Sat. Roundup: More Bray Wyatt Tributes, Brock Anderson AEW Contract Update, MLW & NJPW Sign Partnership, Impact, Indies

WWE

• Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,505,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV. Similar to recent weeks, 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.
• Braun Strowman, Karrion Kross, Shotzi, and WWE Director of Longterm Creative Rob Fee revealed on social media that they got matching tattoos of Bray Wyatt’s Wyatt 6 logo in memory of the late Wyatt following Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Louisville, Kentucky.
• In a recent interview with ESPN, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angel gave his thoughts on how the late Bray Wyatt helped “revolutionized” the wrestling business. Angle stated “He was really creative. He came up with some incredible characters that were really fun to watch. He was really exciting, he was smart, he was athletic. We’re going to miss a very special person. This kid revolutionized the business, he really did. He had some amazing ideas and concepts that he did. He always kept the fans entertained and we’re going to sorely miss Bray Wyatt.” Angle also gave his thoughts about the rate of premature deaths in professional wrestling compared to other sports. Angle stated “One thing about pro wrestling is if you look at its history, the entertainers tend to pass away at a lot younger ages than the average person. I’m not sure if it’s because you take a toll on your body and for 20-30 years you’re doing pro wrestling and you’re bumping in that ring the whole time and you’re traveling every day. There’s just so many unhealthy issues in pro wrestling that probably are the reason why you’re seeing a lot of younger deaths in the sport.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• John Cena recently reflected on Twitter about the impact Bray Wyatt had on his career in WWE. Cena stated “Devastated by the news of the passing of Windham Rotunda. My heart goes out to the entire Rotunda family. Windham brought the best out of me in so many ways. I’m forever grateful for the moments we shared. A sad day for all those he reached around the world. RIP.“
• Alexa Bliss recently reflected on Instagram about her work with Bray Wyatt in WWE and his legacy in wrestling. Bliss stated “I wanted to come on here and just talk about Windham a little bit and what tonight means. And first I wanted to say, I’m sending out so much love and thoughts to WIndham’s entire family. You know, we are all here for you and we’re so sorry for your loss. Windham is an incredible person who we’ve all loved for years. And he’s just so friendly and lights up a room, and is so creative. He’s a creative genius who brought us all the amazing gift of Bray Wyatt for the last — so many years. And I think the character Bray Wyatt that Windham has given us has been incredible, and has been so fascinating to see and has brought us so much joy to watch. And you know, working with Windham was just so — it was magic. It was magic because being able to watch him in his creative element and be able to work with him really, you know, expanded my creativity. And being able to just watch him work, and work beside him, was just truly, truly an honor. And I still say to this day was the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire career in WWE. And I am so thankful that he allowed me and trusted me to come in and be a small part of his vision and his creativity. And unfortunately now, there’s a huge void in our world. And in the WWE Universe that no one will ever be able to fill. Because Windham was so special, and everything he brought to us was so special, and I think we should all be so grateful for that. His creative genius of the Wyatt Family and The Fiend, and the Firefly Fun House has really opened up all of our minds and opened our eyes to a whole other world in our industry that none of us could have ever thought imaginable. And I just wanted to say Winham, you know, you’ve brought so much joy to everyone around you, and to the millions who have loved watching you week after week, and loved watching your journey. And to see your creative genius unfold. We will continue to celebrate your life, your legacy, and the amazing human you are. And we will continue to light up the sky with fireflies. And we all love you, Windham.” Bliss also stated that she had planned to be at Friday’s SmackDown show to pay tribute to Wyatt but was unable to do so due to a last minute flight-related issue. Bliss stated “Before tonight’s episode of Smackdown, I just wanted to come on here and say a few words. I was planning on attending tonight’s Smackdown, but unfortunately with the last-minute flight options it wasn’t really possible to get me there in time before the show ended.” (Transcript h/t: 411Mania.com)
• Seth Rollins also reflected on Twitter about the recent passing of Bray Wyatt and getting to work with him in WWE. Rollins stated “Truth is, I don’t really, still don’t really know what to say.  Windham was a unique cat. He was a simple yet deeply complex individual and I loved him. I loved him, I loved working with him, but mostly I just loved being around him. He was always joyful. Just these eyes that drew you in and a smile and a laugh and a presence that just made you happy. And we are all going to miss that. I’ve been thinking mostly about his family, kids and I wanted to go, I dunno, wanted was the right word, I thought about going to SmackDown tonight, but that would entail leaving my family a day early. And I just keep going back to the conversation I had with Windham on the phone when Brodie passed a few years ago and I just had called him to check on him to see how I was doing and we talked and he was okay and I was okay and either of us were really okay. But I just remember we ended the conversation with ‘I love yous’ and goodbyes and he said, I remember this very specifically. He said, you just go hug on that baby girl, talking about my daughter. So I just feel like that’s what I should be doing.  Windham, I love you man.  I will miss you. We will all miss you. And I see you down the road. Hoot boy.” (Transcript h/t: PWInsider.com)
• WWE announced that the card of their upcoming Payback 2023 event on September 2nd in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will feature a special The Waller Effect talk show segment featuring Grayson Waller and Cody Rhodes as his guest.
• WWE held one dark match prior to the start of Friday’s SmackDown show in Louisville, Kentucky. This was a singles match of Cameron Grimes vs. Odyssey Jones, which was won by Grimes.
• Legendary television game show host Bob Barker passed away today at the age of 99. Baker was most known in the television industry as the host of the famous Price Is Right series from 1972 to 2007. In regards to wrestling history, Baker was known for being the guest host of a WWE RAW show in September of 2009 as part of WWE’s then Guest Host era for their RAW brand.
• WWE announced that Butch, Duke Hudson, Charlie Dempsey, and Nathan Frazer are the next set of official competitors for their upcoming NXT Global Heritage Cup Invitational tournament.
• WWE recently released a tribute video for the late Terry Funk.
• Bronson Reed recently announced on Instagram that he and his wife Paieg are currently expecting the birth of their first child.
• United World Wrestling recently announced that Gable Steveson will be competing at the upcoming 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
• In response to a recent tweet from WWE, Big E praised Carmelo Hayes as someone he views as a big star and future world champion for the company. Big E stated “Melo is a STAR. Couldn’t be a bigger fan of @Carmelo_WWE as a talent & professional. Looking forward to the main roster main events & world titles.“
• In a recent interview with the Superstar Crossover podcast, Charlotte Flair gave her thoughts about a future career outside of wrestling. Flair stated “Day by day. I’m hoping something happens, but I don’t know what that looks like. I’d love to star in a movie or a series. During my off time, I did have the opportunity to become a global ambassador for Smile Train. So that’s been really rewarding working with the community on my off time. So I don’t know, just whatever happens next.” Flair also stated that she is interested in the idea of competing in a bodybuilding contest in the future. Flair stated “I mean, I contemplate doing one, but I haven’t signed up yet, but I do love the bodybuilding world.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• Arn Anderson stated in a recent episode of his ARN podcast that his son Brock Anderson’s contract with AEW is currently set to expire at the end of August. Anderson also stated that he is currently hopeful that AEW will sign his son to a new deal and keep them in the company.
• During Friday’s musical concert by Fozzy in London, England, Fozzy lead singer and AEW talent Chris Jericho paid tribute to the late Bray Wyatt.
• As noted before, Cash Wheeler was arrested for Aggravated Assault with a Firearm last week in Florida following an alleged road rage and firearm brandishing incident this past July in the state. In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, The Young Bucks gave their thoughts on Wheeler’s current legal situation and their upcoming match with FTR at AEW’s All In event this Sunday. Matt Jackson stated “Any time distractions happen beyond your control, it’s a bit frustrating. But we have a task at hand, and we plan on delivering.” Matt also gave his thoughts on if they can top their prior two bouts. Matt stated “I love a challenge I’m most excited for the opportunity to feel what it’s like to perform at an event of such magnitude. It might be the culmination of everything we’ve ever worked for, and how I complete every future story I tell to my future grandkids about where my career climaxed.” Nick Jackson responded stating “Not many people know this, but I had a really bad case of Covid a month or two before that first match, and I had trouble breathing for a long time. Cardio-wise, it took me a while to get healthy, so that match was probably the hardest match I ever had to get through. The second match I felt a lot healthier, but it was on TV so we didn’t get a lot of time. What excites me most is having that extra time and having a beat to be able to tell the best story that we possibly can.“
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials recently had gear and a potential new entrance theme made for Paul Wight based on his Captain Insano character from 1998 comedy film The Waterboy. It was reported that AEW officials had held talks at one point regarding a potential Trios match of Captain Insano & The Hardys vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, & Satnam Singh. It was reported that this plan was dropped due to Jeff Hardy not being legally allowed to travel to the United Kingdom and Satnam Singh also dealing with travel-related issues as well.
• In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, MJF gave his thoughts on his critics always moving the goalposts when it comes to him achieving big success in his wrestling career. MJF stated “I knew I did a great job, but I also knew that there would be a big conglomerate of people saying, ‘Yeah, the kid did good, but what was he there for?’ I strive off that shit. We’ll continue to talk about those things as the milestones add up in my career because every single time I’ve had a big opportunity in any capacity, the goalpost was always moved. Every single time. I remember I did a great job, and the goal posts moved. ‘Yeah, the match was really good, but why was he on the card.’ Okay, okay. Well, WWE scouts and AEW scouts didn’t feel that way, but okay. Then, when I signed on with AEW, it was really just off to the races. I remember, again, goalposts moved. ‘I mean, yeah, MJF has really become the most hated man in all of professional wrestling, but can he have a good match against Cody Rhodes?’ First of all, if you can’t have a good match against Cody Rhodes, kill yourself. Second of all, I could have a good match with anybody. I could have a great match with anybody. Then I do that, obviously. Match was awesome. You can watch it back now. There’s highlight clips all over on YouTube, and people made music videos and shit to it. People love that shit. Then after that, it was, ‘MJF had an incredible rivalry and an incredible match with Cody Rhodes. But he could never be in the main event.’ MJF vs. Jon Moxley. That match was incredible in the peak of the pandemic era, and people still bring that match to me to this day. ‘Yeah, sure, MJF can be in the main event of a pay-per-view for the world title, but can we go toe-to-toe on the microphone with a legend like Chris Jericho?’ Okay. I did that for a year.“
• MJF continued stating that his favorite goal post moment was his Iron Man match against Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship at this past March’s Revolution 2023 event. MJF stated “Sure, MJF might have beaten Jon Moxley for the world title. But he can’t wrestle for an hour against Bryan Danielson.’ I’ll never forget… of all the takes, that was the one that made me the most mad. There’s a weird thing that has occurred in professional wrestling where 99% of the time, if somebody’s really good at this, they’re just okay in the ring. Because people rest on their laurels. They realize they can make just enough money and be just enough over by just being good on the microphone, so why put just as much time and effort into this as they do inside the squared circle? I don’t rest on my laurels. I’m a sicko. It’s not how I operate. I wasn’t raised that way. I was raised to be able to look people in the eye and say, ‘I’m better than you, and you know it,’ and mean it. So when I read that, I thought, ‘This is my favorite goalpost moment. Because not only am I going to prove I can go an hour with Bryan Danielson. Not only am I going to have the best Iron Man match in the history of the sport. I am going to make everyone go, ‘Can Bryan Danielson hang with MJF?’ Guess what the answer was? Nope. I won.” MJF also gave his thoughts on why he feels that people move their goalposts for him. MJF stated “Because people aren’t used to watching history unfold in front of their very own eyes. It’s scary. I’m scary. I scare people. I’m not supposed to be able to be this good at 27. It’s weird. It’s never happened before in the history of the sport. Now there have been guys that have gotten huge opportunities at my age. But everybody knew that they had holes in their game. I’m not going to name names. You can think of these people, where they got a lot of TV time and you went, ‘Oh, this guy is next up, but he needs to work on this, or he needs to work on that.’ I don’t need to work on jack shit, bro. I’m MJF. I’m the best in the world right now by, in my opinion, a wide margin. I think that’s why. I think it’s so slowed down a tremendous amount. I think people finally have taken a step back and been like, ‘Alright, he talks a lot of shit, he cuts some corners, he’s kind of a scumbag, but he’s my scumbag.’ I think now, fans are excited to be along for the ride, as opposed to be contrarians, as opposed to going, ‘Everyone’s talking about how great this guy is, I’m sick of it. I don’t want to hear it anymore.’ Now, it’s ‘Alright, he’s pretty fucking good.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• The August 16th AEW Dynamite Fight for the Fallen 2023 special featured a sponsored Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch between Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett, which was won by Jarrett. Following the match, Jarrett was presented with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre Championship belt. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that AEW officials currently do not have any plans for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre title to be regularly defended on shows.
