Weekend Roundup: Vince McMahon Mustache, All Access Ratings, Penelope Ford Suffered Miscarriage, Mickie James, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Apr 2, 2023

WWE

This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,390,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.
During the post-show press conference following Saturday’s WrestleMania 39 Night 1 event, Kevin Owens gave his thoughts about what he said to Sami Zayn at the top of the stage ramp during the event. Owens stated “I’ll say what we said at the top of the ramp. After everything had kind of set in and everything that happened and we realized what we had accomplished and where we were at this point, we walked on the ramp, we looked at the WrestleMania set, we turned around and saw the sea of people and the stadium. The one thing I said to him was, ‘None of this would have happened without Super Dragon and PWG.’ We made our name here in California and without the opportunities that he gave us, I really don’t think things would have turned out the way they did for us. It meant a lot to be here, to do it here together. It’s really hard to put into words. I said PWG helped us get here. Super Dragon helped us get here. There are two other guys who helped us get here. Their names are Mark and Jay Briscoe. We lost Jay recently. I really hope we made him proud tonight. Great guys.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently posted a message on Twitter to WWE fans and talent congratulating them for having a great time at Saturday’s WrestleMania 39 Night 1 event in Inglewood, California. In regards to the fans and WWE’s NXT talent, Johnson stated “This message goes out to the WWE Universe, the fans, the ones who our are anchor and the reason why we’re all able and lucky and privileged and honored to do what we do, to perform for you in that famed squared circle. WWE Universe, have a blast at WrestleMania.Today was a big morning for NXT, all the performers of NXT, including my daughter Simone, Ava Raine, baby. She made her big debut. So proud of you babygirl. Keep up the great work. Congratulations to NXT, and now WWE Universe, have fun. Enjoy WrestleMania, everyone is performing for you and you’re the reason we can do what we do.” In regards to WWE’s main roster, Johnson stated “Onto the WWE performers, the women and men who are my fellow brothers and sisters of the squared circle of this business that we love. It’s so deeply rooted in our DNA, in our constitution. As I always tell you guys, go out there, create your WrestleMania moment, make history. Two things that I always underscore; move the crowd and have some fucking fun. Even though what we do is really intense, if you have fun, the crowd knows that you’re having fun and you pull them in and you’re creating that incredible, iconic WrestleMania moment. Go out there and kick ass.” Johnson also gave his thoughts about the upcoming Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns stating “I’m so excited, not only for all the matches, but especially the main event with my cousin Roman Reigns, the entire Bloodline, Jey, Jimmy, Solo, we’re so proud of you guys. Kick ass, electrify SoFi stadium do what you do, it is in our blood. Who knows, maybe, just maybe, down the road, I’ll see you in person. Maybe. I’ll just leave it at that. Of course, his opponent, a man I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for, Cody Rhodes, he’s my boy. In a way, we grew up together, our families were together when we were kids. Dusty Rhodes and Rocky Johnson, when they were partners, would have at each other’s house all the time when we were little kids. Cody, your journey is so incredibly inspiring, not only to WWE Universe, your fellow brothers and sisters in the locker room, but to me as well. Very proud of you. Go out there, tear the house down, fucking crush it. I cannot wait to watch.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver 2023 event featured the surprise return of Joe Coffey. During the NXT Tag Team Championship Triple Threat match between Creed Brothers, Tony D’Angelo & Stacks, and champions Gallus, Coffey made his surprise return attacking D’Angelo and Stacks helping Gallus to retain their titles. This was Coffey’s first appearance in WWE’s NXT brand since September of 2022.
Rey Mysterio recently reflected on Twitter about being inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame. Mysterio stated “I am truly humbled and honored to be inducted into the #WWEHallOfFame. Thank you to all my family, fellow superstars and the WWE Universe, you are all familia. Tonight, we all celebrate. Tomorrow, I take care of business at #WrestleMania. #BOOYAKA“
WWE Hall of Famer The Great Muta and Pro Wrestling NOAH recently posted a photo and video of Muta, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and Vince McMahon being together from this past Friday’s WWE Hall of Fame 2023 ceremony in Los Angeles, California. This photo officially revealed McMahon’s new look sporting a mustache and jet black dyed hair.
This past Friday’s WWE Hall of Fame 2023 ceremony in Los Angeles, California featured a surprise video appearance by Jerry “The King” Lawler inducting Andy Kaufman into WWE’s Hall of Fame.
ESPN reportedly had been working on plans since 2018 to produce an oral history documentary film based on Vince McMahon and WWE, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the co-producers had been contacting people for interviews for this project but it was later dropped over issues related to McMahon’s sexual harassment and hush money payments scandal last year.
WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 9,748 (8,800 paid) for their March 24th SmackDown show in Las Vegas, NV, 6,247 for their Match 25th house show event in Salt Lake City, UT, 9,653 for their March 26th house show event in Denver, CO, and 11,727 (10,600 paid) for their March 27th RAW show in Phoenix, AR, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 15,711 tickets for their April 3rd RAW show in Los Angeles, CA, 7,567 tickets for their April 7th SmackDown show in Portland, OR, 8,188 tickets for their April 10th RAW show in Seattle, WA, 5,950 tickets for their April 14th SmackDown show in Lincoln, NE, 4,716 tickets for their April 15th house show event in Rio Rancho, NM, 4,871 tickets for their April 16th house show event in El Paso, TX, 4,589 tickets for their April 17th RAW show in North Little Rock, AR, 7,180 tickets for their April 21st SmackDown show in Columbus, OH, 3,840 tickets for their April 22nd house show event in Fort Wayne, IN, 3,030 tickets for their April 23rd house show event in Toledo, OH, 11,176 tickets for their April 24th RAW show in Chicago, IL, 5,176 tickets for their April 27th house show event in Manchester, England, 5,565 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, 2,445 tickets fir their April 29th house show event in Beaumont, TX, 11,211 tickets for their April 29th house show event in Paris, France, 2,057 tickets for their April 30th house show event in Bossier City, LA, 8,222 tickets for their May 1st RAW show in Fort Worth, TX, 3,894 tickets for their May 8th RAW show in Jacksonville, FL, 5,784 tickets for their May 12th SmackDown show in Knoxville, TN, 2,210 tickets for their May 13th house show event in Augusta, GA, 2,104 tickets for their May 14th house show event in North Charleston, SC, 6,021 tickets for their May 15th RAW show in Greensboro, NC, 5,605 tickets for their May 19th SmackDown show in Columbia, SC, 2,377 tickets for their May 20th house show event in Fayetteville, NC, 3,041 tickets for their May 21st house show event in Hampton, VA, 8,723 tickets for their May 22nd RAW show in Hershey, PA, 3,248 tickets for their May 29th RAW show in Albany, NY, 6,702 tickets for their June 2nd SmackDown show in Wilkes-Barre, PA, 4,947 tickets for their June 5th RAW show in Hartford, CT, 2,689 tickets for their June 12th RAW show in Wichita, KS, 4,829 tickets for their June 19th RAW show in Cleveland, OH, 5,444 tickets for their June 29th house show event in Sheffield, England, 5,583 tickets for their June 30th house show event in Newcastle, England, 3,937 tickets for their July 2nd house show event in Cardiff, Wales, 5,167 tickets for their July 7th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, and 6,928 tickets for their August 18th SmackDown show in Toronto, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In a recent interview with BT Sport’s Ariel Helwani Meets show, Gunther stated that his current goal for his Intercontinental Championship reign is to make the title feel important again in WWE. Gunther stated “Yes, 100% that was my approach. I was like, I get the opportunity now and I’m going to make the absolute most of that, like, make it mean something again because you’re right, the last years it wasn’t a very popular presented title. But often it is on the one that holds the title to make that change again. And yeah, I was successful doing that, I think. When people talk about the Intercontinental Championship match on a card, it’s seen in a very different light than it was the last years.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
In a recent interview with the Upfront: The Podcast, Becky Lynch revealed that she has been working on a book about her life and wrestling career is currently planned to be released in 2024. Lynch stated “I got my degree in acting. It’s something I’ve been doing a little bit of lately. That’s what I did my degree in here in D.I.T. (Dublin Institute of Technology) in Rathmines and in Columbia College in Chicago and so, I’m not really good at much else other than performing so, I think I’m okay at writing. I have a book coming out next year too. I don’t know (what I’ll call my book). Probably ‘The Man, Not Your Average Girl’.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
WWE recently announced several news dates and events for the current schedule of their upcoming Summer 2023 Tour.
In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Edge revealed that a documentary based on his return to wrestling from a neck injury retirement is currently in production. Edge stated “I’ve never looked at the past too much, to be honest, but they’ve been following me for a documentary throughout this whole thing and they showed me some of the footage and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of different stuff.’ I’m proud of that. I’m proud that I tried some different stuff. I didn’t just come back and do the greatest hits. I wanted to try some different things. Whether that was Judgment Day and trying to turn heel or the old time babyface true grit kind of character or Hell in a Cell matches or whatever the story was. When I look at this, I always think, we’re storytellers. We make movies.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Cody Rhodes gave his thoughts about the criticisms of him always bringing up his late father Dusty in his promos since his return to WWE. Rhodes stated “People will say, ‘Why does Cody always talk about his dad?’ or they’ll bring that up that it’s a regular thing in interviews or how emotional I am over it all, And it’s always fun to see and it’s never gotten under my skin. But what I noticed with this [WWE run] is it’s not always me who’s bringing him up. It’s everybody else. But for me to be able to finish the story right at the biggest event in the history of wrestling absolutely means the next story is about just me. It isn’t tied to anything else. I feel the stakes going into WrestleMania this year. I’m not buckling beneath them. I’m trying to use them to embolden me and strengthen me.“
In a recent interview with The Press Box podcast, WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard gave his thoughts on if Vince McMahon has given any creative input since his return to the company. Prichard stated “He hasn’t yet. He made it to one TV and really had nothing to say other than, ‘great show, thank you guys.’ In that regard, he is busy working on the business end of things and has given us free rein on the creative end of things to handle it. I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
During a NXT media scrum this past Thursday, NXT head booker Shawn Michaels gave his thoughts on a question regarding if WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon has had any involvement in NXT since his return to the company. Michaels stated “He doesn’t have any sway, at least right now [laughs]. We haven’t seen him, I haven’t seen him this weekend. I’ve been out here since Monday, doing the tryouts with NXT, which is another subject. It’s WrestleMania, Vince is the one who built all of this. I understand the way everybody feels, but this is still the brand he built. For him to want to come out here and be part of this show, I think is a perfectly natural thing. I kind of hope that he does. I would like to see him this weekend. I haven’t seen him in quite some time, just to say hello. I hope, like Hunter and all of us, I hope he’s proud of what we’ve put on here this weekend. It’s been a huge success so far.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

As noted before, the debut episode of AEW All Access drew 328,000 viewers, a 0.11 key demographic rating, and a #30 key demographic ranking on TBS. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s show drew 145,000 key demographic viewers. Meltzer reported that the overall viewership was 11% higher and key demographic viewership was 41% higher than what Power Slap and Young Sheldon had generated on average from the lead-in viewership from AEW Dynamite.
In regards to All Access debut show’s quarter hours, Meltzer reported that the first quarter drew 446,000 overall viewers and 200,00 key demo viewers, the second quarter drew 326,000 overall viewers and 136,000 key demo viewers, the third quarter drew 303,000 overall viewers and 135,000 key demo viewers, and the fourth quarter drew 237,000 overall viewers and 110,000 key demo viewers.
As noted before, Don Callis suffered a head injury during this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in St. Louis, Missouri. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Callis suffered the injury after hitting his head on a light stand when he fell backwards selling Jon Moxley’s punch to him. Callis reportedly was taken to the hospital afterwards and kept overnight. Callis reportedly needed 14 stitches to lose his head wound and was told by the doctor that he could see his skull over how deep the cut was. with the doctor telling him that he could see his skull over how deep the cut was. Callis reportedly did not suffer a concussion injury based on the results of his medical tests.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reports of Christopher Daniels being the producer of the Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikino match at the March 22nd AEW Dynamite show is not entirely correct. Meltzer reported that Omega was the person who had actually put together the match while Daniels was in charge of calling the camera angles and relayed the timing cues for the match.
AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 4,100 (3,500 paid) for their March 29th Dynamite show in St. Louis, MO, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 6,039 tickets for their April 5th Dynamite show in Long Island, NY, 2,564 tickets for their April 7th Rampage and Battle of the Belts VI shows in Kingston, RI, 2,687 tickets for their April 12th Dynamite show in Milwaukee, WI, 3,973 tickets for their April 19th Dynamite show in Pittsburgh, PA, 3,236 tickets for their April 26th Dynamite show in Sunrise, FL, 3,047 tickets for their May 3rd Dynamite show in Baltimore, MD, 4,875 tickets for their May 10th Dynamite show in Detroit, MI, 712 tickets (presale) for their May 12th house show event in Corbin, KY, 580 tickets (presale) for their May 13th house show event in Salem, VA, 3,137 for their May 17th Dynamite show in Austin, TX, 4,087 for their May 2th Dynamite show in Las Vegas, 6,366 tickets for their May 28th Double or Nothing 2023 event in Las Vegas, NV, 2,444 tickets for their May 31st Dynamite show in San Diego, CA, 12,872 tickets for their June 25th Forbidden Door 2 event in Toronto, Canada, 3,036 tickets for their June 28th Dynamite show in Hamilton, Canada, 4,392 for their July 5th Dynamite show in Edmonton, Canada, 1,180 tickets for their July 8th event in Regina, Canada, 2,055 tickets for their July 12th Dynamite in Saskatoon, Canada, and 3,007 for their July 15th house show event in Calgary, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The town of Oyster Bay, New York recently announced that they be honoring MJF with the Key to the Town award and April 3rd to be officially proclaimed as “Maxwell Jacob Friedman Day” in the city going forward. It was announced that MJF will be given his award in an official ceremony this Monday in recognition of his charitable contributions to the city. MJF recently responded on Twitter about the honor stating “It was all a dream… SIKE ITS A REALITY!!!!!!! #Betterthanyou MJF DAY BABY!!!!!“
AEW recently announced that they will be holding a new set of AEW Dynamite and Rampage shows on June 14th at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. It was also announced that tickets for this upcoming set of shows will officially go on sale starting on April 14th. This will be the first time that AEW will hold a show at the Capital One Arena since AEW Dynamite’s debut show at the venue in October of 2019.
Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford announced on their official YouTube channel that they had suffered a pregnancy miscarriage incident. Sabian and Ford stated that they wanted to share their message as part of their healing process for the pregnancy loss and to be honest to their fans before resuming their channel, which had been dormant for the past year. The couple stated that Ford became pregnant last year and while they were happy over the potential of having kids, this pregnancy was something that had not been planned. They also stated that AEW CEO Tony Khan was very happy for the couple after they told him about the pregnancy and shocked when he learned of the loss. Ford revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage ten weeks into her pregnancy. Sabian stated that Ford’s miscarriage and the resulting surgery was the reason why she has been absent from AEW.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW has managed to fully repair their working relationship with Lucha Libre AAA that has serious issues following the end of last year. These issues reportedly was the reason why AAA had booked Dragon Lee, a WWE contracted talent, and not Dralistico, a AEW/ROH contracted talent, to be the one to pin FTR to win the AAA World Tag Team titles despite Lee leaving the company right after. Meltzer reported that this relationship has been repaired to such a degree that AAA has went from having no plans to book any AEW talents for this year’s Triplemania XXXI events to now having plans for AEW talents to appear at those shows. Meltzer also reported that AAA officials currently have plans for a match between Kenny Omega and El Hijo del Vikingo to take place at one of their Triplemania events this year.
In a recent interview with the Battleground podcast, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated that he is still interested in forming a potential partnership with Stardom in the future. Khan stated “I am interested in working with STARDOM. It’s something I’ve talked to NJPW about. They have that business relationship there. It’s definitely something I be open to” (Transcript h/t: @PuroresuFlow)
During a recent interview with The Mark Madden Show podcast, Chris Jericho gave his thoughts on if CM Punk should return to the company in the future. In response to a question on if he would be on Punk’s Christmas card, Jericho stated “I’m not. but I wasn’t on Scott Hall’s Christmas card list or I wasn’t on Eric Bischoff’s Christmas card list. You don’t have to be best friends to co-exist. To me, that’s not really my wheelhouse. I’m not in charge of that. I’m sure there will be some answers to that pretty quickly, I would assume, either way. To us, AEW is going to thrive and survive with or without him. We’ll see what happens.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Ring of Honor recently announced a new match for the card of their ROH TV show on April 7th. This is a ROH Women’s World Championship match of Miyu Yamashita vs. Athena (c).
During a ROH media scrum this past Thursday, ROH owner Tony Khan gave his thoughts on a question regarding Mark Briscoe’s current work as a singles wrestler following the passing of his brother Jay this past January. Khan stated “Mark was very clear that he didn’t want to go back and do a tag match or be in tag matches. He would do singles, trios, or multi-mans, but not do tag matches. That was something that made a lot of sense, and obviously, I want to do what makes Mark most comfortable. He was very comfortable with the idea of the Reach For The Sky ladder match. He’s been having great singles matches and, as a trio with the Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo), has had exciting matches. There are a lot of opportunities for other great singles and trios matches and combinations with Mark.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

As noted before, Mickie James recently suffered a rib injury and her status for this month’s Rebellion 2023 event for Impact Wrestling is currently in doubt. In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, James and co-host Tommy Dreamer provided an update on the status of her injury. Dreamer revealed that besides a rib injury, James has also been dealing with a shoulder tear injury. (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Capital Collision 2023 event on April 15th in Washington D.C. The first is a NJPW Strong Openweight Championship match of Eddie Edwards vs. KENTA (c). The second is a NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Three-way match of Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c).
NJPW also recently announced a new match for the card of their Collision in Philadelphia 2023 event on April 16th in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania. This is a tag team match of Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. KENTA & Chase Owens.
NJPW also recently announced that this year’s Dominion event will be taking place on June 4th at the Osaka-Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.
In a recent interview with Dark Puroresu Flowsion, Kota Ibushi gave his thoughts about his recent return to the ring from shoulder injury. Ibushi stated “Thank you all. I am a professional wrestler. I am a pro-wrestler in everyday life, in the ring, and whenever I am playing. I am very happy to be able to wrestle again.”
Major League Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their War Chamber 2023 event on April 6th in New York City, New York. This is a MLW World Tag Team Championship Three-way match of The Main Event (Jay Lyon and Midas Black) vs. The FBI (Little Guido and Ray Jaz) vs. Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’i) (c)
Wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Bushwhacker Butch, real name Butch Miller, reportedly was recently hospitalized in Los Angeles, California, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that Miller had fallen ill shortly after his flight from New Zealand to the United States to reunite with his cousin and tag team partner Luke Williams for WrestleCon’s conventions during WrestleMania 39 week.
Game Changer Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 800 for their March 30th Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 event in Los Angeles, California, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Westwide Xtreme Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 480 for their 16 Carat Gold Revenge event on March 25th in Frankfurt, Germany, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Revolution Pro Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 1,079 for their Revolution Rumble event on March 26th in London, England, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly generated a paid attendance of 577 for their March 26th Sunny Voyage event in Mutsu, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 734 for their March 25th New Blood Premium event in Yokohama and 1,263 for their March 26th Cinderella Tournament 2023 event in Yokohama, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lucha Libre AAA officials currently do not have any plans for Cain Velasquez to make an appearance at one of their Triplemania XXXI events this year in Mexico. Meltzer reported that while AAA officials are interested in using Velasquez for a Triplemania event, he is currently not allowed to travel outside of the United States due to the terms of his probation.
AAA reportedly recently stopped posting matches involving Cuatrero on their official YouTube channel due to his recent arrest and jailing over the charges of attempted femicide against him, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre talent Halcon Suriano Jr. reportedly recently suffered a fractured cheekbone injury, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that as of the end of this past March, the current number of homes in the United States with cable television is around 123,800,000 homes and down from last year’s total. In regards to the major networks that feature sports and/or wrestling programming, ESPN is currently in the most homes at 73,319,000 homes, followed by ESPN2 at 73,289,000 homes, USA Network at 73,101,000 homes, FS1 at 73,080,000 homes, FS2 at 53,325,000 homes, TBS at 72,146,000 homes, and TNT at 72,015,000 homes. Meltzer reported that the numbers of homes that have AXS TV or REELZ was not available at the time of his report. Meltzer reported that at the peak of cable television, these networks would have been in an average of around 101 million homes. Meltzer reported that when AEW made its official debut in 2019, that number had declined to around 91 million. In regards to factoring in the drops in cable television ownership, Meltzer reported that WWE’s RAW show has gone from an average of 2,418,000 viewers per show in 2019 to 1,934,000 viewers per show for their current average. Meltzer reported that AEW is currently drawing higher than what would be their average when factoring audience loss which would have been 638,000 viewers per show as an average. AEW’s average in 2019 for their debut was 807,000 viewers per show on average.