Weekend Roundup: Universal Title Plans, NXT Viewership, WWE “Marvel” Plans, AEW PPVs Update, Andrade, Kylie Rae NWA Signing

WWE

• WWE reportedly is currently planning for Roman Reigns to defend his Universal Championship against Rey Mysterio at next month’s Hell in a Cell 2021 event on July 16th, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• This past Tuesday’s episode of NXT reportedly drew 668,000 viewers on USA Network, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• As noted before, WWE announced that this year’s SummerSlam event will be taking place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada and will start at 8PM EST. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE officials made the decision for that location and starting time while being fully aware of a high profiled Manny Pacquiao boxing event taking place that same night. Johnson reported that WWE’s current plans are for their event to end well before the start of Pacquiao’s fight so that fans can attend the boxing event or watch it live from their homes.
• University of South Florida Police Department reportedly are currently seeking the identify of an individual who was recently caught on camera stealing several items belonging to WWE at the Yuengling Center, according to Fightful.
• Fightful Select reported that the reason why WWE released Adnan Virk was due to both sides being fully aware very early on that Virk’s role as the lead commentator for the RAW brand was not going to work out. It was also reported that WWE officials had already made up their minds that changes were needed well before the switch to Jimmy Smith for the role.
• As noted before, WWE is currently working on plans to bring back the Million Dollar Championship for their NXT brand. HeelByNature.com reported that the return of this belt likely will be happening very soon based on a recent official poster released for TakeOver: In Your House that features the classic belt.
• As noted before, Lana was among the newest batch of talent released by WWE last week. Fightful Select reported that WWE officials had “significantly different” plans for Lana prior to Charlotte Flair’s return to the RAW brand. It was reported that following Flair’s return, Vince McMahon reportedly had “personally assured” Lana that this would not be the end of her push and they would have new creative plans for her. It was also reported that WWE’s lack of direction for Lana afterwards was not due to Lana and Naomi’s lack of effort behind the scenes since both were constantly asking for updates on the creative plans for the team.
• WWE filed a trademark for “Drip Stick” on May 31st for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials recently informed all of their main roster talent to report to the Performance Center over the course of the next several weeks for manditory workouts. Meltzer reported that WWE officials want their talent to be in top shape prior to the return of regular touring since they feel talent have not been able to work as much as before due to coronavirus pandemic issues. Meltzer also reported that the reaction within the locker room was mixed with talent who live in the local Orlando area not seeing this as a problem while others were more negative due to it being a big disruption to their home life and routines. Meltzer also reported that some talent were also not happy with having to travel a lot for the manditory training while not being paid for this extra job work.
• This past Sunday’s Biography: Mick Foley episode drew 518,000 viewers and a 0.20 key demographic rating on A&E, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• This past Sunday’s episode of WWE Most Wanted Treasures drew 455,000 viewers on A&E, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has sold around 10,500 tickets for their July 16th SmackDown event in Houston, around 9,571 tickets for their July 18th Money in the Bank 2021 event in Forth Worth, and around 6,7000 tickets for their July 19th RAW event in Dallas, Texas as of this past Thursday.
• Front Office Sports reported that WWE is currently working on plans to become the next “Marvel” in regards to being a “full-scale media universe.” It was reported that WWE’s recent upper management shakeups and hirings are part of this process to transition from being a wrestling company to being a potential major media/content producing company in the future.

