Weekend Roundup: More WWE Releases Rumored, Peacock, Wrestling Ratings Notes, Yuka Sakazaki & AEW, Juice Robinson, Indies

WWE

• As noted before, WWE released Dakota Kai this past Friday as part of a new batch of talent releases from their NXT brand. Kai recently issued a statement on Twitter thanking everyone for their support shown towards her and being far from done for her career. Kai stated “Above everything, thank you all. I am so overwhelmed at all the love and support. The DMs, txts, tweets.. you all have my heart. I love you. I am thankful for being able to meet, work and intertwine with so many beautiful people, people I looked up to, people I learned from.. I met some of my best friends over these last few years that will remain in my life forever. I don’t know what’s next for me. I chose ‘Evie’ at 17 years old. That chapter is shut.. just know this; I’m far from being done.“
• Besides Kai, Malcolm Bivens was also among those from WWE’s NXT brand who were released this past Friday. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials had considered plans at one point for Bivens to be called up to the main roster and be the potential manger for Omos on their RAW brand. WWE officials had also considered the idea of LA Knight also being a potential manager for Omos before deciding on MVP in the end.
• The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Daily Update that his sources stated that NXT’s creative team was not informed ahead of time of WWE’s plans for NXT talent releases this past week. NXT’s creative team reportedly were blindsided the most by the releases of Malcolm Bivens, Persia Pirotta, and Dexter Lumis due to all three currently being involved in active notable storylines on NXT television. In regards to Harland, Meltzer reported that his release was less of a shock from NXT’s creative team due to his recent removal from Joe Gacy’s current NXT title feud storyline with Bron Breakker.
• Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated that WWE officials are currently considering plans to potentially release more talent from their roster within the near future. Those same sources stated that they believe the ten NXT talents who were released this past Friday were likely just the first batch of a new wave of releases currently being considered for the company’s NXT and main rosters.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 6,938 (5,900 paid) for their April 22nd SmackDown show in Albany, NY, 3,456 for their April 23rd house show event in Montgomery, AL, 4,196 for their April 23rd house show event in Reading, PA, 2,784 for their April 24th house show event in Augusta, GA, 3,586 for their April 24th house show event in Binghamton, NY, 5,736 (4,700 paid) for their April 25th RAW show in Knoxville, TN, and 5,000 for their April 28th house show event in Newcastle, England, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 3,247 tickets for their May 1st house show event in Fairfax, VA, 4,567 tickets for their May 2nd RAW show in Greensboro, NC, 5,348 tickets for their May 6th SmackDown show in Long Island, NY, 7,081 tickets for their May 8th WrestleMania Backlash 2022 event in Providence, RI, 4,245 tickets for their May 13th SmackDown show in Wilkes-Barre, PA, 1,847 tickets for their May 14th house show event in Florence, SC, 4,269 tickets for their May 16th RAW show in Norfolk,VA, 4,978 tickets for their May 20th SmackDown show in Grand Rapids, MI, 2,364 tickets for their May 21st house show event in Rockford, IL, 3,391 for their May 21st house show event in Canton, OH, 2,355 tickets for their May 22nd house show event in Fort Wayne, IN, 1,843 tickets for their May 22nd house show event in Cedar Rapids, IA, 3,775 tickets for their May 23rd RAW show in Evansville, IN, 3,698 tickets for their 27th SmackDown show in Little Rock, AR, 3,467 tickets for their June 3rd SmackDown show in Columbus, OH, 9,130 tickets for their June 5th Hell in a Cell 2022 event in Chicago, Il, 16,826 tickets for their July 2nd Money in the Bank 2022 event in Las Vegas, NV, and 20,140 tickets for their July 30th SummerSlam 2022 event in Nashville, TN as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE officials reportedly recently held talks over the idea for their NXT brand to leave their Performance Center and return to Full Sail University for television tapings and events at some point in the future, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that WWE officials are currently considering plans to hold this year’s NXT In Your House special this June on USA Network and a NXT special this July on Peacock. These same sources also stated that this upcoming NXT special in July is currently not planned to take place during SummerSlam 2022 weekend.
• As noted before, Becky Lynch recently criticized AEW over their poor handling of their Women’s Division compared to WWE. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that one of Lynch’s and others criticisms of AEW not giving enough television time for their Women’s division compared to WWE’s main roster shows is not true at least for this current year. Meltzer reported that based on percentages, AEW Rampage currently averages around 10.8% of their weekly show time in 2022 on women’s matches, AEW Dynamite currently averages around 6.6%, WWE SmackDown currently averages around 6.3%, and WWE RAW currently averages around 4.8%. Meltzer also reported that these numbers only counts women’s matches and not mixed or inter-gender matches but believes that this would not change the percentages that much for RAW. In regards to women’s matches main eventing television shows so far in 2022, Meltzer reported that the current tally is 5 for AEW and 3 for WWE.
• Comcast released their fiscal first quarter 2022 report last week revealing that NBC’s Peacock streaming service saw a gain of 4 million subscribers for the fiscal quarter for a total of 28 million active account with around 13 million being active paid accounts. In regards to revenues, Peacock was stated to have generated $472 million in revenues for the fiscal quarter but posted a net loss of $456 million in total profits for the fiscal quarter.
• As noted before, Odyssey Jones has been out of action for WWE’s NXT brand since this past January due to him suffering a ruptured patellar tendon knee injury. During a recent interview with the Wrestling The Rap Game podcast, Jones provided an update on the status of his current knee injury and rehab. Jones stated “I went for an up and over and went up, but didn’t go over. Went up and straight down. I was being…I could have worked smarter. I didn’t work smart enough. That’s my learning curve. God willing, if I get another opportunity to get back out there and do it again, I know for a fact that I’ll do it better. If that opportunity comes, I’m hoping. I’m excited for the return, but I try not to think about it too much. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel and a little bit out of reach. I’d rather be where my ass is and focus on things. I’m already walking, braced up, no crutch. Six weeks post-op, seven weeks from the injury.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported that NXT averaged 620,333 total viewers per show this past February and March, which was down compared to the same period last year of 658,556 viewers. RAW reportedly averaged 1,800,167 total viewers per show this past February and March, which was down compared to the same period last year of 1,833,667 viewers. SmackDown reportedly averaged 2,185,375 total viewers, which was up compared to the same period last year of 2,164,500.
• In regards to demographic viewership ratings breakdowns, Meltzer reported that NXT was down 45% in Teenagers, mostly even in Over 50, down 0.9% in Males 18-34, down 12.7% in Females 18-34, up 1% in Males 35-49, and down 31.5% in Females 35-49 compared to the same period last year. RAW reportedly was down 22% in Teenagers, up 4.9% in Over 50, up 10.9% in Males 18-34, down 11.1% in Females 18-34, down 13.3% in Males 35-49, and down 8.7% in Females 35-49 compared to the same period last year. SmackDown reportedly was down 1% in Males 18-34, up 0.4% in Females 18-34, down 14.1% in Males 35-49, and down 5% in Females 35-49 compared to the same period last year.
• In regards to male/female viewership split for shows, Meltzer reported that NXT averaged 65.9% in favor of males per show compared to the same period last year of 58.7% in favor of males. RAW reportedly averaged 65% in favor of males per show compared to the same period last year of 64.3% in favor of males. SmackDown reportedly averaged 56.3% in favor of males per show compared to the same period last year of 58.7% in favor of males.

AEW

• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW Dynamite averaged 987,888 total viewers per show this past February and March, which was up compared to the same period last year of 795,625. In regards to demographic viewership ratings breakdowns, AEW was up 21.2% in Teenagers and up 33.3% in Over 50 compared to the same period last year. In regards to key demographic viewership groups, AEW was up 51.5% in Males 18-34, up 62.6% in Females 18-34, up 9.3% in Males 35-49, and up 10.1% in Females 35-49 compared to the same period last year. In regards to male/female viewership split for shows, Meltzer reported that AEW averaged 69.4% in favor of males per show compared to the same period last year of 69.7% in favor of males.
