WWE And New Japan Pro-Wrestling Reportedly In Talks For Exclusive Partnership

According to a report from F4WOnline‘s Dave Meltzer, WWE president Nick Khan has been having talks with New Japan Pro-Wrestling about WWE becoming the promotion’s exclusive partner in the United States.

According to Meltzer, the talks have been ongoing since March or April, but there’s no status update on where things stand. If the deal would go through, the agreement would see WWE exchanging talent that would work on NJPW events. Meltzer noted that Khan is looking to change the “isolationist attitude” of WWE vs. everyone, and the move would not only re-establish WWE as part of the wrestling landscape but it would also keep New Japan from working with other companies domestically.

In recent months, New Japan has established a working relationship with IMPACT Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling, and worked with Ring Of Honor for many years. It was also recently reported that WWE has been in talks with MLW about a potential working relationship.

During a recent media call, Triple H was asked about by All Elite Wrestling partnering with IMPACT Wrestling and if WWE or NXT would be open to such a collaboration. Triple H says WWE is open for business as long as it makes sense for both sides.

“We’re open for business in a lot of ways and a lot of things,” Triple H responded. “People’s thoughts and misperceptions, their perceived knowledge of what we do and how we think is often greatly misinterpreted and not accurate. Are we open to the right business opportunities? Yeah, at any given time we’re open to things. It just depends on what they are and if they’re beneficial to us in the long-term. When I say long-term I don’t mean three months, I mean 10 years. Long-term. That’s how we think. We’re not necessarily worried about minute-by-minutes. Open for business, I think Vince says that a lot and I’ve been around him long enough that if it’s the right thing and meaningful to business, he’s open to anything.”

source: wrestlezone.com

WWE Studios Sees Layoffs As Features, TV & Digital Divisions Consolidate

Not a happy day in Stamford, CT, today as WWE had a round of layoffs that impact its film, TV and social media divisions in Connecticut and Los Angeles. Trying to find out the exact number, but WWE Studios saw layoffs in features, TV and digital/social media division Advanced Media Group. All of these operations will be consolidated into a single division, with a smaller staff running those operations.

We’ve heard the cuts were deep. The news was conveyed today by phone by president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan, who left his post as co-head of the CAA television department last summer to take the job. He was the agent for the WWE before joining the company.

source: deadline.com

Velveteen Dream Confirms WWE Release

Once believed to be one of WWE's hottest rising characters, Dream initially faced accusations of inappropriate contact with a minor on social media in March 2020. He immediately addressed the allegations, saying he was working with authorities to resolve the situation. 

A second allegation surfaced during the Speaking Out Moment when pro wrestler Joshua Fuller accused Dream of inappropriate contact with a minor, and grooming. A statement by NXT Executive Producer Paul "Triple H" Levesque claimed that WWE had looked into the claims, but found nothing. However, Dream was then only used sporadically on NXT TV until his release. 

Clark has now confirmed his departure from WWE in a lengthy post on his Instagram Story, in which he claims the allegations against him are inaccurate but derailed his push in NXT, eventually leading to his release.

The former Velveteen Dream also wrote about how he came up with the character and addressed the interactions he had with his two accusers on social media. 

The statement, on his Instagram Story, read: 

The allegations from April 20, 2020, have effectively derailed any upward momentum I had professionally. And has ultimately resulted in my termination with WWE. My name is Patrick Clark, not the Velveteen Dream. Velveteen Dream is a character that I have spent years developing and trying to bring to life. The success of the Dream character relied heavily on kayfabe, my ability to blur Patrick Clark from Tough Enough with this over-the-top personality.

The character was conceptualized the day Prince passed, April 21, 2016. I knew nothing about him at that time, but my thinking was that I could use my interpretation of Prince to create an onscreen personality vastly different from who I am as a person.

'Cue Velveteen Dream: A Sexually Ambiguous, Gender Fluid, Self Absorbed Diva. And as I learned more about Prince I began to tame certain aspects of the character. Aspects that I deemed way too over the top and inconsistent with who Prince was as a performer.

Now before I unpack, I will say, I've enjoyed the many stories I've been able to share on camera and I'm grateful to the many people who trusted me with their safety and wellness.

Thank you to any and everybody who enjoyed and allowed me to be my character, whether you paid a ticket or walked up on me in Walmart. My goal was to provide you with the same escape that I was offered when I first started watching. My job was to play a character and to help advance storylines and drama for the fans who cared to tune in. I take any job I have seriously, which is why I've remained silent about these allegations. To me addressing rumors would be working against an already compromised ability to sell a character I've invested in so heavily. After I had been accused, I was given the opportunity to be in a storyline that lasted a few months and I worked in a few segments unrelated to the story arch, but now I feel comfortable in this position to share with you the details of my accusations.

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Friday Ratings: ‘Shark Tank’ And ‘WWE Friday Night SmackDown’ Tie In Demos

ABC’s Shark Tank and Fox’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown tied in the demo wars for Friday night, with the season finale of Shark Tank edging out wrestling by virtue of its larger audience.

The Sharks in this episode included Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec

WWE Friday Night SmackDown had a Fatal 4-Way Intercontinental Championship match between Big E, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Intercontinental champion Apollo Crews as its draw.

source: deadline.com

Lawsuit Filed Against WWE For Patent Infringement

SITO Mobile, Ltd has filed a lawsuit against WWE alleging infringement of patents.

Heel By Nature is reporting that the lawsuit was filed on May 21, 2021 in the United States Court for the District of Delaware. Below is an excerpt from the complaint that includes 12 patents that SITO Mobile is claiming WWE has infringed:

SITO respectfully requests this Court to enter judgment in SITO’s favor and against WWE as follows:

a. finding that WWE directly infringes, literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents, one or more claims of each of the patents-in-suit;

b. awarding SITO damages under 35 U.S.C. § 284, or otherwise permitted by law, including supplemental damages for any continued post-verdict infringement;

c. awarding SITO pre-judgment and post-judgment interest on the damages award and costs;

d. awarding costs of this action (including all disbursements) and attorney fees pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285, or as otherwise permitted by the law; and

e. awarding such other costs and further relief that the Court determines to be just and equitable.

Click here to read more.

This Day In Wrestling History

WWE Announces Return To Touring With 25-City Schedule

WWE is returning to the road with fans in attendance.

It was announced this morning that a 25-city tour will begin on Friday, July 16 with a live SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The Money In the Bank pay-per-view will then take place that Sunday, July 18 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, and a live RAW will be held on July 19 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.

Tickets for all three of those shows will go on sale this Wednesday, May 26 at 11am ET.

WWE will be announcing the rest of the tour stops and on-sale dates in the coming weeks. It was noted that the 25-city schedule will run through Labor Day, which is Monday, September 6.

These dates will be WWE’s first regular ticketed events since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WrestleMania 37 was held this past April with fans in the crowd.

AEW Dynamite Viewership And Key Demo Rating Down From Last Week’s Show

Wednesday’s live edition of AEW Dynamite drew 821,000 viewers on TNT, according to Nielsen via Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.

This AEW viewership is down 12.3% from last week’s show, which drew 936,000 viewers.

This week’s Dynamite drew a 0.28 rating in the 18-49 key demographic. This is down 9.7% from last week’s 0.31 rating in the key demo.

WWE NXT Viewership Up From Last Week With Steel Cage Main Event

Tuesday’s live edition of WWE NXT, featuring Bronson Reed defeating Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Title in the Steel Cage main event, drew 700,000 viewers on the USA Network, according to Nielsen via @SportsTVRatings.

This viewership is up 0.43% from last week’s show, which drew 697,000 viewers.

WWE Releases Velveteen Dream

WWE NXT star Velveteen Dream was released today by the company, according to multiple sources.  The release happened within the last hour we are told.

Dream, real name Patrick Clark, 25, was signed to the company after being eliminated fromthe 2015  Tough Enough season where he obviously showed the most passion for pro wrestling out of any of the contestants but was still voted off the show.  After a big push from WWE Hall of Famer Lita at the time, WWE hired Clark for the developmental system, sending him to WWE NXT later that year.

Clark eventually debuted as The Velveteen Dream in 2017, a character obviously inspired in part by the late, great musician Prince and went to great lengths to remain in character as much as possible when in the public eye.  He quickly rose to prominence in NXT with a tremendous series of performances, looking every bit like a future Wrestlemania main event player.  His work in the ring, nor his flair for performing, was never in question.

That momentum sputtered, stalled and died after online allegations of Clark allegedly sending indecent images to underage boys through social media, a story that lit up after a Reddit user began posting screenshots and audio.  WWE management stated that they looked into the allegations but found no cause for action, leading to Paul Levesque being asked about the situation numerous times during media calls and anti-Velveteen Dream trends on social media whenever he did appear on television.

Clark last wrestled for WWE NXT in December 2020 and had not been seen at the WWE Performance Center for some time.  He was present several weeks back at a Raw taping, but at the time, PWInsider.com was told there were no plans to use him on the main roster.

WWE has not publicly announced Clark's release.  PWInsider.com confirmed his departure with a number of sources this afternoon, however.

source: pwinsider.com

Several WWE NXT Releases

Several WWE NXT departures have been made today, according to PWInsider:

Former MMA Horsewomen member Jessamyn Duke is gone from the company. After a MMA career with the UFC and Invicta, Duke signed with WWE in 2018. She appeared on RAW Underground last year, picking up a win over Avery Taylor. She has not been in action since then.

Vanessa Borne (Danielle Kamela) has also been released. She trained under WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi in 2016, and signed with WWE in April 2016. Borne was reportedly called to the main roster in January 2020 after re-signing with WWE, but never made her official debut. She worked as a NBA dancer, NFL cheerleader and FOX Sports presenter before signing with WWE. 

Skyler Story (Brandi Lauren Pawalek) is also no longer with NXT. She was formerly known as Ava Storie and Brandi Lauren on the indies, and also spent about a year with Impact Wrestling from 2017-2018. 

Ezra Judge (Ezekwesiri “EJ” Nduka Jr.) was also released. He was signed in August 2019 after multiple WWE tryouts. Judge previously played arena football and was a pro bodybuilder for the IFBB. 

Fightful Select reports that Alexander Wolfe (Axel Tischer) has also been released. He just wrestled on last night’s NXT TV episode, losing to Killian Dain. 

Kavita Devi (Kavita Dalal) was also cut today, per Fightful. The former TV presenter and powerlifter signed with WWE in October 2017, becoming the first female pro wrestler of Indian nationality to wrestle for the company. 

It was noted that those being released today are told that their departures are due to budget cuts.

NXT referees Drake Wuertz and Jake Clemons were also released.

Triple H Remembers Wrestling First WWE Match While Under WCW Non-Compete

In a post on Twitter, Triple H spoke about first wrestling for the WWF in 1995, while he was still under a non-compete clause following his release from WCW.

He wrote: “Was signed w/ WWE but still on a non compete from WCW. Called JJ Dillion & begged him & Vince to let me work this card & flew myself in. Brought my dad, 1st time he ever saw me wrestle for a big promotion live & at Boston Garden where he watched as a kid. Night I’ll never forget!”