Weekend Roundup: Randy Orton Injury Update, CM Punk, Giulia Issues Challenge for NJPW Strong Women’s Title, AAA, Indies

WWE

• As noted before, Randy Orton has been out of action for WWE since May of 2022 due to a back injury and had underwent back fusion surgery this past November. In a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, host Kurt Angle stated that he was recently told that Orton has recovered from his back surgery and could be making his return soon to WWE. Angle stated “He’s doing good, man. He’s recovered from his back surgery. I think he’s going to come back pretty damn soon. He’s doing much better, yes.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Vince McMahon made several last minute major changes to WWE’s original plans for this past Friday’s SmackDown show. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that another match that had been originally scheduled but scrapped from the show was a singles match of Cameron Grimes vs. Baron Corbin.
• Bayley recently commented on Twitter about her scheduled match against Shotzi for this past Friday’s SmackDown show being dropped. Bayley stated “Card subject to change..Sorry. Sorry you couldn’t watch me beat dat ass“
• As noted before, Braun Strowman has been out of action for WWE since this past May due to a neck-related injury and surgery. Strowman recently provided an injury update on Twitter stating “Just got the green light to start light weight training again!!!! Time to rebuild the #Monster“
• In a recent video released by WWE celebrating this past week being the 25th anniversary of Edge’s WWE debut, Apollo Crews gave his thoughts about the helpful advice Edge has given for his career. Crews stated “He had reached out to me when he sat with his triceps injury and wanted to help me with some of my promo work and he helped me a lot to find that comfort and just being comfortable on camera and being comfortable on a microphone. Thank you for all the help and for taking your time to sit down and help me become a better WWE Superstar. Congratulations again and wish you nothing but the best.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Drew McIntyre has also be out of action for WWE since this past April’s WrestleMania 39 event due to an unknown health issue and creative-related issues. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials are still hopeful of McIntyre making his return by their Money in the Bank 2023 event on July 1st in London, England. Meltzer reported that WWE officials have held talks regarding several potential dates for his return but no creative plans had been finalized as of this past Thursday.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 9,591 (8,400 paid) for their June 16th SmackDown show in Lexington, KY, 6,291 for their June 17th house house show event in Cincinnati, OH, 4,632 for their June 18th house show event in Charleston, WV, and 10,495 (9,200 paid) for their June 19th RAW show in Cleveland, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 5,814 tickets for their June 26th RAW show in Savannah, GA, 6,892 tickets for their June 29th house show event in Sheffield, England, 17,670 tickets for their June 30th SmackDown show in London, England, 7,307 tickets for their June 30th house show event in Newcastle, England, 17,701 tickets for their July 1st Money in the Bank 2023 event in London, England, 4,834 tickets for their July 2nd house show event in Cardiff, Wales, 6,523 tickets for their July 3rd RAW show in Baltimore, MD, 12,285 tickets for their July 7th SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, 6,935 tickets for their July 10th RAW show in Buffalo, NY, 8,039 tickets for their July 14th SmackDown show in Raleigh, NC, 4,326 tickets for their July 15th house show event in Fairfax, VA, 2,462 tickets for their July 16th house show event in Salisbury, MD, 9,142 tickets for their July 17th RAW show in Atlanta, GA, 7,823 tickets for their July 21st SmackDown show in Orlando, FL, 6,758 tickets for their July 24th RAW show in Tampa, FL, 4,969 tickets for their July 28th SmackDown show in New Orleans, LA, 2,422 tickets for their July 29th house show event in Estero, FL, 1,905 tickets for their July 30th house show event in Coral Gables, FL, 2,012 tickets for their July 30th NXT Great American Bash 2023 event in Cedar Park, TX, 12,161 tickets for their July 31st RAW show in Houston, TX, 3,576 tickets for their Aug. 4th SmackDown show in Dayton, OH, 40,904 tickets for their Aug. 5th SummerSlam 2023 event in Detroit, MI, 6,146 tickets for their Aug. 7th RAW show in Minneapolis, MN, and 6,926 tickets for their Aug. 11th SmackDown show in Calgary, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• As noted before, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon made several big changes to the original plans for this past Monday’s RAW show in Cleveland, Ohio. One of those changes included the originally scheduled Open Challenge match for Seth Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight Championship being scrapped in favor of Finn Balor attacking Rollins to help build up their title feud. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the original plans for the Open Challenge match was for Tommaso Ciampa to answer it and face off against Seth Rollins. It was reported that the reason for the change was not due to issues over McMahon not wanting Ciampa to lose on his first night back since the original plans were for the match to end in a non-finish. Those spoken to reportedly stated that those originally planned to be involved in the match were frustrated over the changes made since they had wanted the match to proceed as planned.
