Weekend Roundup: Peacock, Abadon, Lance Anoa’i & Juicy Finau Granted MLW Releases, Joey Janela NJPW Debut Set, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Oct 29, 2023

WWE

In a recent interview with Adrian Hernandez, Shotzi gave her thoughts about her surprise appearance on the October 10th episode of WWE NXT. Shotzi stated “Oh yeah, that was definitely a special day (10/10 WWE NXT). Me and my fiancé were even talking about it. I actually didn’t find out that I was on that show until like 3 PM and then I got really excited. I was like, this is way last minute but I’m gonna let that slide because this is a huge show and I definitely wanna be a part of it… I was already like 20 minutes away so it was like, alright. But I was dressed as Pinhead because I was doing a photoshoot as Pinhead when they called me up and I showed up to the P.C. with pins in my face, just looking crazy and no one even batted an eye. They were just like, oh yeah, this is what Shotzi does.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
As noted before, WWE will be holding a new event called Bash in Berlin on August 31, 2024 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin Germany. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that based on WWE’s usual stage setup plans and venue capacity, WWE would be looking at somewhere between 12,000 to 15,000 for the attendance for their Bash in Berlin event.
In a recent investor’s meeting for their fiscal third quarter 2023 report, Comcast revealed that NBC’s Peacock streaming service is currently at around 28 million subscribers, up 13 million compared to the same quarter last year. It was announced that Peacock’s revenue $830 million but the service generated a net loss of $565 million for the fiscal quarter. Comcast is currently projecting Peacock to lose around $2.8 billion for the current fiscal year which would be down $200 million compared to the prior fiscal year’s overall loss of $3 billion. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Peacock has lost around $6.8 billion since its inception but it is currently the fifth largest streaming service, behind Netflix, Discovery+/MAX, Hulu, and Disney+.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE’s Fastlane 2023 event earlier this month in Indianapolis, Indiana is currently at 10,700 pay-per-view buys from traditional cable PPV providers based on updated numbers from late buys.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 14,149 (13,000 paid) for their Oct. 20th SmackDown show in San Antonio, TX, 5,304 for their Oct. 21st house show event in Edinburg, TX, 3,025 for their Oct. 22nd house show event in Laredo, TX, 11,949 (10,900 paid) for their Oct. 23rd house show event in Dallas, TX, and 8,771 for their Oct. 25th house show event in Munich, Germany, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 6,722 tickets for their Oct. 30th RAW show in Greenville, SC, 7,846 tickets for their Oct. 31st house show event in Glasgow, Scotland, 3,608 tickets for their Nov. 4th house show event in Rochester, NY, 3,334 tickets for their Nov. 5th house show event in Springfield, MA, 6,817 tickets for their Nov. 6th RAW show in Wilkes-Barre, PA, 5,850 tickets for their Nov. 10th SmackDown show in Columbus, OH, 6,062 tickets for their Nov. 13th RAW show in Washington, DC, 3,305 tickets for their Nov. 17th SmackDown show in Evansville, IN, 2,715 tickets for their Nov. 18th house show event in Canton, OH, 2,291 tickets for their Nov. 18th house show event in Tupelo, MS, 2,712 tickets for their Nov. 19th house show event in Saginaw, MI, 2,178 tickets for their Nov. 19th house show event in Jonesboro, AR, 5,869 tickets for their Nov. 20th RAW show in Grand Rapids, MI, 13,737 tickets for their Nov. 24th SmackDown show in Chicago, 15,340 tickets for their Nov. 25th Survivor Series 2023 event in Chicago, IL, 2,066 tickets for their Nov. 26th house show event in Peoria, IL, 7,212 tickets for their Nov. 27th RAW show in Nashville, TN, 8,804 tickets for their Dec. 1st SmackDown show in Brooklyn, NY, 3,344 tickets for their Dec. 2nd house show event in Bangor, ME, 4,084 tickets for their Dec. 2nd house show event in Allentown, PA, 2,425 tickets for their Dec. 3rd house show event in Portland, ME, 2,011 tickets for their Dec. 3rd house show event in Newark, DE, 3,736 tickets for their Dec. 4th RAW show in Albany, NY, 6,002 tickets for their Dec. 8th SmackDown show in Providence, RI, 1,997 tickets for their NXT Deadline 2023 event in Bridgeport, CT, 1,618 tickets for their Dec. 10th house show event in State College, PA, 4,628 tickets for their Dec. 15th SmackDown show in Green Bay, WI, 2,187 tickets for their Dec. 16th house show event in Moline, IL, 1,916 tickets for their Dec. 17th house show event in Rochester, MN, and 8,069 tickets for their Dec. 26th house show event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, WWE held a recent set of tryout this past September at their Performance Center. Among those who had attended the tryouts, indie wrestlers Brogan Finlay, Lucky Ali, and Jay Malachi were offered contracts from WWE. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that eleven people were offered contracts following WWE’s recent tryouts. Meltzer reported that the identities of the other eight people who were offered contracts are currently not known but all eleven are currently scheduled to report to WWE’s Performance Center this January.
