WWE News & Rumor Roundup: Brock Lesnar suffers major blow; star says goodbye to SmackDown; John Laurinaitis' lawyer accuses Vince McMahon
Welcome to yet another edition of WWE News and Rumor Roundup, where we bring you the hottest news from the wrestling world.
Today, there's more news from the allegations surrounding Vince McMahon with John Laurinaitis speaking up. Meanwhile, Brock Lesnar suffered yet another blow while a SmackDown star was saying goodbye to the brand.
Let's take a look at the biggest news from today.
Cathy Kelley says goodbye to WWE SmackDown and says she's going to Rhea Ripley
In a message on Twitter, Cathy Kelley said goodbye to SmackDown, saying that it had been a good run on the blue brand, but she was going to go to RAW to get her "Mami."
"It was a good run Smackdown 🫡 but i gotta go get my Mami," Kelley wrote.
Her friendship with Rhea Ripley is well noted, and now the star appears eager to head to RAW to have a reunion. It remains to be seen if it ends up happening.
John Laurinaitis' lawyer accuses Vince McMahon
In a statement to VICE, John Laurinaitis' lawyer, Edward Brennan, said that his client had also been a victim who had been pressurized by Vince McMahon.
“Mr. Laurinaitis denies the allegations in the misguided complaint and will be vigorously defending these charges in Court, not the media. Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out.”
When questioned about whether he was comparing his client to Janel Grant, Brennan asked for it to be counted how many times McMahon had asserted control over both Grant and Laurinaitis.
“Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them.”
Big blow for Brock Lesnar
Ever since being apparently implicated in the lawsuit against Vince McMahon, Brock Lesnar has not had the best time. He was supposedly set to appear at the Royal Rumble, but the plans were changed days before the show.
Now, with WWE 2K24 set to launch, 2K has removed Lesnar from the Superstar Digital Collectible game. When it was pointed out by fans, PWInsider confirmed the same.
He has been pulled from the game and is apparently following WWE's example of backing off from using Lesnar in the Rumble.