Weekend Roundup: FOX Unhappy with WWE, Ric Flair Update, Bronson Reed, WarnerMedia & AEW, NJPW, COVID-19, Indies

WWE

• As noted before, Pete Dunne’s NXT developmental contract with WWE is currently expected to expire soon. Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources within WWE stated that Dunne’s contract is set to expire on September 1st.
• As noted before, WWE released another batch of talent from their NXT brand this past Friday. Fightful Select reported that one WWE official spoken to stated that more releases are currently expected to be made but personally feels that this year will be an outlier in regards to the frequency and level of talent for releases. This same official also stated that the reason for the mass releases over the past year is due to the coronavirus pandemic and the company halting their international NXT expansion and “talent stashing” plans in favor of more focus and priority being put towards “parking talent” for NXT on USA Network.
• The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer and PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that their sources close to FOX stated that the network has been growing unhappy with WWE due to issues over WWE’s deal with NBC’s Peacock service for the WWE Network. Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main issue revolves around FOX’s Tubi streaming service and FOX officials being upset over WWE promoting a rival service, NBC Peacock, on their SmackDown shows which FOX is currently paying for. Mike Johnson reported that this has been one of the main reasons why there has been a noticeable decline and lack of promotion by FOX for non-SmackDown WWE content on their properties in recent months.
• WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 8,600 for their Friday Night Smackdown show on July 30th in Minneapolis, Minnesota and 12,629 for their RAW show on August 2nd in Chicago, Illinois, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 8,439 tickets for their August 13th SmackDown show in Tampa, around 4,872 tickets for their August 14th house show event in Estero, and around 7,406 tickets for their August 16th RAW show in Orlando, Florida as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE also reportedly has sold around 44,680 tickets for their SummerSlam 2021 event on August 21st in Las Vegas, Nevada, around 9,301 tickets for their September 10th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, and around 5,229 tickets for their September 26th Extreme Rules 2021 event in Columbus, Ohio as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials recently held more talks regarding the idea of holding their NXT TakeOver 36 event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meltzer reported that as of this past Thursday, NXT officials are currently under the assumption that the event will not be moved to a new location and will still take place at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that prior to his release, Ric Flair had been under a “tremendous” ambassador type deal with WWE. Meltzer reported that Flair was making more money under this ambassador’s contract than he ever made during his best years in WCW. Meltzer also reported that it is currently not known if WWE’s ambassador type contracts contain a similar non-compete clause found in WWE’s typical talent contracts.
• As noted before, Bray Wyatt was released from WWE last month. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Wyatt’s non-compete clause is currently believed to expire on October 29th.
• Pop Culture website IconVsIcon.com reported that the first season of A&E’s Biography: WWE Legends series is currently scheduled to be released on DVD on September 21st.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the trial for tattoo artist Catherine Alexander against WWE, Take-Two Interactive Software, and 2K Games is currently scheduled to start on September 20th in East St. Louis, Illinois. Alexander is currently claiming allegations of copyright infringement over her tattoos for Randy Orton shown in WWE’s video game series.
• Bronson Reed recently reflected on Twitter about his release from WWE this past Friday. Reed stated “So I have had time to reflect now and some time to just process what has happened,” he said. “I was very shocked, very upset. As you know, this just doesn’t affect me, it affects my wife as well. We are here in a foreign country. But my wife is a super positive person and has kept me positive as well. I just wanted to reach out to all you guys, I am just very thankful you know for the love and support I have received online. I want to thank all the boys backstage as well. It was a great locker room to be a part of. I am staying positive and I do believe, I am bar none, the best super heavyweight in the world. And I will continue to prove that so, as they say, one door closes and another one opens.  But for me, many doors are open. Now, it’s just about which one I want to walk through.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

