The WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida is no stranger to guest trainers dropping in for week long seminars and such – over the past few years, names like UK legend Johnny Saint, Stevie Richards, CHIKARA‘s Mike Quackenbush, The Kliq’s Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, former ECW Original Jerry Lynn, and Madusa/Alundra Blayze have all had guest stints at the PC. Last week it was revealed that Japanese legend Minoru Tanaka stopped by for a few days as well.
This week has seen two big names stopping by the Performance Center in some capacity (and another was there last week), including two former WWE Superstars and one former Impact star.
SERENA DEEB
The former member of CM Punk‘s Straight Edge Society made her return to the WWE Universe this summer, coming out of retirement for a last run during the Mae Young Classic. This past week, she joined the Performance Center as a guest coach, as mentioned by the WWE.
How did it feel for @SerenaDeeb to step back into the ring at the @WWEPerformCtr? She was on hand to provide a guest training session! pic.twitter.com/CgTljYbRHx
— WWE (@WWE) October 12, 2017
MADISON RAYNE
PWInsider reported today that former 5x Impact Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne has been working at the Performance Center the past week, although no word on whether it was simply a guest coaching position or if she was there as part of the current WWE tryouts going on. Rayne left Impact this summer, after having previously been a part of Impact’s creative team under Billy Corgan and Dixie Carter. Her last match with Impact was in April of this year as part of a Gauntlet Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender to the Knockouts title, but she appeared for SHIMMER over the summer under her old SHIMMER moniker of Ashley Lane and was a part of the MLW One Shot event on September 30, where she and Impact’s Rosemary faced Brittany Blake in a triple threat match. Rayne is only 31 years old, so she still has mileage left in the ring, but as of now there’s no word on if the training was a tryout for an in-ring talent, or she’s there for a potential coaching/training job at the Performance Centre.
AUSTIN ARIES
This is perhaps the most unusual name on the list, as Austin Aries was released this past July when he grew frustrated with his position in the Cruiserweight division (similar to the current Neville situation) and the company in general. Oddly enough, his 90-no compete clause just expired on October 5, so he’s free to sign with anyone at this point. On October 2, Aries posted a photo on his Instagram that he stopped to help some guys in trouble as he was “driving home from the WWE Performance Center”. No further word on what he was doing there, but it could simply be a case of finalizing his no-compete.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxBWFPHw9g/?taken-by=austinhealyaries
