Fatal Influence Member Kicked Out Of The Faction, Lyra Valkyria & Tatum Paxley Reunite On NXT, Asuka Hits Major WWE Milestone, CM Punk Rips Dominik Mysterio
— Jazmyn Nyx appears to be out of Fatal Influence following a backstage attack on this week’s episode of WWE NXT. During an interview with Je’Von Evans, the camera cut over to reveal Nyx laid out after being attacked off-camera.
As medical staff checked on her, Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley arrived at the scene. Jayne questioned whether Henley had been with Nyx, before remarking that it was time to move on from her anyway, adding, “only the strong survive.”
Jayne is set to defend the NXT Women’s Championship against Lola Vice this Saturday at WWE NXT: No Mercy.
Someone just dropped @Jazmyn_nyx_wwe backstage! 😱 pic.twitter.com/ktXEReEPdU
— WWE (@WWE) September 24, 2025
— Lyra Valkyria appeared on this week’s episode of WWE NXT, where she reunited with her longtime friend Tatum Paxley in a backstage segment. Valkyria admitted to Paxley that whenever she forms a friendship, it seems to fall apart, and wondered if she was the reason.
Paxley reassured her, saying nothing was ever Lyra’s fault. The two shared a warm moment before Izzi Dame interrupted, reminding Paxley that Valkyria had turned on her once before. Dame warned that it could happen again, then pulled a smiling Paxley away.
Not everyone is excited for a @Real_Valkyria and @TatumPaxley reunion… 😲@izzi_wwe pic.twitter.com/bBtRluHWXN
— WWE (@WWE) September 24, 2025
— Asuka celebrated a major milestone this week, marking 10 years since her WWE debut.
The former Women’s World Champion took to Twitter to share her gratitude, posting a heartfelt message to fans and the company. She wrote,
“I believe that ideals and convictions, what one sets out to achieve, hold more value than what one has actually accomplished.
I have obtained every record, everything there is to obtain, but these are all merely waypoints. What has universal value and beauty is pioneering a new era, possessing the power to change the times.
That’s why I pursue how I can bring change and ideals to the ring, creating ‘before and after Kana’ and ‘before and after Asuka.’
Creating a path is far more difficult than walking down a path that others have made. And therein lies the most beautiful aesthetic of all.
For me, living as a pioneer and living with conviction, philosophy, and aesthetics is a very important way of life”
Asuka turned heel on Monday’s episode of WWE RAW.
I believe that ideals and convictions, what one sets out to achieve, hold more value than what one has actually accomplished.
I have obtained every record, everything there is to obtain, but these are all merely waypoints. What has universal value and beauty is pioneering a new… https://t.co/tE0W7k0LXl— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) September 23, 2025
— CM Punk appeared as the latest guest on Kevin Hart’s “Cold As Balls” series on the LOL Network.
The two sat down in the trademark ice tubs, mixing in lighthearted banter and trash talk with a deeper conversation about Punk’s journey in professional wrestling.
You can watch the full episode below:
— In a recent GQ fan Q&A, CM Punk named Bret Hart as his dream tag team partner. Punk explained,
“Living? Dead? A little bit of both? For wrestling-related things, my dream tag partner, we’ll go living, but not active: Bret Hart. We’ll go deceased and inactive: Dominik Mysterio. He perished in a plane crash. RIP.”
— During a recent edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff commented on WCW bringing in Rick Rude following the Montreal Screwjob in 1997.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On bringing in Rick Rude to WCW: “I’m not really sure what the WWE contract status was with Rick. The only thing I knew is he wasn’t under contract, because that was the first question out of my mouth when Rick called me. But it goes back to the Montreal Screwjob. I was at home on a Sunday night, wasn’t watching the pay-per-view. I was just with my wife and my kids. Typical Sunday night, about 10 o’clock, nine o’clock, whatever time it was. And that was back when I had a hard line in my house. Had a regular phone, which I haven’t had in years. But the phone rang, and it was Rick Rude. And Rick had witnessed the Vince McMahon-Bret Hart confrontation. I don’t know if he saw the punch, if he was in the room or was outside the room.
