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WWE Rumors on AEW Stars Praising John Cena, Kevin Owens' Raw Absence and Rhea Ripley

Mike Chiari

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

Khan Reportedly Gave Approval for AEW Stars to Send Videos to WWE

Many wrestling fans were taken by surprise Monday night on Raw when multiple AEW stars sent in videos to WWE congratulating John Cena on his 20-year anniversary with the company.

Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan and Big Show all had videos featured on Raw, along with several other current and former WWE Superstars.

According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Sai Mohan), WWE representatives contacted AEW president Tony Khan to receive clearance for Jericho, Bryan and Big Show to send in videos, and Khan approved all of them.

Fightful added that WWE was able to get videos from "virtually everyone they hoped to" for the Cena tribute.

Jericho, Bryan and Big Show are all former WWE Superstars who worked extensively with Cena, so it made sense that WWE would want to get comments from them.

Other notable Cena friends and rivals who congratulated him on Monday included The Rock, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Kurt Angle.

After an illustrious career in WWE, Jericho became an AEW original in 2019 and was chosen as the company's inaugural world champion.

Bryan and Big Show joined AEW more recently and now work under their real names of Bryan Danielson and Paul Wight, respectively.

Danielson is a key member of the roster who has already had memorable world title matches against the likes of Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page, while Wight has primarily worked as an announcer.

This isn't the first time that AEW talent was allowed to appear on WWE programming in some capacity, as Jericho was a guest on Broken Skull Sessions with WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin last year on Peacock.

Owens Reportedly Missed Raw for 'Minor' Reason

WWE advertised a match between Kevin Owens and either Ezekiel, Elias or Elrod on Monday's episode of Raw, but during the show it was announced that the bout had been rescheduled.

While WWE didn't provide a specific reason, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc's Matthew Wilkinson) reported that Owens was absent on Raw due to a "minor" issue that wasn't "serious."

Ever the professional, KO attempted to explain why he wasn't on Raw with the following tweet:

Owens' tweet furthered his storyline disdain for the state of Texas, which was the basis for his feud and match against Austin at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas a couple of months ago.

Since WrestleMania, Owens has been feuding with Ezekiel, who has been presented by WWE as Elias' younger brother.

Owens has incredulously insisted that Ezekiel and Elias are the same person, but Ezekiel has constantly foiled his attempts to prove it.

Elias appeared on last week's Raw, which led to Owens challenging either Ezekiel, Elias or another brother of theirs named Elrod to a match.

Ezekiel did appear on Monday's Raw, but it was only in a backstage segment with Cena, who was making his first appearance on WWE programming in nearly a year.

WWE had announced that the match between Owens and Ezekiel was going to determine the final spot in the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, but since Money in the Bank is on Saturday, it is now unclear who will receive that spot.

When WWE Reportedly Knew Ripley Would Miss MITB

WWE announced last week that Rhea Ripley would miss her Raw Women's Championship match against Bianca Belair at Money in the Bank, but WWE reportedly knew well before then that she would be unable to compete.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Joshua Jones of Ringside News), WWE knew as much as a week ahead of the announcement that Ripley would not be medically cleared in time for the PPV.

Three weeks ago, Ripley won a Fatal 4-Way match to become No. 1 contender for the Raw women's title and earn a match against Belair at Money in the Bank.

The following week, Ripley and her Judgment Day stablemates cut a promo with The Nightmare vowing to take the championship from Belair.

Bianca broke the news to the WWE Universe last week, however, that Ripley would not be able to compete at Money in the Bank, leading to a Fatal 5-Way to determine her new opponent, which Carmella won.

WWE has not indicated what is wrong with Ripley, but she divulged in an Instagram comment that she is dealing with "brain/teeth" issues.

Meltzer subsequently reported that Ripley got injured during the Fatal 4-Way match a few weeks ago, but is expected to be back "fairly soon."

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