Weekend Roundup: SD Ratings Note, Amari Miller Incident, Kris Statlander Injury Update, AEW & WBD Update, Jimmy Hart, Indies

WWE

• This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,431,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV. Fightful reported that the final viewership number is currently expected to be lower due to several FOX TV markets had preempted the show due to NFL pre-season coverage and had some of their viewership included in SmackDown’s numbers.
• The August 5th episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew 2,093,000 viewers and a 0.49 18-49 key demographic rating on FOX. In an interesting note, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s Dynamite show that week managed to top WWE’s SmackDown show in overall 18-34 ratings. AEW reportedly generated a 0.26 rating in overall 18-34 compared to SmackDown’s 0.25 rating. Meltzer reported that this was something that should not have been possible due to the big advantage SmackDown has being on a network channel over Dynamite.
• WWE officials reportedly currently do not have any plans to add Karrion Kross to the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match at next month’s Clash at the Castle event in Cardiff, Wales, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 6,585 (5,700 paid) for their Aug. 5th SmackDown show in Greenville, SC, 3,880 for their Aug. 6th house show event in North Charleston, SC, 2,800 for their Aug. 7th house show event in Fayetteville, NC, and 6,786 (6,000 paid) for their Aug. 8th RAW show in Cleveland, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 2,965 tickets for their Aug. 14th house show event in Atlantic City, NJ, 7,284 tickets for their Aug. 15th RAW show in Washington, DC, 8,382 tickets for their Aug. 19th SmackDown show in Montreal, Canada, 3,720 tickets for their Aug. 20th house show event in Ottawa, Canada, 1,976 tickets for their Aug. 20th house show event in Kingston, Canada, 4,921 tickets for their Aug. 21st house show event in Quebec City, Canada, 10,816 tickets for their Aug. 22nd RAW show in Toronto, Canada, 6,672 tickets for their Aug. 26th SmackDown show in Detroit, MI, 2,793 tickets for their Aug. 28th house show event in Manchester, NH, 4,923 tickets for their Aug. 29th RAW show in Pittsburgh, PA, 62,818 tickets for their Sept. 3rd Clash at the Castle event in Cardiff, Wales, 6,817 tickets for their Sept. 9th SmackDown show in Seattle, WA, 1,701 tickets for their Sept. 11th house show even in Eugene, OR, 5,490 tickets for their Sept. 12th RAW show in Portland, OR, 3,758 tickets for their Sept. 16th SmackDown show in Anaheim, CA, and 4,330 tickets for their Sept. 19th RAW show in San Jose, CA, 4,467 tickets for their Sept. 23rd SmackDown show in Salt Lake City, UT, 9,165 tickets for their Sept. 26th RAW show in Edmonton, Canada, 7,051 tickets for their Sept. 30th SmackDown show in Winnipeg, Canada, 2,682 tickets for their Oct. 3rd RAW show in St. Paul, MN, and 8,892 tickets for their Oct. 8th Extreme Rules 2022 event in Philadelphia, PA 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 WWE officials currently do not have plans for Roman Reigns to be booked for their upcoming Extreme Rules event on October 8th in Philadelphia, PA. Meltzer speculated that should WWE go ahead with a Karrion Kross vs. Reigns match, it likely would either take place on a WWE television show or at this November’s Survivor Series 2022 event at the earliest.
• This past Monday’s RAW show in Cleveland, OH featured the surprise WWE return of Dexter Lumis. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Lumis was recently informed by WWE officials to cancel all of his upcoming scheduled bookings in the indies. Meltzer reported that this is a new change over how WWE used to handle new signings where they allowed talents to finish up their indies commitments as long as it did not coincide with a WWE television taping date.
• Trademarks for “Bronco Nima” and “Lucien Price” were filed by WWE on August 9th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• NXT talent Amari Miller recently faced online backlash over insensitive comments she made regarding Sasha Banks’ race on Twitter. The incident involved Miller stating that Ember Moon was the only full African American female champion in WWE history and Banks does not count as being an African American due to her mother being of German descent. Following the incident, Miller temporarily deactivated her account over the backlash she received and later reactivated it to issue a statement apologizing for the poor comments she had made about Banks.
