Weekend Roundup: WWE Royal Rumble 2022 News, Creed Bros, Peacock Update, AEW TBS Ratings, Riho Injury, MLW, Indies

WWE

• Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2022 event featured the annual Men’s Royal Rumble match and Kofi Kingston’s traditional elimination save spot. This year’s spot involved Kingston being pushed off of the top rope and attempted to land on the top of the barricade but Kingston fell short instead. The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported on Twitter that his sources stated that Kingston’s elimination was indeed an actual botch and not something that was planned as a surprise. Kingston reportedly was originally planned to last longer in the match and had several spots planned to be done with Big E.
• Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2022 event also featured Johnny Knoxville competing in the Men’s Royal Rumble match as a guest entrant. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Knoxville’s current involvement with WWE ended after last night’s event. Johnson reported that WWE officials originally had plans for him to appear at this past Friday’s episode of SmackDown in Kansas City but weather related travel issues caused those plans to be scrapped. Johnson also reported that the general feeling within WWE was one of respect for Knoxville due to him being very enjoyable to work with backstage and willing to do more appearances than originally planned to help out the company.
• As noted before, WWE’s WrestleMania 38 sign caught on fire following Ronda Rousey’s victory in the Women’s Royal Rumble match due to pyro-related issues. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that the WrestleMania 38 sign was involved in another fire-related incident later in the event. Similar to the end of Women’s Royal Rumble match, the sign caught on fire again following the pyro celebrations for Brock Lesnar’s victory in the Men’s Royal Rumble match.
• 2K Games recently released a new gameplay trailer for their upcoming WWE 2K22 game, which is currently scheduled to be released on March 11th.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that FOX officials recently have been pushing for WWE to do more unannounced surprise appearances for their weekly SmackDown shows. Meltzer reported that this was the reason behind Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff’s recent unannounced appearances.
• As noted before, Sami Zayn recently signed a new contract with WWE to stay in the company for the foreseeable future. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Zayn had signed a new deal with the company around the same time as Kevin Owens did for his new deal. Unlike Owens, Zayn reportedly did not consider the idea of potentially going to AEW and instead was focused on doing what was the right thing for his family and getting a great offer to stay in WWE.
• WWE reportedly has shrunk their overall office staff by around 18% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that based on data from website LinkedIn, WWE’s Marketing department was impacted the most and shrunk by around 16% compared to before the pandemic while their Operations department was impacted the least and has stayed around the same level. In regards to overall cuts, Meltzer reported that WWE’s total office staff shrunk by around 8% for 2021.
• WWE officials reportedly currently have very positive views for The Creed Brothers on their NXT brand, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that some WWE officials currently view Julius Creed in the same light as Kurt Angle in terms of how quickly he has adjusted to WWE’s style of wrestling and potential future star power. Meltzer also reported that the current feeling within WWE’s management is that both Creed Brothers could be potential WrestleMania headliners in the future. In regards to others within NXT, WWE officials reportedly also currently hold very favorable views towards Von Wagner and Xyon Quinn as potential future big stars.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 6,589 (5,500 paid) for their Jan. 21st SmackDown show in Nashville, TN, 3,251 for their Jan. 22nd house show event in Corbin, KY, 2,180 for their Jan. 23rd house show event in Huntington, WV, and 6,302 (5,500) for their Jan. 24th RAW show in Toledo, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 4,712 tickets for their Jan. 31st RAW show in Cincinnati, OH, around 3,517 tickets for their Feb. 4th SmackDown show in Oklahoma City, OK, around 2,875 tickets for their Feb. 5th house show event in Salt Lake City, UT, around 3,427 tickets for their Feb. 6th house show event in Boise, ID, around 4,007 for their Feb. 7th RAW show in Denver, CO, around 4,639 tickets for their Feb. 11th SmackDown show in New Orleans, LA, around 2,649 tickets for their Feb. 14th RAW show in Indianapolis, IN, around 3,433 tickets for their Feb. 21st RAW show in Columbia, SC, around 5,367 tickets for their Feb. 25th SmackDown show in Hersey, PA, around 2,499 tickets for their Feb. 26th house show event in Youngstown, OH, around 1,807 for their Feb. 27th house show event in Rochester, NY, around 4,510 tickets for their Feb. 28th RAW show in Columbus, OH, around 3,055 tickets for their March 4th SmackDown show in Miami, FL, and around 3,155 tickets for their March 5th house show event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE officials invited NXT talents Io Shirai, Dakota Kai, Tommaso Ciampa, and Roderick Strong for dark match tryouts prior to the start of this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Kansas City, MO. Shirai reportedly faced off against Kai in a singles match, which was won by Shirai, and Ciampa faced off against Strong in a singles match, which was won by Ciampa.
• Comcast recently released their fiscal fourth quarter 2021 and fiscal 2021 year report revealing that NBC’s Peacock streaming service had around 24 million total subscribers at the end of 2021. Comcast also revealed that Peacock posted a net loss of around $559 million for the past fiscal quarter and a net loss of around $1.7 billion for the past fiscal year. Net revenues for the service were stated to be $335 million for the past fiscal quarter and $778 million for the past fiscal year.
• The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Wednesday’s Daily Update that the on-going Randy Orton tattoo lawsuit against WWE, Take Two, and 2K Games was recently issued a new trial date of September 26th based on recent court filings.

