Weekend Roundup: Vince McMahon & Kevin Dunn Rumor Killer, JBL on WWE Contract Status, Malakai Black & Dustin Rhodes AEW Contracts Update, TNA to Hold New Impact Tapings in Nashville, Ryohei Oiwa NJPW Return, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Sep 29, 2024

WWE

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Sunday’s Daily Update that WWE is currently claiming that this past Friday’s SmackDown show topped FOX’s college football game for key demographic ratings that night. Meltzer reported that WWE’s claims are misleading due to the source being used to report WWE’s numbers is the same source who usually gets fed numbers from WWE that many times turns out to be bogus. Meltzer also reported that another issue is WWE very likely did not count the West Coast viewership for FOX’s college football game, which would skew the numbers more in FOX’s favor when factored in, knowing that live sports games ratings often don’t include the end of game viewership and always don’t include the West Coast for fast nationals.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources denied the recent rumors of former WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn is currently working on a Vince McMahon piece that is meant to “respond to the Netflix Vince McMahon docuseries.” Johnson reported that those spoken to close to Dunn stated that Dunn is not working on any McMahon-centric projects at all currently.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield gave his thoughts about if he is still under a Legends contract with WWE. JBL stated “I’m going to answer this as politically correct, as correct as possible. I’ve never answered a question about my contract. I can tell you 100% this. I’ve seen speculation about me on the internet. It’s all wrong. 100% wrong. I’m not going to answer whether I am or not because WWE has always had a confidentiality clause in it. I’ve never thought it was good business to discuss my contract or anybody else’s. Sorry that I’m refusing to answer. The speculation about me has been wrong.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, Hulu recently removed almost all of the WWE content on their streaming service due to the expiration of their contract with WWE. The “Love & WWE: Bianca and Montez” reality series was originally believed to not be affected due to it being a Hulu original. PWInsider reported that Hulu recently removed their “Love & WWE: Bianca and Montez” series from their service. Besides Hulu, it was reported that this series was also removed from Disney’s Disney+ streaming service.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, WWE SVP of NXT & Talent Relations Shawn Michaels gave his thoughts about WWE’s NXT Women’s roster being the best Women’s roster in the world and teased that “big surprises” are coming to NXT’s women’s and men’s divisions. Michaels stated “The best stacked women’s roster in all of the world, if you ask me. Roxanne Perez, Kelani Jordan, Jaida Parker, and then of course, two of the hottest free agents in all the world with Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer. And there are other big, big surprises coming down the pike. If you thought we were stacked before, you haven’t seen anything yet. And that goes on both sides of the roster.“
NXT talent Tatum Paxley announced on Instagram that she got married to NXT’s Javier Bernal on Saturday.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE crews took down the stage set they had been using since the NXT 2.0 days at their Performance Center for NXT shows following this past Tuesday’s NXT show. It was reported that WWE officials currently have plans to put the stage set back up at their Performance Center but it is currently not known if this will be an updated or entirely new set that will be used for their NXT shows following the first two shows on the road for The CW era.
WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque recently announced on Twitter that “GTA” by Metro Boomin and Future is an official theme song of WWE Bad Blood 2024, which takes place on October 5th at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
WWE recently announced that their Spanish language WWE SmackDown and RAW shows for their South American and Central American markets will be airing on their WWE Espanol channel in YouTube staring this October. It was announced that WWE shows will still be airing on FOX Sports in Mexico.
WWE released four new videos on their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was the full episode of the Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show with The Undertaker. The second new video was a singles match of Blitzkrieg vs. Juventud Guerrera from WCW Spring Stampede 1999. The third new video was a “Big Show saves Dusty Rhodes in unseen NXT dark segment.” The fourth new video was a WWE Championship #1 Contender Triple Threat match of The Rock vs. Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock from WWF Breakdown: In Your House 1998.
WWE is also currently airing the complete Jim Crockett Promotions event at The Omni from February of 1987 on their WWE Vault channel.
As noted before, tattoo artist Catherine Alexander had won a lawsuit against WWE and Take-Two Interactive in October of 2022 in regards to allegations of copyright infringement over her tattoos inked for Randy Orton that have been shown in WWE’s video game series. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois nullified Alexander’s financial compensation against WWE and Take-Two on September 25th based on recent court records. Johnson reported that the reason for the reversed decision was due to issues regarding how the jury had interpreted the Copyright Act and Alexander not providing any evidence that would support the jury’s damages award. The court also ruled that Alexander did not put a financial value on the disputed tattoos for her claims nor did she provide any evidence in regards to potential loss license fee over it. In the ruling, Judge Yandle did rule in favor of Alexander in regards to the tattoos on Orton could be used on other wrestlers in the video games which would constitute copyright infringement.
WWE’s Bash In Berlin event this past August in Berlin, Germany reportedly generated around 9,100 cable television pay-per-view buys based on updated late buys purchases, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer reported that Bash In Berlin’s buys are up 22.1% compared to this past July’s Money In The Bank 2024 event.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that based on recently released numbers from Nielsen regarding median viewership ages for shows in 2024, WWE’s RAW currently has a median age of 51 years old and SmackDown and NXT currently has a median age of 53 years old per show average.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 13,789 for their Sept. 20th SmackDown show in Sacremento, CA and 8,612 for their Sept. 23rd RAW show in Ontario, CA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 6,078 tickets for their Oct. 1st NXT show in Chicago, IL, 13,839 tickets for their Oct. 5th Bad Blood 2024 event in Atlanta, GA, 1,156 tickets for their Oct. 8th NXT show in Chesterfield, MO, 3,827 tickets for their Oct. 27th Halloween Havoc 2024 event in Hershey, PA, and 15,383 tickets for their Nov. 30th Survivor Series WarGames 2024 event in Vancouver, Canada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In a recent interview with Daily Star, Tiffany Stratton gave her thoughts about if she saw herself as a threat in WWE’s Women’s division. Stratton stated “Yeah, I definitely think I have grown a lot in the past year, as far as wrestling, as far as promos, as far as everything that this business takes. I definitely think that I am a threat to the women’s division right now, and I’m probably the future, I’m gonna be here for the next ten years, so yeah, I definitely think that I’m a threat.” Stratton also gave her thoughts about her belief that she is the future big star of WWE’s Women’s division. Stratton stated “I feel like I am the future, I am the now, and I wouldn’t say that right off the bat, I kind of earned everybody’s respect. I would say that it took a while, but I think right now, it’s such a good time to be a women’s wrestler and be in the WWE, especially with going to Netflix and all these tours that we’re doing all around the world, so I’m very blessed.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

WrestlingInc’s Raj Giri reported that his sources stated that Malakai Black’s contract with AEW is currently set to expire in early 2025. Giri reported that AEW officials is currently in talks with Black for a potential new deal. Giri reported that this is currently major interest in Black outside of AEW should he become available on the market.
In regards to the current “major outside” interest for Malakai Black, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that WWE officials have been wanting Black to return to the company. Meltzer reported that Black had tried to give his notice to AEW wanting to leave around the same time WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over WWE’s creative in 2022 and attempted to sign back many of the talents that had been released near the end of Vince McMahon’s tenure, especially those who went to AEW. Meltzer reported that while Black’s deal is current set to expire in early 2025, it is possible that AEW could end up adding some injury time to it.
As noted before, Kenny Omega has been out of action for AEW since this past January due to him suffering from diverticulitis and underwent surgery this past May for it. Besides Omega, Kota Ibushi has also been out of action for AEW since this past January due to injuries to both of his ankles. Ibushi provided an update earlier today on Instagram stating “Last practice is over!!! We haven’t seen each other quite a bit, but this time we’ve got a hard push. Tuned up for AEW which will be soon. I still have a long time to fulfill my promises! The scenery sure has changed All that’s left is to do! We’re both on fire!! ️Thank you for your flexible contract even though you belong. Well, there are some things I’ve done, but basically when I’m in Japan, it’s good.“
As noted before, Dustin Rhodes’ contract with AEW is currently set to expire at the end of this September. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the current expectation is that Rhodes will be signing a new deal to stay in the company.
In a recent Q&A article on Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources stated that the reason why AEW does not simply run their shows in smaller venues to avoid having large sections of a venue curtained or tarped off is due to AEW CEO Tony Khan not changing his philosophy when it comes to running shows at larger venues. In an interview with GV Wire earlier this year, Khan stated “It depends on the market and the time. A lot of times, those arenas have a lot of big advantages like email lists and marketing and they are a destination venue for shows. It depends on the market and the timing. Certainly, bigger arenas do have a lot of advantages. They have a lot of sale contacts and really good marketing resources.” Sapp reported that when he has asked AEW officials numerous times about this issue, he usually gets the reasons of amenities, the quality of the venue, ease of parking, mailing lists, the ability to open up more sections if tickets are moving, and more concessions staff.
