Weekend Roundup: Afa Anoa’i Health Update, WWE’s Lee Fitting Given Emmys Ban, Megan Bayne Stardom Update, CJ Perry, TNA News, Kazuchika Okada, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Jan 14, 2024

WWE

This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,270,000 viewers on FOX, according to TVSeriesFinale.
In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Natayla gave her thoughts about her training with Jade Cargill. Natayla stated “With Jade, she said, ‘Hey, I would love to come and work with you.’ I was like, Oh my God, I would love that.’ When she came to the Dungeon, I absolutely love working with new women that come into WWE, it makes me so excited. I love her enthusiasm. I love how excited she is about jumping into this. I know she’s gone through a lot, her mom just passed away recently, so it’s a very hard time for her in her life. To give somebody that diversion and say, hey, in the near two decades of being in WWE for [TJ and myself], ‘Let’s all work together.’ I do believe we get stronger together and I’m excited about working with her in WWE. When I think about the people I’ve worked with at the beginning of their careers, I was one of Charlotte’s first big rivalries. I had the match with Charlotte at TakeOver 2014 and it’s one of my proudest moments in my career. Sometimes, you need somebody to believe in you. I believe in Jade, I think she’s going to be awesome. 2024, the way the women are being used right now, and the track we’re about to be on for 2024, starting with the Royal Rumble, we’re going to see a whole new era of women’s wrestling that is going to blow everybody away.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
WWE referee Jason Ayers recently announced on Instagram that he suffered a broken leg injury and will be out of action for WWE for at least the next couple of months.
This past Friday’s SmackDown show in Lincoln, Nebraska featured WWE teasing Butch will be changing his name back to Pete Dunne. During the show, Butch and Tyler Bate were seen talking in a cafe. Bate said that he knows Butch is lost and trying to find his identity now that that Brawling Brutes are no more. Bate also stated that he can help and if Butch wanted to make a name for himself, then he needs to look inward and ask himself what that name is going to be.
WWE held one dark mark prior to the start of this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Lincoln. This was a singles match of Gable Steveson defeating Cedric Alexander.
As noted before, WWE Hall of Famer Afa The Wild Samoan, real name Afa Anoa’i, has been hospitalized since this past Thursday due to him suffering from pneumonia and two heart attacks. Afa’s wrestling promotion WXW Wrestling announced earlier today on Twitter that Afa will be returning home today. It was stated “It’s been a harrowing few days, but our beloved Pops, #WWE Hall of Famer Afa the Wild Samoan, is coming home from the hospital today! He battles pneumonia and two mild heart attacks, but in his own words: ‘I kicked out at 1!’“
WWE recently announced that CM Punk will be making an appearance at their Elimination Chamber: Perth 2024 event on February 24th in Perth, Australia.
Bloomberg reported that TKO Group’s stock was recently given a “non-buy” rating recommendation by stock analyst TD Cowen. It was reported that this was the first time that TKO Group’s stock was given this negative rating since the stock’s debut. It was also reported that the reason for Cowen’s non-buy recommendation is due to his concerns over TKO Group’s current antitrust litigation issues and his belief that their upcoming media rights renewals are already “over-indexed to US media rights”.
