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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Reigns, Zayn Reportedly Dealing with Injuries
Both undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns and undisputed WWE tag team champion Sami Zayn are reportedly battling injuries coming out of SummerSlam.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Reigns suffered an undisclosed injury early in his Tribal Combat match against Jey Uso for the undisputed WWE universal title at SummerSlam over the weekend.
Meltzer noted that while Reigns "worked the match hurt," he is expected to be fine to appear on Friday night's episode of SmackDown.
Reigns won Tribal Combat thanks to interference from Jimmy Uso, who turned on his twin brother and cost him both the world title and the position of Tribal Chief.
On Friday, Jimmy Uso is scheduled to explain his actions and perhaps pledge his allegiance to Reigns.
As for Zayn, WWE reportedly ran an injury angle on Monday night's episode of Raw in order to cover for a legitimate injury.
Per Meltzer (h/t Upton), Zayn has a bursa sac issue, which is why he appeared to have a large knot on his elbow following a backstage attack at the hands of JD McDonagh.
Zayn had been scheduled to team with Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes against The Judgment Day in the main event of Raw, but when he was unable to get cleared to compete, Shinsuke Nakamura replaced him.
Sami still got physically involved in the main event, attacking Damian Priest and helping the trio of Rollins, Rhodes and Nakamura prevail.
Meltzer noted that Zayn's tag team partner, Kevin Owens, is also dealing with an injury, which is why they were kept off the SummerSlam card.
Owens' absence was reportedly supposed to be short-term, which is why WWE has not taken the Tag Team Championships off Sami and KO, but Meltzer added that it is now unclear how long Zayn will be out and whether they may be stripped of the titles.
WWE Reportedly Not Discussing Talent Cuts
WWE has often made regular talent cuts over the years, but after trimming the roster down significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reportedly isn't looking to make any further releases in the near future.
According to Fightful Select (h/t Upton), talent cuts currently aren't being talked about in WWE, and both talent and staff members said they haven't heard anything about possible releases.
Fightful noted that rumors of talent cuts have popped up here and there over the past year, but no one has confirmed that there was ever any truth to the rumors of planned cuts.
During the pandemic, WWE cut dozens of Superstars in waves from both the main roster and NXT.
After Triple H took over as head of creative last summer, WWE re-signed several of the released wrestlers, including Braun Strowman, Karrion Kross, Chelsea Green, Bronson Reed and a host of others, but the roster is still significantly smaller now than it was before those cuts.
Endeavor's purchase of 51 percent of WWE is still being finalized, at which point WWE will merge with UFC.
It is commonplace during company mergers for financial cuts to be made, but WWE is enjoying so much success from a business perspective that doing so may not be necessary.
Nia Jax Reportedly Considered for WWE Return
WWE released Nia Jax in November 2021, but her return to the company reportedly could be on the horizon.
According to PWInsider.com (h/t Upton), there have been internal "rumblings" about Jax returning to WWE lately, and there have been instances of "her name being mentioned" recently.
Jax made a surprise return as the 30th entrant in the 2023 women's Royal Rumble earlier this year, but it was only a one-off, as she hasn't made any televised appearances since then.
Given the success Jax enjoyed from 2014 until 2021 while under a WWE contract, it came as a major surprise when WWE released her amid wide-ranging budget cuts during the pandemic.
During her time on the main roster from 2016 to 2021, Jax was a one-time Raw women's champion and two-time WWE women's tag team champion, winning the titles with Shayna Baszler on both occasions.
Jax is also deeply rooted in WWE since she is cousins with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who is one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time.
Since Jax's power sets her apart from the rest of WWE's women's division, there could conceivably be a spot for her if WWE has interest in bringing her back.
Depth is never a bad thing, especially when getting it in the form of a former world champion like Jax.
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