WWE: WWE Issues Statement on Ava’s Departure, Royal Rumble 2026 Reportedly Not Available to ESPN Subscribers on YouTube TV & Comcast Xfinity, Roman Reigns on Young Talents in WWE Haven’t Advanced or Evolved To Get Over As Big Stars

WWE Issues Statement on Ava’s Departure

As noted before, NXT General Manager Ava announced earlier today that she has departed from WWE following her not renewing her contract with the company.

In an official statement to Fightful Select, WWE commented about Ava’s departure and praised her for her stellar work during her time in the company.

“WWE thanks and applauds Simone Garcia Johnson for her stellar work as Ava and beyond. Her passion, dedication, and impact were felt across the entire NXT and WWE community. We wish her the very best in all future endeavors.”

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Royal Rumble 2026 Reportedly Not Available to ESPN Subscribers on YouTube TV & Comcast Xfinity

Awful Announcing reported that their sources stated that ESPN subscribers on YouTube TV and Comcast Xfinity are still unable to authenticate their subscription on ESPN’s streaming service app.

This means that those affected will not be able to watch WWE’s Royal Rumble 2026 event for free and will be required to pay a separate cost in order to be able to watch WWE’s upcoming event.

It was reported that those spoken to stated that tech issues for distributors are the main reason for this current issue affecting ESPN subscribers on YouTube TV and Xfinity.

It was also reported that the work on ESPN’s end is ready and Comcast’s timeline for completion to resolve this issue can be measured in weeks. The time frame for YouTube TV reportedly is currently not known.

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Roman Reigns Comments on His Belief Young Talents in WWE Haven’t Advanced or Evolved To Get Over As Big Stars

A recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show featured Roman Reigns as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Reigns’ thoughts about when he knows it is the right time to return to WWE and his belief that the younger talents in WWE have not advanced or evolved to get over to be big stars on his level in the past two years.

“To be completely honest and transparent, two years ago it all changed around. What I’ve been doing hasn’t exactly been what I’ve done before. The way I look at it is, I’m a generous Tribal Chief. I’ve given the people plenty of time. These young talents saying we hog all the TV time will complain about one thing, and then I leave an opening and give them plenty of space to create whatever type of superstardom they want. Get over, kids. Get over. We’re two years here now, and we haven’t advanced and evolved. We have great leadership in Nick Khan. God bless, what a businessman, he’s a genius, but we have to be able to keep up with that creatively. That’s why people like me, people striving to be the very best, the GOAT, I can’t just sit around and see mediocrity. Not when I set it up for everybody to slam it home. We’re on Netflix. You have to capitalize. We have people playing around and trying to figure it out. I got the formula. I know how to cook it up.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com