Weekend Roundup: Jimmy Uso Update, WWE & TV Network Meeting Set, PAC AEW Update, Impact Ratings, Indies

WWE

• As noted before, Jimmy Uso was arrested for a DUI in Pensacola, Florida earlier this week and was not punished by WWE over his latest legal issues. Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that the reason why WWE officials did not punish Uso with pulled television time nor a suspension is due to them having very important plans currently in place that involve the Usos. Meltzer speculated that these plans likely involve the rumored Rock vs. Roman Reigns feud for next year’s WrestleMania event and WWE officials did not want to cause any disruptions to their plans due to Uso’s recent arrest.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Daniel Bryan’s name being repeatedly mentioned these past few weeks on SmackDown is not an indication of him coming back any time soon. Meltzer reported that Bryan’s status in the company is currently not known nor if he has recently signed a new deal that is being kept as a closely guarded secret within the company.
• WWE reportedly has sold over 38,000 tickets for this year’s SummerSlam event on August 21st in Las Vegas, Nevada as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. WWE also has sold around 12,200 tickets for their July 16th SmackDown show in Houston, around 9,700 tickets for their Money in the Bank 2021 event on July 18th in Fort Worth, and around 6,900 tickets for their July 19th RAW show in Dallas, Texas. WWE has also sold around 5,800 tickets for their July 24th house show event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, around 2,800 for their July 25th house show in Louisville, Kentucky, around 4,500 for their July 26th RAW show in Kansas City, Missouri, around 6,300 for their July 30th SmackDown show in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and around 3,300 for their July 31st house show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 280 for this past Wednesday’s NXT Great American Bash event at the Performance Center, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon reportedly will be holding a meeting with one of WWE’s television partners at the end of this month, according to The Mat Men Wrestling podcast. Andrew Zarian reported that this meeting is being held so that this undisclosed network partner can pitch ideas to help improve WWE’s programming on their network.
• Andrew Zarian also recently reported that the reason why WWE’s plans for Brock Lesnar at this year’s SumemrSlam event fell through was due to creative issues that were not resolved between the two sides. In regards to financial talks, Zarian reported that WWE officials want Lesnar to also work at house show events and not just television and pay-per-view events as part of the terms for any new deal.
• WWE recently announced that their upcoming Supershow house show event on September 10th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York will be a co-branded RAW and SmackDown show.
• Fightful Select reported that NXT officials currently have big plans in place for Roderick Strong for their brand for this year. It was also reported that Strong had recently signed a new contract to remain in WWE’s developmental brand.
• WWE recently announced that their July 23rd episode of SmackDown in Cleveland, Ohio will now be a mutli-site show with the Rolling Loud Miami music festival in Miami, Florida. The company announced that at least two matches will be broadcasted from the music festival while the remainder of the show will be held in Cleveland.
• WWE announced that they will be holding their next investors meeting on July 29th to discuss the results from their second quarter 2021 fiscal report.
• In an interesting note, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston recently compiled data for WWE’s RAW, SmackDown, and NXT brands in regards to the frequency of rematches done on WWE’s television shows over the past year. Thurston reported that around 40% of all rematches on RAW over the past year have taken place within the past six months. SmackDown was revealed to be at 39% and NXT was at 19% for rematches. For comparisons, the amount of rematches during the same period on Impact Wrestling’s Impact was at 17% and on AEW Dynamite was at 5%.
• During Saturday’s 2021 ESPYS awards show on ESPN, the SmackDown Women’s Championship match of Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37 took the award for “Best WWE Moment.”
• WWENetworkNews.com reported that for the third time in recent weeks, WWE abruptly pulled a show that had been scheduled to air on the WWE Network and NBC Peacock. This time it involved the airing of the newest episode of the Steve Austin’s Broken Sull Sessions series with Kevin Nash as the guest. The episode was originally scheduled to air today but was pulled for reasons that are currently not known.