In a recent episode of the Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and co-host Booker T gave his thoughts on why he felt that the Main Event Mafia in TNA/Impact Wrestling was a better faction than The Bloodline in WWE. Booker T stated “Main event mafia was a better faction, by far. But I think The Bloodline has had one of the best runs any faction could ever have, probably the best. But I just say better faction because we had some major players, and we weren’t a family. We was a faction.” In response to co-host Brad Gilmore stating that The Bloodline has been a better storyline than the Main Event Mafia, Booker T stated “Yeah, I agree 100%, but I just feel like we never got a chance to really explore how good the Main Event Mafia really could have been in the right situation.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with WrestlingInc, WWE Hall of Famer and current WWE producer Molly Holly gave her thoughts about her interest in potentially wrestling one more match. Holly stated “I really don’t believe that there’s anything I could add to the business. I just feel so complete in my career. I don’t feel that it’s like, oh, if I just had this moment. I already had all the moments. I really want to save the TV time for the younger people to have their moments.“
Trish Stratus recently announced that she will be returning as a judge for Season 3 of Canada’s Got Talent reality competition television series.
In a recent interview with TV Insider, NXT talent Ilja Dragunov gave his thoughts about the advice John Cena gave to him backstage at the October 10th NXT show. Dragunov stated “It wasn’t a long conversation. What I really appreciated was him just randomly pulling me aside. This was something that doesn’t happen every day. He spoke about making moments and building a connection. That is what we were talking about. He gives you a whole different perspective, even when you may have the same opinion on things. When you have his approval, then you have the right mindset for this business, and you are on the right path.” Dragunov also gave his thoughts about getting to meet The Undertaker backstage at the show. Dragunov stated “Meeting those legendary performers for the first time. You feel the connection between the present and the past in a very special way. A lot of people felt proud because you watched those guys growing up and now you’re in the same working environment. It gets you feeling in life, you feel everything is possible.“

AEW & ROH

Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Uncasville featured the announcement of Bryan Danielson had suffered a broken ortibal bone injury at this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Danielson’s injury is legitimate and not a storyline injury.
Saturday’s Collision show also featured Abadon making her televised in-ring return to AEW in a Fright Night Fight match against Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that one reason for Abadon’s absence from AEW programming was due Abadon had only recently been medically cleared for an in-ring return from injury. The reason for Abadon’s extended absence from AEW programming that was not injury-related is currently not known.
