Weekend Roundup: NXT Talents Turn Down New Contracts, Mia Yim, Brian Cage, Bloodsport 7, Impact Tapings, Indies

WWE

• Fightful Select reported that several NXT talents had recently rejected contract extension offers from WWE. It was reported that one WWE source spoken to stated that there was little incentive for several top NXT talent to accept WWE’s new long-term NXT contract extensions due to the low pay rate offers that were “nowhere near” the rates for main roster deals. It was reported that several lower card talent who had not been used in recent times on NXT programming also had turned down WWE’s recent contract extension offers.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources within WWE stated that the injury Samoa Joe recently suffered was stated to be minor but his hiring back to the company played a role in the decision to strip him of the NXT Championship. Meltzer reported that he was told Joe was primarily hired for a non-wrestling role for the NXT brand.
• WWE reportedly had an attendance of 13,323 (10,800 paid) for their September 10th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, 6,624 for their September 11th house show event in Washington, DC, 5,152 for their September 12th house show event in Albany, NY, 8,100 (6,600 paid) for their September 13th RAW show in Boston, MA, and 280 for their September 14th NXT show in Orlando, FL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 7,628 tickets for their September 26th Extreme Rules 2021 event in Columbus, OH as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer also reported in Friday’s Daily Update that WWE has sold around 1,000 tickets for their November 29th RAW show in Houston, TX as of this past Friday.
• In regards to this week’s tour of the United Kingdom, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has sold around 7,628 tickets for their September 19th house show event in Newcastle, around 14,801 tickets for their September 20th house show event in London, England, around 4,712 tickets for their September 21st RAW show in Cardiff, Wales, and around 7,147 tickets for their September 22nd house show event in Glasgow, Scotland as of this past Thursday.
• This past Sunday’s Florida SuperCon convention had John Cena as one of the guests. During a fan Q&A session, Cena was asked if he would be interested in working for another company besides WWE. Cena stated “There’s a whole like ‘never say never’ philosophy and I’m also that way in life because you never know what life will bring you. But, I can with certainty say no.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• This past Monday’s episode of RAW featured a singles match between Nikki ASH and Tamina that ended via a botched pinfall kickout attempt by Tamina. Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that the reason why Tamnia was announced as the winner and her music played was due to her being planned to win the match. Meltzer reported that the match’s referee was blamed backstage regarding the botched ending even though WWE referees are instructed to count the match as if it was a shoot. The referee reportedly explained to WWE officials he did not see Tamina’s kickout and was “apologetic” over the issue.
• Mia Yim stated earlier today that the rumors of her current long absence from WWE television being due to an unknown injury are not true.
• During this past Thursday’s episode of NXT UK, Bailey Matthews, son of William Regal, revealed in a promo vignette that he will be performing under the new ring name of Charlie Dempsey going forward in the company.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) recently set a new date of January 31, 2022 for the trial involving Randy Orton’s tattoo artist’s lawsuit against WWE, Take-Two, and 2K Games.
• NXT talents Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae recently announced on Twitter that they are currently expecting a baby boy as their first child.
• United States politician and former 2020 US Presidential candidate Andrew Yang stated on Twitter last week that he recently contacted the U.S. Department of Labor to help go after WWE’s long-time misclassification and abuse of independent contractor laws in the wrestling industry.

AEW

• Taz filed a trademark for “Beat me if you can, survive if I let you” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on September 14th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• Brian Cage reportedly is currently out of action for AEW due to recent stem cell therapy for his current knee issues, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• As noted before, Adam Cole stated in a recent interview with TV Insider that he was not aware of any plans by WWE for him to be Keith Lee’s manager had he stayed in the company. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources within WWE confirmed that WWE officials nor their creative team had told Cole of their potential plans for his main roster call-up had he signed a new deal with the company.
• During a recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast, actor Stephen Amell revealed that he will be in attendance at AEW’s Grand Slam Dynamite show this Wednesday in Queens, New York.
• As noted before, AEW is currently considering plans to hold a major match between Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker somewhere in early 2022. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that when asked about the rumored plans for a stipulation for the match, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated he had zero interest in doing a hair vs. hair stip for the match.
• AEW reportedly had an attendance of 200 for their September 11th Dark tapings in Orlando, FL and 13,190 (11,500) for their September 15th Dynamite show in Newark, NJ, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 18,347 tickets for their September 22nd Dynamite Grand Slam show at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY and around 5,800 tickets for their November 24th Dynamite show in Chicago, IL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, Tony Khan stated that most of AEW’s roster has been vaccinated for the coronavirus and he currently has not required vaccinations to be mandatory for talent in order for them to be allowed to continue working for the company. Khan stated “most of the roster has gotten (vaccinated) and we have encouraged people to do so. I haven’t put in mandatory, but I’ve also strongly encouraged and put in protocols to encourage everyone to do so because it’s much easier for the vaccinated folks to get through the day and interact outside of the ring. They just have to go through less rigorous procedures and testing. We’ve definitely encouraged everyone to do it. Most of our people are.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Indies & Other Wrestling

• Game Changer Wrestling announced that their next Bloodsport event, titled Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 7, will be taking place on October 22nd in Los Angeles, California.
• GCW also announced a new match for the card of their War Is Ready event on October 23rd in Los Angeles, California. This will be a singles match of Nick Gage vs. Minoru Suzuki.
• GCW also announced a new match for the card of their The Aftermath event on October 10th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This will be a singles match of Joey Janela vs. Minoru Suzuki.
• Fightful Select reported that AEW talent Christopher Daniels was among the outside talent brought in by Impact Wrestling for their recent set of tapings this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. Other indies talent who appeared reportedly included VSK, Masha Slamovich, and Jamie Senegal. Former NXT talent Alex Zayne reportedly was also another talent brought in for Impact’s tapings.
• Fightful Select also reported that Impact officials had offered Masha Slamovich a contract with the company as part of her appearance for them this past weekend in Nashville.
• Fightful Select reported that despite Killer Kelly not working at Impact’s recent set of television tapings, one Impact talent spoken to stated that they believe the company still has interest towards her but they need to resolve a few legal issues before she would be able to work for the company.
• Impact Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Bound for Glory 2021 event on October 23rd in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be an Impact World Championship match of Josh Alexander vs. Christian Cage (c).
• New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Autumn Attack themed NJPW Strong tapings on September 26th in Garland, Texas. This will be a Texas Bullrope match of Juice Robinson vs. Hikuleo.
• NJPW reportedly accidentally spoiled the potential winner of this year’s G1 tournament A Block winner, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the company accidentally published a private article on their Japanese website that mentioned the winner of the Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA match on the final night of A Block matches on October 18th would be “alive to go to the G1 Climax finals.” Meltzer reported that the article was made public for a few hours before NJPW officials discovered the mistake and removed it from their website.
• Ring of Honor reportedly had an attendance of around 400 (340 paid) for their Death Before Dishonor 2021 event on September 12th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Texas-based promotion SWE Fury, which is run by Lacey Von Erich, is likely to be shutting down or potentially sold off within the near future due to serious financial-related issues.
• The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced that they will be holding an event called By Any Means Necessary on October 24th in Oak Grove, Kentucky.
• Major League Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Fightland 2021 event on October 2nd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This will be a singles match of Nicole Savoy vs. Holidead.
• VICE TV reportedly will be airing a one-hour special version of MLW’s upcoming Fightland 2021 event on their network on October 7th at 10PM EST, according to TheWrap.com.
• Lucha Libre AAA recently announced the full card for their Heroes Inmortales 2021 event, which takes place on October 9th in Orizaba, Mexico.