TPWW's Official Dirty Sheets News Thread

[slik]

What do you know?

If they wanted to do the match they could have done it a lot earlier when it would have meant more. I personally don't think Taker really wants to do the match and would rather face someone else. You'd think if anyone has earned the right to choose his opponent, it'd be Taker.

Dirt Sheets have also mentioned recently Vince has become very intrigued by the idea of Roman vs Undertaker because it "builds to the future" and he doesn't see Cena vs Taker in that same light. So there is a chance Vince is considering Roman to face Undertaker in his final match ever at WrestleMania.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hmm. I think you can build Roman Reigns by having him squash Goldberg or something. I'd go balls-in with heel Reigns, but even as an ironic babyface that is really your heel, you don't need to go with Reigns/Taker.

By the way, when I said "What do you know?" I am meant it in a sly "tell me your secrets" sort of way, and not in a dismissive "Pfft, what do you know?" kind of way. I just realized how that could have been misconstrued.

[Black Widow]

Taker should beat anyone he faces.

[slik]

Roman squashing Goldberg in 5 minutes is how I would book that match as well. Gives Goldberg time to hit his signature moves, maybe they briefly brawl outside the ring, spot involving the barrier or table or something of the sort, Roman eventually gets the upper hand and BOOM match over. Vince finally accomplishes his dream of making Roman look strong since they've built up that Goldberg destroyed Lesnar with ease in short time. Also better for the fans because we aren't stuck with a 20 minute clunker. Each gets a big entrance, match is about 5 minutes, wham bam thank you mam' done.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I actually like the idea of Reigns beating and retiring Taker. Reigns needs that signature win.

[owenbrown]

Based on recent rumors and reports, the current WWE Hall of Fame class so far is expected to be:DDP and “Ravishing” Rick Rude


Excellent choices so far. Anything on who might be the headliner though?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Kurt Angle signing some sort of Legends deal to stop himself from wrestling -- or at least get his dates approved by the company -- and a spot in the video game and maybe a non-wrestling role he can occasionally fill (WWE Ambassador, etc.) seems logical at this point, provided Angle is willing to abide by the WWE's rules.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Excellent choices so far. Anything on who might be the headliner though?

Do you smell it?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Roman squashing Goldberg in 5 minutes is how I would book that match as well. Gives Goldberg time to hit his signature moves, maybe they briefly brawl outside the ring, spot involving the barrier or table or something of the sort, Roman eventually gets the upper hand and BOOM match over. Vince finally accomplishes his dream of making Roman look strong since they've built up that Goldberg destroyed Lesnar with ease in short time. Also better for the fans because we aren't stuck with a 20 minute clunker. Each gets a big entrance, match is about 5 minutes, wham bam thank you mam' done.

Completely agree with this. It's time to get unironic and less cute with the booking of Reigns. Just embrace that he's your top guy and stop winking at the audience by booking around it. They're never going to accept it with all the bells and whistles of him being screwed out by Money in the Bank briefcases and surprise Rumble shenanigans. If you want him to be your world-beater, have him be a world-beater.

Goldberg is popular enough that people will care that he loses. I think you can wring way more out of him, but there's "redemption" there for him. That's never been a particularly appealing part of the Goldberg persona (him being a sure thing was always his attraction), but this is 2017 and you've only got a handful of guys with that star potential. You can have Goldberg pin Sheamus or something at another PPV to get some energy back.

Another way to go about it is to have The Usos get involved by attacking Goldberg during the course of the match, they get the Goldberg specials to pop the crowd, but Goldie turns into a Spear from Reigns and gets pinned. It's a bit bullshitty, but if you want to go with Reigns as a heel and protect Goldberg, there are ways to do it. I can also see Reigns with a plate in his vest, so Goldberg knocks himself out on his own Spear. But it might just be better to have Reigns just kick Goldberg's ass.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Do you smell it?

This is also highly likely.

[XL]

The Bloodline as an entitled yet brutal heel faction would be pretty great I think. Similarities to Legacy aside.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Usos need something if they are going to be sticking around. I felt at the time that the heel turn was premature and should have been done more organically after a run as SmackDown Tag Champs. They've pretty much disappeared since their heel turn and being, like, fourth priority team. At least they're still higher than The Ascension and Vaudevillains.

[XL]

I think they want to make something of Alpha vs. Usos and know that in order to do that they have to keep one/both of those teams "on ice" until the time is right to pull the trigger on the feud. That might've changed with The Hype Bros being knocked out of contention.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think that is ultimately the plan too, but I think by keeping one/both "on ice" it's just going to be cold. I didn't really think they should have gone with Slater & Rhyno as first champs at the time, and I still think they should have gone with The Usos as babyface champions until they dropped the belts to American Alpha and then turned heel. It's just preference, but I think it would make things feel more "heavyweight" between the two teams.

At this stage, I'm expecting American Alpha vs. The Usos vs. The Revival vs. a fourth team on the Kickoff show, and that is exactly where The Usos have been forever.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I think they want to make something of Alpha vs. Usos and know that in order to do that they have to keep one/both of those teams "on ice" until the time is right to pull the trigger on the feud. That might've changed with The Hype Bros being knocked out of contention.

If they weren't so hell bent on having two sets of belts, they could've just had the tag division be brand exclusive so as to run multiple feuds and storylines.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Both brands have enough tag teams to make it work if they try. If they went the way of one set of belts it should be open to all brands with the traveling NWA champion motif.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Vaudevillian puppets is one of the best things going.

Cracked me up with Sasha's husband.

[mike adamle]

I do kind of wish they just kept one World Title and maybe upped the prestige of the IC & United States titles by making them the top titles of their respective brands. Roman Reigns holding the US Title might mean something then, probably not, but maybe.

I liked how they did it at the beginning of the first brand split when the undisputed champ would defend against Raw on a PPV then SmackDown! the next PPV.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I guess they have enough teams. But do they have enough legitimate teams? New Day, Gallows and Anderson, American Alpha and the Usos are the only legit teams I can think of that didn't come after the brand split.

Orton and the Wyatts, Slater and Rhyno, Cesaro and Sheamus were all thrown together after the split, IIRC.

Hype Bros I guess you could count as a pre brand split team, but I was thinking of teams that have a shot at being the focus of the division.

If one division on one show was a thing, you'd have New Day on top, Alpha as the secondary face team, Gallows and Anderson as the top heel team, and even the Usos as the next heel team.

Then you add in the other guys who came together after the split and now you have this deep roster of tags to run stories with.

I think one world title, one tag title and one women's belt is best. Two mid card belts get elevated by getting put on guys who could main event but are pushed out because there's only one top spot.

World champ tours brand to brand depending on story and opponent.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Have one ppv per brand every other month. Champ doesn't need to wrestle every month depending on the story.

Use the IC or US belt to main event the brand exclusive shows when the champ is feuding on the opposite show.

[Emperor Smeat]

I do kind of wish they just kept one World Title and maybe upped the prestige of the IC & United States titles by making them the top titles of their respective brands. Roman Reigns holding the US Title might mean something then, probably not, but maybe.

I liked how they did it at the beginning of the first brand split when the undisputed champ would defend against Raw on a PPV then SmackDown! the next PPV.

Yeup, it would have made the IC and US belts a lot stronger and make appearances by the WWE champ feel more special whenever he appeared on a brand.

Vince and/or management not wanting their "flagship" show to be seen as weaker whenever the WWE champ wasn't around was the same reason why the original brand split also quickly had 2 main belts as well.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I guess they have enough teams. But do they have enough legitimate teams? New Day, Gallows and Anderson, American Alpha and the Usos are the only legit teams I can think of that didn't come after the brand split.

Orton and the Wyatts, Slater and Rhyno, Cesaro and Sheamus were all thrown together after the split, IIRC.

Hype Bros I guess you could count as a pre brand split team, but I was thinking of teams that have a shot at being the focus of the division.

If one division on one show was a thing, you'd have New Day on top, Alpha as the secondary face team, Gallows and Anderson as the top heel team, and even the Usos as the next heel team.

Then you add in the other guys who came together after the split and now you have this deep roster of tags to run stories with.

I think one world title, one tag title and one women's belt is best. Two mid card belts get elevated by getting put on guys who could main event but are pushed out because there's only one top spot.

World champ tours brand to brand depending on story and opponent.

I'd like somehow for a team unify the title using some sort of trickery with a newly formed Tag Team Money in the Bank.

If the tag team division competition dies down they can unify them.

The Revival for instance could win Money In the Bank and then win tag team titles on either brand. They would then come out on the other show to cash in and win.

One guy would carry the Red Belt around and the Other Would Carry the Blue.

[Simple Fan]

I do kind of like STDs tag unification idea. Agree with everyone else about only having one set of World, Tag, and Womens titles. Would make being g champion mean a lot more.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Perfect time to bring back the championship scramble.

[#1-norm-fan]

I do kind of like STDs tag unification idea. Agree with everyone else about only having one set of World, Tag, and Womens titles. Would make being g champion mean a lot more.

Multiple world titles was always a ridiculous idea. What's done is done now though. Unfortunately it's more ridiculous how much they've unified and created new titles constantly over the years and re-unifying them again would just make it more clear how unorganized and scatterbrained they are as a company.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I do kind of like STDs tag unification idea. Agree with everyone else about only having one set of World, Tag, and Womens titles. Would make being g champion mean a lot more.

But it is Easy-Bake Booking to have more titles. When wrestling was its height in popularity they had European, Hardcore, Lightheavyweight, Contendership title shots passed around like it was a belt. Anything that could be defended was defended including jobs and ownership of the company itself.

Russo even booked a ladder match in TNA where the keys to Mick Foley's office were placed upon a pole.

[Rebecca Reigns]

The Roman Empire could defeat Goldberg, Undertaker, John Cena, Prince Albert, Mojo Rawley, Braun Strowman and Jushin Liger at the same time. Book it and find out.

[#1-norm-fan]

What about The Great Muta?

[#1-norm-fan]

Roman Reigns vs The Great Muta in the next "Best Wrestler" contest, please.

[The CyNick]

The one title thing doesn't work. Say there's one world champ going between shows, say it's Cena. He starts a program on RAW with say Kevin Owens. The finish wasn't decisive and Owens attacked Cena after the match. Instead of settling the score, Cena hops over to SDL to start a brand new program with Baron Corbin. In the meantime, Owens is waiting on RAW with a thumb up his ass. He's gotta do something for a month, so he gets into a program with someone else. Oh wait, now Cena is back, but that new program on hold, and remind the audience what happened six weeks ago. It just feel disjointed.

Plus from a house show booking and scheduling POV, it's very difficult to constantly changes guys schedules. It's much easier to just have each tour with their own set of championships.

The other benefit is it allows more guys to be elevated. Taking about the tag teams, on SDL, you get to see upwards of six teams getting TV time. On RAW its more like four. Still, combined, that's ten teams. If it's all one division, you won't see that many teams featured. Same with the girls. On SDL you go down to girls like Natty, Naomi, and Carmella. If Charlotte was going between shows, she would take up a segment every week, and you wouldn't see as many girls total.

[The CyNick]

Multiple world titles was always a ridiculous idea. What's done is done now though. Unfortunately it's more ridiculous how much they've unified and created new titles constantly over the years and re-unifying them again would just make it more clear how unorganized and scatterbrained they are as a company.

Scatterbrained = highest revenue year ever.

I think they'll take that.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The brand split itself was an impulsive idea. They probably should have tried to make SmackDown good before they tried to make it "unique." There are real problems with having two World Titles. If the WWE want their fans to watch both RAW and SmackDown (which they clearly do), then having a "World Champion" and #1 Contender on each show means that at the very most you can say a guy is fighting for #3 position in the company as a certainty. Well, even that may be a stretch. The World Champion on SmackDown isn't necessarily better than a mid-carder on RAW.

You can create a Global Championship, Planetary Championship and Earth Championship while you are at it and call the guys who help it "World Champions" all you want. When you ask someone "Who is the best wrestler in the world?", a question that a World Heavyweight Championship is supposed to answer, you cannot answer it in WWE. By having two "World Champions" you literally have no World Champion.

I think there are similar problems with the Tag Team Championships and Women's Championships too. Who is the best women's wrestler in WWE -- Charlotte or Alexa Bliss? In fact, you can probably widen them up to the immediate challengers too. Who is the best women's wrestler in WWE -- Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha, Alexa, Becky or Nikki? See how it becomes really murky? When you put both Women's Championships on, say, a WrestleMania card, Joe Fan is going to watch and think "Hang on, why are there two Women's Championships?" The idea that the Women's Championship is the answer to a question is thrown out the window and as a result neither belt really matters as a tool to get someone over as anything resembling any sort of star.

If you want to go beyond the literal sense of what a World Champion is, and instead focus on who the biggest star and most credible wrestler in WWE -- the answer to "Who is the best wrestler in the world?" -- you have to go with either The Rock or Goldberg. John Cena, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker are also in contention. The World Championship divisions aren't really the elite class of wrestler. Your real World Champion has an invisible belt that they can't exactly take off and hand to another wrestler. They're also part-time and, in at least one of those cases, not even signed to the company.

Having two separate "brands" isn't really an effective storytelling device for WWE at this point. It's exciting at first, because people associate it with change, movement, classification, and conflict. Is a guy going to be RAW or SmackDown? Who are their peers going to be and who are they going to be kept away from? It's build in a larger sense akin to what building to a match would be. But it doesn't actually create more opportunities for guys. Curt Hawkins and Jinder Mahal are just "there." Kevin Owens could have done his shit with Seth Rollins without a belt. Go back to SummerSlam -- the main event doesn't even have a belt involved (exactly what I mean about an invisible World Championship being there anyway). Nothing is really different except that SmackDown is now better than RAW because RAW is even more tedious than it was six months ago.

