WWE Rumors: Naomi’s Contract, HHH Lifts Ban on Forbidden Terms; Logan Paul’s Future

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Naomi’s WWE Contract Reportedly May Have Expired

Amid her absence from WWE programming, it is reportedly possible that Naomi’s contract with the company has expired.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Naomi’s WWE contract was close to expiring when she and Sasha Banks were suspended indefinitely for walking out prior to an episode of Raw in May.

Meltzer noted that it is possible WWE could have frozen Naomi’s contract to prevent it from expiring, or it could have signed her to a new deal, although it is unclear if that has happened.

Per Meltzer, the expectation is that Naomi and Banks will return to WWE even if they haven’t officially signed new contracts yet.

Last week, Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t F4WOnline.com’s Joseph Currier) reported that a source told him Naomi and Banks had deals to return to WWE, all but confirming a previous report from WrestlingNews.co.

The walkout and suspensions occurred when Vince McMahon was the CEO, chairman and head of creative, while John Laurinaitis was head of talent relations.

McMahon recently retired from his positions with the company, and Laurinaitis is out as head of talent relations after WWE’s board of directors investigated allegations that McMahon paid multiple women millions of dollars to not disclose information about sexual relationships they had with McMahon or sexual misconduct he engaged in.

Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan have taken over as co-CEOs, while Triple H is now head of creative and vice president of talent relations.

Given the fact that Triple H was chiefly responsible for signing Banks and pushing her to top star status in NXT and that most of WWE’s female Superstars seem to hold Stephanie in high regard, it is understandable why Naomi and Banks would possibly be willing to return with the change in leadership.

Triple H Reportedly Loosens Restrictions on Promo Verbiage

In his new role as head of WWE Creative, Triple H is reportedly making some changes that have been received positively by talent.

According to Meltzer (h/t WrestlingInc’s Sai Mohan), Vince McMahon always informed talent that they could not use the words “wrestling” or “wrestler” unless they were given clearance to do so in their promos beforehand.

Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are reportedly open to loosening those restrictions moving forward.

Vince’s preference was always to refer to wrestling as sports entertainment and wrestlers as Superstars, and the plan is reportedly for WWE’s talent to still be called Superstars now and in the future.

One other word that McMahon famously disliked was “belt,” as he preferred the use of “championship” or “title” in order to add more prestige to WWE’s top prizes.

There are several other words known or believed to be on WWE’s banned list over the years, and based on Triple H’s apparent philosophy, some of those words could be used more often as well.

Meltzer also noted in his report that WWE’s talent believe there is a “positive and fresh vibe” backstage and that Triple H cares about the wrestlers.

In Triple H’s short time as head of creative, there have already been some notable changes to the product, and as he becomes more deeply ingrained, it stands to reason that it will reflect his vision even more.

Logan Paul Reportedly Taking Lengthy WWE Break

After his impressive win over The Miz at SummerSlam, Logan Paul reportedly won’t be on WWE programming for the foreseeable future.

According to Meltzer (h/t Mukherjee), Paul is taking time away from WWE to focus on a potential boxing match in December.

Paul revealed his plans for the December fight Wednesday when he appeared on the Pat McAfee Show with former NFL punter and current WWE SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee: