Weekend Roundup: Fastlane 2021, NXT & USA Network, Jericho Update, Nyla Rose, AEW & Miami, Jay White, Alex Shelley, Indies

WWE

• WWE reportedly is currently planning to hold this year’s Fastlane event on March 21st, according to PWInsider. This will be the first time WWE has held a Fastlane themed event since 2019.
• Japanese wrestler Sareee announced on Twitter that following her final match in Japan on January 22nd, she will be moving to the United States to become a full-time wrestler for WWE.
• WWE reportedly is currently working on plans to hold this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony as a virtual event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Lana and Mandy Rose reportedly were ranked in the Top 100 for top earning celebrities on Instagram for 2020, according to LoveUX. It was reported that Lana was ranked #83 and earned around $625,922 while Rose was ranked #100 and earned around $490,104 on the platform.
• ITN Wrestling held a recent interview with AJ Styles and one of the topics discussed included the origin of his Styles Clash finisher. Styles stated “Well, my little brother was trying to powerbomb his buddy on the trampoline. He’s dangling upside down. They’re talking to each other, And I go, oh, and I walked over there and my little brother took the first-ever Styles Clash on a trampoline.”
• WWE’s NXT television contract with USA Network is currently believed to expire this October, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

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AEW

• As noted before, Chris Jericho revealed in a recent episode of his Talk Is Jericho podcast that he tested positive for COVID-19 in September of 2020. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Jericho had tested positive three times for COVID-19 following the September 9th and 10th AEW Dynamite tapings. Jericho reportedly went on quarantine from around September 11-21 and tested negative following his return on September 22nd. AEW reportedly did not hold any tapings nor did anyone else in Jericho’s family test positive during the period of Jericho’s quarantine. Jericho reportedly currently believes he contracted COVID from being in close contact to someone who was sick and later tested positive.
• AEW reportedly had around 120 tickets available for sale for their upcoming January 20th AEW Dynamite television taping as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Rey Fenix reportedly recently ran into an issue with his attempt to trademark his ring name, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the issue revolves around potential trademark confusion with his former Lucha Underground ring name of Fenix which is trademarked by Lucha Libre FMV.
• AEW announced that their scheduled March 25th Dynamite television tapings in Newark, New Jersey has been postponed again due to the on-going coronavirus pandemic. The company announced that this taping has now been rescheduled to a new date of September 21st.
• As noted before, AEW officials reportedly were working on plans to move their television tapings and Revolution 2021 event to a new location in Miami for the month of February. Bodyslam.net reported that a recent internal company email revealed that those plans have been dropped and instead AEW will remain at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future.
• Nyla Rose announced on Twitter that she will not be appearing on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite due to being in close contact with a family member who recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Rose also stated that she will be in isolation for the next two weeks as a precautionary measure.

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Other Wrestling

• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly currently has Jay White scheduled to appear at their 49th Anniversary event on March 4th and their New Japan Cup 2021 tour during the month of March, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• NJPW is currently expected to officially announce their new television contract for the United States market within the next ten days, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• NJPW reportedly set a new all-time record for their New Japan World service at 130,000 subscribers as of this month, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Lucha Libre AAA officials currently are working on plans to potentially resume events in either late February or early March, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dark Side of the Ring series producers reportedly are currently working on an episode based on Johnny K-9 (also known as Bruiser Bedlam) for their upcoming third season, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Besides working for WWF and Smokey Mountain Wrestling, Johnny K-9 was also known for being involved in the mob which including at least one allegation of murder.
• During this past week, Impact Wrestling announced that Alex Shelley would no longer be competing at their Hard to Kill event. Prior to the event, Shelley issued a statement that his removal was not due to him testing positive for COVID-19 and instead was due to complex health safety issues related to his work outside of the company.
• Besides their Hard to Kill event, Impact Wrestling reportedly will be taping several weeks of episodes for their Impact television series from January 16th to January 18th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Progress Wrestling reportedly is currently working on plans to hold tapings from January 24-27 in London, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• Ring of Honor announced that Tony Deppen will be making his return to the company following popular demand from their fans.
• ROH is also currently working on preparations for their next set of television tapings which will be held during this week in Baltimore, according to PWInsider.
• Matt Cardona filed new trademarks for “MC! True Long Island Story” and “Major Pod Network” for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes on January 11th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wichita, Texas announced that this year’s class of inductees are Mad Mountain Dean, Paul Bowser, Tiger Conway Sr., Jose Lothario, Tony Atlas, Wildfire Tommy Rick, Judy Martin, Juanita Coffman, Leo Burke, executive Don Owen, The Rock ‘n Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton), and referee Ronnie West.
• Major League Wrestling officials currently are planning for their potential second television series to be called MLW Rebellion, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• MLW officials are also currently working on plans for a potential MLW vs. Lucha Underground event in the future, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.