In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Swerve Strickland gave his thoughts about him not believing he will return to WWE in the future and is committed to helping AEW move forward for their future. Strickland stated “Nah, I’m happy building AEW. I’m happy building myself in AEW. AEW has given me something that I don’t think WWE could ever give me. I’m really proud of that and I wave the flag proudly because Tony Khan didn’t take a chance on me, he knew what he wanted from me. He put me in the position and said, ‘Now grow.’ ‘What avenues do I have to grow?’ ‘Whatever you want.’ There were no parameters, no red tape. I learned how to become a true businessman on top of being a professional wrestler. That’s why the mogul persona is truly personified in AEW. It let me be my best self as a man and a professional.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with AEW, Will Ospreay gave his thoughts about how Jon Moxley’s “Time to Become a Legend” promo following his loss to CM Punk for the AEW World Championship at AEW All Out 2022 was the moment when he decided that he wanted to join AEW.
AEW recently released the full video of the sitdown backstage interview Renee Paquette had with Ricochet and Will Ospreay ahead of their AEW International Championship at this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite 5 Year Anniversary show.
AEW’s All In 2024 event this past August at Wembley Stadium in London, England is currently estimated to have generated around 157,000 pay-per-view buys and All Out 2024 event earlier this month in Hoffman Estates, Illinois is currently estimated to have generated around 101,000 PPV buys based on updated late buys purchases.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that based on recently released numbers from Nielsen regarding median viewership ages for shows in 2024, AEW’s Dynamite and Collision currently has a median age of 51 years old and Rampage current has a median age of 50 years old per show average.
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 2,576 for their Sept. 21st Collision show in Springfield, MA and 8,191 for their Sept. 25th Dynamite Grand Slam 2024 and Collision Grand Slam 2024 shows at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In regards to AEW’s attendance for this past Wednesday’s Dynamite and Collision Grand Slam 2024 shows, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW had sold and distributed around 3,000 tickets in the last five days leading up to the shows.
AEW reportedly has sold around 5,128 tickets for their Oct. 5th WrestleDream 2024 event in Tacoma, WA, 1,234 tickets for their Oct. 8th Dynamite Title Tuesday 2024 show in Spokane, WA, and 1,978 tickets for their Oct. 17th Collision and Battle of the Belts XII shows in Stockton, CA as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

TNA Wrestling announced earlier today that they will be holding a new set of Impact! tapings on October 2-3 at the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. These tapings were originally rescheduled and later cancelled for Spartanburg, South Carolina due to issues caused by Hurricane Helene in the area. It was announced that tickets for both nights of tapings will be $10 and all proceeds generated will go to the Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts in Spartanburg.
In regards to TNA’s cancelled Impact! tapings in South Carolina that had been scheduled to take place this weekend prior to issues caused by Hurricane Helene. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that TNA officials went above and beyond in their attempt to avoid canceling the tapings due to these episodes would have build up to their Bound for Glory 2024 event in Detroit on October 26th. It was reported that TNA officials is currently scrambling at looking for ways to get things back on track including discussions of holding tapings at the Skyway Studios in Nashville this week. It was also reported that those spoken to stated that TNA officials were considering plans for this week’s episode of TNA Impact! to be a “Best of TNA Bound For Glory” special if they were unable to secure a location for television tapings.
TNA is currently offering one free month of their TNA+ streaming service using the discount code of “ACTION” on their official website. This offer is good for the TNA+ Special Attraction Plan tier.
Sunday’s Destruction in Kobe 2024 event for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Kobe, Japan featured Ryohei Oiwa making his official return to the company. Oiwa made his surprise return as the mystery partner for TMDK’s six-man tag team match at the event. In the process, Oiwa was also revealed to be the mystery new official member of TMDK.
Sunday’s NJPW Destruction in Kobe 2024 event also featured Shingo Takagi defeating HENARE to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion.
Following his match at Saturday’s NJPW Destruction in Kobe 2024 event in Kobe, Hiromu Takahashi issued a challenge to CMLL talent Mistico for a match at NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling 2024 event on October 14th in Tokyo, Japan.
NJPW announced two new matches for the card of their King of Pro Wrestling 2024 event on October 14th in Tokyo. The first new match announced was an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match of Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito (c). The second new match announced was a NEVER Openweight Championship match of Ryohei Oiwa vs. Shingo Takagi (c).