[The CyNick]

The Monday Night Wars was a fairly successful time in the history of the business, each group had their own set of champion. Football leagues is Europe are each wildly successful and have their own champions, while still participating in joint events. Nobody gets confused that say Man City is the champion of England while Barca is the champion of Spain. Those respective countries leagues still do pretty well I would say. I didn't hear a lot of complaints when Pride had world champions while UFC had their own. All these things do is create water cooler talk about who is better. The nature of WWE allows them to create this type of talk but then deliver on "dream matches" as they see fit.

I don't think having multiple world champions is an issue. To me if you have a brand split, each brand needs champions. The going back and forth just doesn't work from a storytelling point of view our a scheduling point of view. It's easy to say oh just have John work Friday to Monday one month, and then Saturday to Tuesday the next. But for those talents, and for the people who need to advertise them ahead of time, it's a nightmare. At best what they could do is say each champ is on a brand six months at a time. This would give them a chance to start and finish storylines, and scheduling would be easier. But that's a long time for one brand to go without a champion.

If anything, maybe they consider doing something at Mania where its champion vs champion for all the titles. The winner either gets an additional belt, or just some type of trophy. And it just becomes another accolade to brag about. But each respective title stays with their brand. That gives it a little more of a sports feel, where its like Mania is the Super Bowl where the NFC champ battles the AFC champ. Problem there is it hurts The Rumble, because if it's champ vs champ at Mania, how do you get the Rumble winner in the championship match? Maybe one solution would be to rotate SDL and RAW title has to be defended at the Rumble, like what Roman had to do.

[KIRA]

Multiple world titles was always a ridiculous idea. What's done is done now though. Unfortunately it's more ridiculous how much they've unified and created new titles constantly over the years and re-unifying them again would just make it more clear how unorganized and scatterbrained they are as a company.

Get Cyinick to tell you how the unifying and splitting of the world title was a brilliant idea that created awareness and breathed new life into a product that was already damn near perfect.

wow l just saw his post after writing this and to think I was being sarcastic.

[The CyNick]

Get Cyinick to tell you how the unifying and splitting of the world title was a brilliant idea that created awareness and breathed new life into a product that was already damn near perfect.

wow l just saw his post after writing this and to think I was being sarcastic.

Nothing is ever perfect, but for me personally I find both shows more entertaining post brand split. The IC title means more. More tag teams are being featured every week. Virtually the entire SDL women's division is getting time whereas with one title, I would say only two of the girls would have regular TV time.

I will say the main event scene on SDL is a little short in terms of depth, but it's giving guys like Corbin the opportunity to step up. Even a guy like AJ is able to carry the brand, whereas with one title, I don't think his run would have big as long. And what's great, is as a fan, I'm getting more PPVs for the same price as pre split. It's hard to complain IMO.

[#1-norm-fan]

wow l just saw his post after writing this and to think I was being sarcastic.

You can never go too over the top when you parody a troll.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Always think of the worst thing, then take it one step further.

[KIRA]

Nothing is ever perfect, but for me personally I find both shows more entertaining post brand split. The IC title means more. More tag teams are being featured every week. Virtually the entire SDL women's division is getting time whereas with one title, I would say only two of the girls would have regular TV time.

I will say the main event scene on SDL is a little short in terms of depth, but it's giving guys like Corbin the opportunity to step up. Even a guy like AJ is able to carry the brand, whereas with one title, I don't think his run would have big as long. And what's great, is as a fan, I'm getting more PPVs for the same price as pre split. It's hard to complain IMO.

The main thing I keyed in on is you saying you like RAW but law of averges says somebody had to like going to a wrestling show that opens with 20 mins of talking drags in the middle an then just kinda ends with no real reason given why you should tune in the next week.

[The CyNick]

The main thing I keyed in on is you saying you like RAW but law of averges says somebody had to like going to a wrestling show that opens with 20 mins of talking drags in the middle an then just kinda ends with no real reason given why you should tune in the next week.

I would suggest you find something else to do with your life if you feel that way about the show. Seems odd to complain about a show week after week, only to continue watching and/or discuss it on a message board. But maybe you don't value time as much as I do.

[KIRA]

I would suggest you find something else to do with your life if you feel that way about the show. Seems odd to complain about a show week after week, only to continue watching and/or discuss it on a message board. But maybe you don't value time as much as I do.

You ever seen MST3K you know how you probably wouldn't watch the terrible movies if they didn't come with snarky commentary? There you go.

There is the one off chance of Alicia wrestling thats really the only good thing I can say about RAW.

[The CyNick]

You ever seen MST3K you know how you probably wouldn't watch the terrible movies if they didn't come with snarky commentary? There you go.

There is the one off chance of Alicia wrestling thats really the only good thing I can say about RAW.

I have no idea what that is.

Lots to enjoy on RAW.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Conqueror of the US Roman Empire ... Chris Jericho:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/527a242e0503074c735fe13316c49cad/tumblr_ojjr08O8aA1saykaxo1_400.gif

Raw last night did 2.89 million viewers, a number that can't be considered bad going against the Alabama vs. Clemson college football championship game head-to-head ...

Raw only declined two percent from last week, likely due to the advertised appearances of Shawn Michaels and Undertaker. After both had appeared, there was a significant number of viewers who tuned out with a major third hour drop. Unlike usual, when the third hour drop is usually women viewers, last night it was males and in particular older males, which is probably directly attributable to the football game.

The good news is that Raw won't be against football until next fall, and WWE is coming up on its strongest part of the year. So starting next week, there should be a significant increase in male viewers in particular ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.01 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.02 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.69 million viewers
Small drop compared to last week but 3rd hour was among the worst ever for the 3 Hour Era. In terms of comparisons, same show last year had around 500k more viewers.

The Undertaker became the 10th official entrant in the Royal Rumble match last night. Seth Rollins was also added to the match earlier in the day.

WWE held a press conference in New Orleans today to promote that WrestleMania 34 will be taking place in the city in 2018. WWE uploaded a playlist of videos from the event.

Link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7gN9Ap1pR8&list=PLqIVmFaHA8BozVKjJgtKOTR0LbY04s_bp

Vince McMahon was on crutched at the Wrestlemania Press Conference today in New Orleans. We are told that he underwent a surgical procedure recently and is still recovering

Brock Lesnar will return to WWE TV in person on next week's Raw. Lesnar also appeared at yesterday's Winnipeg Jets hockey game.

The former Big Damo's NXT name is now Killian Dain.

PWG announced that their next show will take place on February 18th. Jay White will make his PWG debut against Marty Scurll, while Lio Rush faces Ricochet in his first match for the promotion. Also scheduled for the show: Zack Sabre Jr. puts his PWG title on the line against Chuck Taylor, Cody Rhodes returns against Trevor Lee, Jake Crist, Dave Crist & Sami Callihan take on The Young Bucks & Adam Cole, Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle team against Michael Elgin & Brian Cage, and Rey Fenix faces Trent Barreta.

AXS TV released another promo video for the Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega match from the Tokyo Dome that will air this Friday night. Jim Ross and Josh Barnett did the voice overs for the match today.

Kenny Omega would've been the talk of the pro wrestling world after his instant classic against Kazuchika Okada at the Tokyo Dome regardless of what he did going forward ...

Omega further elaborated on his future in interviews with Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso and Tokyo Sports (thanks to a translation from Chris Charlton). In the SI interview, Omega addressed what's next for him in wrestling.

“I’m leaving to consider my future options,” Omega said. “Returning so quickly after a huge loss would be unwise. I’m finding my next plan of attack in wrestling rather than blindly rushing forward just to be in a ring.”

Omega also seemed to share a mutual admiration with Cena.

“John Cena is one of the great WWE talents that I respect most,” said Omega. “If I were to end up there, working with someone of his caliber would certainly be a goal and jive with my mission of changing wrestling. I’m glad to be on his radar, but I haven’t made any decisions regarding my future yet.”

While closing the interview, Omega claimed that he hasn't yet signed a new contract with any promotion.

“I fear that everyone has taken my words too literally," Omega said. "Yes, I’m out of the country and off of shows, but I haven’t signed any new contracts yet. After such a huge loss, I didn’t want to just hang around and take part in meaningless matches. I’m only interested in changing the business, so I’m thinking carefully about what’s next.”

No matter what's to come for Omega, all of his comments have seemed to be layered in kayfabe. That was true for the Tokyo Sports interview as well, where Omega noted that he has to rethink things after his Dome loss and said that he would be taking time off from NJPW.
Omega's current contract with NJPW ends at the end of this month.

The WWE officially announced the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as the host for the 2018 WrestleMania, which takes place on April 8th, 2018, to avoid Easter which is the previous Sunday, when the show would normally take place.

New Orleans got the news only a few weeks ago. City officials went to the WWE in early 2016 with a presentation, which included a taped video using Drew Brees to try and convince WWE officials to give them the bid.

New Orleans city officials pushed that WrestleMania would be promoted by the city as part of its tricentennial year celebration. New Orleans was open to future years, since it just housed the event in 2014, but really pushed the celebration year angle to WWE officials.

The decision was made only a few weeks ago, rather than months ahead of the public announcement, which is why it only recently leaked out.

Enzo Amore suffered a legit knee injury on 12/30 in Los Angeles. He was on the road this weekend in Cass' corner but was limping pretty heavily. No timetable for a return past he will be reevaluated in two weeks.

WWE’s Michelle Wilson said that the WWE Network offering downloadable content and offline viewing is “definitely on the roadmap.”

NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani explained why the company is running two G1 specials in California in July: "The reason why we decided to go to US is what WWE did to us one years ago. I'm really frustrated. That's the reason." Kidani is referring to WWE signing AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows after last year’s Tokyo Dome show.

Rey Mysterio will appear for What Culture Pro Wrestling in Newcastle on April 29th.

Former ROH champion Kyle O'Reilly has been pulled from the lineup for this weekend's ROH TV Taping in Atlanta, GA at The Centerstage Theater. O'Reilly has been replaced in the announced main event by his ReDragon partner, Bobby Fish.

Fish will team with Jay Lethal against Cody Rhodes and ROH champion Adam Cole. As we noted several days ago, Fish signed a short-term extension with the company as they work on a longer form contract.

O'Reilly's ROH contract expired on 12/31/16 and we are told that he is taking time off to evaluate his future options.

World Wrestling Entertainment has hired Vic Travagliante, the voice of House of Hardcore, to be the latest member of their announcing team, PWInsider.com has learned. His will be rechristened Vic Joseph.
According to PWI, he's currently planned to join the NXT commentary crew.

Deadline.com reported today that Universal Pictures have acquired the feature film comedy "The Pact" which will Star John Cena. The film is planned for a 4/28/18 release theatrically, just a few weeks after Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans.
Pretty much adds another break planned for Cena to join his pile for 2017.

A one-day exhibition of the XFL Hall of Fame, celebrating the lone season of the winter football league owned and operated by WWE will take place this Saturday 1/14 in New York City at the Helen Mills Event Space and Theater in Chelsea, featuring memorabilia and mementos from the league as well as special appearances from former XFL players. The HOF will be free to visit.

The Hall of Fame is designed to help promote the ESPN 30 For 30 documentary "This Was The XFL", which will debut on 2/2 over Super Bowl weekend and is said to feature the revelation that Vince McMahon has had early discussions with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones about the idea of creating a new "minor league" football league.


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE recently released the bracket for their upcoming UK tournament. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/wwe-unveils-united-kingdom-championship-tournament-bracket-227991
Observer had a recent article about how the WWE helped a boxing event be possible due to both shows being booked on the same date. WWE helped MSG by moving their own event to a later date so the boxing event could go on as scheduled. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/how-wwe-helped-big-boxing-fight-get-booked-msg-228051
Recent episode of the Steve Austin Show podcast had Observer's Dave Meltzer as the guest. https://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=542&pid=1699889
Kenny Omega was revealed to be the guest for Friday's episode of Talk Is Jericho podcast show. Episode itself was supposedly taped a couple of weeks ago though due to Omega being busy preparing for Wrestle Kingdom 11. https://twitter.com/TalkIsJericho/status/818533229133254657
According to the Observer, Finn Balor is currently targeting early March for his return from his injury. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/818912418759774212

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Return of the Queen of Craziness:
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Current rumored 2017 Hall of Fame class according to PWI and the Observer:
DDP
Ravishing Rick Rude
William Regal
Christian
The Natural Disasters
IRS

Other names are also being considering with Observer speculating Taker might be one and would be the headliner
Spoiler tags used since its related to the rumored list of WWE Hall of Famers for this year's class.

The ratings “war” between Raw and Smackdown lasted a whole week, as Smackdown failed to gain traction after scoring the 2.02 rating two weeks ago for John Cena’s return. It dropped to 1.78 last week and ticked up to a 1.79 this week, well below Raw’s 2.03 rating. Viewership was 2.533 million viewers. A year ago Smackdown drew a 1.68 rating, so Smackdown being live on Tuesdays with its own distinct roster has led to an increase in rating consistently over year-ago numbers.
Obama's Farewell Address ended up hurting Smackdown more than the NCAA football title game did for RAW. Only real bright spot is the Live Era is paying off for Smackdown since this week was higher compared to the same week last year.

Mark Hunt today filed a lawsuit in Nevada District Court against the UFC, Brock Lesnar, and Dana White.

