Weekend Roundup: Curtis Axel & Ariya Daivari Released, WWE & AEW Ratings Note, Marko Stunt, Colt Cabana, Kota Ibushi, Indies

WWE

• Ava Raine, real name Simon Johnson, reportedly performed her first ever promo in front of a live WWE crowd at WWE’s house show event for their NXT brand on Saturday in Orlando, Florida, according to Fightful. Robert Defelice reported that Raine proclaimed herself as “The Final Girl” and issued harsh words to NXT’s Women’s division.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials recently made the decision to not promote former WWE talents Curtis Axel and Ariya Daivari into full-time backstage producers following their tryout period. Johnson reported that Axel and Daivari were informed that they would no longer be brought in for WWE shows and the decision was due to recent budget cuts made within the company. Johnson also reported that there had been a push within the company following this past April’s WrestleMania 38 event to hire more producers to help lessen the insane workload for the company’s producers team but with the recent cuts, they are right back to what was described as being “extremely overworked.”
• As noted before, Rhea Ripley has been out of action for WWE since this past June due to a head-related injury. Ripley recently posted on Twitter revealing that she is currently wearing a heart monitor, which is typically used to track any potential irregular heartbeat issues.
• As noted before, WWE’s Money in the Bank 2022 event earlier this month featured Theory winning the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Theory’s surprise inclusion into the match and win was not done as a late change in plans and instead was WWE’s actual original plans for the match.
• WWE generated an attendance of 7,966 (7,300 paid) for their July 1st SmackDown show in Phoenix, AZ, 12,076 (11,000 paid) for their July 2nd Money in the Bank 2022 event in Las Vegas, NV, 4,326 for their July 3rd house show event in Tucson, AZ, and 6,121 (5,400 paid) for their July 4th RAW show in San Diego, CA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 2,903 tickets for their July 10th house show event in Reno, NV, 6,824 tickets for their July 11th RAW show in San Antonio, TX, 6,275 tickets for their July 15th SmackDown show in Orlando, FL, 2,563 tickets for their July 16th house show event in Estero, FL, 1,417 tickets for their July 17th house show event in Daytona Beach, FL, 5,928 tickets for their July 18th RAW show in Tampa, FL, 5,099 tickets for their July 22nd SmackDown show in Boston, MA, 5,328 for their July 29th SmackDown show in Atlanta, GA, 8,379 tickets for their July 25th RAW show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, 28,396 tickets for their July 30th SummerSlam 2022 event in Nashville, TN, 9,274 tickets for their Aug. 1st RAW show in Houston, TX, 3,235 tickets for their Aug. 5th SmackDown show in Greenville, SC, 1,791 tickets for their Aug. 6th house show event in North Charleston, SC, 2,979 tickets for their Aug. 12th SmackDown show in Raleigh, NC, 2,499 tickets for their Aug. 14th house show event in Atlantic City, NJ, 3,208 tickets for their Aug. 15th RAW show in Washington DC, 7,513 tickets for their Aug. 19th SmackDown show in Montreal, Canada, 2,889 tickets for their Aug. 20 house show event in Ottawa, Canada, 8,227 tickets Aug. 22nd RAW show on Toronto, Canada, and 4,180 tickets for their Aug. 26th SmackDown show in Detroit, MI as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is currently estimated to have generated around 9,200 pay-per-view buys for their Money in the Bank 2022 event earlier this month. Meltzer reported that this would be up 29.6% from this past June’s Hell in a Cell 2022 event which is estimated to have generated around 7,100 buys.
• WWE reportedly generated an average paid attendance of 4,959 for their shows for the months of May and June, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that WWE’s average attendance without including PPV events was 4,700 per show during this time period. In terms of breakdowns, RAW reportedly averaged 5,478 paid per show, SmackDown averaged 5,663 paid per show, and house show events averaged 3,364 paid per show during this time period.
• In regards to television viewership and ratings for this past May and June, Meltzer reported that the overall television viewership within the industry was among its lowest ever levels during this past May and June. RAW reportedly averaged 1,744,667 viewers per show, which was up 2.2% compared to 1,706,778 viewers per show average for May and June of 2021. SmackDown reportedly averaged 2,031,000 viewers per show, which was up 2.5% compared to 1,981,133 viewers per show average for May and June of 2021. NXT reportedly averaged 600,111 viewers per show, which was down 13% compared to 690,000 viewers per show average for May and June of 2021.
• In regards to television ratings for this past May and June, Meltzer reported that RAW averaged 598,444 viewers per show in the 18-49 key demographic viewership group, (down 3% compared to May and June of 2021) and 213,111 viewers per show in the 18-34 key demographic (up 16.1% compared to May and June of 2021). SmackDown reportedly averaged 619,500 viewers per show in the 18-49 key demographic (down 7.8% compared to May and June of 2021) and 206,625 viewers per show in the 18-34 key demographic (down 11.4% compared to May and June of 2021). NXT reportedly averaged 170,444 viewers per show in the 18-49 key demographic (down 19.2% compared to May and June of 2021) and 45,777 viewers per show in the 18-34 key demographic (down 18.4% compared to May and June of 2021)
• As noted before, this past Monday’s RAW show drew 1,563,000 viewers and a 0.37 18-49 key demographic rating. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this past week’s RAW show managed to break the record for the largest ever one hour drop for a RAW show in RAW history, which occurred from the second hour that drew 1,661,000 viewers to the third hour that drew 1,327,000 viewers. In terms of breakdowns, Meltzer reported that RAW’s Females 18-49 was down 23.5%, Males 18-49 was down 21.3%, Females Teenagers was down 40.5%, Males Teenagers was down 32.2%, and Over 50 was down 11.6% from RAW’s second to third hour of the show.
• As noted before, professional boxer Tyson Fury and WWE have been in recent talks regarding a potential summer return appearance for Fury to the company. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources confirmed reports of Fury currently being in talks with WWE but no deal has been made as of this past Thursday. Meltzer reported that his sources also stated that besides a potential Drew McIntyre vs. Fury match, WWE officials are also currently considering the idea of Fury vs. Logan Paul as a way to get some mainstream attention rub from an planned upcoming boxing match involving Tommy Fury (Fury’s brother) and Jake Paul (Paul’s brother). Meltzer reported that those within the company currently believes that Fury would be willing to do a match with Paul but the asking price likely would be very high and potentially cause some doubt on WWE’s end if it would be worth it.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that despite WWE recently teasing and advertising that the upcoming Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar match at SumemrSlam 2022 will be the last ever match between the two, WWE officials currently are not planning on actually going ahead with that idea. Meltzer reported that WWE officials want to keep the door open for a potential future rematch between the two as an emergency option should an injury derail their plans for Reigns, such as the case with the originally planned Randy Orton vs. Reigns match for SummerSlam 2022, and Lesnar being brought back as a contingency plan for a big event.
• WWE officials recently contacted several indie wrestlers for a tryout currently planned to take place during SummerSlam 2022 weekend later this month in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that despite WWE planning to invite indie talents for tryouts, the main focus is still towards hiring good looking college or other athletes for contracts with the company.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Vince McMahon arrived later than usual for his backstage duties running this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Fort Worth, Texas. McMahon reportedly did not address nor bothered to “sell” the latest Wall Street Journal report regarding his “hush money” payments and NDAs to four women. Those spoken to described the situation backstage as “the elephant in the room that was being ignored.”
• Kevin Owens made a surprise appearance at this past Saturday’s NHL 2022 Entry Draft event at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

AEW & ROH

• Saturday’s Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Summer Sun Princess ’22 event in Tokyo, Japan featured Miyu Yamashita facing off against Thunder Rosa in an AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator match. This match was won by Yamashita granting her the right to challenge Rosa for the AEW Women’s World Championship the next time she visits the United States.
