Weekend Roundup: Johnny Gargano Injury, AEW Collision, Andrade Injury Update, John Hennigan, Will Ospreay, Indies

WWE

• Johnny Gargano reportedly recently re-aggravated a shoulder injury he had been dealing with since this past December, according to Fightful Select. It was reported that their sources stated that Gargano had re-aggravated this injury after WWE’s Royal Rumble 2023 event this past January and was working through the injury at WWE’s NXT Stand & Deliver 2023 event earlier this month. It was reported that Gargano’s was severely hampered during his match against Grayson Waller and effectively working with just one arm. WWE officials reportedly are currently hopeful that Gargano can repair his injury through therapy instead of needing surgery.
• A recent episode of the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves podcast featured host Corey Graves giving his thoughts on the issues with WWE’s handling of their Women’s Tag Team Championship and division. “The champions are going to drive the ship in the women’s tag division. It was really important for Liv and Raquel to emerge victorious and, as far as the women’s tag team championships go, I’m probably going to catch hell for this, it’s never really caught fire. It’s never been a strong division. It’s sort of been an amalgam of thrown together tag teams. ‘I’m going to team with this person tonight, we have a tag title match we didn’t win, okay, time to get a new partner.’ It’s always been very transient and constantly in flux. I’m talking the entire existence of the titles, since the very beginning. Liv and Raquel could be a duo who have what it takes to solidify the division and maybe sit on top for a while and maybe inspire some other superstars who aren’t getting the opportunities they so desire right now, who want more TV time, who want promo time, but they’re not getting it for whatever reason. Maybe somebody sitting backstage or in catering or a couple people sitting in NXT are going, ‘You know what, let me make a run for this.’ We haven’t had a serious, full-time tag team in my recollection. The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay) are the closest we had to hold the titles because they were a full-time act together. The rest have sort of been, ‘Hey, be my partner. Okay, we’ll have a little run, okay, onto the next.’ Everything feels temporary. Raquel and Liv could be very good for the division.“(Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• NXT talent Roxanne Perez recently reflected on Instagram about Saturday being the one year anniversary of her official debut in WWE’s NXT brand. Perez stated “-first ever womens breakout tournament winner -first ever iron survivor winner -NXT womens tag team champion -NXT womens champion -Smackdown debut -Royal Rumble debut Today marks my 1 year in NXT and I’m seriously so so so extremely grateful for all of these opportunities and everything I’ve been able to accomplish so far I could cry. I can’t wait to continue this journey w/ you guys & experience so many more magical moments. Thx for believing in me“
• Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan, Natalya, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Seth Rollins, Xavier Woods, and Dolph Ziggler reportedly all recently participated in television tapings for the upcoming new season of Celebrity Family Feud that will debut this summer on ABC, according to PWInsider.
• As noted before, Cody Rhodes has been in talks with Hollywood executives regarding potential acting roles in films and television series. Fightful Select reported that their sources provided an update stating that Rhodes currently does not have any plans to be a part-time wrestler and any outside Hollywood projects would go around his current work schedule for WWE.
• As noted before, WWE recently announced that this year’s WWE Draft will be starting on the April 28th episode of SmackDown and conclude on the May 1st episode of RAW. Fightful Select reported that several talent recently spoken to stated that they have yet to be told of which brand they will be drafted to for the upcoming WWE Draft.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that prior to the decision to start a feud between Rey and Dominik Mysterio, WWE officials had plans at one point to send Dominick down to their NXT brand for developmental training.
