Sat. Roundup: Sami Callihan AEW Update, Ronda Rousey Works Indie Event, Leon Slater Impact Signing, Alex Hammerstone Asks MLW Release, Indies

WWE

• Prior to the start of Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, WWE taped a dark match and segment involving Bayley calling out anyone in the back for an impormptu match. This led to Kayla Braxton coming out dressed up as Michael Cole accepting the challenge. Bayley quickly defeated “Cole” while the real Michael Cole was on commentary for the match.
• Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured an in-ring contract signing segment involving Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns, and LA Knight. During the segment, Knight referenced Reigns’ infamous “Sufferin’ Succotash” line as part of his insults directed towards Reigns over his list of failures in WWE. This infamous line was originally given by Reigns during a promo segment in January of 2015 in a promo directed towards Seth Rollins that quickly led to online ridicule against Reigns.
• TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon and WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker were among those in attendance at today’s Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou boxing event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• WWE recently released their long delayed documentary film titled Superfan: The Story of Vladimir on the WWE Network and Peacock on Friday.
• Liv Morgan announced on Twitter that Friday was the 9-year anniversary of her official debut in WWE. Morgan stated “My feelings for you have never changed. Happy 9 year anniversary, babe 🖤 @WWE“
• Rhea Ripley reflected on Twitter about today being the 11-year anniversary of her wrestling career. Ripley stated “My 11th year in this crazy wrestling world today… Wild. Time flies when you’re being a MENACE 😈 #WWEBerlin“
• WWE NIL signee Peyton Prussin reportedly recently signed an official full-time contract with WWE for their NXT developmental brand, according to PWInsider.
• As noted before, Ronda Rousey departed from WWE following this past August’s SummerSlam 2023 event. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE moved Rousey’s profile to the Alumni section of their official roster page earlier today.
• In a recent episode of the WWE After the Bell with Corey Graves podcast, host Corey Graves gave his thoughts about why LA Knight defeating Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel 2023 would be “a little disheartening and disappointing.” Graves stated “There’s an old adage in this business, the money is the chase. You want to see your favorite chasing the champion, coming up short and being denied so that they can come back even stronger, and maybe the timing isn’t right, but maybe it is. Maybe LA Knight does manage to pull off the impossible, in which case, yes, it screws up all of Roman’s grandiose plans for the record books, [at least] the few records that are left that he hasn’t overtaken already. Which, that would be a little disheartening and disappointing from a fan’s perspective. But LA Knight is the guy the right now, the guy that people want. People are clamoring for more for LA Knight. If he does manage to do it, you have a very valid point, maybe a few weeks from now people go, ‘Eh, that was our guy, but now he’s at the top of the mountain.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Baron Corbin gave his thoughts about being hopeful of being able to work his way back up to WWE’s main roster and as a main eventer for the company. Corbin stated “I mean, you have to be on a level of like Seth, Roman, and John Cena to go away for five years and come back and do it in your late 40s or early 50s for some guys who come back. You have to be on this certain level of magnitude I think. Now, I’ve been in the ring with all those guys but am I on that level? Humbly, I like to say I’m not. Six years from now, do they call me back, ‘Hey, we want you to come back and make a big run.’ I don’t know if I’m going to be that guy for them to do that. I hope. I mean that that’s the goal. The goal is to continue to grind and that’s what I’m doing in NXT. Hunter has challenged me to reinvent myself and I’m doing that. I feel like I’m doing it really well and so it could launch back to where we go back to SmackDown or Raw and I have a nice couple of months where it really they’re like, ‘Oh, man. it’s catching fire,’ randomly, and then the next thing you know, you’re in the ring with Roman Reigns or Cody at WrestleMania or whatever it is. That could elevate me like put a button on my career of, ‘No he really is that guy.’ You were in that position. A lot of people, again, refused to call me ‘a main-eventer,’ but for over three years straight, I was in every single main event there was.” Corbin also gave his thoughts about what he wants to be remembered for his legacy in wrestling. Corbin stated “I feel like wrestling fans have a short memory sometimes. Whatever you’ve done recently, that’s what you are. Let’s look at the whole thing. You don’t look at a football player and go ‘Ah, he’s not a Hall of Famer because his last season wasn’t very good, but the eight seasons before that he was an all-pro player,’ or he rushed for 2000 yards and then all of a sudden he had a bad year, they don’t go, ‘He’s not a good football player.’ Let’s look at the whole thing. Let’s open the book. Let’s see what I’ve done, who I’ve been in the ring with, and I think when you look at that as a whole you go ‘Huh, yeah, maybe he is a main-eventer. I may have hated him but the dude could go.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE’s top merchandise sellers in recent months have been Cody Rhodes and John Cena. It was reported that Rhodes has managed to top WWE’s generic merchandise at some recent live events while Cena has managed to top Rhodes a couple of times since his return. It was reported that Rhodes has had great success moving merchandise since his return to the company in 2022 and him being able to top generic merchandise for live event merch sales is something that does not happen often in the company.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Drew McIntyre’s current heel character acting as someone who is logically right but saying stuff people do not like because of it is partially inspired by Bret Hart’s heel turn in 1997.
• As noted before, WWE currently does not have any plans for Brock Lesnar to work at their upcoming Crown Jewel 2023 event in Saudi Arabia on November 4th. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why Lesnar will not be working at the event is not due to anything related to the actual event such as its sold out status nor star power currently booked for it. Instead, Meltzer reported that WWE officials had made the decision several months ago for Lesnar’s next appearance after SummerSlam 2023 would be either at next year’s Royal Rumble event or the television shows leading up to the event.
• As noted before, this past Tuesday’s NXT show featured Lyra Valkyria defeating Becky Lynch for the NXT Women’s Championship. Lynch recently reflected on Instagram about Valkyria’s title victory and her time in NXT coming to an end. Lynch stated “The NbeXT era has come to an end. I am immensely proud of my run as NXT womens champion. From getting to step in the ring with some of the finest up and comers to open challenges on Raw and being a catalyst for highlighting the wealth of hungry talent we have on our roster. @real_valkyria is the real deal and will be a star for years to come. The future is in good hands.“
• As noted before, WWE decided against keeping indie wrestler Jason Cade as a full-time backstage producer job following his tryout earlier this year. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials had made the decision to not keep Cade as a full-time producer not long after their WrestleMania 39 weekend this past April.

AEW & ROH

• Friday’s AEW Rampage show in Philadelphia featured the announcement of a National 69 Day celebration segment for The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn in honor of their upcoming 69th day as current AEW World Trios Champions that will take place on the November 4th AEW Collision show.
• In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Kenny Omega gave his thoughts on what the AEW World Championship means to him. Omega stated “It conveys the same feeling to me that I felt for the IWGP title. It’s the pinnacle of what the sport represents in America. That might be different in Japan or Mexico or the UK, but for me, the list of champions in AEW features some of the most incredible athletes to ever exist in this sport. Having my name on that list is quite an honor. To say I’ve won it once, that’s quite an accomplishment. To say I’ve won it twice would be even better, and I’d also still be able to say I’ve held it the longest–the cherry on top of the sundae.“
• In a recent interview with The Extreme Life with Matt Hardy podcast, Daniel Garcia gave his thoughts about his current hip swivel dance routine evolving into something bigger than he had expected in AEW. Garcia stated “I never really intended for the dance to become a thing as much as it has in the ring. It was just something me, Isiah [Isiah Kassidy aka Brother Zay], and Cheesecake would do when we go out. Just a little dance move, a little Latin dance move. I love Latin music. Isiah and Cheesecake can’t stand it. I listen to it too much. I would just do it when we would go out. I think we were in El Paso for the first time, big Latin community, I had a match with Ricky Starks and I was like, “I’m going to get this crowd into it right now.’ I started busting out the dance and the crowd started coming up for it. ‘That was cool, maybe it’s something I’ll throw in the heat every once in a while, just as a little taunt.’ Then, by the time Forbidden Door, it took on a life of its own.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Philadelphia featured Ric Flair making his official AEW debut appearance. Sting recently reflected on Twitter about Flair’s debut appearance for AEW. Sting stated “He put me on the map in the very beginning, and @RicFlairNatrBoy is going to be with me every step of the way to the end, and we’ll go out together in a blaze of glory! 🗣️ WWWOOOO! OOOWWW! It’s showtime!“
• This past Thursday’s event for Nitro Circus in Stockton, California featured Darby Allin making another appearance for the company. Allin attempted another bike stunt jump and managed to land it successfully unlike his prior attempt last week.