ESPN's Brett Okamoto reported the story earlier tonight. It's a landmark case because Hunt is claiming that the defendants "affirmatively circumvented and obstructed fair competition for their own benefit."

Hunt had been threatening legal action, feeling that his career has been harmed by facing people who have cheated. Hunt was upset because he felt Lesnar was not punished enough for a failed drug test before their fight took place, and that he went into the cage without knowledge that Lesnar had already failed a test, as the result of a June 28th test didn't come back until after the July 9th fight.

The tough aspect of this case is that Lesnar failed for Hydroxy Clomiphene, and not for steroids or another PED. So while there are two failed tests, on June 28th and July 9th, there is no evidence that specifically ties Lesnar to PED usage for the Hunt fight.
According to PWI, UFC is getting sued for being purposely aware Hunt's recent oppoents were cheating, put his welfare and rep at risk by not finding him clean opponents, and purposely underpaying him both for fight purses and post-fight compensation. Lesnar is getting sued mainly for cheating his way to a huge paycheck at Hunt's expense.

The BMO Harris Bradley Center announced the following for the 2017 WWE Fast Lane PPV:

See @Goldberg and your favorite superstars in Milwaukee at @WWE #Fastlane on March 5! #WWE #Goldberg #WWEMKE pic.twitter.com/GDQrCFpFCb
— BMOHarrisBradleyCntr (@BMOHBC) January 11, 2017

So, that's another PPV Goldberg is confirmed for.

There are now 13 entrants announced for the Royal Rumble match after the additions of Dean Ambrose, The Miz, and Dolph Ziggler last night.

Timothy Smith, who wrestled as Rex King and Timothy Well of the tag team Well Dunn in WWF, passed away on Monday at 55 years old. Chris Jericho donated the entire initial goal of $2,500 to a GoFundMe that had been set up by his family.

John Cena again seemed to reference Kenny Omega on Instagram today. Cena first posted a picture of an O and then posted another one of Mega Man.

WWE posted full video of the United Kingdom Championship tournament preview show that aired after Raw on Monday night.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WbirNi9y4M

Jim Ross tweeted that he's finished voicing over six episodes of NJPW on AXS with Josh Barnett. Wrestle Kingdom 11 will begin airing this Friday on AXS with the Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega main event.

An interesting note from the New Beginning cards that were released by NJPW yesterday is that Katsuyori Shibata will defend his Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship (as long as he's still champion or else it will be a special singles match) against Will Ospreay in Osaka on February 11th. Shibata will defend the title against Matt Riddle at RevPro's show at York Hall in London on January 21st.

TNA will have another round of Impact tapings tonight at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. They close out their tapings tomorrow.

Based on what they have taped thus far, it would appear they will have nine episodes done as opposed to the originally planned 12. They return to Universal from 3/2-3/9.

Fomer ROH champion Kyle O'Reilly has been removed from the Ring of Honor roster on the ROH website, which certainly sends tells the tale as to whether the company expects him back anytime soon.


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XZC8Cct61Rk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Some other sheet news includes:

For those interested, PWI is currently offering a free 3 day trial of their Elite subscription service.
Rolling Stones had a recent article about Baron Corbin and their feeling of him becoming a huge star in the WWE very soon. http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/baron-corbin-is-wwes-next-big-thing-w460546
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Alexa Bliss' current Smackdown Women's reign has lasted longer than all of Sasha Banks' combined RAW Women's reigns. Bliss has held the belt for 37 days while Sasha's combined total is just 28 days (3 reigns).
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Cena is actually one reign away from tying two of Ric Flair's all-time championship records. One involves World-tier belts and the other involves the US title (Cena has 5, Flair has 6 for the record).
In a third "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 18th anniversary of the Corporate Rumble which was won by Chyna and later allowed her to become the first women ever to wrestle in the Royal Rumble match.

[XL]

Where does that erroneous 's' come from when they report about Rolling Stone magazine? Every time they refer to it as Rolling Stones.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

From the band.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Alicia Fauuuuuuuuuuuuuux is amazing lol

[Mercenary]

Good god Alica that was some really really bad acting

[XL]

From the band.

But it's incorrect. Mick Jagger is not writing articles about wrestling.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

The Observer is all but confirming that Hogan is coming back.

On what I'm sure is a TOTALLY UNRELATED NOTE, Vince tweeted this yesterday:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My hero. <a href="https://t.co/0oTT6DVcQG">pic.twitter.com/0oTT6DVcQG</a></p>&mdash; Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) <a href="https://twitter.com/VinceMcMahon/status/819290460053241856">January 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Good job The New Day look to be recruiting.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Look for American Alpha to be rebranded "Real American Alpha" and wear red and yellow from now on. You heard it here first.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW Gif:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522a2049e4b0a0ce717e990c/5838eac91b631b80626dd07e/5838eaedc534a5462edcb52e/1480125184050/Disco+Inferno+Alex+Wright+crossbody.gif

The WrestleMania show isn’t finalized, but there is an idea on the table where Joe will debut with a major push and be in one of the top few matches on the show, which also makes it likely he’s starting very soon and would have to have a big Rumble if he’s in it.
Spoiler tag used since its related to both a possible major call-up and major plans for Mania.

While this can all change, the Terry Taylor class at the Performance Center, which is the one to groom people who will be are being considered right now for somewhat imminent main roster spots are Nakamura, Almas, Alexander Wolfe, TM 61, Itami, Ciampa, Gargano, Hero, Samson and Dillinger. The next group down, meaning right now not imminent but they are the ones who would move up when those in the top group go to the main roster would be Tino Sabbatelli, Riddick Moss, Damo, Authors of Pain, Tommy End, Roderick Strong, Dan Matha (who is 6-7 and a bodybuilder but has hardly worked in developmental), Oney Lorcan, Wesley Blake, Buddy Murphy, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. Bobby Roode doesn’t train at the Performance Center as his deal is different, nor does Eric Young, Samoa Joe and I believe Austin Aries so they wouldn’t be in get-ready classes

Shane Thorne of TM 61 will be undergoing knee surgery I believe on 1/12, which will put him out of action for several months ...

They are looking for new gimmicks for TM 61 (although with Thorne injured there is no rush for this), Blake, Murphy, Steve Cutler, Aliyah, Moss, Sabbatelli and Matha, which is a good sign in the sense they see something in them, just not as they are right now

There have been some changes made in WrestleMania plans as noted in recent weeks, with the major thing being that the proposed Undertaker vs. John Cena match is off the boards. The card will be clearer coming out of the Royal Rumble, on 1/29 in San Antonio. Undertaker, and whoever was to challenge for the Universal title on Raw, would have been Rumble favorites if the idea was to go with tradition and have the Rumble winner challenge for one of the two the major titles at Mania.

While connecting dots can come up with a pretty good idea of the show, the key things known is that Undertaker right now is not scheduled to challenge for either title on the show. He did appear on the 1/9 Raw show, after first arriving on Smackdown, because when he was on Smackdown, it was to build for him to face Cena. Now he will face someone on the Raw roster. There was a tease of Braun Strowman on Raw, but it will not be Strowman as things stand right now.


The key matches remain Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg, which based on current hints and direction looks likely to be presented as the main event on the show, HHH vs. Seth Rollins and Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal ...

Roman Reigns will obviously be in one of the major matches on the show. This also leaves open spots for Cena, A.J. Styles, Finn Balor (who is expected to be back in action around March unless that date is a Rumble swerve, which it probably isn’t) and Dean Ambrose. Ambrose and Miz is just starting as a program and timing wise I could see them building to a blow-off. But there is a tradition of the multiple person ladder match over the IC title as well ... If Jericho is to retain the U.S. title, that would seem earmarked for the Owens match, if that is the direction they continue.

There will be six or seven major main event level singles matches on the show, not including cruiserweights or women. The women’s match is not finalized, but Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax is the current proposed main woman’s match.

Kenny Omega’s prior New Japan contract was to end on 1/31. The belief is that he was offered a two-year new deal. There are those who believe he has signed it but that is not confirmed information, although he has denied it.

There is a very sad video message from Perry Saturn regarding his various health issues. He's attempting to raise money to pay medical bills and keep him from being homeless.
Link to the video: https://twitter.com/adampacitti/status/819588827111194624

Shawn Michaels did a TMZ interview where he said what is pretty clear, that he will never wrestle again.

While there are no details Fred Ottman (Typhoon/Tugboat) was hospitalized for several days this past week.

UFC star Josh Barnett will be appearing at tonight's TNA television tapings in Orlando and making his debut for a national U.S. promotion.

Barnett, currently on a USADA temporary suspension regarding an out of competition drug test taken on December 9th, has a pro wrestling background and was a disciple of Billy Robinson, one of the biggest stars of the 60s and 70s.

Barnett is expected to work some kind of an angle with TNA champion Bobby Lashley, which would be notable for a pro wrestling feud between a UFC star and a Bellator star.

According to Ticketmaster's website, tickets for the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony will now go on sale Friday, January 27th with a presale beginning on Wednesday, January 25th. This is the second time the sale date has been pushed back.

Former ECW and NWA champion Steve Corino officially began working as a Coach for the WWE Performance Center this week, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Corino officially departed Ring of Honor on 12/31 when his contract as an announcer for the company expired.

The updated lineup for WWE NXT: Takeover San Antonio following last night's episode of WWE NXT:

*NXT Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

*NXT Women's Championship Fatal 4 Way: Asuka vs. Nikki Cross vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce

*NXT Tag Team Championship: DIY vs. The Authors of Pain

Wrestle Kingdom ended up a major success for NJPW. They picked up more than 10,000 new subscribers to New Japan World in a 24 hour period on 1/3 and 1/4, prior to the start of the Tokyo Dome show, bringing the total to about 60,000, an amazing one-day increase of a two-year-old business by 20 percent in 24 hours. Even more, 5,500 of those new subscribers came from the U.S. The total number of subscribers outside of Japan was about 8,500 to 9,000 on 1/3, but that’s the rest of the world, not just the U.S. Obviously that pales compared to WWE numbers, being only about four percent of those numbers which gives you an indication of just how competitive the two companies really aren’t as businesses even if New Japan puts on significantly better major shows. And in reality, when New Japan World was launched in 2015, the goal was 100,000 subscribers by January 4, 2016, so it has been a major disappointment.

Things remain not strong in Pro Wrestling NOAH as they are struggling to replace the Suzuki-gun group. They recently closed their dojo and are said to be looking for a new location

New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani stated that the reason they are running the 7/1 and 7/2 shows in Long Beach is: “The reason why we decided to go to US is what WWE did to us one year ago. I’m really frustrated. That’s the reason.”

B.J. Whitmer signed a new deal with ROH after some talks with WWE about being a trainer.

Several of the people whose contract expired with ROH are working on a per date basis right now

There was very little different with TNA. They had the same talent in the same positions as it’s seemed they’ve been in for months. The television wasn’t bad, nor was it good. It felt like the same spinning of the wheels going nowhere and throughout the show all l kept thinking was the saying about how the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. When I see modern pro wrestling and sports entertainment, there are things that are working and things that aren’t. What TNA has been doing for years hasn’t been working, yet the television show was exactly the same as far as the feel and look. It’s taped in the same place. It was all the same guys. The only difference was no Dixie Carter as an authority figure. They never used the name TNA except the closing graphic which listed Anthem Sports & Entertainment and TNA Wrestling Productions. The push was for the name Impact.

The Big Show cancer angle was originally conceived by Terry Taylor. The idea was to rebuild him back to the top star level, which he'd fallen from. The planned conclusion was nothing like it turned out. The idea was that the father would die and be cremated. After the funeral, Undertaker would go to his house and steal the urn that the ashes were in, and pour them down the toilet and flush it, to build to an Undertaker vs. Show headline program
Wacky WWE story from back in the day in regards to the original plans for Big Show's father angle. WWE ended up going in a different direction with the Big Bossman feud instead.


Some other sheet news includes:

Lucha Underground announced they are taking a mid-season break lasting last till Summer.
WWE showed off the new UK championship belt during a recent episode of the Blue Peter show on the BBC. https://twitter.com/natkinESPN/status/819613774608859137
TNA is currently in the process of a name change after the company and their new owners started to purged the TNA name from their social media accounts.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, the WWE now considers the Universal belt and Smackdown Tag belts as eligible for their Grand Slam criteria. Official list of Grand Slam champions also got updated for the new criteria. http://www.wwe.com/new-grand-slam-winners
According to the Observer, WWE is currently in the process of having both an Asian and Latin American tournament some point after the upcoming UK tournament. Both tournaments would have their own belts made like with the CWC and UK tournaments.
2K Games announced the PC port of WWE 2k17 will be arriving on February 7th. All DLC currently available will be available at launch for PC but future DLC will still arrive at a later date after consoles get them.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Grand Slam should be every active open championship in the WWE. Right now it would be World, Universal, RAW Tag Team, SmackDown Tag Team, US and IC.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If the plan is to not do Cena/Taker at this year's Mania because they are holding it off to New Orleans next year (and probably a final match against Undertaker), then I'd still go with Taker winning the Rumble and challenging AJ Styles. Have Cena face Samoa Joe in a personal story for Mania.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Grand Slam should be every active open championship in the WWE. Right now it would be World, Universal, RAW Tag Team, SmackDown Tag Team, US and IC.

Worst part of them redoing the rules and criteria for the Grand Slam was taking away belts.

HBK no longer is considered the first Grand Slam champ in WWE history under the new rules. Now its Kurt Angle who holds that status.

