Weekend Roundup: Mark Henry on AJ Styles’ Fake Retirement Speech, Brooks Jensen NXT Update, Ricky Starks AEW Update, New Wrestling TV Show in Works for FX, MLW, Lou D’Angeli TNA Departure Update, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Jun 2, 2024

WWE

During Saturday’s UFC 302 press conference in Newark, New Jersey, UFC President Dana White stated that he has not worked with WWE since their merger to form TKO Group. White stated “It’s very separate, I haven’t worked with them at all. I do what I do and they do what they do. They’re using some of the people from my team to help them in different areas business-wise but as far as putting on live events, WWE is very good at what they do and we’re very good at what we do, and that’s about as far as it goes with me.” White also gave his thoughts about the recent staff layofs at WWE. White stated “These cuts largely have to do with job duplication and they cut staff and have people doing similar jobs for both WWE and UFC, thus people from each side, but more the WWE side, are getting cut.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
As noted before, this past Tuesday’s WWE NXT show featured former AEW talent Ethan Page making his surprise official debut for WWE. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Page recently pulled out of some of his indie bookings that had been scheduled to take place later this year.
As noted before, this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Albany, New York featured AJ Styles giving a “retirement” speech only to lure Cody Rhodes into an ambush attack instead. Styles’ fake speech was in reminiscent of Mark Henry’s fake retirement speech and attack on John Cena in 2013. In a recent episode of the Busted Open Radio podcast, Henry gave his thoughts about Styles’ fake retirement speech resembling the one he did in the past in WWE. Henry stated “Mr. AJ Styles donned a blue jacket, and shook up the world. You talk about a historical moment. He trended. Not only did AJ Styles trend, but yours truly. I’m back. Of course, I never left. The fans know me. They understand what it is. I made retirements cool. Everyone that has ever retired since, they say, ‘He’s going to do a Mark Henry.’ When you coin a phrase, it’s pretty damn cool. Now, AJ Styles, as unbelievable of a job as he did, I’m going to have to get out the pink jacket, he’ll have to get the powder blue jacket, and we’ll have to do signings together. We have to get the in-person moment. I know both of those guys. They thought about it and said, ‘Let’s do it like Mark did it.’ They did the same exact posturing. Even to the point, after the clothesline and beatdown, he did the same posturing of standing over him just like I did. When they went outside to the floor, all bets were off, they did a great job. The execution of it, the camera angles that they took was incredible.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
WWE filed trademarks for “A-Town Down Under” and “Awesome Truth” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on May 31st to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
As noted before, WWE currently has plans for Bo Dallas and the Uncle Howdy character’s return to the company. WWE’s website WWE.com was hit with a “hacking attack” on Saturday resulting in the front page being altered and featured the headline of “hello” and a mysterious image being displayed. The front page also had featured a message from a mysterious person that read “hello. I’d like to tell you a story. A story about value. We often equate value with utilization. That is not the case. If a piece of currency is crumpled, ignored, and tossed to the side, does it lose its value? Of course not. It is simply in the hands of the ignorant. We often devalue ourselves as a result of the ignorance of those around us. Their words define us. I have been guilty of this myself. I have let the expectations of others determine my self worth. But once I realized my calling, the words of the naysayers began to fall on deaf ears. I am nobody. I am all of us. When you free yourself from the preconceived ideas of others…from the LIES…you become liberated. I accepted my calling. Only then was I able to set the others free. We followed the Words of the Red and now we see. I offer you one last chance at redemption. It doesn’t have to be this way. The cave can no longer exist. We are going to burn it to the ground. A massacre is coming.“
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Rey Mysterio gave his thoughts about him being currently hopeful that WWE will hold a PLE event in Mexico within the next three years. Mysterio stated “I’m hoping that it happens in the next three years. I think my people deserve something as good as a PLE. I’m truly hoping. We have a huge stadium over there, Estadio Azteca, which I believe is being remodeled this year. I think the fans would go crazy. Mexico has always been an incredible crowd for wrestling and what better than to pay it off with WWE coming over there and giving them something as special as a PLE?“
