Sat. Roundup: The Rock WWE Update, MJF “Steiner Math” Promo, AEW & MAX, CM Punk Teases Future Plans, Mike Tenay, Indies

WWE

• Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,445,000 viewers on FOX, according to Fightful.
• Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Denver, Colorado featured WWE SmackDown commentator Michael Cole announcing that The O.C.’s Luke Gallows recently suffered an undisclosed injury. No other details were given regarding the nature nor severity of Gallows’ injury.
• Friday’s SmackDown show in Denver also featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson making a surprise return appearance and reuniting with John Cena in a backstage segment on the show. Following the show, Cena reflected on Twitter about his reunion moment with Johnson. Cena stated “The best nights are the ones when we remember we’re all fans. Welcome home, @TheRock. Thank you, Denver. C U next week #Smackdown! @WWE @WWEonFOX“
• In a recently released promotional video for this year’s Riyadh Season of events in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it was stated that John Cena will be making an appearance at this November’s WWE Crown Jewel 2023 event in the city.
• Friday’s NXT LVL Up show featured Tyler Bate defeating Charlie Dempsey in a NXT Global Heritage Invitational Tournament Group A match. Bate currently leads Group A with 4 points (2-0-0), followed by Butch at 3 points (1-0-1), Axiom at 1 point (0-1-1), and Dempsey at 0 points (0-2-0).
• As noted before, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stated in a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show that WWE had “locked in” plans at one point for him to face off against Roman Reigns at this past April’s WrestleMania 39 event. Fightful Select reported that high-level WWE officials spoken to confirmed that there had been meetings between the two sides and plans considered for a potential WrestleMania 39 match involving Johnson and Reigns. It was reported that WWE officials had also considered other plans for Reigns’ opponent at WrestleMania 39 in the Summer and Fall of 2022 before deciding on Cody Rhodes in the end. It was reported that internal documents at the time had listed Reigns’ opponent as “TBA.” In regards to the reaction within WWE’s locker room, several talents spoken to reportedly gave a “I’ll believe it when I see it” type reaction over the idea of Johnson wrestling at next year’s WrestleMania 40 event.
• As noted before, WWE laid off over 100 employees on Friday as part of their post-sale to Endeavor and merger with UFC process. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that while WWE CEO Nick Khan informed remaining employees that there would be no more layoffs, it is possible that more layoffs could still be on the way in the future. Meltzer reported that UFC officials had told their employees a similar thing about only one wave of layoffs after Endeavor had purchased them in 2016 only to have additional waves of layoffs afterwards. In regards to the mood within WWE, Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that a lot of people were upset over the way WWE management handled the layoffs and those laid off were not even allowed to say their goodbyes in person.
• In regards to Dana Warrior being among the notable names laid off on Friday, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that despite Warrior being well liked within the company, her release follows a similar pattern of releases that UFC did when they were purchased by Endeavor. Meltzer reported that several employees who were viewed as lifers or promised lifetime employment were quickly released and Endeavor having the view that there would be no sacred cows or legacy employees for UFC.
• As noted before, there have been conflicting reports regarding the Dyad’s current contract status with WWE over if it has expired or not prior to its originally announced October date. In a recent episode of the Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore podcast, co-host and NXT commentator Booker T stated that The Dyad’s contracts with WWE have expired and they have left the company. Booker T stated “A couple of guys who just exited from the WWE as well. The Dyad, those guys just let their contract run out. They’ll be leaving the company. They may be showing up in AEW, you never know. They may be going back to the UK. Those guys were two of my favorites. I thought they had something good going. I like those guys. I hate to see them go.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent SEC filing, TKO Group Holdings revealed that WWE had generated around $707.9 million in revenues and around $88.7 million in net profits for the first six months of 2023. UFC was stated to have generated around $611.9 million in revenues and $169.8 million in net profits.
• In the same SEC filing, TKO Group Holdings officially listed AEW, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Bellator among their competitors. Portion of TKO Group’s filing which stated “We face competition from a variety of other domestic and foreign companies. We also face competition from alternative providers of the content and events that we offer, including Bellator, M-1 Global, Professional Fighters League, Combate Global, Invicta FC, Cage Warriors, AMC Fight Nights, ONE Championship, Rizin Fighting Federation, Absolute Championship Akhmat, Pancrase, Caged Steel, Eagle Fighting Championship, KSW, Extreme Fighting Championship, All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling and from other forms of media, entertainment and leisure activities in a rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented environment. Other new and existing professional wrestling leagues also compete with our goods and services. For the sale of our consumer products, we compete with entertainment companies, professional and college sports leagues and other makers of branded apparel and merchandise. Any increased competition, which may not be foreseeable, or our failure to adequately address any competitive factors, could result in reduced demand for our content, live events, or brand, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.“
• A recent episode of the Billions show on Showtime featured WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque making a guest appearance.