• AEW reportedly shot an angle during an AEW fan signing event this past Saturday in Seattle, Washington, according to Fightful. This angle involved Brody King ambushing and attacking Darby Allin during his fan autograph signing session at the event.
• AEW reportedly generated an average paid attendance of 7,769 for their shows for the months of May and June, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that AEW’s average attendance without including PPV events was 6,545 per show during this time period.
• In regards to television viewership and ratings for this past May and June, Meltzer reported that yearly comparisons for AEW’s Dynamite shows are not directly comparable due to a lot of last year’s shows were preempted to different days and time slots due to the NBA and NHL playoffs last year while this year’s shows went directly head-to-head with NBA and NHL playoffs. For direct comparisons, only 3 shows during this time period last year took place on a Wednesday. AEW reportedly averaged 900,000 viewers per show, which was down 5.2% compared to 949,000 viewers per show average in the same time slot for May and June of 2021. Meltzer reported that when including preempted shows, AEW averaged 687,250 viewers per show for May and June 2021.
• In regards to television ratings, AEW reportedly averaged 437,667 viewers per show in the 18-49 key demographic viewership group, which was up 0.4% compared to 436,000 viewers per show average in the same time slot for May and June of 2021. AEW’s 18-49 viewership average for May and June 2021 when including preempted shows was 317,625. AEW also reportedly averaged 147,778 viewers per show in the 18-34 key demographic, which was up 19.8% compared to 123,333 viewers per show average in the same time slot for May and June of 2021. AEW’s 18-34 viewership average for May and June of 2021 when including preempted shows was 86,625.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 5,300 (5,000 paid) for their July 6th Dynamite show in Rochester, NY, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 3,475 tickets for their July 13th Dynamite show in Savannah, GA, 3,640 tickets for their July 20th Duluth, GA, 5,036 tickets for their July 27th in Worcester, MA, 4,519 tickets for their Aug. 3rd Dynamite show in Columbus, OH, 3,830 tickets for their Aug. 5th Rampage show in Grand Rapids, MI, 2,881 tickets for their Aug. 17th Dynamite show in Charleston, WV, and 3,770 tickets for their August 24th Dynamite show in Cleveland, OH as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• As noted before, Buddy Matthews is currently dealing with a shoulder-related injury but is not expected to miss any time for AEW. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason for Matthews’ absence from this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show was due to him being in Australia for a tour with World Series Wrestling. Meltzer reported that Jonathan Gresham had also been scheduled to work at this tour in Australia but was pulled due to AEW officials needing him in the United States for his heel turn and ROH Wold title match build for ROH’s upcoming Death Before Dishonor 2022 event later this month. Meltzer also reported that besides Matthews, Brian Cage also worked at this tour.
• AEW CEO Tony Khan recently announced on Twitter that a replay of PAC’s AEW All-Atlantic Championship match against Shota Umino at Revolution Pro Wrestling’s event today in Sheffield, England will air during this Tuesday’s episode of AEW Dark. Khan also stated that highlights of this match will also air during this Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
• As noted before, Jeff Hardy was arrested this past June in Volusia County, Florida following a drunk driving incident. Hardy is currently suspended without pay by AEW following his arrest. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Hardy’s arraignment and bond hearing for his DUI arrest in Volusia County Court in Florida was recently rescheduled to a new date of August 5th based on recent court records.
