Weekend Roundup: Adam Cole Update, NXT Update, Daniel Bryan & AEW Update, Bryce Remsburg, NWA Empowerrr, IIconics, Indies

WWE

• The Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch rematch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship is currently rumored to be taking place at next month’s Extreme Rules 2021 event based on a recent local ad from host venue Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.
• WWENetworkNews.com reported that WWE is currently scheduled to air a new episode of their Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions series on September 26th on the WWE Network and NBC’s Peacock. It was reported that this episode will be featuring John Cena as the guest.
• During a recent interview with Fightful, Drew McIntyre stated that WWE currently owns the rights to his old “Broken Dreams” entrance theme and he has been pushing for the song to make its return at some point in the future. McIntyre stated “I’ve mentioned it a couple of times. We do own the rights to it. We do have the song. I guess it’s a case of when the time is right, it’s gonna happen. But because I’ve been hearing about it every week for years and years and years, especially towards the bigger events, I heard about it leading up to SummerSlam here constantly, every WrestleMania I hear about it constantly, so anyone in that audience when it finally happens better have some kind of… You saw what happened to Jericho’s music though. Everybody better know that song, better be singing along to every single word or I’m gonna have to go back with my tail between my legs and go,’ Alright I guess… Sorry about that.’”
• During a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Riddle gave his thoughts about Roman Reigns’ recent comments about CM Punk not being a “needle mover” as a big star. Riddle stated “No disrespect to Roman, he seems like a swell fella, but at the same time, it’s like when people say they’re a good parent. You know what? If you were a good parent, your kids would be telling you you’re a good parent. When he’s saying ‘Acknowledge me’ or ‘I move the needle,’ no, you don’t. You’re related to The Rock. Shut up. Like, I’m not impressed, I can beat you up in a real fight. So, shut your mouth. You’re not moving needles. I’m the real stallion, RK-Bro is moving the merch, we’re moving the needle, and that’s it. I don’t want to say too much, I’m not trying to get in trouble. Hey, hats off to him. He’s amazing at what he does. I do like what he does, but at the same time, it’s like, get off your high horse. You’re in that spot for a reason. You’re not a bro. You’re second generation. I’m first generation.”
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Sasha Banks was not in attendance backstage during this past Friday’s tapings of SmackDown in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Banks has been away from WWE since August 14th due to unknown issues that are not injury-related.
• WWE reported generated an attendance of 10,000 (8,500 paid) for their August 20th SmackDown show in Phoenix, AZ, 6,168 for their August 22nd house show event in Denver, CO, 7,000 (5,700 paid) for their August 23rd RAW show in San Diego, CA, and 180 for their August 24th NXT show in Orlando, FL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. WWE also reportedly generated an attendance of 280 for their August 22nd NXT TakeOver 36 event in Orlando, FL.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 4,136 tickets for their August 30th RAW show in Oklahoma City, OK, around 4,880 tickets for their September 3rd SmackDown show in Jacksonville, FL, around 4,922 tickets for their September 6th RAW show in Miami, FL, and around 9,634 tickets for their September 10th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Prior to his contract officially expiring this past Friday, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that those close to the situation stated that Adam Cole was deciding between leaving WWE for AEW or staying in WWE for their main roster. Cole reportedly was not interested in staying in NXT for any new potential deal with the company. At the moment, it is currently not known if Cole has signed a new deal with WWE or has left the company.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Adam Cole’s recent appearance on a stream on Amazon.com promoting future WWE Mattel action figure releases was not an indication of him deciding to remain in the company. Johnson reported that this stream had been filmed several weeks ago and played no role in the status of the talks between Cole and WWE for a potential new deal.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why WWE decided to break their agreement with Las Vegas officials to end their SummerSlam event at 8PM local time is currently not known. Meltzer reported that WWE officials originally had assured that their event would end early enough so that fans who bought tickets for the high profiled Manny Pacquiao boxing event that night in the city would be able to travel in time to watch Pacquiao’s bout live. Meltzer speculated that WWE decided to no longer follow their hard time limit for SummerSlam after Pacquiao’s original opponent pulled out of the fight. One WWE official spoken to stated that despite the longer than promised runtime for SummerSlam, it still ended before Pacquiao’s fight started. Meltzer reported that fans who wanted to attend Pacquiao’s fight were not able to travel to the venue in time had they stuck around and watched all of SummerSlam.
• WWE officials reportedly are currently working on plans to expand their traditional Big 4 events into a new Big 5 with Money in the Bank as the newest addition, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this was the reason why WWE announced next year’s event taking place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas due to them wanting to take advantage of Vegas being a hot spot for tourists during July 4th weekend.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE officials currently have plans for Johnny Gargano to become the new top heel star of their NXT brand following the departure of both Karrion Kross and Adam Cole.
• Mike Johnson also reported that NXT officials have been trying to persuade NXT UK talent WALTER to move to the United States in order for him to become a full-time performer for their NXT brand.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources within the company stated that earlier reports of WWE’s longtime partnership with Full Sail University being over are not true. Those same sources stated that the company currently does not have any plans to return to Full Sail any time soon due to the on-going coronavirus pandemic but the door is still open to them for a return in the future.

