Weekend Roundup: Shelton Benjamin Injury, Forbidden Door Sales Update, Kota Ibushi NJPW Update, Shinjiro Otani, Starrcast V

WWE

• Deadline.com reported that Bianca Belair and The Miz are currently scheduled to appear at NBC Universal’s upfronts and Roman Reigns and Charlotte Flair are currently scheduled to appear at FOX’s upfronts this Monday. It was also reported that NBC “has shifted the WWE to its sports division as far as sales, a move that gave it extra incentive to promote WrestleMania during last February’s Super Bowl.”
• In the same report, Deadline also held an interview with Stephanie McMahon regarding NBC’s recent decision to classify WWE as a sports property and her thoughts on the advantage WWE has over real sports leagues. McMahon stated “It’s like athletic theater. It’s the story, that’s why you care …. You’re swept up in the storylines. We can script the buzzer-beater moments, we can script the Hail Marys. We have a leg up on sports. … You may object to what we do, but you’re never going to be bored. Whenever you watch a game, it’s too cluttered. WWE is able to delver differently. Unlike pro sports leagues, WWE is structured in a way that favors streamlined dealmaking with sponsors. We own all of the IP. When brands deal with us, they just deal with us. We create something together.”
• Vince and Linda McMahon reportedly recently listed their penthouse in Stanford, Connecticut for sale with an asking price of $4.1 million, according to NewsTimes.com.
• WWE recently revealed the official poster for their upcoming Clash at the Castle featuring Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Edge, Cody Rhodes, and Becky Lynch.
• Shelton Benjamin announced on Twitter that he recently suffered an undisclosed injury and will be out of action for the foreseeable future. The nature nor severity of the injury was not stated by Benjamin.
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials recently gave their approval for several of their male talents to get a haircut. In regards to the RAW brand, AJ Styles, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes, Damien Priest, Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Miz, Randy Orton, Riddle, and Seth Rollins were given permission to get new haircuts. In regards to the SmackDown brand, Drew McIntyre, Happy Corbin, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Kofi Kingston, Madcap Moss, Paul Heyman, Ricochet, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Sheamus, and Xavier Woods were all given permission.
• As noted before, Rick Boogs has been out of action for WWE since suffering a knee injury at WWE’s WrestleMania 38 event this past April. Boogs recently provided an injury update on his YouTube channel stating “It’s been a while, fellas, so just wanted to give you an update here. There’s not much cool and exciting I can do in terms of power or horsepower, horse-strength. You know, testing limits, horse grit, things of that sort and source. I’m just doing machines at the gym, like a cookie-cutter I know, that’s all I can do. Can’t use the lower extremity. You know what I’m saying? The horse leg. I gotta let that puppy heal. But I want to give you a golden tidbit and that’s this fig bar. I stuff my fanny pack with those and I suck on those. I suck those down. I’ll eat like three of those. I’ll have one before a workout and two during the workout and post-workout. It’s 120 grams of carbs, complex and simple. Really fuel the muscles, fuel the glycogen source, glucose to the fibers. You understand what I’m saying? Talked about honey in the past, talked about carb powders, but this is another nice easy source to suck down and they fit really well in a fanny pack. The fanny pack is just my phone, the wallet, and fig bars now. Other than that, you want to see how far along I am until I can test the horsepower, it’s about PT, physical therapy. As of right now, the goal this week for PT was 85-degree knee flexion. Sticky Ricky accomplished 112 degrees of knee flexion. We’re talking about next week’s goal would have been 90, the following week 95, following week maybe a hundo, following week maybe a hundo-five. I’m crushing it, setting PRs. 112-degree knee flexion, big time PR. Also, set another PR I want you guys to check out called Motorcycle Conan.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Roman Reigns recently signed a new contract with WWE that included terms of him having a reduced workload schedule and working fewer house show events going forward. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that one source spoken to stated that reports of Reigns’ new deal including terms of him only working six pay-per-view events per year is not true. This same source also stated that Reigns very likely will work at all of WWE’s stadium and Saudi Arabia events per year instead. Meltzer reported that WWE’s current plans are for Reigns to defend his Universal title at their Money in the Bank 2022 event this July but not in a match against Drew McIntyre. Meltzer speculated that Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, or Shunsuke Nakamura would likely be the choice for Reigns’ next title feud opponent based on recent pushes and booking.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 8,000 (7,200 paid) for their May 8th WrestleMania Backlash 2022 event in Providence, RI, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In regards to pay-per-view buys, Meltzer reported that the event is currently estimated to have generated around 8,200 PPV buys from traditional cable PPV providers based on early data and estimates. This reportedly would be the second lowest ever PPV buys for a WWE event in WWE history, only ahead of this past February’s Elimination Chamber 2022 event which is currently estimated to have generated around 7,800 PPV buys.
• WWE also reportedly generated an attendance of 7,576 (6,700 paid) for their May 6th SmackDown show in Long Island, NY, 3,687 for their May 7th house show event in Trenton, NJ, and 6,996 (6,300) for their May 9th RAW show in Hartford, CT, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 6,022 tickets for their May 16th RAW show in Norfolk, VA, 5,828 for their May 20th SmackDown show in Grand Rapids, MI, 2,677 tickets for their May 21st house show event in Rockford, IL, 2,612 tickets for their May 21st house show event in Canton, OH, 2,314 tickets for their May 22nd house shoe event in Fort Wayne, IN, 1,953 tickets for their May 22nd house show event in Cedar Rapids, IA, 4,793 tickets for their May 23rd RAW show in Evansville, IN, 3,952 tickets for their May 27th SmackDown show in North Little Rock, AR, 3,516 tickets for their June 3rd SmackDown show in Columbus, OH, 10,054 tickets for their June 5th Hell in a Cell 2022 event in Chicago, IL, 17,554 tickets for their July 2nd Money in the Bank 2022 event in Las Vegas, NV, and 21,480 tickets for their July 30th SummerSlam 2022 event in Nashville, TN as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• This past Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash 2022 event featured a promo video ad from Cody Rhodes mentioning that the winner of this year’s Money in the Bank ladder match will get to main event next year’s WrestleMania 39 event. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that neither Vince McMahon nor WWE officials currently have any plans for the winner of this year’s MitB match to cash in their briefcase for a guaranteed title match at next year’s WrestleMania event. Several sources spoken to stated that they felt Rhodes’ line in his promo was a mistake that was not caught prior to its airing. Another source spoken to stated that McMahon already has plans in place for the top matches for next year’s WrestleMania event and none include this year’s MitB winner.
• During a recent episode of the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves podcast, Graves gave his thoughts about why fans should have high expectations when it comes to WWE’s product. Graves stated “You should come in with high expectations, particularly in this day and age. This is WWE, we are the worldwide leader in sports entertainment. WWE is a global entity. It is okay to have high expectations for everything we do. The onus is on us as WWE to provide the fans and meet their expectations because it’s not like we’re this fledgling thing. ‘Oh, there are growing pains. We’re gonna get there.’ I understand sometimes when people get frustrated or are unhappy with how things are presented from time to time because sports entertainment, as a whole, has some of the most passionate fans about anything in entertainment. Sports entertainment fans are right up there with your comic book fans or hardcore music fans or people that really care and live and die by this stuff. I believe that the weight is on our shoulders, and I don’t think it’s unfair. Yes, there are variables and circumstances. Yes, we’re beholden to advertisers and business contracts. There is a lot more that goes into making the stew that most fans don’t realize, nor should they have to. Our fans should be able to sit down on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET and get lost in a show. That’s on us. We should always be presenting ourselves and forcing ourselves to meet the expectation of the fan as opposed to saying, ‘this is what we’re giving you, you either like it or don’t like it.”
• Graves also gave his thoughts about why fans shouldn’t just “enjoy the ride and not be cynical to a degree” that was given as a response by his guest Vin Joseph. Graves stated “That’s a personal choice. I’ll draw this analogy. ‘The Flight Attendant’ is what Carmella and I have been watching lately. I like the show, I’m a fan of it. I also enjoy it because it gives me an opportunity to shut my brain off for an hour and get lost in the show and not pick apart, ‘I don’t know if I like the set design. I don’t know if Kaley Cuoco really nailed that line.’ That’s just me. Some people enjoy micromanaging and focusing on minutia. if that’s your thing, God bless you, you have fans that truly care more about movesets than the story being told, and that’s okay. They’re not wrong. It’s flavors of ice cream, the oldest analogy in the business. We’re Baskin Robins. Whatever you are into, we got you covered. It’s a cornucopia of what sports entertainment is and it’s constantly growing and evolving. I, for one, don’t get any enjoyment out of picking things apart, that’s just me, but I probably do it with something different. How many of us are Monday Morning Quarterbacks or you watch a baseball game and go, ‘why are they shifting?’ You like to get lost and pick apart things you are passionate about.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• WWE announced that they recently hired Suzette Ramirez-Carr to be their new Chief Human Resources Officer in the company. Prior to her hiring, Ramirez-Carr previously worked for United Talent Agency (UTA), Beautycounter and Oaktree Capital Management.