• In a recent interview with the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast, RAW commentator Kevin Patrick gave his thoughts on when he was first informed that he would be joining RAW’s commentary team. Patrick stated “Not long at all, honestly I was thrust into the spotlight the week of and it’s something that I had been working on doing [commentary] for Main Event. When I got the call, I had no idea. Changes were made, unfortunately. You never wanna see… Jimmy Smith, a friend of mine. You don’t wanna see people move on, but when you’re being told that you’re being trusted with this position, it’s like, ‘Okay, I appreciate that.’ One day, I may be moved on and the next person will come in and I wish them well. It’s just the nature of what we do in live entertainment. So, I didn’t know for long, but I had been working on it week in and week out during Main Event. I love this industry that we’re a part of, I love live television, I love live shows.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with The Ryback Show podcast, Alicia Fox gave her thoughts about her past career in WWE and how it had ended. Fox stated “I’m okay with it because I know, at the end of the day, I left with my spine. I’m physically ready to live my life. I got sober. When it comes to the phone call I got, it was three minutes, it was pretty simple. ‘You’re done, you’re done.’ ‘Okay, great.’ I can’t think I’ve left anything there. I don’t think they owe me anything. Honestly, I’m happy with it, because if someone were to ask me if they should go try WWE, I’d say ‘go for it. Go live the best experience you can.’ Even our friends that are still there, I hope they are having the time of their life. If I were to be negative, I would still feel resentment toward them. Honestly, that stuff makes me sick. The show goes on without us.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the AEW World Championship match of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. MJF (c) is currently planned to be the opening match for tonight’s Forbidden Door II event in Toronto, Canada, as of Saturday evening.
• As noted before, Saraya made her return to AEW during Saturday’s Collision show in Toronto, Canada after being absent for the past several weeks for unknown reasons. Prior to her return, Fightful Select had reported that their sources were unable to provide any new details regarding the reason for her absence beyond it being something that was not serious nor was it anything related to a potential injury. It was reported that Saraya was in attendance backstage at this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show in Chicago, Illinois.
• In a recent interview with Vibe 105 Sports radio show, Shawn Spears gave his thoughts on his infamous unprotected chair shot to Cody Rhodes’ head in AEW and the current status of his The Chairman character. Spears stated “First thing I thought when I hit him was ‘bullseye,’ that’s the first thing I thought. In terms of the backstage, I don’t pay attention to a lot of stuff online, especially since I’ve had my son, I just don’t have the time. Back then, I knew there was a lot of buzz and controversy. All that stuff is above my pay grade, I don’t care. My job is to go out and perform. I had a goal and I accomplished it. You guys are going to say what you’re going to say and watch what you’re going to watch. My job is to go out, perform, and let the chips fall where they may, and then go out and do it again the next week. It was a big moment. The Chairman is not gone, I will say that. The Chairman is just hibernating. He will be back, you will see him again. I will be swinging chairs again very soon.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Adam Cole gave his thoughts about his first promo battle with MJF for their current feud for the AEW World Championship. Cole stated “There was a lot of excitement going into this. I don’t know if intimidation is the right word, but it very much felt like a sink or swim type of situation for me, which was really exciting. I’m going to go toe to toe with what many consider, what I consider, one of the best talkers and one of the best guys of the generation in MJF. Either people are going to think I can hang with him or they’re going to think that he ate me alive. I love that feeling of going out there and feeling, ‘Oh God, we’ll see how this goes.’ It was really exciting for me to be tested in that way and to show everybody that I’ll go toe to toe with anybody on the microphone. It was exciting, but I definitely had nerves and butterflies.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Fuego Del Sol recently announced that his current contract with AEW expires at the end of this month and he will be leaving the company. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the current belief is that AEW officials had not offer Del Sol a new contract to renew his deal with the company.