DEBUNKATHON FRIDAY: Liv Morgan, Andrade, Rhea Ripley, Jey Uso "dislikes," and Debunking fake stories!

Welcome to the Fightful Friday tradition -- the DEBUNKATHON. In addition to debunking a number of lame rumors, Fightful gives subscribers a robust news update.

In this edition we cover:

- Liv Morgan update - WWE's stance on Andrade - WWE Japan - Rhea Ripley - Jey Uso youtube dislikes - AEW extras - Nattie Neidhart - Shawne Merriman - TJ Charles - Addressing rumors on Edge/WWE, Cena/AEW, Moxley/WWE, AJ Lee's status, Bayley/AEW, Andrade and D-Von!!

• Ashley D’Amboise was an extra in the Big Boom AJ & Big Justice segment on AEW WrestleDream

• Rhea Ripley was not at WWE Raw this week. We've not confirmed if it was related to her busted nose from the WWE Japan tour.

• The talent that we spoke to on the WWE Japan tour said that they really loved it over there.

• In regards to PWInsider's story that many in Mexican wrestling circles thinking that Andrade would be brought back to WWE as a result of his clause -- WWE sources have told us that as of this moment he's not factored into any of their plans but wouldn't elaborate beyond that.

• We had a lot of inquiries about Liv Morgan after our Swerve Strickland update. As of this week, we've not heard anything new regarding her timeline. The initial hope was early 2026, and before the Royal Rumble. We were told at the time they didn't expect her to miss WrestleMania. Everything we've heard is that she's rehabbing and is "still on track."

• We asked WWE sources about the "dislikes" on Jey Uso winning the battle royal. In the past, WWE sources always would question the validity of those "dislikes," as Youtube hides them and requires a browser extension to see them. Either way, we're told it doesn't affect the booking moving forward.

• Fightful's early access tier has our new Fightful Presents video looking at Saturday Night Slam Masters.

Nattie

Sean Ross Sapp spoke to Nattie Neidhart ahead of her book release for The Last Hart Beating: From The Dungeon To The WWE.

She said that she approached The Rock at the Raw on Netflix premiere and asked if he would write the foreword. Not only did he agree, but he researched it and asked her what legacy meant to her. Nattie noted that the Rock effectively helped her finish writing her book.

She said there were misconceptions about her "demanding WWE help her with her book." Nattie clarified that she had just noted to WWE during her contract extension talks that doing the book was very important to her. They were very helpful, including with photos and other media.

She spoke about the misconceptions of her family always being rich and how that's covered in the book. It was noted that after Jim Neidhart's 1992 WWF firing, he had runs in ECW, NJPW, WWF and WCW but never was there longer than a year. She also spoke about how pro wrestling saved Stu Hart's life.

SRS said he read the book and really enjoyed it, noting a lot of new information. Among them included Randy Savage wrecking a dirt bike into a stop sign, and how exactly Jerry McDevitt got hired by WWE.

You can see the full interview at this link and order Nattie's book at this link.

Shawne Merriman

SRS spoke to former NFL player Shawne Merriman ahead of his XLF event on November 1.

Merriman was promoting his upcoming MMA show, but we spoke extensively about pro wrestling as well. He says wrestling has always been a passion of his and something he really considered doing after his NFL career. He and WWE had talks and he had a tryout but there was a mutual decision to not move forward. He told Fightful that he's always open to doing stuff with WWE. As far as TNA, he knows Carlos Silva and says he and the company know how much he loves and cares about the company.

You can see the full interview this weekend, or on tier 2 now for Fightful Select subscribers.

TJ Charles Interview

Fightful’s Corey Brennan recently sat down with Spanish based Irish wrestler TJ Charles for an interview. You can check out the early notes from the interview below.

While speaking about Irish Whip Wrestling, TJ noted that it was where he learned most of what he knows today in the world of pro wrestling, talking about the reps he would get weekly with the promotion in the early days of his career. When he moved to Spain, TJ noted that one of the biggest shocks was the difference in style between Ireland the Spain, he also spoke of the early difficulty of calling matches in the ring with Spanish talent, he would also speak highly of AEW’s Angelico.

On his Riot Absolute title reign, TJ spoke of the surreal nature of being a babyface champion in Spain as a foreign pro wrestler, he also spoke highly of his rivalry with Guillermo, who he defeated for the championship. 

On the topic of recent WWE signee Zozaya, TJ spoke highly of him and how common it was to see him at shows across the scene in Spain. TJ also noted that it was not just luck that Zozaya was picked up, it was hours and hours of hard work that led to his signing. 

On high profile opponents he’s wrestled, TJ spoke of it being a highlight of his year to wrestle Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen in a tag team bout, as well as speaking highly of his championship match with Goldenboy Santos on the same week WWE were in Spain prior to WrestleMania.

Finally, while speaking about recently being back on the Irish scene, noting that wrestlers across Europe aspire to wrestle in OTT, and spoke highly of getting the chance to work with Big Damo.

See the full interview at this link.

DEBUNKATHON 

• The latest Sportskeeda drivel – WWE hasn’t “teased” Edge for anything. He’s firmly under AEW contract and isn’t going to WWE right now. 

• Nobody from AEW has heard anything remotely close to John Cena contacting them about anything related to his current WWE run, contrary to what was said on a recent Sportskeeda podcast.

• There was a post that got attention regarding Sarah Stock “fucking up an important Mercedes Mone PPV match against Hikaru Shida.” She did not coach or produce that match.

• Once again, Sportskeeda posted clickbait questioning if Jon Moxley will return to WWE with a reformed Shield. He won't. He has over two years left on his contract with AEW.

• A fake AJ Lee post was going around updating her current status. It wasn’t her, so whatever was said is effectively pointless.

• There was a post claiming "BREAKING NEWS" on "rumors" that Bayley was going to AEW. Nobody has ever reported that, and "rumors" are not breaking news. If that happens, it's a long way off.

• In one of the weirdest pro wrestling rumors in this millennium, fans have suggested that Andrade is in the cartel. He's denied this, and literally nobody but weird stan accounts on Twitter would believe it.

• Regarding D-Von Dudley's account of his meetings with AEW, one higher up said they were "shocked" to hear that quote, and didn't elaborate on if they wanted him to wrestle. It was the first we'd heard about it, but doesn't mean it was untrue.