Various: John Cena on AEW as Competition to WWE, Saturday’s NJPW Strong Card, Trademarks, Indies

WWE

Jan 14, 2022

John Cena Comments on If He Watches AEW & AEW’s Status as Competition for WWE

A recent episode of the Pardon My Take podcast had John Cena as the guest. One of the topics discussed included if Cena has watched AEW and his thoughts about AEW being competition for WWE.

“I haven’t watched AEW. Do I think competition is good? I think competition is great. There is internal competition in WWE with performers wanting to be champion or performers wanting to be headliners. Whenever there is more buzz around the industry, it’s good for the industry. It forces all of us to be at our best because if you’re not, your segment is not good or your performance is not good, you may not have a future with the company and repeated bad segments from the group means the company isn’t going to be good, which means the competition must succeed. Competition brings out the best in us. For all time, going out there as a performer, I wanted to to the best I could possibly do and set the tone for wanting to be the best show between Raw and SmackDown and certainly have eyes on the segments I was on. I was fueled by a sense of internal competition. Not knowing what it’s like now to be in a market with a lot of different options, there are a lot of places to watch sports entertainment. That would only, for me, fuel me even more to be the best I can be.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Full Card for Saturday’s Episode of NJPW Strong

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced the full card for this Saturday’s Nemesis Night 2 themed episode of NJPW Strong, which airs on New Japan World starting at 8PM EST.

Kevin Knight & Karl Fredericks vs. BATEMAN & Misterioso
Brody King vs. Dave Dutra
JONAH vs. David Finlay

WWE & Billy Gunn File New Trademarks

WWE and Billy Gunn recently filed several new trademarks to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A trademark for “As Close As It Gets” was filed by WWE on January 6th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

A trademark for “New Age Outlaws” was filed by Billy Gunn on January 7th for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

WrestleCon recently announced that New Japan Pro Wrestling will be holding a new NJPW Strong themed event on April 1st in Dallas, Texas as part of this year’s WrestleCon set of indie events and festivities in the city.

Terminus recently announced that they have pulled Alex Coughlin off the card of their debut event on January 16th in Atlanta, Georgia due to Coughlin recently suffering an injury. The company also announced that Mike Bennett will be Coughlin’s replacement for his scheduled match against Moose at the event.

Terminus also recently announced on Twitter the full list of official rules for matches held in their promotion.

Impact Wrestling recently announced that Jay White and Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) will be making appearances for the company at their next set of Impact! television tapings on January 21-22 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre recently announced that they have suspended running events in Mexico for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19 pandemic related issues in the country.

All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Shotaro Ashino, Rising HAYATO, Yuma Aoyagi, and Masanobu Fuchi all recently tested positive for COVID-19. (English translation via PostWrestling.com)

Major League Wrestling recently announced three new matches for the card of their Blood & Thunder event on January 21st in Dallas, Texas:

El Dragon, Aramis, & mystery partner vs. Arez, Gino Medina, and Mini Abismo Negro
MLW World Middleweight Championship – Myron Reed vs. mystery opponent vs. Tajiri (c)
MLW World Middleweight Championship Eliminator match – TJP vs. Matt Cross

The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced a new match for the card of their Powerrr Trip event on February 12th in Oak Grove, Kentucky: