Weekend Roundup: NXT Women’s Tag Belts, WWE’s Newest Ban Update, Matt Hardy, ROH Lawsuit, Dark Side of the Ring, Indies

WWE

• Complex held a recent interview with Bobby Lashley and one of the topics discussed included Lashley being interested in the idea of Hurt Business adding a new female member. Lashley stated “We want dominance and a legacy. That’s what we want. Another thing that we talked about, we don’t even know if we want to go there, but I’ll throw this out: Is there a female that’s going to join the group? We thought about that. We have some definite names and if we did go that route, I think we’re all in agreeance of who we would love to have a part of us. Can’t really say right now, but that’s something that’s [on the way]. So we’re trying to play with it, so we’re coming at all different angles.”
• Fightful Select reported that prior to her pregnancy announcement, WWE officials had plans for Lacey Evans to defeat Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship at Elimination Chamber 2021 last month and defend the title against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 37.
• WWE officials reportedly have recently become fully aware over the growing aging of their main roster and developmental system talent, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that WWE officials recently enacted a new company doctrine to put more emphasis on signing new talent who are under 30 years old unless the person is a named star elsewhere or has potential to become a big star for the company.
• WWE is currently rumored to be potentially moving their ThunderDome from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg to the Yuengling Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE filed a trademark for “Jessamyn Duke” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on March 2nd to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. WWE also filed a trademark for “Skull King” for merchandise-related purposes on March 2nd.
• WWENetworkNews.com reported that WWE will be airing their new WWE Chronicle: Damian Priest documentary special on March 14th on the WWE Network.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that William Regal’s big announcement for this Wednesday’s episode of NXT is currently expected to be the official debut announcement for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship. Johnson reported that WWE’s current plans are to crown the inaugural champions at NXT’s TakeOver event on April 8th.
• Fightful Select reported that WWE officials currently are planning for Sami Zayn’s documentary storyline on SmackDown to be made into a real documentary special for their WWE Network service. It was also reported that WWE officials are also considering plans to use the footage taken for a video package segment on a future episode of SmackDown.
• As noted before, WWE issued a ban on “thigh slapping” during matches to their talent. Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that the reason for the new ban was due to Vince McMahon getting very upset at a wrestler who did a leg slap in an obvious way during a match on a recent episode of SmackDown.

AEW

• Asbury Park Press held a recent interview with Matt Hardy and one of the topics discussed included his reason for his recent transition from “Broken” Matt Hardy to “Big Money Matt.” Hardy stated “Broken Matt Hardy is a very audience-friendly character. It needs a crowd, it needs an audience, and it just was not in the cards to be Broken Matt Hardy … because his debut was in the first-ever empty arena era, pandemic-era show, the first empty arena show that AEW had. Broken Matt Hardy is … very theatrical, and it doesn’t translate as well to the current AEW audience that sits at home and watches (on television) because I’ve realized that this is a much younger audience. It’s a much more sports-centric-type audience.”
• AEW reportedly had a live viewership of 125,000 for their Women’s World Championship Eliminator tournament special on Bleacher Report Live on February 28th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of around 1,100 for this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the breakdown was over 1,000 tickets sold and the remainder as comp tickets.
• AEW filed a trademark for “Captain Insano” for video games and digital media-related purposes on March 2nd to the USPTO. This was the name of Paul Wight’s character in the 1998 film The Waterboy.
• Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Hikaru Shida and one of the topics discussed included her involvement with the production of the Japanese side of AEW’s Women’s title Eliminator tournament. Shida stated “I’ve always felt that Japanese joshi are the best in the world. So introducing them to everyone is very meaningful for me. It’s kind of a way to brag about my home. I also want Japanese wrestlers to know they can reach the top of the world if they work hard. It’s not a fantasy. This is one of the biggest things I have done as champion, and I’m proud of it.”

Other Wrestling

• New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Kazuchika Okada reportedly is currently dealing with a lower back injury, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Okada has been working shows with two slipped discs in his lower back.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that NJPW officials originally had planned for this year’s New Japan Cup tournament to feature 32 competitors but two people had pulled out for reasons not stated. This was the reason why EVIL and Hiroshi Tanahashi were given first round byes in the tournament.
• Synergy Pro Wrestling located in New Jersey reportedly is shutting down following the recent discovery of the company’s owner Patrick Shea, also known as Colin West, being a convicted child molester, according to Fightful.
• Serena Deeb revealed on Instagram that she underwent surgery on Saturday to repair a left knee injury.
• United Wrestling Network officials reportedly are currently in early talks regarding potential plans to air their weekly series on a new streaming platform instead of continuing with their weekly pay-per-view model, according to PWInsider.
• Goldberg filed a trademark for “Goldberg’s Garage” for merchandise-related purposes on March 2nd to the USPTO.
• Former Ring of Honor producer Joey Mercury reportedly recently filed a lawsuit against ROH and Sinclair Broadcasting, according to WrestleZone. Mercury reportedly is claiming that ROH purposely misclassified his employment status with the company, was forced to resign due to ROH’s lack of concern for their talent and unsafe workplace environment, and issues with his pay during his time in the company.
• Sean “X-Pac” Waltman announced on Twitter that he is retiring his X-Pac 12360 podcast in order to focus on the production and launch of a new project.
• Major League Wrestling announced that they will be debuting the Top 5 rankings for their Middleweight Championship during this Wednesday’s episode of MLW Fusion.
• A recent episode of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch had Jim Ross as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Ross revealing that he was recently interview by Dark Side of the Ring series producers for an episode based on the infamous WWF Plane Ride from Hell incident from May 2002. It is currently expected that this episode will be among the episodes airing for the series upcoming third season.