Weekend Roundup: WWE’s LA Knight Big Push Plans Concerns, Billy Gunn Retires?, RUSH & AEW, Brian Pillman Jr., ESPN, Indies

WWE

• PWTorch’s Wade Keller reported that his sources stated that WWE officials currently have plans to give LA Knight a big push after next month’s SummerSlam 2023 event. Keller reported that several people within WWE are also currently worried that Knight’s longtime rep of rubbing people the wrong way backstage could also potentially cause these plans to get cut short. Keller reported that if this were to happen, it would not matter if fans are still fully behind Knight since he would have lost the support of very important people backstage to sustain his big push.
• In a recent interview with TV Insider, current NXT Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton gave her thoughts on her belief that WWE does not give as much of a spotlight for their RAW and SmackDown Women’s divisions compared to NXT’s women’s division. Stratton stated “I think we have a really good women’s division at NXT. I think it’s one of the better ones compared to Raw and SmackDown. At NXT, I feel we have such a spotlight for the women. I definitely feel on Raw and SmackDown, it’s not as much of the spotlight for the women. We have a lot of young talent. Thea Hail, for instance is only 19 years old. Roxanne Perez, who is basically 21. Cora Jade, 22. I definitely think there is a lot of future within the NXT women’s division. I can definitely see a lot of the girls taking over within the next three or four years on Raw and SmackDown.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• As noted before, Nick Aldis’ contract with Impact Wrestling recently expired and WWE is currently interested in signing him to a potential backstage producer role in the company. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Aldis is currently interested in signing with either WWE or AEW.
• As noted before, Brian Pillman Jr.’s contract with AEW recently expired and was given a tryout at WWE’s Performance Center earlier this month. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while WWE officials still continue to deny that a hiring freeze has been in effect this year, several people spoken to within the company stated that the likelihood of Pillman Jr. being signed to a potential deal any time soon is very low and very unlikely to potentially happen until after WWE’s sale to Endeavor and merger with UFC is officially completed.
• Besides Aldis and Pillman Jr., WWE reportedly is also currently interested in potentially signing RUSH to a contract with the company, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that the two big obstacles for a potential deal involves AEW’s current offer being much higher than what WWE would offer for a NXT deal and the current feeling by those within the company that their developmental system already has too many people in it that they have invested in and too few spots left for new talent.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE’s Money in the Bank 2023 event on July 1st generated around 17,600 pay-per-view buys from cable television PPV providers. Meltzer reported that WWE’s event had generated a huge amount of late buys and this year’s event was up 82% in buys compared to last year’s event.
• As noted before, BT Sport’s new parent company Warner Bros Discovery Europe announced earlier this year that they would be rebranding the network as TNT Sports starting this July. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this rebranding officially went into effect this past week. In regards to WWE’s current television contract with BT Sport for the United Kingdom, Meltzer reported that WWE is now currently under a TV contract with WBD that is set to expire in December of 2024.