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 10,200 (9,400 paid) for their June 17th Collision show at the United Center in Chicago, IL and 6,600 (6,000 paid) for their June 21st Dynamite show in Chicago, IL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that AEW had generated a live gate revenue of around $700,000 for their Collision debut show and around $350,000 for this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 3,826 tickets for their June 28th Dynamite show in Hamilton, Canada, 1,703 tickets for their June 29th Collision show in Hamilton, Canada, 5,000 tickets for their July 5th Dynamite show in Edmonton, Canada, 1,379 tickets for their July 8th Collision show in Regina, Canada, 2,385 tickets for their July 12th Dynamite show in Saskatoon, Canada, 3,596 tickets for their July 15th Collision show in Calgary, Canada, 4,055 tickets for their July 19th Dynamite show at the TD Garden in Boston, MA, 4,501 tickets for their July 22nd Collision show in Newark, NJ, 1,815 tickets for their July 26th Dynamite show in Albany, NY, 2,203 tickets for their Aug. 2nd Dynamite show in Tampa, FL, 2,021 tickets for their Aug. 5th Collision show in Greenville, SC, 2,085 tickets for their Aug. 9th Dynamite show in Columbus, OH, 3,121 tickets for their Aug. 12th Collision show in Greensboro, NC, 1,744 tickets (pre-sale) for their Aug. 16th Dynamite show in Nashville, TN, and 66,500 tickets for their Aug. 27th All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, England as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In regards to AEW’s current ticket sales for their upcoming All In event this August at Wembley Stadium, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the paid ticket sales for this event have now become the largest paid for a wrestling event since WWE’s WrestleMania 32 event in 2016. In regards to the live gate revenue, Meltzer reported that AEW’s All In event has generated around $8.35 million based on current paid ticket sales.
• In regards to AEW and NJPW’s Forbidden Door II event in Toronto, Canada, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the event had around 13,143 tickets distributed and a live gate revenue of around $1.4 million as of this past Thursday. Meltzer reported that Forbidden Door II will generate the largest live gate for a wrestling event in Canada in over twenty years. For some comparisons, Meltzer reported that WWE had generated a live gate of $997,637 for this past February’s Elimination Chamber 2023 event in Montreal. Meltzer also reported that Forbidden Door II’s live gate is only behind WWE’s WrestleMania VI event in 1990 WrestleMania XB event in 2002 for all-time largest ever gate for a wrestling event in Canada.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW officials have yet to hold potential talks with Davey Boy Smith Jr. regarding a potential appearance at their upcoming All In event this August at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Meltzer reported that recent rumors and reports revolved around the idea of having Smith Jr. make an appearance as a way to pay homage to his late father Davey Boy Smith’s famous match against Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship at WWE SummerSlam 1992.
• As noted before, ESPN held a recent interview with CM Punk that featured Punk discussing his real-life issues with Hangman Adam Page in AEW. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while Punk had told Page that the rumors of him trying to get Colt Cabana fired from AEW were not true, his sources stated that a large percentage of AEW’s locker room still believes that Punk did try to get Cabana fired. This belief reportedly revolves around the Young Bucks and Chris Jericho being responsible for getting Cabana rehired to ROH following Punk’s issues with Cabana in AEW. Meltzer reported that one source spoken to stated that they were very frustrated that this story continues to linger and that many aspects of this story, including Cabana and others, has not been made public.
• Dave Meltzer also reported that Punk’s story about him being open to talks with The Elite to resolve the issues between the two sides is also something that has two drastically different stories backstage based on those spoken to. Meltzer reported that those spoken to from the Elite’s side stated that there has not been any attempts by Punk for potential talks while those from Punk’s side stated that Punk has tried to contact the Elite but wasn’t able to engage in talks due to legal issues. One top talent spoken to reportedly stated that they currently feel this is just a ticking time bomb that will not have a happy ending due to AEW’s plans to keep the two sides apart from each other on separate brands is not a real solution. This talent reportedly stated that they had left after this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show in a bad mood over this stance.
