Weekend Roundup: Triple H on Goldberg Potentially Wrestling Again, Drew McIntyre & Braun Strowman Confirm Injuries, AEW’s New WBD Media Right Deal & FOX Talks Update, Swerve Strickland, Will Ospresay, Eric Young, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Oct 6, 2024

WWE

During Saturday’s WWE Bad Blood 2024 post-show press conference, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque gave his thoughts about the possibility of WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg wrestling again in the future. Levesque’s question was in response to Goldberg making an appearance in the crowd and later being involved in an angle with Gunther during the show. Levesque stated “Atlanta loves Bill Goldberg and that’s why he was here tonight with his wife and his son. Always going to get a huge reaction enjoying the show. Things get said. I can tell you when Bill came back, he was not too happy with Gunther. We’ll see. The further you go, time catches up with all of us, right? The further you go, those talks get further and further away from reality. I saw Bill earlier in the day and it was great. I saw Bill later in the day and there was a different look on his face with a spark in his eye. I would say never say never.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Saturday’s WWE Bad Blood 2024 post-show press conference also featured WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque providing an update on RAW’s runtime format plans for the show’s move to Netflix in January of 2025. Levesque stated “When I find out, I’ll let you know. In this moment, where Raw goes down to two hours, what does that do for us? It’s an hour less show. If you would have asked me a few years ago, three hours was just, the difference between two and three is night and day. I can’t even express how different it is. Now, we’re in a place where we’re doing a three hour show and it’s going to drop to two. It’s a different way of looking at it and it’s a little bit of stress because it’s less. I think sometimes less is more and that’s going to be a good thing. When we get to Netflix, we’re still working through all that. The truth is, you guys will have to watch and see, and I’m going to wait and see. No matter what the length of time is, it’s about putting out the best product we can and telling the best stories we can. At the end of the day, it’s about telling stories. We get caught up in two hours or three hours, the movie is the movie. When the movie is over, it was either really good or not good or too long or too short. We’re just making a movie three times a week with more to come. I approach it in that manner. Let’s write the best stories and we’ll try to figure out how to jam it into whatever time slot we have available.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Saturday’s WWE Bad Blood 2024 post-show press conference also featured WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque stating that Bad Blood 2024 broke the all-time record for largest gate for a domestic WWE arena event in WWE history. Levesque had stated during the show that the event drew an attendance of 16,092 and had broken the all-time gate record for a WWE arena event before later clarifying it had only broken WWE’s domestic record.
Following Saturday’s WWE Bad Blood 2024 event, Cody Rhodes gave a live speech to the crowd teasing the potential of a future WrestleMania event taking place in Atlanta.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Drew McIntyre needed 16 staples to close his head wound that he suffered during his Hell in a Cell match against CM Punk at Saturday’s WWE Bad Blood 2024 event. Johnson reported that McIntyre was stated to have been legitimately busted open after CM Punk struck him in the head with a metal tool box during their match. McIntyre confirmed on Twitter on Sunday that he did suffer a legitimate head injury and posted photos of his head wound and staples to close his wound.
This past Tuesday’s NXT premiere show on The CW in Rosemont, Illinois featured Cora Jade making her surprise return to WWE’s NXT brand. Jade reflected on Sunday on Twitter about her recent return from a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus injuries. Jade stated “A little over 8 months ago I tore my ACL, MCL, & both parts of my meniscus. Whether it’s 5 minutes after surgery or 8 months, it’s all I think about. None of you want it more than me. See you in St Louis #WWENXT“
Braun Strowman recently confirmed on Instagram that he suffered a torn groin injury near the end of his Last Monster Standing match with Bronson Reed at this past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Evansville, Indiana. Strowman stated “After waiting a few days to see how this was gonna end up. This is where we’re at!! Tore my Groin 2 minutes into the Last Monster Standing Match last week on #Raw and pained my way through that son of a bitch. To yet again reminded the world I am The #MonsterOfAllMonsters“
In a recent Fanatics Live signing event (via UpUpDownDown), Big E teased that he is currently working on project for Netflix that is scheduled to be released in 2025. Big E stated “Watch out for a little something that I might be involved with on Netflix. I can’t really give more details. Sometimes, they just give you a little crumb. This is a whole meal. It’s a whole meal. Yeah, and it might be multiple meals. So we got something cooking. Half of it was already recorded, about to record the other half very, very soon in a couple of weeks and I think top of next year, look out for it. Lot of Netflix, look out for it. Coming full force! To Netflix.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
WWE announced one new segment for the card of this Monday’s WWE RAW show in St. Louis, Missouri. This was a Seth Rollins appearance and promo segment.
WWE filed trademarks for “Acknowledge Me,” “You Can’t See Me,” “Never Give Up,” and “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on October 4th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
WWE also filed a trademark for “OTC” for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes on October 5th to the USPTO. This is Roman Reigns’ current nickname and short for “Original Tribal Chief” in WWE.
Saturday’s WWE Speed show on Twitter featured Candice LeRae defeating Kairi Sane in a Semifinal Round match for WWE’s inaugural WWE Speed Women’s Championship tournament. LeRae will be facing off against IYO SKY in the Finals of the inaugural WWE Speed Women’s Championship tournament that was taped on October 4th in Nashville, Tennessee.
Fightful Select reported that their sources confirmed that WWE RAW will be getting a makeover for their upcoming premiere show on Netflix on January 6, 2025. It was reported that these new changes includes a new logo and updated production for the show.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported the top merchandise sellers on WWEShop this past September in order were Jey Uso, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Steve Austin, Rhea Ripley, Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt. In regards to specific items, the top sellers in order reportedly were Reigns black “OTC” T-shirt, Terror Twins black T-shirt, Cena Farewell Tour red T-shirt, Rhodes replica entrance jacket, Reigns black “OTC” hoodie, Jey Uso “Yeet” white shirt, Uso “Yeet” pink shirt, Uso “Yeet” black shirt, Punk “Best in the World” shirt, and Knight “Crossing the Delaware” black shirt.
In a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about not being interviewed for the production of Netflix’s Mr. McMahon docuseries. Ross stated “When I heard about it being made, I suspected my agent Barry Bloom would have something in that space. They never approached us. Bill Simmons’s crew never approached us. I’m not sure I would have done it anyway. It depends on what they were looking for. I’ve got everything they would be looking for. Sensationalism, all these things. Working for Vince was an adventure. Following him around was a sprint. I would have had to think about it, but nonetheless, I never got a call on it to see if I was interested.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
WWE recently released one new video to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. This new video was a “Rey Mysterio’s breakout match at age 19: From the WWE Vault.”
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that based on current updated data, around 9.5% of WWE’s total roster is currently out of action with injuries. In regards to those injured but currently working their way towards a return, Meltzer did not count those people as being injured for his research purposes.
WWE reportedly drew an attendance of 8,196 for their Sept. 27th SmackDown show in Orlando, FL, 5,317 for their Sept. 28th house show event in Columbus, GA, 5,492 for their Sept. 29th house show event in Huntsville, AL, 6,574 for their Sept. 30th RAW show in Evansville, IN, and 7,089 for their Oct. 1st NXT show in Rosemont, IL, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE reportedly has sold around 1,467 tickets for their Oct. 8th NXT show in Chesterfield, MO as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