Jericho went from the 4th ever GS champ to now 7th because of the US title replacing the Euro and Hardcore belts.

[Big Vic]

I was really dissatisfied with WWE when they had Christian seem to challenge for the US title near Raw 1000 only to switch it up at the last moment and challenge for the IC title and win. The dude won nearly every belt in the WWE besides the US title.

[Big Vic]

Could have sworn Undertaker was an IC champion at one point

[XL]

Nope. Kane was for a while in 2001.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I was really dissatisfied with WWE when they had Christian seem to challenge for the US title near Raw 1000 only to switch it up at the last moment and challenge for the IC title and win. The dude won nearly every belt in the WWE besides the US title.

I don't think Christian was ever a WWE Tag Team Champion. I mean as in the SmackDown created belts that have now become the RAW Tag Team Championship. He was also never WWE Champion, US Champion (as pointed out) or Cruiserweight Champion.

Am I the only one who feels that it feels wrong to have guys that aren't American hold the US Title when they are babyfaces? I don't know why, but something just feels like it doesn't connect.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Nope. Kane was for a while in 2001.

He also won it in 2002. But yeah, Taker never held the belt. Cena has never won it either.

[Evil Vito]

Meh, I never felt that way when an American held the European belt either.

It's just the name of a title.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, it doesn't really matter, it's just weird. Maybe I just don't like the US Title?

[KIRA]

UK belt looks 1000 times better than than...both WWE belts honestly but especially that stupid red belt that looks like a 7yr old commissioned it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Because I don't watch RAW every week, when I tune in the RAW Title still startles me, haha.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW Gif:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522a2049e4b0a0ce717e990c/t/542cdebde4b0fe3f2f30775e/1412226759341/

The 1/12 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 277,000 overnight viewers, down from last week's 290,000 viewers.

Regarding rumors of Kurt Angle in the Royal Rumble, as of this morning, there is nothing to them. That isn't a cryptic thing. There's been no discussion as of today. Sometimes they don't call people until the last minute (which is why they sometimes get turned down because many older guys don't have time to get in shape).

It was announced yesterday that Angle will be starring in a movie called "In the Ring" which was described as being a comedy like "Major League" about a group of local misfit wrestlers led by Angle are in a war against a multinational promotion to get a network television contract. Tommy Dreamer plays the role of Vince McMahon. A lot of wrestlers are in the movie including Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, John Morrison, Ken Anderson, Jay Lethal, Joey Ryan, Candice LeRae, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Kevin Kelly, Nick Aldis, Chad Lail, Dalton Castle and the Briscoe Brothers.

Vince McMahon spoke to the New Orleans Times-Picayune earlier this week and when asked if he was going to retire, said, "No. No. Never. This is not work for me. I never go to work. Ever. Every aspect of the business, whether it's working with the talent or the writing staff, even on occasion working with the legal guys, it's all a big family. I never go to work." He also said that he doesn't miss being on television at all. He said he enjoyed it when he did it, but then he couldn't produce and direct the show, which is what he loves to do.

"From a creative standpoint, it's subject to change when you see something better. If I take this piece and put it here, that would really help. As opposed to what we were advertising or even the way we were going.

You listen to the audience and if the audience is catching on to this or you think they may gravitate to that, that's where you go. You have to lead. ... I don't even think that way in terms of “what if that would have happened?” We just go do."
From the same interview Vince had with New Orleans Times.

Paul Levesque, Scott Armstrong and Marty Miller will be overseeing the production of the U.K. shows this weekend. David Finlay is a producer. There will be no Vince McMahon at the show nor his fingerprints on the show. The talent, if left to their devices, want to do all kinds of blow away high spots so we'll see how it turns out.

Brock Lesnar will be at every Raw in February except the show in Las Vegas. He'll also be on the first Raw in March, on 3/6 in Chicago as well as the 3/20 Raw in Brooklyn and most likely (not confirmed but probable) the 3/27 Raw

Paul Levesque held a press conference today in the U.K. to talk about the tournament this weekend. This was his response when asked about Kenny Omega:

"As far as Kenny Omega goes, I'm interested in talent period and if someone is talented as a performer and they want to come work for the WWE. If they want to work for the best in the world. If they want to come to the largest platform where they can truly show what they do off on a global basis then WWE is the choice for them. If they want to work for us and they are very talented then I'm interested in talking to them across the board. I hear a lot of speculation sometimes about well this guy who's been working for a long a time, or they wouldn't have interest or they would, or they're going after football players or this and that. I'm interested in talent at every level. Somebody with charisma, someone with the it factor, that is athletic, can do what we do...I'm interested in them. So, to me, anytime anyone questions me on a talent and if I'm interested in them...the fact that you are questioning me on it means that person is pretty talented so yes I'm interested."

AXS TV opens up its 2017 Friday night fights with New Japan at 8 p.m. with Jim Ross and Josh Barnett commentating on the much-talked about Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega main event from 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome. The ratings over the next month for the Dome shows will play a factor in determining how prominent New Japan may be on the station going forward. The show is moved up one hour this year and the live MMA fights that follow now start at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.

The TNA show last night didn't air until 10 p.m. Eastern on The Fight Network. TNA finished editing late and sent it to Toronto, where they were racing against time to get it ready for air, and then one of the files was corrupted so they didn't get it done. They aired last week's show in the normal time slot and then aired the new show in the later time slot.

Bill Apter spoke to Fred Ottman's wife show noted that he was in rough shape with four different infections including a kidney infection and had a 104 degree fever, but she said he was doing better.

PW Insider reported a joint ROH and New Japan show will take place on 5/7 in Toronto. Plans are for at least four shows over eight days in May.

Don West was brought back to help the company liquidate a lot of stock that is sitting in the warehouse in Nashville, TN. I was told it was a Jeff Jarrett suggestion. We are told there is going to be a massive unloading of merchandise with insane, even for Don West, deals.

There is a lot of talk that TNA management and staff will all be condensed to be in one place. Currently, they are split between the TNA warehouse and the production office at Skyway Studios, which are located in two different areas of Nashville.

Wrestler Len "Hard Rock" Hamilton filed a suit against Microsoft claiming that the character in Gears of War of Augustus Coel Train Cole was a rip-off of his character, claiming he provided photos and voice recording in 2005 for the character, which is voiced by another former pro wrestler, now actor Lester Speight (Rasta the Voodoomon in pro wrestling).

New Japan today has announced a full schedule of events on New Japan World with English language commentary of the events that will air live.

As has already been reported, both major shows in February, the New Beginning in Sapporo on February 5th with the Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki IWGP title match and the February 11th New Beginning in Osaka with the Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin IC title match will have English language commentary.

The other shows between now and August with English commentary are:

March 6th -- 45th Anniversary show at the Tokyo Ota Ward Gym
March 20th -- New Japan Cup finals (winner to get an IWGP title match on 4/9)
April 9th -- Sakura Genesis at Tokyo Sumo Hall
May 3rd -- Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka's International Center Arena
June 3rd -- Best of the Super Junior finals
June 11th -- Dominion in Osaka Jo Hall (the biggest event between now and G-1)
July 1st -- The show in Long Beach, CA
July 2nd -- The second show in Long Beach, CA
July 17th -- Opening night of the G-1 tournament in Sapporo
August 11th -- A block finals of G-1 at Sumo Hall
August 12th -- B block finals of G-1 at Sumo Hall
August 13th -- G-1 Climax championship match at Sumo Hall

Kevin Kelly will be the lead announcer for the broadcasts. At this point it's unknown who will be working with him now that Steve Corino has taken a job as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center.


The new Liberace-inspired Aron Rex character was something that was pitched to WWE years ago back when they were bringing Damien Sandow up from FCW. That pitched eventually changed to the more "Intellectual" character that fans got to see instead.
Wacky Sandow/Rex story from back in the day in regards to the origins of his new gimmick.


Some other sheet news includes:

Website WrestlingDVDNetwork recently revealed the entire list of matches and content for the upcoming DDP DVD/Blu-Ray set. http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/full-content-listing-wwe-diamond-dallas-page-positively-living-dvd/129145/
According to reports, another DVD/BR the WWE is also planning on releasing this year is called "WrestleMania Monday is Raw" and will be highlights from RAW After Mania episodes.
According to PWI, TNA recently got caught up in the back pay owed to wrestlers going as far back as last October.

[BigCrippyZ]

"I don't even think that way in terms of “what if that would have happened?” We just go do."

So basically Vince doesn't even have the wisdom or humility to look back to learn what they may have done wrong, need to improve upon, could do differently in the future to improve, etc. Explains a lot.

[Sepholio]

Vince is gonna Vince.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I wonder if CyNick will believe it if it comes from Vince's mouth?

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Something about Vince notl telling that truth or letting people in so he just says something to appease the masses but really it's the opposite

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Well in all fairness he's not one to show "weakness" or admit mistakes. To be frank, knowing the very little I know about the man, it would make no sense for him to see it any other way.

[KIRA]

I wonder if CyNick will believe it if it comes from Vince's mouth?

CyNick thinks Vince craps out rainbows that cure terminal cancer in unicorns

so yes.

[The CyNick]

So basically Vince doesn't even have the wisdom or humility to look back to learn what they may have done wrong, need to improve upon, could do differently in the future to improve, etc. Explains a lot.

Lol. Let's put up his bank account against yours. Maybe you should learn how to do things differently in life.

Fucking amazing reading moronic posts like this.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

All I gathered from what he was saying was "I keep moving forward and don't look back".

I don't agree with McMahon on many things or particularly care for him as a human being but I just don't see why he would need to give a different answer. What he has done has worked for him. Why should he be like "Well I really wish I gave Dean Ambrose a clean win over HHH because then the fans would take him more seriously". It would be ludicrous lol

[BigCrippyZ]

Lol. Let's put up his bank account against yours. Maybe you should learn how to do things differently in life.

Fucking amazing reading moronic posts like this.

Nah. I'm good and have more than I could need or want financially. I actually work in the entertainment industry and am accepted by my peers in it, unlike Vince, who only wishes the same was true for himself. Plus, finances aren't everything, but having the respect of your peers or being able to help your peers when you're (typically the first) person they call when they need advice or help, can be an immeasurable benefit and bring more joy than any amount of money ever would, especially if (unlike Vince it seems) you have a healthy ego and don't live to work but still love what you do.

[Ruien]

So you are done running a multi national law firm? Damn.

[BigCrippyZ]

So you are done running a multi national law firm? Damn.

Who said I run a multi national law firm? I do run a law firm (practicing in primarily entertainment law, sports law, intellectual property and business law) with offices in multiple states though.

As well as several other businesses in the music and entertainment industries that provide various services to creatives, talent, artists/acts, producers, execs, etc.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Sting channeling his inner Ric Flair:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522a2049e4b0a0ce717e990c/t/52a39b7fe4b07c3f37fb126f/1386454154827/

The 2017 WWE Hall of Fame class has its headliner -- and it's someone that many doubted would ever be back with the company in any way.

ESPN broke the news on Monday afternoon that Kurt Angle would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31st over WrestleMania 33 weekend in Orlando, Florida. The induction is the first association Angle has had with WWE in over a decade after parting ways with the company in 2006.

"I was shocked. I've been out of WWE for a long time and out of touch with them so I didn't really expect this," Angle told ESPN about the news. "It's a huge honor. This is the only Hall of Fame that I'm not in and probably (the one) I want to be in the most. This is the one that means the most for me. I had a lot of fun entertaining the fans for seven years with WWE, and I'm glad that my hard work paid off."
Link to the ESPN article: http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18489557/kurt-angle-headline-wwe-hall-fame-class-2017

Kurt Angle spoke to Sports Illustrated about his upcoming WWE Hall of Fame induction. Angle said that Steve Austin is at the top of his list to induct him and called the decision a "no-brainer."
Link to the interview: http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/01/17/wwe-kurt-angle-hall-fame-induction-interview

Though he just returned to WWE earlier this month, it's unclear when Tajiri will be wrestling for the company next after suffering an injury.

WWE.com posted on Tuesday that Tajiri isn't medically cleared to wrestle after suffering a right knee injury at NXT's latest TV taping. Tajiri teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura against Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode in what may have been a dark match main event on that taping. The conclusion of the match saw Chris Hero make his NXT return as Kassius Ohno to confront Nakamura after it was over.

WWE is holding 2016 year-end awards for NXT that will be announced on the one-hour pre-show prior to TakeOver: San Antonio. The categories are performer of the year, male of the year, female of the year, breakout of the year, tag team of the year, and TakeOver of the year.
Link to the awards: http://www.wwe.com/article/triple-h-announces-that-voting-is-now-open-for-the-nxt-awards

Ring of Honor has announced that Dragon Lee and Jushin Thunder Liger will appear at their Supercard of Honor show during WrestleMania weekend in Lakeland.

Mickie James is backstage at the SmackDown tapings tonight in Memphis, though that doesn't necessarily mean she will debut on the show.

James had been widely speculated to be the eventual person who would be unmasked as La Luchadora. James was not under the mask on the previous shows with that character, but from the start of the angle it was always supposed to be revealed as her.

With Steve Corino leaving Ring of Honor and his announcing duties with New Japan Pro Wrestling for a job at the WWE Performance Center, NJPW was tasked with filling the spot on their streaming service's English broadcast team opposite Kevin Kelly.

That spot has been filled, with Don Callis (formerly known as The Jackyl in WWF and Cyrus in ECW) announcing on the latest episode of his "Killing the Town" podcast -- that he does with Lance Storm -- that he has accepted a position to be NJPW World's new lead English color commentary voice.

