WWE: Blake Monroe Wrestles in Dark Match Prior to 5/15 WWE SmackDown Show, Backstage Update on CM Punk’s Current WWE Work Schedule & Reason for Being Pulled from European Tour Dates, New Trademark

Blake Monroe Wrestles in Dark Match Prior to May 15th WWE SmackDown Show

As noted before, Blake Monroe is currently expected to make her official main roster debut for WWE’s SmackDown brand by the end of this month. WWE has been airing vignettes hyping up Monroe’s upcoming debut in recent weeks of SmackDown shows.

WWE held a dark match prior to the start of Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Columbia, South Carolina. This was a singles match of Monroe vs. Jordynne Grace.

Blake Monroe BANG

#Smackdown pic.twitter.com/jV9qL0lAxg

— Phil (@Phxlly) May 15, 2026

In regards to WWE’s current plans for Monroe’s main roster debut, Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Monroe is currently scheduled to travel to Lexington, Kentucky, which is the location of next week’s WWE SmackDown show on May 22nd.

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Backstage Update on CM Punk’s Current WWE Work Schedule & Reason for Being Pulled from European Tour Dates

CM Punk has been absent from WWE since this past April’s WWE RAW After Mania show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the reason why WWE recently removed their advertising of CM Punk for their upcoming European tour was due to a “schedule change” for him.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that WWE officials recently adjusted the dates for Punk’s work schedule for this upcoming summer.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources confirmed that the reason for Punk being removed from the advertising for the upcoming European tour is just due to a schedule change made for him.

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WWE Files New Trademark

WWE filed a new trademark for “WWE Hard Hitters” on May 15th for video games-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Portion of trademark filing:

IC 009: Video and computer game tapes, video and computer game discs, video and computer game cassettes, video and computer game cartridges, video and computer game CD-roms, video output game machines for use with televisions; video and computer game software; video games for use with wireless devices; online video games; video games for use via a global computer network and wireless devices; coin-fed amusement gaming machines; interactive video game programs and computer game cartridges; interactive multimedia computer games on all platforms comprised of computer hardware and computer game software; electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device; video and computer game tapes, video and computer game discs, video and computer game cassettes, video and computer game cartridgesVideo and computer game tapes, video and computer game discs, video and computer game cassettes, video and computer game cartridges, video and computer game CD-roms, video output game machines for use with televisions; video and computer game tapes, video and computer game discs, video and computer game cassettes, video and computer game cartridges.