• Red Velvet has been absent from AEW programming since this past February. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Velvet was seen in attendance backstage at last week’s AEW Dynamite show in Nashville, Tennessee but was not in attendance at this past Wednesday’s Dynamite in Duluth, Georgia.
• In a recent interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Ethan Page stated that the reason why he did not travel to London for AEW’s upcoming All In event is due to green card-related issues. Page stated “Ethan Page is landlocked in America because I have officially applied for my green card, which is a huge dream thing for myself and my family, but the timing of it, we had the tours of Canada, so we pushed back the paperwork, and the second we came back from Canada, we had apply. I won’t be able to cross the border for All In, but I’ll be watching and I think all of you guys should too.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about AEW’s profitability as a company. Khan stated “I typically talk about how I reinvest a lot of money. I have reinvested a lot of the money we gross in this business. Last year, we grossed over $100 million. This year, we’ll gross far more than $100 million – we’ll see where it ends up. But last year was $100 million, this year is going to be a lot more with video game revenue [for AEW Fight Forever, released this summer], Wembley revenue and the addition and [weekly TNT show, launched in June on TNT,] Collision. So our grosses will be far higher this year, and I’ve reinvested much of the money we’ve grossed back into the business. I’m still working off the original investment into the business, but have not had to put in more. And then we are reinvesting money to grow it as an international business. We’ve launched the video game, expanded the TV calendar, expanded the pay-per-view calendar and the merchandising. We have a valuation of, well people have approached me with billion-dollar offers. So the business has grown. I’m not turning over huge cash profits. But as we approach the new media rights renewal, that is really the key not only to weekly profitability and cash flow, but also another large multiplier on top of the business valuation.” Khan also stated that he is currently not interested in taking AEW public similar to WWE. Khan stated “I’m not interested in that at this time.“
• In a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, Orange Cassidy gave his thoughts about his current reign as AEW International Champion. Cassidy stated “When I won the All-Atlantic Championship, it was called that before the International Championship, I really think the goal was just to beat PAC and take that title from him. It didn’t have an identity. It was a new championship, and I didn’t know what to do with it. So I just did what I thought I needed to do, and that was defend it as much as possible. There are championships in this company that are able to be defended against a certain group of people, like let’s call them the top five of the roster, those upper echelon people. The idea of having a championship that I could fight against the people that aren’t on television all the time, to not have a spotlight on them all the time, and that they are able to show what they can do. Because as we all know, AEW’s roster is very large, and there are tons of people that are just waiting for that opportunity to show what they can do because they’re all very talented. I was able to do that with this championship. I feel that this should be that. I think it should be something that we can show, ‘Hey, we all can do it.’ That’s what I’m most happy, that I was able to make this championship identify as.” Cassidy also gave his thoughts on some of the opponents he has faced for his current title reign in lieu of having any favorite opponents. Cassidy stated “I never like getting beat up, so I know none of them are my favorite. But it is interesting that the championship was, it started on Rampage. I defended it a lot on Rampage against a lot of those guys that we were just taking about. Everyone gave me a tough time, and then it slowly crept its way onto Dynamite. Then I started wrestling the Big Bills and the Jake Hagers, and then I started getting in more pain. I don’t remember the matches. I remember the pain that I felt through each one. So my back hurt tremendously because of Jake Hager, Big Bill, Danny Garcia. My hand is still throbbing because of Buddy Matthews. Zack Sabre Jr., he messed it up. I wrestled against Katsuyori Shibata. That’s crazy, right? I shouldn’t be doing that. But I am.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, co-host Matt Hardy gave his thoughts about the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch between his brother Jeff and Jeff Jarrett. Hardy stated “There were a couple of things I would have maybe liked to have done differently, but overall, I was okay with it. I was happy with what we watched back, what we saw back when I actually watched it back. There was a company who was paying X amount of dollars for us for the video game and they had a very specific vision and our job was to go out there and fulfill that vision. That’s what we did to the best of our ability. That’s why you saw these weird weapons being used, why you saw the hammer that was very specific for the finish. There were many things that were very specific and we followed that very closely. We did everything they asked us to do and they were ecstatic at the end of the night, so that was a win.” Hardy also jokingly claimed that AEW CEO Tony Khan was the person portraying Leatherface during the match. Hardy stated “Tony Khan was really into the idea of doing this match, he was really excited about the sponsorship and donating a portion of the money to the Maui charity, which is a great cause. Tony was so into this match, he actually dressed up as Leatherface. He played Leatherface and ran out with the chainsaw. TK was Leatherface.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

• Saturday’s 11 Year Anniversary Show for Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England featured Chris Jericho making a surprise appearance. Following Will Ospreay’s victory over Shingo Takagi in the main event, a mysterious masked person attacked Ospreay and hit him with a Codebreaker. This person then unmasked themself revealing himself to be Jericho. Jericho and Ospreay are currently scheduled to compete in a match at this Sunday’s AEW All In event in London.