Callis noted on the podcast that he had agreed to the deal within the last week and would be working on the broadcast team alongside Kelly, who he worked with previously in the WWF in the 1990s. Callis thanked Kenny Omega for helping facilitate the deal.

NJPW announced last week that they would be ramping up their English commentary broadcast schedule as they attempt to further appeal to international fans.


Ring of Honor officially announced three dates for the upcoming 2017 War of the Worlds tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling.

The dates announced were May 7th at the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, May 10th at the Dearborn, Michigan Ford Community and Arts Center, and May 14th as a television taping at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

No names were announced for the shows but all three events are expected to sell out.

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday for ROH Ringside Members and on January 20th to the general public.

There may be one date added to the list as we had heard it was a four show tour.

Regarding questions I'm getting asked a lot, all of the wrestlers who appeared in the WWE tournament have been signed. They are also able to work U.K. independent dates until or unless WWE starts running a full-time circuit.

BREAKING: tomorrow (1/18/17) guest @KennyOmegamanX will be LIVE on #TheTazShow via @Skype pic.twitter.com/X9MsoqSj6P
— TAZ (@OfficialTAZ) January 17, 2017

Pro Wrestling Illustrated is one of the most beloved professional wrestling magazines of all time. Before the Internet, this was how wrestling fans got their news. It also gave fans a chance to have their voices heard when they held their year-end voting each year with the results completely chosen by the fans. One shocking result this year came when fans voted Roman Reigns as the Most Hated Wrestler of the Year in the PWI Awards.

When speaking about the fan-voted award for Roman Reigns, PWI mentioned that this was the first time in their publication’s history that a babyface – a fan favorite – won the Most Hated Wrestler award.

“More than a quarter of our respondents cast their vote for Roman Reigns as the Most Hated Wrestler of the Year, marking the first time in the history of the PWI Achievement Awards that a so-called “fan favorite” has won this distinction.”

In our search for the best wrestling on the planet, we noticed a gap in our offerings. Lucha libre, one of the oldest and most revered forms of professional wrestling, is on its way to FloSlam.

A pair of lucha libre promotions -- Pro Wrestling Revolution and Lucha Forever -- have joined the FloSlam family.

The promotions offer distinct takes on the artform that originated in Mexico. These multi-event deals will include live streams on FloSlam. After the initial airing, shows will be available for unlimited rewatching via our ever-growing library.

Keith Lee announced on Twitter this past weekend that he has signed with EVOLVE. Lee had been under a non-exclusive deal that recently expired. EVOLVE quickly announced that he will face Chris Hero in one of his final EVOLVE matches on Jan. 27 in San Antonio during Royal Rumble weekend.

According to sources, ROH officials were aware that Lee was negotiating with EVOLVE, but he was still working on a handshake deal with ROH. Lee’s tag team partner, Shane Taylor, recently signed an non-exclusive deal with ROH. Lee had offers on the table from EVOLVE and ROH. ROH officials were aware of Lee’s negotiations with EVOLVE, but weren’t expecting him to sign there in the near future.

Lee and Taylor appeared as a tag team on ROH’s TV Tapings last weekend in Atlanta on Jan. 14. According to multiple sources, Lee didn’t tell anyone in the ROH locker room or the office that he was going to sign with EVOLVE. ROH ended up booking Lee & Taylor to go over strong on The Briscoes during an in-ring segment. One top wrestler was furious that Lee appeared on the tapings without notifying ROH management he was going to sign with EVOLVE and noted that he and Taylor were booked to look strong against The Briscoes, which likely would not have happened had Taylor notified ROH management he was leaving the company.

According to a source close to Lee, he chose to sign with EVOLVE because the money was the same and being under a non-exclusive deal really limits where talent can work outside of ROH. ROH recently added a clause to their non-exclusive deals that states that talent can’t wrestle on independents that air on FloSlam. With FloSlam expected to become affiliated with more prominent indie organizations in 2017, wrestlers under a non-exclusive deal will have a hard time finding bookings.

Sources have confirmed with PWTorch that one of the companies that ROH has added to the banned list for those under non-exclusive deals is Beyond Wrestling. Beyond Wrestling does not air regularly on FloSlam, as they’ve only had one show air on the service, but ROH is using a very broad interpretation of their clause to ensure talent doesn’t work for the company.


Some other sheet news includes:

RAW's rating and viewership numbers got delayed till later this week due to the MLK Jr holiday.
Kurt Angle was revealed to be this week's guest for ESPN's weekly wrestling segment.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 40th anniversary of Howard Finkle's debut in the WWE.
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, WWE's Youtube channel is currently the 4th most viewed channel on the service with a little over 13 billion total views. In terms of actual revenues, they only earn a few million per year at most from it.
According to reports, Darren Young joined Taijri in being recent offerings for the Papa Shango Curse. Young suffered an arm injury during a match against Epico at yesterday's Main Event tapings.

[thecc]

Well rip roh.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Bliss Era Appreciation Day:
http://i.imgur.com/VSyYrGI.gif

As expected, Raw bounced back strong with no football competition, doing 3.26 million viewers on Monday night. That's only down six percent from the 3.46 million viewers that the bounce-back Raw the same week last year did, so the decline is far less than it was during football season.

It was up 13 percent from last week, and the usual goal is a ten percent increase the first week after football season ends ...

The story was a very strong open and a big fade. Whether that was attributable to the idea that people were curious to see Brock Lesnar, and after his appearance, there was nothing plugged for him later, or they just lost interest after the first hour, the ratings pattern wasn't good ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.52 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.22 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.07 million viewers
Highest since last August but 3rd hour took a bit hit and NBA now having their own primetime Monday games gave a small hit to RAW's rankings. Drop compared to same week last year was smaller than usual (200k).

In an interview with the Fox Sports' Wrestling Compadres podcast, WWE COO Paul "HHH" Levesque confirmed that a WWE women's tournament is happening this year, likely this summer.

The podcast aired a clip from the interview Wednesday with the full interview set to be released this Friday. You can listen below, starting at the 21:30 mark ...

Levesque said that the difficult thing has been trying to find the right time for the tournament, given their current schedule and the ever-changing landscape of WWE. He mentioned the UK tournament fit perfectly prior to the Royal Rumble and that he is hoping the women's tourney can happen this summer.

The plan is to recruit very similarly to the WWE Cruiserweight Classic where they "scour the globe" and find some talents that may be flying under the radar, increasing the talent pool for WWE as a whole.
Link to the podcast episode: https://soundcloud.com/the-wrestling-compadres/triple-h-shares-breaking-news-wrestling-compadres-slamcast

Levesque was also asked about intergender matches and while he understands that they may work for some smaller groups as shock entertainment value, he didn't think the WWE fanbase would be ready for a male to be seen beating up a woman in the ring. He prefers the women being able to stand out on their own athletic merits.
From the same interview Triple H had with Fox Sports' Wrestling Compadres podcast show.

It was announced on Talking Smack last night that Jerry Lawler would be calling the Royal Rumble match alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves. Lawler will also be part of the pre-show in San Antonio. Both Lawler and Lita were pulled from their regular pre-show duties at the end of last year.

You may not want to bother Randy Orton at the gym. There is a story making the rounds about Orton having a confrontation with someone who tried to get Orton to take a photo with him in the middle of a workout. When Orton did not, the fan snuck a photo of Orton working out instead and the two had words. When the story began making it's way online, Orton responded:

Apparently I hurt a fans feelings when I told him to F off at the gym yesterday. That's news? Been happening for 15 years. #getalife
— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) January 18, 2017

Darren Young tweeted an update about the injury that he suffered at the Main Event taping before Raw on Monday: "Hyperextension which resulted in a traumatic dislocation & fracture of the coronoid process of the right elbow. #blockthehate #standby"

Chris Charlton translated an interview from NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani where he talked about the company's plans for expansion into the United States. Kidani said, "When you ask what it is we can do (with New Japan), it is to create an American based subsidiary and run shows there. In addition, it is to produce television in line with our Japanese content that can be sold cheaply to American cable networks. While we currently sell television content to AXS TV, the most popular and visible networks have a high demand for volume of content available cheaply."

The Hardys are set to face Pentagon Jr. & Fenix on the March 31st WrestleCon show over WrestleMania weekend.

Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks tweeted a photo of them and the Hardys along with a message agreeing to their challenge to a match. The teams are scheduled to face each other at ROH's Supercard of Honor show in Lakeland, Florida on April 1st.

PROGRESS Wrestling has confirmed that Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, and Mark Andrews will be wrestling for the company over WrestleMania weekend in Florida. PROGRESS is part of WWN's weekend of events and will be putting on a supershow with EVOLVE in addition to a show of their own.

The Philadelphia Inquirer featured a story today on the city of Brotherly Love being passed over for Wrestlemania again and their continued push to bring WWE's flagship event to the city. "Philadelphia is proud of our longstanding partnership with WWE over the years,” Larry Needle, executive director of PHL Sports told the newspaper. “Bidding for WrestleMania was extremely competitive, but we are very confident that we'll have many more premier WWE events in Philadelphia in the near future. We're also looking forward to hosting one of the country's biggest sporting events this spring, the NFL Draft, and welcoming another fantastic slate of events throughout 2017 and beyond.”

We are told that there were plans for Wrestlemania 34 to originally be in the Northeast (I believe in the NYC area) but that idea was dropped due to the excellent bid and presentation New Orleans made to bring the event back to the Big Easy.

Kenny Omega appeared on The Taz Show with former WWE and ECW star Taz this morning on CBS Radio for an interview discussing his recent main event at the New Japan Wrestle Kingdom show, his future, his time in WWE developmental in the past and more.

During the interview, when asked what he might be able to discuss about his future, Omega stated that he wasn't being "suspiciously silent" or trying to make people think one thing to "work" them. He said that a year ago,when AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were all signed by WWE, it opened the eyes of New Japan that they needed to break away from the standard one year deals. He said talents were signed to unique deals and he was one of them ...

In terms of what would direct his decision-making, Omega said that he's not looking for monetary goals but is looking to change "the business as much as I can in my own way and do something with impact." He said he's come so far in Japan that he almost feels as if he's had a "complete career" there and is now mulling over what the next potential move for him could be. He said that by almost winning the IWGP title and not getting there, he would hate to feel like he's walked away from there without that.

Omega said that he wasn't sending out feelers but was open to receiving them, commenting that after the Dome and the buzz that he's gotten, it appears that WWE is more "receiving" of seeing Omega in a way that would allow him to "contribute" to that company. He said that he doesn't want to just take a payday for money but wants to contribute in a way that makes current fans happy and bring former fans back to the business. He admitted that seeing how former NJPW talents have been used there has opened his eyes to the potential.

Omega noted "no negotiations have ended" and it's not a case of one company outbidding another in the end.

"It's not a money situation."

While there are a lot of rumors making the rounds about TNA executive changes, nothing has been officially set in stone yet. Obviously, Anthem will be restructuring the company going forward, but to what extent remains to be seen.

Marti Belle is gone as her deal has expired. Bell, who most notably had a run with the Dollhouse, had not been used at the last several TV tapings. She was not booked for the most recent set and the set before, she was actually fielded out by TNA to go work for Rocky Mountain Wrestling in Colorado during the same time period. She's always been good. On Twitter, she noted she was back where she began, meaning being an independent talent. She's working for the National Wrassling League group in Kansas City area that has been signing a number of talents to full-time contracts, but not word if she is signing there.

“The WWE Universe is different from the rest of the world,” explained Angle. “Even though I was wrestling all these great matches, most WWE fans didn’t see those matches. That makes me sad, but it would be nice if WWE somehow got my TNA library, as well as AJ Styles’s, Samoa Joe’s, and Bobby Roode’s so people can see the stuff we did. Those guys will continue to have great matches, but we also had some great ones in TNA.”
From a recent interview Kurt Angle had with Sports Illustrated on not wanting his TNA career to be ignored by the WWE.


Some other sheet news includes:

Observer Radio show had Triple H as today's guest although mainly talked about Surf's Up 2: Wavemania, HBK, and sausages. According to Brian Alvarez, the interview had to be cut short due to Triple H running late with his plans and WWE emailed later being upset that the movie wasn't promoted more. http://i.imgur.com/mV4MOKm.jpg
According to reports, Kevin Nash recently agreed to donate his brain for CTE research after his death. http://accmag.com/kevin-nash-to-donate-brain-for-cte-research/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, MVP owns The Royal Rumble record for quickest elimination after eliminating someone else at 10 seconds (2010 Rumble). Brian Kendrick is second on the list at 15 seconds (2009 Rumble). http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/553964/rumble-trivia-holds-particular-record

[DaveWadding]

#BrokenHardyz vs. Pentagon y Fenix should be dope as fuck.

[Mr. Nerfect]

To be fair, bothering a dude during a workout is a fucking dick move.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW Gif Day:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522a2049e4b0a0ce717e990c/56b30df9ab48de5330186951/56b30df9f8baf36d1ae3dde5/1454575109061/roll.gif?format=1000w

SmackDown averaged 2.652 million viewers for Tuesday night's show, which was headlined by a steel cage match between Women's Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Becky Lynch ...

The show is now averaging almost 2.5 million viewers since moving to Tuesday nights and airing live, which is way up from the 2.1-2.2 million level they were at on Thursday nights.

Two promotions in the United Kingdom have announced changes to upcoming cards for FloSlam broadcasts as it seems WWE is setting guidelines for where their UK contracted talent is allowed to appear.

IPW:UK, who will be airing a supershow on FloSlam live on Sunday, posted on Facebook that Pete Dunne will now face Tom Dawkins in a bonus match for the live crowd that won't be streamed on the service. Dunne had been scheduled to face Matt Riddle, who will now face Ryan Smile instead. Joseph Conners has been pulled from the show entirely.

The promotion posted, "Unfortunately in the early hours of this morning we learnt that due to contractual obligations with the WWE, certain wrestlers will be unable to appear on our FloSlam live broadcast this Sunday, namely in this instance, Pete Dunne and Joseph Conners."

In a move that seems to be related given a tweet they posted, Lucha Forever also announced that the main event of their debut show on April 17th would now be Shane Strickland vs. Travis Banks after Strickland had been scheduled to face Dunne, who will still be appearing on the show in some capacity. The promotion recently signed a deal to broadcast events on FloSlam.
In a bit of irony, WWE also ends up hurting themselves with these sudden pullings since they are a miniority owner of FloSports which runs the FloSlam service.

For a short period of time, there was an article on the WWE website with current talents giving comments on potential surprises in the Royal Rumble. Where this gets interesting is the headline of the piece was based around Seth Rollins' comments on Kenny Omega potentially appearing. The article was pulled but featured Rollins commenting that Omega's time with New Japan could be "up" but that he didn't know if that meant Omega in the Rumble.

Deadline is reporting that much like Billy Batson himself, DC Comics' Shazam! movie will be split into two separate films.

The first will be be the 2019 "Shazam!" film that has been long announced with the second being a new film "Black Adam" starring The Rock, who first announced back in 2014 that he would be playing the character.

Adam "Hangman" Page and ring announcer Bobby Cruise have both come to terms with Ring of Honor and have signed new deals.

Donovan Dijak appears to be finishing up here as he's not currently scheduled for anything beyond the February TV taping in Pittsburgh (although one source noted that could change). That may be a by-product of WWE interest as the word that has been making the rounds the last two weeks is that WWE isn't comfortable offering anyone who was under a ROH deal an offer until they are 60 days out of their ROH deal expiring, obviously because they don't want to be accused of contract tampering. So, it's a case of talents now having to give notice to ROH, then wait a few months while working the indy scene to see if they will get a WWE offer. That likely explains why Kyle O'Reilly disappeared after his contract expired on 12/31.

As we noted last week, Keith Lee signed with WWNLive while having a ROH deal on the table. We are told that Lee and former tag team partner Shane Taylor were each offered contracts at the same time. Taylor signed immediately while Lee told ROH that he had other offers on the table. He informed ROH that he was going to sign with WWN over the weekend at the Atlanta TV taping and ROH told him they would finish him out in Texas against the Briscoes, obviously with the idea of closing the storyline out and putting The Briscoes over. Lee announced he was signing with WWN the next day and there's no clearcut answer to whether he'll actually work his final dates with the company.

The following was announced on TrishStratus.com:

Trish Stratus welcomed Madison Patricia, her second child, a bouncing baby girl on Saturday, January 14, 2017.

Trish delivered her daughter with her midwife and husband by her side at Southlake Hospital in Newmarket, Ontario.

Three year old brother Max is said to be over the moon about the latest edition to the family!

The newborn's middle name honors Trish's Greek paternal grandmother who passed away last month.

Congrats to Trish, Ron and big brother Max!

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Hideo Itami has been cleared to wrestle. He suffered a neck injury during an NXT live event; during that show, he was dropped on his neck, during a twisting powerslam by Riddick Moss.

One of the big issues is that the TV people here think in terms of huge money television sponsorships, toy deals and the big goal of the Lucha Underground movie series, and these are multi-million dollar projects. The problem is they are not getting any of those deals based on the ratings they are drawing. The idea of house shows with a small profit margin and keeping the wrestlers busy and making money year-around isn’t part of the concept from the TV people, who are the key ones involved.

The problem is we’re a few years into the run and not one of those big deals has come through past I’ve seen some of the characters in a Slim Jim’s commercial. Still, the bottom line is that while they could have a cool cult thing with non-Hispanics if they didn’t go so far out to turn people off, the real money was with this product on a Spanish language station, and when this thing goes away with nothing to show for it other than tens of millions in losses and a missed opportunity, the real keys were the inability to get the product on a strong Spanish language station in the U.S. and onto television in Mexico. With names like Robert Rodriguez and Mark Burnett involved, I’m not sure why that never happened.

There is now talk once again of a Netflix deal, and Melissa Santos did an interview where she mentioned that, but that’s been talked about for a long time.

There’s also been very little promotion of the show itself as far as major media has gone. That was the province early on of Court Bauer, and when he left the promotion, nobody ever picked up the ball and they never got a media professional in that realm to take his spot.
From the recent Observer Newsletter on how badly Lucha Underground's management has messed things up so far.

As we broke on Monday afternoon in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, the landscape of the WWE Network is expected to change as all signs are that Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling will soon debut as programming on the WWE Network and that other promotions could follow. The belief is that ICW has a multi-year deal (depending on who is talking, the deal is believed to be 2 or 3 years) and that PROGRESS Wrestling in Great Britain and potentially others will soon follow.

The move is one that WWE has been discussing internally since last year, with the idea of adding independent wrestling material to a new tier of the WWE Network that would be available for a higher price point (believed to be $14.99) with discussions internally within WWE about everything from licensing indy content from existing television shows to paying promotions to create content. We are told feedback and viewing numbers for last weekend's the UK Championship Tournament were going to be a strong factor in determining how WWE moved forward with that plan. With the WWE Network about to hit it's three year anniversary next month, it makes sense that an announcement could be timed sometime soon.

Over the course of last weekend, the talk overseas was that WWE had all but completed a deal with Mark Dallas' Insane Championship Wrestling. The belief is that it's weekly "Fight Club" series would migrate to the WWE Network and air via VOD with disclaimers and a parental warning on the content, similar to how WWE Attitude Era material and the original ECW are featured on the Network. Fight Club currently streams on the Fite App, but the belief among many over the past week is that a deal is completed and could be announced at any point. There is no word whether the deal would also bring the company's major events, such as their annual Fear and Loathing show (which was carried via streaming platforms last year) to the WWE Network as well ...

There have been discussions of all sorts of other promotions potentially being part of the WWE Network, but the one that has been primarily discussed beyond ICW has been The UK's PROGRESS Wrestling, which is believing to be in discussions with WWE currently. What makes that interesting is the timing that PROGRESS will be making its United States debut over Wrestlemania weekend in Orlando, Florida as part of the WWNLive.com events there with a number of talents from the UK Championship tournament already announced. There are also plans for an EVOLVE vs. PROGRESS event that weekend, obviously on Flosports' streaming service ...

It's important to note that both ICW and PROGRESS have existing on demand subscription channels, so it will be interesting to see if they are maintained and continue to be updated or if WWE deals will mean the end of those platforms for either of those promotions or any others who sign up with WWE ...

While there have been rumors of Rev Pro (which will be running it's own debut event in the United States as part of Wrestlecon in April), we are told that they were not part of the current discussions with WWE.

It's also important to point out that we are told by multiple sources that ITV, coming off their 12/31 two hour pilot broadcast, is currently trying to formulate what their plan is for the World of Sports revival as they have had discussions of doing a weekly series in both a one hour and a two hour format, as well as potentially doing quarterly specials. Once the financials are worked out (we are told that there is no final decision even made on where the series might air), the plan is to try and offer talents contracts for that series if and when it is officially picked up, which means that those contracts will only make things even more complicated for the UK scene. The ITV pilot led to WWE pushing their plans for the UK tournament up several months and certainly there will be talents that play two ends - WWE and ITV - against the middle to see where they can get the best possible deal.

Flo Slam and the WWE have approached the UK’s Revolution Pro about putting their shows on their respective networks. Revolution Pro turned down Flo Slam based on the idea their offer wasn’t financially worthwhile to them based on where they are at now. WWE’s approach was more of a feeling out process and no offer was made. Andy Quildan, who heads Revolution, told WWE he would listen to any offer but it probably wouldn’t be possible to make a deal due to his group’s relationship with New Japan. He said that was important to him due to loyalty to New Japan, and also because the NJPW alliance allows them to present unique match-ups that can’t happen anywhere else in the world, they can bring in talent that appears for no other UK promotion.

WWE will be paying ICW an annual fee for them to produce shows for the WWE Network. The deal is reportedly for $50,000 per year on a three-year deal, which would end in early 2020. This is said to be a tiny fraction of what Flo Sports is paying for Evolve content on its current deal, and is believed to be around half of the annual fee WWE would pay for a better drawing promotion for a weekend of shows. UK sources believe a deal with Progress is also completed. An official announcement of these deals could come as soon as this week. Two of ICW’s biggest stars are Drew Galloway and Grado, and Bram is used as a regular. There is some question as to if they would be able to be used on shows that air on the Network.
More details from the Observer about the recent ICW deal with the WWE.

Arkansas State University police are wrestling with a theft case that targeted a WWE grappler.

While 39-year-old Allen Neil Jones of Gainesville, GA performed at the WWE Live event Monday night at the Convocation Center, 217 Olympic Dr., someone stole his cash and belongings.

Jones, who performs as AJ Styles, reported the theft of a black bag containing $1,000 in American currency and $7,000 in Japanese yen.

The culprit also stole an iPhone, a set of Beats headphones, a small screen TV, an Xbox 360, and six Xbox 360 games.

The case is still under investigation.

Region 8 News has requested more information to be released in the case, but Arkansas State University has denied our request. We will continue to seek more information.
Link to the report: http://www.kait8.com/story/34297768/thief-lays-smackdown-on-wwe-superstar-performing-at-the-convo

The updated New Japan World subscription numbers are roughly 60,000 subscribers with 15,000 outside Japan and 45,000 from Japan. What’s notable is that there are tons more outside Japan subscribers than ever bought iPPVs in the day of iPPVs, as the outside of Japan numbers for the Tokyo Dome show in 2014 was closer to 1,000. Granted, that was before AXS aired New Japan and the popularity of the promotion was a lot smaller. But there are far less Japanese subscribers to the network than those who spent more money on iPPVs when that was first starting out in Japan. The WWE Network never hit it big at all in Japan either.

It appears that Anthem Sports & Entertainment will be dropping the TNA initials and just calling the product Impact Wrestling. Those kind of cosmetic changes and new logo aren’t going to make any difference. Granted, the TNA name does have a negative connotation and I’d have dropped it as well, but Impact has close to the same connotation and the setting and style being the same will mean the results will be the same. They still have the problem that Lucha Underground also has, which is how can they make any money on this venture and the costs are higher than the television rights fees, and there’s not enough revenue generated elsewhere to make up the difference.

As far as the three key contracts that were coming due, neither Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy nor Drew Galloway have signed new deals with TNA. The Galloway situation is notable because of how the U.K. situation has greatly changed in a short period of time. Still, for the Five Star group, he was their spokesperson at a press conference this past week in Dundee, Scotland, for their next show and to announce the company’s television deal.

While the Hardys haven’t signed, things look good for them to stay. There are two options on the table, a guaranteed deal where they would have full control of their bookings outside the promotion, or a higher guaranteed deal where TNA would at least have to approve of their outside bookings. TNA likely wouldn’t nix anything unless it was maybe ROH (and maybe not since ROH is on The Fight Network so it makes no sense with Fight Network owning for those political issues to still exist) and of course WWE. Matt right now is leaning toward staying, since he has full control of his creative in TNA, which it’s highly unlikely he’d have in WWE. Jeff still hasn’t come to an agreement regarding number of dates per year, since the plan is to go back to running a regular house show schedule.


Some other sheet news includes:

The current maker of WWE's championship belts recently revealed the WWE recently ordered new designs for the IC and US belts. Main reason is due to them no longer wanting to pay royalties on the old designs since their former belt makers owned it. Also to finish up on all the belts having brand distinctions to them. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228682169&postcount=13398
According to the Observer, Bobby Lashley recently signed a new deal with TNA.
Chris Jericho revealed he signed a new deal with the WWE during a recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast show with Perry Saturn as the guest. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5oxdks/chris_jericho_says_he_has_signed_a_new_wwe/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, first issue of WWE's newest comic book retconed the ending to Mania 31 with Rollins using the Pedigree and not the Curb Stomp to win the WWE title. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5oy4wf/in_wwe_1_its_retconned_so_rollins_won_the/

[Cool King]

The current maker of WWE's championship belts recently revealed the WWE recently ordered new designs for the IC and US belts.

https://s30.postimg.org/n18qdofz5/25006_No_mercy_the_miz_wwe.png

[KIRA]

Oh boy get ready for a candy striped belt with a big star covered logo in the middle.

I can't imagine what kind of horror they are gonna visit upon the IC belt just get ready for it to look and feel a lot less prestigious.

[Cool King]

I'm expecting a few things.

I'm pretty sure the US title with have a red strap and the IC title will have a blue strap.

I wouldn't be surprised if the titles have a similar design to the WWE, Universal and both Women's Championships, with the only difference being that the centrepiece being something distinctive, for example, the US title having the American flag or a single star in the middle or whatever. As for the IC title, I don't know what the centrepiece would be for that. A map of the world maybe? I don't know.

Or they could both possess the exact same design, with only the strap colour and the name on the title being what separates them. Pretty much the same as what's happened with Raw and SmackDown's Tag Team Championships.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd keep the IC Title the way it is, but the US Title could use a change.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Bray channeling his inner It's Bayley:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/1507a33bf62c550855542d8095cc67c3/tumblr_ojye0cCgzC1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

According to a recent PWI Elite podcast episode, Teddy Long is currently rumored to be joining this year's WWE Hall of Fame class.
Spoiler tags used since its related to a rumored new name for this year's WWE Hall of Fame class.

Following Thursday's news of contracted WWE UK talents being pulled from FloSlam broadcasts, Friday saw more announcements of wrestlers being removed from scheduled appearances as restrictions regarding where they're allowed to work are put in place.

The "Working a Resthold" podcast announced that Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, and Trent Seven would no longer be appearing on their live podcast in London on January 28th prior to wXw's show later that night.

The podcast posted, "Unfortunately, yesterday afternoon, Scott Andrews was informed that due to their new WWE contractual obligations, Trent Seven, Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews are now unable to participate in the show. On behalf of myself, Dannii and Marianne, we'd like to wish all three the very best for the future and would like to thank them for their professionalism."

They have updated their lineup with Eddie Dennis, Chris Brookes, Doug Williams, Jody Fleisch, and Johnny Storm now joining Marty Scurll and Ryan Smile.

Despite William Regal initially claiming that the signed UK talent would face "zero restrictions" regarding where they're allowed to work aside from dates where WWE needs them and some places that have contracts that would present a conflict of interest, it quickly became clear that wouldn't be the case.

UPDATE: In what could possibly be related to Dunne, Andrews, and Seven being pulled from the podcast, Meltzer notes that WWE is bringing some of the UK talent to San Antonio next week for Royal Rumble weekend.

Meltzer also reports that contracted talents will be permitted to perform for certain promotions but the events cannot be distributed (televised, streamed, transmitted or taped) unless authorized. It is said that all talent was told this before signing deals, and is in all of their contracts.

Kurt Angle has been pulled from Five Star Wrestling for the show next weekend in Dundee, Scotland. He was going to be a television announcer for the live Spike U.K. broadcast. I figured that was almost a lock to happen for all the obvious reasons.

IPW UK announced for its Sunday show in Rochester, England, that Pete Dunne would do a dark match against Tom Dawkins since he can't air on Flo Sports, and Ryan Smile will replace Dunne in the main event against Matt Riddle. Joseph Conners is also off the show and will be replaced by Adam Maxted.

WWE did not pull talent (Trent Seven and Pete Dunne) from Saturday’s Revolution Pro show. Seven faces TNA’s Trevor Lee while Dunne faces NJPW’s Yoshi-Hashi. The show isn’t on FloSlam nor will it air live

The company has released a Jimmy Snuka Collection today on the WWE Network and promoted it hard today in an e-mail blast. "Celebrate the Life of Jimmy Snuka" is more than a bit too much. Doing charity work and having class are hardly the same thing.

New Japan also has a Jimmy Snuka special, not any kind of a tribute but they have put up a free match from 1985 with Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Dick Murdoch & Masked Superstar from Sumo Hall. The finish is bad, as were most of the big match finishes of that era, but you really see how great Brody was at his character and what a phenomenal worker Murdoch is in this match.

The 1/19 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 310,000 up from last week's 277,000 overnight viewers.

EVOLVE announced they have signed 19 year old Austin Theory, from Atlanta, to a full-time deal.
Appears to be an Evolve-only deal. Evolve currently has a shared roster of WWE guys and their own guys.

If he has been approached about a WWE return:

"It's funny because the two guys who really make the decisions, which is Vince [McMahon] and Hunter [Paul 'Triple H' Levesque], in seven years have never even approached me. I guess I'm semi-amused that people think 'Vince is saying this' and whatnot because those are the two people that understand why and respect why I retired and understood it."

His ideal dream return match:

"I look at Samoa Joe and I've told him a number of times that I see his stuff at NXT and think to myself, 'Man, I could have a great deal of fun with you.' He's a guy I have sort of enjoyed, and one of those sleeper guys that no one talks about.

"We have contrasting styles. I get that everybody wants to see me and AJ or Seth or Dolph [Ziggler]. From my standpoint, I think really telling a great story out there [is most important]. I could do it with a guy like Samoa Joe. His stuff looks really good, and sometimes he just looks like he's beating the tar out of somebody."
From a recent interview HBK had with ESPN in regards to a potential return from retirement: http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18513789/shawn-michaels-claims-there-no-itch-scratch-terms-wwe-return-points-samoa-joe-hypothetical-dream-opponent

Vince McMahon was on crutches this past week because he had minor hip surgery, apparently similar to the surgery Undertaker had. Undertaker at some point is likely to need a full hip replacement but has been trying to put that off until he retires and had his problems temporarily taken care of with his recent surgery.

There was some Internet controversy this week when it came out that a fan reaction they cut to showing disgust when Jericho had beaten Reigns for the IC title was actually cut in from earlier in the show and that fan was actually cheering that Reigns lost in real time.

Zayn, Rollins and Reigns were backstage talking about their six-man tag main event. So the purpose of this segment was not to get anyone over, or build the match. It was to establish Zayn as a total geek. Zayn does have heat on him right now. They had him say some nonsensical stuff and Rollins & Reigns rolled their eyes at him, like “who is ths guy?” Unlike Bayley later, where an idea that they thought would get her over fell flat, this was very much about getting Zayn under.


Some other sheet news includes:

During a recent episode of the Busted Open Nation podcast show with Chris Jericho as the guest, Jericho revealed he was originally planned to have a match against Dean Ambrose at Mania 32 before it got switched to AJ Styles instead. Main reason was due to Vince liking the Styles-Jericho feud enough to make it into a Mania match. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5p4d9j/chris_jericho_says_he_was_originally_planned_to/
According to the Observer, TNA's new owners are considering the idea of giving Jeff Jarrett more power in the company due to his era as TNA's owner being better than Dixie's era. Also revealed it was John Gaburick who pushed for TNA to sign MMA fighter Josh Barnett to a deal.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Gonna have to call it the Holla Fame now Playa!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Can Josh Barnett replace Elijah Burke on commentary please? And replace Josh Mathews with Jeremy Borash.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Every year I predict Teddy Long for the Hall of Fame. I think he's a good entrant.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The soon to be former Evil Emma whenever WWE actually gets around to debuting Emmalina ... probably in 2018 or so with the way things are going:
http://i.imgur.com/ljL0Ybj.gif

The loaded up Raw go-home show last night with the easiest competition since August did 3.29 million viewers, up slightly from the 3.26 million last week going against a marquee NBA game.

While next week's show should be way up, probably doing one of the best numbers of 2017 for the day after the Rumble, this does look to be the level, or perhaps a little above the level, the show will be doing the next few months ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.31 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.46 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.11 million viewers
Observer thinks this is likely the max range for RAW for this year's Road to Mania since the go-home and post-Rumble RAWs are usually the highest for the season till Mania's go-home show.

Linda McMahon had her confirmation hearing today in Washington D.C. with members of the Senate's Small Business Committee as part of her ongoing process to become the head of Donald Trump's Small Business Administration.

For those wanting McMahon to be questioned about WWE's business practices, that didn't happen. The entire hearing was cordial with most of the questions focusing on how McMahon would work with them in her role. Recently elected Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois was the only one to bring up how WWE classifies its employees, noting that she talked about the issue with Linda previously.

Duckworth didn't pose any questions on the subject during the hearing, but posted on her Facebook account that she has concerns about WWE's labor practices under Linda that she hopes will be addressed as the confirmation process goes forward. Duckworth also wrote that she encourages McMahon to take a different approach at the SBA.

Stephanie McMahon and Triple H were there to support Linda at the hearing. Both were mentioned multiple times, including in awkward comments by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

Kurt Angle told TMZ that he won't be in the Royal Rumble, saying that he hasn't talked to WWE about anything other than the Hall of Fame.
Link to the video: http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/24/kurt-angle-royal-rumble-2017/

Jim Ross posted an apology to anyone who was affected by his remarks about how WWE handled the death of Jimmy Snuka. Ross had said that he had no issues with WWE's tribute to Snuka and called trying to posthumously prove Snuka's potential involvement in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino an "Oliver Stone quest." His remarks were covered in Sunday's edition of the Daily Update.
Link to the blog post: http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/51041

Netflix has acquired the rights to "Nobody Speak: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press." The documentary looks at the implication of Hogan's legal battle with Gawker.
Link to an article about it: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-netflix-nabs-hulk-hogan-gawker-doc-nobody-speak-967731

Will Ospreay will face the former Pentagon Jr. for XWAUK on March 12th in London.

After the addition of Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson to the Royal Rumble kickoff show was announced earlier in the night, another match was added to Sunday's pre-show on tonight's episode of Raw.

Sasha Banks will face Nia Jax on the show as the Raw women's division gets another match at the Alamodome.
For those that missed the announcement or are unaware, the pre-show this year for the Rumble is going to be 2 hours long.

WWE did allow Trent Seven and Pete Dunne's matches from Saturday's Revolution Pro show to appear on the RevPro streaming service. So even though it is unlikely RevPro will be on the WWE Network, at this point they appear to be on good terms with WWE. Regarding the talk on the show last night, two interesting notes. It was Trent Seven, not Tyler Bate who was pulled from the next Saturday podcast taped in London along with Dunne and Seven. But Dunne being in San Antonio for the Rumble would be in question since he was advertised for the main event against Jimmy Havoc for Progress Wrestling in London for a sold out show at the Electric Ballroom.

More WWE contracted wrestlers in the UK have had a change in their schedules, with German promotion wXw the most recent to be affected by talent being pulled from appearances.

wXw announced in a press release on Monday that Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven are off of their show in London on January 28th. That's the same day that Dunne, Seven, and Mark Andrews were scheduled to appear on a live episode of the "Working a Resthold" podcast before WWE contractual obligations left them unable to participate.
PROGRESS is likely next to announce wrestlers getting pulled from their next card due to WWE's deal with British talent.

While everyone was focused on the happenings in the U.K. in recent weeks, some equally major moves were taking place in Mexico as Pentagon Jr., Daga and Garza Jr. all showed up at The Crash promotion show in Tijuana, a Konnan-booked company which indicated them leaving AAA.

Pentagon Jr. posted about leaving AAA on Facebook.

This comes just days before AAA was scheduled for a major press conference, believed to be announcing this year's TripleMania event.

All three showed up wearing Perros de Mal gear, and while that is AAA's most popular stable, AAA, which has gone on a trademark spree of late, can't trademark that term which was started by the late Perro Aguayo Jr., along with Damian and Halloween years ago, long before Konnan recruited the group into AAA. Right now the status of Perros Del Mal, a valuable merchandise name, is uncertain.

Pentagon Jr. will no longer be allowed to use that name, but will instead be called Penta El Cero Miedo. AAA owns the name Pentagon Jr. Lucha Underground owns the name Pentagon Dark.

WWE issued a press release today announcing they would report their fourth quarter earnings and complete earnings for 2016 on 2/9.

Bill Goldberg responded to busting himself open on Raw last night, writing the following on Instagram:

Going out a limb .... but I'm putting the pre match headbutt on the shelf for now... kinda made me a bit loopy out there. #learnfromurmistakes #whosnext #every1isnext #royalrumble @wwe
Pretty much implies rumors of him having a small concussion were true.

It appears WWE's plans to unveil the latest WWE Hall of Fame statue over Wrestlemania week this April at AXXESS has been revealed.

Model Sean Perry posted on his Facebook page that he posed as the body model for a Flair statue that will showcase Flair in the prime of his career.

The studio Perry is referring to is ATTA Inc., studios in NYC, which has been involved in the design and construction of the statues over the last several years.

Flair signed a new full-time deal with WWE late last year but has only been used sparingly since coming to terms. He is the only two-time WWE Hall of Famer as he was inducted in 2008 alone and then again in 2012 s a member of the Four Horsemen.

WWE has unveiled statues of Andre the Giant, Bruno Sammartino, Dusty Rhodes and The Ultimate Warrior in recent years. In 2015, plans for a Hulk Hogan statue (and a DVD release that was to be built around the reveal of the statue at Wrestlemania 31 weekend) were canceled when he was let go from the company.
Link to the Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/sean.perry.376/posts/10154540411417730


Some other sheet news includes:

John Cena revealed he will be this year's host for Nickleodeon's Kids Choice Awards show.
Roman Reigns was this week's guest for ESPN's weekly wrestling segment. http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=18544117
Japanese wrestling promotion DDT recently joined the wrestling network market with their network to be called DDT Universe, launched last Sunday, and the first month free for new members. http://www.f4wonline.com/japan/ddt-universe-what-you-need-know-about-new-streaming-service-228871
During a recent interview with Sky Sports, Bray Wyatt revealed his dream opponent for a Mania match would be Daniel Bryan out of anyone past or present from the WWE. http://www.skysports.com/wwe/news/14203/10733151/wwes-bray-wyatt-daniel-bryan-would-be-my-wrestlemania-match
Last year's animated film "Mona" with The Rock as one of its voice actors was revealed to have been nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Animated Film & Best Song).

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Daniel Bryan's dog:
http://i.imgur.com/oCrCf0D.gif

Updated advertising for post-Royal Rumble WWE RAW live events features Roman Reigns facing Braun Strowman for shows heading into WrestleMania, so that appears to be Reigns next feud. Strowman is in this Sunday's WWE Royal Rumble match, while Reigns will be facing WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens for his title.

As of this writing, while Kevin Owens is listed for the shows with the updated advertising, no opponent is listed for either himself or Chris Jericho.
Spoiler tags used since its related to possible post-Rumble and Mania plans.

Finn Balor is slated to undergo medical testing this week that could clear him to return to the ring, PWInsider.com has learned.