In a recent interview with The Messenger, Jon Moxley gave his thoughts on what his post-WWE wrestling career would have been if AEW never existed. Moxley stated “The timing of it was crazy. I was gone one way or another. I was going to give it all up. I didn’t give a f— if I was never on TV again. I’d go wrestle in a f—ing mask in Mexico in a parking lot if it means having fun again.I hate speaking in the third person because it feels so f—ing pretentious, but speaking from a character standpoint, it just makes it easier. But it was like as Jon Moxley was getting his release date from jail and walking into the world again, it just happened to be when AEW was starting.If there was no AEW, I think I’d be doing the exact same thing, just in a bunch of other places. You’d probably see me in f—in’ Japan or Revolver, places like that. It probably wouldn’t be that much different.As far as the opportunities for the wrestlers and their families, it’s an entirely different world now than it was four or five years ago. So much has changed, it’s crazy.“
In a recent episode of the Ring The Belle podcast, Kris Statlander gave her thoughts about her transition away from her original Alien persona in AEW. Statlander stated “I know, I know. I feel like it’s a very 50/50 split with how people feel about that (alien persona). I get that (it went well with the athleticism I displayed). I felt like doing the alien thing, it gave people a better look into me as a person and it’s not to be like, oh, I’m an alien but I’m just — I know I’m a little bit of an awkward person, I’m a little bit different and sometimes the things that I do are unique and I felt like that was kind of just an easy way to show what I am as an easy, like, oh, yeah, alien, different, makes sense. I don’t know. I know some people, a lot of people didn’t take that seriously and they never thought that it would be world champion material and it might’ve been but I just felt like it was time for me to try and grow. Not just as a person, as a performer and just try something different. I mean, it did bring me to this. I don’t wanna say it was a mistake. Maybe it was time for something new.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
In a recent interview with the Battleground Podcast, Paul Wight gave his thoughts about Sting’s upcoming retirement from wrestling. Wight stated “Even with Sting, who has had such a tremendous career and is such an incredible dude, even backstage. Sting is a guy who has always had a positive attitude about stuff and willing to do anything, willing to work hard to get anyone over, knows who he is as a character, knows his audience, goes out of his way every time to give the audience 100%. Nothing but respect for Sting.” Wight also recalled a story from the past involving him and Sting playing a game of poker and Sting never forgetting that Wight still owes him $5 over it. Wight stated “The fact that I owe him $5 in a gin game because he’s up one game right now…I’d like to say he’s a great guy and really crappy card player, Sting is a guy I play cards with in case I want to get some extra Starbucks money, I go to Sting and get $10 or $15 bucks from. He’s been putting up quite the battle lately. He’s improved his card game since the last time we’ve played. It took me by surprise a little bit. I’m in the hole right now. Every now and then, I get a text, ‘you got that $5 you owe me?’ At this stage of the game, you just want to be the one ahead so you can aggravate the other guy. It’s not really about the money. It’s about that right now, in this gin game, he has his foot on my neck and he’s loving it. When the roles are reversed, believe me, every day, I will send a message or two, I will send a note, that he owes me $5. I’ll spend $100 to remind him that he owes me $5. That’s it. That’s where the fun comes into it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW officials had plans at one point for FTR vs. The Young Bucks IV match to take place at next month’s Full Gear 2023 event. Meltzer reported that this match is now not likely to take place due to the current belief from his sources that all of AEW officials’ original plans for FTR, The Young Bucks, and the AEW World Tag Team Championship has been changed for the event. The basis for this belief reportedly revolves around Dax Harwood had pushed for Big Bill & Ricky Starks to take the tag titles off of FTR with the idea that it would lead to a rematch between the two and the winner would face the Young Bucks at the event. Meltzer reported that it is currently not known if the Young Bucks will actually challenge for the tag team belts despite them winning a shot at the belts at AEW’s WrestleDream event earlier this month nor the current plans for them for Full Gear 2023.
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 2,933 for their Oct. 21st Collision & Battle of the Belts VIII shows in Memphis, TN and 5,673 for their Oct. 25th Dynamite show in Philadelphia, PA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 2,556 tickets for their Nov. 1st Dynamite show in Louisville, KY, 1,722 tickets for their Nov. 4th Collision show in Wichita, KS, 2,661 tickets for their Nov. 8th Dynamite show in Portland, OR, 1,934 tickets for their Nov. 10th Collision show in Oakland, CA, 2,127 tickets for their Nov. 15th Dynamite show in Ontario, CA, 3,441 tickets for their Nov. 17th Collision show in Los Angeles, 8,777 tickets for their Nov. 18th Full Gear 2023 event in Los Angeles, CA, 2,075 tickets for their Nov. 22nd Dynamite show in Chicago, IL, 1,935 tickets for their Nov. 25th Collision show in Pittsburgh, PA, 2,581 tickets for their Nov. 29th Dynamite show in Minneapolis, MN, 1,217 tickets for their Dec. 2nd Collision show in Erie, PA, 2,015 tickets for their Dec. 5th Collision & Rampage shows in Montreal, and 3,699 tickets for their Dec. 6th Dynamite show in Montreal, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Thunder Rosa reportedly recently traveled to Mexico and was in attendance at a recent event for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer reported that his sources stated that Rosa was not the only AEW rep who had visited Arena Mexico.
As noted before, Thunder Rosa has been out of action for AEW since September of 2022 due to her suffering a spinal-related injury. Rosa recent provided an update on Twitter stating “Everyone has questions. My answer is I AM READY. Stephanie Vaquer, for my respect and friendship, you are one of the best, but there is no greater respect than competing in the ring. That is immortality. All that remains to be resolved is when and where? In Mexico or in United States, in AEW or in CMLL. If you also want it to happen, tag the bosses.“
As noted before, Ric Flair made his official debut appearance for AEW at this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why Flair was able to make an appearance for AEW is due to him currently not being under any sort of contract with WWE.
British indies wrestler Zodiac, brother of Saraya, reportedly is currently in the process of moving to the United States and gettign a work visa, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Zodiac had announced at a recent event for World Association of Wrestling, which is run by Saraya’s family, that he would be leaving for the United States and that this was his farewell event for the company. Meltzer also reported that Saraya has attempted to get her brother a tryout with AEW for a potential contract with the company.
AEW recently announced that the will be holding a new AEW Collision show on December 23rd at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. It was also announced that they will be holding a new set of Dynamite and Rampage shows on December 27th at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida. Tickets for these upcoming shows was announced to officially go on sale starting on November 3rd.

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

Samoan Swat Team’s Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau announced on Twitter today that they have been granted their releases from Major League Wrestling. Anoa’i stated “As Of TODAY! I have been granted my @MLW Release! I wanna thank MLW! Wanna give a big shout out to my USOs @JuicyFinau and @SAMOANWEREWOLF Thank you for everything! Love you guys! #SST” Finau stated “As of today I’ve been released from @MLW. Just want to thank everyone I’ve crossed paths with while I was there. Extremely thankful to MLW for the opportunities! Especially wanna thank my brothers @SAMOANWEREWOLF & @lanceanoai IM NOW A FREE AGENT🫡 TOKO OUT! OFAS” Prior to their departures, Anoa’i had been with MLW since May of 2022 and Finau had been with MLW since this past April.
As noted before, Alex Hammerstone is believed to have recently asked for his release from MLW. Hammerstone confirmed earlier today on Twitter that Fightful Select’s report of him asking for his release is true. Hammerstone stated “My time with @MLW was 5 of the best years of my life and career. Very proud of what I and the company accomplished. I wish them continued success. I have recently asked for my release as I feel it’s what’s right for me at this time. Thank you @courtbauer for the opportunities.”
Saturday’s Fighting Spiriting Unleashed 2023 event for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Las Vegas featured Shingo Takagi defeating Tama Tonga to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion.
Saturday’s NJPW’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2023 event also featured the announcement of Joey Janela making his official debut for NJPW at their Lonestar Shootout 2023 event on November 10th in Dallas, Texas.
Saturday’s NJPW’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2023 event also featured four new matches announced for the card of Lonestar Shootout 2023 event on November 10th in Dallas. The first is a NJPW Strong Openweight Championship match of Satoshi Kojima vs. Eddie Kingston (c). The second is a NJPW Strong Women’s Championship match of Stephanie Vaquer vs. Giulia (c). The third is a NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship match of West Coast Wrecking Crew vs. Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (c). The fourth is a NEVER Openweight Championship match of Trent Beretta vs. Shingo Takagi (c).
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,065 for their Oct. 21st Super Junior Tag League 2023 event in Kumagaya, 1,020 for their Oct. 24th Super Junior Tag League 2023 event in Tokyo, 1,169 for their Oct. 25th Super Junior Tag League 2023 event in Tokyo, and 545 for their Oct. 26th Super Junior Tag League 2023 event in Kasukabe, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Saturday’s NWA Samhain event for the National Wrestling Alliance in Cleveland, Ohio featured the official announcement of next year’s Hard Times event will be the first pay-per-view event the NWA will be holding in 2024. No date nor venue was announced at the time.
Saturday’s NWA Samhain event also featured JR Kratos & Odinson defeating Daisy Kill & Talos to become the new NWA United States Tag Team Champions.
Impact Wrestling held a new set of Gut Check tryouts as part of their current UK Invasion Tour in the United Kingdom. Impact announced on Twitter that British indies wrestler Harley Hudson was the winner of their Gut Check tryout and was given a developmental contract with the company.
Impact Wrestling reportedly drew an attendance of around 1,000 for their Oct. 21st Bound For Glory 2023 event in Cicero, IL and 400 for their Oct. 26th UK Invasion Tour event in Glasgow, Scotland, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Impact’s Bound For Glory 2023 reportedly has generated around 1,800 pay-per-view buys from traditional cable PPV providers, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this was up compared to last year’s Bound For Glory event that generated around 1,600 buys. Meltzer speculated that when including streaming buys, Impact is currently estimated to have generated somewhere between 5,400 to 7,200 buys for their Bound For Glory 2023 event.
As noted before, CM Punk made a backstage visit at Impact’s television tapings on October 22nd in Cicero, Illinois. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while Impact officials would love to have CM Punk and his star status join their company, the biggest obstacle would be money since Impact likely would not be able to afford him without a huge discount. In regards to WWE and AEW, Meltzer reported that Punk potentially rejoining either company currently appears to be “dead deals” at the moment.
In a recent interview with 670 The Score, CM Punk gave his thoughts on why wrestlers should have a union and why such a union would never be possible. Punk stated “For professional wrestling, yeah, wrestlers should 100% have a union. I’ll always say this, and I mean it in the most loving way; wrestlers will never unionize because wrestlers are stupid and selfish. That’s just the way it is. There is always going to be somebody else around the corner that wants what you have or possibly doesn’t want you to have what you have and they will do whatever the promoter wants you to do for less money. That’s unfortunate. The boys never stick together.” Punk continued stating “I think it’s a lack of places to work. It’s really a wage gap disparity, it’s a class war. When your boss is a billionaire and you don’t want to rock the boat — this isn’t in wrestling, this applies to anything. More often than not, people will want to keep their head down, not get in trouble, and just go about their day. For better or worse, people have mouths to feed. There are people with kids, families, taking care of other people, and they can’t afford to lose their job. Fortunately, for me, I’ve never been that guy. I’m always like, ‘I don’t need the money. This is wrong and I get to tell people it’s wrong.’ I don’t think the platform I have is worth anything if I don’t speak from the heart about issues that I feel are important. I have researched. Probably not as extensively as I should if I was going to act on this. I’m just me. There is strength in numbers. If it were to ever happen, just like it happened any other time people have risen up and created a union or strived for better working conditions for workers, it has to be a group of people. People have to stick together, and wrestlers are just never going to stick together. It’s sad.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Wrestling Revolver announced one new match for the card of their Unreal event on November 16th in Los Angeles, California. This is a tag team match of Ronda Rousey & Marina Shafir vs. mystery opponents.
Game Changer Wrestling recently announced one new match for teh card of their GCW at WrestleCade Weekend event on November 24th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This is a singles match of Matt Cardona vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
Stardom officials reportedly currently have plans for something major to take place at their Gold Rush event on November 8th in Osaka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 486 for their Oct. 21st Goddess of Stardom Tag League 2023 event in Osaka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of Oct. 20 to Oct. 26, 2023

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,253,000 viewers, 0.59 rating (prior week – 2,417,000 viewers, 0.62)
WWE RAW – 1,476,000 viewers, 0.46 rating (prior week – 1,483,000 viewers, 0.44 rating)
WWE NXT – 787,000 viewers, 0.21 rating (prior week – 798,000 viewers, 0.23 rating)
AEW Rampage – 342,000 viewers, 0.11 rating (prior week – 407,000 viewers, 0.14 rating)
AEW Collision – 518,000 viewers, 0.16 rating (prior week – 504,000 viewers, 0.14 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 774,000 viewer, 0.24 rating (prior week – 901,000 viewers, 0.31 rating)
AEW Battle of the Belts VIII – 397,000 viewers, 0.13 rating (prior week – N/A)
Impact Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – 77,000 viewers, 0.01 rating)

Total viewership in terms of overall tally for the week: 6,547,000 viewers (down 40,000 viewers compared to prior week’s 6,587,000 viewers)