• During a recent interview with Lucha Libre Online, The Young Bucks’ Matt and Nick Jackson gave their thoughts about the differences between New Japan Pro Wrestling and Lucha Libre AAA’s level of trust in AEW when AEW started. Matt Jackson stated “You know what’s crazy is we told New Japan day one, ‘Hey, we’re doing this thing, come hang out with us. Come work with us. We’d still love to do your shows.’ They kind of kayfabed us, kind of big-leagued us a little bit in the beginning. They were waiting until that entire dinner table was completely set, then ‘Oh wait, now let’s go.’ So it’s just funny when you see — and all the WWF guys that joined AEW now too, they didn’t want to join AEW at first because they were like, ‘I don’t know if this is real. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We remember who took the leap with us in the very beginning, day one. It was us who set the dinner table, so it’s funny now that New Japan, all these WWE guys, they all want to be a part of this thing that we created.” Nick Jackson responded stating “You know who trusted us was AAA. Since day one.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Fuego Del Sol stated on Twitter that he recently suffered a serious mouth infection requiring hospitalization this past Saturday.
• As noted before, Top Flight’s Darius Martin recently suffered a leg injury this past April. Martin recently provided an injury update on Twitter revealing that he is actually currently dealing with multiple injuries including neck and arm-related injuries.
• As noted before, Japanese wrestler Shinjiro Otani suffered a serious spinal-related injury at Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s event this past April in Tokyo, Japan. William Regal recently announced on Twitter that he is currently donating all proceeds generated from sales at his Pro Wrestling Tees shop to Otani to help financially assist his medical costs. Regal stated “I don’t do this normally publicly but I’m trying to help a old dear friend of mine, Shinjiro Otani. A little part of that is that any of my tshirts under my account at @PWTees will be donated to his care. Thank you.“
• Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced that Yuka Sakazaki will be making her return to AEW very soon following a request from AEW for her to work at their upcoming shows this month. It was also announced that as a result, they have pulled Sakazaki from the card of their upcoming event on May 5th in Osaka, Japan. (English translation via Fightful.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Sammy Guevara suffered a neck and back injury during his TNT Championship Ladder match against Scoprio Sky during this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Meltzer reported that Guevara suffered the injuries following his botched 630 splash from a ladder where he mistimed the landing and location resulting in Sky being unable to safely catch his fall. This reportedly was the reason why Sky stalled for time during the split-screen break following the spot, which was left as an entirely black screen during the West Coast replay feed of the show. While at the time of the report, the severity of Guevara’s injury was not known, he was able to work for Lucha Libre AAA at their Triplemania XXX: Monterrey event on Saturday, albeit in a very reduced role, and won the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship with Tay Conti.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 6,100 (5,900 paid) for their April 27th Dynamite show in Philadelphia, PA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 6,247 tickets for their May 11th Dynamite show in Long Island, NY, 3,655 tickets for their May 18th Dynamite show in Houston, TX, 4,413 tickets for their May 25th Dynamite show in Las Vegas, 4.462 tickets for their May 27th Rampage show in Las Vegas, 13,200 tickets for their May 29th Double or Nothing 2022 event in Las Vegas, NV, 13,156 tickets for their June 1st Dynamite show in Inglewood, 7,303 tickets for their June 3rd Rampage show in Ontario, CA, 3,622 tickets for their June 8th Dynamite show in Independence, MO, 3,257 tickets for their June 15th Dynamite show in St. Louis, MO, 3,756 tickets for their June 22nd Dynamite show in Milwaukee, WI, and 9,074 tickets for their June 29th Dynamite show in Detroit, MI as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with the Superstar Crossover podcast, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about the very polarizing reactions Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti have been generated from AEW crowds in recent weeks. Khan stated “I think Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti have created a very polarizing reaction. They were red hot as babyfaces both of them separately, I believe. I think Sammy was a great, young babyface coming off some really big wins. He is a great TNT Champion and Tay Conti is a great wrestler who has improved so much and, in fact, she was voted The Most Improved Wrestler of the Year award last year in the Observer Awards, voted by the fans. She also had so many exciting matches coming so cool close to winning the championship on pay-per-view against Dr. Britt Baker, then great matches with Jade Cargill, and a huge emotional win in the Street Fight teaming with Anna Jay against Penelope Ford and The Bunny. So, I would like to you know, say that they both have come so far individually but then together, they have really created this polarizing reaction. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen when they’re together and fans don’t like them. I think it’s interesting.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso reported that his sources stated that top New Japan Pro Wrestling officials were made well aware beforehand of the famous online promo Tony Khan gave directed towards WWE and WWE Preisdent Nick Khan last year over the rumors of WWE being in talks with NJPW for a potential partnership deal. Barrasso reported that NJPW officials had encouraged Khan to do the promo since their priority was to maintain their current partnership with AEW due to the trust that had been forged instead of dropping it for WWE.