AEW

• AEW talent Barron Black recently announced on Twitter that himself, KiLynn King, Red Velvet, and Fuego del Sol have become the newest members of Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Family stable.
• AEW filed a trademark for “AEW Dark: Elevation” on August 3rd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• AEW also filed a trademark for “Elite General Manager” on August 3rd for video gaming-related purposes to the USPTO.
• AEW drew an attendance of 2,600 for their AEW Dynamite Homecoming show on August 4th at Daily’ Place in Jacksonville, Florida, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the split was 1,600 paid and 1,000 as comp tickets.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 4,593 tickets for their August 11th Dynamite show in Pittsburgh and around 4,428 tickets for their August 13th Rampage show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW also reportedly has sold around 3,109 tickets for their August 18th Dynamite show in Houston, Texas, around 4,406 for their August 25th Dynamite show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, around 10,913 tickets for their September 15th Dynamite show in Newark, New Jersey, and around 17,015 tickets for their September 22nd Dynamite Grand Slam show in New York City, New York as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the ticket sales for AEW’s upcoming shows in Chicago, Illinois are around 13,600 tickets for their August 20th Rampage show, around 4,924 tickets for their September 1st Dynamite show, around 4,929 tickets for their August 3rd Rampage show, and around 10,000 tickets for their September 5th All Out 2021 event as of this past Thursday.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason for Malakai Black’s dominate AEW debut match victory over Cody Rhodes during this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite was due to Rhodes will be taking a break from AEW for filming commitments for Season 2 of the Go Big Show reality game show series.
• TNT parent company WarnerMedia reportedly recently posted a job listing for a new Director in Scripted Development & Programming related to AEW, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this job is for someone to act as a creative liaison for AEW and supervise four new AEW-related projects currently in development by WarnerMedia.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there was a legitimate concern within AEW of Domino’s Pizza pulling their ads from TNT following Front Row Sports’ report over Domino’s alleged anger from the infamous pizza cutter incident during the July 28th Fight for the Fallen 2021 episode of Dynamite. Meltzer reported that there has been no push back from TNT towards AEW over the pizza cutter incident.
• Following the tapings for this Monday’s episode of AEW Dark Elevation, which were taped this past Wednesday, Tony Khan announced that AEW will be returning to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville Florida on December 29th for a live episode of AEW Dynamite. Khan also stated that he wants Jacksonville to become AEW’s annual destination for their New Year’s Eve themed shows.

Other Wrestling

• Pro Wrestling Guerilla reportedly drew an attendance of 600 for their Mystery Vortex VII event on August 1st in Los Angeles, California, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly has sold around 2,166 tickets for their Resurgence event on August 14th in Los Angeles, California as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• NJPW also reportedly generated a paid attendance of 550 for their July 30th Summer Struggle 2021 event in Tokyo, 637 for their July 31st Summer Struggle 2021 event in Tokyo, and 690 for their August 1st Summer Struggle 2021 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lio Rush is currently expected to make his return soon for NJPW. Meltzer reported that Rush’s original decision to retire from wrestling was due to him suffering from depression and chronic shoulder problems but he was recently medically cleared to resume an active in-ring career.
• NJPW announced a new match for the card of their Resurgence event on August 14th at The Torch at La Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. This is a 10-Man Tag Team match of Team Filthy (“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs, & Danny Limelight) vs. Lio Rush, Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Fred Yehi, & Yuya Uemura
• PWInsider’s Paul Jordan reported that Impact Wrestling recently launched a 24/7 channel on the Roku Channel in Canada.
• During a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Matt Cardona revealed that he is currently not under a contract with Impact Wrestling and is still a free agent. Cardona stated “Nobody has first priority, because I don’t have a contract with anybody. My only contract is with the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast. I love Impact and they’ve been super-great to me. Obviously, I take the Impact dates over everything else. In that regard, it takes priority. But only because I want it to, not because I’m contractually obligated.”
• The National Wrestling Alliance announced that Lady Frost is the next official entrant for their Women’s Invitational Cup battle royal match at their upcoming all-women’s Empowerrr event in August 28th in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the ticket sales for NWA’s upcoming shows in St. Louis, Missouri, around 677 tickets for their August 28th Empowerr event, around 856 for their August 29th 73rd Anniversary event, around 257 for their August 30th NWA Powerrr tapings, and around 228 for their August 31st NWA Powerr tapings as of this past Thursday.
• Lucha Blog reported that the government of Mexico recently updated their COVID-19 health status map moving Mexico City back into “red” status due to the recent surge in cases in the city. It was reported that this would mean another shutdown for the city starting this Monday. It was also reported that Mexico City officials are currently disputing the change in their COVID-19 status and are claiming to be in “orange” status instead in order to allow everything to remain open.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Melbourne, Australia is currently in a new seven-day lockdown due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the city. Meltzer reported that due to the newest lockdown, both Professional Championship Wrestling and Melbourne Championship Wrestling have postponed and cancelled all of their upcoming events in the city originally scheduled for this week.
• Dave Meltzer also reported that both WWE and AEW officials are currently working on contingency plans should another nation-wide lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic be issued again within the near future. Meltzer reported that AEW likely would go back to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville for shows while WWE would likely either go back to Florida or hold another residency elsewhere for their ThunderDome-based shows.
• Major League Wrestling and Mexico-based promotion The Crash reportedly are currently working on plans to hold a joint promoted event on September 11th in Tijuana, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Melzter reported that this event is currently planned to revolve around MLW’s Aztec Underground series. Meltzer also reported that this would be The Crash’s first event since going on a lengthy break due to the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico.