Weekend Roundup: Bryan Danielson & WWE, All Out Notes, Bray Wyatt, Indies

AEW

Steve C.

Sep 12, 2021

WWE

Prior to his decision to sign with AEW, Vince McMahon reportedly gave permission for Daniel Bryan to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling for their G1 Climax tournament, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this was part of WWE’s attempt at getting NJPW officials to sign an exclusive partnership with them which was dropped in the end. Meltzer reported that WWE and AEW had offered around the same amount of money and ability to work outside events but WWE’s inability to lock down a partnership with NJPW played a major role in Bryan’s decision to leave for AEW. WWE’s monetary offer to Bryan reportedly had included one of the largest ever amount of guaranteed money in company history.
As noted before, WWE’s television partners were upset with the company over their lack of effort to sign both CM Punk and Daniel Bryan away from AEW. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that after being told by WWE officials that Punk was asking for too much money for a potential deal, FOX was willing to financially help the company in order to secure the deal. WWE officials reportedly rejected FOX’s offer stating that there were other reasons for their refusal to sign Punk, including past attitude issues.
WWE officials reportedly are currently considering long term plans for Gabe Steveson to wrestle against Brock Lesnar at a WrestleMania event in the future, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this match would act as a “passing of the torch” type moment star rub for Steveson.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 6,724 (5,500 paid) for their September 3rd SmackDown show in Jacksonville, FL and 13,132 (10,600 paid) for their September 10th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 4,717 tickets for their September 12h house show event in Albany, NY, around 7,536 tickets for their September 13th RAW show in Boston, MA, and around 5,500 tickets for their September 26th Extreme Rules event in Columbus, OH as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources within WWE stated that the reason why WWE recently shut down their Japan and United Kingdom branches was due to their recent restructuring of their NXT developmental system and plans. Meltzer reported that his sources also reported that WWE’s decision to shut down their UK office was not due to anything related to their NXT UK brand nor their issues at not being able to sign a television deal for the brand in the region. One source stated “both Japan and UK (holdings company shutting down) don’t have any bearing on company initiatives or anything like that,. Just procedural filings, etc. as I understand it.”
Doudrop announced on Twitter that she recently got married. Doudrop also shared several photos that were taken at her marriage.
WWE filed trademarks for “Eat, Sleep, Conquer, Repeat” for merchandise-related reasons on September 8th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. WWE also filed a trademark for “WWE Evil” on the same date for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.
Fightful Select reported that with the exception of the cut segments, there was a lot of optimism backstage following this past Friday’s SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden, according to their sources. One source stated that WWE’s creative team was very happy and felt that they are capable of producing shows of a similar quality on a regular basis but their main problem is “getting through to those of influence that this is the type of event that the audience wants to see regularly.”
PWInsider reported that fans in attendance during WWE’s SmackDown show this past Friday at Madison Square Garden had soundly booed WWE’s ad for NXT that aired in the venue promoting the start of a new era for the NXT brand this Tuesday.
Cultaholic held a recent interview with Finn Balor and one of the topics discussed included Balor being in favor of the “Forbidden Door” concept in wrestling. Balor stated “I love the idea of the Forbidden Door. I feel if I have the opportunity to wrestle in Japan or Mexico or Europe, for whatever promotion, I’d love the opportunity to be able to do it. Obviously, contractually with WWE, they take care of all my dates and bookings and travel and organize everything. If somehow we could set up a relationship with WWE and these other brands touring around the world, I would love to challenge myself from different performers from different regions.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the start date for the trial involving Randy Orton’s tattoo artist’s lawsuit against WWE, Take-Two, and 2K Games has been delayed from its originally scheduled date of September 20th to a date to be determined in the future due to coronavirus pandemic-related issues.
GamersOnline.com reported that GM Mode is currently planned to be making its return for WWE 2K22 based on their sources within 2K Games. This will be the first time a WWE video game will featured GM Mode since WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008.
Fightful Select reported that several WWE officials recently had significant backstage heat over issues with their handling of NXT contracts in regards to the recent confusions over the expiration dates of several contracts. It was reported that the source of the confusion originated over talent transitioning from NXT deals to main roster deals. It was reported that this confusion was how Malakai Black’s main roster contract contained a 30-days non-compete clause when it should have been the standard 90 days instead and Adam Cole’s NXT contract expired sooner than assumed.
Netflix recently announced that a new WWE-based interactive horror film featuring the Undertaker and New Day, titled Escape The Undertaker, will be premiering on their streaming service on October 5th.