• During a recent interview with NBC Sports’ Ten Count podcast, former AEW talent Marko Stunt gave his thoughts about his final stretch of time in AEW. Stunt stated “There’s a certain point where you just see stuff coming and like, I knew back in October that I was not — not 100 percent. They [AEW] hadn’t told me anything, but I knew back in October I wasn’t gonna be there much longer, you know? I knew when my contract was expiring and I was like they’re not — there’s no reason for them to re-sign me right now. I wasn’t bringing anything to the table at the moment. I wasn’t adding anything to it. I wasn’t bringing in any audience or anything, and that’s not to say I didn’t have a fan base or anything. I had my fan base, but like, as in terms of making more for them, I wasn’t doing that but I will say I don’t believe that I was put in a position to be able to do that as well.” Stunt also gave his thoughts about the conversation he had with Tony Khan over why he was not being signed to a new deal with the company. Stunt stated “That is actually where the communication kind of lacked a lot is when [my contract] time started running out. I did go — and I meant to say this as I was saying ‘we were close’ [Stunt & Tony Khan] but, there was a time when we weren’t either, you know? And then from there, it kind of just… we would see each other at work and be like, ‘Oh hey!!’ But I never really had any communication at the end. So I didn’t know if I was getting let go or renewed or anything. I sent out an email and didn’t get a response. I texted him, I didn’t get a response and like, but, about a month before it happened, I did get a call and I got told, not by him, but I did get the phone call that I wasn’t gonna be renewed and then I did text him. I was like, ‘Hey man, I just wanted to thank you for all the opportunities’ because it was a fantastic opportunity. I mean, I’m 25 years old and I was with the company for three years and I had a blast, I lived my dream so I wanted to thank him for that and he did text me back and he was like, ‘Hey man, thank you for everything. I’m sorry we couldn’t get a spot for you moving forward but…’ and I did tell him, I was like, ‘Maybe we’ll work together one day in the future’ and he was like — and he did say something to that and he was like, ‘There’s a possibility of that’ so that doesn’t mean at all that it is gonna happen. Not holding onto that, you know? But if it does, it does. If it doesn’t, I’m good. I was told budget reasoning and that plans had just changed for what they wanted to do. That was really the only thing they told me so, it was kind of a general let go. Like, oh hey, we don’t — not able to do this.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• During a recent interview with My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox podcast, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about his plans to run AEW events in Canada and United Kingdom by Summer of 2023. Khan stated “Yes, I plan to go to both of those places, and hopefully both of them in the next year. The UK may be a little bit further off. But next summer, I don’t think it’s that crazy. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility and that gives us a lot of time to plan it and make it really special. So I have some ideas for events and things we can do in the UK, that would still not cut into our business revenue in America and create new inventory and new revenue in the UK. So I’m excited for that. So I, think next summer would be a really exciting time for that, but not kicking it down the road another year and another year after that, I hope we can really lock in some plans now the travel has finally become more stable and reliable.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials originally were not planning on renewing Colt Cabana’s contract this past March. Those same sources stated that several AEW talent had spoken up and pushed for Cabana to be signed to a new deal to remain in the company. It was reported that many people backstage initially believed AEW would not be renewing Cabana’s contract due to his past issues with CM Punk. This view reportedly changed after AEW shifted focus away from Dark Order and Alan Angels and Stu Grayson were not given new contracts. It was also reported that Cabana has rarely been seen backstage at AEW tapings these past several months.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that it is currently not known if Ring of Honor will be airing their upcoming Death Before Dishonor 2022 event on July 23rd on their HonorClub service. Meltzer reported that the event is currently only planned to air live on Bleacher Report due to Bleacher Report officials currently want more AEW and ROH wrestling pay-per-view events to air on their service.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that ROH’s upcoming Death Before Dishonor 2022 event has a price tag of $39.99 on Bleacher Report, which is a $5 increase from the price of past ROH events during Sinclair’s ownership era.

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• PROGRESS Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their The Deadly Viper Tour event on August 13th in Sheffield, England. This will be a singles match of Konosuke Takeshita vs. Robbie X.
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Japanese wrestler Jungle Kyona is currently planning to visit the United States for a tour for several promotions. It was also reported that former ROH talent Sumie Sakai has been helping Kyona secure bookings for this upcoming tour. Kyona has been out of action for the past two years due to suffering from several injuries including an ACL rupture and a dislocated shoulder.
• During a recent interview with NBC Sports’ Ten Count podcast, former AEW talent Marko Stunt revealed that he is currently working on plans to launch his own promotion in the Memphis region this September.
• Pro Wrestling Guerilla reportedly generated an attendance of 600 for their Nineteen event on July 3rd in Los Angeles, California, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Stardom’s current plans are to run three different branded events per year. These reportedly are regular Stardom brand events, New Blood brand events focusing on younger talent in Stardom and from other promotions, and Stardom in Showcase brand events focusing on just gimmick matches. Meltzer reported that Stardom officials are currently planning on running New Blood and Stardom in Showcase branded events once every month and a half or so going forward.
• DDT Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 703 for their King of DDT 2022 Finals event on July 3rd in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• GLEAT reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,250 for their GLEAT Ver. 3 ~ 1st Anniversary event on July 1st in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this event aired lived on NJPW’s New Japan World streaming service.
• Starrcast recently announced matches featuring talent from Lucha Libre AAA and New Japan Pro Wrestling for the card of Ric Flair’s Last Match event on July 31st in Nashville, Tennessee. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre officials have no problems with AAA talent working with NJPW talent for Ric Flair’s event is due to this event is not being co-promoted by NJPW nor do the matches feature AAA talent against NJPW or CMLL talent. Meltzer reported that AEW’s Forbidden Door event being co-promoted with NJPW was the reason why CMLL stepped in and prevented Mexican-based AAA talent from working the event due to their current partnership deal with NJPW.
• As noted before, Kota Ibushi has been out of action for NJPW since this past October due to a shoulder injury. During his time away from the company, Ibushi accused NJPW’s management of “power harassment” against him over the past year. Ibushi recently provided an injury update on Twitter stating that his shoulder has not been healing correctly and instead has gotten worse over time. Ibushi also stated that he is currently unsure when he will be able to return to wrestling due to his shoulder being too fragile if he were to wrestle any time soon. Ibushi also stated that the current working relationship between him and NJPW is still strained. (English translation via @thefeelite)
• During a recent interview with the Desert Island Graps podcast, NJPW talent Francesco Akira stated that the reason why he was not able to appear alongside his United Empire stable members on AEW programming for the build for AEW and NJPW’s Forbidden Door event and the event itself was due to visa-related issues. Akira stated “There was, but unfortunately we’re working on my visa stuff now, because I’ve never been to the U.S, but I just joined New Japan. There’s a process you need to do before getting to America. I think Forbidden Door was one of the greatest shows of the last ten years to me. Every match delivered, especially the United Empire matches. We’re working on it, I would love to come to America especially for STRONG and defend [these] championship[s] too with TJP in America.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Following his match at NJPW’s New Japan Road 2022 event on July 3rd in Tokyo, Japan, KUSHIDA gave his thoughts about his time in WWE and return to NJPW. KUSHIDA stated “The turnover of wrestlers in WWE is very fluid. I was left without a spot. Joining WWE was a dream of mine I achieved, but I couldn’t make it to the main roster. I had a dream of wrestling Danielson and O’Reilly at Mania, but I wasn’t able to achieve that dream. I got a foot in the door but not all the way in there. But that NXT group was amazing. We all worked out asses off and I have zero regrets. And though I left some dreams on the table, coming back makes others possible. I’m half satisfied.” (English translation via Chris Charlton and Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
• Wrestling legend Dory Funk Jr. reportedly is currently writing a new autobiography book based on his wrestling career, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that the book is titled Last of a Great Breed: True Stories From A Career in Pro Wrestling and is currently scheduled to be released on August 22nd.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AAA talent Dr. Wagner Jr. recently stated that he will be out of action for the next two weeks due to him suffering a spinal-related injury. Wagner Jr. reportedly blames the injury on New Generation Dinamitas group failing to catch him following a dive spot at a recent AAA event.
• Impact Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 556 for their Against All Odds 2022 event on July 1st and 585 for their Impact television tapings on July 2nd in Atlanta, Georgia, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that both attendances were well over Impact’s current average attendance of 260 for their shows this year so far.