AEW & ROH

Righteous Reg announced that Swerve Strickland topped this year’s Black Wrecellence 500 List. The top 10 in order were Strickland, Willow Nightingale, Athena, Mercedes Mone, Michael Oku, Myron Reed, Darius Carter, Suge D, Oba Femi, and Calvin Tankman.
As noted before, AEW recently signed a new media rights deal with Warner Bros Discovery that is worth around $185 million per year for the first three years and includes an option fourth year. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the $180 million AEW will be receiving from WBD for just 2025 for their new deal is $5 million more than they received combined from the four years combined (2020-2023) they received from their current deal.
In regards to AEW’s talks with FOX for a potential separate new media rights deal, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources confirmed that either Tuesday or Thursday would be the weekly date for a new AEW show on FOX if such a deal gets finalized.
In regards to the $150 million per year amount that had been initially reported by Variety for AEW’s new media rights deal with WBD, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that the reason for the variance in monetary figures reported by Variety and others is likely due to the extra $35 million is not in cash. Thurston stated “I believe some portion of the $35 million difference between $185 million AAV and the originally reported $150 million is not cash, possibly having to do with WBD’s minority equity stake in AEW and/or other in-kind values WBD will give to AEW throughout the term of the deal. Equity by its nature — like stock in any company — has speculative value; the share prices in public companies, for example, change by the minute. So various reports might be taking for granted different values in the equity of AEW.“
DC Comics’ recently released Batman #153 comic book contained a feature on Swerve Strickland with references to his military upbringing, his time in Lucha Underground, and championship reigns.
As noted before, Costco Guys AJ and Big Justice recently revealed that they had signed a contract with AEW that included AJ competing in one match in AEW. AEW recently released a video featuring QT Marshall officially challenging AJ to a match in the future.
In a recent interview with Fightful, Britt Baker gave her thoughts about her return to AEW this past June from her lengthy absence due to a mini-stroke health issue. Baker stated “I was about to throw up. I told Tony, ‘I’m going to throw up.’ I was in Gorilla and he’s like, ‘Why?’ ‘I don’t think they are going to care.’ He’s like, ‘That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.’ I was really concerned and nervous that the fans were not going to care at all. I think that is anybody’s fear when you’re gone for so long, what feels like an eternity. For a lot of fans, our sense of time and their sense of time is very different. Every week you’re at home feels like a year. For them, it flys by. It was one of the most nervous moments I’ve ever (had) because I had no control. It wasn’t a match that I could contribute to or make worth or have a great spot or shitty spot. I had no control. All I was doing was walking out. It’s not a promo where I could twist and turn the words to make it one way or another, just walking out. What more could you do except hope and pray that fans remember you, miss you, and give a shit.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Will Ospreay recently reflected on Twitter about the positive and negative reactions from fans over his match with Ricochet for the AEW International Championship at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite 5 Year Anniversary Show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ospreay stated “Man 8 years on and it still sparks emotion out of you guys. I appreciate the love & hate. It’s all criticism to take on board to help grow us as performers. But I think more is to come. @AEW | #AEW5YearAnniversary“
In a recent interview with the Gabby AF podcast, QT Marshall gave his thoughts about recent comments made by former AEW talent Mark Henry claiming that someone had told him in AEW that Marshall had called him “stupid” during his time in the company. Marshall stated “So speaking of Mark Henry, he said I called him stupid. I don’t know where. I read it somewhere and I was like… Yeah (recently), and he said, ‘The reason I didn’t care is because I didn’t believe it was true’ and I’m thinking in my head, like… I like Mark a lot and to the point where, like I did with Paul Wight, I actually thought of ideas to get Mark back in the ring, and I’m big on, ‘This will be easy. We’ll have fun.’ Plus, I can tell when people still want that one more match and I wanna give it to them. Costco Guy, right? So basically, I read something that he was talking about the behind the scenes and then he said, ‘And one time, Q.T. –’ and I just wanna say, Mark, I don’t remember saying that but he did say whoever told him would take a bullet for him. So, I wish when he heard that, he would have brought me in a room with the other person and sat us down, as uncomfortable as that would have been because one, I would have admitted to it or the other person would’ve had to admit that they’re lying. Misconstrued something or whatever it is but Mark, if you’re listening, I don’t remember calling you that. I don’t know why I would say that. He’s super talented, right?… I was gonna text him but then I was like, ah, it’s just opening up for what?” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that based on updated DVR viewership data for wrestling television shows, AEW current live viewership averages for their shows are 65% for Dynamite, 65% for Collision, and 61% for Rampage. For some comparisons, Meltzer reported that WWE’s RAW averages around 68% for live viewership per show. Meltzer also reported that AEW’s average per show for DVR+3 viewership grows by 13.6% for Dynamite, 25% for Collision, and 28.2% for Rampage. These numbers reportedly grow to around 18% for Dynamite, 33% for Collision, and 38% for Rampage when factoring in DVR+4 viewership.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that the top merchandise sellers on AEWShop this past September in order were AEW, Will Ospreay, The Outrunners, Hangman Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, Mariah May, Jamie Hayter, The Conglomeration, and Rob Schamberger. In regards to specific items, the top sellers in order reportedly were Ospreay “Aerial Assassin Assassin’s Creed Shadow x AEW” black shirt, Ospreay “Billy Goat FC” jersey, Outrunners “Miami Muscle” shirt, Outrunners “Meat Spin” shirt, Hayter Micro-Brawler, AEW T-shirt, Ospreay “Aerial Assassin Assassin’s Creed Shadow x AEW” white shirt, Allin transplant shirt, Hikaru Shida “Ace of the Division” shirt, and Page “House on Fire” shirt.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that based on current updated data, around 10% of AEW’s total roster is currently out of action with injuries. Similar to his breakdown of WWE’s roster, Meltzer did not count those who are injured but are currently working their way towards a return as being injured for his research purposes.
AEW reportedly drew an attendance of 4,425 for their Oct. 2nd Dynamite show in Pittsburgh, PA, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer issued a correction in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter stating that AEW had actually drawn an attendance of 2,640 for their Sept. 21st Collision show in Springfield, MA and 8,834 for their Sept. 25th Dynamite Grand Slam 2024 and Collision Grand Slam 2024 shows at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY.
AEW reportedly has sold around 5,989 tickets for their Oct. 12th WrestleDream 2024 event in Tacoma, WA as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

TNA, NJPW, Indies, & Misc. Wrestling

Sunday’s GLEAT Ver. Mega event for GLEAT in Osaka, Japan featured The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) defeating Black Generation International (Kaito Ishida & Tetsuya Izuchi) to become the new G-Infinity Tag Team Champions.
Saturday’s Nagoya Golden Fight 2924 event in Nagoya, Japan featured Mayu Iwatani defeating “Timeless” Toni Storm to retain the IWGP Women’s Championship.
Stardom reportedly drew a paid attendance of 1,176 for their Sept. 28th event in Tokyo, 326 for their Sept. 29th New Blood 15 event in Saitama, and 844 for their Oct. 2nd Nighter in Korakuen in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling recently announced that Haruna Neko will be making her in-ring return to the company at their October 27th event in Sumida, Japan. This will be Neko’s first match since September of 2023 due to a torn ACL injury.
In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Eric Young gave his thoughts about his favorite match of his career since his return to TNA Wrestling in July of 2023 being his match against Moose at this past March’s TNA Sacrifice 2024 event. Young stated “Yeah, I think for me, one of my really special ones is me and Moose in Canada. It’s about 15 minutes from where I grew up. So I had a lot of friends and family there for the world title, obviously coming up short, but sharing the ring with a guy like him. I mean, he’s, I said in promos leading up to it, I think when it’s all said and done, he’s going to be one of the best to ever do it. A bit of a smart when it comes to it and just understands it on a level and is obviously physically imposing and like one of the best athletes to ever do this. That’s a long list. You know, it’s a really long list. That’s probably my favorite one since coming back. Wwhat I’m doing right now, this kind of team up thing with, with Maclin obviously, you know, our last match on the lead up to the pay-per-view, for Emergence and, we wrestled Hammerstone and Jake and coming up short again, but there’s something really special happening with me and him and also happening with Jake and Hammerstone. So the tag division is really strong right now. Having the Hardy’s, they’re kind of leading the charge, has energized it. That whole thing energized TNA in general. But yeah, there’s something really special. I’ve been friends with Steve Macklin for going on. I mean, I guess that we first met in 2016 when I started NXT and we’ve been pretty close friends and talk all the time. So there’s something really special happening there and I can’t wait to see where it leads.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced that upcoming film Gladiator II will be the official sponsor of their King of Pro Wrestling 2024 event on October 14th in Tokyo, Japan.
NJPW reportedly drew a paid attendance of 4,528 for their Sept. 29th Destruction in Kobe 2024 event in Kobe, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
This past Friday’s Super Viernes event for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico featured Zeuxis defeating Nautica, Princesa Sugehit, La Catalina, Amapola, India Sioux, Maligna, Olympia, Dark Silueta, Metalica in a Phase One tournament match for the CMLL Women’s Universal Championship.
TheCubsFan reported that CMLL talents Templario, Mascara Dorada, and Neon recently were pulled from an indie event for GALLI in Chicago, Illinois due to all three still dealing with work visa renewal issues. TheCubsFan reported that all three have been trying to get new work visas for the United States since this past Spring.
CMLL reportedly drew an attendance of around 7,500 for their Sept. 27th Noche de Campeones 2024 event at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Major League Wrestling recently announced that Felino will be making an appearance for the company at their co-promoted Lucha Apocalypto event with CMLL on November 9th in Cicero, Illinois.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling recently announced that Bully Ray will be making an appearance for the company at their Forged In Excellence events on October 19-20 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Dragon Gate recently announced one new match for the card of their December 17th event in Tokyo, Japan. This is a Konomama Ichikawa Retirement match of Konomama Ichikawa vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Marigold drew a paid attendance of 685 for their Sept. 28th Dream Star Grand Prix Finals 2024 event in Nagoya, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Pro Wrestling NOAH reportedly drew a paid attendance of 287 for their Sept. 30th Sunny Voyage 2024 event in Tokyo, Japan. This event was notable for featuring rapper Kayne West among the crowd in attendance.
Lucha Libre AAA reportedly drew an attendance of around 4,000 for their Sept. 29th Origenes event in Monterrey, Mexico, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Beyond Wrestling recently announced that Donovan Dijak will be making an appearance for the company at their Wrestling Open event on October 10th in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was announced that Dijak will be holding a two-houre wrestling seminar prior to the start of their event.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that the top merchandise sellers on Pro Wrestling Tees’ store this past September in order were Joe Hendry, Will Ospreay, The Outrunners, AEW, Bullet Club, Jamie Hayter, Hangman Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, PWT Icons, and Mariah May.

Wrestling TV Ratings for Week of September 27 to October 3, 2024

WWE Friday Night SmackDown – 1,568,000 viewers, 0.45 rating (prior week – 1,494,000 viewers, 0.45 rating)
WWE RAW – 1,516,000 viewers, 0.48 rating (prior week – 1,340,000 viewers, 0.43 rating)
WWE NXT – 895,000 viewers, 0.26 rating (prior week – 620,000 viewers, 0.19 rating)
AEW Rampage – 276,000 viewers, 0.08 rating (prior week – 327,000 viewers, 0.12 rating)
AEW Collision – 435,000 viewers, 0.13 rating (prior week – 347,000 viewers, 0.12 rating)
AEW Dynamite – 680,000 viewers, 0.20 rating (prior week – 702,000 viewers, 0.23 rating)
TNA Wrestling Impact! – N/A (prior week – N/A)

Total wrestling television viewership for the week: 5,370,000 viewers, up 254,000 viewers from the prior week’s 5,116,000 viewers.

The viewership and ratings numbers for the September 26th and October 3rd TNA Impact! shows are currently not known.