AEW

• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW has seen an average increase of 9.9% in overall viewership, 23.2% in overall key demographic viewership, and 41.4% in 18-34 key demographic viewership for their weekly Dynamite shows since moving from TNT to their new network home of TBS earlier this month. In regards to demographic group breakdowns, AEW has had an average increase of 39.9% for their Males 18-34, 68.9% for their Females 18-34, 8.1% for their Males 35-49, and 22% for their Females 35-49 groups for their weekly shows on TBS. In regards to other demographic groups, AEW’s Teenagers group has had an average increase of 63.8% while their over 50 group had had an average decrease of 3.4%.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 3,000 (2,800 paid) for their Jan. 21st Rampage show in Washington, DC and 6,100 (5,900) paid for their January 26th Dynamite Beach Break 2022 show in Cleveland, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 4,910 tickets for their Feb. 2nd Dynamite show in Chicago, IL, around 4,324 tickets for their Feb. 9th Dynamite show in Atlantic City, NJ, around 3,130 tickets for their Feb. 16th Dynamite show in Nashville, TN, around 4,475 tickets for their Feb. 23rd Dynamite show in Bridgeport, CT, around 1,121 tickets for their March 2nd Dynamite show in Jacksonville, around 2,346 tickets for their March 4th Rampage show in Orlando, around 6,866 for their March 6th Revolution 2022 event in Orlando, and around 1,621 tickets for their March 9th Dynamite show in Estero, FL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Brian Pillman Jr. recently suffered a concussion injury around this past week or so.
• Riho revealed on Twitter that she recently suffered an arm or shoulder injury but provided no other details regarding the nature nor severity of her injury.
• During a recent interview with the Grapsody Podcast, Jade Cargill revealed that Bryan Danielson has recently been providing help on her training to improve her work in the ring. Cargill stated “QT Marshall at the Nightmare Factory, he is a tremendous help. He helps me with my timing, he helps me with — because there’s a lot of dead points in between spots, obviously and that comes with reps, and being that I’ve been literally baptized by fire, he’s the one who actually sits there and talks me through things and watches my matches. I literally take something from every one of my matches. I didn’t work on the independent circuit. I didn’t go to a school for about 2-3 years to be groomed before I was on TV. When I say I was baptized by fire, I literally was. So, he’s one of my trainers that helps me to stay calm and collected in the ring … Another person that helps me out is Dustin Rhodes. He is a tremendous trainer too. Obviously, these people come from years of experience and lately, I’ve been working with Bryan Danielson, so, I’m 10 months in and I’m working with a legend. I am forever floored, I am humbled, I am grateful to work for these people that come with so much recognition and have contributed so much to the community of wrestling. So, I’m thankful, I’m ready, I have the best coaches out there. I’m 10 months in, so the sky’s the limit, baby.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Johnny Gargano’s contract with WWE expired this past December. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Gargano has been in recent contact with several people within AEW but it is currently not known if there has been any formal talks between the two sides regarding a potential contract.
• Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Bryan Danielson and one of the topics discussed included Danielson’s thoughts on the idea of forming his own stable in AEW in the future. Danielson stated “I have no immediate plans, but I think it would be cool, and I think it’s a good way to mentor. One of the big success stories of AEW is the mentoring of younger talent in two specific scenarios. One would be Sammy Guevara with Chris Jericho, which I think has really helped Sammy. It’s helped to develop Sammy’s personality. He started off doing one or two lines in an interview, and now he can go out there, and he’s trusted to do a whole interview. And I’d say the same about Darby Allin and Sting. That’s a different kind of relationship. But when you talk to Darby about how Sting has mentored him and helped him, those are things that are really beneficial in wrestling. That’s one of the things I would like to do. Right now, I’m on this solo quest. That’s something for more down the road.“
• AEW recently announced that they will be holding a set of Dynamite and Rampage tapings on March 30th in Columbia, South Carolina.