AEW

• During a recent interview with the Wrestling Perspective podcast, Powerhouse Hobbs gave his thoughts about his plans for the future of his career in AEW. Hobbs stated “There’s gonna be a point where I’m gonna have to step away on my own, you know? Who knows when that will happen. I just think that next step for me is — I think what’s gonna come up for me is I’m just gonna have to show a whole new kick ass different style. You know, you can tell I’m having fun in the ring and when I got someone in the hole and I’m kicking the sh*t out of ‘em so I mean, it’s just — I’m having fun so I just — I don’t know what that next step is gonna be. It’s just gonna happen. The task right now is for Ricky Starks and I to beat the hell out of Jurassic Express and take those tag titles. That’s the goal right now. But eventually, I will be TNT Champion. Personal goal of mine is to be the first African-American AEW World Champion and any title I get — I know how to fight and I know what it’s like to starve and struggle and any title I get, it’s gonna be hell for anybody to take that away from me. But, I plan on being a big name, being around for a long time. That has always been my goal, ever since I wanted to become a professional wrestler. I want people to remember me and when they say, ‘Oh, who’s the baddest m.f.?’ And I want my name to come up.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• During a recent K&S Wrestling virtual fan signing event, Kris Statlander gave her thoughts about several AEW talents not being given new deals to remain in the company. Statlander stated “My thoughts on this situation [AEW talents’ contracts not being renewed] is that, you know, life happens. Sometimes, that’s just the way wrestling is. Nobody’s guaranteed a job forever in wrestling or in any position really. It sucks, but you have to learn to not dwell on situations that you don’t have control over and you just make the most of what you can do and keep moving forward.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Sting filed a trademark for “Icon” on May 10th for energy drink related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly have sold around 14,841 for their Forbidden Door joint event on June 26th in Chicago, Illinois as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the current live gate revenue for AEW & NJPW’s event recently surpassed $1 million and is currently predicted to be the second highest ever gate for an AEW related event in AEW history. Meltzer reported that only AEW’s upcoming Double or Nothing 2022 event in Las Vegas has generated a higher gate, which is currently expected to generate a gate of around $1.2 million. In regards to the card for the event, Meltzer reported that several key matches very likely will not be announced until at least the week of June 12th due to NJPW not wanting to spoil the results of their upcoming Dominion 2022 event ahead of time.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 8,200 (8,000 paid) for their May 11th Dynamite show in Long Island, New York, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this is the second time in a row an AEW show has outsold a WWE show held within a week in the same market. Meltzer also reported that prior to a late surge in ticket sales, WWE’s RAW show on May 6th was on tract to outsell AEW’s Dynamite show.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 4,002 tickets for their May 18h Dynamite show in Houston, TX, 4,420 tickets for their May 25th Dynamite show in Las Vegas, 4,485 tickets for their May 27th Rampage show in Las Vegas, 13,226 tickets for their May 29th Double or Nothing 2022 event in Las Vegas, NV, 13,551 tickets for their June 1st Dynamite show in Inglewood, 7,323 tickets for their June 3rd Rampage show in Ontario, CA, 3,791 tickets for their June 8th Dynamite show in Independence, MO, 3,943 tickets for their June 15th Dynamite show in St. Louis, MO, 3,940 tickets for their June 22nd Dynamite show in Milwaukee, WI, 9,285 tickets for their June 29th Dynamite show in Detroit, MI, and 2,769 tickets for their July 6th Dynamite show in Rochester, NY as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that despite recent online concerns over AEW’s status within WarnerMedia following Discovery’s purchase and merger, AEW is currently planned to be given a major spotlight focus for WarnerMedia’s upfronts on May 18th.
• Jake Roberts recently denied comments made by Jim Ross during a recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast claiming that Roberts is currently in bad health and dealing with breathing issues. Roberts stated “Hey guys once again someone wants to make a splash on the internet and what better way is there than putting out Jake Roberts is in bad health. Totally untrue. I’m going to be around a long time.“
• During a recent interview with News 12 Long Island, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about the criticisms of AEW using too much blood for their television shows. Khan stated “It’s certainly not every week, you don’t see it on a weekly basis. Occasionally, there are big matches and it’s only when the circumstance is such that it’s a big street fight or these big crazy matches or fights ahead of a pay-per-view where things have gotten crazy and there has been a big melee. For the most part, we do try to focus on the wrestling, the best interviews, the most exciting wrestlers, a lot of high fliers, technical wrestling, and a lot of crazy brawling too. For the most part, you see a focus on the in-ring action, but every once and awhile, when things have gotten out of hand, it’s been old school pro wrestling in a way that has been very healthy and has been well-received by our media partners and fans. It’s almost been universally praised and when it hasn’t, overall, we’ve done well on the aggregate and most of the focus is on wrestling and not the brawling, but you see some of the old-school brawling too and that’s part of pro wrestling and that’s what makes it fun.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During a recent interview with The Sessions with Renee Paquette podcast, Dustin Rhodes gave his thoughts about his brother Cody’s recent WWE return promo and Cody’s decision to leave AEW for WWE. Rhodes stated “I knew dad always wanted us to be happy. And he would have his suggestions and things like that and try to lead us in the right way but ultimately these are our decisions, right? Money’s money and dad would always say, ‘Take the money. Cody is very, very passionate about his promos, about every single word that he is going to say which is very important, right? Especially for that first one, which was very important, you’re making a huge impact on a lot of people the first time you’ve been back in years, and he did. And I know dad would be happy. He’s sitting in the rafters, that’s where I pictured him when me and Cody wrestled at Double or Nothing.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Yu Ishino, formerly known as Kagetsu in Stardom, recently came out as a trans person this past Friday. In a video posted on YouTube, Ishino stated that he recently underwent successful female-to-male transgender surgery. (English translation via Outsports.com)
• The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced a new match for the card of their Alwayz Ready event on June 11th in Knoxville, Tennessee. This will be a singles match of Natalia Markova vs. Taya Valkyrie.
• Terminus recently announced a new match for the card of their Modern Age Grappling event on May 22nd in Hampton, Georgia. This will be a singles match of Josh Woods vs. Will Ferrara.
• Following her match at Hoodslam’s Mutagenesis event this past Saturday, indie wrestler Nicole Savoy announced her retirement from wrestling.
• Stardom recently announced a new match for the card of their Flashing Champions event on May 28th in Tokyo, Japan. This will be a tag team match of KAIRI & Tam Nakano vs Utami Hayashishita & Miyu Amasaki.
• As noted before, New Japan Pro Wrestling talent Kota Ibushi recently accused NJPW’s management of “power harassment” against him within the past year. Ibushi is claiming that NJPW officials tried to rush him back into in-ring action late last year despite him not being fully healed from a shoulder injury and unprofessional workplace behavior from a NJPW official name Kikuchi. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Ibushi had declined to undergo shoulder injury due to him previously having surgery in the same area and opted for a natural healing instead, which led to a slower than expected recovery period for him. One source spoken to stated that they believe the issues between the two sides is not fixable due to Ibushi’s going public with his criticisms that went beyond just his issues with NJPW’s management. This same source stated that Ibushi breaking both NJPW’s trust and kayfabe with his recent statements will make it a lot harder for NJPW to want to reconcile with him since he said stuff that would be considered fireable offenses within the wrestling industry. Melzer reported that should Ibushi be fired or leave NJPW, it is very unlikely he would go to AEW or WWE due to him not being fond of traveling regularly to the United States nor has any desire to live in the country.
• Lucha Libre AAA recently announced that they will be honoring Konnan at their Triplemania XXX: Tijuana event on June 18th in Tijuana, Mexico.
• As noted before, Tessa Blanchard is rumored to have recently had a falling out with Women of Wrestling over issues involving Blanchard’s attitude towards other talent. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while he has yet to be able to confirm the rumors, his sources also stated that it is currently believed that Blanchard has been recently released from the company due to her recent behind-the-scenes incident this past April.
• Impact Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of a little over 353 for their Under Siege 2022 event on May 7th in Newport, Kentucky, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of The Wrestling Observer Radio that Ric Flair is currently training for an in-ring return. Meltzer stated “Ric Flair is training to wrestle again. The stories about his return are accurate.” Meltzer also reported that Flair’s return match is currently rumored to be a potential Six-Man Tag team match involving him & FTR vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express & a mystery partner. Flair himself also recently confirmed the rumors of him currently training for a potential return to the ring in the future. (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• Former WWE tag team Authors of Pain recently announced that they will be launching a new wrestling promotion called Wrestling Entertainment Series and their first event will be taking place on June 4th in Nottingham, England.
• 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. Zero1 Wrestling recently provided an update stating that Otani is still currently paralyzed from the neck down but he issued a verbal statement on his current health status. Otani stated “To all the hot professional wrestling fans who love professional wrestling, and to all the people involved in the professional wrestling industry. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience and concern caused by my injury. Also, I am grateful to everyone for their warm feelings. Now, I am working hard every day for treatment and rehabilitation so that I can return to everyone as soon as possible. I will definitely return in front of you. We look forward to your continued support of ZERO1 and professional wrestling. May 13, 4th year of Reiwa Shinjiro Otani.” (English translation via Fightful.com)
• During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Conrad Thompson announced that the next Starrcast convention, Starrcast V, will be taking place on July 29-31 at the Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. Unlike prior Starrcast conventions, this upcoming convention will be taking place during the same weekend and city as WWE’s upcoming SummerSlam 2022 event.
• Impact Wrestling talent PCO reportedly suffered a shoulder injury during Impact’s television tapings this past Saturday in Kissimmee, Florida, according to PWInsider.