Weekend Roundup: WWE had Interest in Moose, More WWE Cuts Planned, Kenny Omega Update, Impact Ratings, Indies

WWE

• Fightful Select reported that WWE had shown interest in signing Impact Wrestling talent Moose to a contract around the time his contract with Impact was close to expiring in June. It was reported that WWE was also considering the idea of having Moose bypass NXT and make his official WWE debut on RAW or SmackDown instead. It was also reported that WWE did not give an official offer to Moose due to Impact’s offer had managed to entice him enough to sign a new deal to remain in the company.
• WWE announced that they will be holding a special nWo themed week from July 7-13 on the WWE Network, NBC Peacock, and WWE’s YouTube account and social media accounts. This themed week will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the nWo’s debut in WCW.
• WWE reportedly recently pulled their upcoming WWE Icons: Lex Luger documentary episode from this past week’s schedule of content for the WWE Network and NBC Peacock, according to PWInsider. The new episode was originally scheduled to air today but Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated it was pulled due to WWE officials feeling it would be better to air it at a later date with stronger lead-in programming.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 9,600 tickets for their Money in the Bank 2021 event on July 18th in Fort Worth, Texas as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. WWE has also sold around 6,600 tickets for their July 19th RAW show in Dallas, Texas, around 5,500 for their July 24th house show event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and around 3,200 for their July 31st house show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In regards to this year’s SummerSlam event on August 21st in Las Vegas, Nevada, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE has sold around 37,000 tickets as of this past week.
• WWE reportedly has also sold around 7,200 tickets for their September 19th house show event in Newcastle, England, around 4,500 tickets for their September 21st house show event in Cardiff, Wales, and around 5,600 tickets for their September 22nd house show event in Glasgow, Scotland, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Ticket sales for the September 20th RAW show in London, England was not given.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason for Xavier Woods’ brief absence from RAW was due to him requesting and being granted a one week vacation break. Meltzer reported that this was the reason why WWE officials had booked Woods in a Hell in a Cell match and did the injury angle afterwards as a way to temporarily write him out of the show.
• WWE reportedly laid off more of their staff this past Thursday, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that these layoffs mostly targeted the company’s marketing department.
• The Mat Men Wrestling’s Andrew Zarian reported on Twitter that his sources within the company stated that more releases and layoffs are currently expected to be made within the near future. Zarian reported that one of his sources stated “to be honest it’s needed” when asked why the company will be doing more frequent releases going forward.
• WWE recently announced that they have signed three new developmental talents from Asia for their Performance Center. They are Feicheng Wang, Sean Tan, and Jie Yin.
• During a recent interview with The New York Post, Triple H gave his thoughts on Samoa Joe’s recent return to WWE for their NXT brand. Triple H stated “It was something that we were already talking about anyways. And what people tend to focus on, because it’s the visual, is the in front of the camera, the character side of it. But what Joe and I have been talking about for a long period of time, before COVID, probably from the time he started in WWE in general [is] that’s he’s a very smart guy that’s very business-oriented, has a level head, and all those things. And [we discussed,] ‘What is the future like and how can he help build the future,’ and he was enamored with the other side of the business and what we do. There was an opportunity for him to transition, no different than you would say, ‘Well, he was released from this pitching contract and started managing the team and became a coach.’ It’s a similar situation.”
• Triple H also commented on WWE’s waves of talent releases and staff layoffs during this past year. Triple H stated “coming out of COVID and a pandemic and everything else, all companies are having to make difficult decisions and we were no different. It’s a part of what we do and it happens on a regular basis, all companies have to do it. It’s not the most pleasant part of what you do, but it is what it is.”
• WWENetworkNews.com reported that the next episode of the Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions series will be airing on the WWE Network and NBC’s Peacock on July 11th and will feature Kevin Nash as the guest.