• As noted before, WWE recently announced that they have rebranded their previously annoucned King and Queen of the Ring event to Night of Champions instead for next month’s event in Saudi Arabia. Dave Meltzer reported that the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship likely will not be among the titles defended on the upcoming event due to issues involving Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. In regards to Zayn, these issues revolve around the Saudi Arabian government banning him from appearing on their WWE shows due to him being an outspoken critic of their involvement in the Syrian Civil War and Zayn himself not wanting to work at WWE’s Saudi shows. In regards to Owens, this issue revolves around him not being willing to work at Saudi shows in solidarity with Zayn.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 10,116 (9,100 paid) for their April 7th SmackDown show in Portland, OR and 10,520 (9,500 paid) for their April 10th RAW show in Seattle, WA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 6,131 tickets for their April 17th RAW show in North Little Rock, AR, 7,951 tickets for their April 21st SmackDown show in Columbus, OH, 4,078 tickets for their April 22nd house show event in Fort Wayne, IN, 3,565 tickets for their April 23rd house show event in Toledo, OH, 12,354 tickets for their April 24th RAW show in Chicago, IL, 7,363 tickets for their April 27th house show event in Manchester, England, 6,113 tickets for their April 28th SmackDown show in Corpus Christi, TX, 7,006 tickets for their April 29th house show event in Belfast, North Ireland, 2,786 tickets fir their April 29th house show event in Beaumont, TX, 2,444 tickets for their April 30th house show event in Bossier City, LA, 8,875 tickets for their May 1st RAW show in Fort Worth, TX, 4,090 tickets for their May 8th RAW show in Jacksonville, FL, 17,390 tickets for their May 6th Backlash 2023 event in San Juan Puerto Rico, 4,493 tickets for their May 8th RAW show in Jacksonville, FL, 6,826 tickets for their May 12th SmackDown show in Knoxville, TN, 2,352 tickets for their May 13th house show event in Augusta, GA, 2,304 tickets for their May 14th house show event in North Charleston, SC, 6,550 tickets for their May 15th RAW show in Greensboro, NC, 6,111 tickets for their May 19th SmackDown show in Columbia, SC, 2,722 tickets for their May 20th house show event in Fayetteville, NC, 3,329 tickets for their May 21st house show event in Hampton, VA, 8,824 tickets for their May 22nd RAW show in Hershey, PA, 1,958 tickets for their May 28th NXT Battleground event in Lowell, MA, 4,318 tickets for their May 29th RAW show in Albany, NY, 7,494 tickets for their June 2nd SmackDown show in Wilkes-Barre, PA, 2,534 tickets for their June 3rd house show event in White Plains, NY, 1809 tickets for their June 4th house show event in Manchester, NH, 5,801 tickets for their June 5th RAW show in Hartford, CT, 3,102 tickets for their June 12th RAW show in Wichita, KS, 4,736 tickets for their June 16th SmackDown show in Lexington, KY, 1,892 tickets for their June 18th house show event in Charleston, WV, 4,955 tickets for their June 19th RAW show in Cleveland, OH, 2,135 tickets for their June 25th house show event in Mobile, AL, 4,319 tickets for their June 26th house show event in Savannah, GA, 5,617 tickets for their June 29th house show event in Sheffield, England, 5,789 tickets for their June 30th house show event in Newcastle, England, 17,717 tickets for their July 1st Money in the Bank 2023 event in London, England, 4,129 tickets for their July 2nd house show event in Cardiff, Wales, 5,508 tickets for their July 7th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, 3,607 tickets for their July 14th SmackDown show in Raleigh, NC, 6,222 for their July 17th RAW show in Atlanta, GA, 6,189 tickets for their July 21st SmackDown show in Orlando, FL, and 5,241 tickets for their July 24th RAW show in Tampa, FL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• As noted before, WWE made several major changes to their original plans for this past Monday’s RAW show in Seattle, Washington due to serious travel-related issues impacting their roster. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Sami Zayn, Matt Riddle, Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Legado del Fantasma, and Street Profits were all on the same flights that had encountered serious delays for their travel to the show. Meltzer reported that the main issue revolved around WWE booking flights for their talent on the day of the show instead of the usual Sunday night due to both the Easter holiday and not holding any house shows for that night. Meltzer reported that one of the original plans for the show involved a Six-Man Tag Team match of Rey Mysterio, Joaquin Wilde, & Cruz Del Toro vs. Judgement Day (Priest, Finn Balor, & Dominik Mysterio).

AEW & ROH

• As noted before, AEW and Warner Bros Discovery are currently working on plans for a new third weekly television show to debut as early as this summer. This show is currently rumored to feature a “soft” roster split and CM Punk as its main star as part of his upcoming return to the company. Andrew Zarian reported in a recent episode of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling podcast that his sources confirmed that this upcoming new weekly show will be called AEW Collision and will be airing weekly on a Saturday prime time slot.
• Andrade El Idolo has been out of action for AEW since this past October, first due to a suspension and afterwards due to him undergoing surgery for a torn pectoral muscle. Andrade recently provided an injury update on Twitter stating “After 8 months, this week I was able to do push ups again, I feel like I’ve broken a record, you don’t know how good it feels.”
• While responding to a recent fan question on Twitter, Revolution Pro Wrestling stated that they will be holding an event during the weekend of AEW’s All In event in London in August. RevPro stated “Yes 100%. We’re exploring our options but there will definitely be a show on the Saturday which is exactly 11 years TO THE DAY that we became a real thing. So watch this space. We hope we can add value for travelling fans and help make this a celebratory weekend for all things pro wrestling!“
• Besides Brandon Cutler, Tay Melo also recently responded on Twitter to a recent article by Deadspin titled “CM Punk is Gaslighting AEW.” Melo stated “Be aware.. at work, at home & with ‘friends’” In a follow up tweet, Melo stated “Y’all really thinking I’m getting involved in a fight I have nothing to do with ?!?!?! Lol go wash some dishes please.“
• As noted before, AEW recently announced that they will be holding an AEW branded All In event on August 27th at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reason why Tony Khan ended up not having the event take place at Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC and owned by the Khan family, was due to logistical and production-related issues. Meltzer reported that AEW officials are currently hopeful that this upcoming event will help strengthen their working relationship with ITV, home of AEW programming in the U.K., and Warner Bros Discovery. AEW officials reportedly are also hopeful that this upcoming event will also help strengthen the visibility and brand awareness of the company in Europe.
• In regards to potential records being broken for AEW All In, Meltzer reported that AEW’s current attendance record for an event is 20,177 from their Dynamite Grand Slam 2021 show at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, New York. Meltzer also reported that the all-time second largest ever attendance for a wrestling event in England is 18,000 while over 42,000 would surpass the highest that WCW ever drew for an event. Meltzer also reported that other potential records that could be in play would be 53,999 that was the paid attendance for WWE’s Clash at the Castle event in Cardiff, Wales in 2022, 79,127 that was the attendance for WWE’s SummerSlam 1992 event at Wembley Stadium, and 80,709 that was the attendance for WrestleMania 32 in 2016 which is the largest ever attendance for a single event in WWE history.
• As noted before, AEW hired former WWE Vice President of Communications Adam Hopkins to an executive level position in the company this past March. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Hopkins official title in AEW is Vice President of Communications.
• AEW officials reportedly are currently planning for the first match in the Keith Lee vs. Swerve Strickland feud to be held off until their Double or Nothing 2023 event this May in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 3,000 (2,800 paid) for their April 7th Rampage and Battle of the Belts VI shows in Kingston, RI and 3,600 (3,200 paid) for their April 12th Dynamite show in Milwaukee, WI, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 4,450 tickets for their April 19th Dynamite show in Pittsburgh, PA, 3,414 tickets for their April 26th Dynamite show in Sunrise, FL, 3,190 tickets for their May 3rd Dynamite show in Baltimore, MD, 4,956 tickets for their May 10th Dynamite show in Detroit, MI, 1,154 tickets for their May 12th house show event in Corbin, KY, 1,200 tickets for their May 13th house show event in Salem, VA, 3,200 for their May 17th Dynamite show in Austin, TX, 4,109 for their May 24th Dynamite show in Las Vegas, 6,609 tickets for their May 28th Double or Nothing 2023 event in Las Vegas, NV, 2,634 tickets for their May 31st Dynamite show in San Diego, CA, 1,562 tickets for their June 7th Dynamite show in Colorado Springs, CO, 2,006 tickets for their June 14th Dynamite show in Washington, D.C., 12,865 tickets for their June 25th Forbidden Door 2 event in Toronto, Canada, 3,157 tickets for their June 28th Dynamite show in Hamilton, Canada, 4,690 for their July 5th Dynamite show in Edmonton, Canada, 1,238 for their July 8th event in Regina, Canada, 2,201 tickets for their July 12th Dynamite in Saskatoon, Canada, and 3,227 tickets for their July 15th house show event in Calgary, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that a meeting is currently scheduled to take place soon involving Chris Jericho, C.M. Punk, AEW CEO Tony Khan, FTR’s Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, and likely one other non-wrestler person.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Taya Valkyrie officially finished up her remaining commitments for Major League Wrestling at their War Chamber 2023 event earlier this month.