AEW

• During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Scorpio Sky explained his reasons for why he broke away from SCU in AEW. Sky stated “Well you know, that was part of why I embraced the opportunity to step away from SCU and be a singles guy and I told Frankie [Kazarian] and Chris [Daniels] this, I said, ‘You guys have already created your legacy. Anything you do from here on out is extra but you guys are legends, you guys have been champions in multiple places and as a team, you are legends and individually you are legends. But –’ at the time I said this, I said, ‘If everything ended today for all three of us, I would think I would be known as just the third member of S.C.U. and so I need to step away and I need to create my own path’ and so that’s what everything going forward is triggered for me and that’s the direction I’m going in is creating my own path. I still rely on them for guidance because they are two of the best ever and they’re both so intelligent and I’ve learned so much and there’s no [coincidence] that I’ve become a much better performer from the time I first linked up to them to today. They have taken me to that next level and I still, you know, whether it’s on-camera or not, S.C.U. is always gonna be a thing behind the scenes. But again, it’s time for me to create my own legacy.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• During a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Sammy Guevara revealed that he was the one who came up with the idea for the Stadium Stampede match at this past Sunday’s Double or Nothing 2021 event to be a mixture of live and pre-taped content. Guevara stated “So, yeah, it was my idea to have the match go from the cinematic to end it into the live crowd and they actually went with it. I was surprised too. Tony [Khan] and Chris [Jericho] came up to me and they were like, ‘That was a really good idea’ and I figured other guys came up to ‘em and told them that idea but apparently no else did and they gave me credit for it so, that was pretty cool.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Tony Khan recently made the decision for all future AEW pay-per-view events except Full Gear to take place on a Sunday following both Revolution 2021 and Double or Nothing 2021 setting new all-time company records for highest PPV buy rates. Meltzer reported that the reason why Full Gear events will remain on Saturday is due to Khan not wanting to compete against the NFL.
• Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that AEW’s Double or Nothing 2021 event is currently estimated to have generated around 115,000 pay-per-view buys. Thurston reported that the estimated split is around 80,5000 buys from the United States and around 34,5000 buys from international. In regards to gross revenue, Double or Nothing 2021 is currently estimated to have generated around $3.5 million for the company.
• Meltzer also reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s Double or Nothing 2021 event drew an attendance of around 5,200 with the split being 4,700 paid and the rest as comp tickets. In regards to live gate revenue, AEW’s event reportedly generated around $300,000.
• AEW reportedly drew an attendance of around 1,600 for their May 28th Dynamite and Dark Elevation events and around 1,000 for their May 29th Dark event at Daily’s Place, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW has sold around 2,750 tickets for their July 7th Dynamite event in Miami, Florida and around 3,600 tickets for their July 14th Dynamite event in Cedar Park, Texas as of this past Thursday.
• Riho reportedly has recently moved to the United States for the full-time work in AEW, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In honor of Pride Month, AEW recently released a new Nyla Rosa themed shirt with all proceeeds generated going towards the Casa Ruby non-profit group.
• Rey Fenix reportedly is currently dealing with a groin injury, according to BodySlam.net. It was reported that the intital diagoniss on his injury was that he would be out of action for at least six to eight weeks.
• As noted before, Andrade El Idolo made his official AEW debut during this past Friday’s episode of Dynamite. WrestlingInc reported that Andrade had initially met with AEW CEO Tony Khan the week of his release from WWE. Khan reportedly was very motivated to sign Andrade due to him not having a 90 days no compete clause but contract talks stalled due to Andrade demanding both creative control and veto power over losing matches. Talks also stalled over issues of the number of dates and a guaranteed downside for a potential contract. It was reported that Khan made a comproise where Andrade would be allowed limited creative control on the finishes to his matches and would be allowed to work outside dates for other companies. It was also reported that Ring of Honor had also been interested in signing Andrade as a way to entice RUSH to stay in the company once his contract expires in January of 2021.

Other Wrestling

• Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly drew a paid attendance of 614 for their Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial 2021 event on May 31st in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 293 for their Road to Dominion 2021 event on June 1st in Tokyo and 447 for their Road to Dominion 2021 event on June 2nd in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• CMLL talents Cuatrero and Angel de Oro reportedly are currently out of action for the company due to COVID-19 related issues, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Cuatrero recently tested positive while Angel de Oro was pulled from upcomong events due to him being in close contact with someone who had tested positive.
• Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Daily Update that Mexico City officials recently allowed Arena Mexico officials to increase capcity for wrestling events at their venue from 500 to 1,500 starting on June 24th.
• Wrestling streaming provider IndependentWrestling.TV reportedly recently filed a lawsuit against Game Changer Wrestling, according to the Times Leader. It was reported that IWTV is allegding that GCW breached the terms of their contract that gave them exclusive rights to air GCW events. IWTV is claiming that GCW’s events from December 5, 2020 to May 15, 2021 violated the terms of their deal due to those events airing on FITE.TV instead. IWTV is currently asking for over $500,000 in monetary damagaes to be awarded to them.
• GCW owner Brett Lauderdale recently issued an oficial statement on Twitter about the lawsuit filed against his company stating that “I have sent countless proposals including one as recently as Mid-April, trying to find an amicable resolution including for #ToS666 weekend. I was promised a counter offer but it never came because Mike Burns was mad about Drew Cordiero’s Food Truck. Still waiting.”
• VICE TV announced that they will be airing a documentary based on Joanie Laurer, formerly known as Chyna in WWE, on June 17th. The documentary is titled VICE VERSA: Chyna and will be focused on the rise and fall of her wrestling career and life. A trailer for the upcoming documentary was recently released by the network.
• Matt Cardona filed a trademark for “Majorland” on May 28th for entertainment-related purposes to the USPTO.
• Impact Wrestling officials reportedly currently have major plans for their X-Division Championship, according to PWInsider. It was reported that the Iron Man match during this past Thursday’s episode of Impact! was meant to be the start of those plans. One source spoken to stated that these plans resemble what ECW did with Rob Van Damn’s reign as ECW World Television Champion from April of 1998 to March of 2000 where that title was seen as being equal in status to the ECW World Heavyweight title. Impact officials main goal reportedly is for the X-Division title to be viewed with the same level of status and prestige as their Impact World title.
• During tonight’s When Our Shadows Falls event, the National Wrestling Alliance announced that they have recently signed indie wrestler Kylie Rae to an official contract with the company. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Impact and NWA officials had been in talks over the course of the past several weeks for a deal that would allow Rae to officially end her contract with Impact and sign with the NWA. Johnson reported that Rae’s signing was finalized around four to five days ago.
• Fightful Select reported that the general reaction within Impact’s locker room over Kylie Rae signing with the NWA was one of mostly shock. It was reported that Impact talent were left in the dark regarding the company’s talks with the NWA over Rae and they have no ill will towards her. It was also reported that Rae had spoken to several members of Impact’s locker room this past weekend to applogize for hiatus and sudden departure from the company.