Various: Jacob Fatu’s MLW Contract Expired, Moose on Reason for Staying in TNA & Not Signing with WWE or AEW, Indies

Feb 2, 2024

Jacob Fatu’s Contract with MLW Expired & Currently a Free Agent

Jacob Fatu’s contract with Major League Wrestling expired earlier today and he is currently a free agent.

Fatu’s contract expiration was first announced by Fatu’s uncle and WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi on social media.

“JACOB FATU @SAMOANWEREWOLF If you know then you know.
Has been The baddest talented Indy worker on the scene. Its TIME
Who will sign him
@wwe or @aew??
He’s been READY. The @SamoanDynasty1
#LetTheWolfEAT”

JACOB FATU @SAMOANWEREWOLF
If you know then you know .

Has been The baddest talented Indy worker on the scene . Its TIME

Who will sign him @wwe or @aew ??

He’s been READY . The @SamoanDynasty1 🩸☝🏾 #LetTheWolfEAT pic.twitter.com/vh5yuBK631
— RIKISHI FATU (@TheREALRIKISHI) February 2, 2024

Bodyslam.net’s Cassidy Haynes reported that his sources confirmed that Fatu’s contract with MLW has expired and he is currently free to sign a deal with a new company.

Fatu is currently scheduled to make his final appearance for MLW at their SuperFight 2024 event this Saturday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Prior to his departure, Fatu had been with MLW since February of 2019.

Moose Comments on His Decision to Stay in TNA & Not Signing Deal with WWE or AEW

As noted before, Moose signed a new contract with Impact/TNA Wrestling this past June to keep him in the company for the foreseeable future.

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured Moose as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Moose’s thoughts about his decision to stay in TNA and not being interested in signing a deal with WWE or AEW.

“It was a few things. Number one, I’m a very loyal person. And my relationship with Scott D’Amore, honestly, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today if I never met Scott 10-plus years ago. So it’s hard for me to ever say no to him when we’re discussing numbers and what my future would be. Because I feel like in this business, first of all, I played in the NFL for seven-plus years. I’ve made a tonne of money doing that. So money was never something precious to me. I was good with my money. You hear you hear bad stories. Luckily for me, fortunately for me, I did good. I saved a good bit. So money has never been something that rained heavy over my head like, oh, I need money. I’ll stick to Scott for right now for the first reason. My relationship with Scott, playing in the NFL for so long and knowing that that business can be so cutthroat they can really let you go in any second. But my relationship with Scott is, it’s more than just a boss-talent relationship is almost like a big brother little brother. So he’s had to be my coach, be my friend and be my boss. So now I had to think about that.
If I go to AEW, I don’t have a relationship with Tony. So he’s literally just my boss. If I go to WWE, I don’t have a relationship with Hunter. He’s really just my boss. So some of the things that some of the situations I could potentially be in are just a boss talent conversation. Where here in TNA is a friend first, a friend-friend conversation, a big brother little brother with compensation, and then there’s a boss talent compensation. So I had to throw that in, that was a big decision making for me. Number two, because I’ve made money playing over seven years in the NFL money wasn’t a huge burden for me. So going to AEW or going to WWE the money wasn’t attractive. And for me, the guys who know me will tell you everybody loves me, because that’s my goal is to make everybody love me. But some people hate dealing with me, because my greatest gift is also my greatest curse. I take wrestling so seriously, that if I’m gonna go somewhere, I know how good I am as a wrestler.
I know that In my humble opinion, I’m one of a kind. I know what I could do in the ring. I know how I look physically. I know that I could talk on the mic. So if I’m not in a spot that I deserve, I should be. Money is not attractive to me to get me to be happy with where I’m at. I want to play, I don’t want this much money to be on the bench. I want to be on the field. So I had to think about that. And at that point, I don’t know if I was confident enough to make that jump and be the starter. I don’t know that wrestling is one of those things that it doesn’t matter how talented you are. It matters how somebody perceives you. So your control is out of your hands.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Absolute Intense Wrestling recently announced that they have pulled wrestling legend Stan Hansen from their Eye For An Eye event this Saturday in Akron, Ohio due to Hansen currently dealing with an illness.

Beyond Wrestling recently announced that Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale will be making an appearance for the company at their Shamrock Slam event on March 8th in Boston, Massachusetts.

Fightful recently announced that Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander took their Indie Act Of The Year award for their 2023 Fightful Awards.

WrestleCon recently announced that Shazza McKenzie and Nikii Duke will be making an appearance for the company at their WrestleCon 2024 on April 4-7 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Kazuchika Okada filed a trademark for “Kazuchika Okada” for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes on January 29th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

PROGRESS Wrestling recently announced that former Major League Wrestling talent Alex Hammerstone will be making his official debut for the company at their For The Love Of PROGRESS 2 event on March 1st in Manchester, England.

Naomi, former Trinity, recently thanked TNA Wrestling on Twitter for her recent time in the company. Naomi stated “I personally want to thank @ScottDAmore @dlobrown75 @LanceStorm @gailkimITSME @THETOMMYDREAMER for believing in me and pushing me through my fears, knockouts & brothers for accepting me as one of your own. @ThisIsTNA I am better in every way bc of you! I thank with my whole 💚.“

As noted before, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling talent Maki Itoh has been out of action since this past January due to arm numbness-related issues. Itoh recently provided an update on Twitter stating “Update: It’s been about a month since my injury. It’s getting better! Maybe a little more? Lately I’ve been watching South Park to study English. And I fell in love with Butters. Sorry for all the maki itoh simps!“

Game Changer Wrestling announced that Maki Itoh will be making her official in-ring return from arm numbness injury at their March 1st event in St. Louis, Missouri. It was also announced that Itoh will also be making appearances at their March 2nd event in Indianapolis, Indiana and their March 9-10 events in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

National Wrestling Alliance commentator Joe Galli recently announced on Twitter that he and his wife are currently expecting the birth of a new child for their family.

NWA recently announced three matches for their NWA Powerrr show on February 6th on The CW App:

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship The Ultimate Match of Death – Matt Cardona vs. EC3 (c)
NWA World Women’s Championship – Tiffany Nieves vs. Kenzie Paige (c)
NWA World Tag Team Championships – Jax Dane & Tim Storm vs. Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) (w/ Aron Stevens)

TNA Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their No Surrender 2024 event on February 23rd in New Orleans, Louisiana:

TNA World Championship – Alex Shelley vs. Moose (c)
TNA Knockouts World Championship – Gisele Shaw vs. Jordynne Grace (c)

House of Glory recently announced one new match for the card of their co-promoted Wrestling Revolver x HOG event on April 5th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

Revolver World Championship & HOG Heavyweight Championship, Title vs. Title match – Mike Santana (HOG) vs. Alex Shelley (Revolver)