Weekend Roundup: Scarlett Bordeaux, Elias, Kyle O’Reilly, Brian Cage & AEW, TripleMania Regia II, Freddie Prince Jr., Indies

WWE

• During a recent virtual signing event for The Asylum Wrestling Store, Scarlett Bordeaux gave her thoughts about her recent release from WWE. Bordeaux stated “The night I got the call, we [Scarlett & Killer Kross] were together and he was actually dropping me off at the airport and my first reaction was pretty pissed because I was just like… ‘We’re awesome.’ That’s how I felt about it. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re awesome. We got all the boxes marked off. I’m confident in what we can do and what our worth is.’ I’m like, ‘What the — okay, okay.’ But then I got really excited and confident. You know, people compared it, the way I was typing on Twitter to a girl who had just been broken up with and be like, ‘Now I’m gonna get super hot and successful and you know, make you guys jealous’ and I felt like, ‘Hell yeah. Let’s do everything I wanna do now and everything I wasn’t allowed to do’ and I got to do a magazine cover that’s coming up, all these photoshoots and signings and within two days, my entire December was booked so I’m like, it went from like being pissed to excited and not once did I cry. I thought [there would] be at least a point I would be devastated. That has not happened once. I’ve just gone from pissed for the first night and then just excited then happy. ” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
• WWE filed trademarks for “Quincy Elliot” and Fallon Henley” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes on November 30th to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• WWE also filed a trademark for “Tough Enough” for merchandise-related purposes on November 30th to the USPTO.
• Charlotte Flair reportedly recently broke up with Andrade El Idolo, according to Bodyslam.net.
• WrestleVotes reported that their sources stated that WWE officials recently scrapped their creative plans for Elias and are “back to square one” for his new character. It was reported that WWE officials never really had an end plan for Elias’ graveyard vignettes and instead it was simply done in order to get rid of his previous character.
• During a recent interview with the Rise & Grind podcast, Damian Priest gave his thoughts about his new “Demon” or darker side of his current character in WWE. Priest stated “It is a new attitude because I’m showing something different. I like to describe it, we all have it in us to be good or bad. We consciously make a decision to choose one. I’m just letting actions and circumstances dictate what comes out of me now. If you disrespect me, you’re probably going to get the other side of me that’s not so nice. I’m a nice guy, I’m a good dude, but I can get dark and that’s what I’m showing off now. You push me to the other side, you’re not going to like it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• WrestlingDVDNetwork.com reported that WWE will be discontinuing the production of DVD and Blu-Rays for their events and content starting next year in the United States. It was also reported that this year’s Survivor Series event is currently scheduled to be the last DVD and Blu-Ray release for the United States.
• WWE reportedly generated an attendance of 6,700 (5,400 paid) for their November 26th SmackDown show in Greensboro, NC, 4,445 for their November 27th house show event in Roanoke, VA, 3,324 for their November 28th house show event in Charleston, WV, and 5,900 (3,600 paid) for their November 29th RAW show at the UBS Arena in Long Island, NY, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• WWE reportedly had sold around 3,188 tickets for their December 5th house show event in Corpus Christi, TX, around 4,102 tickets for their December 6th RAW show in Memphis, TN, around 9,524 tickets for their December 10th SmackDown show in Los Angeles, CA, around 3,479 tickets for their December 11th house show event in Saginaw, around 3,094 for their December 12th house show event in Grand Rapids, MI, around 3,925 for their December 13th RAW show in St. Paul, MN, around 7,903 for their December 17th SmackDown show in Chicago, IL, around 5,614 tickets for their December 26th house show event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, around 3,356 tickets for their December 26th house show event in Tampa, around 4,673 tickets for their December 27th house show event in Orlando, FL, around 4,736 tickets for their December 27th house show event in Detroit, MI, around 3,337 tickets for their December 28th house show event in Washington, DC, around 4,413 tickets for their December 28th house show event in Pittsburgh, PA, around 6,738 tickets for their December 29th house show event in Toronto, around 4,447 tickets for their December 30th house show event in Laval, Canada, around 2,541 tickets for their December 30th house show event in Buffalo, NY, around 6,238 tickets for their January 1, 2022 Day One event in Atlanta, GA, and around 24,328 tickets for their January 29th Royal Rumble 2022 event in St. Louis, MO as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Long-time WWE security guard Scott Aycock recently denied rumors and reports that he was fired from the company this past week due to the fan attack incident to Seth Rollins that took place during the November 22nd episode of RAW in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to his departure, Aycock had been a member of WWE’s security team since 2004.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Randy Orton recently broke the record for most matches in WWE RAW history with 437. Meltzer reported that Kane is second all-time with 436 matches, followed by Chris Jericho at 420, Triple H at 377, and John Cena at 373 to round out the Top Five. Meltzer also reported that the record for most all-time match wins in RAW history currently belongs to Cena at 248 with Orton in second place at 225.
• Bryan Alvarez reported in the Wrestling Observer Forums that his sources within WWE stated that company officials were in denial over reports that AEW managed to sell more tickets for their upcoming Dynamite show at the UBS Arena than they did for their December 29th RAW show. Alvarez stated “You will be surely stunned to learn that there are a few people in WWE who believe Tony must be buying up tickets for the AEW show.” (via WrestlingNews.co)
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Kyle O’Reilly’s contract with WWE is currently set to expire at the end of this week.
• During a recent interview with Daily DDT, Bron Breakker revealed that he was the person who came up with his ring name in NXT. Breakker stated “We were just sitting around one day and I’m like, ‘Well when I used to block people in football, I used to try to break them in half. That was literally what I tried to do: snap them in half and break them. What if I’m the breaker? I break people, Breakker, and then it came to me. Bron is part of my first name and that’s what we went with.“
• WWE reportedly is currently not planning on airing a live episode of Friday Night SmackDown on December 31st, according to the Wrestling Observer Radio. Dave Meltzer reported that FOX officials made the decision for the episode to not air on their network due to them wanting to focus more on their New Year’s Eve festivities programming. Meltzer reported that FOX had moved the episode over to FS1 instead which led to WWE officials making the decision to drop their plans to air a live regular episode due to knowing it would generate much lower ratings. WWE officials reportedly are currently planning on airing a “Year in Review” type episode for SmackDown instead that night.