In a recent interview with The Kurt Angle Show podcast, former WWE talent Matt Riddle claimed that he was set to make $1 million per year on his WWE deal prior to his release from the company this past September. Riddle stated “I think that definitely didn’t help things (Riddle responded when asked if WWE-UFC merger sped up his release). I know me and Dana White don’t have the greatest relationship and I know he’s definitely a big part of that and yeah, it definitely played a part. Also, I know they were making budget cuts regardless and I was getting paid quite a pretty penny. I don’t know if it was right before RK-Bro or right after, (John) Laurinaitis pulled me into the office and I thought I was in trouble. I was like, ‘Aww.’ You know, I didn’t get my vaccine yet and I was like, ‘Oh man…’ And went in there, like, ‘Hey, we want to give you a raise’ and they gave me a substantial raise and it increased every year and this year, I was gonna get paid a million a year. I was at 750, and I mean last year, I cleared my bucket. I did extremely well, so, I think that was a big contributing factor. I was gonna get paid a million dollars starting next year but I also think the merger didn’t help and then also, my behavior didn’t help either and I ruffled some feathers with H.R. in the last couple of months. I was asked a couple questions and this, that, plus other things so, I think there was multiple reasons why they got rid of me but, it is what it is. One door shuts, another door opens and you just learn from your mistakes and stuff. I don’t know.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
In a recent episode of the Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore podcast, co-host Booker T stated that he is currently working on a movie script for a film based on his life and wrestling career. Booker T stated “Not working on any books, but we are working on a movie script, based on my life and story in general. Hopefully, we’ll get that done sometime soon in 2024. That’s the next big project for Booker T, and hopefully, we’ll make that come to fruition real soon. [A book] is something I think about because I’m in a different phase in my life. I had a great wrestling career, but now I’m a promoter and booker. Being able to see life from this perspective, being one of the few black promoters in this business. One of the few black wrestling business owners. I think I have a whole lot to tell as far as how did I get here and, more importantly, what it took to stay at this level.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 13,151 (12,000 paid) for their Jan. 5th SmackDown show in Vancouver, Canada, 4,885 for their Jan. 6th house show event in Spokane, WA, 3,101 for their Jan. 7th house show event in Wenatchee, WA, and 10,204 (9,300 paid) for their Jan. 8th RAW show in Portland, Oregon, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 41,762 tickets for their Feb. 24th Elimination Chamber: Perth 2024 event in Burswood, Australia as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Simon Inoki is one of the key people involved in the dealings between WWE and AJPW for their current working partnership.
TKO Group recently announced that they have hired Seth Krauss to be the their new Chief Legal and Administrative Officer.
In a recent interview with CagesideSeats.com, Bayley gave her thoughts about her remaining career goals in WWE. Bayley stated “There’s so much I wanna do for the wrestling world. Of course there are other places that I can do that and give what I have, but to me, the dream from when I was 10 years old was to do [‘this’ several times over] and all with WWE. I haven’t done all those things. I don’t wanna walk away without doing the things that I said I was gonna do, or at least giving 150% of me trying to get those things done. Everybody knows that when you win the Royal Rumble, you get to point at the sign and the fireworks go off. That’s the stuff you dream about. I’m excited to feel that. I wanna feel that and I wanna get that singles match at WrestleMania.“
WWE filed a trademark for “Dragon Lee” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on January 10th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In an interesting note, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Dragon Lee had filed a trademark on his ring name in October of 2023 and this term has already been registered and owned by Heroes of Lucha Libre, Twolaheads Entertainment since 2019.
As noted before, longtime WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn departed earlier this month and WWE recently hired Lee Fitting to be Dunn’s successor as their new Head of Media and Production. The Athletic reported that Fitting was recently banned by The Emmys for future awards considerations following his involvement in a years long scandal at ESPN that revolved around falsely won awards using fake names for entries. It was reported that ESPN had been insertign fake names in Emmy entries taking the awards won by some of those fake ESPN individuals and having the awards re-engraved with real names before giving them to on-air personalities. It was reported that this tactic allowed for those working on ESPN’s College GameDay series to be recognized despite them not being eligible for inclusion in a credit list until 2023. ESPN reportedly had changed the names of several of the series hosts and labeled them as afffliate producers with Kirk Herbstreit being called “Kirk Henry” and Lee Corso as “Lee Clark” among the fake names used by ESPN. It was also reported that the National Academy of Television & Sciences had contacted ESPN in 2022 to verify the names they gave which led to ESPN admitting to their scandal. It was reported that Fitting was given the ban by the Emmys as part of the punishments that were handed out to ESPN.
Wrestlenomics reported that WWE’s average attendance for their SmackDown shows were up 28%, RAW shows were up 20%, and house shows events were up 39% for this past quarter compared to the same quarter in 2022. WWE reportedly generated an average attendance of 10,400 per SmackDown show, 8,800 per RAW show, and 6,000 per house show event during the past quarter.

AEW & ROH

As noted before, Stardom and indies talent Megan Bayne has been signed to an official contract with AEW since early 2023. Stardom CEO and head booker Rossy Ogawa announced earlier today on Twitter that Megan Bayne’s final match for Stardom will be taking place on January 21st.
