Weekend Roundup: Big E, Seth Rollins Announcement for Mon. RAW, Keith Lee to Undergo Surgeries, Megan Bayne Departs Stardom, Kazuchika Okada, TNA, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Jan 21, 2024

WWE

This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,360,000 viewers on FOX, according to TVSeriesFinale.
As noted before, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his surprise return to WWE at their RAW Day 1 show earlier this month in San Jose, California. During the show, Johnson called out Roman Reigns teasing a potential match between the two for Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. In a recent interview with the Sony Sports Network, Jey Uso gave his thoughts about his interest in a potential match between The Rock and Reigns. Uso stated “My reaction to the Rock wanting to be the Head of the Table? Money. That’s one match I think we all wanna watch. Myself, as a fan, I want to watch too. I just don’t think The Rock knows what he’s getting into when it comes to The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. He’s got The Bloodline behind him. Rock has a big uphill battle man. But yeah, we ready to see that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, Big E has been out of action for WWE since March of 2022 due to a broken neck injury. In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Big E stated that he still currently does not have a timetable for a potential in-ring return from his injury.
WWE held one dark match prior to this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a singles match of Gable Steveson defeating Cameron Grimes. WWE also held two post-show dark matches of Cody Rhodes defeating Shinsuke Nakamura and Jey Uso defeating Finn Balor.
Following this past Friday’s SmackDown post-show dark matches, Cody Rhodes gave a speech in front of him hometown crowd. Rhodes stated “There is only one thing that makes me tired of coming home. The only thing that makes me tired when coming home is coming home empty-handed. I think we need to change that. I am not immune to all the news, everything that’s happening, what will happen, what won’t happen. All I can tell you is this. I’m the right man for the job. I’m the best man for the job. I’m heading into the Royal Rumble, I’m gonna go back-to-back, and I’m gonna bring a championship back home to Atlanta.” (Transcript h/t: CagesideSeats.com)
WWE filed a trademark for “Global Leader in Sports Entertainment” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on January 19th to the United States and Patent Office.
Roman Reigns’ surpassed Bruno Sammartino’s second WWE Championship reign of 1,237 days for the fourth longest ever World title reign in WWE history. WrestleOps reported that in order for Reigns to surpass Hulk Hogan for third longest ever reign, he would need to hold onto the title until mid-September 2024.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this year’s Royal Rumble event is currently expected to be the most watched event in Royal Rumble history due to the increase in Peacock subscribers since last year’s event. Meltzer reported that Peacock very likely got a boost of around a few million new subscribers who wanted to watch the 2024 NFL Playoffs game of Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs that aired exclusively on the platform.
WWE reportedly is currently advertising Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Randy Orton, Bianca Belair, Rey Mysterio, and Becky Lynch for their Backlash 2024 event on May 4th in Paris, France, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that this would mean that WWE current does not have any plans for Roman Reigns to work at this upcoming event.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reason why NXT talent Von Wagner was recently absent from NXT television was not due to any injury or health-related situation and instead just NXT officials not having any creative plans for him until this past Tuesday’s show.
WWE reportedly generated around 11,700 pay-per-view buys for this past November’s Survivor Series WarGames 2023 event based on updated data and estimates, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that last year’s event was around 62.7% higher in PPV buys than the 2022 event and the highest PPV buys for a WWE event since this past August’s SummerSlam 2023 event.
