Weekend Roundup: The Rock on SD Appearance, New Match for AEW Grand Slam 2023, Paul Wight, CMLL, Indies, Wrestling TV Ratings

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Sep 17, 2023

WWE

As noted before, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his surprise return to WWE at this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Denver, Colorado, In a recent interview with The Pat McAfee Show, Johnson gave his thoughts on having another potential match in WWE. Johnson stated “Honestly, brother, it’s not the injury that I’m concerned about because that’s just part of it. It’s just part of the game. You sign up for it. You get hurt. We all get hurt. That’s just the way it is. It’s not even the schedule because I can control the schedule because I can control the schedule, to a large degree. Me going back to WWE and wrestling a match always comes down to the reason why, and what can we create that’s never been done before for the fans. So that’s the idea.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Johnson also reflected on Twitter about his return appearance at this past Friday’s SamckDown show in Denver. Johnson stated “I was – I’m still – completely blown away by this crowd reaction in Denver this past Friday night on SMACKDOWN. My appearance was a — surprise to everyone and this crowd of 14,000 erupted with the roar of 100,000 strong.Top 5 loudest crowd reaction of my career ——–(which I was like “holy shit” when I walked out –) I’m so grateful and humbled by this.I never take it for granted and “coming home” will always be sacred to me. Thank you my guy PatMac, the talented Austin Theory,@wwefamily backstage, Team Rock behind the scenes – everyone who joined us to go ALL IN. But most importantly, thank you with all my love, gratitude and respect, to THE PEOPLE.Our connection is real. Electrifying. ~ people’s champ —“
NXT talents Tatum Paxley and Javier Bernal announced earlier today on Twitter that they recently got engaged.
As noted before, John Cena was recently announced to be making an appearance at this November’s WWE Crown Jewel 2023 event. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Sunday’s Daily Update that the reason why Cena pulled out of WWE’s prior event in Saudi Arabia was due to concerns that it could have negativity affected his movie career. Meltzer reported that due to pretty much everyone being open to working with the Saudis due to the huge sums of money they pay for events, this is no longer a real concern. Meltzer also reported that he is currently not aware of anyone remaining on WWE’s roster that is still in refusal to work at WWE Saudi events nor is banned from them.
WWE reportedly had an attendance of around 3,000 to 3,500 for their Sept. 8th Superstar Spectacle 2023 event in Hyderabad, India, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that while the host venue Balayogi Indoor Stadium has a max capacity of around 5,000 for events, WWE’s setup for their event would have put the max capacity at around 3,500 to 4,000. Meltzer reported that WWE’s attendance for this event was not a normal paid event in the sense of fans purchasing tickets and instead it was the sponsor of the event, Sony Six, who gave away tickets for those who wanted to attend. In an interesting note, Meltzer also reported that those who attended the event stated that the crowd did engaged in “CM Punk” chants during it.
WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 11,776 (11,000 paid) for their Sept. 8th SmackDown show in Boston, MA, 7,832 for their Sept. 9th house show event in New York City, NY, 3,941 for their Sept. 10th house show event in Charlottesville, VA, and 7,447 (6,800 paid) for their Sept. 11th RAW show in Norfolk, VA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 7,847 tickets for their Sept. 18th RAW show in Salt Lake City, UT, 10,406 tickets for their Sept. 22nd SmackDown show in Glendale, AZ, 8,353 tickets for their Sept. 23rd house show event in Palm Desert, CA, 6,127 tickets for their Sept. 24th house show event in Fresno, CA, 7,979 tickets for their Sept. 25th RAW show in Ontario, CA, 11,734 tickets for their Sept. 29th SmackDown show in Sacramento, CA, 5,448 tickets for their Sept. 30th house show event in San Francisco, CA, 3,654 tickets for their Sept. 30th NXT No Mercy event in Bakersfield, CA, 2,573 tickets for their Oct. 1st house show event in Stateline, NV, 8,159 tickets for their Oct. 2nd RAW show in San Jose, CA, 7,452 tickets for their Oct. 6th SmackDown show in St. Louis, MO, 11,364 tickets for their for their Oct. 7th Fastlane 2023 event in Indianapolis, IN, and 7,765 tickets for their Oct. 9th RAW show in Omaha, NE as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The September 11th WWE RAW show drew 1,353,000 viewers and a 0.40 key demographic rating. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE’s viewership was the lowest ever for a regular RAW episode and the second lowest overall, only behind the December 26, 2022 “Best Of” episode, in RAW series history. Meltzer reported that RAW’s key demographic rating was the second lowest of this year, only behind the May 12th episode. In regards to third hour viewership, Meltzer reported that this past week’s episode of 1,292,000 viewers was the lowest ever viewership for a third hour in RAW series history. Meltzer also reported that the main event quarter of 1,250,000 featuring Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley was also the lowest ever for a main event quarter in RAW series history as well.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE’s Payback 2023 event on September 2nd generated a big increase in late pay-per-view buys for its first week. Meltzer reported that Payback 2023 is currently estimated to have generated 8,800 PPV buys from cable television PPV providers based on updated numbers and estimates.
As noted before, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon and WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque made many late changes to the original plans for this past Monday’s RAW show in Norfolk, Virginia. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that McMahon had actually returned from his spinal surgery recovery a few weeks ago but this was something that was not talked about that much until this past Monday. Those spoken to reportedly stated that WWE writers have kept informing talent throughout the day that there was no final version of the script due to the constant changes that were being made leading up to the start of the show. One high level WWE source spoken to reportedly stated that the reason for the late changes was due to the original script and plans needed a lot of work done to improve its quality and this was viewed as being more positive than negative for changes. Meltzer reported that talent spoken to stated that they had hoped that with Levesque in charge of creative and McMahon being busy running a new company that McMahon would stay out of creative. Meltzer stated that this view is mostly naive since McMahon will always have the final say over creative plans despite Levesque being in charge of WWE’s creative.
As noted before, FOX is currently rumored to not be renewing their television deal for SmackDown and ending their partnership with WWE due to cost-related issues. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that if FX were to become the new home for SmackDown, then it would not make financial sense for Disney to keep the show on Fridays since it would likely generate closer to AEW Rampage numbers for something they paid over $300 million per yer to secure for a deal. Meltzer speculated that SmackDown moving to either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday would make more sense but each day would have its own drawbacks. In regards to Tuesdays, this would likely mean NXT would have to move to a different date of either Wednesday or Thursday. In regards to Wednesdays, this would mean that SmackDown would go directly against AEW Dynamite which would hurt Dynamite’s number’s a lot but also cause SmackDown’s own numbers to be hurt to a degree. In regards to Thursdays, this would mean that SmackDown would have to deal with NFL Thursday Night Football competition during NFL seasons. Meltzer also speculated that if SmackDown were to move to Wednesdays, it is possible that TBS could respond by moving Dynamite to Fridays in order to avoid that competition.
In regards to Amazon Prime being the potential new home for SmackDown, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that SmackDown also would likely be moved over to a new weekly date with Thursday, Friday, and/or Saturday being likely out of the question for the very large sum of money Amazon would be paying WWE. Meltzer speculated that SmackDown moving to Wednesdays would likely make the most sense for Amazon.
As noted before, Drew McIntyre’s contract with WWE is currently expected to expire by next year’s WrestleMania 40 event. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that McIntyre and WWE officials have held recently talks regarding a potential new contract but nothing has changed in regards to McIntyre being anywhere close to making a decision nor a deal being anywhere close to being signed.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda’s WrestleBinge podcast, Rhea Ripley gave her thoughts on what she whispers to Dominik Mysterio’s ear when they come out to ringside during WWE shows. Ripley stated “That’s our little secret [laughs]. I can’t tell you guys because then the secret’s out the bag, and then people won’t talk about it anymore. But it’s pretty spicy stuff.” Ripley also gave her thoughts about balancing her real-life relationship with Buddy Matthew and her on-screen pairing with Mysterio. Ripley stated “To be honest, it’s pretty easy [laughs]. Look, I love my fiancé, I think he’s great, but when I’m at work, I am a completely different human being. When I’m at work, Dom is my partner. He is my partner in crime. He is my Latino heat, my Dirty Dominik Mysterio, and I will do absolutely anything I can to get him on top of anyone that he’s against. But for me, it’s just sort of like a switch, and he understands that as well. That’s why it works.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, Johnny Gargano has been absent from WWE since this past April due to shoulder injury-related issues. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Gargano made his official return from injury at last weekend’s house show events. Gargano reportedly competed and lost to Omos in squash matches.

