Pat McAfee ‘Exhausted’ By WWE Workload; June 25th Wrestling News Round-Up

Chad Gable, who has been prominently featured on WWE television in recent months, will unfortunately be sidelined after a reported injury.

Gable — who has led American Made and performed under the mask as the mysterious luchador El Grande Americano — was recently attacked backstage by longtime rival Penta on the June 23rd episode of RAW. According to PWInsider Elite, the attack was used as a storyline device to write Gable off television due to a legitimate injury. The report adds that Gable is scheduled for surgery in early July. The exact nature of the injury and his expected return timetable have yet to be revealed.

Beyond his WWE appearances, Chad Gable has been incredibly active. Recently, as himself, he competed against El Hijo del Vikingo at the AAA/WWE Worlds Collide event. Meanwhile, under the mask of El Grande Americano, Gable was part of WWE’s Money in the Bank festivities and even captured the WWE Speed Championship in May.

We at ITR Wrestling wish Chad Gable a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

Karrion Kross has been mostly relegated to backstage segments for months, frustrating WWE fans who have been vocal about the star’s lack of in-ring action. But that changed when Kross set his sights on Sami Zayn, leading to a major match at Night of Champions.

The two have been engaged in tense confrontations, with Kross playing psychological games — telling Zayn he’ll never achieve World Champion status. On the June 23rd episode of RAW, Zayn answered by knocking Kross out with a stiff punch, and WWE later confirmed they will face off at Night of Champions on June 28 in Riyadh.

Despite Kross finally landing a premium live event match, some insiders believe that winning may not be his top priority. On the REBOOKED Wrestling Podcast, former WWE star Aiden English speculated that Kross could even lose on purpose to further his twisted games.

“I think he (Zayn) wins the battle but loses the war,” said English. “I think Kross is willing to take the L — almost intentionally — like the old trope of going down on my knees and telling someone to hit me with the chair. Do it.”

English and the podcast panel agreed that for Kross, the outcome may matter less than the psychological message it sends.

Kevin Owens has had one of the most memorable careers in WWE, facing — and sometimes teaming with — some of the biggest names in the business. But the Prizefighter recently opened up about one partnership he flat-out refused.

During an appearance on Cody Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Owens explained that WWE creative pitched the idea of making him and Damian Priest friends during his rivalry with Roman Reigns, something he didn’t think made sense.

Owens and Reigns had a heated rivalry that spanned the pandemic era. The two clashed in multiple title matches at TLC 2020, a SmackDown Steel Cage match, and eventually the Last Man Standing Match at the 2021 Royal Rumble — which Owens called “everyone’s favorite” of their series.

Reflecting on that period, Owens revealed WWE had other plans for him heading into that Rumble match:

“About three weeks before, I’m thinking, ‘OK, we’re firing on all cylinders. Going into Royal Rumble — big match, gonna be a lot of fun.’ Then I show up at television and they tell me, ‘We’re going to introduce your new best friend to help you take on The Bloodline,’ because it’s the numbers game. They go, ‘You know Damian Priest from NXT?’”

Owens said he was baffled by the suggestion:

“I go, ‘The archer? The guy who does the fake arrows?’ No offense to him, but nobody would believe we’re best friends. We couldn’t be more opposite. It’s so random.’”

Jeff Hardy already boasted some impressive accolades by July 2002, but he wanted something more. He set his sights on The Undertaker, sparking a crazy summer for the rising star.

Check out the full video below courtesy of WWE.

WWE recently confirmed that Liv Morgan will be on the shelf for months after requiring surgery for a serious shoulder injury sustained during her match with Kairi Sane. The bout had to be called off mid-way, and as a result, all of Morgan’s upcoming plans have been put on ice.

In addition, Dominik Mysterio has also been pulled from television due to an injury, leading WWE to scrap his scheduled Intercontinental Championship match against AJ Styles at Night of Champions. However, there are indications that Mysterio’s absence may be storyline-driven rather than a legitimate injury.

