Various: Gabe Kidd Confirms Free Agency & Pulled from RevPro Event Over Injury, Steve Maclin on Nic Nemeth Joining TNA, Indies

Gabe Kidd Confirms Free Ageny Status & Pulled from RevPro Event Over Injury

As noted before, Gabe Kidd’s contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling expired this past January.

Kidd recently provided an update on Instagram confirming that he is still a free agent and has not signed a new deal with any promotion yet.

Revolution Pro Wrestling announced earlier today that they have pulled Kidd from this Sunday’s High Stakes 2024 event in London, England due to Kidd not being medically cleared from the injuries he suffered at this past Sunday’s The New Beginning in Osaka 2024 event for New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was also announced that Trent Seven will be replacing Kidd for his scheduled match against Shingo Takagi at the event.


Steve Maclin Comments on Nic Nemeth Joining TNA

Fightful held a recent interview with Steve Maclin. One of the topics discussed included Maclin’s thoughts about getting to work with Nic Nemeth in TNA Wrestling.

“No spoilers, I know this’ll be a little bit after it, but I’m excited for what’s to come with Nic Nemeth. I think I made that that clear, especially with our in-ring, meeting each other face-to-face even though we knew each other from our time in WWE and his time in NXT, stopping by. He’s one of those guys that I’ve always looked at, that I’ve wanted to work with just because he’s one of the best. The way he sells and moves and he does steal the show. He lives up to that name.”

Maclin also gave his thoughts about the comparisons between his and Nemeth’s releases from WWE and transitions into new wrestling careers and joining TNA.

“But I think he’s out to prove something now as Nic Nemeth and not Dolph Ziggler. He’s getting away with that and that’s also a thing I went through myself, getting away from being Steve Cutler to what Steve Maclin is now. To me, I said it at Hard to Kill, ‘Whoever comes in, I don’t care who it is, TNA’s my home. This is my sandbox.’ People joke about it. The sandbox is what we’d call it in Afghanistan and in Iraq. That’s our sandbox. Going into the theater, that’s our sandbox. That’s what I consider TNA to be. So, those that need clarification about what that means, that’s what I mean. This is my area of operation. I am TNA and what TNA is bringing, where we’re going right now, I am ecstatic about.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com


Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Friday’s Super Viernes event for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico City, Mexico featured Thunder Rosa making a surprise appearance. While Rosa did not compete at the show, she was shown seated at ringside and was introduced as the AEW representative of CMLL’s new international partnership.

House of Glory recently announced that El Hijo del Vikingo will be making an appearance for the company at their May 25th event in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Lucha Libre AAA is currently believed to have recently shelved their Luchatitlan brand events in Mexico due to financial-related issues. Meltzer reported that the main reason was due to AAA was never able to generate good revenues from these events to continue holding them. Meltzer reported that AAA had held around 250 Luchatitlan events in beach resorts in Mexico since 2020 and featured higher than usual ticket prices compared to AAA’s regular events due to it being focused more towards tourists than local crowds.

As noted before, several TNA Wrestling talents recently sent a letter to Anthem Sports & Entertainment voicing their displeasure of Anthem’s firing of Scott D’Amore from TNA earlier this month. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the letter that was leaked online was only a portion of the actual letter that was sent to Anthem. Johnson reported that many people within TNA were upset over the letter being leaked online.

New TNA President Anthony Cicone reportedly is currently expected to be in attendance at next week’s No Surrender 2024 event and Impact television tapings in Westwego, Louisiana, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that it is currently not known if Cicone will be in attendance at every TNA tapings going forward due to him also being very busy with his duties with Anthem as well.

TNA officials reportedly are currently considering plans to potentially hold a pay-per-view event in New York City, New York later this year, according to PWInsider.

As noted before, Zicky Dice departed from Impact/TNA this past July. In a recent interview with Cultaholic’s Desert Island Graps podcast, Dice gave his thoughts about the process that led to his departure from Impact/TNA last year. Dice stated “So, I had shown up, and Swinger & I were in a program. I was like his special guest referee. I came to work and a buddy of mine was like, ‘Hey, what’s up with the booking?’ He says, ‘Yeah, you’re in a Loser Leaves IMPACT match with Swinger.’ I was like, ‘Woah, alright.’ Swinger and I were in a room together, I brought it up to him. That next day, Dreamer had pulled me aside and we went for a walk. We had a talk and he basically said that they don’t know what to do with the character at the moment and he thought that I would be a great heel manager or commentator. I replied, ‘I totally agree.’ He goes, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah, about twelve years from now.’ I feel like I have a lot more to show. I showed up, I did what I was told, I never gave any flack back and I was just waiting for that moment to showcase what Outlandish Zicky Dice could really do. Being under the learning tree with Brian Myers, being part of Swingers Dungeon, I was always just kinda just there.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

TNA recently announced one new match for the card of their No Surrender 2024 event on February 23rd in Westwego, Louisiana:

  • Pre-show: The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) vs. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that this year’s Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame event will be taking place on April 7th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Josh Barnett recently announced three new matches for the card of GCW’s Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X event on April 4th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

  • Matt Makowski vs. Akira
  • Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura
  • Timothy Thatcher vs. Axel Tischer

Billy Dixon recently announced one new match for the card of GCW’s For The Culture 2024 event on April 5th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

  • Man Like Dereiss vs. Sonny Kiss