Weekend Roundup: Seth Rollins on Riddle Issues, Brock Lesnar Walkout Update, AEW All Out 2022, Bray Wyatt Update, Indies

WWE

• This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 1,970,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.
• Prior to Saturday’s WWE Clash at the Castle event, Ariel Helwani held a recent interview with Seth Rollins. One of the topics discussed included Rollins’ thoughts on the real life issues between him and Matt Riddle. Rollins stated “As long as I’ve known the guy, I’ve never really liked his attitude. I never really kind of liked the way he goes about his business. A lot of the ways that he sort of disrespected guys that were way above his pay grade when he was down at NXT — the Booker Ts, the Goldbergs, the Brock Lesnars — I’m just like, ‘Dude, pay your dues, work your way up, you’re so good.’ He’s so ultra-talented in the ring, just like he was in the Octagon. But that’s never been his issue, his issue is his head, just getting himself mentally where he needs to be able to consistently perform. He’s trying to talk his way to the top, which I respect in some ways. But at the same time, you’re going to get there, just work your way up the right way. So, I never really liked that. It really kind of kicked off, there was an incident with his now ex-wife where he was kind of taking her side as she was — for better or worse — body-shaming, that’s the only way I can put it, my wife and some of the other girls in the locker room, completely unprovoked. I understand, as a husband, you’ve gotta take your wife’s side, but you also can zip your trap sometimes. I felt like him taking her side, I just was like, ‘You gotta shut up.’ Essentially, the cat opens his mouth when he shouldn’t. Says things that he shouldn’t, when he shouldn’t, and it gets him in some hot water. I don’t like the way he conducts himself.“
• During the same interview, Rollins stated that he initially did not want to work with Riddle on the main roster over disparaging comments made by Riddle’s then wife towards Becky Lynch at the time. Rollins stated “I’m a professional, and so I get the job done,” Rollins said. “I think anybody that I’ve ever worked with, you could ask, no matter what has gone on backstage, when the red light is on and we’re out there in front of the crowd, it’s a different person. Backstage is a different situation as well. There’s Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle backstage, like we’re never going out, hanging out, going to bars, partying, doing anything like that — probably not even sharing a slice of pizza. And there’s Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle in the ring. Like I said, I’m a professional, so I handle things accordingly on both sides of the camera.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• Following his match for the Intercontinental Championship at WWE’s Clash at the Castle event, Sheamus posted a photo on Twitter revealing the bruised damage on his chest from all of the stiff chops delivered to him by Gunther.
• As noted before, former WWE talent Velveteen Dream, real name Patrick Clark, was arrested twice this month in Florida for various charges. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that one high level WWE source spoken to stated that Dream’s name was the one person that WWE officials did not have any interest in potentially bringing back to the company under the new regime due to his past legal issues. This stance reportedly was prior to Clark’s recent set of arrests which Meltzer stated greatly decreased whatever lingering chance he had for a potential future return to the company.
• Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that WWE is currently estimated to have generated a live gate of around $8.5 million to $9.5 million for each night of their WrestleMania 38 event this past April in Arlington, Texas. Thurston stated that this would be a paid attendance of around 57,000 for each night. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why WWE stopped announcing the actual numbers for their live gates for WrestleMania two-night events in recent years is very likely due to the amount is much lower per show than what the company generated for their traditional one-night events during the period of 2015 to 2019.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 9,401 (8,500 paid) for their Aug. 26th SmackDown show in Detroit, MI, 3,791 for their Aug. 27th house show event in Springfield, MA, 3,286 for their Aug. 28th house show event in Manchester, NH, and 7,318 (6,500 paid) for their Aug. 29th RAW show in Pittsburgh, PA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering reportedly worked as a guest coach at WWE’s Performance Center this past week, according to PWInsider.
• Besides Ellering, Westin Blake, former Wesley Blake in WWE, reportedly also recently worked as a guest coach at the Performance Center, according to Fightful Select.
• During a recent interview with United Kingdom-based newspaper Metro, Liv Morgan revealed that she was recently hired for an acting role for an upcoming film project. Morgan stated “I have a special surprise coming up as far as acting that I cannot say anything about. I cannot give a clue without it being very obvious. But there is some news coming out very, very, very soon that is a literal dream come true! I’m sure if you think about it hard enough, you can figure it out.“
• WWE and cable television network A&E reportedly are currently working on a new Biography: WWE Legends episode based on Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Warner Bros Discovery and BT Sport announced that they have recently officially completed their deal to form a new joint venture that will see BT Sport and Eurosport UK being merged into one new sports-based network for the United Kingdom. In terms of wrestling importance, Warner Bros Discovery is the parent company of TNT and TBS who are the home networks of AEW while BT Sport is the home network of WWE in the U.K.