• In a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, co-host Matt Hardy gave his thoughts on the future of his wrestling career and potential retirement plans. Hardy stated “I don’t know. I will leave that up to my body. I will let it determine how much longer I can do this. It’s my passion. It’s something I love. I’m at that point where I like giving back and I like helping other people as well. So I’m gonna do it as long as I can do it, you know, and when it’s time to hang it up and move on, I shall hang it up and move on. There are so many amazing, great people out there who are so supportive and have followed me and my brother, Jeff, for the long haul. It’s amazing. When we come out on AEW, week in and week out, and we get that great reaction, and people still are showing love for us, and they’re chanting ‘Hardy,’ and they’re chanting ‘Delete,’ and they’re doing the ‘Delete swipe,’ it’s inspiring to me. It inspires me, it motivates me to continue to try to work hard to just be the best that I can and go out there and still do my gig and give them a Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy memory.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, Billie Starkz has been signed to an official contract since this past April that was confirmed earlier this month by Starkz. In a recent interview with Alicia Atout, Starkz gave her thoughts about joining AEW. Starkz stated “I’m very happy with the place that I’m at now. I did it for a while, that I did sign the contract, there was a very long time that nobody had any clue, but I was definitely under contract for a minute.” Starkz also gave her reasons why she did not announce her signing with AEW earlier this year. Starkz stated “I just felt that I wanted to stay where I was at in wrestling, even though I was progressing faster, I didn’t want anybody else to look at me differently. Being contracted at 18, I get that a lot of people were happy and truly happy for my success, but there was part of me that was like, ‘I don’t know that I’m ready for this.’” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent episode of the Grillin JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about Sting’s recent retirement announcement. Ross stated “On a pay-per-view of some sort. I think a pay-per-view is apropos to celebrate his career. It’ll be fun to see how that works out and how the promotion evolves. It’ll be interesting to see going forward what’s up for everybody. Sting has had an amazing career, and the fact that they’re planning his exit this far out is good planning in my view. So we’ll see how it evolves, and we’re still a little ways away from that, but I’m anxious to go along on that ride.” Ross also gave his thoughts about his choice for Sting’s final opponent. Ross stated “There’s a lot of guys who would love to have that match with Sting. There would be a lot of guys that would stand in that line to celebrate his career and his last match. So it’s hard to say who it would be. Somebody is gonna be very blessed to have that opportunity to appear on that show against Sting. So I’d say it’s quite an honor to be selected for that position, and I can’t wait to see how it all pans out and how we end up this amazing career. I was very shocked that he signed with AEW, happily shocked, a great deal. So we’ll see how it all works out. The nice thing is that we have plenty of time to plan for it. I think that’s really important. For a guy like Sting, he needs all the celebration that you can muster. So we’ll see how it ends up. I’m happy and excited that he’s finally decided that this is gonna be enough. He’s [been] there much longer than I anticipated him being there with this last run. So he’ll be missed, but he’s gonna be so appreciated as we move forward. I’m a big Sting fan. Hopefully, he’ll have a celebration fitting his career. I’m sure that he will.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent video for AEW Together, Big Bill reflected on his journey to sobriety and coming up on four years sober. Big Bill stated “My name is William Morrisey. I’m from Queens, New York. Super Bowl weekend of next year, I’m coming up on four years of sobriety. The final time that I was in rehab from January to February of 2020, we watched the ESPN 30 for 30 Unguarded, which is the story about Chris Herren, his battle with addiction and his rise to stardom in the NBA and his downfall and how he worked through all that, you know, adversity and came back to being the person he is today and helping out other people. I probably watched it three or four times and I decided I was gona look into Chris Herren. I saw that he had the Herren Project scholarships for people who can’t afford, you know, an extra 30 days in rehab or can’t afford to go to rehab for 90 days because of insurance or because of… there’s so many reasons why, you know, some people can’t go to rehab, the appropriate time that they need to go to rehab for, and the difference between 60 days and 90 days for some people could be the difference between life and death. And then what Herren Project also did was they would place people in sober living because when you get out of rehab,everything’s new and life is totally different than before you went in. So sober living is incredibly important to a person’s recovery. When I decided to come back to wrestling I wanted to use maybe my story as motivation for other people. I was selling t-shirts that said straight out of Step 12, so I wanted to donate every dollar I made from that t-shirt to a good cause. I decided to reach out to Chris himself and I spoke with him quite a bit and then he put me in touch with Bonnie Sawyer over at the Herren Project and I asked if I could use their name and donate all the proceeds I made from those t-shirts and the next set of t-shirts that I had to the Herren Project. The things that they do, you know, to help people overcome addiction and guide them in the right direction, not only in rehab after rehab, which is just as important if not more important. Working with the Herren Project has been a blessing. Chris is a huge inspiration to me and I hope to one day maybe sharing my story touch as many lives as Chris has touched. That’s the goal because the more people we can help the better obviously, because when push comes to show it is human lives, we’re talking about here. So we are, you know, helping to save lives.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, former Impact Wrestling talent Sami Callihan was backstage at last Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Memphis, Tennessee. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW officials have held talks over the idea of bringing in Callihan either as an in-ring performer or for a potential backstage role due to his experience booking and running his own indie promotion.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s WrestleDream pay-per-view buys from traditional cable PPV providers is currently tracking at around 22.8% lower than All Out 2023’s current cable PPV numbers. Meltzer reported that the main reason is due to WrestleDream did not see a big boost in late buys compared to All Out 2023 for cable TV PPV. Meltzer reported that due to WrestleDream’s weaker late buys numbers of late, the event is currently expected to generate one of the lower PPV buys numbers for an AEW event in years.
