Sat. Roundup: Edge WWE Contract Update & AEW Interest, Lacey Evans, Cash Wheeler Update, AEW All In Sets Record, NJPW, Indies

WWE

• Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,233,000 viewers on FOX, according to Programming Insider. Similar to last week, SmackDown’s final viewership number is currently expected to be lower since their preliminary ratings included some viewership from NFL Preseason games being counted towards. This is due to FOX had aired those games in several markets.
• In a recent interview with Sportsnet’s The Fan Morning Show, Edge gave his thoughts about the future of his wrestling career and revealed that his current contract with WWE expires at the end of this September. Edge stated “I mean, I can’t say I haven’t thought about it. I have, for sure. But I realize that I haven’t come to any conclusions. And I’m kind of torn, honestly. Because I don’t want to do this to the point where I don’t feel like I’m able to have the output that I want. Because only I know how I feel when I’m deep into a match and go, ‘Oof, man, okay, didn’t do enough cardio’ or ‘Man, I did all that cardio and I’m still feeling this way.’ That’s why I really want to collect myself after this thing. Take just a big ol’ deep breath and just decide what that is. My contract is up at the end of September. This is my last contracted match. So I have a lot of decisions to make. But I can’t do it now. I think I almost got to see how Friday goes in a weird way. I know that’s not a clear answer, but I don’t have it yet.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• In regards to Edge’s career future, Fightful Select reported that their sources within WWE stated that Edge’s contract did have injury time added to make up for the time he was out injured but this was something that sources close to Edge have yet to confirm or deny. Those spoken to within AEW stated that they currently feel confident that Edge going to their company is a real possibility, albeit without the Edge ring name since that is owned by WWE. Those close to Edge reportedly stated earlier this year that Edge was open to the idea of potentially working in AEW due to his close friendship with Christian Cage and FTR helping him train for his in-ring return from retirement. It was also reported that Edge’s name was being discussed a lot recently backstage within AEW and well before he had announced his match with Sheamus as his last match of his current WWE contract.
• WWE recently announced a new match for the card of their August 22nd NXT Heatwave 2023 special. This is a singles match of Ivy Nile vs. Ava.
• Fightful Select reported that WWE had plans in place prior to the start of Friday’s SmackDown show in Toronto, Canada for Asuka to interfere during the Women’s Tag Team match of Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair vs. Damage CTRL (IYO SKY & Bayley). This did not end up happening nor did Asuka make an appearance on the show.
• As noted before, Kevin Owens has been out of action for WWE since this past July due to a rib injury. Owens made his official return from injury following Friday’s SmackDown show in Toronto for a post-show segment involving Imperium confronting Edge only to be fought off by Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, and Owens.
• WWE held one dark match prior to the start of Friday’s SmackDown show in Toronto. This was a singles match of Odyssey Jones vs. Cameron Grimes.
• As noted before, Lacey Evans departed from WWE this past Wednesday. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it is currently not known if Evans departure was due to WWE officials not offering a new contract to her and her contract had expired or if she had requested her release from the company. Meltzer reported that when WWE had signed Evans, they had originally viewed her her as being a potential big mainstream star for the company due to her looks, her life story, and U.S. Marines military background.
• In a recent interview with Your Island News, Macey Estrella, former Lacey Evans, revealed that she will be opening a new cafe this Monday in Beaufort, South Carolina for her post-WWE career. Estrella also stated that she is currently focused on spending more time with her family and giving back to her community. Estrella stated “I thought I could be of more assistance fighting a different fight than in the WWE ring. I want to focus on helping my community to fight against addiction and fight on the mental health side to normalize mental health issues. Once the cafe officially opens on Monday, Estrella hopes to open her doors to community organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and said she plans to offer them free coffee and donuts in addition to a meeting place. She also wants to host seminars and classes targeted at women and military spouses on important skills that are necessary to get a job and ‘follow their goals and aspirations.’“
• This past Thursday’s WWE Main Event show featured WWE officially announcing that the upcoming Cage match between Trish Stratus and Becky Lynch will be taking place at their Payback 2023 event in September 2nd in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while WWE has done very little promotion and build for their upcoming Payback 2023 event, his sources stated that WWE officials currently do not have any plans for the Jey Uso vs, Jimmy Uso match to take place at this event. Meltzer reported that the reason is due to WWE officials wanting more build time for this match and at a bigger event instead.
• Trish Stratus recently announced that she will be making an appearance at tonight’s WWE house show event in Ottawa and this Sunday’s house show even in Laval, Canada.
