Weekend Roundup: Batista, Dabba-Kato, WWE Ratings, The Rock’s Mom Car Accident, Keith Lee, Jon Moxley, Raven, Indies

WWE

• This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,263,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.
• The AV Club recently released an article stating that Dave Bautista, Batista in WWE, is the best ever wrestler who turned actor in their view. Their main argument revolves around Bautista being more versatile as an actor and performing in a larger range in roles than the likes of John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for notable wrestler comparisons.
• In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Batista gave his thoughts on him being hopeful of being inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame this year. Batista stated “I hope so, but I can’t say for sure. I can say that I’m trying. I am trying.”
• Saturday’s NXT Vengeance Day 2023 event in Charlotte, North Carolina featured the surprise return of Dabba-Kato, formerly known as Commander Azeez. Dabba-Kato made his surprise appearance during the Best 2-out-of-3 match between Apollo Crews and Carmelo Hayes accidentally costing Crews the match after his run-in save preventing Trick Williams from attacking Crews. Following the match, Dabba-Kato and Crews teased a reunion in the ring before Dabba-Kato launched a sneak attack turning against Crews in the process.
• Saturday’s NXT Vengeance Day 2023 event also featured Dijak suffering a nasty looking dislocated finger injury. This injury took place during the NXT North American Championship and resulted in a potential broken finger. Following the match, Dijak posted a photo of his injured finger on Twitter.
• WWE reportedly currently has plans in place for Brock Lesnar to work at this month’s Elimination Chamber 2023 event and this April’s WrestleMania 39 event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In regards to WrestleMania 39, Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that Lesnar’s opponent for the event has yet to be finalized but it could be Bobby Lashley based on the current storyline between the two.
• As noted before, the January 30th episode of RAW drew 2,114,000 viewers and a 0.64 key demographic rating. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that RAW’s viewership was the third highest for a RAW show since the January 4, 2021 episode. Meltzer reported that this was also the first time that a RAW show skewed the closest towards AEW’s Dynamite in terms of youngest skewing sports show for the week due to the large gains from their younger key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that only Dynamite, soccer, NBA, and possibly NHL games are expected to have skewed younger than RAW for this past week. WWE’s RAW is typically categorized as an entertainment and not sports type show when it comes to weekly skew rankings.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE’s RAW averaged around 1,593,000 viewers per show for the fourth quarter of this past year, down 2.3% compared to 2021’s fourth quarter of 1,631,000 viewers per show average. USA Network reportedly averaged around 544,000 viewers per show in primtetime for the same quarter while the cable television industry in general was down 11.1% for primetime viewership average compared to the same quarter in 2021.
• In regards to SmackDown, Meltzer reported that SmackDown averaged around 2,061,000 viewers per show for the fourth quarter of this past year, up 6.7% compared to the same quarter in 2021. FOX reportedly averaged 2,931,000 viewers per show in primetime, down 25.5% compared to 2021’s fourth quarter of 3,933,000 viewers per show average. Network cable television reportedly was down 8.6% for primetime viewership average compared to the same quarter in 2021.