• In a recent interview with the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Billy Gunn gave his thoughts about the reaction to his brief retirement storyline in AEW and the future of his wrestling career. Gunn stated “I think they knew something was up, only because of how the match went; not good for me. When I decided to do that, they all went, ‘oh gosh.’ I think it was more shocking because there is one guy from wrestling phase that moved it to present time that we all still love and have watched for so long that it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s over.’ I don’t know exactly how to put that, but it was partly because of me leaving the ring, but it was mainly because it was the end of an era, the end of me taking my kids to show them the guy that I used to watch when I was their age. That was the thing. I was okay with it. I was really okay. People can say what they want about what I’ve done or haven’t done, but I’ve done so much in my career and I have no regrets, not one, not a single one. The only thing is, if I can’t live up to my standards of wrestling, I’m not going to do it, I’m just not going to. My phone blew up and they go, ‘please tell me…you can’t.’ Everyone thinks I’m going to wrestle for the rest of my life. That’s not a thing. No matter how good I think I’m put together, things are going to have to come apart here before too long. I don’t want to be that guy who is hanging on for the sake of hanging on. I want to be able to contribute. I don’t want everyone to do everything for me. I have to hold up my end of the bargain. At that moment in time, I wasn’t, and I felt like that was the best thing to do. Then, just like before, they dragged me back.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with The Messenger, Jon Moxley gave his thoughts about the upcoming two-year anniversary of him getting sober. Moxley stated “It’s f—ing hard. It’s not the same hell as before, but it’s a completely different challenge every single day where you don’t know what direction it might go in. I would love to give you like a positive, self-help book-type answer or something about f—ing sunshine and rainbows and fairies and sh–, but that’s really not reality. It’s been good on the whole, it’s been good. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. But, you know, you will pay for it on the other side, your choices you make in your life.“
• Ring of Honor recently announced one new match for the card of their November 2nd ROH TV show. This is a ROH Women’s World Championship match of Mercedes Martinez vs. Athena (c).

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

• Limitless Wrestling recently announced that they had cancelled their Fresh Blood event on Friday in Yarmouth, Maine due to safety-related reasons. It was announced that following the recent mass shooting attack in Lewiston, Maine, the Yarmouth police department and host venue American Veterans Hall had requested for their event to be postponed due to the suspect still being at large somewhere in the state.
• Former WWE wrestler Ronda Rousey made a surprise appearance at an event for Lucha VaVOOM this past Thursday in California. Rousey competed in an impromptu tag team match with Marina Shafir against Brian Kendrick & Taya Valkyrie. Following the event, Rousey reflected on Instagram about her in-ring return. Rousey stated “@luchavavoom was honestly the best Lucha/burlesque hybrid show I’ve ever had the pleasure of jumping into unannounced. Anyone who doubted me and @marinashafir could make magic in a ring is an idiot – thank you @thetayavalkyrie and @mr.briankendrick for being down to get down with us.” This was Rousey’s first match since this past August’s WWE SummerSlam 2023 event.
• Wrestling Revolver recently announced that they will be holding a new event called Unreal on November 16th in Los Angeles, California. It was announced that this will be the company’s first ever event in California.
• Wrestling Revolver also announced that Ronda Rousey will be making her official debut for the company at their Unreal event on November 16th in Los Angeles. Prior to their announcement, Rousey had teased on Twitter about her interest in working at this event stating “How very convenient…🤔“
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Major League Wrestling talent Alex Hammerstone recently requested his release from the company. It was reported that MLW officials do not intend to grant Hammerstone’s release request. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Hammerstone’s working relationship with MLW is “frayed” and he had attempted to buy out his contract earlier this year which MLW was not interested in doing. It was reported that Hammerstone’s motiviation in the company had decreased following MLW’s decision to book Alex Kayne to defeat Hammerstone for the MLW World Championship at this past July’s Never Say Never 2023 event. Hammerstone’s current contract with MLW reportedly does not expire until the end of 2025.
• During today’s UK Invasion Tour event in Coventry, England, Impact Wrestling announced that they have signed British indies wrestler Leon Slater to an official long-term contract with the company. At the event, Impact President Scott D’Amore stated “I’ve stood in a ring like this and I’ve done that to a guy by the name of Josh Alexander, and that kind of panned out.I’ve stood in a ring like this and I did that with a guy like Mike Bailey, and that seems to have worked out pretty darn good. So I don’t know, I mean, if I had a contract to hand in my back pocket or something, and I guess if somebody had a pen…So I mean, normally I’d say I’m giving it to your lawyer, he can read it over, we can go back and forth. But the fact is we need Leon Slater at the dance with TNA. So if you put a little trust in me, Leon, I think if you just signed at the bottom here, we’ll take your f—king career exactly where it belongs, which is new heights at TNA Wrestling.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Impact recently announced that tickets for their upcoming Hard to Kill 2024 event and Snake Eyes Extravaganza events in January of 2024 under their rebranded TNA Wrestling name will officially go on sale starting on November 4th.
• “Speedball” Mike Bailey reflected on Twitter about his match against Will Ospreay at Impact’s Bound For Glory 2023 being given 5.25 stars by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. Bailey stated “Getting 5.25 for my match at BFG is honestly pretty cool! We are the 1st match in Impact to get this high of a rating since Joe/AJ/Daniels which feels insane. It’s all very subjective but the hope is that people continue to pay more & more attention to TNA ’cause WE’RE BACK!“
• In a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, host Kurt Angle gave his thoughts about Impact Wrestling’s recent announcement of them reverting back to their former name of TNA Wrestling in 2024. Angle stated “I think it’s a great idea. I mean, that’s what the fans were into back then. It gives them a feel that they’re coming back, you know? The old-school TNA is coming back and I love that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• As noted before, former AEW talent Sonny Kiss made her official debut for Impact at this past Saturday’s Bound For Glory 2023 event in Cicero, Illinois. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Kiss will be working as a full-time talent for the company going forward.
• TMart Promotions recently announced that WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Kevin Von Erich will be making an appearance for the company at their The Gathering 5 convention on August 1-4, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• In a recent interview with the Wrestling Epicenter podcast, current NWA Women’s World Champion Kenzie Paige gave her thoughts about wrestling legend Jazz being the biggest influence for her current career in NWA. Paige stated “Besides Dr. Tom, because he’s obviously our trainer so I’ll go to him, I would say Jazz. Jazz has been the biggest influence in shaping me as a person, not just as a wrestler, but as a person, and how I want to be presented and how to be more like a superstar. She’s really helped me in that aspect of creating who Kenzie Paige is. Jazz definitely jumps out as the number one person who has helped me the most.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent episode of the Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore podcast, Booker T gave his thoughts on why currently feels that TNA Wrestling would likely be the next destination for CM Punk’s wrestling career. Booker T stated “I look at it like this. If CM Punk was to go to IMPACT Wrestling and be a part of that, that crew down there, I think it’s definitely something that, it could work. I really do. I think there’s a lot of young guys down there, I think there’s a lot of young guys, just like in AEW, that could learn and maybe look towards CM Punk for some guidance and whatever. I don’t know. I don’t know how well that’s gonna work out or anything like that. But that’s the way I see that. The one thing I also think about with CM Punk going to IMPACT Wrestling, unlike AEW, unlike WWE, his wrestling is gonna be more spotlighted on. Just because it’s smaller crowds, everything is gonna be seen. You’re not gonna be able to hide