Weekend Roundup: Logan Paul Wants Match with Cena, Jamie Noble, Full Gear Notes, BTE Update, Impact, Konnan, Indies

Indie / Misc

Steve C.

Nov 20, 2022

WWE

This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 2,130,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.
During a recent episode of the ImPAULsive podcast, co-host Logan Paul revealed that he is currently hopeful of being able to compete in a match against John Cena in WWE. Paul stated “That’s my dream. I’ve proven the model twice now. I’ve proven the model of; headstrong capable internet kid vs. a GOAT, a top-tier industry leader. Floyd (Mayweather). That worked. Generated $65-70 million dollars. Reigns. Crown Jewel became the number one most-viewed international pay-per-view event WWE has ever had. I’ve done it twice. The reason is, when I’m paired with a legend, a top-tier industry leader, the model works. After Crown Jewel, John Cena posted me on his Instagram and then I saw an article saying he’s looking for an opponent at WrestleMania. I favorited it, responded with the eyes. Truthfully, I think me vs. John Cena would break the internet. I texted Triple H right away, ‘do you want to break the internet again?’ That’s a dream match. WrestleMania, in LA, on my birthday. Triple H, throw me a bone, give me a birthday present, let me take out John Cena. That’d be crazy. That’s the model I’m going to pitch to WWE. This week, we’re meeting with them, I’m going to be like, ‘Hey, this works for me. Put me up against the best y’all have. I’m gonna fucking deliver. You know that for a fact. Not only put on an amazing match, but I’m going to put asses in seats and eyeballs on the television.’ Since I’m an outsider, they have to treat my career in the WWE a little differently than they have with the rest of the roster. The only caveat to this, is I could see how other wrestlers and fans would throw their arms in the air, ‘why is he getting a shot at Cena or Randy Orton?’ The answer is, I’m going to make fucking money.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
John Cena recently responded on Instagram to Logan Paul’s comments of his dream meatch with him.
As noted before, WWE recently announced that they are currently working on a new reality television series featuring Montez Ford and Bianca Belair for Hulu. During a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Belair gave her thoughts on being involved in WWE’s upcoming new series for Hulu. Belair stated “Uhm, I will say that I used to have a little bit of downtime at home, but now I guess I won’t have any [laughs]. The icing on the cake is that I get to do it with my husband, it’s exciting. I am nervous, I never thought that I’d be doing a reality type show but my husband is full of life and when I tell people that the person y’all see in the ring is the person I get at home. So now, I get to share that with the world. But I’m excited and I’m also nervous. We’re exposing ourselves and our family and pulling the curtain back a little bit and showing a balance between who we are in the ring but also outside of the ring. It’s exciting, it is exciting times.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that former WWE talent Kalisto was recently invited by WWE to work as a guest trainer at their Performance Center and as a producer for NXT house show events.
WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 9,119 for their Nov. 11th SmackDown show and Tribute to the Troops 2022 taping in Indianapolis, IN, 4,000 for their Nov. 12th house show event in Peoria, IL, 3,379 for their Nov. 13th house show event in Madison, WI, and 7,842 (6,900 paid) for their Nov. 14th RAW show in Louisville, KY, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer reported that the amount of comp tickets for WWE’s set of shows on November 11th is expected to be a lot higher than usual for weekly WWE television shows due to the high amount of tickets that would have been given away to U.S. service members as a gift by the company.
WWE reportedly has sold around 4,997 tickets for their Nov. 21st RAW show in Albany, NY, 4,087 tickets for their Nov. 25th SmackDown show in Providence, RI, 12,740 tickets for their Nov. 26th Survivor Series 2022 event in Boston, MA, 2,461 tickets for their Nov. 27th house show event in Portland, ME, 4,256 tickets for their Nov. 28th RAW show in Norfolk, VA, 4,367 tickets for their Dec. 2nd SmackDown show in Buffalo, NY, 1,785 tickets for their Dec. 3rd house show event in Rochester, NY, 1,930 tickets for their Dec. 4th house show event in Petersburg, VA, 4,807 tickets for their Dec. 5th RAW show in Washington, D.C., 4,537 for their Dec. 9th SmackDown show in Pittsburgh, PA, 2,065 tickets for their Dec. 10th house show event in Saginaw, MI, 1,912 tickets for their Dec. 19th house show event in Wheeling, WV, 1,908 tickets for their Dec. 11th house show event in Charleston, WV, 3,823 tickets for their Dec. 12th RAW show in Milwaukee, WI, 5,775 tickets for their Dec. 16th SmackDown show in Chicago, IL, 2,032 tickets for their Dec. 17th house show event in Moline, IL, 1,733 tickets for their Dec. 18th house show event in Rochester, MN, 3,472 for their Dec. 26th RAW show in Columbus, OH, 3,663 tickets for their Dec. 27th house show event in Atlanta, GA, 2,452 tickets for their Dec. 28th house show event in Greensboro, NC, 2,729 tickets for their Dec. 29th house show event in Hershey, PA , and 5,851 tickets for their Dec. 30th SmackDown show in Tampa, FL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
During a recent episode of the Oh You Didn’t Know podcast, co-host “Road Dogg” Brian James gave his thoughts on The Undisputed Era’s tenure in NXT and why they were not called up to WWE’s main roster during their time together in the company. James stated “We knew when it came time to shine, they were going to shine. Look, I thought they were going to be [called up to the main roster], too. I didn’t think they were going to be the next Four Horsemen because, look, I don’t think Vince [McMahon] saw them as the next Four Horsemen. I think Vince saw them as four smaller guys who cumulatively can do some damage, but I don’t think Vince would see any of those guys facing Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania. Now, whether you disagree with that or not, that’s fine. You can disagree with it all day, but you weren’t the boss of the company at the time, and that’s what he thought. I didn’t see them as that, but I was scared, like I mentioned earlier, that they would be gone, a lot of our creative content would go with them, and it would be more difficult for us because we’re lazy and want to do as little work as possible.”
James continued stating “I think [Undisputed ERA] did have a lot better run in NXT than they would have had on the main roster, maybe for that exact reason. I loved having them there. I didn’t want them to go away. But also to the last guy’s question, who stepped up, I thought Keith Lee would be gone sooner rather than later, too, once everybody got eyes on him and his abilities. I think everybody, everybody stepped up. You see now a lot of those kids that are still on top in the wrestling game, they may not just work here anymore, but even the ones that work here on top. The Rhea Ripleys, the Damian Priests, you know, all of these guys that we’re talking about are, are still stars today on a bigger stage. So this was the first introduction to some of these NXT characters for a lot of mainstream wrestling fans, and I think it’s paid dividends.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
During a recent episode of the WWE The Bump show, Baron Corbin gave his thoughts on why he holds a low view of wrestlers who came up from the indies who end up working in WWE. Corbin stated “[Gargano has] done some great things for somebody that nobody expected anything from. A lot of these guys, it’s a bragging right. Ten years, I’ve been wrestling for 15 years. Why is that a bragging right? I made a phone call, and the WWE brought me in for a tryout and signed me within the week. That’s how it works. I don’t need to go work for a hot dog and popcorn in your local gymnasium. That’s not what I do. It’s not a bragging right for me to go, ‘Ah, I drove around in my buddy’s Honda Civic for six hours to go to this show and then drive 12 hours to this show and the car broke down and we ran out of gas, and we didn’t money to eat. That’s not something you brag about. These guys come in and that’s part of their story. They’re giving hope to hope to people who sit in the audience and go, ‘Ah, I wanna be Johnny Gargano.’ How many little kids see that? Because they have no hope, they have no goals, they have no dreams, and they wanna see a guy like that and they go, ‘Oh, man, if this little guy or Kevin Owens, this guy, I relate to him. We’re similar, we do the same things, we like the same things. I can become a WWE Superstar.’ No, you can’t. Look, this job is not for everybody. My mailman is a nice guy. This job is not for him. This is for elite level athletes, world renowned competitors, and guys when you walk into a room, they look at somebody like me and they go, ‘That guy is somebody.’ If they’ve never watched WWE before, they go, man, look at that watch, look at the diamonds that he’s wearing, look at that suit. That guy is somebody important, whether they’ve seen me or not. You walk into a room with Johnny, with Kevin, with AJ Styles, and you’re just like, oh man, there’s some people in the room hanging out. I saw 500 guys like that at the mall today. There’s a difference.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, The Good Brothers’ Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson made their returns to WWE this past October. Following their return, the Good Brothers’ future in New Japan Pro Wrestling was believed to be in doubt despite Anderson being the current NEVER Openweight Champion. Anderson was involved in a dispute earlier this month over his double booking for WWE’s Crown Jewel 2022 event and NJPW’s Battle Autumn 2022 event on the same day, which led to Anderson being pulled from NJPW’s event due to his refusal to appear for the company. During a recent episode of the WWE After the Bell with Corey Graves podcast, Anderson provided an update on his current status in NJPW. Anderson stated “I’m gonna go back on my time. New Japan Pro-Wrestling usually strips their champions when they can’t make a show. They threw a leniency in there because they announced the match when we hadn’t totally agreed what we were going to do. The dates were coming up…I’m going to comeback and defend my championship. I messaged Rocky Romero, he’s a great friend and one of the office brothers, and I go, ‘I can’t wait to announce this date because these people are really hating me right now.’ I’m keeping this title and never giving it back.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
Jamie Noble recently announced on Instagram that he will be wrestling for potentially the last time in his career at WWE’s house show event on December 11th in Charleston, West Virginia.

AEW & ROH

As noted before, AEW CEO Tony Khan recently announced that AEW’s Full Gear 2022 event managed to surpass the $1 million live gate milestone for ticket sales. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that AEW’s live gate was around $1,040,000 for their event on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey.
As noted before, Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews have been absent from AEW since this past September due to personal-related issues. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that both Black and Matthews were seen in Newark on Saturday ahead of AEW’s Full Gear 2022 event in the city that night.
Being The Elite series official account on Twitter announced that the series will be returning with a new episode this Monday. Prior to the announcement, the series had been on an 11-week hiatus due to Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks suspensions from AEW over their involvement in the backstage fight incident at AEW’s All Out 2022 event this past September.
As noted before, Kris Statlander has been out of action for AEW since this past August due to a torn ACL injury. Statlander recently provided an injury update on Twitter stating her thoughts on the future of her career and how she can’t wait to be able to return back to the ring. Statlander stated “Right now, not being able to wrestle, I try to look at what I’ve accomplished. I’m so proud of my work, but I’ve barely even scratched the surface. I’m inspired by everything and everyone and I can’t wait to have the best years of my career when I’m back. I miss it so much.”
During a recent interview with The Ringer, Toni Storm gave her thoughts on AEW’s Women’s division and her current goal for the division to become bigger in the company in terms of focus and time given. Storm stated “We want this to be bigger. We want more time. We want to push our division above and beyond. And for that we need everyone’s support. We need everyone to support us and tune into Dynamite and Rampage each week.“
Warner Bros Discovery recently released their fiscal third quarter 2022 report revealing that the company had generated $9.8 billion in revenue for the quarter but had an overall net loss of $2.3 billion for the quarter. WBD CEO David Zaslav stated that the main reason was due to slower advertising chargers and costs related to WBD’s on-going merger restructuring. Zaslav also stated that he feels the company’s business approach towards streaming has been “irrational” in terms of high costs and lack of profits being generated to warrant that kind of continued spending. In regards to AEW, Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this is not a good sign for AEW’s current chances at securing a very high increase for their next television deal. Meltzer reported that Zaslav’s statements of “On sports we are a renter. It’s not a good business to be a renter” fits in AEW’s current deal with WBD and “fiscally responsible way” in regards to WBD’s spending for future sports deals involving television & streaming platforms, which would also include AEW.
As noted before, Adam Cole has been out of action for AEW since this past June due to a concussion injury. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that several people within AEW have become very concerned over Cole’s well-being due to the lengthy time he has been away and progress of his rehab from concussion.
As noted before, The Young Bucks recently abandoned their trademark filing for “The Wayward Sons” for reasons unknown at the time. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reason was due to The Young Bucks’ lawyer had felt that their trademark would not be approved due to it being too close to other similar trademarks for the term.
AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 3,400 (3,100 paid) for their Nov. 16th Dynamite show in Bridgeport, CT, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AEW reportedly has sold around 4,773 tickets for their Nov. 23rd Dynamite show in Chicago, IL, 2,683 tickets for their Nov. 30th Dynamite show in Indianapolis, IN, 2,455 tickets for their Dec. 7th Dynamite show in Cedar Park, TX, 2,932 tickets for their Dec. 14th Dynamite Winter Is Coming 2022 show in Garland, TX, 2,687 tickets for their Dec. 21st Dynamite show in San Antonio, TX, 2,549 tickets for their December 28th Dynamite show in Broomfield, CO, 6,753 tickets for their Jan. 4, 2023 Dynamite show in Seattle, WA, 2,336 tickets for their Jan. 6th Rampage show in Portland, OR, 6,065 tickets for their Jan. 11th Dynamite show in Los Angeles, CA, 2,151 tickets for their Jan. 18th Dynamite show in Fresno, CA, and 2,446 tickets for their Jan. 25th Dynamite show in Lexington, KY as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, AEW producer Ace Steel was released by AEW this past October over his involvement in the backstage fight incident at AEW’s All Out 2022 event this past September. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Steel recently has started running wrestling training seminars following his release from AEW.
As noted before, Jeff Hardy was arrested this past June in Volusia County, Florida following a drunk driving incident. Hardy has been out of action for AEW since that time due to his current suspension over his DUI arrest. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Hardy’s scheduled pre-trial hearing this past Friday was postponed due to Hardy’s lawyers filing a motion for continuance, which was granted by the court based on recent court records. Johnson reported that this pre-trial hearing has been rescheduled to a new date of December 21st.
As noted before, CM Punk, Ace Steel, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks were involved in a backstage fight incident following AEW’s All Out 2022 event this past September. Following the incident, AEW had suspended all of them as part of the company’s investigation with Punk’s future in AEW currently expected to be over. Punk worked as a commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championships at their event this past Friday. During the show, Punk made a reference to his backstage issues in AEW and claims from Chris Jericho of him being a locker room cancer. Punk jokingly stated “I’m bad news, you don’t want me in the locker room.” Co-announcer John Morgan joined in stating in a joking matter “That dude will mess up the whole organization. I like working here. Don’t let him do any press conferences.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
During AEW’s Full Gear 2022 media call this past Thursday, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts on why FTR was not competing AEW’s event and why a potential match between FTR and The Briscoes has yet to take place in AEW. Khan stated “I got asked earlier in the call about FTR, well FTR have wrestled on pay-per-view a few times this year as the Ring Of Honor tag team champions and at Forbidden Door, they actually won the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships and became Triple Crown champions where they hold three world titles in the world of pro wrestling in which I have a pretty big influence frankly. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to showcase [FTR] and now being able to have another platform to showcase one of one of the best teams in the world to an audience that clearly really appreciates them. To the point I made earlier in the call, Ring Of Honor allowed me to feature a damn pay-per-view main event that was one of the best main events of the entire year in FTR vs. Briscoes 2 out of 3 falls, in a match that I literally could not do in AEW, and believe me I’ve tried. ” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
As noted before, Abadon suffered a broken collarbone injury at an indie event this past weekend in Brooklyn, New York. Abadon recently provided an injury update on Twitter stating that she is feeling okay and thanked her fans for their support. Abadon stated “It’s just a little bump in the road. I have a lot to offer, you may not think so, but I do. We’re only 4 years in with so many to give. One day I’ll be undeniable. Your love and support has been overwhelming in the best way. Thank you.”
Ring of Honor reportedly has sold around 1,632 tickets for their Dec. 10th Final Battle 2022 event in Arlington, TX as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling and Stardom’s co-promoted Historic X-Over event earlier today featured the Finals of the IWGP Women’s World Championship tournament between Mayu Iwatani and KAIRI, which was won by KAIRI to become the inaugural champion.
NJPW reportedly generated a paid attendance of 650 for their Nov. 11th NJPW TAMASHII event in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2,200 for their Nov. 12th NJPW Anjo City 70th Anniversary event in Anjo, Japan, and 500 for their Nov. 13th NJPW TAMASHII event in Sydney, Australia, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Stardom recently announced a new match for the card of their December 26th event in Kawasaki, Japan. This will be a 6-Women Coffin Explosion match of Giulia, Mai Sakurai, & Thekla vs. Nanae Takahashi, Yuu, & a mystery partner.
Stardom reportedly generated a paid attendance of 326 for their Nov. 12th Goddess of Stardom Tag League 2022 event in Sagae, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Pro Wrestling NOAH and Dragon Gate reportedly generated a paid attendance of 1,209 for their co-promoted Nov. 11th Global Dream event in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
All Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 794 for their Nov. 13th Real World Tag League 2022 event in Tokyo and 269 for their Nov. 16th Real World Tag League 2022 event in Tokyo, Japan.
Kevin Nash and Ken Shamrock reportedly recently joined the cast for an upcoming film called Fight Another Day, according to Deadline.com.
Impact Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Hard to Kill 2023 event on January 13, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. This is an Impact World Championship match of Bully Ray vs. Josh Alexander (c).
Impact Wrestling reportedly generated a sold out attendance for their Over Drive 2022 event this past Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, according to PWInsider.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the backstage morale within Impact was way up this past Friday following the ratings for this past Thursday’s Impact! show being way up compared to the previous week. Johnson reported that Impact’s sellout for attendance for their Over Drive 2022 event also likely played a role in the boost in morale.
Indie wrestler and former Ring of Honor booker Delirious reportedly worked backstage as a producer for Impact Wrestling at their Over Drive 2022 event, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that Impact’s original plans for Delirious was for him to compete in a singles match against Eddie Edwards at the event but those plans were dropped in the days leading up to the show.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the Texas state legislature is currently considering passing a new law that would ban trans people from performing in an event with minors present. This bill reportedly is mostly targeted at drag shows but the wording of it is vague enough to also impact wrestling shows held in the state. If it were to pass, Meltzer reported that companies such as AEW and Impact Wrestling would not be allowed to use any of their trans wrestlers for shows in the state, which would negatively impact AEW’s Nyla Rose and Sonny Kiss and Impact’s Gisele Shaw’s ability to work at those shows. Meltzer reported “HB643 defines trans as anyone who performs, dresses, uses makeup and performs in a sex other than the sex the person was at birth. Even worse, any venue who hosts an event where somebody performs in drag or allows a trans gender person to perform would then be labeled an adult/sexually oriented location and from that point no children would be allowed to attend.“
Major League Wrestling reportedly is currently working on plans to form a working partnership with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 2023, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Dave Meltzer reported that should a partnership be formed, that would be the end of MLW’s current partnership with Lucha Libre AAA due to CMLL’s current rules for partnerships that do not allow any of their talent to be used for shows if AAA talent are also booked.
As noted before, Lucha Libre AAA and Impact Wrestling talent Laredo Kid suffered and underwent emergency surgery for a ruptured intestine injury this past October. AAA officials reportedly are currently hopeful that Laredo Kid will be able to make his return from injury by mid-February of 2023, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
AAA reportedly has sold around 1,200 tickets for their Dec. 3rd event in Tempe, Arizona as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Women of Wrestling is currently averaging a median viewership age of 61 for their weekly WOW TV shows in syndication for their current season.
The National Wrestling Alliance reportedly generated an attendance of around 600 for their Nov. 12th Hard Times 3 event in Chalmette, Louisiana, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As noted before, Konnan has been suffering from kidneys-related issues due to complications from a bout he had with COVID-19 earlier this year. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Konnan is currently suffering from significant health issues over his kidneys situation and is still waiting for a kidney donor in order to have potential life-saving surgery performed.
House of Glory recently announced a new match for the card of their HOG Revelations event on December 17th in Queens, New York. This is a singles match of KENTA vs. Low Ki.