Weekend Roundup: Undertaker on AJ Styles is “Shawn Michaels” of His Gen, Julia Hart & Powerhouse Hobbs Injuries Update, AEW Collision 5/4 Airing Update, Nic Nemeth Wins AAA Mega Title, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Apr 28, 2024

WWE

WWE announced one new match for this Tuesday’s NXT Spring Breakin 2024 Week 2 show. This new match is a tag team match of The O.C (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe.
As noted before, Logan Paul and his fiance Nina Agdal announced earlier this month that they are currently expecting the birth of their first child this Fall. Paul provided an update on Instagram on Sunday stating that their first child will be a girl.
In a recent interview with the Gorilla Position podcast, Gunther gave his thoughts about if Sami Zayn was the right person to end his Intercontinental Championship reign. Gunther stated “I don’t think there was that ‘one’ right person. I think there would have been a few options – Chad is the other one that would have made a lot of sense. But Sami is definitely one of those guys where it was, ‘He’s the right guy to do it.’ He’s absolutely a fantastic professional wrestler. He has the natural connection with the audience. Like, he’s really that underdog that people can really connect with and understand and struggle. Yeah, it’s just naturally the personality that he is. He doesn’t look like the perfect athlete – that’s not who he is or who he ever was. But I think that also adds to the people having a connection, because basically nobody in our audience is a perfect person. It’s a very human thing not to be perfect. So it’s very easy to connect with it and to, yeah, go through those struggles with that person. And on top of that, like I just said, he’s fantastic in the ring and he has been for years. To do the match with him.. I was very happy with that. I think it was a very successful ending to that reign.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
In the same interview, Gunther gave his thoughts about if he would have had a similar record-setting Intercontinental Championship reign in WWE had Vince McMahon remained in control of creative. Gunther stated “I don’t know, but it was one of the reasons why, for a long time I didn’t want to go to the US. The product before Triple H was not what I enjoyed. I just didn’t want to be part of that. I am who I am and that’s what I can do best. A big part of that is I need to have my time in the ring and have that time to put on the matches I can put on. That chance would not be there under the old regime. With Triple H, he always saw that in me, and he always had that vision for me. I got lucky that a lot of things in my career took place at the right time. It was a little bit of a leap of faith when I first made the move over. Everything worked out in the end.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent Twitch stream, Kenny Omega gave his thoughts about Roman Reigns’ presentation as a top star in WWE and not being fond of those who “slander” Reigns work in the company. Omega stated “I’m not going to accept Roman Reigns slander in this chat. I think he’s incredible. I don’t think he’s boring either. I would actually say that I’m pretty jealous because Roman Reigns is presented in the exact same way that I would love to be presented. He’s presented as the man who is the champion to have big matches at the pay-per-views where you’re either really cheering for him or you’re cheering for someone else. That’s professional wrestling. He’s getting to do what I did in New Japan so I can’t be a hater on that. I’m a fan.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent schedule listing update, TNT Sports currently has the May 3rd WWE SmackDown show in Lyon, France airing from 6PM to 8PM U.K. time instead of its usual early Saturday morning time in the United Kingdom.