• Tonight’s Forbidden Door II event in Toronto will be the first time that CM Punk and The Elite will be backstage in the same venue since this past September’s All Out 2022 backstage brawl incident. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that FTR’s closeness with Punk will not be part of this equation since his sources stated that FTR had went out of their way to clear up the air and have no issues with each side. Several of those spoken to reportedly stated that all is currently good between both sides and the current hope is that this will lead to other discussions taking place soon to resolve this issue.
• In regards to the loud boos CM Punk received during his main event 8-Man Tag Team match at Saturday’s Collision show in Toronto, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that Punk was fine with it and even told the crowd that it was okay to boo him if they wanted to do so.
• Ring of Honor has sold around 1,529 tickets for their July 21st Death Before Dishonor 2023 event in Trenton, NJ as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

• Former Impact Wrestling talent Elix Skipper was in attendance at Saturday’s Summer Sizzler tapings for Impact in Atlanta, Georgia.
• As noted before, Yukio Naya has been absent from DDT Pro Wrestling since this past March due to a broken ankle injury. DDT’s What Are You Doing 2023 event earlier today in Tokyo, Japan featured Naya making his surprise return to the company. Naya gave a promo stating that he would be making his official in-ring return at DDT’s Wrestle Peter Pan 2023 event on July 23rd in Tokyo.
• Ricky Banderas, also known as Mil Muertes and former Mesias in Impact, reportedly is currently hospitalized in Miami, Florida due to an infection related to a hand surgery this past May, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 707 for their June 16th New Japan Road 2023 event in Numazu, 1,565 for their June 17th New Japan Road 2023 event in Hachioje, and 1,716 for their June 18th Yuji Nagata Produce Blue Justice XII ~ Blue Justice Return event in Sakura, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In a recent interview with the New York Post, Eddie Kingston gave his thoughts about him getting to compete in this year’s G1 Climax tournament for NJPW for the first time ever in his career. Kingston stated “I worry every time I go to sleep, I’m going to wake up and it’s not true and it’s all a dream. That’s how worried I am about that. The first New Japan Wrestling match I really sat down and watched as a teenager was finals of the G1 in 1991 between Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono. I always wanted to be in the G1 and to actually have it happen, I kind of look around going, I can’t believe it’s real. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wake up one morning and they go, ha, ha we’re joking. I’m also the kind of guy, OK, cool, this is a dream, but I’m also not going there to go, OK, I’m here, beat me, I’ll lose. I’m going there to win it. There was no way I was gonna not do it (even though I just came back). There was definitely a conversation, but Tony (Schiavone) knows me and Tony knows I’m very honest, maybe too honest because I use rough words and I don’t mean to be rough. There have been moments where we’ve had a meeting together and Tony Schiavone will go, ‘Eddie, use a different word. Don’t go so hard.’ It’s because I’m passionate about what I do. We had a discussion and my exact words to Tony were: ‘How dare you f—king lay that question on me. I’ll be ready.’“
• Sunday’s Sunshine event for Stardom in Tokyo, Japan featured Giulia, Mai Sakurai, & Thekla defeating Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki, & Koguma to be crowned the new Artist of Stardom Champions. Following the match, Giulia gave a promo calling out Willow Nightingale and issued a title shot challenge for Nightingale’s NJPW Strong Women’s Championship. NJPW announced afterwards that this challenge if made official would be for one of their upcoming NJPW Strong Independence Day events on July 4-5 in Tokyo, Japan.
• In a recent interview with Dark Puroresu Flowsion, Giulia stated that she is currently interested in leaving Japan to wrestle elsewhere. Giulia stated “The world is wide, but I haven’t done it overseas yet. That’s why I want to fly more freely like a bird. I thought that Japan is not the only thing to do.“
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 461 for their June 18th event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that both Pro Wrestling Diana and Stardom recently issued official statements regarding fans taking photos of their female talents and posting them on social media that focused on their private parts. In their statement, Stardom stated that this has been something that has been a problem for them in recent months. PWD reportedly went as far as to release a video explaining what kind of photos would be acceptable and not acceptable to take by fans for their events. Meltzer reported that both companies did generate some online backlash over their statements due to them being the type of promotions that release photo books with their talents wearing bikinis. Stardom reportedly also had generated some additional backlash over a recent video they had posted for their annual swimsuit photo book that featured an angle between Tam Nakano and Mirai. Some of the comments posted for the video criticized Stardom for releasing a video knowing that some fans would take photos focusing on private parts despite their recent public statements over the issue. Stardom reportedly pulled the video afterwards.