WWE reportedly also generated around 8,700 PPV buys for this past November’s Crown Jewel 2023 event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 7,113 (6,400 paid) for their Jan. 12th SmackDown show in Lincoln, NE, 6,087 for their Jan. 13th house show event in Las Cruces, NM, 5,213 for their Jan. 14th house show event in Rio Rancho, NM, and 6,123 (5,400 paid) for their Jan. 15th RAW show in North Little Rock, AR, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 7,156 tickets for their Jan. 22nd RAW show in New Orleans, LA, 6,945 tickets for their Jan. 26th SmackDown show in Miami, FL, close to 37,000 tickets for their Jan. 27th Royal Rumble 2024 event in St. Petersburg, FL, 11,646 tickets for their Jan. 29th RAW show in Tampa, FL, 6,968 tickets for their Feb. 2nd SmackDown show in Birmingham, AL, 1,854 tickets for their Feb. 4th house show event in Corbin, KY, 2,023 tickets for their Feb. 4th NXT Vengeance Day 2024 event in Clarksville, TN, 6,488 tickets for their Feb. 5th RAW show in St. Louis, MO, 7,914 for their Feb. 9th SmackDown in Charlotte, NC, 7,159 tickets for their Feb. 12th RAW show in Lexington, KY, 6,263 tickets for their Feb. 16th SmackDown show in Salt Lake City, UT, 3,995 tickets for their Feb. 17th house show event in Oakland, CA, 5,012 tickets for their Feb. 18th house show event in Fresno, CA, 10,665 tickets for their Feb. 19th RAW show in Anaheim, CA, 44,641 tickets for their Feb. 24th Elimination Chamber 2024 event in Burswood, Australia, 6,875 tickets for their Feb. 26th RAW show in San Jose, CA, 7,963 tickets for their March 1st SmackDown show in Glendale, AZ, 3,048 tickets for their March 2nd house show event in Palm Desert, CA, 2,784 tickets for their March 3rd house show event in Bakersfield, CA, 8,406 tickets for their March 4th RAW show in San Antonio, TX, 57,098 tickets for their April 6th WrestleMania 40 Night 1 event in Philadelphia, and 58,910 tickets for their April 7th WrestleMania 40 Night 2 event in Philadelphia, PA as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In a recent interview with the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Lexis King gave his thoughts about his goal of wanting to be the face of WWE’s NXT brand. King stated “I say all the time, my journey is to be the king of NXT. Every king deserves a crown. I think it’s a long time coming for me to have some singles recognition and to showcase a star that could represent the brand very well. I think I would be a very good face of NXT. I think I would bring a lot of eyes to the product as the champion. Also, it’s just playing my part and being the best version of myself.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
A recently released music video for “RKO” by Puerto Rican rapper Eladio Carrión featured an appearance by Randy Orton.
WWE recently announced that this Monday’s RAW show will feature an announcement by Seth Rollins to open the show. This announcement likely will involve Rollins addressing his recent knee injury and situation regarding his WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
As noted before, Austin Theory suffered a head-related injury during his match with Carmelo Hayes at the January 12th SmackDown show. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Daily Update that his sources within WWE denied reports and rumors of Theory having suffered a potential concussion injury. Those spoken to within WWE reportedly stated that Theory is currently feeling okay following the injury scare.

AEW & ROH

In a recent interview with Adrian Hernandez, Daniel Garcia gave his thoughts about tribalism in professional wrestling. Garcia stated “Because tribalism is a big thing, just because the fans are so AEW or WWE, they think the talent is like that as well. They think we hate each other and we don’t interact with each other. When it comes down to it, having both companies is great for all of us. It gets us all more money, it makes the product better. The competition is great. We’re very grateful for WWE succeeding and I’m sure people at WWE, the talent, is very grateful for AEW being successful. All talent, for the most part, I think everyone gets along and interacts with each other. Whenever we see each other at a big…like WaleMania during WrestleMania week, it’s always love, never drama.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with SO CATCH by Hal 2, indie talent Gringo Loco gave his thoughts about his recent work for AEW and ROH and the potential of him being signed by AEW. Loco stated “So, according to the internet, I’ve already signed a deal (with Ring of Honor). If you listen to the dirt sheets, I’m a signed wrestler making the big bucks. I think we just have to see where that goes in the future. That night that I debuted for Ring of Honor was a very magical night, it was straight out of a movie. I think that — I mean, getting that picture with Tony Khan raising my hand, everybody in that locker room was like, ‘That does not happen often. You should cherish that.’ So I think that Tony Khan likes me, I think he’s waiting on the right moment to tell me or to offer me a deal and I think that when that day comes, I’m gonna have a decision to make because that’s a big leap into a big company with a lot of elite wrestlers if you will so, I think that I am at their level. I just have to mentally accept that I’m gonna be All Elite or Ring of Honor and just kind of go for it which is what I’ve done my entire career so, we just have to wait and cross that bridge until it happens.” Loco also gave his thoughts about him working as a liaison for lucha talent who get booked for shows for Game Changer Wrestling. Loco stated “I think early on, somehow, Brett realized that I had this innate ability to connect dots, people and kind of fix situations that were kind of difficult to kind of confront head on. One of them being we need a way to facilitate these luchadors into GCW easily and I said, ‘Well I’m fluent in Spanish, I have all the connects. Let’s do this’ and from that day on, I think I’ve become pretty much the liaison and the messenger for all lucha libre talent in GCW. They all have to pass through me. I know exactly what everybody’s doing, who pairs with who. It really is an innate ability that I have to make the best match possible which is what Brett Lauderdale wants in his company anyway. So, it’s just a perfect pairing. I’ve wanted to travel like this my entire career and he’s always wanted all of these talents in his company and I’m the one to facilitate all the deals so, as soon as, for example, Dorada, Máscara Dorada was released, he was like, ‘Can you get him?’ And I’m like, ‘I have him in my phone right now.’ I was in his class when all of us didn’t have a name 15 years ago in CMLL. ‘I have him in my phone. Let me see what I can do.’ His first indie date was for GCW which is a lot of these guys: Komander, first indie date in the States, GCW. First indie date for Hijo del Vikingo, GCW. Brett Lauderdale is on the cusp of everything that happens for the first time and I think it’s great. I’m glad to be a part of it.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that former National Wrestling Alliance talent Kamille was in attendance backstage at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite and Rampage shows in North Charleston, South Carolina. It was reported that Kamille was seen talking to people of influence during her visit. It was reported that as of this past week, Kamille has not signed a new deal with anyone and is still a free agent.
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 3,125 for their Jan. 13th Collision and Battle of the Belts IX shows in Norfolk, VA and 2,537 for their Jan. 17th Dynamite show in North Charleston, SC, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 1,557 tickets for their Jan. 24th Dynamite show in Savannah, GA, 1,259 tickets for their Jan. 27th Collision show in Bossier City, LA, 1,381 tickets for their Jan. 31st Dynamite show in New Orleans, LA, 2,076 tickets for their Feb. 3rd Collision show in Edinburg, TX, 2,755 tickets for their Feb. 7th Dynamite show in Phoenix, AZ, 834 tickets for their Feb. 10th Collision show in Henderson, NV, 1,411 tickets for their Feb. 14th Dynamite show in Cedar Park, TX, 1,593 tickets for their Feb. 21st Dynamite show in Tulsa, OK, 1,739 tickets for their Feb. 24th Collision show in Springfield, MO, 1,138 tickets for their Feb. 28th Dynamite show in Huntsville, LA, 15,393 tickets for their March 3rd Revolution 2024 event in Greensboro, NC, 1,801 tickets for their March 16th Collision show in Ottawa, Canada, 2,996 tickets for their March 20th Dynamite show in Toronto, Canada, and 38,628 tickets for their All In 2024 event at Wembley Stadium in London, England as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s current ticket sales for this March’s Revolution 2024 event is currently the fifth largest ever for a wrestling event held in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. Meltzer reported that AEW’s upcoming event has already broken the all-time record for largest ever live gate for a wrestling event in Greensboro history.
As noted before, Jack Perry made a surprise appearance at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Battle of the Valley 2024 event on January 13th in San Jose, California. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that event security was originally not informed beforehand of NJPW’s plans for Perry to make a surprise appearance and jump over the barricade as a masked person but they quickly figured out that this was just an angle and not a legitimate fan attack. Meltzer reported that the reason why security was able to quickly figure out what was happening was due to New Japan hired local wrestlers to work as security guards for the event. Meltzer also reported that Perry ripping up his “AEW contract” was meant to be AEW’s take on the classic Brian Pillman angle.
AEW reportedly is currently estimated to have generated around 139,000 PPV buys for this past December’s Worlds End event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Worlds End’s buys are currently around 7.4% higher than this past November’s Full Gear 2023 event based on recent updated data in regards to cable television buys. Meltzer reported that this would be AEW’s highest PPV buys for an event since this past August’s All In event.
