Weekend Roundup: Zelina Vega Update, Lana, AEW’s Canada Plans, AAA, Impact, Indies

WWE

• WWE recently announced that Kelly Kelly, Rey Mysterio, Dominick Mysterio, Billie Kay, Apollo Crews, Angel Garza, Tamina, Ever-Rise, and Shotzi Blackheart will be among the guests for their Watch Along show during tonight’s Survivor Series event.
• WWE filed new trademarks for “The Goddess”, “The Queen”, and “Big Don” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on November 17th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• Mercedes Martinez recent absence from WWE television is currently rumored to be due to health-related concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, according to CageSideSeats.com.
• The SAG-AFTRA union reportedly held talks with former WWE talent Zelina Vega this past Thursday, according to PWInsider.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that following her release, Zelina Vega had requested a final meeting with Vince McMahon which was denied and resulted in her being escorted out of the building.
• Fightful Select reported that the reason why McMahon refused a meeting with Vega was less due to her personally or her issues and more due to his general unavailability to talent during work days.
• During the recent Lana episode of WWE Chronicle on the WWE Network, Lana revealed that she has been struggling with depression during the coronavirus pandemic and made worse by the departure of her husband Miro from the company. Lana stated “It’s been really hard. Not having 300 days on the road, being at home, then all of a sudden no fans. Then, of course, like being with the person from the very beginning, like traveling with that person, being literally 24/7, being with that person and then that person is not there, it’s really hard. I don’t even know how sometimes I keep on pushing through … For me, what was really, really hard was, usually going to arenas and people boo you, it’s something about the energy, you’re like, ‘oh, I’m in control of this,’ right? But then when all of a sudden I don’t interact with any people whatsoever and I’m just at home and I post something and everyone is just so mean. I couldn’t handle it anymore, because that’s like my only interaction with human beings is my Instagram account or Twitter, and now everyone in comments are like, ‘you should be fired. Why are you not fired? You suck. You’re this. You’re that.I remember, texting my parents and being like,’ please pray for me, my mental health is doing really bad, I’m really depressed. I just — I can’t take it anymore. I’m just… I’m so sad. Like, I don’t want to do anything.’ Like, why even try? Why? It doesn’t matter. You work hard. You do this like you can’t post because everyone is going to tell you to go jump off a cliff and kill yourself and like you’re worth nothing. So it’s like, well, why?” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW

• AEW reportedly recently signed a television deal with pay television network Space for the Latin American television market, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that AEW will be airing their weekly Dynamite shows every Sunday starting on November 22nd on the network.
• During a recent virtual Roster Con expo with the Young Bucks as one of the guests, Matt Jackson revealed that AEW has been considering plans to hold a tag team tournament in the future similar in style to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual World Tag League tournament.
• A recent episode of the SC with Jay and Dan show had AEW CEO Tony Khan as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Khan revealing that AEW had plans to hold a show in Canada this year that were dropped due to the coronavirus panedmic. Khan stated “We’ve had plans to come to Canada. We were actually supposed to be coming to Toronto this past Summer and the pandemic derailed those plans. We weren’t able to travel outside of America. We’ve been based in Florida for many months now and I’m really excited to eventually bring our live show to Canada. We had a plan to come to Toronto this past Summer and I can’t wait to come.”

Other Wrestling

• Dragon Gate reportedly generated a paid attendance of 2,386 for their Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival on November 15th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Lucha Libre AAA officials currently do not expect to be able to hold this year’s Triplemania XXVIII event with fans in attendance due to the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico City, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• The Japanese government recently held a meeting with several sports and wrestling based companies including New Japan Pro Wrestling, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this meeting was about companies running events under current conditions with the coronavirus pandemic and the possibility of receiving financial help from the government.
• Streaming service Crackle reportedly will be airing a new wrestling based series called Heroes of Lucha Libre starting on November 25th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this new series is based on a fictional wrestling promotion and features Rey Misterio Jr. among the cast.
• Impact Wrestling reportedly held recent talks with former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen for a potential deal with the company, according to the Wrestling Observer. Dave Melter reported that Impact officials had plans for Sonnen to feud with Ken Shamrock but those plans were dropped following Sonnen’s rejection of their offer.