Weekend Roundup: Netflix Vince Docuseries Update, Jake Roberts Re-Signs with AEW, MJF AEW Status Update, Killer Kelly Taking Break from TNA & Rumor Killer on Departure, MCMG, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Mar 24, 2024

WWE

In a recent post on Instagram, CM Punk stated that he recently filmed “something fun” with Randy Orton. In a separate post, Punk also stated that he is also working on something cool for WrestleMania 40 and hinted it involves something related to his wrestling gear.
WWE filed trademarks for “Breakout”, “The Creed Brothers”, “The LWO”, “Ivar”, “Rezar”, “Akam”, “Carlito”, “#DIY”, and “Paul Ellering” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
As noted before, WWE held a new taping for their upcoming new WWE Speed series prior to the start of this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Pete Dunne was the producer of these matches at the taping.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently disputed a report from Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter about TKO Group would like The Rock to follow and set a good example for the guidelines of WWE’s TV-PG product and how many talents currently feel that the double standards of the Vince McMahon era for top stars have come back. Johnson stated on Twitter that “this story is complete horseshit.“
In a recent interview with The Daily Mail, Bayley gave her thoughts about what it it like to be part of WWE’s hot period of business under WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque being in charge of creative. Bayley stated “Yeah, I think about that all the time, how lucky I feel to be a part of it, just to be there while he’s in this streak of changing the business and changing what our fans are used to seeing on TV, even the little subtle things on TV, the changes that are happening, and the progression of characters and the amount of different characters that you get to see every single week, I feel so grateful to be a part of it. But the fact that I’m a Royal Rumble winner, and I’m having a title match at WrestleMania. It’s crazy, and it’s beautiful, and it’s refreshing, it’s just one of those things where you feel like you could trust the process. People say that all the time, trust the process, trust the process, but it’s like, I didn’t feel like it was ever going to pay off. There have been times like that. But right now I trust Triple H, and I trust him to, not just for me, but do the best for my character and my story. He really has the best interest in everybody in the show and the product at WWE. And I don’t know if it’s because he’s been there before, if he cares about it so much, or just how he just wants to approach it or a combination of everything. But this guy, I can lose every match every single year and know that he’s still got my back.“
In a recent interview with the Irish Independent, Becky Lynch gave her thoughts about if she has been able to reconcile the two sides of Vince McMahon, the person she knew Vince to be and the person who has horrific allegations against. Lynch stated “I don’t know that person, you know what I mean? That’s been hard for me. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but especially in my last run with him there, and when I told him I was pregnant, he was so good to me. Apart from the run-ins — but you have run-ins in every relationship, especially at that level — I only ever had a wonderful experience in WWE with Vince, for the most part. So it’s very hard to reconcile that somebody else didn’t have that experience, and that other women didn’t have that experience. Especially when I had him to thank for my dream, for my husband [fellow WWE star Seth Rollins], for my daughter, for the life that I have now. It’s hard to see those two different people in my head, and trying to merge them as one becomes very difficult. You’re reading these horrific allegations, but about somebody that you look up to as very much almost like a father figure. So you have to listen to these things and that becomes very difficult, because you’ve had no [negative] experience and you want everybody to have the experience that you’ve had, because I would always love my interactions with him. And that becomes very, very difficult, especially as a woman who has been so driven in changing the way that women are treated in wrestling and making sure that it is a safe space, that we are seen as athletes, that we are taken seriously, that we are appreciated for our minds, for our body of work, and for what we do in the ring.“
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda’s Wrestle Binge podcast, Sami Zayn gave his thoughts about his upcoming match against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 40. Zayn stated “I think it’s pretty big for sure. Coming off of last year where I found myself in a really just… you know, let’s call it right place, right time. But I caught a lot of steam and a lot of momentum heading into WrestleMania over the six months or so leading into it and ended up in the main event. Anytime you do something big, you know, I think in anything, I think in any field, not just as a wrestler or an artist or whatever, but when you’re able to accomplish something, there’s always sort of like, oh, now what, on the other side of it, you know? It’s hard to sometimes keep that up or wonder what’s next, what could you do to top it or anything like that and if you watch WWE, you see how fast things move and i’m just, I feel very lucky to be in a pretty good position a year later challenging uh you know, the longest reigning, most dominant Intercontinental champion of all time and if you’re not in that top, top match with, let’s say, Cody at Roman or The Rock or whatever now, I’d say this is the biggest match outside of that that you could possibly want to be in. So I’m pretty grateful to find myself in that spot, and I’m excited about it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE still has around four matches left to officially announce for WrestleMania 40 with the possibility of this number being larger. WWE currently only has 10 matches announced for their upcoming two-day event.
As noted before, excerpts from Round Rousey’s upcoming new book was released this past week. In regards to Rousey’s comments towards former WWE owner Vince McMahon in the book, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Rousey did not like many people within WWE’s management during her time in the company with the big exception of Stephanie McMahon who she liked and got along with. One source spoken to close to the situation stated that Rousey had felt that WWE was a misogynistic culture and by the time she left the company, she despised Vince the most. This same source reportedly stated that Rousey remained friends with Stephanie and had a positive experience with WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque. This same source reportedly stated that while Rousey despised Vince, “she, to this day, loves Dana White.”
WWE reportedly has generated around 9,800 PPV buys for this past February’s Elimination Chamber 2024 event based on updated late buys purchases numbers, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Netflix is still currently working on an upcoming new wrestling-based documentary series based on Vince McMahon. The upcoming new series was originally believed to have been in doubt following the sexual misconduct allegations against McMahon that led to his departure from WWE in July of 2023 until his return in December of that year. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while some had believed that Netflix had quietly scrapped the project following Janel Grant’s lawsuit against McMahon and their new television deal for WWE RAW, his sources stated that Netflix is still working on the project. Meltzer reported that Netflix current is planning a potential late 2024 release date for their new docuseries.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 12,235 for their March 15th SmackDown show in Memphis, TN, 6,385 for their March 13th house show event in Augusta, GA, 4,919 for their March 14th house show event in North Charleston, SC, and 12,572 for their March 15th RAW show in Raleigh, NC, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 14,491 tickets for their March 25th RAW show event in Chicago, IL, 5,432 tickets for their March 29th SmackDown show in Uncasville, CT, 6,258 tickets for their March 30th house show event in Manchester, NH, 2,341 tickets for their March 31st house show event in Syracuse, NY, 12,038 tickets for their April 1st RAW show in Brooklyn, NY, 15,539 tickets for their April 5th SmackDown and Hall of Fames 2024 shows in Philadelphia, 9,000 for their April 6th NXT Stand & Deliver 2024 event in Philadelphia, 59,322 tickets for their April 6th WrestleMania 40 Night 1 event in Philadelphia, 61,092 tickets for their April 7th WrestleMania 40 Night 2 event in Philadelphia, 15,823 tickets for their April 8th RAW show in Philadelphia, PA, 11,076 tickets for their April 12th SmackDown show in Detroit, MI, 8,902 for their April 15th RAW show in Montreal, Canada, 9,217 tickets for their April 19th SmackDown show in Pittsburgh, PA, 3,719 tickets for their April 21st house show event in Fort Wayne, IN, 6,271 tickets for their April 22nd RAW show in Columbus, OH, 5,839 tickets for their April 26th SmackDown show in Cincinnati, OH, 6,526 tickets for their April 29th RAW show in Kansas City, MO, 4,796 tickets for their May 10th SmackDown show in Wilkes-Barre, PA, 2,185 tickets for their May 12th house show event in Macon, GA, 4,083 tickets for their May 13th RAW show in Greenville, SC, 5,431 tickets for their May 17th SmackDown show in Jacksonville, FL, 5,085 tickets for their May 20th RAW show in Greensboro, SC, and 1,957 tickets for their NXT Battleground 2024 event in Savannah, GA as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In a recent interview with The Pat McAfee Show podcast, Roman Reigns gave his thoughts about being on the top of the mountain in WWE and gave a dig at CM Punk over him not being like Punk and “bitch about it.” Reigns stated “I’m living my dream. This is what I wanted my whole life. I’m not one of them people that is, once I got there, it wasn’t what I expected. I’m not like CM Punk where I got to the top of the mountain, ‘Oh, it’s not what I expect, I’m going to bitch about it.’ No. Once you reach goals, enjoy the dream. This is what you have been working for. That’s exactly what I’m doing. For me, I don’t want this to ever end. I don’t want this dream to end. I don’t want to wake up, so I do everything I have to do to maintain this position. It’s a lot of work. I’m very private about my me time and family time. You don’t get that backstage look at everything I’m doing. Know that I’m constantly working. I’m obsessed with continuing to progress. I know there is another level and there is more that I can do. I don’t like to get satisfied or comfortable with the current level that I’m on.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts announced that he recently signed a new contract with AEW that is for one-year in length. Roberts’ signing was first reported by SEScoops who got the transcript for an upcoming episode of Roberts’ The Snake Pit podcast where he made the official announcement. In the episode, Roberts stated “Well folks, just to let you know, you’re gonna be looking at me on AEW for another year. That’s right, they re-signed me so that’s great news. Looking forward to doing it.“
Adam Copeland reflected on Instagram about his I Quit match against Christian Cage for the TNT Championship at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in their hometown of Toronto. Copeland stated “About Dynamite on Wednesday. When I first came back to wrestling back at the 2020 Rumble this was the match I always wanted to get to. Face to face with @christian4peeps in our hometown 40 years after we first met. @aew made that possible. And Toronto you came out in force to have fun. I hope you did. Sure sounded like it and I’ll never forget it. Ever. As a kid this night was the kind of scenario I dreamed about in art class. If you dream hard enough, even if it takes 40 years, it can happen. So without further ado….AND NEW TNT Champion!“
In a recent Twitch stream, Kenny Omega stated that WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is the greatest and most complete wrestler of all-time and his go to guy when he wants to study someone. Omega stated “I do think Kurt Angle is the greatest…I can’t even say in-ring. For me, he’s the most complete wrestler of all time. He’s my favorite. He’s my go to guy to study. Being an athletic guy who wants to be able to mesh well and compliment every wrestling style, but also, anyone who is familiar, I’m not afraid to embarrass myself or do silly things. That’s what I loved a lot about what Kurt did on TV.” Following Omega’s comments, Angle responded on Twitter stating “Much respect Kenny. Hope to meet you one day!! #itstrue“
As noted before, the March 13th AEW Dynamite Big Business show featuring Mercedes Mone’s official debut for AEW drew 798,000 viewers and a 0.27 key demographic ratings. This was down from the initially released viewership of 801,000 viewers due to a issue from Nielsen that omitted the overrun numbers from the show. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s overrun was 733,000 overall viewers and 350,000 key demo viewers. The reason why AEW’s final numbers went down despite the overrun gaining a large amount of viewers is currently not known.
AEW’s Revolution 2024 event earlier this month is currently estimated to have generated around 170,000 pay-per-view buys based on updated numbers and estimates, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Revolution 2024’s cable television PPV late buys are currently up 20.3% compared to this past December’s Worlds End event for the reason for the increase in Revolution’s estimated buys number.
In a recent interview with Sports Illsutrated, Bryan Danielson gave his thoughts about AEW’s current plans for the card of next month’s AEW Dynasty event in St. Louis, Missouri. Danielson stated “Me and Will Ospreay won’t be the main event at Dynasty. That tells you what type of show it will be. I have an inkling of some of the things that are lined up, and I think people are going to be really excited.“
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 3,144 for their March 16th Collision show in Ottawa, Canada and 6,700 (around 6,400 paid) for their March 20th Dynamite and Rampage shows in Toronto, Canada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 3,461 tickets for their March 27th Dynamite show in Quebec City, Canada, 3,584 tickets for their March 30th Collision show in London, Canada, 2,308 tickets for their April 3rd Dynamite and Collision shows in Worcester, MA, 1,860 tickets for their April 10th Dynamite show in Charleston, WV, 1,414 tickets for their April 13th Collision and Battle of the Belts X shows in Highland Heights, KY, 1,437 tickets for their April 17th Dynamite show in Indianapolis, IN, 1,132 tickets for their April 20th Collision show in Peoria, IL, 5,173 tickets for their April 21st Dynasty event in St. Louis, MO, 2,887 tickets for their May 1st Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Canada, 2,925 tickets for their May 8th Dynamite show in Edmonton, Canada, and 4,928 tickets for their May 11th Collision show in Vancouver, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Jon Moxley is currently on a break from AEW due to him being granted some time off by the company in order to fulfill his upcoming bookings for New Japan Pro Wrestling and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW officials original plans for their AEW Tag Team Championship tournament had included Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli as one of the teams competing. AEW officials reportedly changed their plans due to Moxley’s booking commitments with NJPW and CMLL and Moxley currently being banged up.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reason why no AEW talent have been announced for this year’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow event in Philadelphia is due to AEW officials have yet to approve any of the requests from their talent to work at the event.
In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Bayley gave her thoughts about being in attendance at AEW’s Dynamite Big Business show to show her support for Mercedes Mone’s official debut in the company. Bayley stated “[Mercedes] is the best, I wouldn’t be here without her. She’s done so much for me. Even after she was done with WWE, she’s been there for me in my big moments. So I know I need to be there for her continuously throughout the years. It was incredible, I’m just happy that she was on a Wednesday where I’m like, ‘alright, I can actually make a Wednesday, that’s one of our few days off.’ It was really special to see her celebrate with her family and her friends and people she started wrestling with and see her welcomed by a new family. It’s bittersweet, but I’m very, very proud of her and just so grateful we got to be there.“
AEW reportedly has also sold around 40,000 tickets for their All In 2024 event on August 25th at Wembley Stadium in London, England as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Karen Jarrett’s father Jack Leroy Smedley passed away at the age of 77 this past Friday.
In a recent interview with Bootleg Kev, Swerve Strickland gave his thoughts about who from WWE he would like to see the most join AEW in the future. Strickland stated “I would love to see a Drew McIntyre over here. His contract status, I don’t know, I can’t speak on it, but I heard it’s not fully….I think Drew McIntyre can work anywhere in the world. He’s proven that before. That’s why WWE wanted him back so badly to the transformation he made because he can work anywhere and do anything with anybody. He would be a major fit in AEW.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Mercedes Mone recently gifted a fan a brand new HD television following this fan tagging Mone in a post on Twitter showing his support of her debut in AEW. Mone responded back noticing that he was watching AEW on a CRT television and told him that she would get him a new television so that he could watch AEW in HD as a birthday present to him. In a follow-up, this fan recently stated on Twitter that his new television arrived in the mail and Mone responded back stating “Enjoy now you can enjoy @aew better #ceo 💙“
As noted before, MJF has been out of action for AEW since this past December’s AEW Worlds End event due to a shoulder injury. MJF’s profile on AEW’s roster page and merchandise on AEWShop were recently pulled quickly leading to online speculation that MJF’s contract with AEW had expired and he had left the company. WrestlingInc reported that one indication that MJF’s profile and merchandise removal might just be for storyline purposes as part of MJF’s long talked about “Great Bidding War of 2024” involves the message sent back on AEWShop when searching MJF’s name is not the same message that gets sent back when a talent leaves the company. It was reported that when a talent leaves AEW, the message sent on AEWShop’s in return for searches generally is a “your search returned no results” while the message sent in return for MJF is “Error 404: Page Not Found” that looks overly dramatic and possibly not a genuine error 404 message. It was also reported that not all of MJF’s merchandise was pulled and AEW is still selling an MJF shirt and MJF artwork piece on their online store for regular price. Another potential indication is this is not the first time that MJF’s profile has been removed from AEW’s roster page only to eventually be brought back.
Ring of Honor reportedly has sold around 1,692 tickets for April 5th Supercard of Honor 2024 event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that a recent report from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson and an earlier report from themselves about Killer Kelly had finished up her commitments with TNA Wrestling and was departing from the company after this weekend’s tapings is not accurate. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Kelly will be taking some time off from the company as a break but will return once this break is over. Those same sources reportedly also stated that TNA officials currently do not have any creative plans involving Kelly.
As noted before, The Motor City Machine Guns’ Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin’s contracts with TNA are currently set to expire at the end of this month. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Saturday’s Impact! tapings in Philadelphia was the last planned date for the Motor City Machine Guns in the company. TNA’s roster reportedly held a big send off ceremony backstage for Shelley and Sabin that was stated to have been an pretty emotional scene. Johnson reported that some within TNA are still hopeful that Shelley and Sabin will return to the company at some point in the future.
TNA reportedly drew an attendance of around 700 for their March 23rd Impact! tapings at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to PWInsider.
TNA’s Hard To Kill 2024 event reportedly generated around 21,500 cable television pay-per-view buys based on updated late buys purchases, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that former TNA talent and current AEW talent Deonna Purrazzo and ECW legend The Blue Meanie were backstage at Saturday’s tapings in Philadelphia. Johnson reported that unlike with the first night of tapings this past Friday, no Anthem executives were seen in attendance backstage at Saturday’s tapings.
In a recent interview with Five Questions With The Mini Host, Mustafa Ali gave his thoughts about his recent debut in TNA and working for the company. Ali stated “Amazing. I grew up as a TNA kid, if that makes sense. So guys like Will Ospreay, Ricochet, myself, this is… is what we grew up watching coming up in the industry. So I kind of had a surreal experience my first night in TNA. I made my entrance and I do my signature pose. And when I looked down and I saw TNA in the ring, I had these goosebumps. I’m like, oh man, this is happening. It hit me there. Not before or anything like that. So it’s an honor and privilege to step into a TNA ring.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced that their upcoming Resurgence 2024 event on May 11th in Ontario, California will be featuring four championship matches. It was announced that the titles being defended at the event are the IWGP World Heawyweight Championship, NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship, and the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,077 for their March 15th New Japan Cup 2024 event in Osaka, 1,750 for their March 16th New Japan Cup 2024 event in Nagoya, 1,119 for their March 17th New Japan Cup 2024 event in Shizuoka, 793 for their New Japan Cup 2024 event in Fukushima, and 3,003 for their New Japan Cup 2024 Finals event in Nagaoka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Saturday’s Marvelous Coast event for West Coast Pro in San Fancisco, California featured the final match of Japanese Joshi legend Chigusa Nagayo’s career.
TheCubsFan reported that Jarochita recently announced that she will be taking an indefinite break from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and will return once she feels 100% healthy. It was reported that it is currently not believed that Jarochita had suffered an arm injury for the reason for her break from CMLL but she is keeping quiet over the cause for her break.
Lucha Libre AAA reportedly drew an attendance of around 5,000 for their March 16th Origenes event in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI, Yuzuki, and Mai Sakurai are all expected to be leaving Stardom once their current contracts expire at the end of this month. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that teh current belief is that more talent will be leaving the company once their contracts expire in March of 2025. Meltzer reported that several talents and Stardom office staff who had talked about leaving the company are now staying with many being recently given raises as an incentive to stay.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 344 for their March 17th Cinderella Tournament 2024 event in Shiga and 994 for their March 20th Cinderella Tournament 2024 Finals event in Nagoya, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
DDT Pro Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,491 for their March 17th Judgement 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
All Japan Pro Wrestling announced the official group blocks for this year’s Champion Carnival tournament, which takes place on April 18th to May 12th in Japan. Shotaro Ashino, Kento Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi, Hokuto Omori, Ren Ayabe, Kuroshio Tokyo Japan (former Ikemen Jiro), Davey Boy Smith Jr., and Cyrus were announced for A Block. Suwama, Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda, Yuma Anzai, Hideki Suzuki, Hartley Jackson, and Lord Crewe were announced for B Block.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of March 15 to March 21, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,340,000 viewers, 0.68 rating (prior week – 2,439,000 viewers, 0.69 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,687,000 viewers, 0.55 rating (prior week – 1,751,000 viewers, 0.56 rating)
WWE NXT – 569,000 viewers, 0.18 rating (prior week – 588,000 viewers, 0.16 rating)
AEW Rampage – 541,000 viewers, 0.18 rating (prior week – 364,000 viewers, 0.13 rating)
AEW Collision – 393,000 viewers, 0.12 rating (prior week – 427,000 viewers, 0.13 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 800,000 viewers, 0.27 rating (prior week – 798,000 viewers, 0.27 rating)
TNA Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – N/A)
Various – Biography: WWE Legends (A&E) – 368,000 viewers, 0.09 rating (prior week – 407,000 viewers, 0.13 rating)
Various – WWE Rivals (A&E) – 330,000 viewers, 0.07 rating (prior week – 368,000 viewers, 0.12 rating)
Various – Dark Side of the Ring (VICE) – 193,000 viewers, 0.05 rating (prior week – 121,000 viewers, 0.04 rating)

Total wrestling television viewership for the week: 7,221,000 viewers, down 41,000 viewers compared to the prior week’s 7,263,000 viewers.

The viewership and ratings numbers for the March 21st and March 14th TNA Impact! shows are currently not known.

This past week’s AEW Rampage show aired on an earlier date of March 20th due to TNT’s commitments with the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for this past Friday.