• WWE recently announced that WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker will be holding a new Undertaker 1 deadMAN show on September 2nd in Cardiff, Wales as part of their Clash at the Castle festivities that week in the city.
• 2K Games’ parent company Take Two recently released their fiscal second quarter report last week revealing that the next game in their WWE 2K series, WWE 2K23, is currently in development and is expected to be released next year.
• As noted before, Cody Rhodes has been out of action for WWE since this past June due to a torn pectoral injury. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that fan interest in Rhodes currently remains very high based on the fan vote tally for the Best WWE Moment 2022 award at this past July’s ESPYS 2022 show was “very one-sided” in favor of Rhodes. It was also reported that Rhodes’ upcoming Mattel Creations Ultimate Edition action figure had the highest ever pre-order sales for any WWE figurine since the start of WWE’s partnership with Mattel.
• During a recent interview with the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves podcast, Zoey Stark revealed that she worked as a backstage producer for WWE while she was out of action due to a foot-related injury. Stark also gave her thoughts on why she decided to accept a backstage role while rehabbing from her injury. Stark stated “To become a better performer, number one. I knew I was going to come back and I knew producing is going to help me inside the ring. When you coach somebody, two people are learning. I’m learning at the same time because now I’m having to think about it. It’s amazing to be able to do both sides. You get a different side of, ‘Oh, this is what producers go through, I had no idea.’ People want to go off and do their own thing and it throws off the producer, it throws off the camera guys, it throws off everyone. You have to be in full communication with everyone. We’re all a team in this. You can’t just go rogue and do your own thing. We need to help each other. We all have the same goal. We all want to have a great match and tell a story.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• As noted before, Kris Statlander recently suffered a knee injury and was pulled from her #1 ranking for Thunder Rosa’s AEW Women’s World Championship. Statlander recently provided an injury update on Instagram stating that she completely torn the ACL and lateral meniscus in her right knee and is currently undergoing strength training to help lessen post-operative atrophy issues. Statlander stated “Going slightly off program here but the main focus now is maintaining as much strength as possible to lessen post op atrophy. If you want to yell at me for pushing my self while injured remember it’s free to mind your business. I’m taking extra precautions to make sure I’m stable through all movements, using lighter weights with every rep controlled, making sure I don’t reach any uncomfortable ROM [range of motion] or recreate any pain. Most will take a time like this to lose sight of their goals, and I’m sure I’ll reflect on what could’ve been had I not been injured. But I know my moment in my wrestling career will come, not yet, but soon. I’ll come back stronger than before just like last time. It’s not a setback unless you allow it to be.“
• Pro Wrestling Wave’s 15th Anniversary event earlier today in Tokyo, Japan featured Hikaru Shida defeating Suzu Suzuki to be crowned the new Regina Di Wave Champion. This was the first time in Shida’s career that she won Wave’s Regina Di Wave title.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 5,300 (5,000 paid) for their Aug. 3rd Dynamite show in Columbus, OH, 5,900 (5,000 paid) for their Aug. 5th Rampage show & Battle of the Belts III taping in Grand Rapids, MI, and 5,600 (5,000 paid) for their Aug. 10th Dynamite show in Minneapolis, MN, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the reason for the high number of comp tickets for AEW’s Aug. 3rd Dynamite show was due to Tony Khan’s father Shad owned an auto parts factory in the city and many of its workers were invited to attend the show as guests.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 3.852 tickets for their Aug. 17th Dynamite show in Charleston, WV, 3,325 tickets for their Aug. 24th Dynamite show in Cleveland, OH, 5,293 tickets for their Aug. 31st Dynamite show in Chicago, 4,617 for their Sept. 2nd Rampage show in Chicago, 7,559 tickets for their Sept. 4th All Out 2022 event in Hoffman Estates, IL, 4,389 tickets for their Sept. 7th Dynamite show in Buffalo, NY, 2,803 tickets for their Sept. 14th Dynamite show in Albany, NY, 10,009 tickets for their Sept. 21st Dynamite Grand Slam 2022 show at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY, 3,388 tickets for their Sept. 28th Dynamite show in Philadelphia, PA, 1,099 for their Oct. 5th Dynamite show in Washington, DC, and 1,170 for their Oct. 7th Rampage & Battle of the Belts IV shows in Washington, DC as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the odds of Warner Bros Discovery dropping AEW as part of their fallout of their on-going massive budget cuts are currently very low. Meltzer reported that the main reason is due to major sports and 90 Day Fiance are the only shows that currently generate higher ratings on WBD owned networks and Dynamite is the cheapest of the group in regards to costs per show. Meltzer also reported that his sources stated that AEW and WBD officials have been in recent talks regarding ideas to hold more more cross-promotional shows for Dynamite with next week’s House of Dragon sponsored show being one of those ideas. Meltzer also reported that despite AEW’s good ratings for WBD, the biggest question still remains on how much of an increase they could get with a new television deal from WBD considering the massive cost cutting measures currently underway by Discovery following their merger. Meltzer also reported that AEW is in a stronger shape than TNA/Impact Wrestling ever were when it came to negotiating new television deals as the #2 promotion in the United States.