In a recent episode of the Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker gave his thoughts about his belief that AJ Styles is the Shawn Michaels of his generation. The Undertaker stated “[AJ Styles] checks all the boxes. I don’t know if there will ever be another Shawn Michaels. I put a disclaimer on it, but AJ Styles can work with anybody. He can make anybody look like a million bucks and still be able to you know — AJ is not a big guy, but has the ability to work with anybody and make it believable, make it solid.”That doesn’t make AJ Shawn Michaels, but those are the two guys that have the generation’s [highest] work level. That’s my opinion, I’m sure somebody else will have a different opinion. That’s kind of the reason why the whole Boneyard match happened is because I didn’t get a chance to work with AJ and that lured me. I really do [hold him in such high regard] as a human being and as a performer.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with the Gorilla Position podcast, Sami Zayn gave his thoughts about having a “clean slate” with CM Punk in regards to potential longtime issues between the two. Zayn stated “I’ve known him for a very long time. There’s been some ups, there’s been some downs. He showed up and I was like, ‘I just don’t want this to be weird. Say whatever you need to say.’ He said his piece, I said my piece. Clean slate. That’s it. You just can’t walk around harboring resentment. I just don’t want him to walk by and be like a black cloud. I work here, and vice versa. I don’t want him to see me and [groans]. Whatever happened, cards on the table, clean slate. Good? Good. Okay. That’s just it. That’s how I approach, not just him, but life. I’ve found in my experience that it’s kind of exhausting to hate people. The only person who is mad is you. They’re just walking around, and you’re under a cloud of negativity. I just don’t want that cloud. Has there been some weird stuff between us in the past? Sure, I think 90% of people you ask about Punk would say the same. As far as I’m concerned, we have to work together, you’re here, you’ve been through a lot in your life, let’s just clean slate and start over. That’s it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, CM Punk has been out of action for WWE since this past January due to a torn triceps injury. Following this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Cincinnati, Ohio, Punk made an appearance and gave a speech to the live crowd providing an update on the status of his recovery. Punk stated “Big things going on here in the WWE. The draft was today. The draft continues Monday. I felt compelled to come out here and speak to my friends in Cincinnati. I have missed you. Take a moment to look around at this place. Y’all packed this house. We couldn’t do this without each and every single one of you, so on behalf of everybody backstage, in front of and behind the camera, we humbly thank you very, very much. I want to give a little update. My tricep is not 100% yet, but I am on track, and I promise, soon, I will be back, and I will be competing with all of the big, tough badasses backstage.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Hot Spot reported that Def Rebel musician Douglas J. Davis was involved in a recent controversial involving Davis falsely accusing an Uber driver of antisemitism due to him and everyone in his travel group were unable to fit together in the driver’s car. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that those spoken to within WWE stated that the company does not work with Def Rebel and has not been involved in their music production work for the company for years.
As noted before, Vince McMahon was given a one-year non-compete clause as part of his terms for his resignation from WWE and TKO Group following the sex trafficking lawsuit allegations filed against him by former WWE employee Janel Grant. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that one person very close to McMahon stated that McMahon currently does not have any plans to launch a new wrestling promotion as part of his future business opportunities plans. Meltzer reported that the current feeling within the industry is that McMahon can not simply start a new promotion from scratch and be able to compete against something the magnitude of WWE.
WWE reportedly generated around 24,900 pay-per-view buys for their WrestleMania 40 Night 1 event on April 6th and 25,700 PPV buys for their WrestleMania 40 Night 2 event on April 7th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based on updated late buys purchases numbers, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Sonya Deville has been out of action for WWE since August of 2023 due to a torn ACL injury. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Deville has recently been training for an in-ring return and is currently expected to be back soon to WWE.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 11,000 for their April 18th house show event in Birmingham, England, 12,787 for their April 19th SmackDown show in Pittsburgh, PA, 4,984 for their April 19th house show event in Cardiff, Wales, 16,410 for their April 20th house show event in London, England, 7,500 for their April 21st house show event in Belfast, Ireland, 4,251 for their April 21st house show event in Erie, PA, and 9,385 for their April 22nd RAW show in Columbus, OH, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 9,100 tickets for their April 29th RAW show in Kansas City, MO, 12,341 tickets for their May 3rd SmackDown show in Lyon, 12,621 tickets for their May 4th Backlash 2024 event in Lyon, France, 6,154 tickets for their May 6th house show event in Hartford, CT, 6,962 tickets for their May 10th SmackDown show in Wilkes-Barre, PA, 4,404 tickets for their May 11th house show event in Chattanooga, TN, 2,705 tickets for their May 12th house show event in Macon, GA, 5,426 tickets for their May 13th RAW show in Greenville, SC, 7,040 tickets for their May 17th SmackDown show in Jacksonville, FL, 6,747 tickets for their May 20th RAW show in Greensboro, NC, 4,717 tickets for their May 27th RAW show in Savannah, GA, 5,221 tickets for their May 31st SmackDown show in Albany, NY, 3,719 tickets for their June 1st house show event in White Plains, NY, 2,967 tickets for their June 2nd house show event in Binghamton, NY, 8,005 tickets for their June 3rd RAW show in Hershey, PA, 6,027 tickets for their June 7th SmackDown show in Louisville, KY, 6,053 tickets for their June 10th RAW show in Toledo, OH, and 6,970 tickets for their June 17th RAW show in Corpus Christi, TX as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker recently signed a new Legends contract with WWE.
Deadline reported that their sources stated that TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel received a $65 million pay package this past September, with the breakdowns being a $911,000 base salary, a $24 million cash bonus, and $40 million in stock awards. TKO COO Mark Shapiro reportedly received a $16 million pay package as well from the company.
As noted before, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit this past January against TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon accusing McMahon of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards her during her time in the company. McMahon resigned from TKO Group and WWE shortly afterwards over the fallout from this lawsuit. Post Wrestling’s John Pollock and Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that the law firm current representing McMahon, Sitrick and Company, is the same law firm that represented Harvey Weinstein rape trial case, R-Kelly’s sexual abuse of minors trial for a short period of time, and Hulk Hogan’s defamation lawsuit against Gawker among their notable clients over the years. It was reported that Sitrick’s law firm was described in an article by Fortune Magazine being “one of the most accomplished practitioners of the dark arts of public relations” and as “a public relations puppet master who has pulled the strings behind some of the biggest stories in media” in a separate article by the Los Angeles Times. When asked for comments,
Michael S. Sitrick stated that his firm specializes in crisis management and “We help build and restore reputations and we help get the truth out.” Sitrick’s firm was voted as one of the top 32 most powerful fixers in PR in 2021 by Business Insider.

AEW & ROH

As noted before, Julia Hart suffered a shoulder-related injury earlier this month but was able to compete at this past Sunday’s AEW Dynasty event. Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources stated that Hart might require surgery to repair her injured shoulder. Sapp reported that this was the reason why AEW officials had Hart drop her TBS Championship to Willow Nightingale at their Dynasty event.
As noted before, Powerhouse Hobbs suffered a knee injury during his match against Jon Moxley for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show. Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources confirmed that Hobbs had suffered a serious knee injury. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Hobbs is currently not expected to make an in-ring return to AEW any time soon.
TelevisaUnivision’s ViX recently announced that they will no longer be carrying AEW programming on their streaming service. The Wrestling Observer’s Josh Nason reported that the reason for ViX pulling AEW programming from their service is currently not known. AEW had signed a multi-year contract with TelevisaUnivision to air their programming in their Mexico, Latin American, and Caribbean markets.
AEW recently announced that this week’s AEW Rampage show will be preempted to this Wednesday and will air live following that night’s Dynamite show. It was also announced that Collision will be taking a one week break and will return with a new show on May 11th. The reason for the preemptions is due to TNT’s NHL and NBA Playoffs commitments for Friday, May 3rd and Saturday, May 4th on their network.
AEW recently announced one new match for the card of their May 1st AEW Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Canada. This new match is a TNT Championship match of Buddy Matthews vs. Adam Copeland (c).
Saturday’s AEW Collision show at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida featured RUSH making his in-ring return to AEW. RUSH competed and defeated Martin Stone in a singles match at the event. This was RUSH’s first match for AEW since suffering a torn hamstring injury this past December.
As noted before, Dax Harwood suffered a concussion injury at this past Sunday’s AEW Dynasty event. Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Jacksonville also featured AEW commentator Tony Schiavone providing an update regarding FTR’s health and injuries status following their Ladder match against The Young Bucks at Dynasty. Schiavone stated that FTR is currently “banged up” and will “return soon” to action following Harwood suffering a head wound injury and Cash Wheeler suffering a minor back-related injury.
Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Jacksonville also featured the Grizzled Young Veterans making their official debut in AEW. Following their tag team match against The Acclaimed at the event, AEW held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Grizzled Young Veterans discussing their thoughts about their AEW debut and promising it would not be the last time they show up in the company. Zack Gibson stated “We are Grizzled Young Veterans. Any man and their dogs that were watching that match know the better team lost. The only solitary reason we lost the match was because of Billy Gunn, a man that wasn’t even supposed to be out there. We have conquered all of Europe and we’re never going to stop.” James Drake responded stating “So Billy Gunn, in fact, the whole AEW roster, this isn’t the last time you’re gonna see the GYV. So remember this, when you see us coming, grit your teeth.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that AEW CEO Tony Khan was late arriving to Daily’s Place for Saturday’s AEW Collision and Rampage shows in Jacksonville due to his NFL Draft commitments that day. Sapp reported that AEW officials had plans in place beforehand to run the show without Khan due to his NFL commitment. Khan reportedly managed to arrive prior to the start of the show and was helped by this week’s show start time being pushed back by 30 minutes.
Following Tony Khan’s recent appearances on the NFL Network wearing a neck brace to sell the effects of The Elite’s attack on him at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show, NFL Network’s Rich Eisen announced during Saturday’s 2024 NFL Draft Day 3 show that Khan will be signing his neck brace and auctioning it off for charity once he heals up from his “neck injury.” Eisen also stated that all procedes generated will be going to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital to support the Run Rich Run non-profit charity.
In a recent Twitch stream, Kenny Omega gave his praise of Bryan Danielson for being someone who understands that the intention of wrestling is to captivate fans in any way instead of just sticking to only one style of wrestling. Omega stated “The coolest thing is that Bryan gets it. He understands that the intention of wrestling is to captivate the fans in any way. It’s not about who can kick more, slap more, slap harder. Who can do the most chops, who can make your chest bleed? Who can get suplexed on their head, but then stand up and then do a suplex? Again, it’s not that. If none of it makes sense, if it’s not in the proper context, it was not set up the right way… That is that.” Omega brought up a past match he had with Danielson in Pro Wrestling Gureilla that featured comedic aspects to it as a way of him and Danielson wanting to do something more than just having a technical wrestling classic as a way to make their match be remembered more by fans. Omega stated “That’s what we were going for. Just do a match that people won’t forget, that’s my worry. PWG, at that time, reminded me a lot of current-day wrestling. PWG, they don’t have TV, so they really had to rely on banger matchups non-stop. They came to a point where it’s like, what differentiates banger match from banger match from banger match? It’s going to be the same.”I don’t want to have a ‘good’ match with Bryan Danielson, of course I do, but I want to have a match that will be remembered. That’s the intent. Sure, there’s a bajillion approaches you can take to have a match that will be remembered. That’s just the approach we took and people to this day talk about that match, which is wonderful.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In response to a recent tweet showing off a new finisher recently debuted by Stardom talent Mei Seira, Will Ospreay stated “Mate. Japanese female wrestlers put so many of us (including me) to shame. The imagination to think of this and the ability to pull it off should be applauded.“
As noted before, Bryan Danielson suffered a storyline neck injury during his match against Will Ospreay at this past Sunday’s AEW Dynasty event in St. Louis, Missouri. In a recent episode of the Nikki & Brie Show podcast, Brie Garcia provided an update on her husband Danielson’s injury status. Brie Garcia stated “I watched, and yes, a lot of moments I was like, ‘Your neck. I was so scared.’ Obviously, he walked away healthy from the match. I shouldn’t say healthy, he did hurt himself.” Nikki Garcia responded stating “He did. You always create a headline with him.” Brie responded stating “I think everyone knows, he did fall on his neck. He’s good. Not like anything where he is out of the ring and getting surgery.” Nikki responded back stating “What did he do?” Brie stated “He landed on it a certain way. You wrestle hard and unfortunately, he’s going to be 43 on May 22nd, your body does things. I saw a lot of people online say the same thing, it’s probably one of the best matches in pro wrestling history, I’m just gonna be that cocky. Some are saying ‘in the United States, the best pro wrestling match in the United States.’ Better than any match so far this year. I agree. I think Bryan and Will, their chemistry and story, they are both such stars. It just got you fired up. When I watched the match, I told Bryan, ‘I got fired up. Fired up!’” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer and PWInsider’s Mike Johnson both reported that a recent report by Action News Jacksonville about AEW looking for 50 seat fillers for this week’s shows at Daily’s Place was completely overblown and an actual non-story. Meltzer reported that this story was fueled by anti-AEW trolls and WWE fans trying to get a one up on AEW claiming that this was something that WWE never does for their shows. Both Meltzer and Johnson reported that WWE in fact regularly uses seat fillers with Johnson stating that WWE had hired 100 seat fillers for both nights of their WrestleMania 40 event. Johnson reported that seat fillers are a common tactic used in television production to ensure that there are no major gaps and visible seats shown for major camera angles of crowd shots for shows. Johnson also reported that AEW’s request for 50 seat fillers were for members of the U.S. military as part of their long running military promotion for free tickets to AEW shows for gratitude of their service to the country. Meltzer reported that the usage of seat fillers for wrestling shows has less to do with companies trying to make up for non-ticket sales and more to do with the simple fact that not everyone stays in their seat during shows since they need to use the restroom or get food. One notable person in the wrestling media who used the occasion to continue his bashing of AEW and Tony Khan was PWInsider’s Dave Scherer in a recent report that gave no context to AEW’s usage of seat fillers leading to Johnson’s response in a follow-up report.
In a recent interview with the NFL Network, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about being attacked by The Elite and Jack Perry at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show. Khan stated “They changed the name to the Tony Khan Driver. Maybe I should have seen it coming, in hindsight. They called it the Tony Khan Driver. I have a complicated relationship with Matt and Nick and Jack. Jack had been out of AEW for a while, I sent him on an excursion to our partner in Japan, he did great things. I reinstated him Wednesday night, by his own request. He repaid me by hitting me in the stomach with a microphone. Then, Matt and Nick pulled me up and gave me the Tony Khan Driver, which is a spike pile driver. It’s really one of the deadliest moves in pro wrestling. It’s been banned in a lot of states. It’s illegal in the state of Tennessee. For them to do that to me, it scared me and it scared my family. I feel lucky that I’m here at the NFL Draft and with the Jaguars.” Khan also gave his thoughts about his father Shad making his official on-screen debut appearance entering the ring at the end of the show. Khan stated “He was very angry at the people that assaulted me. He loves AEW and is a big fan of what we do. He watches every show. He never expected something like that. It’s never happened before.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 3,047 for their April 20th Collision and Rampage shows in Peoria, IL, 6,619 for their April 21st Dynasty event in St. Louis, MO, and 2,177 for their April 24th Dynamite show at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 3,626 tickets for their May 1st Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Canada, 3,435 tickets for their May 8th Dynamite show in Edmonton, Canada, 5,288 tickets for their May 11th Collision show in Vancouver, Canada, 2,601 tickets for their May 15th Dynamite show in Everett, WA, 2,004 tickets for their May 16th Collision show in Portland, OR, 1,416 tickets for their May 22nd Dynamite show in Bakersfield, CA, 1,845 tickets for their May 25th Collision show in Las Vegas, 5,566 tickets for their May 26th Double or Nothing 2024 event in Las Vegas, NV, 3,911 tickets for their May 29th Dynamite show in Los Angeles, CA, 1,452 tickets for their May 30th Collision show in Palm Desert, CA, and 1,849 tickets for their June 5th Dynamite show in Loveland, CO as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has also sold around 41,000 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.

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

Saturday’s Triplemania XXXII: Monterrey event for Lucha Libre AAA in Monterrey, Mexico featured Nic Nemeth defeating Alberto El Patron to become the new AAA Mega Champion. This match was for the vacant title that El Hijo del Vikingo had vacated this past March due to a right knee injury.
As noted before, former WWE wrestler Daniel Rodimer is currently facing charges of murder over the death of a 47-year-old man at hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada this past October. The Associated Press reported that Rodimer was officially indicted of the charges against him this past Friday. It was reported that Rodimer is currently scheduled for a court hearing on May 8th in Nevada.