AEW

• This past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite featured the official AEW debut of Malakai Black, former Aleister Black in WWE. During a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Jim Ross revealed the backstage conversation he had with Black following his AEW debut. Ross stated “I saw him after the show, he shook my hand. I’d never met him before, he said he was glad to meet me, and likewise for me. I said, ‘We’re counting on you. We’re counting on you to play in a big way. Not just come in and be one of the boys, but come in and be one of the stars.’ I think he hadn’t heard that in a while. I think it meant a lot to him. I wasn’t trying to blow smoke, I was just trying to say, ‘You’re a highly regarded piece of talent that we value. We’re happy you’re here and so now we’re looking for great things. You set the bar high with your debut, now let’s see where we can take it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the reason why PAC has been absent in recent weeks for AEW is due to him currently dealing with travel-related issues in the United Kingdom. Meltzer reported that AEW officials currently do not know when PAC will be able to return to the United States for television tapings.
• Meltzer also reported that travel-related reasons in the United Kingdom are also the reason why Anthony Ogogo has been recently absent from AEW television. Ogogo reportedly had been given permission by AEW officials for some time off to return back to his home in England but he has been unable to travel back to the U.S. at the moment.
• Chris Jericho reportedly is currently expected to miss at least the December 1st and December 8th AEW Dynamite shows due to touring commitments with Fozzy, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that Fozzy is currently scheduled to go on tour in the United Kingdom from November 30th to December 12th.
• AEW reportedly had an attendance of 3,700 for this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Miami, Florida, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 3,500 tickets for their September 1st AEW Dynamite show and around 3,700 tickets for their AEW Rampage show on September 3rd in Chicago, Illinois as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW has also sold around 4,400 tickets for their July 21st Dynamite show in Garland, Texas, around 4,500 for their July 28th Dynamite show in Charlotte, North Carolina, around 3,700 for their August 11th Dynamite show in Pittsburgh, and around 3,400 for their August 13th AEW Rampage show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with The Dan LeBatard Show podcast, AEW CEO Tony Khan revealed that he managed to get a refund of around $100,000 from the outside production company that was responsible for the debacle explosion ending to the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at AEW’s Revolution 2021 event this past March. Khan also revealed that despite the first match ending on a big dud, he is still committed to the idea of doing another Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at a future AEW event due to the first one helped generate record breaking PPV buys for the company.
• Fightful Select reported that Brian Pillman Jr. is currently expected to become a full-time talent for AEW following the lack of talks between him and Major League Wrestling regarding a new contract with the company. It was reported that Pillman Jr.’s current contract with MLW is expected to expire soon.

Other Wrestling

• This past Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling Impact! drew 120,00 viewers on AXS TV, according to Wrestlenomics. This was up compared to last week’s episode of 69,000 viewers. Brandon Thurston reported that the reason for last week’s record low ratings very likely was due to program guide-related issues causing the numbers to be much lower than they actually were.
• Fightful Select reported that the recent rumors and reports of Ruby Soho (Ruby Riott in WWE) being the mystery opponent for Deonna Purrazzo and her Impact Knockouts Championship match at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary 2021 event on July 17th are not true. It was reported that Soho’s non-compete clause with WWE is currently not expected to expire until this September.
• In regards to possible opponents for Purrazzo’s match at Slammiversary, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Chelsea Green’s name has been heavily talked about recently both within Impact and by Green on social media for a potential return to the company.
• Impact officials reportedly are currently considering plans to move their television tapings from Nashville, Tennessee to Las Vega, Nevada later this year, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Impact officials reportedly also currently are considering bigger plans for Josh Alexander after being very pleased with the work he has put in during his current reign as X Division Champion, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• During a recent interview with the Mina’s House Podcast, Moose revealed that his new contract with Impact Wrestling includes him having some creative power in the company. Moose also revealed that the reason why he decided to stay in Impact instead of going to WWE was due to WWE’s offer was primarily for their NXT brand and not a main roster type deal.
• Fightful Select reported that Major League Wrestling recently signed Danny Limelight to an official contract with the company.
• Fightful Select also reported that MLW has also recently signed Julius Smokes and Slice Boogie to official contracts with the company.
• Despite the newest extension of the state of emergency declared by the Japanese government for the coronavirus pandemic in the country, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that their Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 event on July 25th in Tokyo will proceed as planned. The current state of emergency in Japan is expected to last until at least August 22nd.
• NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 483 for their July 2nd Kizuna Road 2021 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that several of NJPW’s foreign-based talent will be staying in Japan for the next four months due to their planned participation in this year’s upcoming G1 Climax tournament. Meltzer reported that the reason for the long stay is to avoid any potential travel-related quarantine issues with the coronavirus pandemic in Japan and elsewhere. Meltzer also reported that NJPW officials currently do not expect any of the venues hosting G1 Climax events this year to be allowed full capacity for shows due to the current state of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
• Lucha Libre AAA recently announced that they have cancelled their upcoming event on July 12th in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
• TheCubsFan reported that Lucha Libre FMV recently filed court required paperwork that stated that they intend to continue their lawsuit against AAA. Lucha Libre FMV also stated that there have been no talks for a potential settlement since this past March due to the lack of communication from AAA’s lawyers. Lucha Libre FMV is currently suing AAA over allegations of contract breaching regarding broadcasting rights of AAA events in the United States.
• The July 4th debut event of Atsushi Onita’s Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion promotion in Yokohama, Japan generated a paid attendance of 426, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Game Changer Wrestling announced that Jonathan Gresham will be making an appearance for the company at their Homecoming 2021 Night 2 event on July 25th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.