Haus of Wrestling’s Nick Hausman reported that Keith Lee is currently scheduled to undergo two undisclosed surgeries. Lee’s wife and WWE talent Mia Yim recently denied a report from Ringside News that stated that Lee will be undergoing heart and throat surgeries. Yim stated on Twitter “Smdh. Ringside news is hot pressed garbage. I won’t state specifics but heart and throat surgery is absolutely false.“
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Will Ospreay is currently scheduled for AEW’s Revolution 2024 event this March and will be officially starting his career in AEW this February.
Dave Meltzer also reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW recently caught a big break in regards to the level of competition against Dynamite on Wednesdays. Meltzer reported that BRAVO recently moved their Vanderpump Rules series to Tuesday nights starting with its upcoming new season. Meltzer reported that WWE’s NXT show will now be facing stiffer competition as a result that will likely impact their female key demographic viewership the hardest.
The city of St. Louis recently honored AEW on Saturday ahead of that night’s Collision show in the city. Darby Allin accepted the honor on behalf of AEW at the St. Louis City Hall.
Variety reported that Warner Brothers Discovery will be holding their next upfront presentation on May 15th at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
Chris Jericho filed a trademark for “Seek and Destroy” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on January 16th to the USPTO.
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Jon Moxley gave his thoughts about the challenges he faced in 2023 and having an epiphany this past December that flipped a switch in him for turning his life around for the better. Moxley stated “Yeah, 2023 was actually very tough. It’s been a tough couple of years actually. I went to rehab a couple of years ago, and there’s a lot more to that than what they tell you – the reality of actually stopping doing coke or go to rehab or stop drinking or whatever. Not drinking….that’s easy to a degree. It’s only one thing you got to do, just not drink. But, that was just a way of life for me for over 20 years and you mess up your brain chemistry over time. So, it’s the other side of getting everything back to normal and just figuring out how to live and while your brain kind of rewires itself and heals and comes back to normal. But what’s never been normal to you? It hadn’t been normal to me since I was like 14 or something like that. That part’s really hard. Everybody’s going to be different and will present challenges and stuff. So the last couple of years have been really challenging. There’s a lot of stuff outside of the ring and wrestling gets annoying, like it always does. I got sorted out with my doctors and stuff right around December, which was right around when the [Continental Classic] was starting,” Moxley said. “I was having kind of a bad time the first couple weeks in there but things kind of switched, especially once I stopped taking this medication. I just kind of had a, I don’t know what to call it, sort of an epiphany or a splash of cold water in the face. Something just hit me. I don’t know, maybe I was just accepting of getting punched in the face by circumstances over and over. Eventually, guys just get tired and they just get used to being on the bottom. They stop even trying to get up. At some point, I think I just got used to just taking abuse from circumstances. Then I kind of woke up out of it and I was like, ‘What the? Get your act together.’ That flipped the switch in me. So, the second half of that whole tournament was a whole different story.” Moxley also stated that he wants 2024 to be his year for his goals. Moxley stated “Now it’s a new year and stuff, and I’m like, ‘2024 is going to be my year.’ I don’t know, many times in my career I feel like I got a little momentum brewing in myself. A lot of times the universe will bow to your whims if you make it so, and many times where I almost feel like exactly what I feel. I feel like I know something the rest of the world doesn’t know yet. They’re not even looking at me. They’ve completely written me off and have no idea I’m coming and I’m about to blow everybody’s world up. Like I know a secret the rest of the world doesn’t know kind of thing.“
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Ring of Honor is currently scheduled to hold this year’s Supercard of Honor event on April 5th at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

As noted before, Stardom and indies talent Megan Bayne has been signed to an official contract with AEW since early 2023. Saturday’s Stardom Award 2023 In Takadanobaba for Stardom in Tokyo, Japan featured Bayne’s final match in the company. In a backstage post-match press conference, Bayne gave her thoughts about her time in Stardom and her departure from the company. Bayne stated “These past six months here in STARDOM have changed me as a person, as a wrestler and I’m very sad to be leaving. But, I don’t wanna be sad and I don’t want this to be goodbye because I’m not finished here and we’re (Bayne & Maika) not finished. Divine Kingdom is forever. I’ll be coming back.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 290 for their Jan. 13th New Year Stars in Osaka 2024 Night 1 event in Osaka and 299 for their Jan/ 14th New Year Stars in Osaka 2024 Night 2 event in Osaka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced this past Thursday that Kazuchika Okada will be leaving the company after his contract expires at the end of this January. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Okada will become the first top star holder of #1 star status in Japanese wrestling history to leave Japan for a full-time career in a foreign company. Meltzer reported that the closest this had happened before was when Shinsuke Nakamura left NJPW for a full-time WWE career but he was a distant third compared to Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi’s star status at the time.
Dave Meltzer also reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated that Okada has yet to make a decision regarding the next destination of his wrestling career. Meltzer reported that several within AEW are currently confident that Okada will be joining their company while others still feel that it could go either way with him joining their company or WWE. Meltzer also reported that several within WWE are currently hopeful that Okada will join their company instead. In regards to the frontrunner, Meltzer reported that AEW is still the current likely destination for Okada once he leaves NJPW.
In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, Kazuchika Okada gave his thoughts about his decision to leave NJPW. Okada stated “First of all, my contract was up for five years this year (the last year of my contract). It was a good time for me to think about something. When I thought about whether I would sign another contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling…or whether I would look at other worlds, I thought that maybe this was my last chance.” Okada also gave his thoughs about when he had made his decision. Okada stated “Of course the company talked to me about various things, and I had been thinking about it for a while. It was really only recently that I made the decision.” Okada also gave his thoughts about the reason why he decided to leave the company. Okada stated “After announcing that I was quitting and going on the tour…I felt too comfortable. I wondered what that would be like. I started my wrestling career in Mexico, came to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and became a rainmaker 12 years later. Maybe if I stay here, I can wrestle without any inconvenience. But I don’t want to become the same Kazuchika Okada without such hunger. I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to rest on my laurels. If I were “human” Okada, I would have friends here, and I would be in the best environment. But as “wrestler” Okada, it was different.” (English translation via Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, NJPW President and talent Hiroshi Tanahashi gave his thoughts about Okada leaving NJPW soon. Tanahashi stated “I can only express my gratitude in the sense that I have contributed to New Japan for the past 12 years. Speaking personally, I would have liked to have seen more matches with the new generation (Shota Umino, Ren Narita, Yota Tsuji, and Yuya Uemura)…. However, if I feel for Okada, I know that he has done enough in New Japan. I hope he will spread his wings to the world. If he is going overseas with what he has achieved at the top in New Japan, I hope that he will show (them) Kazuchika Okada. It’s the same feeling I had with Nakamura. I am very proud of him. I think things will get interesting from now on. We have an abundance of talent right now, and there are a lot of young fighters in the dojo. When the rain stops, there will be a rainbow. Who will light up the future of New Japan when the rain of money stops falling?” (English translation via Fightul.com)
Saturday’s The New Beginning in Osaka 2024 event for NJPW in Osaka, Japan featured two new champions crowned. The first title to change hands was Great-O-Khan defeating Taiji Ishimori to become the new Provisional King of Pro Wrestling 2024 Champion. The other title to change hands was EVIL defeating Tama Tonga in a Lumberjack match to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 2,147 for their Jan. 13th Battle in the Valley 2024 event in San Jose, California, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
NJPW reportedly has sold around 3,530 tickets for their April 12th Windy City Riot 2024 event in Chicago, IL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Naoto Inoki, grandson of the late Antonio Inoki, is currently training under Katsuyori Shibata for a wrestling career.
As noted before, Trinity, former Naomi in WWE, is currently expected to be leaving TNA Wrestling and returning to WWE soon. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Trinity officially finished her commitments with TNA following Saturday’s Impact! tapings in Orlando, Florida.