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that they had pulled SANADA from Saturday’s Road to Dontaku 2024 event in Hiroshima due to him recently suffering an illness.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,267 for their April 20th Road to Dontaku 2024 event in Machida, 738 for their April 21st Road to Dontaku 2024 event in Chino, 811 for their April 22nd Road to Dontaku 2024 event in Tokyo, 887 for their April 23rd Road to Dontaku 2024 event in Tokyo, and 632 for their April 25th Road to Dontaku 2024 event in Fukui, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In a recent interview with Pivot Talk, NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi gave his thoughts about being envious of WWE over their speed of producing new stars for the company. Tanahashi stated “I guess one thing that is helpful is that it’s open to both men and women, regardless of age. Also, the speed at which star wrestlers keep coming out, the speed of this turnover. This is again, a little bit different from the way it is done with Japanese promotions. Well, I do feel envious of that.” Tanahashi also gave his thoughts about if WWE needs to scout for talent throughout the world. Tanahashi stated “There is no need to scout. Everyone who wants to be there gathers there.” (English translation via meraWrestling)
Revolution Pro Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their co-promoted Fantasticamania UK 2024 Show One event with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre on May 19th in Bethnal Green, England. This new match is a singles match of Barbaro Cavernario vs. Robbie X.
This past Saturday’s Arena Mexico 68th Anniversario event for CMLL in Mexico City, Mexico featured Mascara Dorada defeating Titan and Magnus in a Triple Threat match in the Finals of this year’s CMLL Universal Championship tournament to become the new CMLL Universal Champion.
CMLL reportedly drew an attendance of over 11,000 for their April 12th Super Viernes event in Mexico City and over 10,000 for their April 19th Super Viernes event in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Former WWE talent Jinder Mahal filed trademarks for “The Maharaja” and “Raj Dhesi” for merchandise-related purposes on April 26th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
TNA Wrestling reportedly drew an attendance of 1,150 for their April 20th Rebellion 2024 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the Wrestling Osberver Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources close to the situation stated that Mayu Iwatani is currently expected to leave Stardom and join Rossy Ogawa’s new Marigold promotion once her current contract with Stardom expires.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 305 for their April 20th event in Kobe and 389 for their April 21st event in Osaka, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 481 for their April 20th Champion Carnival 2024 event in Hamamatsu, 758 for their April 21st Champion Carnival 2024 event in Chiba, and 527 for their April 24th Champion Carnival 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Major League Wrestling is currently interested in signing former WWE commentator Mauro Ranallo to a potential contract with the company. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated talks between Ranallo and MLW officials are “touch and go” and a deal is not expected to be made any time soon. Meltzer reported that this would indicate that the two sides are still far apart on monetary terms for a potential deal.
PROGRESS Wrestling recently announced that former WWE talent Shelton Benjamin will be making his official debut appearance for the company at their Super Strong Style 16 2024 events on May 26-27 in London, England.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of April 19 to April 25, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,333,000 viewers, 0.63 rating (prior week – 2,499,000 viewers, 0.76 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,597,000 viewers, 0.52 rating (prior week – 1,807,000 viewers, 0.61 rating)
WWE NXT – 661,000 viewers, 0.20 rating (prior week – 625,000 viewers, 0.17 rating)
AEW Rampage – 397,000 viewers, 0.13 rating (prior week – 295,000 viewers, 0.08 rating)
AEW Collision – 461,000 viewers, 0.13 rating (prior week – 468,000 viewers, 0.13 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 683,000 viewers, 0.23 rating (prior week – 762,000 viewers, 0.26 rating)
AEW Battle of the Belts X – N/A (prior week – 422,000 viewers, 0.11 rating)
TNA Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – N/A)
Various – WWE Most Wanted Treasures – 296,000 viewers, 0.08 rating (prior week – 281,000 viewers, 0.09 rating)
Various – WWE Rivals (A&E) – 361,000 viewers, 0.08 rating (prior week – N/A)
Various – Dark Side of the Ring (VICE) – 148,000 viewers, 0.04 rating (prior week – 108,000 viewers, 0.03 rating)

Total wrestling television viewership for the week: 6,937,000 viewers, down 330,000 viewers compared to the prior week’s 7,267,000 viewers.

The viewership and ratings numbers for the April 18th and April 25th TNA Impact! shows is currently not known.

The April 21st WWE Rivals show was the season four premiere show on A&E.

Last week’s total viewership included AEW’s Battle of the Belts X special on April 13th.