Sat. Roundup: New WWE Social Media Rule, Sol Ruca, Wrestling TV Ratings, Matt Cardona Leaves Impact, Stardom, AAA, Indies

WWE

• This past Friday’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a preliminary viewership of 1,976,000 viewers on FOX, according to SpoilerTV.
• WWE officials reportedly made digital edits to Bad Bunny’s outfit during Friday’s SmackDown show in San Juan, Puerto Rico due to legal issues related to a past lawsuit by the World Wildlife Federation, according to Fightful Select. It was reported that WWE is still legally not allowed to display any new usages of their old WWF logo due to the terms of this lawsuit.
• WWE officials reportedly were very pleased with the live crowd reactions during Friday’s SmackDown show in San Juan, according to Fightful Select.
• WWE released the cold open video for tonight’s Backlash 2023 event in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• As noted before, WWE released their fiscal first quarter 2023 report this past Wednesday. In their fiscal report, WWE stated that RAW averaged 1,834,000 viewers per show and SmackDown averaged 2,357,000 viewers per show during the fiscal quarter. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that these viewership numbers are based on the viewers per minute average of a RAW and SmackDown show. Meltzer reported that this would mean that RAW would have had a total of around 4,522,000 viewers and Smackdown would have had a total of around 6,734,000 viewers who had watched at least one minute per show average. Meltzer also reported that the average viewer for RAW watches around 60.8% of a show and for SmackDown watches around 35% of a show.
• As noted before, NXT talent Sol Ruca has been out of action for WWE since this past April due to a torn ACL injury. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that prior to her injury, NXT officials had plans for Ruca and Dani Palmer to be put together as a tag team and be given a big push and a NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship reign. Meltzer reported that the reason was due to NXT officials holding very high views of both Rusa and Palmer due to the quality of their ring work.
• In a recent interview with the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves podcast, Damian Priest praised Dominik Mysterio for bringing something special to Judgement Day in regards to a new “level of heat” for the group. Priest stated “[Dominik] was in his dad’s shadow when they were together. And then when he first joined the Judgment Day was still, kind of… He was in his shadow. Not anymore. He’s his own star on his own where he doesn’t need anybody’s help. He brings a whole different level of – well, level of heat, for sure – but his style, his demeanor, it gives us the opportunity to feed off of something that’s different and create something special. He’s helped us just as much as we’ve helped him. He’s very important to the Judgment Day now. I don’t know what the Judgement Day is like without him now. Without Dom, I say we’re not as strong, I don’t think we’re as popular. As a friend, a brother, as a co-worker, I am extremely proud of him. I have the best seat in the house to watch him do his thing. It’s special, I love it. ” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
• WWE recently announced three new live events for their upcoming tour of Canada this August. The new shows are a house show event on August 19th at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, a house show event on August 20th at the Place Bell in Laval, and a house show event on August 21st at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City. It was also announced that tickets for these upcoming shows will officially go on sale starting on May 12th.
• Former NXT UK talent Sha Samuels reportedly worked as a guest coach this past week at WWE’s Performance Center, according to PWInsider.
• WWE held a press conference on Friday in San Juan, Puerto Rico to promote tonight’s Blacklash 2023 event at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in the city.
• WWE held their two-night 2023 WWE Draft at this past Monday’s RAW and last week’s SmackDown shows. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that several of the talent that were drafted during this past Monday’s RAW show had been told the prior Friday of which brand they would be working for going forward.
• Bryan Alvarez reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated that WWE officials recently enacted a new rule for their talent’s usage of social media. This new rule reportedly forbids WWE talent from posting any photos of themselves with injuries nor any photos of them with blood shown on social media going forward. Alvarez reported that this new rule was enacted following a recent posting on social media by Jacy Jayne showing off her bloody head injury from her match against Gigi Dolin at this past Tuesday’s NXT show.
• During this past Wednesday’s investor’s meeting for WWE’s fiscal first quarter 2023 report, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque gave his thoughts on what WWE has been doing that has led to the increase in viewership for their shows in recent months. Levesque stated “That really comes down to us just having assembled the right team. Across the board, we have world class superstars and that continues to grow every day through our developmental system, through NIL, through international and domestic recruit, so the pipeline coming in is very strong. You just saw that in the recent draft and the amount of talent we had to draft and coming up from NXT, and through that pipeline. The writing team is world class and Kevin Dunn’s production team, there’s nothing like it in the world. ” Levesque also stated that WWE is currently focused on character development for their shows. Levesque stated “As far as what we’re focused on, we’re focused on character development. I think you see that across storylines where our fans are super engaged in the talent. Let’s take Sami Zayn and the Bloodline over the last, couple of years really, but especially in the last six to eight months, where that story and the character development has reached a whole new level. It has our fans invested and excited in the content like they haven’t been in a long time. For us, extending the planning of the event horizon. Looking out year over year, where we want to be next year and then back tracking from there, so that we’re always ahead of the curve and always thinking ahead. That allows us to have better planning and then it’s just trying new things and getting outside of a box of what we do and seeing what works and what doesn’t. I don’t consider something not working a failure, I consider it learning. Really excited about the future and where we can take all of this.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW & ROH

• Friday’s AEW Rampage show in Baltimore, Maryland featured The Firm Deletion cinematic match that was taped last week at the Hardy Compound. This match featured The Hardy Boys, HOOK, and Isiah Kassidy defeating The Firm’s Ethan Page, Big Bill, Lee Moriarty, and Stokely Hathaway. AEW recently released an extended cut edition of The Firm Deletion match on Bleacher Report featuring content that did not air as part of the match shown on Friday’s show.
• As noted before, Leva Bates departed from AEW earlier this week following the expiration of her contract with the company. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that many people in AEW were saddened by her departure due to her being a very well liked person within the company.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that there are no new updates regarding a potential release date for AEW’s upcoming Fight Forever video game as of this past Thursday. Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that all promotional material for the game have been completed but no date has yet to be given for its release.
• As noted before, AEW recently hired former Fightful personality Will Washington to be their new Director of Wrestling Administration. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW CEO Tony Khan had his eyes on wanting to hire Washington for a backstage job in the company for some time due to his past history as a long-time message board guy, tape trader type guy, and a “strong” Wrestling Observer Newsletter reader, which were stated to be similar traits of Khan. In regards to duties, Fightful Select reported that Washington will be helping keep storylines in order with continuity and tracking the usage of talents in order to prevent hot acts and stars from disappearing for too long stretches of time on AEW programming.
• As noted before, AEW and Warner Bros Discovery are currently working on plans to launch a new third weekly AEW wrestling television show called AEW Collision and for it to feature a “soft” roster split related to Punk’s upcoming return to the company. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that they do not believe that there will be any sort of a hard roster split for AEW’s Dynamite and Collision shows.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s average viewership for Dynamite shows over this past three months was down 10% in overall viewership and down 21% in key demographic viewership compared to the same time period last year. Rampage’s average viewership for shows this past three months was down 15% in overall viewership and down 30% in key demo viewership compared to the same time period last year. Meltzer reported that when factoring in homes lost to cord cutting for TBS over the past year, Dynamite would be down 2% for overall and down 14% for key demo while Rampage would be down 8% for overall and down 24% for key demo. For some comparisons, Meltzer reported that the cable television industry as a whole was down 15% in overall and 20% in key demo compared to the same time period last year.
• In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Shawn Spears gave his thoughts about the future of his career in AEW and in wrestling. Spears stated “So whether or not I’m going to be highlighted coming back, I don’t think that’s going to be a thing. I think my role in AEW is pretty set. I, for lack of a better [phrase], I don’t care anymore. I want to go out and have banger matches, I wanna wrestle Jay White, I wanna wrestle FTR, I wanna wrestle Wardlow, I wanna wrestle Max, I wanna wrestle these guys because I’m winding down. My time is coming to an end. I wanna have banger matches before I’m done, get it out of my system and ride off into the sunset.“
• Spears continued stating “It’s wild how your outlook [can change]. Your priorities are pretty set in stone, my job until my son came around was to provide for my wife, take care of my wife and my household. Now he’s there, he’s just an added addition to all of that. My outlook towards work, that has changed pretty drastically. My drive hasn’t, I’m a pretty goal-oriented person, but I’m also level-headed and logical. I control what I can control and you’ve heard that a million times. You can only control so much in pro wrestling. The rest is left up to the higher-ups and that is true. The problem that I feel talent runs into is when they try to change that or they consistently fight back against something that could very well be a losing battle. For that individual, that can cause a lot of mental anguish, it can cause a lot of stress, and you can really lose your enjoyment of what this all is and let’s not make any mistake, professional wrestling is very fun. It can be really, really fun. I get to put on tights and go out there and roll around with my buddies. It’s a fun gig, but it is a business and there is a business aspect to it that if you’re not prepared for, or that you constantly want to fight against, it’s gonna kinda make things unenjoyable for you as an individual. So coming back, I am going to be a little more selfish in regards to what I can control. So, a few things you will see on TV, whether it be Dynamite or Rampage, going forward have come from me. Whether it’s a win, lose, or draw, it was probably my idea or it was whatever. Because believe it or not, I’ve been doing this for 21 years and I’ve been getting paid at a very high level for over 14 years. I know what I’m doing. I’m not afraid to put that foot forward anymore. I’m not afraid to put my voice out there. I’m not afraid to send a bunch of text messages. Whether they’re answered or not is a different story, but I don’t care. I just want to enjoy the remaining time that I have and control what I can control.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• In a recent interview with the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast, WWE talent Joaquin Wilde gave his thoughts on creating Ring of Honor’s original logo in 2002. Wilde stated “Ring of Honor, they put up a thing on the internet saying like, ‘Design the Ring of Honor logo and win five free wrestling tapes.’ Back in those days, this was when tape trading, VHS tapes, were a thing. I was very much a tape trader when I was a teenager. I’m like, ‘Five free tapes. That’s $100 worth of tapes and they’re masters. I can trade these masters for like two or three dubs each. I can get a lot of tapes for this. My brother was interested in graphic design at a super young age. I was 14 or 15 when this Ring of Honor thing happened, so my brother would have been 12 or 13. He had already purchased Photoshop for himself at age 12. He spent his birthday money on Photoshop. We’re talking 2001. It’s just so strange. It’s like, what 12-year-old takes their birthday money and buys Photoshop? It’s funny because that’s his humble beginnings. Now my brother is a graphic designer for the NBA. He has big clients. He just did something for Future, the rapper. He’s doing big stuff now, but his start was, yeah, age 12, Photoshop, just playing around making graphics. So when the Ring of Honor opportunity happened, I went to my brother and I said, ‘You have to make this logo. We got to win these tapes.’ So my brother made a logo. Then just to give myself another chance at winning, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna make one too.’ I was not as good at Photoshop as he was, but I was okay. So I made the logo. I came up with a little slogan, ‘We don’t imitate, we innovate.’ We sent both logos to the contest, and would you believe it? I won. The one time that I beat my brother in some artistic endeavour, I got the five free tapes and then I got free tickets to any Ring of Honor show that I wanted.” (Transcript h/t: WrestlingNews.co)
• AEW and ROH referee Stephon Smith announced on Twitter that he was recently informed by AEW and ROH referee Paul Turner that he had made history at this past Thursday’s ROH TV show. Smith stated that he became the first ever Person of Color and third referee ever to officiate a ROH World Championship match. Smith stated “I didn’t quite know what @RefTurnerAEW meant when he asked me if I was “ready” before this match. He asked me if I was ready to make history as not only being the first POC to officiate an ROH World Title match but to join a list occupied by only him and Todd Sinclair.” Smith also thanked Turner for providing him the opportunity to make history in ROH. Smith stated ” I can’t thank him enough for the opportunities he’s provided me during my short time in AEW. This was really cool and I hope you #WatchROH this week and every week.”

Indies & Misc. Wrestling

• Matt Cardona reportedly recently left Impact Wrestling, according to Fightful Select. It was reported that this was the reason for Cardona’s recent lengthy absence from the company due to he had finished up all his commitments for them. It was also reported that Cardona had worked the past two years without a contract in Impact due to him not wanting to be locked down to a deal and preferred to work under a handshake agreement for a per-date type deal. Those spoken to stated that there is no ill will between the two sides and Impact has left the door open for him for a potential return in the future, which Cardona is in favor of doing but only as another handshake type deal.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Impact’s average viewership for Impact shows this past three months was down 6% in overall viewership and down 31% in key demographic viewership compared to the same time period last year. Meltzer reported that when factoring in homes lost to cord cutting for AXS TV over the past year, Impact would be even for overall and down 27% for key demo. For some comparisons, Meltzer reported that the cable television industry as a whole was down 15% in overall and 20% in key demo compared to the same time period last year.
• Impact recently announced a new match for the card of their Under Siege 2023 event on May 26th in London, Ontario, Canada. This is a 6-Man Tag Team match of The Design (Deaner, Kon, & Angels) vs. Sami Callihan & two mystery partners.
• In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Trinity gave her thoughts about making her official debut for Impact this past week and the support she received from her former WWE work buddies backstage. Trinity stated “It was everything. It gave me that extra boost that I needed to really follow through and do it because I was so scared. At one point, I was literally thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’ Mercedes being there — she was there with me the entire weekend, just helping me, helping me pick out my outfits, talking to me, talking to me through things, buying glow sticks; she was just so incredible. To have her there, I felt like everyone came to support me. I gotta show up. I gotta deliver, I gotta kick out, I gotta do this. I can do this. They really made me believe that I’m going to be okay and that I’m going to do well. Right before my match, Tamina comes walking in, and I turned around and just started crying because it’s so incredible for everyone to stop what they’re doing in their lives to come all the way here because they believe in me that much. It made me believe in myself a little bit more. Then, too, CM Punk shows up and he comes in, and it was really cool to see him. He gives me a big hug and just knew that he was there, and got to see me, it was all so surreal. Then, Manny [Kalisto] was there and helping me with ideas. So much love and support. It was unbelievable. It was so surreal, and I’ll never forget it. It was really all I needed to go out there and turn on.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Stardom recently announced a new match for the card of their May 27th event. This is a World of Stardom vs. Wonder of Stardom Championship Unification 10-Minute Time Limit match of Tam Nakano (World) vs. Mina Shirakawa (Wonder).
• This past April’s All Star Grand Queendom 2023 event for Stardom in Yokohama, Japan featured Tam Nakano defeating Giulia to be crowned the new World of Stardom Champion. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the decision for the title change was made by Stardom booker Rossy Ogawa and not from anyone from Bushiroad. Ogawa reportedly had wanted to give Nakano a run as Stardom’s top champion for some time due to her being one of the older performers in the company at 35 years old and him feeling that she had earned the right to be their top champion. Ogawa reportedly also wanted her to be given a top title reign while she is still able to perform as a top tier talent for the company. Another reason for the title change reportedly was due to Ogawa had wanted to bring some unpredictability for the title since it started to become too predictable over recent World champions holding onto their belt for one year before dropping it.
• In a recent interview with The Business of the Business podcast, Lucha Libre AAA Director Dorian Roldan stated that the company’s U.S. expansion plans have not gone as well as they had expected. Roldan stated that while their show in Phoenix, Arizona this past December was a success in terms of attendance and crowd reactions, it was not a success in terms of revenues generated. Roldan also stated that the reason why AAA did not run an event during WrestleMania 39 weekend in Los Angeles, California was due to them dropping those plans in favor of focusing on getting their Luchatitlan shows up and running in Cancun, Mexico instead. Roldan also stated that had AAA held a show in Los Angeles, they had plans for the main event to be a potential match between El Hijo del Vikingo and Will Ospreay. Roldan also stated that AAA is currently in talks with indie promoters in the U.S. who have experience running events catered to Mexican audiences for their own future events in the country. Roldan also stated that AAA is still trying to get a television deal for their U.S. market but this has been tough due to them not being big enough in the U.S. to get a hefty monetary deal but them also being too big to just settle on airing on television for free. (Transcript h/t: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Ride or Die event on June 23rd in Chicago, Illinois. This is a “Lucha Dream Match” of El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Metalik.
• Prestige Wrestling recently announced that Roderick Strong will be making an appearance for the company at their Black Sunshine event on June 18th in Los Angeles, California.
• Friday’s Dead or Alive 2023 event for Dragon Gate in Aichi, Japan featured Madoka Kikuta defeating Shun Skywalker to be crowned the new Open the Dream Gate Champion.