TNA reportedly drew an attendance of 1,630 for their Jan. 13th Hard To Kill 2024 event in Las Vegas and 1,280 for their Jan. 14th Snake Eyes Impact! tapings in Las Vegas, NV, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
TNA reportedly is currently estimated to have generated around 3,400 PPV buys for their Hard To Kill 2024 event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This reportedly was almost doubled of what TNA generated for this past October’s Bound For Glory 2023 event which generated around 1,800 buys.
Former ECW wrestler Jack Victory reportedly was in attendance backstage at Saturday’s TNA Impact! tapings in Orlando, according to PWInsider.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that NJPW and indies talent Alex Zayne and former WWE talents Mace and Mansoor were in attendance backstage at TNA’s Impact! taping this past Friday in Orlando.
TNA recently released the full match video of their Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander that aired at this past Thursday’s Impact! show.
The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced that this year’s Hard Times event on March 2nd in Dothan, Alabama will be airing live on The CW App.
The NWA also announced that recent comments made by NWA commentator Joe Galli about their upcoming new reality television series airing on The CW is not true. It was announced that this new series will be airing instead on The CW App.
As noted before, Shelton Benjamin was released from WWE this past September as part of a larger batch of talent releases and officially became a free agent this past December. In a recent interview with The Kurt Angle Show podcast, Benjamin gave his thoughts about his current free agency. Benjamin stated “I’m still weighing options. I’ve had a knock on my door here and there. I have no commitments, nothing major to announce aside from a few indie dates and a lot of autograph sessions. I’ve been taking my time on deciding what I want to do next. I am at a point in my career where I want to have fun. If it’s not worth it, I want to have fun and make money, if it’s not worth it, I just don’t want to do it. I’m not trying to build a name, I have a name, but I want to be where I’m appreciated and featured and can have some fun. I’ve never had the superstar complex where, ‘I have to do this.’ No, January 10 marked 24 years in the business for me and I’ve been extremely fortunate with injuries and family life that I can still go out and tear it up with the best of them. I’m just not sure where that’s going to be at this point. I’m taking temperatures all over the place.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Pro Wrestling Revolver recently announced that The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) will be making an appearance for the company at their co-promoted event with House of Glory on April 5th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Wrestling Revolver also recently announced one new match for the card of their co-promoted event with House of Glory on April 5th in Philadelphia. This is a singles match of Mustafa Ali vs. Amazing Red.
El Hijo del Vikingo reportedly recently signed a contract extension with Lucha Libre AAA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and TheCubsFan. The CubsFan reported that Vikingo is still expected to make more appearances for AEW but will also likely start working less often in AAA similar to other lucha talents who ended up getting very popular in the United States.
QT Marshall reportedly is currently scheduled to make an appearance for AAA at their Feb. 17th event in Tijuana. Mexico, according to TheCubsFan.
WrestleCon recently announced that Matt Cardona will be making an appearance for the company at their WrestleCon 2024 on April 4-7, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Major League Wrestling announced that Minoru Suzuki will be making an appearance for the company at their Imitation Games 2024 event on February 29th in Queens, New York.
MLW also announced one new match for the card of their SuperFight 2024 event on February 3rd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is a Callihan Rules match of AKIRA vs. Sami Callihan.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of Jan. 12 to Jan. 18, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,384,000 viewers, 0.64 rating (prior week – 2,465,000 viewers, 0.67 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,419,000 viewers, 0.45 rating (prior week – 1,461,000 viewers, 0.44 rating)
WWE NXT – 683,000 viewers, 0.19 rating (prior week – 722,000 viewers, 0.21 rating)
AEW Rampage – 396,000 viewers, 0.12 rating (prior week – 406,000 viewers, 0.14 rating)
AEW Collision – 400,000 viewers, 0.10 rating (prior week – 402,000 viewers, 0.13 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 891,000 viewers, 0.33 rating (prior week – 797,000 viewers, 0.29 rating)
AEW Battle of the Belts IX – 351,000 viewers, 0.09 rating (prior week – N/A)

Total viewership in terms of overall tally for the week: 6,524,000 viewers, up 271,000 viewers compared to prior week’s 6,253,000.