There might be another name joining them on the sidelines. Speaking during a WrestleVotes Q&A, WrestleVotes revealed that Otis is also off the roster — though the reason is unclear at this point:

“Yeah, I believe he’s out of action. Don’t know if it’s an injury or personal reasons. You know, we speak about this roster that shows up. Otis is currently not on the roster, which means they’re not available.”

“For whatever reason — personal or injury — I don’t know, I don’t want to speculate. However, they’re just not available for weekly TV at the moment.”

Otis was last seen on the May 5th edition of Monday Night Raw, where he lost to Rusev. Since then, he has been noticeably absent from WWE programming, and fans will have to wait for updates on his status.

Jade Cargill has been on a meteoric rise since her WWE debut. Despite already capturing tag team gold, she was originally on a path toward singles championship success — until an injury derailed those plans.

On Monday’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE had initially intended for Cargill to hold a singles title before WrestleMania 41. According to Meltzer, the former AEW star was penciled in to enter WrestleMania 41 as either the WWE Women’s Champion or Women’s World Champion. However, those plans were put on hold due to her recent hiatus.

“Jade Cargill was supposed to win a singles title before her injury,” Meltzer noted. “That’s why she was on a trajectory to come into WrestleMania 41 as champion.”

WWE SummerSlam is right around the corner, and this year’s installment promises to be massive as the company takes the show across two nights at MetLife Stadium on August 2nd and 3rd.

Fans already know that the winners of this year’s King and Queen of the Ring tournaments will be gunning for world title opportunities at SummerSlam. However, one significant storyline was also in the works — one that would have seen The Judgment Day faction finally implode.

According to Cory Hays of Bodyslam.net, WWE had a big mixed tag team match on the books for SummerSlam. Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio were set to team up against Finn Bálor and Roxanne Perez as part of the ongoing tension within The Judgment Day.

Bálor has spent months sowing seeds of distrust between Morgan and Mysterio, and the plan was to have him embrace NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez into the fold to help push the faction toward a breaking point. But those plans have come crashing down due to injuries.

Unfortunately, Liv Morgan recently suffered a serious injury and is expected to be out of action for up to six months. On top of that, Dominik Mysterio is also dealing with an injury of his own. Due to these setbacks, his scheduled Intercontinental Championship match against AJ Styles at Night of Champions was pulled from the show.

Pat McAfee has been a staple on WWE’s commentary team since 2021, becoming a familiar face and voice across its weekly shows and premium live events. However, the former NFL punter has also taken periodic breaks — whether to spend time with family or focus on his college football duties. Recently, though, fans noticed McAfee was missing for reasons unrelated to his usual schedule.

McAfee was last seen on commentary during Money in the Bank 2025. Wade Barrett initially filled in on SmackDown, and then NXT’s Corey Graves joined Michael Cole for several broadcasts. Fans began to wonder what kept McAfee off-screen.

On a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, the outspoken host explained that he was simply feeling worn out after the grueling stretch between Money in the Bank and Night of Champions. McAfee added that WWE had been very supportive about him taking some time to recharge.

“Continuing to just kinda catch up on life as a whole. Post-Money in the Bank, pre-Night of Champions… was getting pretty exhausted there,” McAfee shared. “So shout out to everybody at WWE for looking out for me too. Very, very thankful.”

Hello and welcome back to the ITRWrestling live blog

My name is Liam and I will be with you from 4pm to 10pm (UK) covering all the biggest stories from the past 24 hours across the world in wrestling.

Kicking things off today we have:

• Pat McAfee reveals he is exhausted by his WWE workload.
• Otis‘ on-going WWE absence is shrouded in mystery leaving fans concerned.
• New AEW Championships has been unveiled, social media reacts.
• WWE’s plans for Liv Morgan prior to her unfortunate injury have been revealed.