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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Lynch Leaves Brooke Battered, Bruised on Raw
Becky Lynch left her mark after brutally beating down WWE 24/7 champion Dana Brooke on Monday night’s episode of Raw.
Following Raw, Brooke tweeted photos of herself, showing bruises on her face:
Lynch and Brooke were scheduled to have a 24/7 title match on Raw, but Big Time Becks instead used it as an opportunity to take out her frustrations on Brooke by attacking her and cutting a scathing promo.
The Man was embarrassed one week earlier when she lost a match to Brooke thanks to Asuka interfering and holding Lynch’s leg down during a pinning attempt.
Becky got some measure of revenge on Dana this week, and when Asuka showed up to stop her, Lynch hightailed it back to the locker room.
Before leaving, Lynch announced her intention to compete in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, and she will perhaps get that opportunity.
In order to qualify, Lynch must beat Asuka in a one-on-one match on next week’s Raw.
Lynch’s character has been in a downward spiral since dropping the Raw Women’s Championship to Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 38, but getting into Money in the Bank and securing the contract would put her firmly on the road to redemption.
Rousey Discusses Backstage Atmosphere in WWE Women’s Division
SmackDown women’s champion Ronda Rousey hasn’t experienced much drama in the locker room during her time in WWE.
Appearing this week on The Kurt Angle Show with WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle (h/t WrestlingInc’s Dominic DeAngelo), Rousey gave her take on what she has seen and heard from her peers.
Rousey suggested that any issues that occur in the women’s locker room tend to happen when she isn’t around, and she explained why:
“It was kind of funny. I was talking to [Paul] Heyman once cause whenever drama would go down in the locker room, I wouldn’t be in there. The second I stepped out something would happen and you know, if one of the girls was being unfair, I would step in and I would be like, ‘What’s going on?’ I heard about things happening when I stepped out, I’m like, ‘Why isn’t this happening when I was in there? I would have said something.’
“Heyman was telling me if there was like a pitbull in the room and you don’t know about this dog, you know? You don’t know this dog and it could probably kill you, you’re not going to do anything crazy while the pitbull is in the room. You’re going to wait until the pitbull leaves the room and then you get crazy.”
Rousey officially made the transition to pro wrestling in 2018 after winning an 2008 Olympic bronze medal in judo and enjoying a dominant MMA career in UFC.
She had one of the best rookie years in wrestling history, winning and holding the Raw Women’s Championship before dropping it to Lynch at WrestleMania 35.
After that, Rousey took almost three years off to start a family, but she returned earlier this year as a surprise entrant in the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble and won the match.
Rousey went on to beat Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown women’s title at WrestleMania Backlash.
As the current champion, Rousey has been around regularly on SmackDown, and when asked to give her current outlook on the WWE women’s locker room, she said: “So as far as I know, it’s just sunshine and lollipops in the locker room. … Everyone’s having a great time.”
From an on-screen perspective, several female Superstars have been after Rousey and her title, leading to a multiwoman match to determine the No. 1 contender.
Natalya, Rousey’s real-life friend, won the match and will challenge Ronda in the near future for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Styles, Balor Reportedly Scheduled to Be Present at SmackDown
Raw Superstars AJ Styles and Finn Balor are reportedly set to be backstage for Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
According to PWInsider.com’s Mike Johnson, Styles and Balor will be in Minneapolis for SmackDown, but it isn’t yet known if they will be part of the Fox broadcast or used for a post-show dark match.
Both Styles and Balor appeared on Monday’s episode of Raw, with Styles losing a Money in the Bank ladder match qualifier to Seth Rollins and Balor cutting a promo alongside new Judgment Day stablemates Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest.
Balor and Styles had been teammates for several weeks in their fight against Judgment Day, but Balor reversed course last week and joined the group by shockingly attacking Edge, who was previously the stable’s leader.
Styles and Balor haven’t had any interaction since Balor’s turn, but it is possible they will cross paths on SmackDown if both are used on the show.
While WWE technically has a brand split, it has been loosened significantly in recent weeks with Raw Superstars regularly appearing on SmackDown and vice versa.
There may be even more crossover in the coming weeks since the men’s and women’s Money in the Bank ladder matches on July 2 will feature wrestlers from both brands facing each other.
If Styles and Balor do appear on SmackDown, it will add more star power to an already-stacked show headlined by an undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Riddle.
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