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 11,803 (10,600 paid) for their July 14th SmackDown show in Raleigh, NC, 6,782 for their July 15th house show event in Fairfax, VA, 3,700 for their July 16th house show event in Salisbury, MD, and 12,014 (10,800 paid) for their July 17th RAW show in Atlanta, GA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly has sold around 9,014 tickets for their July 24th RAW show in Tampa, FL, 6,079 tickets for their July 28th SmackDown show in New Orleans, LA, 3,448 tickets for their July 29th house show event in Estero, FL, 2,750 tickets for their July 30th house show event in Coral Gables, FL, 2,633 tickets for their July 30th NXT Great American Bash 2023 event in Cedar Park, TX, 12,295 tickets for their July 31st RAW show in Houston, TX, 5,592 tickets for their Aug. 4th SmackDown show in Dayton, OH, 44,447 tickets for their Aug. 5th SummerSlam 2023 event in Detroit, MI, 6,782 tickets for their Aug. 7th RAW show in Minneapolis, MN, 7,754 tickets for their Aug. 11th SmackDown show in Calgary, Canada, 8,154 tickets for their Aug. 14th RAW show in Winnipeg, Canada, 12,927 tickets for their Aug. 18th SmackDown show in Toronto, Canada, 3,295 tickets for their Aug. 19th house show event in Ottawa, Canada, 4,011 tickets for their Aug. 20th house show event in Laval, Canada, 9,993 tickets for their Aug. 21st RAW show in Quebec City, Canada, 6,590 tickets for their Aug. 25th SmackDown show in Louisville, KY, 2,428 for their Aug. 26th house show event in Cape Girardeau, MO, 2,633 tickets for their Aug. 27th house show event in Huntsville, LA, 6,144 tickets for their Aug. 28th RAW show in Memphis, TN, 7,333 tickets for their Sept. 1st SmackDown show in Hershey, PA, 11,598 tickets for their Sept. 2nd Payback 2023 event in Pittsburgh, PA, 4,620 tickets for their Sept. 4th RAW show in Charlotte, NC, 7,596 tickets for their Sept. 8th SmackDown show in Boston, MA, 4,239 tickets for their Sept. 9th house show event in New York City, NY, 1,436 tickets for their Sept. 10th house show event in Charlottesville, VA, 3,627 tickets for their Sept. 11th RAW show in Norfolk, VA, 7,801 tickets for their Sept. 15th SmackDown show in Denver, CO, 3,652 tickets for their Sept. 16th house show event in Kennewick, WA, 2,965 tickets for their Sept. 17th house show event in Boise, ID, 4,117 tickets for their Sept. 18th RAW show in Salt Lake City, UT, 5,883 tickets for their Sept. 22nd SmackDown show in Glendale, AZ, 5,757 tickets for their Sept. 23rd house show event in Palm Desert, CA, and 7,964 tickets for their 25th RAW show in Ontario, CA as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this past Monday’s RAW show was notable for featuring a new major change to how WWE’s commentators are supposed to perform on commentary for shows. Meltzer reported that his sources did not confirm if this new change came directly from Vince McMahon but it is very likely. Meltzer reported that this new changed involved a very notable increase in the usage of nicknames called out by Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick on commentary to the point of going overboard with it. Meltzer reported that this was something that clearly was written out for them to say a lot on the show and felt less natural for their speaking.
• As noted before, this past Tuesday’s NXT show drew 746,000 viewers and a 0.21 key demographic rating on USA Network. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer that his sources stated that there was a lot of internal discussions within WWE after the ratings number for NXT show came out. Several WWE officials reportedly pointed out how the final quarter hour’s total viewership of 844,000 for the Dominik Mysterio vs. Wes Lee match was similar to AEW’s numbers for their recent Dynamite shows and this past week’s NXT show managed to beat the prior week’s Collision numbers for total viewership. Those spoken to within WWE reportedly stated that NXT’s recent viewership gains for their shows comes at a great time for the company getting a new higher paying deal for their NXT brand. Several WWE officials reportedly are also currently pushing the idea that their NXT shows will end up doing numbers that beat AEW’s Dynamite shows in the near future.
• In a recent statement, Wells Fargo stated that they currently believe that while NBCU remains committed to keeping RAW and WWE on Peacock, FOX is unlikely to offer a bid higher than around $205 million to keep SmackDown for new television deals with WWE. They also currently feel that FX, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and Warner Bros Discovery would be more likely to meet WWE’s asking price of over $300 million for their next TV contract for SmackDown.
• Alexa Bliss has been out of action for WWE since this past January first due to skin cancer treatment and later due to pregnancy. In a recent interview with The Messenger, Bliss gave her thoughts about her current plans for her return to WWE in the future. Bliss stated “I probably won’t bounce back as fast as I hope. I’m going to get to working out and doing all that stuff and get to where I need to be, you know, to have time. [I’ll have] the first fundamental months with the baby before thinking about trying to rush back to work.” Bliss also gave her thoughts about why her current time away from WWE has been good for herself and her wrestling career. Bliss stated “Time away is always a good thing. When it comes to WWE, time away and reinventing a character and evolving yourself is the key to career longevity at WWE. So I always say, ‘Time away is such a good thing because it gives people the time to miss you.’ When you’re being seen on WWE three or four times an episode, you don’t really have anywhere to go with your character. So whenever you take time off, it’s always a good time to evolve and to keep going. And I’ve already been probably six or seven different versions of myself. And each time it’s done well with merchandise sales, with bookings and all that stuff. So I don’t really like to go backwards with my work. I always like to go forward.“
• In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Matt Cardona, former Zack Ryder in WWE, gave his thoughts on his interest in a potential return to WWE in the future. Cardona stated “Listen, I am the Indy God, the Deathmatch King, right. First of all, it was about [Chelsea]. I didn’t go there for me. So I didn’t want to be backstage, I didn’t want to look like I was begging for a job. I made sure John Cone snuck me in and snuck me out. So I was watching and I was super proud of her winning the titles. But yeah, like, fuck, I want to walk out in a sold-out arena. It’s great. I’m the Indy God. My dream wasn’t to be a big fish in a small pond. My dream wasn’t to be a pro wrestler. My dream was to be a WWE superstar. So of course, listen, my phone’s working. If there’s a 203 number calling, I’ll pick up, and we’ll have a conversation. But Sam, we walked about the three C’s. But we’ll see what happens. Hey, to quote the great Justin Bieber, ‘Never say never.“
• As noted before, Alicia Fox’s, real name Victoria Crawford, contract with WWE expired earlier this year and departed after a 17-year career with the company. In a recent interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Crawford gave her thoughts on why she felt relieved after leaving WWE. Crawford stated “I was like, okay (when I received word that my time with WWE was ending). I think I honestly… I was relieved, and still relieving completely. I think the difference between myself and like, another person is a chunk of 17 consecutive years. It has nothing to do with the particular company… I’m still processing a consecutive 17 years. But, the other afterburn that happens like, man, well at 17, what else would you think this was? What else did you think? These are really your family members, these are people you’re going to grow with and you never, still, any time in your career know if you’re gonna get the boot, whatever. So then I think that’s the relief that’s lifted is that burden of my body not being perfect is constantly still evaporating. Every day, I feel lighter and lighter in my heart, in my soul. Every day, I wake up and I can’t wait to lift myself up to bring myself back down to paradise. I swear to God. It’s bizarre. It’s bizarre only because in that lifestyle, if you’re conditioned to just go, be perfect, be the champion, I don’t know and this ain’t anybody else’s words but mine, but if that was my driving desire, that got to a point where I didn’t find my life interesting. It was bleak. So it’s like, don’t take this stuff home but, our life is so entangled with the way we just get ready for our everyday that if I’m not leaving for the airport, I’m leaving to go to Publix… I had to develop a way to come out of the character and I’m saying so far out there. But how do you escape crazy?” Crawford also revealed that she will now be going under the new ring name of Vix Crow for her wrestling career going forward. (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

AEW & ROH

• Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Newark, New Jersey featured House of Black defeating The Acclaimed & “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn to retain the AEW Trios Championship. Following the match, Malakai Black whispered something into Gunn’s ear before walking away which led to Gunn unlacing his boots and leaving them in the ring teasing his retirement. Gunn then shrugged off The Acclaimed’s attempt to talk to him over what had happened and he walked alone to the back. It is currently not known if this was just a storyline or a legitimate in-ring retirement by Gunn. Fueling the speculation of this was a legit retirement was comments made by Gunn’s sons, Austin and Colten, on Twitter paying tribute to his career despite their storyline split up and them turning heels in AEW.
• AEW reportedly held a dark match of Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Fallah Bahh, which was won by Hobbs, prior to the start of Saturday’s Collision show in Newark, according to PWInsider.
• AEW’s Battle of the Belts VII show on July 15th featured Orange Cassidy defeating Lance Archer to retain his AEW International Championship. As a result of Cassidy’s victory, he broke the all-time AEW record for most successful AEW titles defenses in a row at 26. Prior to the match, Cassidy had been tied with Jade Cargill’s recent TBS Championship reign at 25 successful defenses in a row.
• In a recent interview with Comic Book Nation, Brody King gave his thoughts on Homicide being his choice for a new member for the House of Black. King stated “It’s Homicide, 100 percent (is who I’d bring into House of Black from Violence Unlimited). I can only imagine (King laughed)… If you’ve never seen Homicide or his promos, I recommend you go do it immediately. He is the best. He’s also a great professional wrestler. But, I can only imagine Malakai Black doing a House of Black promo and then Homicide just busting out and doing an outside promo, where he usually talks about stabbing somebody with a fork… He’s amazing.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• In a recent interview with the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Aaron Solo confirmed that he is currently under a contract with AEW. Solo stated “So I remember we had to do the spit test for COVID, especially with the west coast guys before we flew out and I was turning in my test at FedEx and I had an email from C.D. (Christopher Daniels) and it said, ‘Congratulations on your hard work. We’re offering you a contract. Here it is. If you accept it then sign it and send it back’ and all that and yeah, it’s funny because I remember that day and I remember being so excited signing it and then I was just kind of sitting in my bed afterwards. But I had romanticized this entire thing for years because it took me 11 years before I got an official contract and I romanticized this thing of going into this big office and shaking everyone’s hand and all that… Not at all (was it this big romanticized moment). Regardless, it still gave me what I wanted so, it’s okay that my big, romanticized signing of the contract didn’t happen but…” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Last week’s AEW Collision show featured FTR defeating Bullet Club Gold in a Best 2-out-of-3 Falls match to retain their AEW World Tag Team Championship. This match was notable for going almost one hour in length. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood, Juice Robinson, and Jay White all had felt that they did not prepare enough to perform an almost one-hour match but still managed to pull it off in the end. Meltzer reported that AEW officials had considered at one point for the match to take place later in the show due to the original plans meant it would have started at 6PM local time in Calgary. Another reason reportedly was due to FTR and Robinson did not have much prep time for the match due to Robinson arrived only a few hours before the start of the show and FTR were busy with needing to film stuff backstage first.
• As noted before, AEW has sold around 70,000 tickets for their All In event next month at Wembley Stadium in London, England as of earlier this month. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW has distributed around 76,251 tickets with the split being 69,700 paid and the rest as comp as of this past Thursday. Meltzer reported that AEW currently has generated a live gate revenue of around $8.9 million. In terms of paid attendance records, Meltzer reported that AEW’s All In event is currently closing in on WWE’s WrestleMania III paid attendance of 75,700 while the event currently has a very good chance of breaking the all-time attendance record for a paid event currently held by WrestleMania 32 at 80,709.
• Dave Meltzer reported that Kenny Omega’s post-show speech following this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Boston, Massachusetts ended up fueling a lot of speculation regarding Omega and The Young Bucks’ future in AEW. Meltzer reported that Omega stated that Kota Ibushi would be back in AEW and that he would go wherever the rest of The Elite went hinting at them making a decision as a group for the future of their careers. Meltzer reported that Omega’s speech ended up causing some to feel that Omega and the Young Bucks will be staying in AEW while other felt that they will be leaving the company instead once their current contracts expire. In regards to their contracts, Meltzer reported that Omega, the Young Bucks, and Hangman Adam Page are still currently in talks for potential new deals in AEW. Meltzer speculated that based on Omega’s wording and mention of Ibushi’s status, it is likely that at the very least, The Elite will be staying in AEW for the rest of this year.
• As noted before, this past June’s Forbidden Door II event is estimated to have generated a higher amount of pay-per-view buys than last year’s event, which generated around 141,000 buys. Dave Meltzer reported that Forbidden Door II ended up having a strong surge in late buys while its cable television PPV buys ended up being around 1.6% lower than last year’s event. Meltzer reported that this year’s event is currently estimated to have generated a slightly higher buys amount than last year’s event based on the updated data and numbers. Meltzer also reported that the buys from New Japan World for the event are still not known but is likely around 5,000 to 10,000 for additional buys. Meltzer also reported that Forbidden Door II will likely end up just behind AEW’s Revolution 2023 event from this past March for highest buys for an AEW event so far this year.
• As noted before, RUSH’s contract with AEW is currently expected to expire soon. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that besides AEW, WWE is also currently very interested in signing RUSH to a potential contract. Meltzer reported that AEW’s current offer is way higher than anyone is currently making in NXT with the possible exception of Gable Steveson. Meltzer reported that WWE would need to counter with main roster type money just to be in the ballpark of AEW’s current offer.
• RUSH recently praised AEW fans on Twitter for being in his opinion the best wrestling fans in the world. Rush stated “I just want to say that the aew fans are the best in the 🌎 #aew #AEWCollision #AEWDynamite #LFI“
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 6,800 (6,000 paid) for their July 14th Collision show in Calgary, Canada and 9,200 (8,300 paid) for their July 19th Dynamite show in Boston, MA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW reportedly has sold around 2,495 for their July 26th Dynamite show in Albany, NY, 2,608 tickets for their July 29th Collision show in Hartford, CT, 2,809 tickets for their Aug. 2nd Dynamite show in Tampa, FL, 2,813 tickets for their Aug. 5th Collision show in Greenville, SC, 2,413 tickets for their Aug. 9th Dynamite show in Columbus, OH, 3,597 tickets for their Aug. 12th Collision show in Greensboro, NC, 2,793 tickets for their Aug. 16th Dynamite show in Nashville, TN, 2,066 tickets for their Aug. 19th Collision show in Lexington, KY, 2,679 tickets for their Aug. 23rd Dynamite show in Duluth, GA, 2,506 tickets for their Aug. 30th Dynamite show in Chicago, 3,603 tickets for their Sept. 2nd Collision show in Chicago, and 7,621 tickets for their Sept. 3rd All Out 2023 event in Chicago, IL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In a recent interview with Fightful, Willow Nightingale gave her thoughts about winning this year’s Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament. Nightingale stated “Every single step of the tournament, I faced someone that I deeply respect, has experience over me, something that I learned and took away from being able to wrestle them. Had I been in this position last year, I would probably walk into a situation like that with a lot of intimidation and fear. This year, I have a lot more self-confidence, more belief in myself and my abilities. I didn’t walk into those matches thinking, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing? These people are going to crush me.’ I was just like, ‘I got it. I can do it. I will walk into this situation the same way I walk into every single thing and that is with a smile on my face and whatever happens will happen.’ It worked out.” Nightingale also gave her thoughts on if he thought about “stealing” Tony Khan’s special cowboy hat he wore for the post-tournament ceremony. Nightingale stated “I would love it. We were there for Calgary Stampede, there were cowboy hats all over, there were people having a great time. Dr. Martha Hart was having a great time. She was in her sequin. I loved the vibes all around. I’m all about the good vibes. I would tip my hat to that and enjoy it.” Nightingale also gave her thoughts about Martha Hart’s involvement on the post-tournament ceremony. Nightingale stated “She is absolutely a sweetheart. After the show, I had gone and hung out and come back to the hotel, and she was hanging out in the lobby. ‘We have to go say hi to Martha.’ We found ourselves sitting there and talking to her for like an hour, just having a good time. We were like, ‘We have to go to sleep, we all have early flights.’ What a sweetheart. Someone who cares about every single person who has shown appreciation to her and her family, she’ll double it back to you. Even though that was my first time meeting her, it felt very warm and comforting.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• During this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con 2023 event, toys manufacturer Jazwares revealed a new line of Ring of Honor themed action figures featuring The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe), Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Claudio Castagnoli, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), Danhausen, Kenny Omega, and Bryan Danielson.
• During this past Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023 post-show media scrum, ROH owner Tony Khan stated that the preliminary pay-per-view buys for the event were “good” and could potentially end up as the most successful ROH event ever in terms of buys. Khan stated “I think this will end up being one of the most successful shows in the history of ROH. But a large percentage of the most successful shows in ROH’s 21-plus year history have been in the past year that I’ve been owning and running and presenting the company. I think that’s come from having a great roster with AEW and also great relationships and wrestling we’ve been able to tap into, including stuff that Ring of Honor has done well in the past. I think we took it to another level with one of the best main events in ROH and one of the best pay-per-views and certainly, like I said, top stars from New Japan, some top women wrestlers and lucha stars.”
• During the same post-show media scrum, Athena gave her thoughts about the ROH Women’s World Championship main eventing ROH’s Death Before Dishonor 2023 event. Athena stated “I’m just very thrilled right now and it’s very hard for me to articulate things. So, I’m trying not to cry. I’m trying not to be a sad sap. But this meant the world to me. I’ve never gotten a main event in my entire career on a pay-per-view. When Tony approached me a couple weeks ago about, like, “Hey, this is it, we’re giving you the ball,” it meant so much to be given that opportunity because it felt like me and Willow earned something.” Athena also gave her thoughts about the significance of two women of color main eventing a ROH PPV event. Athena stated “I’ve said it before — representation is key, right? When I was starting out on the independent scene, I remember being the only African American woman on every show I was on and they were like, “No, you’re that person. You’re an African American woman on this show.” And it was just a niche thing. And to see how much it’s blossomed, it’s not about race, it’s about your ability and your talent in the ring, it’s awesome. And to be given that platform, not only as an African American woman, as a woman, as a performer, in being able to deliver, that’s what matters. And everyone that’s looking at home, whether you’re black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, I want everyone to take this opportunity and look and say, “I can do it. I can do anything I set my mind to.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

Impact, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

• In a recent virtual fan signing event for Captain’s Corner, former AEW talent Brian Pillman Jr. stated that he has a “huge opportunity” coming for his career. Pillman Jr. stated “It’s a tough business and it’s a long road to the top if you want to rock n roll. Being here today and getting to reminisce about some of the past moments of my career has really cheered me up and put me in a position to where I’m excited for the future. There is a lot to come, I can’t speak on it right now, it’s kind of in the works. I have a huge moment, a huge opportunity coming up in my career to continue making memories, to continue coming up with new gear ideas and sharing my version of pro wrestling with you all. Thank you for supporting me.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that one major sports-related story that is very important to follow in regards to its potential impact to the wrestling industry is Disney’s current attempts at selling minority ownership in ESPN to major sports leagues. This news reportedly comes from CNBC, who reported that ESPN has held recently early talks with the NBA, NFL, and MLB over this plan with the idea that it would give ESPN a “safety net” in regards to sports television contracts spiraling out of control in terms of costs. If successful, ESPN would be able to mitigate some of the costs while guaranteeing premium content from those leagues for their network. This reportedly would also combat the growing serious decline in linear cable television subscribers that negatively impacts the money cable networks are able to receive from television providers and spend for new content. In regards to the potential impact towards the wrestling industry, Meltzer reported “this spells potential disaster for every sport, as well as WWE, AEW and UFC, in attempts to continually get more money each negotiation period. The bottom hasn’t fallen out yet, and may not, but it feels to me this is the most dangerous challenge to this system that has served sports so well and made WWE and UFC into giant companies.”
• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 3,145 for their July 15th G1 Climax 2023 event in Hokkiado, 2,888 for their July 16th G1 Climax 2023 event in Hokkaido, 1,239 for their July 18th G1 Climax 2023 event in Yamagata, and 1,657 for their July 19th G1 Climax 2023 event in Sendai, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Lucha Libre AAA reportedly generated an attendance of 15,386 for their July 15th Triplemania XXXI: Tijuana in Tijuana, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AAA’s Triplemania XXXI: Tijuana event featured a Guerra de Rivalidades Tournament Finals match of Psycho Clown & Sam Adonis vs. L.A. Park & RUSH that ended in a no contest. Following the match, AAA announced that all four competitors will face off in a Mask vs. Hair match at their Triplemania XXI: Mexico City event next month. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it is currently not known if AAA officials decision to hold a Four-way match and include RUSH & LA Park was a late decision made for their Tijuana show. Meltzer reported that the original plan for Guerra de Rivalidades tournament was for RUSH and LA Park to be eliminated in the Finals due to money-related issues. Meltzer reported that while it was originally assumed that the person losing their hair or mask would be the first one to be pinned, this was something AAA Director Dorian Roldan stated in a press conference that would be determined later. Meltzer also reported that Adonis is still likely the person who will lose in the end due to the costs for him cutting his hair would be a lot less than what RUSH is asking for his hair or LA Park is asking for his mask.
