Wrestling

AEW Reportedly Denying Release Requests (Forbes SportsMoney) AEW President Tony Khan isn’t showing the company’s disgruntled superstars the door.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer (h/t F4WOnline.com), Khan does not plan on granting release requests for wrestlers looking to leave AEW: “Nobody is getting released. That's the doctrine Tony Khan made very clear I guess in the last couple days."

Girls wrestling coming to Des Moines schools (AXIOS Sports) Step aside, boys — Des Moines Public Schools is launching its first-ever girl's wrestling program this year.
Why it matters: Wrestling has deep roots in Iowa, but girls who want to participate often have to join a boy's team. 

WWE Reportedly Wants To Build Ronda Rousey As ‘Special Attraction’ Like Brock Lesnar (Forbes SportsMoney) According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingNews.co), WWE is trying to transform Ronda Rousey into a bigger star in route to WrestleMania 39: “They want to get her back to ‘special attraction, big Brock Lesnar star.’ So that’s the goal of what they’re doing right now. The belief was that at the end, because she’s [working with babyface] Liv Morgan, [Ronda] ends up as a heel. What they’re doing now isn’t necessarily to make her a heel, it’s to make her a big, big star.”

Live Events Boost UFC Owner to $1.3B Quarter (Front Office Sports)

Endeavor Group generated $1.3 billion in revenue in Q2 2022, driven by the return of capacity crowds at live sporting events.

The entertainment conglomerate — which owns mixed martial arts promotion UFC and talent agency WME — saw its Events, Experiences, & Rights segment post $627.9 million in revenue — up from $99.2 million for the same period last year.

Jake Paul raises $50M for new sports micro-betting and media company (Morning Consult Sports) YouTube personality and boxer Jake Paul and sports-betting entrepreneur Joey Levy raised $50 million to launch Betr, a Miami-based company aimed at creating a platform for micro-betting and media content. Betr, which has about 15 employees and counts celebrities such as rapper Travis Scott and Dallas Cowboys running Ezekiel Elliott as early investors, will use the funding to build out the media business and acquire betting customers.