WWE Champion CM Punk yesterday confirmed that former Divas Champion, Beth Phoenix, will be leaving WWE. Furthermore, he confirmed that Sara Del Rey‘s role within WWE will be that of a trainer for the WWE developmental females.
Punk appeared at the Ohio Comic Con yesterday fielding questions from fans. When asked what he would change if he was in charge of WWE, Punk said that there have been a lot of changes behind the scenes, including hiring independent veteran Del Rey as a trainer for up and coming Divas.
Sara Del Rey To Be WWE Developmental Trainer
He said: “We recently hired Sara Del Rey to train our future Divas. I know a lot of people will be like, ‘Oh, that sucks, Sara should be on television’ and maybe you’re right, but I’ve talked to her about it. This is her dream job. She gets to wrestle everyday and she gets paid for it. I don’t think there’s a better female wrestler in the world right now.”
Punk continued: “She can teach our girls and hopefully the future generation of Divas are going to be that much better for it. Right now, it’s wide open. With Beth leaving, Kelly [Kelly] gone, there’s never been more opportunities for the girls in FCW to step up.”
Based on Punk’s comments it appears Del Rey won’t be a Diva herself on the main roster.
Watch Punk’s Q&A session below:
46 Comments
at
Ohh.. sad that we won’t see Sara on television.. but i’m happy for her!
HollyRobinsonWWE Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
Yeah it’s sinking in now that we’ll never see her wrestle again, her active career is done, but that’s just a selfish fan thing. This is still a positive move for her life.
at
I was hoping for a Beth vs. Sara match since we won’t be having the Beth vs. Kharma dream match :<
well this sucks… but yeah, as long as they're happy with their job, that's okay I guess?
at
At least Beth had the great last match. I’ll miss her so much, it’s gonna be so weird not having her and Kelly around, considering they feuded for so long just a year ago.
I’m really sad so many women are leaving/released the WWE in such a short time. But it’s so true what Punk said about the NXT Divas stepping up. But then again, it’s not completely about them either. Even if they would step up considerably, that doesn’t mean they automatically get brought up. WWE hasn’t brought up any Divas that would actually wrestle in quite a while. I think it’s been years. We really need some fresh faces in the main roster.
at
i hope that wasnt beth last match on friday
at
Beth is leaving then? And Sara won’t be wrestling on the brands? Damn..
The positive thing is that the girls will most definitely appear more aggressive thanks to Sara, I mean who better than Sara to teach these girls how to fight? One day, and I know this will happen, the writers and triple H will pull the plug and let Sara loose on the main brands because she’s the Queen of Wrestling. Soon enough there will be pressure from fans to let Sara perform. You wait, give it a year or so.
tltharp11 Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
I can not see the girls on the current roster, with the exception of Eve and Natalya and maybe AJ, being more aggressive even with the help of Sara.
Raekon Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
WWE NXT 11 02 11 Kaitlyn vs Tamina
Check the match above on youtube. :)
I think that all of the current divas and the ones in NXT can be very aggresive if need be.
The main problem is how the divas are booked.
at
So it is true that Beth is going to depart shortly? Well, I’m still not going to buy it until Beth confirms her imminent departure on her own.
elsimate Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
What more do you want? WWE confirmed it. CM Punk confirmed.
Ridiclous levels of denial especially after the circumstances of the Bella’s departure.
Crazy_J Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
Don’t get shitty all because some of us don’t always believe until we hear it from the actual persons mouth. lmao. smh
elsimate Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at
Why? Like the Bellas Beth is under contract and mid storyline. She WON’T personally reveal her departure.
I guess all the evidence isn’t enough. Edge just happens to have scheduled major neck surgery in November.
Please use common sense.
at
What what what… Cool for Sara seeing as its her ‘dream’ job but I’m pretty sure her actual dream job would be to perform on television. I know I would love to see that. But I guess in WWE’s eyes shes doesn’t have that ‘diva’ look … sad cause she is the queen of wrestling
at
You never know. WWE may have Sara wrestle in the future.
at
Normally when someone speaks out of character what they say is true, I believed that Beth would go soon anyhow, I just hope one day she can come back even as a trainer and the same with natalya, those 2 and Sara del Rey could put so much knowledge and skill into future girls.
at
It definitely sucks that Sara won’t be on tv (not that I watch anymore anyway) but if she is happy and getting to work her dream job? Then that is amazing. Not many people get to do that, so good for her.
at
since Edge will have a neck surgery soon,it´s rumoured that will leave to be more close to him during his recovering period and then in the future return to the WWE….but then again it´s another rumour like the rest….
and if SDR sees it as her dream job she´s dumb.her dream job would be wrestling in the same conditions that the male superstars have,but since it´s WWE hell would freeze before that….so it´s her POSSIBLE job instead,she still receives her paycheck,which is the most important.
at
No!, Beth is the biggest loss of the division after Michelle Mccool & Kharma, I hope to return in the future .
The WWE should contemplate that Sara can fight, could fill the place left Beth.
Ed Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at
How exactly is Beth a loss at this point? She hasn’t been treated like she matters in the slightest since she lost the title months ago and has been booked as glorified enhancement talent ever since. It might sound harsh, but she means very little to the division right now.
