Last week, Charlotte Flair asserted her plans to challenge Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s Championship at the 2026 SummerSlam event, set for August 1 and 2. According to a new report, Flair could potentially be facing a different “SmackDown” star in non-title action on the PLE instead.

WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select reports that WWE’s creative team has pitched the idea of Flair wrestling Jade Cargill in a singles bout at SummerSlam. The match was even said to be penciled in for the two-night event card at some point.

Teases of a Flair-Cargill match date back to October 2023, when Cargill, then a new WWE signee, first encountered “The Queen” backstage on “WWE SmackDown.” Flair informed Cargill she already knew who she was and further suggested that they’d one day meet in a WWE ring for action. Hints continued when Flair and Cargill exchanged various glances on WWE’s blue brand, with Cargill later telling the generational wrestler to get to the back of the line regarding the WWE Women’s Championship. Most recently, Flair helped Rhea Ripley, the reigning champion, successfully defend the title over Cargill at WWE Clash In Italy, which stirred up tensions between the two even more.

WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select added that while creative plans are always subject to change, WWE officials currently believe that the upcoming SummerSlam premium live event is the “ideal” time and place for the one-on-one Flair-Cargill clash to finally materialize. Flair and Cargill previously shared the ring at the May 2026 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event in six-woman tag team competition.

In Riddick’s deposition, he confirmed that he was a recipient of the emails. He declined being aware of a romantic or sexual relationship between Grant and McMahon, knowing who sent the emails, or ever trying to find out who sent the emails. He claimed he had no guess as to who sent them, and did not know how the sender obtained the addresses of the recipients.

Riddick did admit that he understood the WWE board to have investigated who sent the emails, though he did not know whether they succeeded. He continued to say that he thought the first email was a “fishing expedition try to extort money from the company,” though the second email and its specificity led him to believe it was not a scam but real.

He said that, after the first email, he immediately contacted the general counsel and acting head of human resources, sending them a copy of the email and asking whether they were aware of any allegations that would fit the description against Vince.

Along with the depositions, Grant posted an article from announcing a change of counsel for WWE on April 7, 2022, between the first and second emails. The article notes that Samira Shah exited the company under “murky circumstances” and was being replaced by Elisebeth Collins. Collins left the company that same year and now works as an executive for Walmart.

Prior to their in-ring encounter on “Raw,” Gable approached Penta, Mysterio, and Lee backstage to deliver another round of apologies, all of which were accepted. As added advice, Mysterio encouraged Gable to continue reflecting inward and even further back to his pre-mask days as some of his other actions might also be sources of regret. In the eyes of Bully Ray, Mysterio’s remarks suggest that Gable’s next move may involve making amends with Alpha Academy, whom he abandoned in 2024.

“I kind of was like, oh no, because who did Chad Gable wrong in his past before he put the mask on? [Otis and Akira Tozawa]. One of the things that we said after this match, about a week or two ago is we hoped they don’t just put him back with Otis and Tozawa. That comment made me think that that’s where he’s going,” Ray said. “I would love to see him apologize to Otis and Tozawa because if Otis and Tozawa forgive him, you become more over in the fans eyes. You’re going back and you’re writing all the wrongs. But does that mean that Alpha Academy gets back together? The new and improved Alpha Academy, this big babyface unit that is going to go on and do what?”

Whether Gable potentially reunites with the Alpha Academy stable remains to be seen. Nevertheless, Ray expects Gable to at least approach them on “Raw” in the near future to provide their previous split some closure.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

One of the many benefits of the WWE Performance Center is that there’s a near army of coaches and trainers there to help young talent grow. That makes it a positive when one of those coaches is potentially forced to miss time, which will be the case shortly. PWInsider reports that one of the top WWE PC coaches, Terry Taylor, will be undergoing knee surgery in the next couple of weeks.

As a result of the surgery, Taylor will be forced to pull out of The Gathering convention, being held in North Carolina this July. While it is not stated that Taylor will be forced to miss time, the knee surgery, and the fact that Taylor is pulling out of the convention, suggests that he will be absent from the WWE PC for at least a little bit.

Though he may be an unknown for newer wrestling fans, Taylor was a notable wrestling figure during both the 80s and the Monday Night Wars. Initially gaining fame for stints in Mid-South Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions, Taylor later achieved infamy when he joined WWE in the late 80s and later adopted the gimmick of the Red Rooster. Taylor would struggle under the gimmick, and many later attributed it to Taylor not gaining more fame as a wrestler.

While he continued to wrestle throughout the 90s, Taylor’s main contribution to wrestling came offscreen, when he became a producer and part of the WCW booking committee in the mid-90s, and was heavily involved with the creative surrounding the nWo storyline. After jumping back and forth between WCW and WWE in the late 90s/early 00s, he would settle in at TNA, working there from 2003 to 2011, before later rejoining WWE for his current stint in 2012.

Janel Grant, Vince McMahon, and WWE have filed a joint motion to move the sex trafficking lawsuit filed by Grant against McMahon and WWE into private arbitration. 

On Thursday, the joint notice was filed on behalf of all parties litigating, moving to push the suit into private arbitration. The filing stated that “They seek this relief in good faith, to avoid unnecessarily consuming the Court’s and the parties’ resources.”

The filing asks that the Court temporarily adjourns the June 16 hearing to litigate the motions to compel arbitration and the motion for discovery, proposing that a joint status report shall be filed within 21 days.

The judge has yet to make an order on the motion.

Grant first filed her lawsuit in January 2024, alleging that during her time working with the company under McMahon, she was subjected to sexual abuse and trafficking at the hands of the Executive Chairman. 

Throughout the litigation process a number of talent and executives have been implicated as being a part of this alleged web of trafficking, with Brock Lesnar identified as one such employee to have allegedly received sexual content produced by Grant at the behest of McMahon. John Laurinaitis was initially a defendant in the suit, alleged to have participated in sexual assault alongside McMahon. 

He was waived as a defendant as part of an agreement to provide evidence, having made a confidential agreement with Grant. 

As of recently, Grant’s side had been pushing for the court to enter the discovery process. McMahon’s side have consistently denied all allegations and pushed for private arbitration, which they say is stipulated by a non-disclosure agreement signed by Grant — an agreement her side had been arguing was signed under duress, thus falling void.