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Saturday’s Creator Clash 2 boxing event in Tampa, Florida featured indie wrestler John Hennigan, former John Morrison in WWE, defeating Harley Morenstein by knockout in the third round of his debut boxing match. Following his match, Hennigan issued a challenge to KSI for a boxing match between the two in the future.
• Saturday’s Capital Collision 2023 event for New Japan Pro Wrestling featured Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada and champions Moyor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) to be crowned new NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions. Besides the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship, Aussie Open are also the current IWGP Tag Team Champions.
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 6,510 for their April 8th Sakura Genesis 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• One Pro Wrestling (1PW) announced that Will Ospreay was recently medically cleared from his shoulder injury and will be making his scheduled appearance at their All Or Nothing event on April 22nd in Doncaster, England. It was also announced that Ospreay will be facing off against Bobby Fish for the 1PW World Championship at the event.
• In a recent interview with the Sporting News, Impact announcer Tom Hannifan gave his thoughts about his decision to sign a new contract with Impact Wrestling. Hannifan stated “The IMPACT family embraced me from my first day on the job. I needed that more than most people will ever realize. I decided to stay because I felt wanted, respected, and appreciated. This company gave me an opportunity to prove myself all over again, so now my goal is to repay that generosity with all my effort. I also decided to stay because I see where IMPACT and Anthem as a whole is headed, and I want to be a part of that journey. This company lost a lot of critical pieces with the rise of AEW, and like many businesses, was slowed by the pandemic. IMPACT has had time to heal, rebuild, and grow, and I believe our current television product is outstanding. It rivals or exceeds some of the best the pro wrestling industry has to offer. There is so much more we can achieve. And the truth many wrestling fans need to grasp is this: when IMPACT Wrestling is live, we don’t miss.”
• Sporting News also held an interview with Impact Wrestling President Scott D’Amore discussing his thoughts about Impact’s willingness to work with other companies. D’Amore stated “We have long said, IMPACT Wrestling is open for business and willing to work with any pro wrestling company if the partnership is mutually beneficial. We have worked with AEW, ROH, Pro Wrestling Noah. NJPW, and even WWE, which no one thought would ever happen! We stand by our word and put our money where our mouth is. We truly believe when companies put their differences aside and work together, it’s a win-win-win situation. Both companies and most importantly the fans are all better off for it.”
• Impact reportedly generated an attendance of about 1,000 for their March 24th Sacrifice 2023 event in Windsor and about 1,000 for their March 25th Impact! tapings in Windsor, Canada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre reportedly generated an attendance of over 10,000 for their April 7th Universal Champion of Champions event in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Lucha Libre AAA reportedly generated an attendance of 3,100 for their April 8th Luchando Por Mexico – Homenaje Luctuoso Hijo Del Perro Aguayo event in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In a recent episode of the Keepin’ It 100 podcast, co-host and AAA head booker Konnan stated that he has tried to book Chris Jericho for an AAA event around a “dozen times” so far but Jericho repeatedly turned down his offers with a new excuse each time. Konnan stated that he believes that Jericho is not interested at all in potentially working for AAA. (Transcript h/t: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 767 for their April 8th event in Aomori and 372 for their April 9th event in Yamagata, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 634 for their April 8th Champion Carnival 2023 event in Tokyo and 312 for their April 9th Champion Carnival 2023 event in Hodogaya, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly generated a paid attendance of 321 for their April 9th Sunny Voyage 2023 event in Takaoka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that Zack Sabre Jr. will be making his official debut for the company at their Fight Night: Brooklyn event on May 11th in Brooklyn, New York.