Yesterday, WWE made a series of staff cuts, including Christine Lubrano, the Senior Vice President of Creative Writing Operations.
According to a report from Pwinsider, longtime broadcasting personality Ryan Pappolla was also released. Pappolla had been with WWE for a decade and was reportedly “very much liked” within the company.
He started his WWE journey as an editorial intern before transitioning into an on-air role, appearing on programs like WWE Now and The Bump. Most recently, he hosted WWE Vault watch-alongs and RAW Sidecasts on WWE’s Twitch channel.
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Roman Reigns and CM Punk may be longtime adversaries, but the former WWE World Champions could soon join forces as tag team partners.
Per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is planning a high-profile tag team bout featuring Reigns and Punk taking on Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker. However, this clash won’t take place at WWE Backlash: St. Louis and is instead being reserved for a major event later in WWE’s 2025 schedule.
The storyline stems from WrestleMania 41, where both Punk and Reigns were betrayed by Paul Heyman and attacked by Rollins and Breakker on the following RAW. Despite their turbulent history, Punk and Reigns previously forged a reluctant alliance at Survivor Series: WarGames 2024 — a partnership that ultimately led to Punk being owed a favor by Heyman, which factored into the events of WrestleMania.
Chelsea Green was absent from WrestleMania 41, despite holding the Women’s U.S. Championship at the time — a decision that surprised many who felt she had earned a place on the card.
In a recent interview, Green acknowledged her disappointment at not being included but expressed pride in the women who did compete. She emphasized that, like everyone in WWE, she had hoped to be part of the event.
Though her comments were measured, WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long took issue with Green’s reaction. Speaking on a recent episode of the “Wrestling Time Machine” podcast, Long accused Green of complaining too much.
“You can’t let people know your truth—that you’re upset about losing a match or anything like that,” Long said. “That’s the worst thing you could do. When they told me I’d be in a casket that day—who wants to be in a casket? I was horrified. But I never said anything, because I understood something: if I didn’t do it, Vince would’ve done it himself. So how are you going to tell WWE what you won’t do when someone else will?”
Green’s historic reign as Women’s U.S. Champion came to an end on the April 25th episode of SmackDown, where she lost the title to Zelina Vega.