As noted before, CJ Perry hospitalized for a second time this past Wednesday over complications from surgery she underwent this past December for an infection on her finger that spread to her arm. Perry provided an update earlier today on Twitter stating that the reason for her being hospitalized for a second time was due to she had suffered a relapse with a MRSA infection because the antibiotics she was taking to fight the infection. Perry stated that her surgeon had dug scabs and flesh and pus and skin out of her infected finger but noticed that there was more blood which meant she was trending in the right direction for her healing. Perry also stated that she will be going back to her surgeon on almost a daily basis so that they can evaluate her wound and ensure that her antibiotics are working properly. Perry also thanked everyone for the support they have shown towards during her ordeal.
PAC reportedly was in attendance backstage at Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Norfolk, Virginia, according to PWInsider. Besides PAC, Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that former WWE and Impact referee Earl Hebner, former Jim Crockett Promotions videographer George Pantas, and Elijah Burke were also backstage at AEW’s Collision show.
In a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about WWE Executive Director and Chief of Global Television Kevin Dunn’s recent departure from WWE. Ross stated “Kevin Dunn recently retired after a phenomenal run. Nobody in pro wrestling TV has ever had the run that Kevin Dunn accomplished there at WWE. He was a vital part of the growth of the company. Smart guy, a survivor for sure and yeah, he was one of Vince’s right-hand guys. Vince (McMahon) used to tell Kevin Dunn and I in our little management meetings, between the three of us that, ‘I got my two key guys here. Talent and television.’ Pro wrestling is about talent and television. So I was handling the talent side and Kevin was handling the TV side…” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
In a recent interview with the AEW Unrestricted podcast, AEW coach Scott Garland, former Scotty 2 Hotty in WWE, gave his thoughts about his coaching and producing philosophy towards talent. Garland stated “Coaching and producing, I always say the biggest part of it is creating relationships with your talent. You can’t start giving critiques or advice until you can, but I think you need that relationship first, you need their trust. You need them to realize that you’re not just some old guy going, ‘You can’t do that because that’s not how we used to do it’, and talking to them that way. You have to have that relationship and let them realize or make them realize that we’re all striving for the same goals and that’s to get bigger and better.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with the ESPR podcast, Eddie Kingston gave his thoughts about wrestling fans who are openly rooting for WWE or AEW to close down. Kingston stated “I understand it because when I was a fan, I was all about ECW and screw everybody else, but I never said I want a place to close. To me, when you sit there and say ‘I hope AEW closes’ or ‘I hope WWE closes’ or whatever, to me, you’re a nasty human being because people are losing their jobs. People with families are losing their jobs. This has nothing to do with tribalism, this is you being nasty and not understanding what life is about. To me, that’s wrong. I’m a Yankee fan, but I don’t hope the Red Sox players get hurt or injured. People are like, ‘You talk crap about WWE.’ Yeah, just like I talk crap about the Boston Red Sox. AEW is my team, the Yankees are my team, the Giants are my team. The Giants, this year, were not good, but I’ll sit there and say, screw the Cowboys, screw the Eagles, even though they are in the playoffs and doing their thing. Still, as a Giants fan, I’m going to say that. Just like I’m a fan of AEW, I’m going to say everybody else sucks, even though it’s not true. Just like people in WWE will say AEW sucks and they are the best. You stick with your team and that’s it. I don’t want [any company] to close because I have a couple people who I consider friends over at WWE and I don’t want them to lose their jobs. They have a wife and kids. I want them to feed their families. Those guys don’t want me to lose a job. These fans don’t get there. We’re all pulling for each other. We want everybody to eat, but we want our people to eat first and eat more, that’s it, but everyone can eat.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent episode of the What Happened When with Tony Schiavone podcast, AEW commentator and co-host Tony Schiavone gave his thoughts about his feeling that Eddie Kingston’s Continental Classic tournament victory at AEW’s Worlds End event was one of the great feel-good stories in wrestling. Schiavone stated “Eddie’s one of my favorites. When I think about all the different guys that I’ve worked with, Eddie’s one of those real guys that what you see is kind of what you get on TV. So I have a lot of time for Eddie Kingston. I’m so glad. When he first came aboard, I didn’t know anything about him because I had been out of wrestling, and you said, ‘I’m so glad Eddie Kingston is getting a chance with a major promotion.’ He continues just to perform well. His match against Jon Moxley was tremendous. His match against Trent Beretta the other night was very good. He gives you good performances every time. Never disappointed with Eddie Kingston in the ring.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 3,802 for their Jan. 6th Collision show in Charlotte, NC and 3,008 for their Jan. 10th Dynamite Homecoming 2024 show at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 15,314 tickets for their March 3rd Revolution 2024 event in Greensboro, NC as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, AEW is currently estimated to have generated around 134,000 pay-per-view buys for this past December’s Worlds End event. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Worlds End is now currently estimated to have generated around 135,000 PPV buys based on updated numbers and estimates. Meltzer reported that Worlds End’s cable PPV buys is currently around 4.4% higher than this past November’s Full Gear 2023 based on late purchases numbers. Meltzer also reported that Worlds End’s international PPV buys were very down compared to Full Gear 2023 but this was due to AEW had offered a package deal for their Big 5 PPV events earlier in the year which Worlds End was not included. Meltzer reported that this was the reason why AEW’s buys from the U.S. were much higher than usual for their Worlds End event.
