Weekend Roundup: Mercedes Martinez, WWE ThunderDome Ban List, Tony Khan, NJPW, Tom Lawlor, Indies

WWE

• Asuka surpassed Bayley this past Wednesday to become the longest reigning Women’s champion in terms of combined days in modern era WWE history and the second longest ever for combined days in all-time WWE history.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE’s current ban on outside third party services for their talent does not extend to YouTube. Meltzer reported that talent are still allowed to market themselves on their individually owned YouTube channels.
• The reason for Mercedes Martinez’s sudden removal from Retribution reportedly was due to Martinez had requested to be dropped from the group and have her NXT call-up be rescinded, according to Fightful Select (via WrestleTalk). It was reported that this request was made and granted prior to the group signing new WWE contracts as part of their main roster call-up process.
• WWE filed trademarks for “Slamboree”, “The Match Beyond”, “Bunkhouse Stampede”, “BattleBowl”, and “SuperBrawl” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on November 3rd to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. These are the same trademarks that Cody recently dropped his filings for as part of the talks with WWE to gain ownership of the “Cody Rhodes” trademark.
• WWE also filed a trademark for “Candy Floss” on November 3rd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.
• HeelByNature.com reported that a recent behind-the-scenes video for WWE’s ThunderDome revealed a banned image list for their virtual crowd. Based on the images shown, WWE’s ban list includes any mentions and logos of AEW, Impact, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. WWE is also banning those who show images of Enzo Amore, Tony Khan, Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, Marty Scurll, Young Bucks, Chris Benoit, C.M. Punk, Jim Cornette, Alberto El Patron, Ryback, Ashley Massaro, Superstar Billy Graham, and Vickie Guerrero. WWE is also banning any images shown of the flags of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Tibet.
• Fightful Select reported (via WrestleTalk) that several WWE talent recently spoken to revealed that their intital COVID-19 testing did not take place in WWE and instead at AEW. It was reported that some talent had visited AEW for their Double or Nothing 2020 event this past May and were given their first ever COVID-19 tests due to the company’s strict requirements for attending their events. It was also reported that those same talent did not receive any actual COVID-19 testing from WWE until mid-June.

AEW

• Despite holding live television tapings almost weekly for the month of October and early November, AEW officials still have long term plans to hold live tapings every other week at Daily’s Place, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Tony Khan and one of the topics discussed included Khan revealing that he has recently tightened his restrictions on AEW talent being allowed to work outside indie events due to coronavirus-related reasons. Khan stated “I implemented a policy where people were only supposed to work indie shows when certain conditions were met. There have been times when people did not take that seriously, so I have tightened up the restrictions. I’ll still allow it under certain conditions, but people need to look me in the eye and say that the conditions are being met. Our talent and their opponent need to be tested before the show, and there also needs to be a good reason why the match is important. This is important for everyone’s safety, as well as important for our show. I’ve been flexible in the past because I thought it was good for the talent to have the opportunity to earn, as well as great for the fans and the indies as a whole. We also don’t run every night of the week, so it allows for talent to get extra reps, too. So we have a policy, and I’ll be enforcing it strictly.”
• WWE talent Cedric Alexander reportedly was seen backstage at AEW’s Full Gear 2020 event last night. Alexander is the spouse of AEW talent Big Swole.

Indies

• DDT Pro Wrestling reportedly drew an attendance of around 1,000 for their Ultimate Party 2020 event on November 3rd in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Lucha Libre AAA announced that Lio Rush, Orlando Colon (former Epico in WWE), and Eddie Colon (former Primo in WWE) will be making appearances for the company within the near future.
• Jeff Cobb reportedly will be staying in Japan for the remainder of 2020, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Cobb currently plans to stay in the country until NJPW’s New Years Dash 2021 event on January 6, 20201.
• Major League Wrestling announced that TJP will be appearing for the company as part of their The Restart plans for television tapings.
• Game Changer Wrestling announced that they will be holding an event called Slime Season in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 5th. This will be the first ever event held by the company in the city.
• Indie wrestler “Filthy” Tom Lawlor stated on Twitter that he has recently tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Mission Pro Wrestling announced that Thunder Rosa and Jazz are currently in the process of opening a new wrestling school for female wrestlers.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship will be the main event match for Night 2 of next year’s Wrestle Kingdom 15 event.
• During a recent interview with TMZ, Alberto Del Rio stated that he is currently considering filing a lawsuit against WWE talent Paige over recent remarks she made against him that he alleges were defamatory. In a recent interview with GAW TV, Paige stated that Del Rio abused her during their former relationship and the abuse escalated from happening every few weeks to several times a day.