The only Divas that mean anything at the moment are AJ, Eve, and to a lesser extent, Kaitlyn and Layla.
at
So, of all the people who train girl, they choose Sara ? Really ?
They could easily pick another trainer for the girl and have Sara for a run of two or more years, improving by the way both FCW and the main roster …
at
In the words of D-Bri No! No! No!
on Beth leaving but sinces there’s a rumor it’s just time off for Edge and she might come back one day
hopefully one day Sara can lead an invasion of NXT girls (that would be epic)
On a side note listening to Not My Time by 3 Doors Down can’t help but think about Beth but it was her choice to leave unlike Melina and Micke James.
at
i don’t really see the point of sara being a trainer if i’m honest. it’s not as if the skill level of the divas in training sucks or anything. plus, it’s been said numerous times before that wwe don’t want the divas on tv wrestling too good. the problems we have with raw/smackdown is that the divas aren’t showcased enough, they don’t get storylines or promo time or character development and i don’t get how sara training future divas will help that at all? good for her as it is her supposed dream job, but unless she eventually makes it on tv (with a dumbed down moveset) i fail to really see the point =/
Raekon Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
Fully agree Kaledrina!
The divas have showcased in superstars, nxt, fcw and houseshows that they can do a lot more than what we see on the main shows.
However, they never let them do more on the main shows so I also fail to see the point here.
In NXT we mainly have indy wrestlers now that they are already very skilled and summer rae as also audrey have improved a lot for the short time they are in the wwe.
redsandman99 Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
Maybe she wants WWE so bad she’ll take what she can get? Or her body’s beat up and it’ll get more of a rest while just training the girls but the job will keep her in the mix. Who knows. What the girls need really is an agent like Finlay that will fight for them to get tme and work with them at the shows.
Kaledrina Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
don’t get me wrong, i don’t mind sara taking the job, if anthing i would knock her for not wanting her ‘dream job’ lol, i just don’t see any benefit for the divas divisions.
other than her gimmick, the reason people seem to adore sara is because she wrestles just like the dudes.. with it being said by the likes of gail kim and even michelle mccool that the wwe wants it’s divas to wrestle more like.. well, divas, i don’t get what sara can really teach them?
from a business perspective surely it makes more sense for wwe to have hired a diva alumni.. beth, lita, even retiring natalya early.. so that not only do the upcoming divas know how to wrestle like a diva but also so that the main trainer has an already established respect/pathway of communication to some of the higher-ups when it comes to taking the fcw divas on to mainstream tv.
iunno. i’m pleased for sara, just don’t really see any real positive unless of course she does eventually make it to tv.
at
I’m not giving my hopes up. Del Rey WILL end up on TV eventually.
Also, I hope Brittney Savage gets signed today!! :)
at
I really hope that Beth is only leaving temporarily because of Edge and will be back again soon if what CM Punk says is true.
Kinda hoped that what she said with “I’m not leaving and I don’t intend to either” was the truth since she is already involved in the storyline.
Also hope that they won’t use her indeed as the attacker now so they can say that she gets “fired” because of the attack cause it would take everything they put in the storyline out and destroy it to say the least. :(
redsandman99 Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
Hopefully she does’t have to be the attacker. It relly seems like to me that they’re setting up Beth to challenge Eve before she goes since the focus seems to have moved from Layla being suspcious of her to Beth being accused and Eve trying valiantly to keep the blame on her. So with that I’m thinking they’ll have the attacker be someone else.
Bethinho Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
maybe we will have a career(Beth) vs title/job(Eve).
at
Look It Got Come from Beth or WWE Not C M Punk or any other Joker for now its a rumor not fact and besides Beth not Flowwing Punk on Twitter.
at
Wow, it’s sad how Kelly left & Beth won’t be there for much longer. :/
at
Really sad about Beth but she could return after Edge is all healed up and if she wants to!
Kinda dissapointed Sara won’t be on TV but if shes happy to just be training girls than good for her just imagane the crop of divas we will have thanks to her!!!!
at
No! D: I’ll miss Beth soooo much! :’( She’s my current fave Diva, also she’s on my all-time favorite list.. With her gone, we’ve only got 2 Divas left (on the main roster) who actually can wrestle: Tamina & Natalya. :’(
On a happier note, I’m so happy for Sara Del Rey, she truly is one of the best female wrestlers out there today. Too bad she won’t appear on-screen. :/
at
DAMMIT
at
Eve will be the next to leave given her engagement I would guess.
Based on what Meltzer has said (and what he hasn’t said) I think they’re looking to phase or cut the women’s division down in numbers further.
French.One Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at
They had 16 divas not long ago, and it was a huge numbers, they’re down to 11 right know but the problem is 4 of them don’t wrestle …
at
It’s sad that she’ll never be on television however, this is totally the next best thing. She is presumably being paid very well to do what she loves and she’ll also have a huge influence over the next generation who will make it to television. That will be her legacy. I mean, I know people don’t want this to be the end of her publicly viewable matches, but the alternative is to work another 10 years or so on the indies for peanuts compared to this and then go off and work wherever in a totally non-wrestling related field. It’s a no brainer.
at
Oh come on, universe, give me a break.
Next we’ll find out Paige will just be Dean Ambrose’s valet.