As noted before, Janel Grant recently paused her sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon on behalf of a request made by the United States Department of Justice, who officially launched their own investigation and joined the lawsuit as an “interested party.” Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Grant pausing her civil lawsuit for a criminal investigation is not unusual when it comes to lawsuits of this nature. Meltzer reported that EDA Law Firm attorney Eric Anderson who has been following the case closely stated to him that “It is not unusual for a stay in a civil litigation when there is a criminal proceeding. This is usually done so the Defendant is not in the awkward position of engaging in civil discovery, which could compel answers from a responding Defendant and be used against him in a criminal proceeding. Invoking the 5th Amendment privilege cannot be used against him in a criminal case, but in a civil case it absolutely can be given a negative inference. So a Defendant, to protect himself from a concurrent criminal proceeding can invoke the 5th, thereby endangering his defense in the civil proceeding or he can waive that right during the civil discovery process and thus waive it for the criminal proceeding. It is Hobson’s choice, and we routinely stay the civil proceeding to remove that dilemma. I would say this is bad news for Vince only to this extent: the Feds are serious about looking into a variety of allegations. And they will probably be looking into interviewing a slew of current and former WWE employees to do it. It is no guarantee that they will seek an indictment by any means. But it does mean that things that may have been done in the shadows may come to light soon.“
As noted before, Marigold talent Giulia underwent surgery this past Tuesday to repair a right wrist fracture injury. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials had asked Giulia to undergo surgery in order for quicker recovery. In regards to WWE’s current plans for Giulia’s NXT debut, Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that WWE officials currently do not have a date locked down for her official NXT debut due to visa-related timetable issues. Meltzer reported that WWE officials are currently waiting for a time frame for Giulia’s arrival in the United States and will make actual plans for her NXT debut at that time.
As noted before, WWE delayed the release of their new behind-the-scenes documentary for WrestleMania 40 due to wanting to include additional footage from this past April’s event into the film. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that there is an official reason for the delay of the documentary’s release but only very few people within WWE known the real reason. Meltzer reported that those spoken to confirmed that the rumors and reports of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson playing a role in the documentary’s delayed release are not true.
As noted before, current TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace made a surprise appearance at this past Tuesday’s NXT show and was revealed to be Roxanne Perez’s mystery challenger for her NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Battleground 2024. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials had been planning for Grace or Raquel Rodriguez to be Perez’s challenger before deciding on Grace in the end.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 6,716 for their May 27th RAW show in Savannah, Georgia, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 8,648 tickets for their June 3rd RAW show in Hershey, PA, 7,197 tickets for their June 7th SmackDown show in Louisville, KY, 219 tickets for their June 9th NXT Battleground 2024 event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, 6,758 tickets for their June 10th RAW show in Toledo, OH, 8,609 tickets for their June 14th SmackDown show in Glasgow, 10,126 tickets for their June 15th Clash at the Castle 2024 event in Glasgow, Scotland, 7,305 tickets for their June 17th RAW show in Corpus Christi, TX, 12,028 tickets for their June 21st SmackDown show in Chicago, IL, 3,033 tickets for their June 22nd house show event in Bloomingon, IL, 3,170 tickets for their June 23rd house show event in Kalamazoo, MI, 8,528 tickets for their June 24th RAW show in Indianapolis, IN, 7,507 tickets for their July 1st RAW show in Boston, MA, 16,625 tickets for their Money In The Bank 2024 event in Toronto, Canada, 45,889 for their August 3rd SummerSlam 2024 event in Cleveland, OH, 11,419 for their August 30th SmackDown show in Berlin, and 13,319 tickets for their Bash in Berlin event in Berlin, Germany as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the recent rumors of NXT talent Brooks Jensen recently leaving WWE are not true. It was reported that Jensen’s recent tweet accepting indie bookings and him teasing he left WWE is part of NXT officials current plans for a new character and storyline for him in their brand. It was reported that this new storyline for Jensen is similar to the storyline Grayson Waller’s had with NXT head booker Shawn Michaels prior to his call-up to WWE’s main roster. Those spoken to within NXT praised Jensen for being one of the most hard-working talents they have ever encountered in the wrestling industry.