Indies & Other Wrestling

• WrestleCon announced that Toni Storm will be making an appearance for the company at their WrestleCon 2022 festivities from March 31st to April 2nd in Dallas, Texas.
• Terminus announced that Serena Deeb will be making an appearance for the company at their Terminus II event on February 24th in Atlanta, Georgia.
• As noted before, AEW talent Anthony Ogogo made a surprise appearance for PROGRESS Wrestling at their Chapter 127 event this past Sunday in London, England. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Saturday’s Daily Update that Ogogo’s appearance and match against Hari Singh was edited out by WWE for their uploaded version of event on the WWE Network and NBC Peacock services.
• AEW’s Evil Uno, Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, and WWE’s Xavier Woods were among the guest contributors for GiantBomb.com’s Top 10 Games of 2021 lists series.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling recently teased on Twitter that they will be making an announcement this week regarding them holding an event at Madison Square Garden later this year.
• Major League Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 908 for their Blood & Thunder event on January 21st in Dallas, Texas, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that MLW officials are currently interested in signing Killer Kross, former Karrion Kross in WWE, to an official contract with the company.
• Dave Meltzer also reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that MLW recently hired David Marquez to be the new lead director for their weekly television shows.
• Game Changer Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 2,025 for their The WRLD on GCW 2022 event on January 23rd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with the Battleground Podcast, Moose stated that he feels Impact Wrestling should consider the idea of running their events at larger capacity venues within the near future. Moose stated “The biggest challenge…if you watch our shows, they are just as good, if not better than that of AEW and WWE. The biggest challenge for us, if I was running the company, I would try to do is expand our following in the sense of getting bigger venues and seeing if we could draw a 5,000 seat arena, a 6,000 seat arena, and see. You never know unless you try it. Personally, and just my opinion, I’m not saying it’s fact, just see if we could expand our reach and see if we could slowly start running bigger arenas, especially for pay-per-views. Every pay-per-view we’ve had in the last two or three years since new management and Scott D’Amore took over, we’ve sold out. Instead of selling out a 1,200 seat building, can we sell out a 2,000 seat building? A 2,500 seat building? Just slowly increasing our outreach.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During a recent interview with Putting You Over Twitch show, Hakim Zane, former Rohit Raju in Impact, gave his thoughts on his decision to leave Impact Wrestling earlier this month. Zane stated “Yeah, and that’s why, you know, I’m not at IMPACT right now because I knew my worth and I love IMPACT. I would never talk ill of them. I know people were hitting me up afterwards, I said I was a free agent. They’re like, ‘What happened? What happened?’ And I don’t wanna anything to be clickbait or anything like that because I know the door is always open for me to go back but, my contract was up, I felt like I was worth this, they said no. What they offered me, I felt was very low and I felt like I had proven myself and doubled my value there and I said, ‘I’m not gonna do it for anything less than this.’ They said no, we went separate ways and now I’m betting on myself and we’ll see what happens. I loved my time at IMPACT. I love everybody there, I miss those guys and it was just something, like you were saying, I bet on myself and I just felt I was worth more than what they were trying to offer me and I feel like — wrestling doesn’t owe you anything, they don’t owe me anything but I did feel like I earned what I wanted because anything they ever put me in, I made it work and I made it something, you know what I mean? I made it more entertaining than probably what it could have been if they put somebody else in that role and I felt like I was valuable there but, you can’t make other people see your value so, you can only step away, walk away, try to, you know, get your value elsewhere.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)