NJPW also recently announced one new match for the card of their Royal Quest IV event on October 20th in London, England. This was a singles match of Shota Umino vs. Callum Newman.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,105 for their Sept. 20th Road to Destruction 2024 event in Obihiro, 1,153 for their Sept. 21st Road to Destruction 2024 event in Kushiro, and 939 for their Sept. 23rd Road to Destruction 2024 event in Yakumo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Saturday’s Dream Star Grand Prix 2024 event for Marigold in Nagoya, Japan featured Utami Hayashishita defeating Mai Sakurai in the Finals to become the winner of Marigold’s inaugural Dream Star Grand Prix tournament.
Marigold reportedly drew a paid attendance of 203 for their Sept. 20th Dream Star Grand Prix 2024 event in Sendai and 785 for their Sept. 23rd Dream Star Grand Prix 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre reportedly drew an attendance of around 8,000 for their Sept 20th Dia De Fanatico 2024 event at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
TheCubsFan reported that Vampiro’s retirement match for his current retirement tour is currently scheduled to take place at the November 17th Guerra de Titanes show for Lucha Libre AAA in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Stardom announced that Japanese Joshi wrestling legend Dump Matsumoto will be making an appearance for the company at their October 5th event in Nagoya, Japan.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 275 for their Sept. 21st event in Sendai, 328 for their Sept. 22nd event in Kaminoyama, and 425 for their Sept. 24th event in Niigata, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling reportedly drew a paid attendance of 756 for their Sept. 22nd Wrestle Princess 5 event in Chiba, Japan.
As noted before, Go Shiozaki has been out of action for Pro Wrestling NOAH since this past July due to a back injury. In a recent interview with PKDK, Shiozaki stated that he had been dealing with back pains since this past June and went to a doctor who informed him that he had suffered a spinal fracture. Shiozaki stated “Of course, I am fine now. I don’t know how it started, but my back had been hurting since June, and it got pretty bad right before N-1, so I went for a checkup and found that part of my spine was broken. At the same time, the ligaments around it were inflamed. At first, I was in a state that where I could barely move, but after changing my medication and making some adjustments, the pain finally subsided and the doctor gave me the go-ahead. It wasn’t a life-threatening injury, so as the previous year’s (N-1 Victory) champion, I had no choice but to not compete (in the 2024 tournament). However, (Atsushi) Kotoge, who took my place, was also injured and ended up withdrawing midway through. I couldn’t even go about my daily life, and I spent many days watching the N-1 tournament, which I had planned to win back-to-back, through the screen. Like I said before, I’ve never had such a frustrating absence. I’m frustrated and hungry for excitement. Anyway, I’m going to make the LIMIT BREAK from my return match.” (English translation via PostWrestling.com)
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling recently announced that NHL legend Darren McCarty will be making an appearance for the company at their Forged In Excellence events on October 19-20 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Saturday’s British J Cup 2024 event for Revolution Pro Wrestling in Stevenage, England featured Lio Rush defeating Cameron Khai and Dante Martin, and Kid Lykos II in a Four-way Finals match to be crowned the winner of this year’s tournament.
Reality of Wrestling recently released the full bracket for this year’s Sherri Martel Classic Tournament on September 29th in Texas City, Texas. Among those competing in this year’s tournament is WWE NXT talent Carlee Bright.
Prestige Wrestling recently announced that Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky will be making an appearance for the company at their Roseland 9 event on September 29th in Portland, Oregon. It was announced that Kazarian and Sky will be reuniting as SCU and will be replacing FTR who are unable to travel to their event due to issues involving Hurricane Helene.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of September 20 to September 26, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 1,494,000 viewers, 0.45 rating (prior week – 1,725,000 viewers, 0.55 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,340,000 viewers, 0.43 rating (prior week – 1,509,000 viewers, 0.49 rating)
WWE NXT – 620,000 viewers, 0.19 rating (prior week – 677,000 viewers, 0.21 rating)
AEW Rampage – 327,000 viewers, 0.12 rating (prior week – 250,000 viewers, 0.07 rating)
AEW Collision – 347,000 viewers, 0.12 rating (prior week – 268,000 viewers, 0.08 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 702,000 viewers, 0.23 rating (prior week – 687,000 viewers, 0.22 rating)
TNA Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – N/A)

Total wrestling television viewership for the week: 4,830,000 viewers, down 286,000 viewers from the prior week’s 5,116,000 viewers.

The viewership and ratings numbers for the September 19th and September 26th TNA Impact! shows are currently not known.