thought of the calendar and the fact that these events could help us plug in some holes, some gaps that we might have in our schedule and thereby minimize churn.”

Pitaro also gave his thoughts about his belief that WWE would be willing to work with ESPN on scheduling if there are any gaps he needs to fill.

“I would also say that the executives at the WWE have been very clear with us that they are willing to work with us in terms of scheduling. So no commitments and they’re producing these events, but I would expect that if I were to call Nick Khan and say, ‘Hey, can you work with me? We have a particular gap here in our schedule.’ I expect he will.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Dominik Mysterio Confirms His Rib Injury Was Legitimate

As noted before, WWE had announced this past June that Dominik Mysterio was not medically cleared to compete due to him dealing with an undisclosed injury. Mysterio was later cleared to compete at the July 21st WWE RAW show for his Intercontinental Championship match against AJ Styles at SummerSlam 2025 earlier this month.

A recent episode of The Club 520 Podcast featured Mysterio as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Mysterio confirming that his rib injury was legitimate and not a storyline one.

“I dislocated my two lower ribs and they were digging into my cartilage. So that was why I was actually hurt. Everyone thought I was faking it, but I was actually hurt.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Backstage Update on Ashante “Thee” Adonis WWE Departure

As noted before, WWE NXT talent Ashante “Thee” Adonis, real name Tehuti Miles, departed from WWE this past Sunday. Adonis’ departure was revealed to have been due to his contract had expired and not him being released by the company.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials had informed Adonis a couple of weeks ago that they would not be renewing his contract. It was reported that while Adonis had spent the past year in WWE’s NXT brand, he had stayed under a main roster contract.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that Adonis received praise for his dedication in NXT and he constantly worked to improve both at the Performance Center and in his own personal training time.

It was reported that due to his contract had expired, Adonis can take bookings right away without any waiting period.

It was also reported that several people within TNA Wrestling have already shown interest in bringing in Adonis for appearances. Adonis had previously made an appearance in TNA this past January in a match against Jake Something.