This past Friday’s NXT house show event in Tampa, Florida featured Brooks Jensen in attendance with a sign that read “Bret would book better” before being kicked out of the venue by security as part of his current storyline feud with NXT head booker Shawn Michaels. In an interesting twist, Jensen recently took offense to comments made by Booker T over Sexyy Red’s appearance at this past Tuesday’s NXT show stating on Twitter “It hurts when you once bust your ass off in the performance center for recognition and to be respected by your bosses and peers only to be exiled and see this crap.” This led to a mixed response to his tweet with some being in agreement with Jensen about the direction of NXT when it comes to their portrayal of their female talent at times and others ridiculing Jensen over his misogynist-like comments.

AEW & ROH

Hikaru Shida has been noticeably absent from AEW since this past January and from Ring of Honor since this past April. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials are currently working on creative plans for Shida’s potential return.
As noted before, this past Friday’s taped AEW Rampage show featured Chris Jericho announcing that he was stepping down from his commentary duties for Rampage in order to focus more on his Learning Tree appearances for Dynamite and Collision. Pat Laprade reported that his sources stated that Jericho stepping down from commentary was confirmed to be legitimate and not just a storyline. Laprade reported that “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard has also become the full-time replacement for Jericho for Rampage’s commentary team.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that former WWE talent Mansoor was in attendance backstage at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Inglewood, California. It was reported that the reason for Mansoor’s visit is currently not known nor if AEW CEO Tony Khan is currently interested in potentially signing him to the company.
Indies talent Viva Van recently reflected on Twitter about her recent appearances in AEW. Van stated “What an incredible way to end AAPI Month! Not only did I make my #AEWRampage debut, but I also became the FIRST EVER Viet-American Woman to wrestle for a Major Wrestling Promotion on TV 🇻🇳🇺🇸 Thank you @AEW , @TonyKhan , Toni Storm, & everyone else who made this dream possible ❤️‍🔥“
Saturday’s PDC Darts event for Professional Darts Corporation in New York City, New York featured former AEW talent William Regal revealing on Twitter that he had a Blackpool Combat Club reunion moment with Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli in attendance.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Saturday’s Daily Update that his sources stated that the reason for Komander and Beast Mortos (former Black Taurus) recent absence from AEW and ROH television is due to both of them currently being in Mexico for work visa renewal reasons. Meltzer reported that Komander and Beast Mortos have both been approved for new visas but the main issue is the Mexican government is taking much longer than usual in sending out their physical visas. Meltzer reported that Komander has been waiting to receive his visa for the past three weeks despite the process is usually meant to only be ten days long at most.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why AEW’s Double or Nothing 2024 event last Sunday ran extra longer than usual for an AEW pay-per-view event was due to AEW CEO Tony Khan had purchased an extra 30 minute block of PPV time months ago. Meltzer reported that the reason for this decision was due to Khan wanted to avoid a repeat of the 2022 event where it went directly against an NBA Playoff game causing to push the top three high-profile matches to the end of the card to ensure fans would not miss out watching the matches live. Meltzer reported that this turned out to not be the case for this year’s event which meant that the show had an extra 30 minutes to work with that was already paid for.
As noted before, AEW recently announced that they will be holding a Summer Series Tour this July and August in Arlington, Texas. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that besides this upcoming residency tour being done for potential cost-saving reasons, those spoken to within AEW stated that the company has also enacted some noticeable cost saving cutbacks when it comes to their production costs of late.
As noted before, Ricky Starks has been out of action for AEW since this past March due to a head-injury scare incident and AEW officials no longer having plans for Starks and Big Bill to continue as a tag team for Starks’ return. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW officials had plans at one point for Starks to be brought back to AEW television and have Big Bill turn on him and feud with Starks for a babyface turn for Starks. Meltzer reported that the reason why this plan was dropped was due to Starks not wanting to go forward with the face turn.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that those spoken to within AEW stated that Adam Copeland is currently viewed by many as being one of the locker room leaders in the company. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Copeland has done much more for the AEW than had been originally expected from him when he joined the company. Meltzer reported that Copeland has been one of the few people who came over from WWE that did not have the attitude of viewing AEW as being beneath them.
AEW reportedly drew a live gate of slightly under $800,000 for their Double or Nothing 2024 event on May 26th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 3,080 for their May 25th Collision show in Las Vegas, 9,000 (7,500 paid) for their May 26th Double or Nothing 2024 event in Las Vegas, NV and 5,600 for their May 29th Dynamite show in Inglewood, CA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 2,196 tickets for their June 5th Dynamite show in Loveland, CO, 1,280 tickets for their June 8th Collision show in Bluffs, IA, 2,132 tickets for their June 12th Dynamite show in Des Moines, IA, 1,760 tickets for their June 15th Collision show in Youngstown, OH, 2,191 tickets for their June 19th Dynamite show in Fairfax, VA, 1,687 tickets for their June 20th Collision show in Allentown, PA, 2,281 tickets for their June 26th Dynamite and Collision shows in Buffalo, NY, 6,968 tickets for their Forbidden Door 2024 event at the UBS Arena in Long Island, NY, 2,649 tickets for their July 10th Dynamite show in Calgary, Canada, and 40,295 tickets for their Aug. 25th All In 2024 event at Wembley Stadium in London, England as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, AEW and Ring of Honor talent Athena suffered a leg injury at ROH’s ROH TV tapings this past May in Portland, Oregon. Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that Athena had suffered a minor ankle injury that turned out to be less severe than AEW and ROH officials had originally believed.

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources stated that a new wrestling-based television show is currently in production for Disney’s FX network. Sapp reported that a show pitch was sold to FX for a half-hour comedy television series that would be set in the world of the Los Angeles indie wrestling scene. Sapp reported that this new series direction was set to be “Dax and Confused meets The Wrestler.” Sapp also reported that former NWA wrestler Luke Hawx is currently involved with the project. Hawx has past experience working as an actor for the Heels series and had portrayed Steve Austin for the Young Rock series. Sapp also reported that screen writer Adair Cole is also currently involved with the production of this new series.
Saturday’s Battle Riot VI event for Major League Wrestling in Atlanta, Georgia featured Matt Riddle last eliminating Sami Callihan to become the winner of this year’s Battle Riot match and earn a shot at the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
As noted before, Mark Henry’s contract with AEW expired this past Tuesday and departed from the company. Saturday’s MLW Battle Riot VI event in Atlanta also featured Henry making a surprise appearance alongside Teddy Long.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE talent Xavier Woods and former TNA producer David Sahadi were among the guests in attendance backstage at MLW’s Battle Riot VI event in Atlanta.
MLW recently announced that they will be moving their pay-per-view events to YouTube TV going forward. It was announced that those who pay for a MLW Membership subscription on their YouTube channel will be able to watch MLW events as part of the service.
Josh Barnett recently announced that Mike Santana will be making an appearance for Game Changer Wrestling at their GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XI event on July 28th in Brooklyn, New York.
As noted before, Anthem Vice President of Marketing Lou D’Angeli was among those laid off from both Anthem and TNA Wrestling this past Thursday. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources confirmed Fightful Select’s report about D’Angeli’s departure and provided additional details. Johnson reported that those spoken to within TNA stated that there had been some fraying of the relationship between the company and D’Angeli in recent months. Those spoken to reportedly stated that this revolved around TNA’s slow process in locking in and confirming their dates and cities for events and D’Angeli had for a long period of time been trying to get TNA to break from their normal schedule of running the same cities on back-to-back nights. This reportedly was something TNA management never managed to pull the trigger on that strategy. D’Angeli reportedly also had been put in an unenviable position of being questioned by wrestlers and staff whenever issues arose with dates and cities being relayed to them only to have the schedule changed numerous times. This reportedly led to D’Angeli not having any answers to relay back due to not getting it from those above him in the company. In regards to the reaction within TNA’s locker room, Johnson reported that the general reaction was one of a mixture of disbelief and sadness due to D’Angeli had been a big advocate for talents to take on additional roles behind the scenes in the company similar to what ECW did with their own talents during D’Angeli’s time there.
