It was announced on tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown that Naomi will be on the upcoming August 18, 2025 edition of Monday Night Raw (at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
Nothing was specified about what she would be doing, but after missing last week's episode and her scheduled Women's World Championship title defense against Iyo Sky, this would seemingly point to one of two potential outcomes.
The less likely option is that Naomi is simply back, has been medically cleared, and WWE is feeling confident that she will wrestle again and they'll turn that into some angle deviation instead of simply doing the scheduled match (or announce on the spot that the match will take place for an audience pop).
More likely, though, is that Naomi will relinquish the title. In most cases like this, "we'll hear from" the champion tends to be the title-holder vacating as they won't be medically cleared for a while. With rumors swirling that she could be announcing a pregnancy, similar to what happened with Becky Lynch five years ago when she vacated her title to Asuka on Raw for the same reason, this could be another one of those cases and celebrations. Or, if there's an unfortunate actual injury, this could be one of those heartbreaking "I may need to retire" moments. With WWE being vague, we'll just have to tune in to Raw to find out unless other news breaks to report on.
When it comes to next week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown (August 22nd at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland) and what has been scheduled for that, John Cena has been advertised as returning to make another one of his final dozen or so appearances. He will be addressing the Logan Paul rivalry and building up more hype for their match at WWE Clash in Paris.
Aleister Black interrupted a backstage interview R-Truth was having to remind him of what he did to his friend, Damian Priest, and to say that he would see "Mr. Killings" in the ring next week.
In another backstage argument, The Motor City Machine Guns got into it with Melo Don't Miz over Carmelo Hayes and The Miz interrupting them while they were speaking to SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, who was quick to book a tag team match between them to settle their issues and prove themselves.
WWE Monday Night Raw Lineup: August 18, 2025 - Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Penta vs. Xavier Woods
- Naomi will be there
WWE Friday Night SmackDown Lineup: August 22, 2025 - 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland
- John Cena returns
- Aleister Black vs. Ron "R-Truth" Killings
- The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) vs. Melo Don't Miz (Carmelo Hayes and The Miz)