Absent WWE Superstars share heartwarming update following recent surgery
The WWE roster features several real-life couples. The main roster is represented by couples like Charlotte Flair and Andrade, plus Tiffany Stratton and Ludwig Kaiser. NXT features twosomes such as Javier Bernal and Tatum Paxley, as well as Arianna Grace and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo. A certain pairing of RAW and NXT Superstars is now celebrating for a major reason.
Tyler Bate and Sol Ruca went public with their relationship in December 2023, then Bate was called up to SmackDown in January. He and Pete Dunne reunited as New Catch Republic, and were chosen in the 2024 Draft, but worked just one episode of RAW, along with several NXT and Main Event episodes. Bate suffered a torn pectoral muscle while wrestling Hank & Tank during NXT on July 2.
The Iron Master underwent surgery one week later, and hasn't wrestled since, but Ruca continues her comeback after a 300-day injury hiatus. She failed to dethrone TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace on NXT earlier this month, and just last week, she lost to Alba Fyre on Main Event, but defeated Dani Palmer on Level Up the following night. Bate and Ruca are now celebrating a personal milestone.
Bate took to Instagram today to share a photo of he and Ruca at the Timucua Arts Foundation in Orlando, Florida. He captioned the photo to mark their one-year anniversary.
"1yr [pink heart emoji]," Tyler Bate wrote with the photo below.
Bate has been with WWE since January 2017. The 12-year industry veteran was linked to AEW's Toni Storm on-and-off from 2016-2019. Ruca joined WWE in March 2022 with no pro wrestling experience. The former gymnast and tumbler wrestled her first match in June 2022, teaming with Solo Sikoa to defeat Tiffany Stratton and Grayson Waller.
Rumored WWE RAW gimmick match in the works
With Bates currently out due to injury, his tag partner Pete Dunne has been pulling overtime, often wrestling on RAW and NXT in the same week. Sheamus and Dunne have been feuding for months on WWE RAW. The battle of former Brawling Brutes is rumored to lead to a gimmick match, perhaps on the Countdown to Bad Blood pre-show.
The Celtic Warrior defeated his former stablemate on August 19, but The Bruiserweight got the RAW win back one month later. Now it's rumored that Dunne vs. Sheamus III will take place as a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook Match, which is essentially a No DQ bout with shillelaghs and barrels of Irish brandy on display.
The last Donnybrook Match was held on SmackDown in November 2023. The match saw Pretty Deadly win a 12-minute tag team bout over Dunne and Ridge Holland. Sheamus' last Donnybrook Match came at Extreme Rules 2022 as The Brutes defeated Imperium in trios action.