• Impact Wrestling reportedly generated an attendance of 1,300 for their July 15th Slammiversary 2023 event in Windsor and 800 for their July 16th Impact tapings in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• In a recent interview with the Under The Ring podcast, Eric Young gave his thoughts about Impact’s current plans to explain how he managed to come back to life for his return to the company at their Slammiversary 2023 event earlier this month. Prior to Young departing from Impact in late 2022, Impact had written him out via him getting killed by Deaner as Deaner’s final step to take over as The Design’s leader. Young stated “We’re definitely going to address how I left IMPACT a couple of months ago, for sure, that will be definitely addressed. Some really cool ideas and some really cool stuff floating around. Obviously, to put a button on that story and move on to whatever’s next is exciting. I love how we did it, and IMPACT gives you that ability to tell a different kind of story. “Those jailhouse/interrogation room vignettes that Eric Tompkins and the production crew at IMPACT Wrestling, David Sahadi, it’s an army of people behind the scenes. Obviously, I’m a huge part of it, too. I think that those are some of my favorite things I’ve ever done in my wrestling career. Very cinematic and very well shot, and very well put together. The story itself was top-of-the-line.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a separate recent interview with Denise Salcedo, Eric Young stated that he will be auctioning off the ring gear he wore at Slammiversary 2023 on Impact’s eBay store with all of the proceeds going towards helping financially assist Joe Dering’s medical costs for his current battle with cancer. Young stated “I know there are tons of guys out there that collect things and love memorabilia. That jacket is an original Steve & Barry’s Team Canada jacket. The new gear will be [auctioned] off on IMPACT Wrestling’s eBay [page]. All the proceeds will go to Joe Doering and his family. He’s got a long road ahead of him, and I know that there’s a GoFundMe for him. So, if you can, donate, and if you’re a collector and you want something, I’m never wearing it again. It’s one-of-a-kind custom-made. If you’re a collector, please buy it. Please donate to Joe. That’s what we’re doing with that stuff.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent episode of the Mark Andrews: My Love Letter to Wrestling podcast, Subculture’s Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews gave their thoughts about their recent RevPro and Impact Tag Team Championships victories. Webster stated “There was a moment on this trip where me and Mark (Andrews) had kind of a conversation about wrestling. I think it’s the first time I’d maybe really confronted it and actually thought about it and I said to Mark — I don’t want to use the term ‘drowning’. When I spoke to people, I don’t like to use the term ‘drowning’ because I was never drowning. My life’s pretty good and stuff like that but, for the first time in wrestling, it felt like I was treading water and I just felt like maybe I didn’t know how long I could keep treading water. I started being a coach outside of that. I was really enjoying it and I thought maybe I’d progress into doing that. But I don’t know how much longer I can just tread water for but, the last few months or as it becomes its own ‘summer of Subculture’ and I feel I’m actually swimming now for the first time in probably about two years, I actually feel like I’m swimming and I’m swimming with conviction, I’m swimming with purpose and swimming with motivation and yeah, I’m just really excited to see what happens next.” Andrews responded stating “It’s crazy, you know? We’re talking to all these champions on this episode (of the podcast) and how much it means to people but it really does mean the world to me because, as you (co-host) said earlier, it’s been a hard year, both good and bad year at times. It’s been lots of ups and downs and at times when I really wasn’t sure what the future held for my career and how much longer I was gonna do it or even how much longer it would be worth doing, you know? So the fact that with the last week or so with the success that we’ve (Subculture) had as a team, winning (RevPro) British Championships and now winning the IMPACT World Team Championships, it really does, I don’t know, remind you that good things come along at different times, you know what I mean? It’s not always gonna be good but if you’re gonna persevere long enough, good things will come. So it has been a real lift for me personally and I’m buzzing, you know? Add another championship to the championship cupboard. To the shelves, you know?” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• Dave Meltzer reported that as of two weeks ago, the current number of homes for select cable television networks featuring wrestling-related content are 33,775,000 for AXS TV (Impact & NJPW), 9,795,000 for BeIN Sports (MLW), 72,378,000 for FS1 (WWE), 71,393,000 for TBS (AEW), 71,275,000 for TNT (AEW), 72,417,000 for USA Network (WWE), and 47,772,000 for VICE. In regards to declines, Meltzer reported that since late 2019, these networks have declined by around 22% for national home coverage in the United States.
• Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre reportedly generated an attendance of over 10,000 for their July 14th for their Atlantis 40th Anniversary event in Mexico City and 2,400 for their July 17th Arena Puebla 70th Anniversary event in Puebla, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 412 for their July 16th Summer North Tour 2023 event in Sapporo, 500 for their July 17th Summer North Tour 2023 event in Sapporo, and 388 for their July 19th Aomori 2 Days In Hirosaki event in Hirosaki, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dragon Gate reportedly generated a paid attendance of 368 for their July 14th King of Gate 2023 event in Nagoya, 312 for their July 15th King of Gate 2023 event in Kyoto, 395 for their July 16th King of Gate 2023 event in Kanazawa, and 420 for their July 17th King of Gate 2023 event in Kasukabe, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Game Changer Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 292 for their July 18th The New Face of War 2023 event in Tokyo and 266 for their July 19th Planet Death 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Sunday’s Peter Pan 2023 event for DDT Pro Wrestling in Tokyo, Japan featured Matt Cardona defeating Tetsuya Endo to be crowned the new DDT Universal Champion. Following the match, Maki Itoh gave a video promo challenging Cardona for his newly won championship. In an interesting note, Cardona came out for his match holding up one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, currently owned by his wife and WWE talent Chelsea Green, for the belts he brought to the show.