AEW

• During recent interview with TV Insider, Bryan Danielson gave his thoughts on his current feud with Hangman Adam Page and crowds in AEW turning against him. Danielson stated “It’s all a lot easier when they care about someone. If Hangman Page wasn’t someone people cared about, it would have been very easy for the crowd to turn on him, rather than me. They love this guy. I haven’t done anything so mean or dastardly, yet. I try to not make great changes in my character. I think my time in AEW, I’ve been aggressive, a little bit of a jerk [who] people like. But it’s not hard to switch to a jerk who people don’t like.“
• Danielson also stated that one of his current goals in AEW is to form his own stable in the company. Danielson stated “If I can get a group together, I’m thinking of a younger talent or two, and that develops into stories within that. Look at Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho. By Sammy joining the Inner Circle, he’d become a bigger star. He then stepped up to the plate and hit home runs. That’s how you build young stars. A guy that comes to mind for me is Daniel Garcia. The one show my wife and I couldn’t stop watching was Game of Thrones. It just made you come back every week. Helping AEW, I want to help that need for viewers to come back every week. I think they’ve already created the best wrestling product in the United States than we’ve seen in years. Helping to get more fans watching and give the feeling like it’s must-see television every week. Those are my overarching goals, not only for this year, but the three years I’m here.“
• AEW recently announced that all fans 12 years and older who will be attending their upcoming AEW Dynamite show on December 8th at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York will be required to present proof of full vaccination status or proof of a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter the venue.
• AEW reportedly generated an attendance of 6,000 (5,300 paid) for their December 1st Dynamite show in Duluth, Georgia, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• AEW also reportedly has sold 8,782 tickets for their December 8th Dynamite show at the UBS Arena in Long Island, NY, around 5,121 tickets for their December 15th Dynamite Winter is Coming II show in Garland, TX, around 4,298 tickets for their December 22nd Dynamite show in Greensboro, NC, around 1,809 tickets for their December 29th Dynamite show in Jacksonville, FL, around 7,264 tickets for their January 5, 2022 Dynamite show in Newark, NJ, around 3,697 tickets for their January 7th Battle of the Belts event in Charlotte, NC, and around 3,671 tickets for their February 2nd Dynamite show in Chicago, IL as of this past Thursday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the official reason why AEW will not be returning to the Capitol One arena for their upcoming Dynamite show on January 19th and Rampage show on January 21st in Washington, DC is due to the venue had already been booked for events by someone else.
• As noted before, AEW announced that Fenix was unable to make an appearance for his scheduled tag team match against FTR for the December 3rd episode of AEW Rampage in Duluth, Georgia due to “injuries” he suffered in an attack by FTR the prior week. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the official reason for his absence was due to him currently dealing with work visa related issues.
• As noted before, The Young Bucks recently announced that they signed contract extensions with AEW keeping them in the company until 2024. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the Young Bucks original contracts were set to expire at the end of this month but Tony Khan decided to pick up the two year option which includes pay raises for both years. Meltzer reported that Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, Adam Page and Chris Jericho’s contracts have similar option year terms with pay raises included.
• Hikaru Shida recently announced that she will be returning to Japan for an event for MAKAI called MAKAI Reboot “Genesis” on February 4, 2022 in Tokyo, Japan. Shida will be reprising her character of Princess Turu for the event.
• Ring of Honor talent Josh Woods reportedly made his official debut for AEW during this past Friday’s tapings for AEW Dark in Orlando, Florida, according to the Wrestling Observer. Woods reportedly wrestled in one match, which was a loss to Shawn Spears.
• Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Brian Cage was seen in attendance backstage during this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite in Duluth, Georgia. It was reported that Cage worked in several matches for Chris Jericho’s recent cruise and while he has not appeared on AEW television since this past October, he is still with the company.

Indies & Other Wrestling

• Matt Cardona filed a trademark for “Deathmatch King” for merchandise-related purposes on November 30th to the USPTO.
• Nick Gage filed a trademark for “Nick Gage” for wrestling and merchandise-related purposes on November 17th to the USPTO.
• Stardom recently announced that they have signed Koguma and Waka Tsukiyama to official contracts with the company. (English translation via PostWrestling.com)
• Stardom talent Konami recently announced that she will be taking a break from wrestling following the company’s Dream Queendom event on December 29th for health related reasons.
• This past Saturday’s AAA Triplemania Regia II event featured surprise appearances from Taya Valkyrie and Cibernetico. In a video promo, Valkyrie issued a challenge Deonna Purrazzo for her Reina de Reinas Championship at a future event. This was Valkyrie’s first wrestling appearance since her release from WWE this past November.
• Fightful Select reported that prior to the start of AAA’s Triplemania Regia II event, company officials and talent were informed of potential cartel threats for their event. It was reported that their sources stated that the threats were directed more towards the organizers associated with AAA’s event rather than the company or talent themselves. It was also reported that talent spoken to stated that they were told the same regarding the threats and were not worried about their safety. Cartel threats had previously caused one AAA event to be cancelled due to their association with the organizers of last month’s Metepec Fair festival.
• This past Saturday’s NWA Hard Time II event in Atlanta, Georgia featured the official NWA debuts of Matt Cardona and Dirty Dango, former Fandango in WWE.
• PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the reason why the crowd for NWA’s Hard Times II event was very space was due to strict rules for the coronavirus pandemic that the venue had to follow since they currently receive government funding to remain in operation. Johnson reported that NWA officials had been informed on November 30th that their event would be limited to no more than 90 people for attendance. This led to the company refunding and apologizing to all of their fans who were not able to attend this weekend’s event and television tapings as a result.
• Jonathan Gresham recently announced that Fred Yehi will be making an appearance for Terminus at their debut event on January 16, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Westside Xtreme Wrestling recently announced that WALTER will be making an appearance for the company at their 21st Anniversary event on December 18th in Oberhausen, Germany. It was also announced that WALTER will be facing off against Cara Noir in a singles match at the event.
• Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that Rhino, Sabu, and Ricky Morton will be making an appearance for the company at their Most Notorious event on January 15, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan.
• GCW also recently announced a new match for the card of their Blood on the Hills event on December 17th in Los Angeles, California. This will be a GCW Tag Team Championship match of Brody King & PCO vs. The Briscoes (c).
• New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly generated a paid attendance of 988 for their November 27th Best of the Super Juniors 2021 event in Fujisawa, 1,103 for their November 28th World Tag League 2021 event in Togane, 634 for their November 29th Best of the Super Juniors 2021 event in Tokyo, 617 for their November 30th World Tag League 2021 event in Tokyo, and 633 for their December 2nd World Tag League 2021 event in Kasukabe, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
• Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that due to the recent new rules and travel ban in Japan for the Omicron variant of COVID-19, NJPW English announcer Kevin Kelly is currently expected to stay in Japan from January to March of 2022 and will be providing live English commentary for all of NJPW’s events until the end of next year’s New Japan Cup tournament.
• Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling announced that former wrestler Bushwacker Luke recently purchased a 50% ownership stake in the company.
• During a recent interview with the Ariel Helwani Show, Freddie Prince Jr. revealed that he currently has plans to launch a new indie promotion and has been in recent talks with television networks regarding a potential deal. Prince Jr. stated “Yeah, in an independent fashion, never on a huge main scale thing. I’ve flirted with Brian Kendrick’s wrestling pro wrestling, which is basically cosplay wrestling like Kids in the Hall and Vince McMahon had a baby and if it wanted to start its own wrestling brand, it would be this. I’ve flirted with that a bit, talked to networks and TV rights and do things the Jim Cornette way, as far as the business model goes. I can’t book, so maybe I’d need help with that, but I can give a crap about the person I want you to give a crap about. It’s something I think about, often. Before I took the Netflix movie, I spoke with my accountant about, ‘Hey, if I wanted to screw around with an Indie wrestling league, what would I need to do?’ He said, ‘You need to do A, B, and C.’ I did A. I’m getting ready to do B and C. If I had like a local LA Indie show with a small TV deal, there are a thousand TV channels, I don’t care which one it is on, if I’m financing the thing they don’t have to worry about anything but getting content. It’s definitely something I’ve invested time and energy in, just no money yet.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
• Ring of Honor announced a new match for the card of their Final Battle 2021 event on December 11th in Baltimore, Maryland. This will be a ROH World Women’s Championship match of Willow vs. Rok-C (c).