• As noted before, AEW recently filed a trademark for “All Elite Women” that is currently rumored to be for a potential new all-women’s AEW series and/or event. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW recently filed additional trademarks for the term pointing to something bigger than just a simple all-women’s event or new streaming show for AEW’s Women’s division. Meltzer speculated that whatever plans AEW currently has likely must be in the serious talks stage to result in AEW’s decision to file for a trademark despite details over the exact nature of it being very sparse.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling talent Kota Ibushi recently stated on Twitter that he would like to reunite with Kenny Omega and work for AEW in the future. Ibushi also stated that he is interested in wrestling against Hangman Adam Page as well.
• During a recent interview with the Superstar Crossover podcast, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about WWE’s recent shows generally being better than what they were before and why that is good for wrestling fans. Khan stated “The challenge would be, and I’d like to say something positive on the end too, the challenge would be is that we’re more likely to compete for the same wrestlers because our vision of wrestling is probably a bit closer together than with his predecessor. I do think there are a lot of advantages. The shows they’ve been doing are generally better than the shows they were doing before the change, which is good for the wrestling business. It’s a little bit different than what we were going up against before. In terms of me being the CEO of AEW, I see some positives and some negatives, but I see a lot of positives. There are a lot reasons why it could drive some interest in wrestling and people coming back to watch more wrestling and those people are inherently going to most likely also check out AEW. If you’ve been away from wrestling and you’re a big fan of it, then there’s a good chance you’re very familiar with a lot of the top stars of AEW, including the world champion CM Punk, the interim champion Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, and many others. Somebody stepping back in and watching wrestling again would have a lot of interest in that. Frankly, if you’re interested in good wrestling shows, those are people you’re going to be interested in checking out. There are a lot of interesting possibilities for the future. Sure, it poses some challenges, but I think there are a lot of positive things happening in wrestling right now.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Penelope Ford made her return to AEW during this past Wednesday’s tapings in Minneapolis, MN for this upcoming Monday’s episode of AEW Dark Elevation. Ford competed and won her match against Heather Reckless for the show. Prior to her return, Ford had been out of action since this past January due to an undisclosed injury.
• Besides Ford, Red Velvet reportedly was seen backstage during this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Minneapolis, MN, according to PWInsider.
• During a recent interview with TV Insider, Ring of Honor owner Tony Khan gave his thoughts on when more new content for ROH might arrive. Khan stated “[Death Before Dishonor] was the first time Warner Bros. Discovery worked with Ring of Honor because Bleacher Report carried the pay-per-view. It did some of the best numbers in the history of Ring of Honor. For Bleacher Report, I think it exceeded their expectations. They’ve seen there is interest in Ring of Honor, so that’s very exciting. They were the media partner that helped launch AEW into the world. If there ever were to be a weekly Ring of Honor show, I’d love to have them be involved in it. Hopefully, that is something that will happen someday. Only with their blessing, I think it would make a lot of sense. Now we’ve seen Ring of Honor is very viable on pay-per-view. They are going to have a very strong future in the world of wrestling going forward.“

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Impact Wrestling announced that they will be holding a new set of Impact tapings called Sin City Showdown on October 21-22 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was also announced that they will be holding a new event and Impact! tapings on December 9-10 in Pembroke Pine, Florida.