“But clearly Rick knew everything that went down, and had a very strong opinion about it. He was livid at Vince. He was livid at the situation. I’m surehe didn’t have a lot of details, he didn’t know the nuance. But nonetheless, Rick was pissed. And he called me up, and he was the first person to explain to me what happened. Because again, I wasn’t paying attention to the internet. My didn’t have this damn [phone] thing back then, right? I’m just watching TV. And Rick called me and gave me pretty much a blow-by-blow in terms of overall what happened, his perspective at least. And he said, ‘Man, any shot I can come back to WCW? Because I don’t want to be here.’ And I said, ‘Rick, what’s your contractual status?’ ‘Don’t have one.’ ‘Come on down. Bring a razor.’ [chuckles] I didn’t say that, but said, ‘Absolutely.’”
On their connection: “I’ve known Rick for a long time. Rick and I were friends for quite a while. I knew of Rick back before I ever got into the professional wrestling business. We had a lot of mutual friends and hung out and some of the same some of the same bars, so to speak. So I knew of Rick and then when I got to WCW in ’91, Rick and I kind of immediately connected, because he’s a Minnesota guy. Just mutual friends, right? We had a lot in common.
“So we started hanging out. I’d drive to towns occasionally with Rick, we’d share rides and stuff. So when Rick called me and said, ‘Hey.’ You know, told me what happened. Didn’t want to be there. Asked if there was a spot, kind of like I did with Madusa. She went through the same thing, different circumstance, but same thing. She called and said, ‘Hey, any room?’ ‘Sure, we’ll make room. Come on down. We’ll figure it out.’ And same thing happened with Rick.”
On his motives behind it: “Although with Rick, I immediately was just like, Dr Evil. ‘Hmmm, how do I want to use this?’ You know, I wanted to stick it up Vince’s a*s as hard and fast as I could. So the whole thing was really more — it was just as much about pissing off Vince and getting under his skin. Because I really believed at the time that if I could get him off his game, I knew he was competitive. I knew he had a big ego. When I say I knew, I had been led to believe that by people that did know Vince very well, who have kind of consistently all said the same thing at different times and different conversations. So you got to get a sense of what you’re dealing with, even though I didn’t know Vince personally.
“So I thought, ‘All right, if he’s got a big ego. If he gets pissed off easy, I’m going to keep him off his game by keeping him pissed off.’ So that whole thing with Rick, and me kind of back there with the s**t-eating grin on my face, that was all intentional. And it was really designed more to piss off Vince McMahon than it was to entertain the audience.”
— During a recent edition of his “What Happened When” podcast, Tony Schiavone commented the memorable career of Andre The Giant.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Andre the Giant: “Andre was more of an attraction that went everywhere. I know he was booked by Vince and his dad and he was this [an attraction], but it wasn’t — until the run with Hogan, he was not, I don’t think, a real fixture on a regular basis in the WWE or WWF, or WWWF territory. It was the Carolinas, you know, in the territory days, he went all over. Because hey, he was an attraction.”
On chair shots: “I don’t know if they ever show this when they talk to wrestlers. But you know, wrestlers are now talked to about concussions, chair shots. And those are basically no-nos, outlawed as far as wrestling companies are concerned. Then again, you can’t really control what the ultimate thing is going to happen.
“And I say that because — I can’t say because guys are going into business with themselves. I can say that because in the heat of the moment, and fans are going crazy, and you’re spent, and things are exciting, and you’ve pushed? Sometimes things like that happen; they do. But there’s repercussions for hitting people in the head with a chair now. As a matter of fact, there should be. That’s why you see a lot of chair shots in the back now. Those aren’t easy to take either.”
— And finally, you can check out the updated WWE NXT: No Mercy card below:
* NXT Championship Match: Oba Femi vs. Ricky Saints
* NXT Women’s Championship Match: Jacy Jayne vs. Lola Vice
* WWE Women’s Speed Championship Match: Sol Ruca vs. Lainey Reid
* NXT North American Championship Match: Ethan Page vs. Tavion Heights
* Weaponized Steel Cage Match: Blake Monroe vs. Jordynne Grace
* Je’Von Evans vs. Josh Briggs