• All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 833 for their Dynamite Series 2023 event in Nagoya and 1,022 for their Dynamite Series 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AJPW announced that Shuji Ishikawa recently suffered a cervical sprain injury and has been pulled from their upcoming events on June 26th and July 2nd. The company also announced that Oji Shiiba recently suffered a left knee injury that occurred during a recent training session.
• As noted before, Lucha Libre AAA cancelled this past Sunday’s television tapings in Puebla, Mexico for unknown reasons at the time. In a recent episode of the K100 w/Konnan & Disco podcast, co-host and AAA head booker Konnan stated that the reason why AAA had cancelled their tapings was due to their fears of the Popocatepetl volcano erupting. TheCubsFan reported that while the volcano remains active, the threat of it actually errupting remains low and the reason given by Konnan over AAA’s decision to cancel the tapings likely was not the real reason. It was reported that Konnan’s claims that the volcano was expected to erupt this past Sunday was something that was not backed up nor mentioned by any news reports in Mexico.
• As noted before, RUSH and his father La Bestia del Ring left AAA earlier this month over backstage frustrations revolving around claims of broken promises from AAA officials. In a recent episode of the K100 w/Konnan & Disco podcast, co-host and AAA head booker Konnan gave his thoughts over the issues surrounding RUSH’s departure stating “He was mad because we weren’t using him enough, but one of the things is… they had a feud… it was against the Dynamite Brothers. Now one of the Dynamite Brothers is the guy [Cuatrero) that they put in jail for supposedly choking that girl wrestler. So it’s very hard to do anything ’cause this guy’s in jail. I thought he was going to get out quick, so I was waiting for him to get out, so I wasn’t getting them work. Plus Rush, he charges a lot of fing money. And it’s, like you’re not in the United States. I have a budget. And when I put you on the show, you eat a quarter of my (budget). I’d rather bring in two or three other wrestlers. I thought what he did was very unprofessional, and I also had another wrestler try to pull that shit with me not too recently, and I’m not going to forget that either. But, you know, they get power, they’re in the United States, and they abuse their fing power and they do shit like this.” In regards to the current situation with RUSH’s booking for next month’s TripleMania XXI: Tijuana event, TheCubsFan reported that his sources stated that AAA officials are still in talks with RUSH trying to get him to agree to work at their upcoming event. It was reported that AAA officials currently do not have any backup plans in place should RUSH not compete at the event as scheduled. (Transcript h/t: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
• As noted before, Bandido recently left AAA over issues related to a recent booking for an event earlier this month in Mexico for The Crash, who is a rival of AAA. In a recent episode of the K100 w/Konnan & Disco podcast, co-host and AAA head booker Konnan confirmed that Bandido is done with the company due to issues over him work an event for The Crash and also stated that Flamita is also gone from the company as well due to similar issues. Konnan stated “He (Bandido) had the very bad habit, which I find very unprofessional, of every time I’m looking for him for work, he doesn’t answer the fing phone. Like, I’m doing him a favor. I’m not going to hunt you down to get you work. He did that when he was in Ring of Honor too. A lot of these wrestlers, they get to the United States, get a big head, and they start charging with their ego, not what the market can support. They don’t give a f ’cause they’re in the United States. But when Ring of Honor closed, oh, there they were, looking for work. What happens in AEW if they cut you or you get injured or something happens? I’m not going to f***ing forget.” (Transcript h/t: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
• AAA recently announced an updated match for the card of their Triplemania XXXI: Tijuana event on July 15th in Tijuana, Mexico. This is an Ambulance match of Pentagon Jr. vs, QT Marshall.
• Pro Wrestling NOAH recently announced a new match for the card of their Sunny Voyage 2023 event on July 9th in Hachioji, Japan. This is a tag team match of Kaito Kiyomiya & Kenoh vs. Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba