Weekend Roundup: Elimination Chamber, Keith Lee, Maki Itoh, Impact’s Original Plans for Moose’s TNA Title, Bloodsport 6, Indies

WWE

• WWE announced that the guests for their WWE Watch Along show during tonight’s Elimination Chamber event will be Big E, Wade Barrett, Booker T, Elias, Victoria, John Morrison, Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai, Kayla Braxton, the cast of WWE’s The Bump, Cody Decker, and Youtube personality Denise Salcedo.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE is currently planning for a Battle Royale match to take place during tonight’s Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show. Johnson reported that the winner of this match would take Keith Lee’s spot for the scheduled United States Championship Triple Threat match.
• Mike Johnson also reported that Keith Lee’s removal from tonight’s Elimination Chamber event is currently rumored to be due to an unknown injury he recently suffered.
• WWE filed a new trademark for “LA Night” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on February 14th to the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Despite the misspelling, this trademark is meant to be for Eli Drake’s new ring name of “LA Knight” in NXT.
• WWE also filed a trademark for “Kevin Patrick” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on February 16th to the USPTO.
• WWE recently announced that a new episode in their WWE 24 documentary series will be airing on February 28th on the WWE Network and will be focused on Big E. A trailer for this upcoming episode was recently released by the company.
• WALTER recently broke the record for longest ever NXT UK Championship reign in NXT UK history at 688 days and counting. WALTER surpassed the previous record held by Pete Dunne of 655 days this past Thursday.
• This past Wednesday’s episode of NXT featuring a post-show angle of Kyle O’Reilly being stretchered out of the venue following an attack by Adam Cole during the show. Fans in attendance initially believed that O’Reilly suffered a legitimate injury and a seizure due to how O’Reilly reacted afterwards. Fightful Select reported that the O’Reilly injury angle also caused a lot of concern backstage due to many not knowing if it was a real or fake injury because of O’Reilly’s history with diabetes.
• As noted before, WWE recently tightened their ban and restrictions on talent using outside third party services to include Twitter and Instagram. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials clarified that talent discussing or promoting charities on their social media accounts would not be in violation of their current rules.
• WWE is currently rumored to have recently signed indie wrestler Adam Maxted to an official contract, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Carlito reportedly is currently not under contract with WWE and remains a free agent, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Fightful Select reported that NXT officials have been very impressed with the recent work of the Grizzled Young Veterans on the brand. It was reported that the Grizzled Young Veterans were originally planned to win last year’s Dusty Tag Team Classic but those plans were changed due to the rising popularity of Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne as a tag team.

AEW

• During a recent interview with the Fight Game Media podcast, Jon Moxley revealed that he once turned down an offer by WWE to write a book about himself. Moxley stated “I’ve never written a book. I don’t even know how I got sucked into this because I never had the desire to write a book. I’m not a former President. I don’t need a memoir. I don’t have a pressing desire or need like ‘I have to tell my side of the story.’ I don’t actually know how to write. WWE wanted me to write a book. I was like, ‘I don’t have a desire to do that.’ They gave me an offer and everything and they had me talking to this writer and he was like, ‘We’ll talk and hang out on the road and I’ll put it into words.’ I got real uncomfortable with the thought of somebody else writing…if you write a book, it’s your words and it wasn’t going to be my words. So, I was uncomfortable with it. It was money. I asked another guy who wrote a WWE book what the process was like because they crank those out. I was like, ‘If you could do it again, would you do it?’ He was like, ‘No, because it wasn’t the book I wanted it to be.’ That was all I needed to hear. I told [WWE] I wasn’t interested and turned it down. I’m not into the idea of a ghostwriter. I sent in some samples and they loved it and were into it. I sent a couple more and then I was committed. It is hard. I’m using Chris Jericho’s editor, the guy who did his books. We’re working on it. No news or information. It’ll probably be terrible or the best book ever.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• The Jacksonville Jaguars recently promoted Tony Khan to a new role as the Chief Football Strategy Officer for the team. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that this promotion was part of the recent hiring of Karim Kassam to be the team’s new Senior Vice President of Football Operations Strategy. Johnson reported that Khan and Kassam will be working together in their new roles.
• During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Matt Cardona revealed that his deal with AEW was only for two Dynamite dates and a pay-per-view date. Cardona also stated that he didn’t want to commit to a deal with anyone after he left WWE.
• Fightful held a recent interview with Maki Itoh and one of the topics discussed included her thoughts on working for AEW and competing in their Women’s World Championship Eliminator tournament. Itoh stated “I heard from the higher-ups in Tokyo Joshi. I took the news quite calmly; it was so abrupt that it didn’t seem real. First things first, I contacted my parents. They were elated, and that is when it finally hit me and made me happy.”
• Tony Schiavone stated during this past Wednesday’s post-Dynamite show on YouTube that Sting came up with the idea for him to take a powerbomb from Brian Cage. Schiavone also stated that Sting was feeling 100% fine after the spot.
• TNT reportedly will be airing a Road to AEW Revolution 2021 television special on their network on March 3rd starting at 10PM EST.
• As noted before, AEW CEO Tony Khan revealed in an interview with the Wrestle Fetish podcast that AEW’s “forbidden door” with WWE is currently open. TalkSport held a recent interview with Kenny Omega and one of the topics discussed included his thoughts on a potential future working relationship between AEW and WWE. Omega stated “But from when I did speak at length with Triple H, it really felt like he understood a lot of my thought process and not only was I looking to unite and unify the world of professional wrestling and all of that, but he definitely got it.The thing is, I also understand their side of things too. There’s no right or wrong way anymore in wrestling. To me, and it’s the outlook I take on everything, if we can make the fans enjoy what we do more, that’s the right way. So when he does say things like he’s open for business, I do think if there is a situation which could maybe eliminate some of the worries and fears from the other people that have a say in making these things happen, I do see it being a reality.”
• Miro reportedly was absent from this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite due to travel-related issues caused by a blizzard that struck his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, according to the Wrestling Observer.

Other Wrestling

• During a recent interview with The Angle Podcast, Moose revealed that Impact officials originally had bigger plans for his TNA World title storyline but scrapped them due to the coronavirus pandemic. Moose stated “I remember when they told me they were going to bring it back and it was an opportunity for me to take it and run with it, which is what I did. COVID ruined the original way they were supposed to bring it back, but we’ve done a good job working through COVID. I can’t tell you what we’re going to do because it would ruin the story. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s what the writers are there for and we’ll find out with the story. I find out as it happens. Believe it or not, they don’t give us a long-term story of what’s going to happen because of the fear that it’ll get leaked. We find out when we get there.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During a recent press conference, CyberFight Vice President Naomichi Marufuji stated that the reason why Pro Wrestling NOAH signed Keiji Muto to a two-year contract was due to the company’s current global expansion plans and Muto being a more well known name than anyone else on the roster for their global plans.
• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 2,007 for their Night 2 of The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 event in Hiroshima, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• NJPW announced that due to the current status with his knee injury, Tetsuya Naito will not be able to appear at their upcoming Road to Castle Attack event on February 22nd in Tokyo, Japan.
• Hiromu Takahashi reportedly recently suffered a left shoulder injury and his status for the remainder of NJPW’s Road to Castle Attack is currently unknown, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• Lucha Libre AAA officials reportedly currently have tentative plans to run events with fans in attendance later this year, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Indies wrestler Vary Morales reportedly has recently tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Morales has recently worked for AEW for their AEW Dark series.
• During a recent interview with the D-Von Dudley’s Table Talk podcast, Maria Kanellis revealed that her and Mike Bennett’s contracts with Ring of Honor are currently set to expire at the end of this June.
• Following Saturday’s GCW Bloodsport 5 event, Josh Barnett announced that the next Bloodsport event will be taking place on April 8th in Tampa, Florida. Barnett also announced that the main event match will be himself vs. Jon Moxley.
• SoCalUncensored.com reported that Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix’s Republic of Lucha store in South Pasadena, California is currently scheduled to have its grand opening on March 5th.