anything in an arena like that. One thing about getting older, you’re gonna lose a step. That’s just the way it is. I just think it would be so much more noticeable. You would be looking at CM Punk’s work so much more than anything outside of what he would be doing at TNA. I’m talking about promos, I’m talking about angles. You’re gonna be looking at his work more than anything, I would think. I think that’s a position I wouldn’t want to put myself in. CM Punk is somebody that, I still feel like [he] has a lot of value for one of these companies out there, I really do. I’m not saying that TNA is a small fry or anything. I don’t think it’s about the size of the company or anything like that. I think it’s about the legacy that CM Punk wants to leave in the business, more than anything. I think the departure from WWE wasn’t pretty. I don’t think the departure from AEW was nice or anything like that. To be able to walk away from this thing and look back on it with some fond memories…you don’t get a chance to redo this. This is it. One could say, ‘Well, he could go to Japan.’ I remember MVP, and he’ll tell you this himself, MVP before he left WWE. He was like, ‘Man, my dream is to go work in Japan. I can’t wait. I love that style.’ I told MVP, I said, ‘Brother, it’s a whole lot different working in Japan at 25 than it is at 35.’ He didn’t understand what I meant until he went over there. When he did, how many tours did he go? One. That was it. You don’t want to finish your career over there. You want to finish your career right here in the good-old United States of America. That’s what you want to do. So I feel like if [Punk] was to go to TNA, he definitely could rebuild that trust with people, more than anything. I think that’s what people are gonna remember about CM Punk, more than anything. It’s gonna gonna be the matches, it’s not gonna be the Pipebomb moment.“
• In the same episode, Booker T also gave his thoughts about the belief that CM Punk is more of a liability than as an asset for a company. Booker T stated “CM Punk has his ways, and a lot of times, from the outside looking in, he wants it to be a lot in his favor. I just say that from what I’ve seen more than anything. I don’t want to sit here and bash CM Punk or anything. I’m trying to say something nice about what CM Punk has a chance to do. Just like I said when he came into AEW. The first thing I said when Punk came into AEW, before all the trouble, before all the turmoil, I said Punk is in a position of power, he’s in a position of confidence. He’s in a position where these young guys can be able to come to him for guidance and advice. But I also said he’s gonna have to go down to their level in order for them to come up to his level.” Booker T then continued stating that TNA Wrestling would make the most sense for CM Punk. Booker T stated “TNA will be the spot. If he’s gonna land somewhere, TNA will be the spot. I really feel like TNA, they could use the rub. People’s eyes will be on TNA. As well as, you will actually get a chance to see CM Punk’s star power, if the needle moves for TNA, if TNA can get back in this race. Because right now, they running in third, and they way back there. But just imagine if TNA numbers could start competing with AEW. Oh man. Then people are gonna be saying, ‘Did Tony Khan make a mistake?’ That’s what’s gonna happen.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Insane Championship Wrestling recently announced that Sami Callihan will be making his official debut appearance for the company at their No Holds Barred 56 event on December 16th in Newark, New Jersey. It was also announced that Callihan will be facing off against Matt Tremont in a singles match at the event.
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their GCW at Wrestlecade Weekend event on November 24th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This is a 6-Person match of Insane Clown Bussy (Violent J, Allie Katch, & EFFY) vs. The Mortons (Ricky & Kerry Morton) & George South.
• GCW also recently announced one new match for the card of their Si or No? event on November 4th in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a singles match of Masha Slamovich vs. Gringo Loco.
• As noted before, Katsuhiko Nakajima will be leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH at the end of this month. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while the next destination for Nakajima is currently not known, it is speculated to be New Japan Pro Wrestling. Meltzer reported that the basis for the rumor revolves around Nakajima recently stated that the next company he will be going to is not AEW nor WWE and described his upcoming departure from Pro Wrestling NOAH as him “graduating” which implies him going to a bigger promotion.
• Saturday’s Demolition Stage event for NOAH featured Katsuhinko Nakajima’s final match for the company. Nakajima teamed up with Go Shiozaki in a tag team match against Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura, which was won by Marufuji & Sugiura after Sugiura got the pinfall victory over Nakajima.
• Saturday’s Demolition Stage event for NOAH in Fukuoka, Japan featured two new champions being crowned. The first was Jack Morris defeating Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. to become the new GHC National Champion. The second was Kenoh defeating Jake Lee to become the new GHC Heavyweight Champion.