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WWE RAW After Wrestlemania 41 continues to be full of surprises and one thing is the returns that this show brings. Rusev made his return to WWE on this show and made his presence immediately felt. After it seemed that we were going to get a WWE World Tag Team Championship match as The New Day were getting ready to defend their titles they won at Wrestlemania 41 Night 1 over The Viking Raiders against The Alpha Academy, Rusev would come out before the match would be able to start.
The New Day immediately got out of the ring while The Bulgarian would attack both Otis and Akira Tozawa as he stood tall. We did not get a return of Lana or any explanation of why he returned to the WWE after more than five years away while being part of All Elite Wrestling, but it will be an exciting time to see him back on WWE television. Let’s take a deeper dive into what we should expect with him back with World Wrestling Entertainment.
Rusev Returns to WWE RAW
Rusev has been one of the top acts in WWE during his previous run with the company as he started on WWE NXT as Alexander Rusev before dropping the first name and joining the main roster. He would last wrestle on WWE TV on the Feb. 17, 2020 edition of WWE RAW where he taged with Humberto Carrillo in a losing effort against Bobby Lashley and Angel Garza. He would be fired shortly after and sign with All Elite Wrestling, wrestling 36 matches over the course of five years and did not wrestle for the promotion since defeating Andrade El Idolo on “AEW Worlds End 2023”.
He last wrestled at QPW Super Slam III as he was disqualified in his match against Alberto Del Rio on Feb. 21 of this year. In terms of what he can do in WWE, expect him to be in the upper midcard as he challenges for the WWE Intercontinental Championship and even be a challenger down the line for Jey Uso and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
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49ers pull off trade for disgruntled Commanders star
Brian Robinson‘s tenure with the Washington Commanders is coming to an end as expected. The fourth-year running back will spend the coming season in San Francisco. The San Francisco 49ers and Commanders agreed to terms on a Robinson trade Friday, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. A 2026 sixth-round pick will head the other way as a result of the swap. San Francisco had been in the market for a backfield addition, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Efforts to pull off a move have now paid off ahead of roster cutdowns. Washington will retain a portion of Robinson’s 2025 salary ($3.4M), Garafolo adds. It recently became clear Washington was looking to move on from Robinson, who did not dress in the team’s second preseason game, with a trade looming. The team’s Dan Quinn-Adam Peters regime has been open to a trade since last year, and with a swap now agreed to it will proceed with its other in-house RB options. Washington has veteran Austin Ekeler in the fold along with 2023 draftee Chris Rodriguez and seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who has enjoyed a strong training camp. Quarterback Jayden Daniels led the Commanders in rushing last year, and today’s deal indicates he will once again be counted on as a central element of the team’s ground game. Expectations are high after Washington made a surprise run to the NFC title game during Daniels’ rookie campaign. Robinson will not play a role in the team’s efforts to duplicate that success, though. Racking up 570 carries across his three seasons in the nation’s capital, Robinson was a key figure on offense with the Commanders. The former third-rounder saw his touchdown total and yards per attempt figure increase with each passing campaign. That included eight scores and 4.3 yards per carry in 2024. Instead of retaining Robinson on the final year of his rookie pact, however, Washington will proceed with a less expensive backfield. The Commanders will recoup draft capital in this swap, something which is needed given the number of veterans on their roster. For the 49ers, meanwhile, today’s deal marks another addition on offense for the 2025 season. A trade was worked out on Wednesday for Skyy Moore, giving San Francisco a healthy receiver option. Moore, like Robinson, is a pending 2026 free agent. The 49ers have Christian McCaffrey atop the RB depth chart, and all parties involved will aim for a healthier season this time around than 2024. After trading away Jordan Mason, the team was in position to have 2024 fourth-rounder Isaac Guerendo handle backup duties. Now, he and Robinson will compete for playing time in the backfield (although using McCaffrey and Robinson on the field together could be an option, per Garafolo). Robinson’s market will of course be dictated in large part by the level of success he has with his new team. San Francisco entered Friday with nearly $49M in cap space. Taking on Robinson will eat into the figure, and it will be interesting to see how much Washington retained on his pact to finalize the trade. The Commanders, meanwhile, should see partial cap savings and thus add to their roughly $17M in available funds ahead of cutdowns. As both NFC teams prepare for the campaign in the coming days, they will do so with differences in their backfields.