• During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque confirmed that the rumors and reports of Brock Lesnar walking out of WWE following Vince McMahon’s retirement announcement are somewhat true. Levesque stated “There’s some truth to it. Yeah. Look, you have to understand Brock’s relationship with Vince and Brock’s relationship with combat sports period. He has a relationship with Dana [White] that’s a certain way, he has a relationship with Vince that’s a certain way. But Vince is the devil he knows and Brock is inherently not a trusting person, it’s just how he is. He doesn’t like people. [laughs]. But he’s not a trusting person and I think in that moment, where you just hear Vince is out, [he thinks] ‘Well now what’s going to happen? I’m out of here.’ You know what I mean? I think there was just a moment of that, nothing more, nothing less. It’s not like he looked at it like ‘I don’t like anybody else here, I don’t trust anybody else here.’ There was a moment of ‘I’m going to walk on this’ and then we have conversations, he comes back.” (Transcript h/t: ITRWrestling.com)
• During the same interview, Levesque gave his thoughts on the advice McMahon gave to him prior to his departure from WWE. Levesque stated “He did. In some manner, I think for both of us, it’s a tough situation for him. It’s even hard for me to picture now that he’s not in the equation, and he’s not, in any way, shape or form, but it’s hard to think, that he’s not there. In that moment, it’s hard for him to think about it and for somebody coming in and doing what he’s done for 50 years successfully, better than anybody in the world. There was definitely that moment, definitely giving me advice. Most of that advice was centered around, ‘this is what you’ve been sitting next to me, learning how to do for 25 years. You got this. Just be confident in your decision-making. Listen to people. Be open to ideas. Be collaborative with other people.’ Things like that, that was wonderful advice. It’s my father-in-law, he’s not involved in the day-to-day business, but if I had to say to him, ‘I find this difficult to deal with,’ he would give me some overall advice. ‘Listen to people, work with the team, do these things.’ That guidance, he’s a wealth of knowledge. In our positions now, with myself, Steph, and Nick Khan, and so many other people that are an integral part of WWE, he’s built such an amazing team for all of us, that you have such a support system around you. I couldn’t imagine trying to do this if you were by yourself and trying to do it. Having that team around you, that support system around you, it’s a wonderful team. It’s a lot of work, but it makes the work fun and easy. One of the things that he, I don’t want to say outright said, but he alluded to me, ‘You’re going to do things. You cannot think about how I would do things. You have to think about what you want to do and how you feel it’s best for the product. I might not like it, but I understand why you’re going to do the things you’re going to do. You have to do what you feel is right.’ It is a tough thing to get to. No one works together for that long of a period of time, everyone thinks, ‘I would have done that slightly differently.’ Doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong. We use the term all the time in the business, chocolate and vanilla. I want chocolate, you want vanilla, one of us has to pick a flavor, he would always pick the flavor. Now it’s my turn to pick the flavor. It’s all good, it’s all ice cream, but it’s my time to pick the flavor and I have to be confident in those decisions. I can’t look back and say, ‘what would Vince want to have?’ It just wouldn’t be authentic then.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• AEW CEO Tony Khan announced on Twitter that tonight’s All Out 2022 event recently surpassed $1 million in ticket sales. Khan also stated that this is the third AEW event in a row to generate $1 million or more in ticket sales for the company.
• During a recent interview with the Superstar Crossover podcast, Chris Jericho gave his thoughts about what he considers are misconceptions regarding AEW’s large roster size. Jericho stated “Maybe the misconception is that we have too big of a roster. I mean it’s hard to get everybody on TV with only 3 hours a week but it’s important to have a big roster and to have a lot of variety and a lot of different guys on different levels. You’ve got vets like myself and CM Punk. Then, you’ve kind of got guys in their prime like Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega, then you’ve got the up-and-comers like Daniel Garcia, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and Jungle Boy. It’s really like a grade football team where you have different levels of what you need to have a successful team. That’s why our team has been so successful.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the idea that AEW has a core of around the same 100,000 to 125,000 people who constantly buy their PPV events is not true based on data from PPV providers and other sources. Meltzer reported that based on the past year, around 58.5% of all buyers for AEW events only purchased one event, 15.8% only purchased two events, 10.5% only purchased three events, 8.5% only purchased four events, and 6.4% purchased all of AEW’s five events during the year. Meltzer also reported that the total number of unique one-time buyers for AEW events this past year was 573,000 buyers. In terms of PPV buyers core base, Meltzer reported that AEW’s real core is around 10,000 buyers for those who purchase every event and 13,000 who purchase almost every event out of 100,000 buyers.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav currently has plans to prioritize TNT and TBS into the main television networks for the company. Zaslav reportedly is also considering the idea to add HBO and HBO Max content to both networks and another idea to move all of their Turner Sports properties to one network while the other becomes more heavily focused on non-sports entertainment shows. Meltzer reported that it is currently not known how these plans will affect AEW’s status with the two networks until around the time of the start of their negotiations for a new television deal. Meltzer reported that should WBD view AEW internally as a sports property once these new plans are put into place, that would greatly improve AEW’s chances at securing a big increase for their next deal and less so if they are viewed as an entertainment property instead due to the recent major budget cuts on scripted programming.
• As noted before, AEW’s upcoming AEW Fight Forever game is currently not planned to feature FTR among the game’s playable roster. FTR had been planned at one point to be included and even had in-game models created but those plans were dropped earlier this year. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Yukes and AEW are currently working on plans to release several DLC roster packs as part of their post-launch plans for the game. Meltzer reported that it is very likely FTR would be among the notable names included in these planned DLC packs to help boost interest and sales for the packs. In regards to Owen Hart, Meltzer reported that AEW had made a deal with Martha Hart for Owen to be included in the launch roster of the game. A similar deal reportedly was made for Brodie Lee with his family.
• Hangman Adam Page reportedly was absent from AEW’s shows during the week of August 24th due to hum suffering an illness at the time, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this was the reason why Page was absent at ringside from Dark Order’s Trios Tag tournament match.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 6,300 (5,900 paid) for their Aug. 31st Dynamite show in Chicago, IL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with NBC Chicago, Tony Khan gave his thoughts about the reports and rumors of the recent backstage drama issues within AEW. Khan stated “I’m actually pretty excited about it. I think our roster is going to be stronger than it’s been in a long time. There is a lot of competition for spots. As long as everybody is being professional, it’s professional wrestling, the first word is professional. The second word is wrestling. This is not a doll factory or a normal place of business. Our product here is professional wrestling matches. People not liking each other, not getting along, can actually be positive, as opposed to most workplaces where people not getting along is detrimental. Not everybody needs to get along in the pro wrestling business, they don’t all need to be friends to do this. I’ll be honest, a lot of pro wrestlers don’t like each other, that’s fine with me. I don’t think people watch wrestling to watch people be friends.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During a recent interview with Forbes, Tony Khan denied the rumors and reports that CM Punk was responsible for Colt Cabana being moved from AEW to Ring of Honor’s roster. Khan stated “There is certainly a perception out there that I don’t think is accurate that when I purchased Ring of Honor and also [as] some of the contracts were coming up and I was starting to make moves—whether it was renewing them in most cases or not renewing them or in some cases reassigning people—there was a misconception that was perpetuated unfairly that CM Punk had anything to do with me wanting to move Colt Cabana to the Ring of Honor roster when his contract came up. I will clarify that, just to take it head on, that he [Punk] had nothing to do with any of the contracts I picked up, whether I did or didn’t. But in particular, I did pick up Colt Cabana’s contract and gave him a similar contract to do different work. I don’t know if it was fair that that got perpetuated…I also didn’t think that was fair to Punk.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show featured W. Morrissey’s return to AEW. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Morrissey recently signed an official contract with the company. These same sources also stated that following Morrissey’s departure from Impact Wrestling, he had been expected to return to AEW within the near future.
• This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show also featured former wrestler and AEW producer Ace Steel making a surprise on-screen appearance. Steel appeared in two segments with his most notable one being his promo segment with CM Punk. Following his promo segment, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that AEW officials fined Steel backstage for the explicit curse word he uttered live on-air. The reason for the fine reportedly was due to AEW officials had informed their talent prior to the show to hold back on explicit language for their promos due to the very important nature of this week’s set of shows and All Out event for the company. Steel reportedly was praised backstage by AEW officials for immediately taking responsibility for his mistake and paid his fine which AEW will be donating to a charity.
• As noted before, Thunder Rosa recently suffered a back-related injury and was pulled from the card of tonight’s AEW All Out 2022 event. During a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Tony Khan stated that Rosa had wanted to relinquish her AEW Women’s Championship due to her injury but he decided against it due to him wanting her to still be recognized as a champion while an Interim champion would be crowned instead during her absence. Khan stated “I have told her [Thunder Rosa] just as I mentioned to CM Punk when he was injured that, ‘I would like for you to remain the champion. Get healthy, come back’ and we’ll have a big unification match to crown an undisputed champion when Thunder Rosa returns. Both of them offered to relinquish the title and I told each of them, separately, when they came back from their injuries, they would still be recognized as the champion but by the time they came back, there would be an interim champion which would set up an exciting situation. Obviously, we’re living that situation right now with Punk and Mox. So when Thunder Rosa comes back, she’ll have a great interim champion to fight and we’ll find out Sunday who the interim champion is.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• During a recent interview with the Wrestling Observer Radio, Tony Khan stated that AEW is currently expected to gross over $100 million for this year. Khan stated “This is the first time there have been two wrestling companies that have the ability to be the number one show that night on cable and two wrestling companies that are grossing the kind of money…I’m not grossing a billion dollars, but I’m going to gross over $100 million this year. That’s pretty unprecedented and it’s been over 20 years since anybody is doing that. To me, success is sustaining it.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• House of Glory recently announced a new match for the card of their Genesis event on September 24th in Jamaica, New York. This will be a HOG Tag Team Championship match of Stu Grayson & Evil Uno vs. The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) (c).
• Saturday’s N-1 Victory 2022 Grand Final event for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Osaka, Japan featured Kaito Kiyomiya defeating Hideki Suzuki to be crowned the winner of this year’s tournament and earned a future title shot for the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
• Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly generated a paid attendance of 559 for their Aug. 27th N-1 Victory 2022 event in Nagoya and 825 for their Aug. 28th N-1 Victory 2022 event in Kawasaki, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that former WWE talent Bray Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, recently was given what was described as a “very out of left field” offer to sign with a new startup promotion that is planning to launch within the near future. These same sources reportedly also heavily implied that this offer was from Freddie Prinze Jr for his upcoming new promotion. It was also reported that those spoken to stated that AEW had some interest in potentially signing Wyatt to a deal but details regarding if talks ever happened between the two sides nor how far along they went are currently not known.
• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre talent Templario reportedly suffered a serious shoulder injury at CMLL’s Super Viernes event on August 26th in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Templario will need surgery to repair his injury and will not be able to compete at CMLL’s upcoming 89th Anniversary Show later this month.
• CMLL recently announced that their World Grand Prix 2022 event on August 19th managed to generate the highest amount of streaming buys for a CMLL event in company history. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while the PPV buys is likely a low number due to the PPV market for wrestling not being major in Mexico, CMLL would still be pleased with the number. CMLL officials reportedly were also very impressed with many of the foreign-born talent brought in for this year’s event and currently has plans to bring some of them back for future CMLL events.
• Lucha Libre AAA reportedly is currently in talks with Jeff Jarrett and Conrad Thompson over potential U.S. expansion plans, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that while no deal has been signed with Jarrett as of the time of his report, AAA officials want to work with Thompson to help open up the United States market for the company. Meltzer also reported that his sources stated that AAA officials are also trying to secure a new television deal for the US but all of the current offers they have received were stated to be very one-sided in favor of television networks.
• As noted before, Thunder Rosa recently suffered a back-related injury and was pulled from AEW’s All Out 2022 event tonight. Besides AEW, Rosa is also currently expected to be pulled from AAA’s upcoming Triplemania XXX: Mexico City event due to similar injury-related issues. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AAA officials recently contacted AEW regarding the potential of replacing Rosa with another AEW female talent for their scheduled Reina de Reinas match at the event. Meltzer reported that no deal has been finalized between the two companies as of the time of his report.
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,513 for their Aug. 27th 5STAR Grand Prix 2022 event in Tokyo, 824 for their Aug. 28th 5STAR Grand Prix 2022 event in Hamamatsu, and 400 for their Aug. 26th New Blood 4 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Royal Quest 2022 event on October 2nd in London, England. This will be a IWGP Women’s Championship tournament First Round match of Ava White vs. “The Alpha Female” Jazzy Gabert.
• NJPW also recently announced that Hiroshi Tanahashi will be appearing at their New Japan Showdown 2022 event on October 16th in Los Angeles, California.
• As noted before, Impact Wrestling talent Joe Doering recently stepped away from the company and his wrestling career for the foreseeable future due to him currently dealing with a new bout of brain cancer. Impact recently released a new special Doering shirt on their official online shop with all proceeds generated going directly towards Doering to help financially assist his medical costs.
• Japanese wrestling legend Genichiro Tenryu reportedly recently suffered a cervical cord injury and was hospitalized in Tokyo, Japan, according to Fightful. Jeremy Lambert reported that the announcement was first made by the Tenryu Project stating that Tenryu had been diagnosed with a “very high risk of sudden death” if he was not hospitalized. NJPW announcer Chris Charlton reported on Twitter that Tenryu’s health condition recently stabilized and he is no longer under an immediate risk of death.
• Saturday’s The Art of War event for Game Changer Wrestling in Hoffman Estates, Illinois featured Alex Colon & John Wayne Murdoch defeating The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe), BUSSY (Effy & Allie Katch), Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice & Mance Warner), and Los Mazisos (Miedo Extremo & Ciclope) in a GCW Tag Team Championship The Art of War match to be crowned the new champions.
• As noted before, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler filed a lawsuit against Hardeman County, Tennessee and Sheriff John Doolen over claims of negligence that resulted in the wrongful death of his son Brian Christopher Lawler while he was incarcerated in their jail. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the trial for Lawler’s lawsuit was recently rescheduled from its original date of October 31st to a new date of November 17th based on recent court documents.