AEW

As noted before, AEW recently signed Lee Moriarty to an official contract with the company. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that despite Moriarty recently working for Major League Wrestling, he wasn’t signed to a contract with them and was still a free agent. Johnson also reported that the reason why Moriarty will be working at Ring of Honor’s Death By Dishonor 2021 event tonight is simply due to him finishing up his commitments with the company.
Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio show that Bryan Danielson’s contract with AEW is for three years in length.
AEW reportedly is currently estimated to have generated over 205,000 pay-per-view buys for their All Out 2021 event on September 5th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the current estimates for the streaming buys is around double of what last year’s All Out event generated, which did 115,000 total buys. In regards to breakdowns, traditional cable PPV buys are estimated to be around 70,000, Bleacher Report streaming buys at around 70,000, and international buys at around 50,000. Meltzer also reported that AEW is currently expected to gain an additional 10-15% for All Out 2021’s buy rate once the late purchases numbers are added in. Meltzer reported that should All Out 2021 end up generating between 200,000 to 220,000 buys, it would be the highest for a non-WWE PPV event since WCW’s 1999 Spring Stampede event.
In terms of revenues, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that All Out 2021 is currently estimated to have generated around $9.85 million in overall PPV revenues and around $4.96 million in gross PPV revenues. Meltzer reported that this would be the highest for a non-WWE PPV event since WCW’s 1999 Super Brawl event.
All Out 2021 also reportedly drew an attendance of 10,164 (9,000 paid) for a live gate revenue of around $700,000, over 500,000 searches on Google for the night and around 4% higher than what WWE’s SummerSlam 2021 event did for each night of their two-day event, and around $120,000 in revenues for the event’s airing in theaters, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why “The Final Countdown” was not used for Bryan Danielson’s AEW debut at All Out 2021 was due to music band Europe was asking for way more money than Tony Khan was willing to pay for the licensing rights to use the song.
Fightful Select reported that Alex Abrahantes was the main person responsible for the idea and putting together the Lucha Bros live musical entrance at AEW’s All Out 2021 event.
AEW reportedly is currently rumored to be holding this year’s Full Gear event somewhere within Minneapolis or St. Paul, Minnesota, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that due to AEW pushing back the date of this year’s Full Gear event to November 13th, Jon Moxley likely will not be able to make his scheduled appearance for NJPW’s Battle of the Valley event in San Jose, California.
As noted before, AEW is currently working on plans for a major AEW Women’s title match between Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa to take place in early 2022. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that some of the ideas being considered includes a cage match and a hair vs. hair match.
AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 6,035 for their September 3rd Rampage show in Chicago, IL and 6,800 (6,500 paid) for their September 10th Rampage show in Cincinnati, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 11,759 tickets for their September 15th Dynamite show in Newark, NJ, around 18,023 tickets for their September 2nd Grand Slam Dynamite show at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, NY, around 4,914 tickets for their October 6th Dynamite show in Philadelphia, PA, and around 5,500 for their December 9th Dynamite show in Long Island, NY as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW officials currently are planning to hold AEW Dark tapings at their new studio venue at the Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida at least once a month, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that for weeks where Rampage is taped live, Dark will be taped at the same venue instead of its studio location.
Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Ruby Soho and one of the topics discussed included her reasons for signing with AEW. Soho stated “Choosing AEW wasn’t a difficult decision. I had been a fan of AEW long before I left WWE. I could sense there was something very special and very different about this company. Now that I’m here, I am beginning to realize it was the home I have always been searching for. This is where I belong, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to be here.”

Indies & Other Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 2,095 for their September 4th Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 at MetLife Dome event and 2,780 for their September 5th Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 at MelIfe Dome event in Saitama, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
A large earthquake reportedly interupted Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre’s event on September 7th in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This earthquake reportedly was registered as a 7.0 but its epicenter was discovered to have been located near Acapulco, which is around 2300 miles away from Mexico City. This earthquake occurred during the start of the Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, & Stuka Jr. vs. Hechicero, Luciferno, & Mephisto and caused CMLL’s event to be delayed for around 5 minutes.
Lucha Libre AAA recently announced a new match for the card of their Heroes Inmortales 2021 event on October 9th in Orizaba, Mexico. This will be an AAA World Tag Team Championship match of Laredo Kid & El Hijo del Vikingo vs. The Lucha Brothers (c).
All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Koji Iwamoto recently tested positive for COVID-19 and as a result he has been pulled from their upcoming events as a health safety measure. AJPW also announced that Shuji Ishikawa and Ryuki Honda are currently under quarantine due to both being in recent contact with Iwamoto.
Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 298 for their September 4th 5Star Grand Prix 2021 Night 9 event and 471 for their September 6th 5Star Grand Prix 2021 Night 10 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Game Changer Wrestling reportedly had an attendance of 1,450 for their Art of War Games event on September 4th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the government of New Zealand recently eased up on their COVID-19 restrictions for public events and placed within the city of Auckland. Meltzer reported that the current restrictions and lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic in Australia for the cities of Sidney and Melbourne are currently expected to remain in place until at least this December.
Dave Meltzer also reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Major League Wrestling recently hit a snag with their talks for a new streaming deal for their content. This deal was originally planned to replace the deal they had with YouTube and the reason why they were pulling their content off of the service.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Windham Rotunda, former Bray Wyatt in WWE, is currently expected to sign with either Impact Wrestling or AEW. Meltzer reported that AEW officials currently have plans for Rotunda to debut at their September 20th Dynamite show in Rochester, New York should he sign with them soon.
Post Wrestling held a recent interview with Rok-C and once of the topics discussed included her recently signing an official contract with Ring of Honor. Rok-C stated “So honestly, when I first realized I wanted to be a wrestler, I didn’t think that I would do as much as I did before. How do I say it? WWE was kind of like my dream, you know? I mean it kind of still — I feel like everybody that’s wrestling was like, ‘Oh! WWE,’ but then I kind of, as I was going, I fell in love with the craft and I saw Ring of Honor and I saw Japan, I saw STARDOM. I saw all these different places and I was like, ‘I wanna do everything…’ I can do that, and Ring of Honor, like I said, they were so welcoming and just being there, I just knew that I was happy there and I knew that I’d be happy in the long run as well and I feel like right now, I just — I wanna do so much in Ring of Honor before I do anything else and so, yeah. I can’t wait. I can’t wait.”