AEW

• The Mat Men’s Wrestling’s Andre Zarian reported that the December 8th episode of AEW Dynamite is currently expected to take place at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York
• During a recent interview with the Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW CEO Tony Khan was asked a question about the rumors of Bryan Danielson (also known as Daniel Bryan in WWE) recently signing a deal the company. Khan stated “I can’t answer that question. It’s fair for you to ask. Nothing I can address on the Observer today. He’s one of the all-time greats.”
• Khan also stated that he currently has plans to make multiple additions to AEW’s roster over the course of the next four to six months. Khan stated “Definitely going to make multiple additions in the next 4-6 months. Will be some activity in the near future. I can’t specify exactly what it is but I don’t think people want me to.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• AEW announced that they have recently signed a partnership deal with Joe Hand Promotions to air their upcoming All Out 2021 event at select theaters in the United States and Canada.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 15,316 (14,500 paid) for their August 20th AEW Rampage show in Chicago, IL and 5,600 (5,200 paid) for their August 25th AEW Dynamite show in Milwaukee, WI, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In regards to AEW’s upcoming set of shows in Chicago, AEW reportedly has sold around 5,486 tickets for their September 1st Dynamite show, around 5,499 tickets for their September 3rd Rampage show, and a sold out status with a $300 secondary market price for their September 5th All Out event as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW officials are currently working on plans to revive the Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa feud for a major match in early 2022.
• Dave Meltzer also reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW officials originally had plans to tape their October 23rd episode of Dynamite and October 25th episode of Rampage during this year’s Chris Jericho cruise event. Those plans reportedly were dropped due to coronavirus-related issues. Meltzer reported that AEW’s current plan is to split their roster so that some would appear on Jericho’s cruise event from October 21-25 and the rest to work that week’s set of television tapings.
• Chicago-based ice cream company Pretty Cool Ice Cream reportedly is currently planning to deliver around 4,000 CM Punk themed ice cream bars for AEW’s Rampage show in Chicago on September 3rd, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Punk managed to generate around $200,000 worth in merchandise sales for Pro Wrestling Tees for his official debut in AEW at their August 20th Rampage show.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Kayla Rossi was the mystery woman who accompanied Joey Janela during AEW’s recent tapings in Chicago. Rossi reportedly recently had a tryout for WWE but they decided against signing her due to her being 30 years old and the company currently wanting new signings to be at least 26 years or younger except for very special circumstances.
• During a recent interview with the AEW Unrestricted podcast, AEW referee Bryce Remsburg revealed that he recently signed a new multi-year deal with the company. Remsburg stated “Excalibur and I got hired the same day, August 1, 2019 and we exchange fun texts every August 1st about happy hire-versary. So, yeah and it’s been ever since and I have since re-upped for another couple years and then the travel portion of the job became part of the package and I am, you know, pretty much eat, breathe and sleep All Elite nowadays.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

Indies & Other Wrestling

• During Saturday’s NWA Empowerrr event, Awesome Kong made a surprise appearance and announced that she has officially retired as an active wrestler.
• Saturday’s NWA Empowerr event also featured Chelsea Green winning the Women’s Invitational Cup to earn a shot at the NWA World Women’s Championship at tonight’s NWA 73rd Anniversary event in St. Louis, Missouri. Other notable results included Kamille retaining her NWA World Women’s title over Lelya Hirsch and The Hex (Allysin Kay and Marti Belle) winning the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament to be crowned the new tag champions.
• During a recent interview with the Shining Wizards podcast, Mickie James stated that she hopes that NWA’s all-women’s Empowerrr event will become an annual event for the company. James stated “We’re hoping. I’m hoping. We have definitely talked about this, especially because we’re introducing the (Women’s Invitational) Cup as an inaugural thing. The Cup will happen every single year. The whole deal is we’re going to find the top 10 prospects or the top 10 women that we think would make incredible NWA Women’s Champions and every year we’ll have this Cup. So there will be one winner, and she will always get a championship title shot at the NWA Women’s Champion. So, this first one will be the very next night at 73. My hope is that Empower is an annual thing and we can present this Cup at every Empower, and we can keep moving forward. But I do feel this is the first of many women-driven products for NWA as a whole, so I’m excited about that.” (Transcript h/t: WrestleZone.com)
• Stardom announced that their previously announced dark matches for both nights of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Grand Slam events on September 4-5 in Saitama, Japan will now be airing live on New Japan World.
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 293 for their August 24th Summer Struggle 2021 event in Tokyo and 279 for their August 25th Summer Struggle 2021 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Ring of Honor reportedly generated an attendance of 390 for their August 20th Glory By Honor 2021 Night 1 event in Philadelphia and 482 for their August 21st Glory By Honor 2021 Night 2 event in Philadelphia, PA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Warrior Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 525 for their Switchblade Series event on August 21st in Chicago, IL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Drago will be going by the new ring name of Dios Drago for all of his bookings in the United States going forward.
• Indie wrestlers Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay (former IIconis’ Peyton Royce & Billie Kay in WWE) recently announced on Twitter that they will be going by the new team name of “The Inspiration.” Their first post-WWE indies bookings was announced to be for Highspots’ Virtual Gimmick Table fan session event on October 21st and WrestleCade’s Revenge 2021 convention on November 26-28 in Winston-Salem, NC.
• Major League Wrestling announced that they have recently signed an action figures deal with the first set of official MLW branded figures to arrive in 2022.
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Art of War Games event on September 4th in Hoffman Estates, IL. This will be a GCW World Championship Open Challenge match between Matt Cardona and mystery opponent.
• Fightful Select reported that Impact Wrestling officials are currently considering holding this year’s Bound for Glory event on October 23rd at the Sam Town’s Live venue in Las Vegas, Nevada.