• Zelina Vega recently announced on Instagram that she will be launching a new podcast series with Dakota Kai called “Zelvx and Charlie Girl” within the near future.
• WWE filed a trademark for “WWE’s The Bump” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on August 15th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• As noted before, former SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee signed a deal with ESPN this past May for the network to become the new home of his The Pat McAfee Show series. ESPN recently announced that The Pat McAfee Show will be debuting on their network on September 7th.
• A teaser trailer for the upcoming new Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series for Disney+ was recently released featuring Edge among the series cast.
• As noted before, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recent responded to comments made by Paul Heyman regarding WWE’s Bloodline storyline only being in the third inning. Angle had stated that Heyman’s comments were “full of shit” and the storyline is more likely in the 8th inning since WWE is just making stuff up to stretch it out longer. In a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, host Angle clarified his past comments. Angle stated “Whether it’s true or not, at least Paul Heyman has some thick skin. He wasn’t real serious about that. I don’t think so. I think he was joking back. But what I said about that, whether I’m right or not, put it this way, most storylines that they do, they don’t know the complete end to it anyway. They just keep going and going, and they keep adding to it, then they take away, then they add more to it. You just don’t know when it’s gonna be done. The Bloodline, this storyline has been incredible. It’s been really entertaining, I’m not gonna lie to you. But I think he is in the eighth inning, and he’s wondering, what the hell do we do next? But I’m excited to see what happens.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with Sportskeeda’s WrestleBinge podcast, Natayla gave her thoughts about the recent rumors of WWE being interested in bringing back Nia Jax. Natayla stated “When I think about Nia Jax, she had such a great showing at this past Royal Rumble and so I think, she had a hiatus. Nobody ever wants to get let go from WWE and I remember when all of that happened, it was just a chaotic time in the world kind of during the height of the pandemic, but to see her wanting to get back into wrestling, wanting to get back to where it all began for her — Seeing her at the Royal Rumble, she seemed really happy, she seemed like she was in a great place and it made me happy for her because WWE, we are like a big family and when she left WWE, there was a lot of like — I think she did feel sad because she missed a lot of her friends and she loved performing and loving being able to do that. So if it’s something that she wants to do and she’s got the wrestling itch again, I think the Royal Rumble kind of gave her the wrestling itch a little bit.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• As noted before, Cash Wheeler was arrested for Aggravated Assault with a Firearm on Friday in Florida following an alleged road rage and firearm brandishing incident last month in the state. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Wheeler posted bond on Friday and is currently free and available to make his currently scheduled appearances for AEW.
• MJF recently defended Cash Wheeler on Twitter over some of the comments and online backlash Wheeler received following his recent arrest and details of his incident being made public. MJF stated “Kinda disappointed how many dorks there are on this app that jump to conclusions so quick. A ton of peoples privilege is showing. We’re all human. We’re all flawed. We all make mistakes. Take it from a guy who’s made more mistakes than most. I’ve had my ups and downs with FTR but Cash wheeler is a great dude and a bad ass. You’re getting FTR Vs Young Bucks in front of 80k plus on august 27th. Talk about that ya dweebs.“
• Fightful Select reported that AEW talent spoken to stated that they were not aware of Wheeler’s recent legal situation until news of it became public online on Friday.
• As noted before, Danhausen has been out of action for AEW since this past March due to a torn pectoral injury. Danhausen recently provided an injury update on Twitter stating that he will not be able to make an appearance at AEW’s upcoming All In event due to the current status of his injury. Danhausen stated “Hello I am injured. I will not be at wembley. Go enjoy the wrestlers who are not injured that are at the show that have worked very hard to help make this happen. I am not at wembley. I am not at wembley. I am not at wembley. I am injured. Thank you all for asking. I am injured.“
• As noted before, Marq Quen has been out of act for AEW since this past December due to an unknown injury. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Quen had suffered a shoulder injury and still has yet to be medically cleared for an in-ring return. Quen reportedly has been in a brace/sling for quite some time.
• WrestleTix reported that AEW has distributed around 80,846 tickets for their upcoming All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This reportedly surpassed WWE’s WrestleMania 32 for most tickets distributed for a paid event in wrestling history. WrestleMania 32 previously held the record at 80,709 tickets distributed.
• Friday’s AEW Rampage show in Nashville, Tennessee featured a backstage promo segment involving Ring of Honor’s The Righteous (Vincent, Dutch, & Stu Grayson) revealing that they will be making their official debut soon in AEW.
• As noted before, AEW CEO Tony Khan announced that this week’s set of AEW television shows would be Fight for the Fallen 2023 to help support those affected by the recent wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Khan originally had plans to hold this year’s Fight for the Fallen on August 26th as part of that night’s Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision tapings but changed those plans due to the situation with Maui wildfires.
• This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Nashville, Tennessee featured a Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch between Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Hardy that was sponsored by the Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Khan originally had planned for this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show be be heavier in build for AEW’s upcoming All In event. Those plans were changed due to Warner Bros Discovery wanting AEW to help promote the video game and Khan needing to make up time for that match on the show.
• As noted before, AEW re-hired Ace Steel to the company several months ago following his initial release over his involvement in the All Out 2022 backstage brawl incident this past September. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the reason why Steel isn’t allowed backstage at AEW shows is due to him being labeled as an “insurance risk” for the company. It was reported that several months following his initial release, Steel had a meeting with Khan and discussed wrestling-related topics. This led to Steel being rehired to AEW under terms that did not allow him to be physically present at shows and also allowed him to do outside wrestling work. It was reported that Steel’s current contract is set to expire in the Fall of 2024. It was also reported that Steel had received back pay covering the time he was suspended and out of the company.
• In a recent interview with 92.9 The Game’s The John Chuckery Show, Britt Baker gave her thoughts about her decision to take a small step back from her dentistry career in order to focus more on her current career in wrestling. Baker stated “With the ever changing and every growing schedule with AEW, it was getting really hard to manage because I don’t want to be calling off last minute at the dental office all the time if Tony [Tony Khan] needs me for something for a TV taping or to go do media or an event. I hold myself accountable to be available for those types of events because I’m one of the faces of AEW and I want to be available for everything like that. Unfortunately, that means…I don’t want to say closing the door, but I’m definitely taking a step back from dentistry. It’s not fair to be canceling on patients all the time if something else popped up and it’s not fair to the staff. My staff is absolutely fabulous at the dental office, I love them to death. I’m still there a few times a month to check in on my old patients to make sure everyone is okay. I don’t really accept any new patients just because it was getting really tricky to navigate the waters of fans coming into the dental office and not really knowing who is there to be a patient and who is there to get an autograph and picture. It’s fun, but at the same time, it gets frustrating for my staff when they are there to see patients and keep a successful practice going.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with The AEW-Some Podcast, Chris Jericho revealed that AEW had plans at one point in 2020 for a potential cinematic match between himself and boxing legend Mike Tyson. Jericho stated “Mike Tyson and I almost had a cinematic match. We were this close to doing it, Tyson vs. Jericho in a New York Street Fight, but we couldn’t make it happen. We really were deep in negotiations too. We were going to do it in New York in an alley, like an alley fight, basically. Think ‘They Live’ with Tyson and Jericho. That’s what I had in mind.” (Transcript h/t: WrestlingNews.co)
• As noted before, Ring of Honor held a new set of ROH TV tapings this past Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee due to logistical reasons related to their upcoming All In event in London, England. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why AEW made the decision to hold new tapings for ROH TV this past Wednesday was also due to schedule related issues. Meltzer reported that AEW currently does not have any plans to hold any tapings on August 26th and since August 23rd will be a Dynamite and Collision double taping, that did not leave any real time left for a ROH TV taping for their August 31st episode.

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

• As noted before, Impact Wrestling talent Moose signed a new multi-year contract with the company this past June. In a recent interview with WrestleSphere, Moose gave his thoughts about his decision to sign a new contract with Impact to remain in the company for the foreseeable future. Moose stated “That’s the reason why I’ve decided to stay with Impact. In the past, when you hear the words Impact Wrestling, maybe two names come to mind, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, I’m working to become the third name people think of when they think about Impact Wrestling. Each day I feel like I take more steps towards that goal. I’ve been a loyal flag-waver for Impact Wrestling and I’m going to keep doing it. Legacy means a lot man, I mean there’s a reason why I decided to stay here. We’re growing every year, getting bigger and bigger. We just did a tour of Australia and we’re doing another hopefully next year, now we’re coming to the UK. Every year Impact does something that’s not been seen for a few years and I’m happy to be part of that. I made my legacy all at Impact Wrestling and I can’t wait to see how that all turns out when I finally unlace the boots and hang it up. Impact Wrestling has a lot of great wrestlers in our locker room like Eddie Edwards, Josh Alexander, Deonna Purrazzo, I mean she and the Knockouts have killed it in recent years.“
• In a recent interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Eddie Edwards gave his thoughts about Impact’s upcoming co-promoted Multiverse United 2 event with New Japan Pro Wrestling and his interest in challenging SANADA for his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in the future. Edwards stated “Of course. I mean, any time there’s another champion in our company, even if they’re not a champion, I want to be the guy that, somebody comes from another company, I’m happy to be the IMPACT representative who goes out there and kind of handles business and sees what they’re about. But SANADA , when he was over before, we had a few matches. We had some X-Division Title matches and stuff like that. To see him come back as the IWGP Champion, it’s pretty cool to see, and I would love to challenge him for that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Stardom announced that their official YouTube channel recently surpassed 600,000 subscribers. 411Wrestling’s Himanshu Doi reported that Stardom has managed to double their total subscribers they had for their channel since this past March. Doi also reported that Stardom’s current total is higher than what NJPW has for total subscribers for their own official YouTube channel at around 510,000 subscribers, NJPW Global channel at around 433,000 subscribers, and NJPW World channel at 288,000 subscribers.