• Saturday’s RevPro 11 Year Anniversary Show in London also featured Zack Sabre Jr. issuing a match challenge to Will Ospreay for his IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Royal Quest III event on October 14th in London.
• Impact Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Emergence 2023 event on August 27th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. These are a Back To School match of Eddie Edwards vs. Frankie Kazarian and a No DQ match of Deaner vs. Eric Young.
• Impact also announced two new matches for the pre-show for their Emergence 2023 event on August 27th in Toronto. These are a singles match of “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Alan Angels and a tag team match of The Good Hands (Jason Hotch & John Skyler) vs. Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura.
• Impact also recently announced one new match for the card of their Emergence 2023 Fallout Impact! tapings on August 28th in Toronto. This is a singles match of Lio Rush vs. Kevin Knight.
• Impact also recently announced one new match for the card of their Impact 1000 show on September 9th in White Plains, New York. This is a tag team match of Team 3D (Bully Ray & D-Von Dudley) vs. mystery team.
• Fightful Select reported that those spoken to within Impact stated that they were happy over the positive reception the Crazzy Steve’s sitdown interviews segments on recent Impact shows generated for the company.
• In a recent interview with the Haus of Wrestling podcast, The IInspiration’s Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay gave their thoughts about why they made the decision to go to Impact following their release from WWE in April of 2021. McKay stated “It just felt like the right step to make. It was something that we had spoken about together. There are a lot of things that have to come together to make something work, and IMPACT just came together. It was the right time for us, it felt good, we liked their schedule, it being a little bit more relaxed because we had been at home out of the wrestling bubble for a little bit and we knew that we wanted to try and maintain that balance. We had known all of the girls in the locker room, never worked them inside of the ring so it was just an exciting time for us. We also just had a fun time rebranding and evolving our characters. I remember Cass came over one day and I said, we can do this and this and this and it was kind of like getting the ball rolling, and she’s like, oh, what about this? It was just really fun. We had kind of lost that fun and we hadn’t teamed up for so long, so it was kind of like re-sparking our love for tag team wrestling at the moment.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that one topic of conversation that was brought up backstage during last weekend’s events for Impact and NJPW in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania revolved around the huge hole left by former NJPW referee Jeremy Marcus following him leaving the company and signing with WWE. It was reported that prior to his departure, Marcus had been NJPW’s Head of Administration for their NJPW strong brand in the United States.
• Major League Wrestling announced that they have recently signed a new working partnership with NJPW that will start at their upcoming Fury Road 2023 event on September 3rd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• MLW also recently announced one new match for the card of their Fury Road 2023 event on September 3rd in Philadelphia. This is a singles match of Tony Deppen vs. KUSHIDA.
• In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, KUSHIDA gave his thoughts about his upcoming debut for MLW as part of the company’s new working partnership with NJPW. KUSHIDA stated “I am excited to wrestle in MLW for the first time. I hear there are a lot of great wrestlers there, and I look forward to fighting them. I am ready to take on anyone. I’m ready to fight for the championship.“
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Say You Will event on September 1st in Chicago, Illinois. This is a singles match of “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Mance Warner.
• In a recent interview with Interstate 70 Sports Media, EC3 gave his thoughts about his upcoming match against Tyrus for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship at this Sunday’s NWA 75 Night 2 event in St. Louis, Missouri. EC3 stated “I don’t think it’s going to be one of the greatest matches in NWA history. I know it’s going to be the greatest match in NWA history. Why do I know that? I’ve foreseen it, I’ve manifested it. Great is in people’s opinion. In my estimation, the greatest moment and match in NWA history will be myself defeating the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion to become the Worlds Heavyweight Champion. It’s pretty simple. I know people want to argue for guys like Flair [Ric Flair] or Steamboat [Ricky Steamboat] or whatever. In my estimation, the greatest match in NWA history will be me defeating Tyrus at NWA 75. Simple.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)