AEW & ROH

Following this past Saturday’s AEW Collision show in State College, Pennsylvania, AEW released a digital exclusive backstage segment featuring Anna Jay, Matt Menard, & Angelo Parker challenging Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy, & HOOK to a Mixed Trios match at the September 22nd AEW Rampage Grand Slam 2023 show at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York.
Saturday’s AEW Collision show in State College, Pennsylvania featured one new match announced for the card of the September 23rd Collision show. This is a Texas Death Match of Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks.
Sunday’s MLB game between Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets in New York City featured MJF among those in attendance. As part of his appearance, MJF promoted AEW’s upcoming Grand Slam 2023 shows at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. MJF also gave a promo calling Chase Utley a “schmuck” and the Phillips Phanatic the “stupidest mascot” in baseball.
As noted before, AEW terminated CM Punk’s contract with cause earlier this month following their investigation into his backstage incident with Jack Perry at their All In event this past August. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that while Punk’s firing did affect several of AEW’s plans for him and Collision, it did not affect their plans for MJF’s next AEW World title feud. It was reported that AEW officials did not have any plans for a CM Punk vs. MJF feud involving who would be the undisputed champion to take place any time soon. Instead, AEW officials reportedly had always planned for MJF’s next title feud to be against Samoa Joe.
In a recent interview with the Bleav Pro Wrestling podcast, Jon Moxley gave his thoughts on him stepping up whenever needed in his career and his last conversation with Vince McMahon in WWE. Moxley stated “I take a lot of pride in our work and our work ethic and the standard we set ourselves to, and the way we do the job. To be one of those guys that’s reliable, that’s always there, the downside is that it’s very easy to take you for granted. The last conversation I had with Vince McMahon, he straight up told me, we took you for granted. It is a tough job because I got a lot of experience, a lot of stuff is very familiar to me and I’m comfortable doing stuff that a lot of other people may be intimated by. Orange Cassidy pulled off an amazing performance. He lost, but he pulled off an amazing performance in his first ever pay-per-view main event. That was not planned weeks out, in fact, everything would have looked completely different. That’s kind of how it’s going to go. If you’re going to have any success in wrestling, it’s very rarely going to go according to plan, you’ve got to be ready to take the opportunity when it’s there and when things go array, [and] when the wave changes direction, you got to be able to surf on it and stay on your board and you’ve got to be able to go with the flow so to speak. Every big opportunity I’ve had, probably in my career, has come completely out of the blue. You got to be ready to get your shit together and strike when the iron is hot.” Moxley also praised Orange Cassidy for stepping up in their main event match at AEW’s All Out 2023 event. Moxley stated “I think Orange Cassidy did that, 100%. Being in a main event, it’s a big difference, especially on an AEW pay-per-view because they’re so stacked. Often, counting Zero Hour, you’re talking about five hours of wrestling and having to close that show. I don’t have any other control over anything else in the show prior. A show in itself it like a living working art, you have to book it with its highs and lows. [If you do] the thousand miles per hour, foot to the gas pedal matches ten matches in a row, you’re gonna burn the audience out, both watching at home and in the arena. If you’re in the main event, you don’t know where the people are going to be at by the time your match is up. You’ve got to almost instantly feel where they’re at, and they might be taking a breath right now after the last match or two. You might need to start a little slower and lull them into a sense of relaxation and then pick it back up. If me and Orange Cassidy were the first match, that match would have looked totally different. It would have been a different scenario. I don’t like to plan too much in a situation like that, I want to gauge where we’re at and see what we need to do.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, Santana & Ortiz recently officially broke up as a tag team and as real life friends shortly following Santana’s return from injury to AEW. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that despite Santana not wanting to work together with Ortiz, the reason he did so at All In was due to AEW CEO Tony Khan had asked if they could team up for the Stadium Stampede match at the event. Meltzer reported that there had been a feeling backstage for some time that Santana and Ortiz were done as a team prior to Santana officially confirming it on Twitter. Meltzer also reported that his sources also confirmed that Santana and Ortiz’s breakup was not for any storyline reasons and instead was a legit partnership and friendship breakup between the two.
AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 3,407 for their Sept. 9th Collision show in Cleveland, OH and 2,667 for their Sept. 13th Dynamite show in Cincinnati, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 6,518 tickets for their Sept. 20th Dynamite & Rampage Grand Slam 2023 shows at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY, 2,183 tickets for their Sept. 23rd Collision show in Grand Rapids, MI, 1,878 tickets for their Sept. 27th Dynamite show in Broomfield, CO, 3,373 tickets for their Sept. 30th Collision show in Seattle, 4,136 tickets for their Oct. 1st WrestleDream event in Seattle, WA, 2,104 tickets for their Oct. 4th Dynamite show in Stockton, CA, 1,634 tickets for their Oct. 7th Collision show in Salt Lake City, UT, 1,484 tickets for their Oct. 10th Dynamite show in Independence, MO, 1,611 tickets for their Oct. 14th Collision show in Toledo, OH, 1,876 tickets for their Oct. 18th Dynamite show in Rosenberg, TX, 2,136 tickets for their Oct. 25th Dynamite show in Philadelphia, PA, 1,878 tickets for their Oct. 28th Collision show in Uncasville, CT, 1,330 tickets for their Nov. 1st Dynamite show in Louisville, KY, 2,890 tickets for their Nov. 17th Collision show in Los Angeles, CA, 6,730 tickets for their Nov. 18th Full Gear 2023 event in Los Angeles, CA, 2,923 tickets (pre-sale) for their Dec. 5th Collision show in Montreal, and 3,918 (pre-sale) for their Dec. 6th Dynamite show in Montreal, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Jade Cargill’s contract with AEW expired this past week and she is currently expected to report to WWE’s Performance Center this week. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources within WWE stated that the current belief is that Cargill will make her official debut for the company on their main roster and not NXT developmental brand. Meltzer also reported that the amount of money WWE offered for a deal is very likely far higher than what they typically offer for a starter NXT developmental contract in order to snag her away from AEW. In regards to the reaction within WWE over Cargill leaving AEW was stated to be “out of the blue” and her joining WWE being something they had expected once she became a free agent. Those spoken to reportedly also stated that Cargill’s name had been talked a lot recently within the company but no official contract had been completed prior to the release of Meltzer’s report.
As noted before, Bandido has been out of action for AEW since this past June due to a broken wrist injury but is expected to be medically cleared for an in-ring return soon. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Bandido’s first match since his injury is currently scheduled to take place on November 3rd for The Crash’s 12th Anniversary event in Tijuana, Mexico. Meltzer reported that it is possible that Bandido could end up wrestling for AEW prior to this upcoming event.
Besides Bandido, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Rey Fenix is also currently scheduled to work at The Crash’s upcoming 12th Anniversary event. Meltzer reported that this would be the first time in a long while that Fenix will be working at an event in Mexico due to issues related to him trying to establish legal residency in the United States.
In a recent interview with the Women’s Wrestling Talk podcast, Saraya gave her thoughts about her current reign as AEW Women’s World Champion. Saraya stated “Hopefully long and entertaining for everybody. I mean, I don’t know where it’s gonna go. I don’t know if I’ll lose it in a week’s time. I don’t know. But I’m just really happy that after nine years I never thought I would ever hold a championship again. I never thought I would wrestle again. And so yeah, just having that moment in Wembley in the UK where I’m from. It’s just, it was special. So, it can end tomorrow and I’ll be happy that I had that moment.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
A recent investigative report from ESPN featured details from around 1,400 pages of unredacted federal investigative documents related to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration federal investigation into the Biogenesis clinic around a decade ago. This federal investigation exposed Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz, and Ryan Braun had been taking performance enhancement drugs to boost their careers in MLB. ESPN’s report revealed the names of other athletes who were not exposed from the initial reports from the federal investigation. Among those recently revealed was Paul Wight. It was reported that Biogenesis boss Tony Bosch had told investigators in 2014 that he treated Wight in 2009-2010 and that his business partner Jorge “Ugi” Velazquez had been giving Wight steroids behind his back. Bosch also stated in the interview at the time that Wight “advised him that wrestlers wanted stronger substances, such as Winstrol and Deca-Durabolin — which didn’t mesh with Bosch’s doping protocols.” Following ESPN’s report, Wight’s attorney Edward Brennan stated in an official statement that “Paul never treated with Bosch. Paul never took any PEDs from Ugi or anyone else. He is as clean as you can be. More importantly, he would never take any PEDs because of his underlying medical condition.” Brennan also stated that Wight only ever met with Bosch twice, once at a Thanksgiving dinner that included other wrestlers and one other separate time.
In a recent interview with The Undisputed Podcast with Bobby Fish, former Ring of Honor talent Beer City Bruiser called out former ROH General Manager Greg Gilleland for being a “piece of shit” over issues related to Gilleland’s actions prior to ROH’s initial shut down and sale to AEW CEO Tony Khan. Bruiser stated “None of us knew the company (ROH) was for sale, which was weird, and then we found out there was four offers for it. It was Tony (Khan), it was Anthem. Is that who owns IMPACT? It was Vince (McMahon) and then it was a private backer who wanted to remain anonymous but we found out later it was Cody (Rhodes). Yeah, and I guess Tony outbid all of ‘em and that’s what happened and what really sucked about all that was we — Greg Gilleland’s a piece of sh*t and I’m gonna go on record saying that. He’s the reason ROH is dead. He knew back when we were all doing our contracts — you had to negotiate a contract with him. When we were negotiating, he knew the company was for sale. Why are you offering us these deals knowing the company’s gonna be sold? Why not tell us ahead of time, like, hey, we’re gonna negotiate, we’re gonna get you what you want but the company’s up for sale so if you have offers from other places, do that… But, he’s a coward … He’s the only one I’ll bury, because that company was family. That company was amazing.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

Major League Wrestling announced that legendary boxing promoter Don King will be making a return appearance for the company at this week’s MLW Fusion show.
Saturday’s 90th Anniversario event for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico City, Mexico featured Templario defeating Dragon Rojo Jr. in a Luchas de Apuestas, Mask vs. Mask match.
Legendary Canadian wrestler and wrestling promoter Emile Dupree, real name Emile Goguen, passed away on Sunday at the age of 86. Dupree’s career in wrestling spanned from 1955 to 1988 and was most known for his ownership of the Grand Prix Wrestling that he launched in 1977 and existed until 2008. Dupree and his son Rene revived GPW in 2013 and it existed for a second time until 2017. During his time as a promoter, Grand Prix Wrestling became one of the major promotions in Canada and even had television coverage resulting in the promotion achieving great success until its sale to WWF. Among the notable legends and wrestlers who worked for GPX during its existence included Edge, Christian Cage, Killer Kowalski, André the Giant, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Lanny Poffo, Harley Race, and Ric Flair.
Pro Wrestling NOAH talent Manabu Soya announced that he recently got married to former wrestler Koharu Hinata. (English translation via PostWrestling.com)
Impact Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of around 650 for their Sept. 9th Impact 1000th television tapings in White Plains, NY, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Jordynne Grace made her official return to Impact at their Victory Road 2023 event earlier this month in White Plains, New York. In a recent interview with Impact, Grace gave her thoughts about her return to the company and match against Deonna Purrazzo at the event. Grace stated “After I was put on the shelf, I knew that I had to change something. I knew that I had to refocus. I took three months off to do just that. Tonight, after pinning Deonna, four times I failed. This is my fifth time, and finally I got the better of her. That’s proof that, no matter what, if you keep trying, with the right amount of determination, you will come out on top. It’s only up for me from here.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with The Kurt Angle Show podcast, Rhino confirmed the reports and rumors of him currently working as a backstage producer in Impact. Rhino stated “With the marina, Big Daddy’s Boatyard, we’re getting ready for the winter season. That’s always fun. Getting everything out and ready for the winter, and with wrestling, it just seems like it always picks up this time of the year. So yeah, just doing that, and with IMPACT, I’m producing now. So, it’s like more of a workload but the same pay.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Lucha Libre AAA head booker Konnan reportedly underwent hernia surgery this past Monday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,327 for their Sept. 9th 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 event in Tokyo and 1,479 for their Sept. 10th Dream Tag Festival event in Yokohama, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,675 for their Sept. 8th Giant Series 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this event featured the 15th Anniversary celebration of Kento Miyahara official debut in wrestling.
New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,087 for their Sept. 8th Road to Destruction 2023 event in Tokyo, 1,457 for their Sept. 9th Road to Destruction 2023 event in Tokyo, 1,322 for their Sept. 10th Road to Destruction 2023 event in Togane, 612 for their Sept. 11th Road to Destruction 2023 event in Ryugasaki, and 486 for their Sept. 14th Road to Destruction 2023 event in Fujisan, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
DDT Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,363 for their Sept. 9th Big Bang 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling talent Maki Itoh recently announced on Twitter that she will be returning to the United States for another tour this November.
Next Generation Wrestling recently announced that Dirty Dango and BREEZE will be reuniting as a tag team at their Nightmare in the Old City event on October 8th in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was also announced that Dirty Dango and Breeze will now be known under the new tag team name of Dirty Breeze.
In a recent interview with Fightful Select, former WCW and WWE referee Nick Patrick gave his thoughts on his reasons and plans for his revival of the Deep South Wrestling promotion. Patrick stated “It feels really amazing, it’s kind of hard to describe. We’re starting from scratch again and we’re hitting a growing spurt and we’re becoming recognized and it’s becoming a big thing here on the local scene. They had to talk me into doing inside the Atlanta perimeter shows because usually it’s so much more expensive to run a show here. But, we have a formula that works for Deep South inside the perimeter of Atlanta because we went to a couple of other places before we came to Das BBQ now. We started off at a place, it’s closed now, but it was an old church that was turned into a studio. That’s where we really started getting our first initial fanbase there, because we wanted to try and hit the 20’s and the 30’s. The area that we were running in was in the Grant Park area, so we did a thing there where we had bring your own bottle shows and you could purchase a wristband for like five bucks and you could bring your own bottle, you had to have your own ID and stuff. But, man, I’m telling you, we brought in a group of people that I hadn’t seen at matches in a long time, the 20’s and 30’s. We had a set up, we had about 70 to 100 chairs, so that the old school fans had a place to sit, but more than half of it was just open. It was cool, it looked like a bar scene. The 20’s and 30’s were walking around and drinking and talking and we had barricades, and they’d come up to the barricades and it was just a whole different vibe and that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to come back and have my show look like every single body else’s show with the music, and here they come down the ramp and it’s always everybody trying to do an imitation of Vince and not having enough money to pull it out right. I wanted to be something completely different, look different, and feel different, and I think that’s what we have going right now.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Fightful Select reported that Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Eric Bischoff, and Teddy Long were in attendance at Deep South Wrestling’s revival event last weekend.
National Wrestling Alliance talent Chris Adonis recently responded on Twitter to the online criticisms over Tyrus’ recent title reign as NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. In a now deleted tweet, Adonis stated “Hey @nwa Is it ok to say now that our fans didn’t reject Tyrus due to politics or Fox News. IT WAS CAUSE HE CAN’T MOVE.“

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of Sept. 8 to Sep. 14, 2023

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,094,000 viewers, 0.53 rating (prior week – 2,443,000 viewers, 0.65 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,353,000 viewers, 0.40 rating (1,704,000, 0.52 rating)
WWE NXT – 850,000 viewers, 0.26 rating (673,000, 0.18 rating)
AEW Rampage – 385,000 viewers, 0.13 rating (prior week – 372,000, 0.11 rating)
AEW Collision – 476,000 viewers, 0.15 rating (prior week – 345,000, 0.11 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 888,000 viewers, 0.31 rating (prior week – 887,000, 0.31 rating)
Impact Wrestling Impact! – N/A
NJPW on AXS TV – N/A
Various (DSotR, WWE on A&E, etc) – N/A

Total viewership in terms of overall tally for the week: 6,046,000 viewers (down 379,000 viewers compared to prior week’s 6,425,000 viewers)