• NJPW recently announced that Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino, Hirooki Goto, and Ryusuke Taguche will be among those featured in an upcoming film based on the life and wrestling legacy of the late Antonio Inoki. It was also announced that this upcoming film will be released in theaters in Japan on October 6th.
• NJPW recently announced that Will Ospreay will be defending his IWGP United States Championship against Yota Tsuji at their Destruction in Kobe 2023 event on September 24th in Kobe, Japan. It was also announced that Bishamon (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) will be defending their IWGP Tag Team Championship against TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) at the event. It was also announced that Taichi will be defending his Provisional King of Pro Wrestling 2023 Championship against SHO at the event as well.
• NJPW also recently announced that SANADA will be defending his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against EVIL at their Destruction in Ryogoku 2023 event on October 9th in Ryogoku, Japan. It was also announced that David Finlay will be defending his NEVER Openweight Championship against Tama Tonga at the event. It was also announced that Bullet Club War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin) will be defending their NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship against El Phantasmo & Hikuleo at the event as well.
• NJPW also recently announced that Zack Sabre Jr. will be defending his NJPW World Television Championship against Boltin Oleg at their Road to Destruction 2023 event on September 8th in Tokyo, Japan.
• NJPW also recently announced that Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, & Hiroshi Tanahashi will be defending their NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship against Tiger Mask, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, & Togi Makabe at their Road to Destruction 2023 event on September 9th in Tokyo, Japan.
• NJPW also recently announced that they will be holding a Best of Seven series between Team Nagata (Yuji Nagata, Shota Umino, & Master Wato) and Strong Style (Ren Narita, El Desperado, & Minoru Suzuki) during their upcoming Road to Destruction 2023 events starting with their September 10th event in Togane, Japan.
• In a recent episode of DPW Spark for Deadlock Pro Wrestling, indie wrestler Chris Denker issued an official match challenge to Adam Cole. While Denker never mentioned Cole’s name specifically, he stated that “when it happens, we are going to set the world on fire….bay bay” and performed Cole’ “Boom” taunt. Denker and Cole previously have worked together in video gaming related streams over the years.
• Major League Wrestling recently announced that they will be holding a new event called MLW: One Shot on December 7th in New York City, New York.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that MLW owner Court Bauer is current working on plans to bring in more wrestling members of the legendary Anoa’i Family into the company in the future. Meltzer reported that Bauer has been a close friend of the family for years.
• As noted before, a new Japanese Joshi wrestling promotion is currently planning to launch this Fall in the United States. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that officials for this new promotion have been in talks with former WWE commentator Mauro Ranallo to be the lead announcer for their shows. Meltzer reported that a deal has yet to be reached between teh two sides as of this past Thursday.
• PROGRESS Wrestling announced that Brian Cage will be making an appearance for the company at their Feel The Noize event on September 9th in Birmingham and their Chapter 156: Steal Yourself event on September 10th in Sheffield, England.
• In a recent episode of the Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast, co-host Bruce Prichard gave his thoughts about why he is no longer a fan of VICE TV’s Dark Side of the Ring wrestling documentary series. Prichard stated “I can’t watch those things. I think they dwell on negativity, lies, bullshit, and hearsay, and they exploit that. So much of it is based on rumor and innuendo and just complete 100% bullshit. The producers do their homework to the extent that satisfies them. When you dispute their homework and give them facts that don’t support their story and narrative, they choose to ignore it. That is why I have not done anything since the first ones that I did for the first season, and I will never do anything with them again because I do not like the way that they present stories because they’re only looking for negativity to exploit, and in my old age, I learn there’s a lot more than negativity.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)