• During a recent interview with The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, Wheeler Yuta gave his thoughts about him recently joining the Blackpool Combat Club and Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley helping improve his promo skills in AEW. Yuta stated “It’s absolutely a part of my game that I have been working on, and been trying to improve, and they’ve been very helpful with a lot of that. It’s really cool to be able to stand there and do interviews with them. On Dynamite, we did one before the match with The Gunn Club that aired that week on Rampage, and just being able to kind of discuss with them how they approach just doing interviews was mind-blowing to me. They’ll stand in front of mirrors and work on gestures, and things like that. Things that I never thought of, there’s drills for that, just like there’s drills for being in the ring. Being able to stand by them and learn from example watching them, and also having my little moments where I can interject my own verbiage, or my own personality has been really helpful.” (Transcript h/t: WrestlingInc.com)
• Fightful Select reported that former Impact Wrestling talent Jake Something was among the talents invited by AEW to work at today’s set of AEW Dark tapings at the Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It was reported that their sources stated that AEW officials had plans in place for Something to work at this weekend’s tapings since this past mid-April.

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Pro Wrestling NOAH recently announced that Rob Van Dam will be making an appearance for the company at their Cyberfight Festival 2022 event on June 12th in Saitama, Japan.
• Major League Wrestling announced that Microman will be making an appearance for the company at their Kings of Colosseum 2022 event on May 13th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• The Briscoes’ Mark and Jay Briscoe recently announced that they have pulled out of their scheduled bookings this weekend for Game Changer Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Guerilla due to a family-related medical emergency involving Mark Briscoe’s pregnant wife recently suffered complications with her pregnancy.
• Saturday’s Triplemania XXX: Monterrey event for Lucha Libre AAA was plagued by production-related issues through its broadcast on FITE TV. Lucha Blog reported that the reason why Spanish commentary was very audible in the English feed of the show was due to AAA officials had the Spanish commentary being played over the venue’s audio system which caused it to bleed into the English language feed. It was also reported that this was the reason why the crowd audio throughout the show was a lot quieter than in person.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestling Dontaku 2022 event earlier today featured the surprise appearance of Juice Robinson. Following Hiroshi Tanahashi’s victory against Tomohiro Ishii to be crowned the new IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, Chase Owens and a mystery masked man attacked Tanahashi. This mystery person was revealed to be Robinson and as the newest member of Bullet Club’s stable.
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 683 for their April 22nd Golden Fight Series event in Osaka, 630 for their April 23rd Golden Fight Series event in Ehime, 787 for their April 24th Golden Fight Series event in Kochi, 1,118 for their April 25th Golden Fight Series event in Hiroshima, 749 for their April 27th Golden Fight Series event in Hiroshima, and 762 for their Golden Fight Series event in Yamaguchi, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, NJPW talent Kazuchika Okada gave his thoughts about if he is currently interested in the idea of facing off against Kenny Omega in a match at AEW and NJPW’s upcoming Forbidden Door event next month. Okada stated “Is there still unfinished business there? I’ve already wrestled a lot of great opponents. It was an honor for me last month to team with Tatsumi Fujinami and wrestle against a legend like Yoshiaki Fujiwara. There are a lot of truly great professional wrestlers out there and a lot of possible dream matches. If running me and Kenny back really is a dream match, well then that’s definitely a direction to take.” Okada also gave his thoughts about the idea of facing off against either CM Punk or Bryan Danielson at the event. Okada stated “Forbidden Door with AEW has just been announced, and all the fans are predicting various matches. I believe the day will come when I wrestle CM Punk and Bryan Danielson.“
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that there have been no new developments regarding the possibility of Stardom talent working at AEW and NJPW’s upcoming Forbidden Door event this June in Chicago, Illinois. These same sources stated that Stardom officials are currently interested in booking AEW talent for their December 30th event in Tokyo but no talks have yet been held between the two companies. Meltzer reported that the current belief from Bushiroad officials is that should Stardom get AEW talent for their big show at the end of this year, that could help boost interest and ticket sales from fans flying into Japan ahead of NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event that takes place the following week.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that talks between The Good Brothers’ Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows and Impact officials regarding a potential new contract recently hit an impasse. Meltzer reported that the main issue is both sides are still far apart on the terms for a new deal.
• Dave Meltzer also reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Impact officials recently cut back on the big pay raise promised to Willie Mack for his contract in 2023 and also the length of his current contract as well. The current status of Mack’s contract with Impact reportedly is currently not known.
• During a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Impact Wrestling announcer Tom Hannifan gave his thoughts about the differences in commentary work between WWE and Impact. Hannifan stated “I think one of the first tapings I did, I kept saying the word ‘Superstar.’ You guys were like, ‘You don’t have to say that, man. You can say wrestler. You can say whatever you want.’ Even Scott D’Amore being like, ‘You can say belt. You can say that for the title.’ It’s just a lot of things that I’ve had to – habits that, yeah, that’s the way WWE likes to do things, so it’s like, okay, I had to do that for nine years and I’m unlearning a lot of things. All of you at IMPACT Wrestling have been extremely patient with me … Tommy [Dreamer] hit on it a little bit in terms of just certain things in terms of verbiage that are marketing tools that WWE likes to use in terms of how they brand their product, their stars. So, obviously, moving on from those things because I’m no longer beholden to them. I’d say the biggest thing is that in IMPACT I’m dealing with AAA stories, New Japan stories, Ring of Honor stories, IMPACT stories, WWE stories, AEW stories. It can be mind-boggling at certain times. People with moves that they haven’t used in forever but they brought it up in this promotion. Eddie Edwards just went back to using the Die Hard Driver from back in the day in Ring of Honor. So there’s little things here and there that within WWE, and I think it really drives some fans nuts that, ‘Why aren’t you acknowledging this thing in NXT, and now the guy is on the main roster.’ Well, there’s a simplicity in that for a lot of the viewers that are new and don’t know a certain talent, so you understand it, you might not agree with it. But for me in IMPACT, I can talk about anything. We’re encouraged to talk about anything because we’re bringing all these stories forward. So it requires Rehwoldt and I on a regular basis to chat, get with talent, get with agents, get with people like Dreamer to kind of help us out and be like, ‘Hey, we can’t watch everything, so fill us in on this story. How do we bring this forward? How do we be true to this story, this character, this championship, etc., and not insult the viewer in any way because we know we have a nice die-hard audience and we want to respect that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 138 for their April 23rd Champion Carnival 2022 event in Chiba and 503 for their April 24th Champion Carnival 2022 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with 1059 The Rock radio station, National Wrestling Alliance Billy Corgan revealed that the NWA is currently working on plans to bring back another past championship belt and introduce a new Women’s TV title in the future. Corgan stated “We brought back this historic belt with a 225 (pound) weight limit, which is interesting because it’s a tougher cruiserweight style than what is currently out there. We’re talking about bringing back the USA Tag belts and maybe, for the first time, a Women’s Television Title” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, WWE released Bo Dallas in April of 2021. Prior to his release, Dallas last wrestled in a match in November of 2019. During a recent Father and Son Q&A event for FTLOW 2022, Dallas revealed that he is currently planning to resume his wrestling career within the next two to three months. Dallas stated “I’m the furthest from done with wrestling that you can possibly be. I spent the past year diving into a bunch of different ventures outside of wrestling, but wrestling has never left my heart, not for one second. I just wanted to get a couple of things done before I dive back into something I really cared about. Now that I’ve got everything kind of wrapped up and working on, within the next two to three months, you’ll see me back in the ring somewhere very soon. The love of wrestling has never left me. I’ve always known I was coming back to it soon, but I just needed to get other stuff done. I’ll be back in the ring really really soon, I promise.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)