Various: WWE House Shows Post-COVID Plans, Eddie Kingston on AEW Debut & Contract, Indies

WWE Planning to Cut Back on Number of Live Events Post-Pandemic

WWE reportedly has been considering plans to cut back on the amount of live events in their weekly schedule following the end of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Wrestling Observer.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that it is currently not known if this means that WWE’s house show events will be dropped completely but WWE’s pre-coronavirus pandemic schedule of four days a week per brand for house show events is likely over.

Meltzer also reported that even without the pandemic, WWE and the wrestling industry had been heading towards the direction of becoming a “big event business, not a rank and file house show business” for the future.

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Eddie Kingston Comments on His Debut in AEW & Signing an AEW Contract

A recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast had Eddie Kingston as the guest and some of the topics discussed included his thoughts on his debut match in AEW and signing a contract with the company.

On the topic of his AEW debut match against Cody, Kingston stated:

“I said, ‘for shits and giggles, let me call out Cody’ because was doing the open challenge. I went off and just said, ‘it’s an open challenge, but you’re facing signed talent that aren’t going to hurt you.’ I’m friends with the Bucks and Kenny, so I thought I would throw a little dig, just for fun, nothing serious. ‘Oh, by the way, the guys you run the company with, like me better than you.’ People believed it. Retweets, hashtags, then I got a phone call from QT Marshall, ‘you wanna wrestle Cody?’ ‘Yeah, why not.’ I took it as another booking because I didn’t see it as, ‘they are going to be wow’d by me and sign me.’ I’ll go in there, do my best, and then go home …

I give Cody credit, he was so giving. He didn’t have to do what he did. He could have gone on there and been like, ‘you like to talk shit, we’re going three minutes and I’m beating you.’ Okay, that would have been my job.The promo was his idea. He hit me up and was like, ‘what music and graphics do you want?’ ‘Why? I’m not signed.’ ‘You’re coming out to cut a promo.’ I went to him and said, ‘don’t take offense to anything I say. Whatever I say to myself is a shoot, because I have to get in that mindset, what I saw about you is a work.’ People get sensitive when I say stuff, it’s a work.”

On the topic of signing an official contract with AEW, Kingston stated:

“Christopher Daniels calls me up and says, ‘Hey, we want to bring you back.’ ‘Yeah, sure.’ Just a booking, I’m thinking. I get a call from the competition, I talk to the competition. To them, they were trying to get me to coach for years. I said, ‘I can’t collect a paycheck if I didn’t earn it.’ I was going to go in there, coach, be bitter and angry about coaching, not getting a shot. (I would) coach these guys who love wrestling now because they are at the Performance Center, but not on the road getting paid in hot dogs and soda. I would have been so bitter and angry and detrimental to those kids. Now, they were talking about other things besides coaching. I had to weigh my options. I told people the competition hit me up. Christopher Daniels goes, ‘here’s a contract.'”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Thunder Rosa reportedly is currently interested in wanting to become a member of the National Wrestling Alliance’s booking team, according to Fightful.

New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly drew an attendance of 5,000 with 4,710 being paid attendance for their Summer Struggle in Jingu event on August 29th in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Ring of Honor recently announced that the judges for their upcoming Pure Championship tournament should matches reach a time limit draw are Gary Juster, Sumie Sakai, and Will Ferrara. The company also recently announced that Dak Draper and Brian Johnson have been named as the alternate entrants for their upcoming tournament.

Major League Wrestling recently announced that Brian Pillman Jr. will be making his return to the company when they resume television tapings this Fall. Pillman Jr. has been wrestling for AEW during MLW on-going break due to the coronavirus pandemic.