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Chicago Bears star says coaches are 'overdoing' it at practice
The Chicago Bears roughed up their preseason opponents, the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, at joint practices this month. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson said the coaching staff has been trying to walk the line of being aggressive but not going overboard. Sometimes the Bears are going too hard, overdoing it at times. “I mean, even (defensive coordinator) Dennis Allen, he’s telling defense we live every day in practice,” Johnson told Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson during an appearance on “Night Cap” Thursday night. “So just really that mentality, as far as going and playing physical is, like, really, just honestly overdoing it really is the thing… What we say, like, toe the line, toe the line line between going too far and really pushing the limits.” Jaylon Johnson notices a big difference in the 2025 Chicago Bears Johnson has missed much of training camp due to a leg injury. He missed the physical practice between the Dolphins and Bears that had Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald complaining about how Allen was coaching up his defense. Johnson said that the entire coaching staff under new head coach Ben Johnson wants a tough and physical culture like has been seen in recent years with the Detroit Lions. “We’re gonna execute,” Jaylon said. “And it’s like, nah, it’s just about whooping the guys in front of you, like, really, like dominating and instilling your will. And I think really just preaching that goes a long way. Because I feel like even in Detroit, for a long time, they didn’t have talented guys, but they had a lot of guys that had grit, as they like to say over there, and guys that work hard, that are tough, and things like that.” Johnson is embracing the change. The Bears should. Dan Campbell’s teams have been successful in recent years in Detroit. The culture is certainly better than the one that folded under Matt Eberflus last season.
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Report reveals how hard Warriors tried to trade for LeBron James
The Golden State Warriors have been linked to LeBron James on occasion over the last 18 months, but their interest in trying to trade for the Los Angeles Lakers star may be stronger than has been previously reported. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported this week that the Warriors would likely have some interest in James if the Lakers were ever to entertain a trade. To that end, the Warriors have called the Lakers on “multiple occasions” over the last 18 months to gauge the Lakers’ willingness to trade James. The report adds that there is a strong belief that James and Steph Curry very much enjoyed their time together as teammates during the 2024 Summer Olympics, which is one motivator for Golden State. The Lakers, of course, have not been willing to trade James, even though there were some hints of trouble between the two sides this summer. It is fair to question whether the Warriors would have the resources to pull off such a trade even if it were plausible. It is accurate that the Warriors are likely to be linked to James in any case where he is perceived to be available. Pairing him and Curry together would likely be a result of the Warriors trying to make one last run at a championship during the twilight of Curry’s career.
'He’s Only 26': Former Oiler with Valid Point on Imminent Skinner Trade
Goaltending in Edmonton comes with pressures few players ever face — and Stuart Skinner, despite all of his faults — has handled them better than many expected. “He’s dealing with pressures that nobody else is dealing with,” former NHL goalie Devan Dubnyk told The Big Show this week. “That’s part of playing in a Canadian market, and he’s done a really, really impressive job of handling it.” Despite a season of ups and downs, including some highs and lows in the last two playoff runs for the Oilers, Skinner has been better than many fans give him credit for. Most importantly, he’s picked up what feels like a decade’s worth of experience in just a couple of seasons. It’s the kind of experience most NHL goalies never get. Perhaps most impressive about his career is that, despite the downs, he’s often found ways to mentally shake off the poor performances and come back with stellar starts. He’s played in playoff rounds that included back-to-back shutouts and posted steady performances that carried his team to a second consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearance. Dubnyk highlighted the young goalie’s experience: “He’s only 26 and already has more playoff experience than three-quarters of the league ever will. That’s remarkable. And he’s just hitting his prime.” Fans who are looking for the Oilers to trade Skinner quickly forget how much he’s learned in a relatively short career. And, as a wise person once told me, “You never lose, you either win or learn.” The assumption should be here that Skinner is learning. “I think going through it the first time, you go through that experience in the summer and then you realize the things you did well and the things you didn’t do well,” Skinner said to NHL.coms Derek Van Diest. “So going through it a second time, but being able to say you went through this does help you get over it quicker, just because you have to go back into training and do it all over again.” He’s figuring out what to do and what not to do. Skinner is learning what works and what doesn’t. If the Oilers trade that away for anything less than an obvious upgrade, they’re throwing away all of those valuable life and hockey lessons. How Long Do the Oilers Give Skinner? If we take into account his age, that he’s in his prime, and that Skinner is picking up lessons along the way that should contribute to his becoming a better and more reliable goaltender, there’s an argument that can be made to keep him in Edmonton. Still, questions remain about how long to wait before learning if he’s ever going to put all the pieces together. With expectations sky-high around stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the stakes are enormous. The Oilers are no longer in the window where they can afford to keep letting Skinner “figure it out.”
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