Weekend Roundup: Mercedes Martinez Removed from Retribution, Hiroshi Tanahashi & AEW, GCW, Harold Meij, Indies

WWE

• WWE will be releasing their next financial report for their 2020 fiscal third quarter on October 29th.
• A&E Network reportedly is currently working on three new WWE-based documentaries and will air on their network during 2021, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The three documentaries will be for “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Triple H & Stephanie McMahon.
• WWE filed new trademarks for “Ashton Smith”, “Eddie Dennis”, “Dave Mastiff”, “Dani Luna”, “Candy Flores”, and “WWE Watchalong” on October 5th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• WWE officials reportedly recently removed Mercedes Martinez from Retribution and the RAW brand in favor of her returning back to NXT, according to PWInsider.
• During a recent episode of the Borne the Battle podcast with Steve Cutler as the guest, Cutler revealed that he currently does not know when The Forgotten Sons will be making their return to WWE television. Cutler stated “Couldn’t tell you and I wouldn’t tell you either way. Just one of those things where it’s we’re being patient and doing what we can and waiting for our spot and waiting for our time and it’s coming, don’t worry. It’s coming.”

AEW

• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Hiroshi Tanahashi’s surprise video appearance during this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite was simply done by Tanahashi out of respect for his friendship with Chris Jericho. Meltzer reported that neither NJPW nor AEW officials had any involvement with the video besides not rejecting the idea. Meltzer also reported that Tanahashi’s video and the recent teases between NJPW and AEW talent does not mean that an actual partnership is currently in the works.

Indies

• Stardom reportedly is planning to disband Tokyo Cyber Squad, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the reason for the upcoming Oedo Tai vs. The Tokyo Cyber Squad match with the losing team to disband is due to the current members of Tokyo Cyber Squad no longer want to deal with the growing pressure from fans of having to continue the group following Hana Kimura’s passing.
• NJPW announced that this Friday’s episode of NJPW Strong will be a special NEVER brand themed episode.
• Marion County Council and Indianapolis city government officials recently declared this weekend to be “Indie in Indy Wrestling Weekend” in the city in honor of Game Changer Wrestling’s The Collective series of indie events.
• Besides being a very divisive figure within the company, Fightful reported that their sources within NJPW stated that other issues causing Harold Meij’s ouster from leadership was that talent did not fully believe in his plans and felt he was not proactive with the company’s partnerships. Another source stated that Meij’s lofty promises were not showing signs of being possible after two years into his three year plan regardless of the issues caused afterwards by the coronavirus panedmic.