TNA reportedly generated around 3,600 cable television pay-per-view buys for for this past April’s Rebellion 2024 event based on updated late buy purchases, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer reported that this number is currently expected to be close to the final cable PPV buys number and would mean that Rebellion 2024 likely generated around 12,000 total PPV buys when including streaming buys estimates. Meltzer reported that this would also mean that Rebellion 2024’s buys would be down 83.8% compared to this past January’s Hard To Kill 2024 event.
New Japan Pro Wrestling is currently holding an online fan poll to determine the official stipulation for the Provisional King of Pro Wrestling 2024 Championship match between Great-O-Khan and Yuya Uemura at their Dominion 2024 event on June 9th in Osaka, Japan. The options available are a 61-minute time limit, Two out of Three Falls Catch Rules Match from Great-O-Khan and a 15-minute time limit Storm Catch Rules match. Both stipulations forbid the usage of strikes and only throws, grappling, and submissions are allowed.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,520 for their May 26th Best of the Super Juniors 2024 event in Tokyo, 650 for their May 28th Best of the Super Juniors 2024 event in Numazu, and 1,032 for their May 30th Best of the Super Juniors 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that NJPW currently has around 100,000 total subscribers for their New Japan World streaming service. Meltzer reported that this is down from the service’s peak of around 140,000 subs in January of 2023 and is currently at the same level it was in January of 2018. Meltzer reported that this number is currently expected to rise for this year’s G1 Climax tournament since New Japan World usually sees spikes in subs for their Wrestle Kingdom and G1 events before falling back down to normal numbers.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 258 for their May 25th event in Kofu and 391 for their May 26th event in Kyoto, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,355 for their May 29th Super Power Series 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly drew a paid attendance of 780 for their May 26th Sunny Voyage 2024 event in Kobe, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Marigold reportedly drew a paid attendance of 284 for their May 26th Grand Opening Wars 2024 afternoon show in Tokyo and 284 for their May 26th Grand Opening Wars 2024 evening show in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
DDT Pro Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,005 for their May 26th King of the Gate 2024 Finals event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Kyoko Kimura reportedly drew a paid attendance of 623 for her May 23rd Hana Kimura Memorial 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
PROGRESS Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 500 for their May 26th Super Strong Style 16 2024 event in London and 600 for their May 27th Super Strong Style 16 2024 event in London, England, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of May 24 to May 30, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,147,000 viewers, 0.56 rating (prior week – 2,186,000 viewers, 0.59 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,690,000 viewers, 0.55 rating (prior week – 1,733,000 viewers, 0.56 rating)
WWE NXT – 703,000 viewers, 0.24 rating (prior week – 654,000 viewers, 0.17 rating)
AEW Rampage – 222,000 viewers, 0.08 rating (prior week – 391,000 viewers, 0.13 rating)
AEW Collision – 415,000 viewers, 0.15 rating (prior week – 523,000 viewers, 0.15 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 787,000 viewers, 0.25 rating (prior week – 713,000 viewers, 0.24 rating)
TNA Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – N/A)
Various – Biography: WWE Legends (A&E) – 218,000 viewers, 0.05 rating (prior week – 226,000 viewers, 0.07 rating)
Various – WWE Rivals (A&E) – N/A (prior week – 301,000 viewers, 0.07 rating)

Total wrestling television viewership for the week: 6,182,000 viewers, down 545,000 viewers from the prior week’s 6,727,000 viewers.

The viewership and ratings numbers for the May 23rd and May 30th TNA Impact! shows is currently not known.

A&E did not air a new WWE Rivals episodes on May 26th on their network.