Sat. Roundup: Omos, Firm Deletion Match Update, Dark Elevation Update, Impact, Alex Hammerstone Injury Update, Indies

WWE

• This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,298,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.
• As noted before, WWE announced additional draft pick selections during today’s SmackDown LowDown show. Fightful Select reported that several people spoken to stated that they had a “puzzled” reaction over some of the choices for undrafted free agents by WWE officials following today’s Supplemental round. Omos reportedly was mentioned specially as someone that should have been drafted considering WWE’s bookings for him against Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins.
• Friday’s WWE Draft 2023 themed SmackDown show in Corpus Christi, Texas featured AJ Styles making his return from injury. During the third round of the WWE Draft, special guest presenter Teddy Long announced that The O.C. was drafted to the SmackDown brand. Later in the show, The O.C. made their appearance for a promo segment but were interrupted by the Viking Raiders leading to a brawl between the two groups. This was Styles’ first appearance in WWE since this past December.
• As noted before, WWE officially debuted a new World Heavyweight Championship belt for the company this past Monday. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials had planned for some time to debut a new World title but felt they had to wait until some time after WrestleMania 39 to do so. The reason for this decision reportedly was related to the Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns match at the event.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that NXT talent Thea Hail had recently suffered a minor injury and this was the reason why she did not appear during this past Tuesday’s NXT Spring Breakin show.
• In a recent episode of the Oh … You Didn’t Know podcast, co-host Brian “Road Dogg” James gave his thoughts on why he felt that WWE had left “money on the table” in regards to not doing more with Samoa Joe during his time in the company. James stated “100 percent (there was more to Samoa Joe in WWE). I think Samoa Joe is money any way you look at it. He’s a great promo, I believe every word he says, he’s well-spoken, he’s a big tank of a man, he can fly around like a bumblebee. He shouldn’t be able to but he can and so it’s just incredible how much money is left on the table with Samoa Joe and look, I don’t know how he’s doing now or whatever but I just think from our company and me working with him, man, there was a lot left on the table with Samoa Joe.” James also stated that he also felt that WWE had mishandled Elias’ “The Drifter” character in the company. James stated “Look, I liked ‘The Drifter’ character (that Elias portrayed) as well. I think if we would have stuck to that, been committed and consistent with that kind of drifter psychology, I think it would have done well. I think we didn’t quite understand what we had. So we mishandled it. That’s when you get a new toy and you (rough it up) and that’s what we did and so, we did that several times. You (person who sent in the question) brought up several of them. Thank you so much for doing that. Some of the things I cry about at night and my failures as a creative writer in wrestling.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• In the same episode, Brian “Road Dogg” James also gave his thoughts on why WWE decided to not call-up Nikki Cross with the rest of Sanity for the group’s main roster debut. James stated “Look, I always think about stuff like this and this, you have to look at it from a business standpoint is how many people am I gonna bring up that I have to send on the road every live event? (Road Dogg said when asked why Cross did not debut with SAnitY on the main roster) Do I have to buy four tickets? Do I have to buy six? Do I just buy two that are working?… For the viewer, that feels funny. Like, ‘Oh, they came up and she didn’t.’ But so much thinking went into that before that decision was made. It was all weighed out in monies and dollars and cents because it’s a business and so you gotta think about that stuff before you just make those decisions. It was decided that she won’t come up now. She’ll come up later on her own in the women’s division so, I think she showed up later with them or something and that went for a minute and then he wanted to go in a different direction so, look, I love Big Damo, Eric Young, huge fan of EY. Friend as well. Just couldn’t be happier with all those guys. It just didn’t work out and that’s not their fault.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• As noted before, Minneapolis, Minnesota was recently revealed to be one of the finalists to be the host city of WrestleMania 41 in 2025. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE is currently not expected to make any official announcement regarding the host city for WrestleMania 41 any time soon. It was reported that Minneapolis city officials had sent representatives to WWE’s WrestleMania 39 event at the SoFi Stadium earlier this month to check out how the event came across and was run. It was reported that this is something that is commonly done by cities interested in hosting a potential WrestleMania event in the future. WWE officials reportedly currently view the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as being a world class venue and stadium officials have been aggressive in trying to get non-Vikings related events for their venue.
• In a recent interview with The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Ric Flair stated that he considers Vince McMahon to be his hero and he does not care what McMahon does in regards to the scandals against him. Flair stated “He’s my hero (Flair said about Vince McMahon). I judge people by how they treat me and he has treated me… I’ve never had anyone treat me with more respect ever in this business. He’s a great guy. I don’t care what he does. He’s my hero.” Flair also stated that he was recently invited to WWE’s Performance Center to be a guest speaker to help their developmental talent improve their promo skills. Flair stated “Yeah, they just did (WWE brought Flair in to talk to younger talents). It’s fun. They had me come into an interview class for NXT while they were in LA. Now they’re on this program where they’re hiring, bringing nothing but college athletes, D1 college athletes into the training center so when they’re in L.A., they brought in, I wanna say 50 or maybe even 100. I think it was 50 college athletes from all over the country and we went up to UCLA and they had them do endurance training. Then they had them come to a seminar where I talked about how to learn how to interview, which is really hard to explain because it’s gotta come from here. It’s gotta come from here and the biggest problem is really, if they got a hundred people, let’s say, at NXT right now, out of that 100 people, one percent might make it.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• As noted before, Shane McMahon suffered a serious knee injury that was later stated to be a torn quad injury during his impromptu match against The Miz at WWE’s WrestleMania 39 event earlier this month in Inglewood, California. McMahon recently provided an update on Instagram revealing that he had participated in a recent workout session. McMahon stated “Week 3 post op work @sandersfitperformancecenter with the king @last_king_2 @sandersfit_ LUKE MILLER DPT. @lukemillerp“
• In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Nia Jax stated that she had caught the “wrestling bug” in regards to being interested in resuming her wrestling career following her appearance at WWE’s Royal Rumble 2023 event this past January. Jax stated “So I had just agreed to do the Rumble, but the unsurety of myself right now, I wasn’t in the best shape and I wasn’t expecting to come back full-time because it takes a lot to come back full-time. We know it. It’s not just something like, ‘Oh, hey, I’m gonna hit the gym for a couple months and be in it.’ It’s a whole process, so I wasn’t expecting to come back full-time at the Rumble. I did catch the bug again when I got in the ring. I was like, ‘Oh, this feeling, this adrenaline that pumps through you.’ I was breathing super hard before I went out, and I had Kasama breathing me through it, and I had a bunch of the guys come by and give me a hug. So when my music hit, that feeling of like, ‘Oh shit, what the hell was I thinking? Let’s go.’ I did catch the bug after being in the Rumble. I was like maybe coming back would be a cool thing. If the people remember me, and the only thing I’d want to do is to come back and help anybody out I could. I would love to add to the division. It would be something that I would love to do. Mickie coming back and Mickie giving me psychology crap that I’ve never known, teaching me things that I never knew and getting in the ring with her, that was something that was so amazing to me in my career that I’m like, if I have any kind of knowledge that people would love to have, I would love to give and whatever I could do. So I don’t know. I don’t know.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Famous television personality and former mayor of Cincinnati Jerry Springer passed away this past Thursday at the age of 79. In regards to wrestling history, Springer was known for several appearances he made in WWE. Springer was the guest host for an episode of RAW in February 2010 and made another appearance in an episode of RAW in September 2014 as the moderator for an intervention segment involving The Bella Twins. Springer was also the host of the WWE Too Hot For TV series on the WWE Network.

AEW & ROH

• AEW announced a new match for the card of their May 10th Dynamite show in Detroit, Michigan. This is a Steel Cage match of Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley.
• Friday’s AEW Rampage show in Sunrise, Florida featured the official announcement of The Firm Deletion match between The Firm and The Hardys, Isiah Kassidy, & HOOK at the Hardy Compound will be taking place at next week’s Rampage show.
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW had taped The Firm Deletion match this past Thursday at the Hardy Compound. It was reported that AEW producer Giancarlo Dittamo helped with the production and filming of this match.
• As noted before, AEW is currently rumored to have dropped their Dark Elevation series following FITE TV listing this past Monday’s show as being the final episode. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while AEW has yet to make any official announcement, AEW officials have recently held talks regarding the future and potential cancellation of their Dark Elevation series.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW had given out over 60,000 presale codes this past Thursday for those in the waiting list for the upcoming All In event. Meltzer reported that this amount is currently only behind All Out 2019 for largest ever presale wait list for an AEW event in AEW history.
• As noted before, Miro has been absent from AEW since this past September due to creative plans issues between him and AEW for a return. Dave Meltzer reported that there has been no new details regarding Miro’s current status beyond him still being under contract with AEW based on his sources.
• As noted before, Kenny Omega’s contract with AEW was originally believed to expire in early 2023 but it is now currently expected to expire in late of this year due to the addition of injury time. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there have not been any new details as of this past Thursday regarding the status of Omega and AEW’s talks for a new potential contract based on his sources. Besides Omega, Meltzer reported that the Young Bucks and Adam Cole’s contracts with AEW are also currently set to expire by the end of this year.