• Saturday’s Game Changer Wrestling’s Homecoming 2022 Part 1 event in Atlantic City, New Jersey featured Nick Gage challenging Jon Moxley to a title vs. career match for the GCW World Championship at a future GCW event.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced the list of talent who are currently scheduled to appear at their G1 Special in Roppongi Hills event on August 20th in Tokyo, Japan. (English translation via PostWrestling.com)
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,132 for their Aug. 5th G1 Climax 2022 event in Matsuyama, 3,370 for their Aug. 6th G1 Climax 2022 event in Osaka, 2,609 for their Aug. 7th G1 Climax 2022 event in Osaka, 1,525 for their Aug. 9th G1 Climax 2022 event in Hiroshima, and 1,522 for their Aug. 10th G1 Climax 2022 event in Hiroshima, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling held their Tokyo Princess Cup Finals earlier today in Tokyo, Japan featured Yuka Sakazaki defeating Miu Watanabe to be crowned the winner of this year’s Tokyo Princess Cup tournament.
• Lucha Libre AA reportedly generated a paid attendance of 7,950 for their Verano de Escandalo 2022 event on August 5th in Aguascalientes, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with Mas Lucha, Lucha Libre AA co-owner Dorian Roldan stated that the company currently is hopeful of being able to sign more talent following them not being unable to do for the past two years due to financial-related issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. Roldan also stated that he has held talks with Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega regarding the potential of both guys making an appearance for the company in the future. Roldan also revealed that the company currently has an event scheduled to take place on October 24th at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan but they are unsure yet if they will be able to hold that event. (English translation & transcript h/t: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 527 for their Aug. 6th 5STAR Grand Prix 2022 event in Niigata, 275 for their Aug. 7th 5STAR Grand Prix 2022 event in Nagano, and 1,528 for their Aug. 11th 5STAR Grand Prix 2022 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly generated a paid attendance of 940 for their Aug. 11th N-1 Victory 2022 event in Yokohama, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• DDT Pro Wrestling talent Konosuke Takeshita announced this past Friday that he has completed his four month long excursion stay in the United States and will be returning to Japan to resume working for DDT. During his excursion stay, Takeshita worked for a variety of promotions including AEW, Terminus, and Pro Wrestling Guerilla.
• During a recent interview with the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Goldberg stated that he was done apologizing to Bret Hart over his stiff kick to Hart during their match at WCW Starrcade ’99 that led to Hart developing a concussion and eventual retirement from wrestling. Goldberg stated “He’s an idol to anybody and everybody who would have ever been in this business. I’m a human being like everybody else and there was absolutely no malicious intent whatsoever, none, zero. Does it bother me? Yeah, I’ll take it to my grave. But also, I got to say, and I’m kind of at a turning point, I’m done saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’ve said it a million times and I’m not going to continue to tear myself down, I’m done. I said, ‘I’m sorry,’ if he can’t accept my apology, it is what it is, you’ve got to move on and I’ve moved on.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced five new matches for the card of their NWA 74 Night 1 & Night 2 events on August 27-28 in St. Louis, MO. In regards to Night 1, the new matches announced are a tag team match of Country Gentleman (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews) will be facing Gold Rushhh (Jordan Clearwater & Marshe Rockett) and a singles match of Luke Hawx vs. VSK. In regards to Night 2, the new matches announced are a single match of Mercurio vs. Magic Jake Dumas, a singles match of Thom Latimer vs. Judais, and a singles match of Colby Corino vs. Caprice Coleman.
• During a recent interview with Fightful Select, WWE Hall of Famer and former manager Jimmy Hart revealed that WarnerMedia still owns a large catalog of WCW themes that was not part of WWE’s purchase of the company in 2001. Hart stated that he believes that this catalog contains “well over a hundred songs” and includes themes that both aired on WCW programming and a lot of themes that were never released or used before. Hart stated “Well, you know what’s really strange? It turned out great, but they still got all of our songs down there with their publishing company,” said Jimmy. “They never released anything. So there’s a hundred and something songs just sitting down there waiting for somebody to use them. That was owned by Turner. WCW has them, but when Vince bought all the tapes up here in WWE, they didn’t get the rights to the music. They’re all individual tracks that, I guess, if anybody wanted to use them, if Turner and them even have a publishing company,” Jimmy continued. “Who knows what they have down there?” It was reported that their sources stated that AEW and their music department have recently become aware of Hart’s claims over this situation.