• PWInsider’s Paul Jordan reported that WWE’s current media rights contract with Hulu is believed to be expiring soon due to WWE-related content on the service currently being listed to have an expiration date of 10 to 11 days as of Friday.
• In a recent episode of the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves podcast, host Corey Graves revealed he recently became the official narrator for the in-game intros for the Pittsburgh Steelers home football games this season. Graves stated “The Steelers kick off their home games with the Terrible Towel Twirl. When you’re in Acrisure Stadium, you got 60,000-plus all waving their towels above their head. I had the honor and privilege of being able to lead that this week to really kick off the season but more than that, I think more exciting personally was the reason I was on the field to begin with was I have the dubious distinction of being the narrator, the voice of this year’s in-game intros for the Pittsburgh Steelers so for every home game this season when the clock hits zero, the first voice you hear is mine. Give a big, ‘Here we go’ and the video packages and it’s honestly, I wanna say it’s a dream come true but it’s actually more so, growing up, being born and raised in Pittsburgh, lifelong Steelers fan, it’s so cool with WWE and the NFL have been working together. Obviously, we got the new championship legacy titles. That relationship has been really cool so to be able to experience that on my home turf, literally, in the city that I love and live in and feel so strongly about was absolutely incredible.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that WWE officials currently have scheduled for Roman Reigns’ next Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and pay-per-view match to take place at their Crown Jewel 2023 event on November 4th in Saudi Arabia.

AEW & ROH

• The Mat Men Pro Wrestling’s Andrew Zarian reported on Twitter that he feels very confident that AEW will secure a streaming deal with Warner Bros Discovery for MAX in 2024 and will also move to a 12 PPV events per year schedule.
• AEW CEO Tony Khan announced on Twitter that there was change made to the card for tonight’s Collision show in State College, Pennsylvania. Khan stated that previously announced singles match of Evil Uno vs. Anthony Bowens will now be a singles match of John Silver vs. Anthony Bowens instead. In regards to the reason for the change, Khan stated “When Bowens said he’d fight any Dark Order member, they’d implied he’d face Dark Order “I”, but they’ve added a “V” at the end, number IV John Silver!“
• Friday’s AEW Rampage show in Cincinnati, Ohio featured the official announcement of next week’s Rampage show being a two-hour Grand Slam 2023 special.
• Friday’s AEW Rampage show also featured the official announcement of the previously announced tag team match of Sting & Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage & Luchasaurus for Grand Slam 2023 will now be taking place at this upcoming show instead of the September 20th Dynamite Grand Slam 2023 show.
• In a recent interview with Insider, AEW CEO Tony Khan revealed that MJF was the person who came up with the idea for his Steiner Math homage as part of his promo segment at this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show. Khan stated “That particular one was him. Wrestling is all about collaborations and I really enjoy having that connection and the ability to create stories. We were putting down ideas for the week’s shows, and he did say that and it was a great idea. That’s how I like to put stories together. Sit down with MJF and Adam Cole, the three of us, and talk. I’ve shot videos with the two of them and they have this great partnership.“
• In a recent episode of the Grillin JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about the match Samoa Joe and Penta El Zero Miedo had at the September 9th Collision show. Ross stated “The match quality on Collision has been pretty good. I called the Samoa Joe/Penta match, the main event of that show, and I thought those guys just turned it up. Samoa Joe is in a different place. He’s as good, if not better, than he’s ever been. Penta had the best singles match he’s had in AEW, so those guys were motivated.” Ross also gave his thoughts on his belief of Darby Allin being one of the best ever homegrown prospects he has ever seen during his career. Ross stated “Earlier in the night, the Roddy Strong/Darby Allin match was nothing short of epic. He’s a fearless kid, I love him. He’s just one of the best homegrown prospects I’ve ever seen. He’s young, he’s in his mid-20s. So if he can hold up…that whole story was about his spine, his back. That’s what the announcers should be talking about because that was the whole story. Roddy Strong did a lot of creative things to focus on that body part.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• A recent episode of the 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff podcast featured co-host Eric Bischoff performing Prince Nana’s dance that he does in AEW and Ring of Honor. Following the clip being posted online by co-host Conrad Thompson, Nana responded on Twitter to Bischoff’s performance of his dance stating “Get money @EBischoff 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😆😆💯💯💯💀“