AEW

• Darby Allin filed a trademark for “Darby Allin” on June 29th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• Christian Cage filed a trademark for “Christian Cage” for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes to the USPTO.
• AEW recently announced that tickets for their Fyter Fest Night 1 event on July 14th in Cedar Park, Texas has officially sold out. The company also announced that they might release more tickets for sale depending on if any extra seats are freed up based on the stage production for the show.
• AEW recently announced that tickets for their August 4th AEW Dynamite show in Jacksonville, Florida will officially go on sale starting on July 9th.
• Kenny Omega reportedly recently underwent stem cell treatment and PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy to fix an athletic hernia injury he has been dealing with for the past several weeks, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 2,900 tickets for their Road Ranger event on July 7th in Miami, Florida as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. AEW also has sold around 4,350 tickets for their Fyter Fest 2021 Night 1 event on July 14th in Cedar Park and 4,200 tickets for their Fyter Fest 2021 Night 2 event on July 21st in Garland, Texas. In regards to other upcoming events, AEW has sold around 4,300 tickets for their July 28th Dynamite event in Charlotte, North Carolina, 3,500 tickets for their August 11th Dynamite event in Pittsburgh, and 3,200 tickets for their August 13th AEW Rampage event also in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• AEW reportedly sold 1,350 tickets for their June 26th AEW Dynamite event at Daily’s Place, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the split was 1,100 paid and the rest as comp tickets.
• AEW reportedly also sold 1,300 tickets for their June 30th AEW Dynamite event at Daily’s Place, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the split was 900 paid and the rest as comp tickets. Meltzer reported that the bulk of the comp tickets went to the staffs of the Jacksonville Jaguars and TIAA Field so they could watch the final show of AEW’s run of pandemic era events at the venue.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the recent rumors of Dean Malenko leaving AEW are not true. Meltzer reported that the recent storyline angle involving Dean Malenko and The Pinnacle was not meant to write Malenko out of the company. Malenko reportedly is still working backstage during AEW shows and was the producer for the TNT Championship match between Brian Pillman Jr. and Miro from this past week’s Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
• During a recent interview with DAZN, Arn Anderson gave his thoughts on his son Brock’s recent debut match in AEW. Anderson stated “It would be easy for me to try to play a hard ass on this and go, ‘Oh well, business as usual.’ When it’s your son out there, he probably had not enough training yet to be under those circumstances, and I was nervous for him. I was more nervous than he was. He actually was pretty solid all day long. But to see him have his first day in a business that I have loved since I was eight years old — and I tell people, it’s the greatest way to make a living on the earth, it really is. To see him enjoy himself and hold his own and do well. I am a proud papa.”
• Anderson also gave his thoughts on the comparison to his own debut match in 1982 against Ron Bass. Anderson stated “Oh God. Well, it was a whole different format. It wasn’t about me, my first day on TV. I walked out on Atlanta TV and just got slaughtered, and that’s the way things were done, and I was glad to do it. I knew going in what it was going to be. His was much, much different. His debut was with the idea that he was, at some point, going to be a player. Me, I was just one of the cattle called that came to television and different territories around the world and was there for one reason: To enhance the other guy. It’s probably as far one end of the spectrum as you can be from his debut.”
• During a recent episode of his Keepin It 100 podcast, host Konnan discussed his appearance on the June 26th episode of AEW Dynamite and how it almost did not happen. Konnan stated “You have to look at the endgame. If I would have outsmarted Tully and ended it, that would have ended my tenure. Me doing this means I come back again.I just wanted to contribute. Let me tell you what’s incredible. In San Diego, they have a stupid curfew where you have to leave by 11:30. I’ve never seen that curfew applied, but they made us get off the plane. I was embarrassed because I had to text Tony [Khan], ‘Sorry, I know you announced me and I’m supposed to be there live, but I’m not going to make it. The flight was late coming in and it took forever for them to switch the shifts. [Tony] got back to me and found me a flight. I flew there, drove from Orlando to Jacksonville, I got there 45 minutes before the segment, not knowing anything I was going to say or do. They were like, ‘You have four minutes and 30 seconds and you’re taking this piledriver.’ ‘Which piledriver?’ I forgot what it looked like until I felt it. I thought it came off good. It could have been better, but I was happy.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Other Wrestling

• This past Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling Impact! drew 69,000 viewers and a 0.02 key demographic rating on AXS TV, according to Wrestlenomics. This was down compared to last week’s episode of 111,000 viewers and 0.03 key demographic rating. Brandon Thurston reported that this was the lowest viewed episode ever for an Impact show on AXS TV.
• Ring of Honor recently announced two matches for the Hour One pre-show for their Best In The World 2021 event on July 11th in Baltimore, Maryland. These are a tag team match of PCO & Danhausen vs. The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) and a singles match of Demonic Flamita vs. Rey Horus.
• ROH and indie wrestler Bandido reportedly will be running wrestling events under the name of Big Lucha at his gym starting on July 17th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced a new match to the card of their Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 event on July 25th at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. This is a Provisional King of Pro Wrestling Championship New Japan Ranbo match.
• NJPW reportedly has sold around 1,600 tickets for their Resurgence event on August 14th in Los Angeles, California as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• NJPW reportedly had a paid attendance of 556 for their June 18th Kizuna Road 2021 event in Numaz, 674 for their June 20th Kizuna Road 2021 event in Mito, 328 for their June 22nd Kizuna Road 2021 event in Tokyo, 403 for their June 23rd Kizuna Road 2021 event in Tokyo, 937 for their June 26th Kizuna Road 2021 event in Sendai, 665 for their June 28th Kizuna Road 2021 event in Nagoya, and 692 for their June 29th Kizuna Road 2021 event in Takaoka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with Lucha Libre Online (English translation via Fightful.com), Andrade El Idolo stated that the reason why he pulled out of his scheduled booking for Federacion Wrestling’s debut event was due to monetary issues involving his pay and other issues involving his flight ticket for the event.
• Warrior Wrestling announced a new match for the card of their Stadium Series 2021 event on July 17th in Chicago Heights, Illinois. This is a singles match of Davey Richards vs. Jonathan Gresham.
• Japanese wrestling promotion GLEAT reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,000 for their event on July 1st in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This event featured NJPW’s SHO making a special appearance and competing in a match for the company.
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 508 for their June 26th event in Mutsu and 219 for their June 27th event in Hakodate, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lucha Libre AAA is currently still not expected to broadcast this year’s TripleMania XXIX event in the United States due to lingering issues regarding the lawsuit against them by Lucha Libre FMV. Meltzer reported that AAA’s airing of the event live on their Facebook page likely will be geoblocked to prevent its availability in the US.