• As noted before, Cody Rhodes made his official in-ring return from injury at last week’s Royal Rumble 2023 event in San Antonio, Texas. Dave Meltzer reported that while Rhodes has resumed full-time work on the road starting on Saturday, his sources stated that Rhodes is currently not scheduled to make any appearances on SmackDown and instead is currently booked for all RAW shows leading up to WrestleMania 39. Meltzer speculated that this will likely change the closer WWE gets to this year’s WrestleMania 39.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason for the recent layoffs from WWE’s corporate side is due to the current belief that the company is lowering its costs as part of the process for their potential sale to a new owner.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 7,555 (6,700 paid) for their Jan. 27th SmackDown show in Laredo, TX and 6,828 (6,100 paid) for their Jan. 30th RAW show in Tulsa, OK, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 8,260 tickets for their Feb. 6th RAW show in Orlando, FL, 4,524 tickets for their Feb. 10th SmackDown show in Uncasville, CT, 8,515 tickets for their Feb. 13th RAW show in Brooklyn, NY, 12,993 tickets for their Feb. 17th SmackDown show in Montreal, 13,496 tickets for their Feb. 18th Elimination Chamber 2023 event in Montreal, Canada, 6,427 tickets for their Feb. 20th RAW show in Ottawa, Canada, 5,470 tickets for their Feb. 24th SmackDown show in Evansville, IN, 2,301 tickets for their Feb. 25th house show event in Champaign, IL, 2,696 tickets for their Feb. 26th house show event in Rockford, IL, 5,380 tickets for their Feb. 27th RAW show in Grand Rapids, MI, 6,066 tickets for their March 3rd SmackDown show in Washington, DC, 4,093 tickets for their March 4th house show event in Toronto, Canada, 2,588 tickets for their March 4th house show event in Syracuse, NY, 4,340 tickets for their March 5th house show event in Trenton, NJ, 5,185 tickets for their March 6th RAW show in Boston, MA, 4,721 tickets for their March 10th SmackDown show in Pittsburgh, PA, 2,884 tickets for their March 11th house show event in Youngstown, OH, and 5,197 tickets for their March 12th house show event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE recently released their official “Behind The Scenes” video for this past January’s Royal Rumble 2023 event on their official YouTube channel.
• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently announced on Instagram that his mother was involved in a serious car accident this past Wednesday in Los Angeles, California. Johnson stated that his mother escaped mostly unharmed and thanked the Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments for their efforts in helping save her.
• During a recent interview with WWE’s The Bump, Cody Rhodes gave his thoughts on his goal to bring back the iconic WWF “Winged Eagle” Heavyweight Championship belt should he become the WWE Champion in the future. Rhodes stated “Through my youth, the WWE that I was watching was really synonymous with the Winged Eagle. I think there’s a lot of people who love the Winged Eagle design. Some people like the ‘Big Eagle’ [the design used from 1998-2002], whatever, but the Winged Eagle was the one for me. Today’s design with the giant W is also incredibly special. It’s this walking billboard for the promotion.” Rhodes also gave his thoughts on being able to bring back the classic Intercontinental Championship in 2011 during his previous time in the company. Rhodes stated “All the titles, it’s the equity within them that makes them special. From a design standpoint, I just have a lot of love and reverence for that one, and it’s just a little pipe dream. I had the same pipe dream with the Intercontinental Title and I was lucky enough to make that come to fruition. So, follow along because this is where the fun begins.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a separate recent interview with the Impaulsive podcast, Rhodes gave his thoughts on the initial reaction people had in AEW over his oversized American Nightmare tattoo on his neck. Rhodes stated “I don’t want to run for President anymore. That seems like a terrible idea. The tattoo on the neck…the dude drew it, and I always liked the design. The American Nightmare design was what it was. I powered through. I have one tattoo on my chest for my dad. I don’t have a lot of tattoos. He’s powering through and is like, ‘Do you want to take a break?’ I kept thinking, ‘I’m good.’ I wish I had taken a break because I didn’t know it was double the size of the drawing I saw. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m wrestling in two days.’ He said, either do it months out or two days before. I don’t know if it was a mistake or I wasn’t paying attention. A lot of people were like, ‘Neck? Neck?’ My boss at the time [Tony Khan] was like, ‘No way, it’s not going to be your neck.’ Then I walk into the production meeting and Jim Ross is [stunned]. The whole meeting was just staring at it, not listening to anything.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• In a recent interview with the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Brock Anderson gave his thoughts about his start in a career in wrestling and attending an AEW tryout that led to his signing with the company. Anderson stated “I knew since I was twelve years old that this is what I wanted to do. Once I graduated high school, I looked at our parents and I [told them] that there was no point in me going to college. If I gotta go to another company, if I gotta go to Japan… that immediately got [shut down]. Don’t ever bring that up again. [They were like] ‘Go get your education and we’ll double back to this when you have that piece of paper in your hand.’ So I went and did that. I graduated in December 2019 from East Carolina [University]. Then in January 2020, I wanted to start rolling. I started training, I was training here in Charlotte with Lodi from WCW, he’s got a school about fifteen minutes up the road. Went in there about 2-3 times a week for about a year. I think somehow Cody, just between conversations between him and my dad, had figured out what I was doing and that I was training, keeping track of my progress. I guess he called and was like ‘Anytime he wants to come up, he can have a try out.’ So, I think maybe in February 2021, he [thought I was ready]. This was COVID Jacksonville, so it was different. I walked in, it was a different feeling that Daily’s was doing TV. It was pretty surreal. I had a tryout match with John Skyler, who y’all know. It was pretty nerve wrecking because everybody was out there. This is when Cody was still doing the classes in the afternoon. But everybody’s out there. I remember Cash [Wheeler] was out there. I remember Hobbs was out there. There were roster guys out there. So there was probably 50 people out there watching me when I usually had 5 people watching. I don’t know if I just exceeded their expectations because their expectations were so low, but I got pretty good feedback from everybody. Cody came up to me and said ‘We can have that match on Dark tonight, if you want.’ I signed that day. It all happened so fast, I can’t really remember any details other than that. It was just boom boom boom boom.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 4,600 (4,100 paid) for their Feb. 1st Dynamite show in Dayton, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 3,350 tickets for their Feb. 8th Dynamite show in El Paso, TX, 2,732 tickets for their Feb. 15th Dynamite show in Laredo, TX, 5,929 tickets for their Feb. 22nd Dynamite show in Phoenix, AZ, 2,818 tickets for their March 1st Dynamite show in San Francisco, and 6,537 tickets for their March 5th Revolution 2023 event in San Francisco, CA, 3,315 for their March 8th Dynamite show in Sacramento, CA, and 6,382 tickets for their March 15th Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW talent Ricky Starks was seen accompaning Cody Rhodes into the Alamodome at WWE’s Royal Rumble 2023 event last weekend in San Antonio, Texas. Dave Meltzer reported that Starks’ visit was simply due to the two are close friends and he wanted to visit his former AEW workplace buddy. Meltzer reported that while WWE and AEW do not exactly encourage their talents to hang out with talents from rival companies, this has been the case a lot over the past several years. Despite this issue, both companies reportedly still allow their talents to bring family and friends to shows regardless of where they work.
• Keith Lee has been noticeably absent from AEW programming since this past December’s Holiday Bash 2022 show. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Lee’s absence is not due to any injury-related issues and simply just him still selling the cinder block attack by Swerve Strickland and his Mogul Affiliates group on the show. Meltzer reported that Lee is currently planned to be making his return soon and resume his storyline feud with Strickland.
• In a recent digital exclusive interview with AEW, Swerve Strickland gave his thoughts about his Mogul Affiliates stable in the company. Strickland stated “[People] think these guys are changing me. Maybe this is something I’ve always been. You ever thought about that? Has anybody in AEW ever thought about that? Maybe this is what Swerve always was, or what I’m destined to be. I’m noticing that nobody’s willing to take it to lengths they have to to be successful. The ones that do get all the glory. Speaking of glory, Swerve in Our Glory is dead because of Keith Lee not being able to do what was necessary to win, to be successful. To win championships, to get this money. I am. I see the vision, I see it, way before anybody else does. All the doubters, I see them. I see them every day, every week, taking all this mess about Swerve and Mogul Affiliates. This is a brilliant idea. Why are these guys with him? I don’t care. I know what this is about. Now as far as Dustin Rhodes and Brian Pillman Jr., some other privileged guys getting everything they wanted, getting hand-fed all the success, all the legacy, all the glory from all their fathers, getting them them into the business. I had to work for mine. I didn’t have a third-generation, second generation, first generation father or mother to get me to where I am. I had to do it on my own. Parker, did you have that? Trench, did you have that? No, none of them had anything. We’re more in common than anybody thinks. We gonna build this from the ground up. This is the first generation of something that you’ve never seen before, something that AEW has never seen before, something the wrestling industry has never seen before. Right now I’m loving what we’re doing. Whoever’s in the way, [mimics shooting and laughs].” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During a recent interview with The Justin Kinner Show podcast, Jon Moxley gave his thoughts on what he enjoys the most about wrestling and why he does not like to take a break from it. Moxley stated “If I were smart, I would try to get the most amount of money for the least amount of work possible, but believe it or not, in professional wrestling, I used to do it on purpose and for free, and still do because I enjoy it. It’s recreation for me as much as anything else. What else are you going to do with your time? It’s the coolest job in the world. Some people like to go golfing, I like to step into a cage and attack people with weapons and stab people with sharp things. There is really no other level of adrenaline you can reach at a certain point when you’ve been doing this as long as I have. I need it for my soul to get out there and get loose and get a good sweat on. Get a little blood coming from my eyebrow, it’s relaxing to me. I enjoy pro wrestling.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, co-host Matt Hardy gave his thoughts about the recent tease of his “Broken Matt” persona on a recent episode of Being The Elite and his vision for the character’s potential return. Hardy stated “A few weeks ago on BTE, people saw Broken Matt for a second. The mentality behind that clip was that was in my mind. You see me being buddy-buddy with Ethan Page, I look in the mirror for a second. He really threatened to fire Isiah, he was really having a terrible attitude towards Isiah. You can tell that it hurt Matt Hardy, when he went to the bathroom and he was on his own. It was a little bit of a look into my mind and my soul, and kind of where I’m at. You can see that I was very frustrated with having to go along with this with Ethan Page, that might help you read the story a little bit and where I’m at in actuality. But I was almost so frustrated with having to roll with Ethan Page’s punches that you can see Broken Matt was starting to appear. Not only am I old and beat up and 31 years deep and broken physically, I was also broken emotionally and mentally. I think if you see Broken Matt Hardy again, which I think there’s a great opportunity you do, it’s gonna be a very different version. It’s gonna be much more based in reality and just a guy who is broken physically, mentally, and emotionally, a lot of it because of Ethan Page.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Bloomberg recently released an article spotlighting AEW. In the article, Bryan Danielson recalled what Vince McMahon had asked him about AEW in 2020. The article stated “Bryan Danielson, one of WWE’s top stars, says that in early 2020 McMahon called him and asked a question that shocked the wrestler: “Do you see anything that AEW’s doing better than us?” Danielson, at home on paternity leave, spent the next two weeks watching every morsel of AEW programming and came to a conclusion: AEW committed more time to and placed more value on the craft of fighting in the ring. WWE’s shows were often marked by long segments of characters on the microphone and short matches. “It feels like you’re watching a wrestling show without any wrestling,” Danielson told McMahon.”
• In a recent interview with the Daily Star, Chris Jericho gave his thoughts on Brian Cage’s recent ring work performances in AEW. Jericho stated “I think Brian Cage over the last six months is the best Brian Cage has ever been. I think he’s finally starting to understand some of the psychology of wrestling rather than just moves and that sort of thing. He is one of a kind with his size and agility, but now there is more intensity and I think he’s really understanding who he is as a wrestler. Six months ago I might have said ‘Well, whatever, if he says that’s cool,’ but now I think he has become a way more valuable part of our roster and I would sign him for sure. Absolutely.”
• A recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast featured The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), Adam Page, Samoa Joe, Sonjay Dutt, Adam Cole, Christopher Daniels, and Jay Lethal as the guests. This episode featured each guest reflecting on their memories and experience working with the late Jay Briscoe. (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Former New Japan Pro Wrestling talent Kota Ibushi recently launched an official YouTube channel.
• MMA promotion RIZIN reportedly recently contacted Kota Ibushi regarding a potential MMA match between himself and boxer Manny Pacquiao for an upcoming event from the company, according to Tokyo Sports. (English translation via 411Mania.com)
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 760 for their Jan. 27th Road to the New Beginning 2023 event in Funabashi, 934 for their Jan. 28th Road to the New Beginning 2023 event in Koga, 1,150 for their Jan. 30th Road to the New Beginning 2023 event in Iwate, 702 for their Jan. 31st Road to the New Beginning 2023 event in Akita, and 1,216 for their Feb. 1st Road to the New Beginning 2023 event in Aomori, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WrestleCon recently announced that The Young Bucks and WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg will be making an appearance for the company at their WrestleCon 2023 convention from March 30th to April 2nd in Los Angeles, California.
• A new wrestling-related book based on the history of professional wrestling is currently scheduled to be released this June, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that this upcoming new book is being produced by Jeffery Martin and is titled Professional Wrestling in Mississippi: A History.
• Impact Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their No Surrender 2023 event on February 24th in Las Vegas Nevada. This will be a #1 Contender for the Impact World Championship match of winner of Brian Myers/Dirty Dango vs. winner of Shera/PCO vs. winner of Steve Maclin/Rhino vs. winner of Eddie Edwards/Heath. It was also announced that the qualifying matches for this upcoming four-way match will be taking place over the course of this month.
• In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Sami Callihan gave his thoughts about his current storyline with The Design in Impact. Callihan stated “I’ve pretty much done everything that there is to do in IMPACT Wrestling and I love to be able to tell different types of stories. I think right now, with this story, stay tuned because you guys are all in for a crazy ride. We’ve just touched the surface of what this entire thing will be.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• This past Wednesday’s episode of Power Slap drew 284,000 viewers and a 0.09 key demographic rating on TBS, according to ShowBuzz Daily. This is down compared to last week’s 413,000 viewers and a 0.13 key demographic rating.
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 563 for their Jan. 28th Triangle Derby event in Funabashi and 370 for their Jan. 29th Triangle Derby event in Maebashi, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• DDT Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 777 for their Jan. 29th Sweet Dreams! 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• As noted before, Jon Moxley is currently scheduled to make an appearance for Over The Top Wrestling at their ScrapperMania 7 event on March 18th in Dublin, Ireland. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Moxley’s scheduled appearance for OTT is now in serious doubt due to Moxley currently being double booked for AEW’s first house show event in Troy, Ohio on the same date. Meltzer reported that making things worse for OTT is that they have been revolving their advertising and booking for this year’s ScrapperMania event around Moxley’s appearance.
• Black Label Pro Wrestling recently announced that Bryan Alvarez and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will be making an appearance for the company at their Observer This, Brother! event on March 25th in Crown Point, Indiana. It was also announced that Alvarez and Lawlor will be reuniting under their tag team name of Chop N Roll Express at the event.
• Coastal Championship Wrestling filed a trademark for “CCW Alive Wrestling” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on January 23rd to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. CCW also filed trademarks for “Coastal Championship Wrestling Bash at the Brew”, “Championship Wrestling from Florida”, and “The Last Territory” for similar purposes on January 24th.
• Former wrestler Raven reportedly made a surprise appearance for Major League Wrestling at their SuperFight 2023 event on Saturday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to PWInsider. Besides his on-screen appearance, Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Raven will also be working as a backstage producer for the company going forward.
• The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced three new matches for the card of their Nuff Said event on February 11th in Tampa, Florida. These are a singles match of Kevin Kiley (former Alex Riley in WWE) vs. EC3, NWA World Women’s Championship match of Angelina Love vs. Kamille (c), and a NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship match of Alex Taylor vs. Kerry Morton (c).
• House of Glory recently announced that KUSHIDA will be making his official debut for the company at their With Glory Comes Pride event on March 10th in New York City, New York.
• Josh Barnett announced that Jon Moxley will be making an appearance for Game Changer Wrestling at their Josh Barnett’s Bloodpsort 9 event on March 30th in Los Angeles, California.
• Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced the list of talent who will be making an appearance at their TJPW Live in Los Angeles event on March 31st in Los Angeles, California. This will be TJPW’s first ever event held in the United States.