Wrestlenomics reported that AEW’s average attendance for their Dynamite shows for this past quarter was up 5% compared to the same quarter in 2022. Dynamite reportedly averaged an attendance of around 4,500 per show for this past quarter. In regards to Collision, it was reported that Collision averaged an attendance of around 3,400 per show for the past quarter.
In a recent response to Konosuke Takeshita, Sting stated on Twitter that he currently feels that Takeshita can become the next The Great Muta type star in wrestling. Takeshita stated “To be honest, it was very special to be able to fight against Sting. Sting vs Great Muta VHS had a huge impact on me as a kid. Thanks. Then…Who should I target next?” Sting responded stating “Another Great Muta in the making. He has all the tools, for sure.“
In a recent interview with the Wrestling with Rip Rodgers podcast, The Outrunners denied rumors of them being currently signed to AEW. Turbo Floyd stated “We heard the rumor. Mark Henry came on here and said we were signed two months after our debut there, which was a couple of years ago. I wish somebody informed me. No, we are not at the moment. We saw him the next week in Texas, and he came up to us and said, ‘I’m sorry, I thought you guys were signed.’ He has been going to bat for us each and every time we’ve been there. We talk to him all the time. He’s a great guy. He goes to bat for us a lot.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

TNA Wrestling recently released a behind-the-scenes video of their Final Resolution 2023 event, which was the final event held under their Impact Wrestling banner.
Ace Steel reportedly worked as a backstage producer at TNA’s Hard To Kill 2024 event on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to PWInsider.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that TNA’s Hard To Kill 2024 event drew the largest live gate for the company in about a decade. Johnson reported that the event’s attendance was one of the largest ever in many years for the promotion.
Mercedes Mone and WWE talent Bayley were in attendance at Saturday’s TNA Hard To Kill 2024 event. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Mone attending the event is not meant to be any sort of sign of talks between the two sides for a potential deal and instead her and Bayley visited the show to support Trinity.
TNA announced that Nic Nemeth’s official in-ring debut will be taking place at tonight’s Snake Eyes Impact! television tapings in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was announced that Nemeth will be facing off against Zachary Wentz in a singles match at the event.
As noted before, TNA announced on Saturday that they had recently signed Xia Brookside to an official contract with the company. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Brookside and TNA officials had been in talks for a potential deal dating back to this past November. It was reported that Brookside’s contract is for three years in length.
Former Major League Wrestling talent Alex Hammerstone made his official debut for TNA at their Hard To Kill 2024 event on Saturday in Las Vegas. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that while Hammerstone worked that event for TNA, it is currently not known if he has been signed to a full-time deal with the company but there have been recent talks between the two sides for a potential deal.
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced two official matches for the card of their Windy City Riot 2024 event on April 12th in Chicago, Illinois. The first match announced was a singles match of Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali. The second match announced was an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match of Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito (c).
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Drilla Moloney’s contract with NJPW recently expired. It was reported that it is currently not known if Moloney is in active talks with NJPW for a potential new deal.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 2,910 for their Jan. 5th New Year Dash 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Kazuchika Okada’s contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling is currently set to expire at the end of this month. Dave Meltzer reported that Okada is currently booked for multiple shows beyond the expiration date of his contract which could be a strong indication of Okada is deciding to stay in NJPW and work a full-time schedule for the company instead of just working one big show match. Meltzer reported that it is currently not known if Okada has signed a new deal with NJPW.