• In a recent interview with the Bleav Pro Wrestling podcast, Jon Moxley gave his thoughts on his belief of Bryan Danielson being the “most perfect pure wrestler that’s ever lived.” Moxley stated “Bryan, I consider maybe just the greatest pro wrestler that ever lived. Which is a very humbling thing that I get to say that, I get to be tag partners with him and work with him. To have somebody like that on your side, to bounce ideas off of it to play that Regal role and tell you this sucks or whatever, or change that, that’s an immense tool, that I don’t take for granted, that I have in my toolbox that I get to pick his brain. Bryan is like the greatest pure pro wrestler of all time. If you just picked him up and stuck him in any ring of the world, whether it be in the parking lot of an auto parts store in Tijuana, or the Tokyo Dome, or the main event of WrestleMania, or AEW Dynamite, you put him in any ring against any opponent with no context whatsoever and just ring the bell. Anybody watching, he will suck into that match and they’ll feel like they’re watching a real struggle and he just completely sucked into this match for the duration of it against anybody anywhere, anytime. He’s just the most perfect pure wrestler that’s ever lived. I’ve taken a great deal of influence from him, as I’m sure many pro wrestlers have.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, AEW’s turnstile attendance count for this past August’s All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, England was revealed to be 72,65 based on the official count from police at the event. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Wrestlenomics’ report about the drop count for AEW events being accurate. Meltzer reported that based on the turnstile number, WWE’s WrestleMania 32 event would still hold the all-time record for largest in-person attendance for a paid event. AEW’s event would still hold the all-time record for largest ever paid attendance for an event assuming their announcement of 81,035 is genuine. In regards to the large discrepancy between AEW’s paid attendance number and the turnstile count number, Meltzer reported that several Observer Newsletter readers in the United Kingdom stated that they currently believe that the on-going rail strikes likely played a role in a large number of those who had paid for tickets did not attend the event in the end. Meltzer reported that this strike did not affect mass transportation within the London area but those traveling by train would have been seriously affected since this strike started the day prior to AEW’s event. This reportedly would have caused those people to need to make very late changes to their travel plans and book a night in a hotel in order to attend the event and have a place to stay afterwards since travel back home would be near impossible.
• In regards to the max capacity for AEW’s All In event, Dave Meltzer reported that AEW had opened up additional seats for sale a couple of days ahead of the event to push up the event’s total capacity to 84,000 to 85,000.
• Following AEW’s All In event at Wembley Stadium, Will Ospreay got a new tattoo inked on his arm to commemorate his involvement at the event. Ospreay’s new tattoo featured the coordinates of Wembley Stadium and also included AEW’s official announcement of a paid attendance of 81,035. Following the announcement of the event’s turnstile count being much lower than AEW’s paid attendance number, Ospreay commented on Twitter in a now-deleted tweet stating “Bruv, you cannot make this fucking shit up. I am currently in Japan. I’ve had no fucking sleep, I am tired. This is the worst fucking day of my life [laughs]. Do you know how hard it was for me to get a tattoo? My mom fucking hates them, bruv. They announced it to everyone. They announced it as 81,000 people. I’ve got this fucking thing on my arm [laughs].“
• As noted before, AEW recently announced that they will be holding a new Collision show on October 21st in Memphis, Tennessee. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why AEW announced the date for this show later than usual for AEW events is due to issues related to WWE’s strict terms for venues running both WWE and non-WWE events. Meltzer reported that these terms forbide venues from being able to advertise non-WWE events for a certain period of time before and after WWE runs their own event in the venue. Meltzer reported that it appears that this window of time is around 15 days based on WWE had run their September 28th RAW show at the venue and the timing of the announcement of AEW’s own show at the venue.
• The New York Comic Con recently announced that Adam Cole and Britt Baker will be making an appearance at their New York Comic Con 2023 event on October 12-15 in New York City, New York.
• In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Bryan Danielson gave his thoughts about CM Punk’s recent firing from AEW. Danielson stated “In any job, when you lose somebody who’s very important, or you lose somebody you really like working with, that’s hard. But everyone keeps doing the job. And any time there is loss or controversy or struggle inside an organization, it’s a chance to bring people closer. It’s also a chance to divide people. So you have this thing where you can use struggle to make your life worse, or you can use struggle to make your life better. When I lost my father, I came out on the backside. I was worse. Struggling with my depression, I’ve come out of it better. So how you approach something and how you learn from something, that’s what makes the difference.“
• AEW held two dark matches prior to the start of this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Cincinnati, Ohio. These were QTV (Johnny TV & Aaron Solo) defeating Brandon Cutler & Colt Cabana in a tag team match and Skye Blue defeating Marina Shafir in a singles match.
• AEW is currently selling limited edition The Acclaimed themed AEW Trios Championship replica belts at their AEWShop online store. In regards to the reason why only 10 replica belts were made available for sale, Anthony Bowens stated on Twitter “For those going crazy, these are the legit belts. Not factory made replicas. Replica belts would take about 9 months to get produced. If something happened to one of ours, they would have been replaced by one of these. Hand crafted by Red Leather Belts. Only 10 are available. So yes this a release for a hardcore collector. We are also working on trying to get toy versions of these as well. Trust me, if it were a commercial release it wouldn’t be 5k haha“

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

• CM Punk made his official MMA commentary return to for Cage Fury Fighting Championships at Friday’s CFFC 125 event in New Town, North Dakota. In an interesting note, Punk stated during the broadcast that he has got time on hand for the next two months teasing a potential return to WWE. In regards to the date Punk teased at, this would coincide with WWE’s upcoming Survivor Series 2023 event this November that takes place in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois. This was Punk’s first televised appearance since this past August’s AEW All In event and his firing from AEW earlier this month.
• As noted before, Major League Wrestling’s original antitrust lawsuit against WWE was dismissed this past February and had filed a new amended lawsuit this past March. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that MLW recently filed their official response to WWE’s response about their motion to strike down WWE’s defense claims to the United States District Court California Northern District (San Jose). In their filing, MLW claims that WWE’s arguments are baseless and does not actually address the claims made by their motion over issues with WWE’s defense claims.
• In a recent interview with Fightful Overbooked’s Indied podcast, MLW talent Akira gave his thoughts about getting to work with ECW legend Raven in MLW. Akira stated “Raven is really like the crazy uncle that you like to see at family reunions. So, obviously, if he fucks with you, he’s really cool with you. I didn’t know how he was going to perceive me. He told me on the first day, he was like, ‘You have a cool look, you’re here, you’re willing to listen, you already have all the tools. Your body’s gonna get better, your work’s gonna get better.’ This was in January, February, whenever he debuted. When he’s there, it’s like sitting there with an uncle. He talks, he tells jokes, some of them are corny, but we laugh. He’s also very wise, we all know he’s wise. He’s been put through the ringer in wrestling, but you can see him when he has a really smart idea. He’s sitting there and he’s looking up. Not to ignore you, but he’s grasping the idea he’s going to give you and he’s gonna tell you and you’re gonna go, ‘Oh shit, that’s so smart.’ He’s been hit a lot, I’ve been hit a lot. He’s one of the smartest guys but you’ve gotta be patient with him because when he’s thinking, he takes his time and when he does get that idea for you, you’re gonna feel like it’s going to get you to the next level.”
• In the same interview, Akira also praised both Raven and Rickey Shane Page for helping him improve the quality of his promo work in MLW. Akira stated “We sat there and we cut promos in the back. We’ve all seen my work, I’ve always been much of a work rate guy, I’ve never been a big promo guy. This year has kinda changed that because I’ve been cutting promos and people go, ‘That was really good.’ Thanks Raven, thanks RSP because I went into MLW knowing I have to cut a promo. I’m elegant, I know I can talk, but it’s different in terms of illustrating that in a professional wrestling sense. When you listen to CM Punk talk, CM Punk has a cadence in a way. He’s not blurting out a ton of information, he slows down, he gives stops where people can stop and think about his words. Love him or hate him, when he came back to Collision, tell me when I’m lieing. That was the key phrase of the entire thing. It sticks in your head and I realize to, by listening to him and Ricky talk, I don’t like hokey pro wrestling promos. Nothing against them, I don’t like cutting them because I feel gross when I cut them. I feel like an 80’s corporate tool, what the fuck. But when you listen to guys like Kingston talk, when you listen to guys like Bret Hart talk. People will shut on Bret Hart’s promo work, but when Bret Hart talked, it felt real.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Pro Wrestling Illustrated recently released this year’s PWI 500 list. Among the notable omissions from this year’s list includes AEW’s Anthony Bowens and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Tetsuya Naito. In a joking manner, Bowens proposed on Twitter a match against Natio at the Tokyo Dome with the winner getting a spot in this year’s PWI 500 list.
• Impact Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Mid-South Mayhem Night 2 event on September 23rd in Memphis, Tennessee. These are is a singles match of Josh Alexander vs. Yuya Uemura and a Knockouts Tag Team match of Trinity & Mickie James vs. Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans.
• Impact also recently announced a new match for the card of their Mid-South Mayhem Night 1 event on September 22nd in Memphis. This is a singles match of “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Samuray Del Sol.
• In a recent interview with the Battleground Podcast, Mickie James gave her thoughts about her belief why Lisa Marie Varon, former Victoria in WWE and Tara in TNA/Impact, should be inducted into either WWE or Impact’s Hall of Fame. James stated “If anybody asked me who should be next in the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame, it’s Tara. Who should be next in the WWE Hall of Fame? It’s Victoria. It’s long overdue, long, long overdue. That’s not just because she’s my friend. She’s my sister, and we do GAW TV together. I mean, the woman has been through it all. I’ve seen it all, and she’s watched a lot of her friends go into the Hall of Fame. You know, and I think it’s due.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Impact recently announced that Mike Tenay and the late Don West will be inducted into their Hall of Fame as members of their 2023 class. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Impact officials had been trying for years to get Tenay to agree to be inducted into their Hall of Fame. Meltzer reported that his sources stated that the reason why Tenay agreed to be inducted this year was due to Impact also inducting his longtime commentary partner and friend West and him wanting to be the person to give the induction speech for West. Another reason for Tenay’s decision reportedly was due to Tenay wanting to do something special for Impact after Impact President Scott D’Amore and Anthem Entertainment had donated a significant amount of money to West’s GoFundMe for his cancer treatment medical expenses at the time.
• As noted before, United States-based Joshi promotion Sukeban will be holding their debut event on September 21st in New York City, New York. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Sukeban officials had recently reached out to former WCW and TNA/Impact announcer Mike Tenay to gauge his interest in working as the lead commentator for their company. Meltzer reported that Tenay had turned down their offer.
• Former Impact Wrestling and WWE wrestler Jaxson Ryker announced on Instagram that he recently started a new career in law enforcement and was officially sworn in as a police officer for Iredell County in North Carolina this past Thursday.
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Fight Club Night 1 2023 event on October 7th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This is a singles match of Richard Holliday vs. Charles Mason.
• Pro Wrestling Revolver recently announced a new match for the card of their Revolver’s Women’s Grand Prix event on October 8th in Dayton, Ohio. This is a Women’s Grand Prix First Round match of Marina Shafir vs. Janai Kai.
• The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced a new match for the card of their NWA Samhain event on October 28th in Cleveland, Ohio. This is a NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match of Thom Latimer vs. EC3 (c).
• In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Velvet Sky gave her thoughts about her recent departure from the NWA and wanting to continue a commentary career in wrestling. Sky stated “I honestly had a blast at the NWA in the commentary role. I like to try to be versatile in this industry. Not just be known as Velvet Sky the wrestler. It’s like when you put your whole youth into something and then that part of your life comes to an end. I’ve been in the industry since I was 20 years old. 22 years later, I’m still a part of it even though I’m not active in the ring and I would like it to stay that way as far as being involved in the industry in some role and if I’m not, again, then I’m totally fine because I’m totally at peace and I’m totally happy and satisfied with what I have done in the wrestling industry as far as, you know, being in IMPACT and my time in NWA as a commentator which I really did enjoy and Joe (Galli) and Tim (Storm), they took me under their wing and I learned a lot from them. They showed me the ropes of commentary and I still have a lot to learn obviously. I feel like I was just getting my toes wet in commentary with the NWA. But you know, good things have to come to an end. I have nothing bad to say about the company, my time there. That locker room as well is a breath of fresh air. I wouldn’t mind trying commentary out again somewhere, somehow and if it happens, great and if it (doesn’t), like I said, I’m more than satisfied with my time in wrestling and what I’ve done in wrestling even though wrestling, it’s in my blood, in my heart and in my soul. So of course I would always want to be a part of this industry in some way, shape or form. So you never know. Never say never. But yes, I would honestly like to try out commentary somewhere or just being involved in wrestling as a whole would be great and like I said, if it doesn’t happen, again, I’m cool, I’m good. I’m living life, I’m enjoying it. I’m good.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Wrestle Princess IV event on October 9th in Tokyo, Japan. This is a International Princess Championship and NWA World Women’s Television Championship, Title vs. Title match of Rika Tatsumi (International Princess) vs. Max The Impailer (NWA Women’s TV)