• As noted before, Kota Ibushi is currently interested in signing a potential contract with AEW in the future. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there has not been any movement towards a potential deal between Ibushi and AEW. Those spoken to close to Ibushi stated that he is currently not interested in working a full-time schedule following his return from injury but is open to traveling for big matches that he is interested in doing. Meltzer reported that this was the reason why Ibushi decided to work at Game Changer Wrestling’s Bloodport 9 event for a match against “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
• This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Sunrise, Florida featured a promo segment between Adam Cole and Chris Jericho. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Jericho’s promo response to Cole shown on the giant video screen was something that had been pre-taped beforehand due to Jericho not actually being at the show. The reason reportedly was due to Jericho is currently on tour with Fozzy and was not able to make an in-person appearance for AEW’s show.
• NBC’s Peacock recently announced that the upcoming video game-based Twisted Metal television series will be debuting on their service on July 27th. This upcoming series features Samoa Joe as the voice actor of Sweet Tooth on the show.
• In a recent interview with Stephanie Chase, Nigel McGuinness gave his thoughts about his reaction when he learned that Tony Khan would be purchasing Ring of Honor from Sinclair. McGuinness stated “I was excited (to hear Tony Khan acquired ROH). I was excited to see what Tony was gonna do with the company, what his plans were. That was one of the first questions I had (for) him when I first actually got him on the phone was what his plans were for the company? He’s done so much in terms of expanding the fan base and the ability for professional wrestlers to make a living through AEW that I was super happy to see him get a hold of Ring of Honor. I mean that’s arguably been a lot of the issue with Ring of Honor over the course of its history is that there was always the product and there was always the passion and the guys that were constantly evolving the style of professional wrestling. If you look at the history of professional wrestling, I don’t think you can make an argument. You look at a lot of the guys that came through Ring of Honor, where they are today. You look at the style of the in-ring product and back in the early 2000s, that was obviously where it was developing. I mean obviously, Ring of Honor followed on from ECW and from All Japan and other places as well. It didn’t come out from thin air. But that being as it was, there was always the issue, there just wasn’t the money to get it to that next stage and thank God for Cary Silkin who without his support and funding, Ring of Honor just would have died before it had become anything. But he never had the sort of money, the Tony Khan money to get it to that stage and that sort of platform that hopefully we’re gonna be able to get it to now.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Thank Me Later event on June 17th in Los Angeles, California. The first is a singles match of Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Nick Gage. The other is a singles match of Maki Itoh vs. Rina Yamashita.
• GCW also recently announced that “Speedball” Mike Bailey will be making an appearance for the company at their Cage of Survival event on June 4th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• Impact Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Under Siege 2023 event on May 26th in London, Ontario, Canada. This is an Impact Knockouts World Championship Last Chance match of Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo (c).
• Ricky Morton, Brian Myers, and Tommy Dreamer reportedly worked as backstage producers for Impact’s television tapings on Friday in Chicago, Illinois, according to PWInsider.
• Impact officials reportedly were very pleased with the attendance and atmosphere for Friday’s television tapings in Chicago, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that while ticket sales for the tapings did not reach sold out status, Impact had sold more tickets than the last time they were in the city.
• Impact President Scott D’Amore recently commented on Twitter about Trinity’s official debut for the company at their tapings in Chicago. D’Amore stated “Ecstatic to welcome @TheTrinity_Fatu to the @IMPACTWRESTLING roster. A world class athlete and entertainer who will raise the already high bar for everybody in the locker room. Don’t miss her debut this Thursday on #IMPACTonAXSTV“
• As noted before, Alex Hammerstone has been out of action for Major League Wrestling since earlier this month due to a potential groin injury. Hammerstone recently provided an update on Twitter stating that he had suffered a torn abductor injury and is currently expected to medically cleared for an in-ring return by mid-May.
• MLW officials reportedly currently have tentative plans for their first live event special to take place on July 8th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• House of Glory recently announced a new match for the card of their Beware The Fury event on May 19th in Jamaica, New York. This is a tag team match of The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. The Mane Event (Midas Black & Jay Lyon)
• DEFY Wrestling recently announced that KENTA will be making an appearance for the company at their Your Nightmare event on June 3rd in Seattle, Washington.
• Saturday’s Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni event for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Kagoshima, Japan featured Taichi defeating Shingo Takagi to be crowned the new Provisional King of Wrestling 2023 Champion.
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that NJPW officials are currently expecting for Will Ospreay to compete in his scheduled match against Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender’s tournament at their Resurgence 2023 event in Long Beach, California. Ospreay was recently medically cleared from his back injury he suffered this past March.
• Friday’s Arena Mexico 67th Anniversary event for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico City, Mexico featured Dragon Rojo Jr defeating Atlantis Jr. and Templario in the Finals of the 2023 CMLL Universal Championship tournament.