Kazuchika Okada filed a trademark for “Rainmaker” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on January 12th to the USPTO.
In a recent interview with Fightful’s In The Weeds podcast, TNA and NJPW talent KUSHIDA gave his thoughts about if a return to NJPW is on the horizon for him. KUSHIDA stated “I always miss Japan. I would like to compete in Japan, but I haven’t had many offers. I think I can do a lot of things with Kevin Knight in both the junior and heavyweight tag divisions.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with the Stories with Briscoe & Bradshaw podcast, ECW legend Sabu stated that he is currently preparing to have his final match of his wrestling career. Sabu stated “I’m hopefully setting up for my final match. I want to do a final match maybe in July or later… It’s probably going to be against Van Dam. I heard Van Dam say something that he wanted to have a barbed wire match for my last match. I said I would rather have a regular match. I want to have one of my better matches. The barbed wire match is a gimmick. The gimmick is my final match. That’s the gimmick.” (Transcript h/t: WrestlingNews.co)
As noted before, Ohio Valley Wrestling recently hired Mickie James as their new Creative Director, Head of Female Talent Relations, and Executive Producer. In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, James gave her thoughts about her hiring and new roles in OVW. James stated “I have to say, the love from it and response from it has been all amazing (to my new roles at OVW) so I hope to be able to deliver to somewhat justify the love I guess. I’m really excited though. I’ve been wanting a way to kind of step behind the scenes and learn more in that capacity and really try to build and do something with, you know, women’s wrestling specifically and I think that they have a whole division there, there’s a lot of opportunities and you saw Mick Foley there. He was there at the pay-per-view and the last television tapings and he’s coming in and I think that… I even said it. I was there last Thursday for TV and I was looking at the talent in the stands and I go, ‘I was sitting in those very stands. I was in your very shoes’ and I think there’s a lot of history with myself but with a lot of people in those four walls and I think all of us want OVW to win and I think that they have a lot of opportunities there and I’m just excited. I’m excited dude.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
National Wrestling Alliance talent “Da Pope” Elijah Burke recently announced on Instagram that he will be holding an eight-man inaugural Shad Gaspard Memorial Cup tournament on April 20th. Burke also announced that this tournament will be held in conjunction with the Love Alive Charity and he was given permission by Gaspard’s widow Siliana for it.
The CubsFan reported that Informa held a recent interview with Tessa Blanchard. It was reported that during the interview, Blanchard had stated that while she is currently only coming from the United States for tours for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, she is currently open to the idea of moving to Mexico and working full-time for the company.
CMLL reportedly drew an attendance of over 8,000 for their Jan. 5th Super Viernes show in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 800 for their Jan. 6th New Year Stars 2024 In Korakuen Hall event in Tokyo, 511 for their Jan. 7th New Year Stars 2024 In Nagoya event in Nagoya, and 274 for their Jan. 8th New Year Stars 2024 In Anjo event in Anjo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dragon Gate reportedly drew a paid attendance of 879 for their Jan. 7th Open The New Year Gate 2024 event in Osaka and 1,485 for their Jan. 10th Open The New Year Gate 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of Jan. 5 to Jan. 11, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 2,465,000 viewers, 0.67 rating (prior week – 1,355,000 viewers, 0.28 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,461,000 viewers, 0.44 rating (prior week – 1,751,000 viewers, 0.60 rating)
WWE NXT – 722,000 viewers, 0.21 rating (prior week – 768,000 viewers, 0.25 rating)
AEW Rampage – 406,000 viewers, 0.14 rating (prior week – 326,000 viewers, 0.11 rating)
AEW Collision – 402,000 viewers, 0.13 rating (prior week – N/A)
AEW Dynamite – 797,000 viewers, 0.29 rating (prior week – 801,000 viewers, 0.26 rating)
Impact Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – N/A)
NJPW on AXS TV – N/A (prior week – N/A)
Various (DSotR, WWE on A&E, etc) – N/A

Total viewership in terms of overall tally for the week: 6,253,000 viewers, up 1,252,000 viewers compared to prior week’s 5,001,000 viewers***.

*** AEW did not hold a Collision show on December 30, 2023 due to their Worlds End pay-per-view event taking place on the same date and time slot.