Balor won the WWE Universal championship at Summerslam but suffered a labrum tear against Seth Rollins when he was powerbombed into the barricade. He relinquished the championship the next night and underwent surgery.

Dr. Jeffrey Dugas told WWE.com at the time that, "Finn’s injury was pretty severe, more severe than normal. A really high energy injury, it did more damage than a standard shoulder dislocation where you simply tear the labrum. The prognosis is excellent, however. We were able to fix it all and put it back where it came from. I’m anticipating him getting back at full speed."

At the time of the injury, the belief was Balor would be out 4-6 months.

With the Royal Rumble about to kick off the official build to Wrestlemania, obviously WWE wants Balor back in the mix. We will see how soon that happens.
Previous estimates for a potential return were hinting at early March.

SmackDown's Royal Rumble go-home show averaged 2.556 million viewers Tuesday night on the USA Network, down four percent from last week.

The SmackDown Women's Championship won't be defended at the Royal Rumble, but the show's women's division will still be represented on Sunday.

Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella & Naomi will face Mickie James, Natalya & Alexa Bliss in a six-woman tag team match at the Alamodome. The match was announced on tonight's episode of SmackDown.

It will be James' first time wrestling on the main roster since returning to the company and being revealed as La Luchadora last week.

With the addition of the six-woman tag, the Royal Rumble will be a rare pay-per-view with three women's matches. Charlotte Flair defending her Raw Women's Championship against Bayley, along with Sasha Banks taking on Nia Jax are also scheduled for the show.

During his appearance on SportsCenter yesterday, Roman Reigns said that Ronda Rousey could make a successful transition to WWE if she wanted to.
Probably makes it a lot more likely she's showing up at Mania since the WWE doesn't do random teases for no reason.

4FrontWrestling posted the entire Kenny Omega vs. Tiger Ali match that took place for the promotion last weekend for free on YouTube. The appearance was Omega's first singles match since facing Kazuchika Okada at the Tokyo Dome, though Omega did work NJPW's New Year's Dash show in a 10-man tag match the next night.
Link to the match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sk4__FklP8

Ring of Honor announced that this year's Best in the World PPV will take place on June 23rd at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts. Tickets for the show and the TV taping the next night are already on sale for ROH Ringside Members and will be available to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

EVOLVE will hold shows in the Chicago and Detroit areas for the first time in May. They'll hold a show at Summit Park District in Summit, Illinois on May 20th before heading to the Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall in Livonia, Michigan the next night.

EVOLVE also announced that Chris Hero's matches in San Antonio this weekend will be the main event of both shows. Hero will face Keith Lee on Friday and Zack Sabre Jr. on Saturday in his final matches for the promotion.

It was officially announced that Xavier Woods will be cohosting the 2017 SXSW Gaming Awards with Twitch personality "OMGitsfirefoxx," aka Sonja Reed. The SXSW Gaming Awards will take place March 18 in Austin, Texas.

Former WWE Producer Joey "Mercury" Matthews has resurfaced after being quietly let go by WWE sometime last year following a tour of Europe.

Matthews has been announced as the lead trainer for a new wrestling school Luke Gallows' promotion WrestleAmerica is opening in Middle, Georgia.

The school has already announced seminar camps for 2/7-2/9 and 2/28-3/2 for "seasoned wrestlers", priced at $100 per camp.

Fred "Tugboat" Ottman remains hospitalized in Florida. We wish him our best. He has been hospitalized for a little over a week with multiple infections.

The entire WWE NXT roster is slated to be backstage at the Royal Rumble PPV, so anyone from that roster could conceivably be tapped for a Rumble surprise.

Former WWE star Dave Bautista was interviewed by The Daily Dead's Heather Wixson while over at the Sundance Film Festival for the release of his film "Bushwick" and had a lot of pointed comments about his (to date) final run with WWE in 2014 ...

Highlight from the wrestling centric portion of the interview:

Why his 2014 Run Didn't Work: "It was the company, man. They really just screwed me over. I was banging my head against the wall every day. It’s one of those things, I wish people knew how hard I fought to be there and how hard I fought to just give them the best matches and performances that I could. But it was an everyday struggle dealing with the company. It was such a f***ing nightmare."

The Original Plan for his last PPV Appearance and Fighting to Change It: "What most fans don’t realize is that I stayed an extra month. The reason I had to leave was because I had to go and do press for Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy. They were actually nice enough to let me stay an extra month. They wanted me to stay that extra month and work with Daniel Bryan at another pay-per-view, but I just thought that didn’t even make sense. We were just starting the Evolution thing, so why couldn’t we run with that instead of me putting Daniel over again, which I just did at WrestleMania? We’re not going to have a better match there than we did at Mania. Let’s just work more with Evolution and build these guys up. So we did. Then right after we built the hell out of them and they were so strong as a unit, they broke them all up. I said, “What is wrong with you guys?” But that was my struggle. I also think a lot of people thought that I really quit, that I really walked out, when in reality, I really stayed an extra month more than I was obligated to do just because I really wanted to be there. I felt like I finally hit my stride and I was so happy to be there again.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon blowing off his pitch to return at Summerslam 2014: "I said to them, because I wanted to come back for SummerSlam, “Wouldn’t it be great if I came back right when I’m also in the biggest film in the world?” Literally, it was Hunter [Triple H] and Stephanie [McMahon] who laughed at me, and Hunter goes, “We don’t even know if it’s going to be any good.” I swear to God. But I wanted to go back for SummerSlam, and they didn’t want me to come back. I think because they thought it was such a failure, that run, and it wasn’t a failure because of me. Sorry, I’m venting now."
Also revealed he originally wanted to come back as a heel since he felt it would be more useful for the WWE and their plans but the WWE refused. Link to the interview: http://dailydead.com/sundance-2017-interview-part-2-dave-bautista-on-his-2014-wwe-return-how-things-went-wrong/


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE is saddened to learn that Mary Tyler Moore, the trailblazing comedic actress who redefined the depiction of women on TV, passed away. <a href="https://t.co/FmpZ6uXkJh">pic.twitter.com/FmpZ6uXkJh</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/824384891093651460">January 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

Observer currently speculating if the WWE really wants to sign Omega once his NJPW contract is up at the end of the month, they might be looking at needing a $750k to $1 million per deal to make it happen. Likely the same for NJPW if they want to keep him for their US expansion plans.
WrestlingDVDNetwork website recently revealed the contents for WWE's upcoming Wrestlemania Monday DVD/BR set (RAW After Mania shows). http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/full-content-listing-wwe-wrestlemania-monday-dvd-blu-ray/129684/
For those interested in classic WWE era wrestling, a new book focusing on classic WWE shows at MSG was released recently. Book is called "Wrestling in the Garden — The Battle for New York — Works, Shoots & Double-Crosses."
New details regarding Kenny Omega's future was teased to be getting revealed tomorrow by the Observer. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerwon/status/824393151716552704
Kenny Omega recently responded to Jim Cornette's rant against him, the idea of his WK11 match being worth 6 stars, and the situation regarding a past leg injury. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5q5xi5/kenny_omega_discusses_jim_cornettes_malicious/

[Cool King]

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon blowing off his pitch to return at Summerslam 2014: "I said to them, because I wanted to come back for SummerSlam, “Wouldn’t it be great if I came back right when I’m also in the biggest film in the world?” Literally, it was Hunter [Triple H] and Stephanie [McMahon] who laughed at me, and Hunter goes, “We don’t even know if it’s going to be any good.” I swear to God. But I wanted to go back for SummerSlam, and they didn’t want me to come back. I think because they thought it was such a failure, that run, and it wasn’t a failure because of me. Sorry, I’m venting now."

Triple H is spending too much time with Vince.

[ClockShot]

Would have went that Ring of Honor show in Lowell in a heartbeat. But that's waaaaaaay up there.

Bummer.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by WWE's newest book "The Art of Smacking Someone" by Alicia Fox, now available at the TPWW Store:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/2e0675b0f4b8a13bfc75ef6374dd4751/tumblr_ok03ac5kJP1v14udho4_500.gif

The plans at this point are that neither Kevin Owens nor A.J. Styles will be champions going into WrestleMania. Smackdown has an Elimination Chamber match, meaning six guys will be in, so if John Cena wins the title at the Rumble, and that’s being teased (although they did downplay the tying of the Ric Flair record this past week), that doesn’t mean he’ll retain it in the Chamber match.

The Mania lineup at this point is looking like Goldberg vs. Lesnar, Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns, HHH vs. Seth Rollins, Jericho vs. Owens, Wyatt vs. Orton, Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal and Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax as the Raw women’s title match. The key is the Rumble winner is likely, although they could swerve, to be the person who will challenge for either the Universal title or WWE title.

Among the key guys, the obvious guys not on the list of matches are Cena, Styles, Balor, Dean Ambrose and Strowman of guys that will likely be in key matches. Cena vs. Samoa Joe was definitely an idea that was pitched, and made sense based on a few things we’ve heard, but we’ve never heard a confirmation on that. There are rumors of Styles vs. Shane McMahon, and Styles did complain about the idea of the Elimination Chamber match to Shane and neither have anything going. As noted before, Goldberg agreeing to stay past one match may have saved Lesnar from this year’s Shane program and Shane pitched for that idea and they had started in that direction before it was dropped cold.

Undertaker vs. Reigns is notable because Vince McMahon made the call to go from the original Undertaker vs. Cena direction to this match. On paper, this would make it a lock that nobody is coming close to the boos Reigns will be getting on this show. Regardless of the outcome, this to me only makes sense if the plan is an all-out Reigns heel turn and use this as the springboard. Otherwise, the idea of Undertaker beating him and then endorsing him won’t work, because Daniel Bryan and Rock endorsed him and it didn’t work. Undertaker losing to him unless the match is dramatically perfect will only get him more heel heat.


The only Smackdown match on that list is Orton vs. Wyatt, and it’s not a secret that Wyatt was scheduled for a title run in 2017. That immediately puts both of them in contention, and if one wins, the other would be favored to win the Chamber match. There’s a story that just started going around about Orton winning the Rumble and Wyatt winning the Chamber match. If that doesn’t happen, it would be because plans changed. Even though historically the booking before Mania always gets out and it almost never changed (it changes for other reasons, such as injuries or guys quitting, but that’s usually known as well), with the increase in social media, my feeling is nothing is a lock until it happens. I doubt we’ll see major destination changes, in the sense the top of the card will probably be pretty close to as is slated now, but how to get there could change.


Spoiler tags used since they relate to possible Rumble and Mania plans and spoilers.

WWE is bringing the Royal Rumble back to Philadelphia next year.

Though much of this week's focus is on Sunday's show at the Alamodome, Philly.com broke the news on Thursday morning that the 2018 Royal Rumble will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event will be held on January 28th of next year.

In addition to the Rumble, the arena will also host three other WWE shows that week, with NXT TakeOver taking place on Saturday, Raw on Monday, and SmackDown on Tuesday. Holding four straight nights of shows in the same city is WWE's plan for their "big four" pay-per-views going forward.

With NXT TakeOver: San Antonio taking place this Saturday, Paul "Triple H" Levesque held his regular quarterly conference call ahead of the show with members of the pro wrestling media on Thursday afternoon.

Despite TakeOver being the purpose of the call, much of the agenda was focused on WWE's United Kingdom Championship tournament and what restrictions contracted talents are facing.

Levesque said that you can't say enough good things about the wrestlers in the tournament. He noted that working with them was a wonderful experience, and said he looks forward to working with them in a bigger way in the future, reiterating that a weekly show from the UK is WWE's goal.

The topic of conversation quickly turned to what restrictions the newly signed wrestlers face after some have been pulled from appearances in recent weeks.

"There's a lot of confusion based on that." Levesque said. "A lot of the confusion is based on people's refusal to acknowledge the reality of the situation. We signed talent as a part of this UK tournament and are looking forward to doing hopefully what will become a weekly show over there. The talent knew going in what the deal was, they knew what the restrictions were, and they knew what the restrictions weren't. We're not restricting them from working for anybody, as long as it's not distributed. As long as there is no distribution outside of the live event."

Levesque said that some promotions came in after the fact to add a distribution component to their shows, which wasn't what their wrestlers signed up for.

"We're not heavy-handing anybody," Levesque said. "We're asking them to approve. We're asking them to work with us, to work with the groups that are, and I was very clear about this when I was over there, we want to work with groups that are cultivating talent, not groups that are just coming in and one-offing talent" ...

When asked about the differences in format between the UK tournament and Cruiserweight Classic, Levesque said that what works best depends on the goal of the tournament and what they're trying to accomplish. He expressed optimism in 205 Live, but noted that incorporating the cruiserweights has been a work in progress. He said that he still believes in the show and has high hopes for it, and likes the synergy between 205 Live and Raw ...

Levesque responded to a question from Meltzer about EVOLVE star Matt Riddle by noting that they saw Riddle's talent when he previously tried out for the company. He referenced the issues that led to Riddle's exit from the UFC by saying that he believes in second chances, but said that people have to go through a period of time where they prove themselves.

Without getting into the details, Levesque said that he helped nudge along the process to get Riddle taken care of and to a place where he could be cultivated as a wrestler. He said that Riddle was just promise during his tryout, but he's a talented kid and is doing very well.

Levesque noted in the opening of the call that the build to this TakeOver was unique because of challenges presented by WWE's strategic changes that affected NXT's schedule.
Also revealed his plans for the Cruiser division is probably going to take a few years to be fully realized and become a big part of the WWE.

There will be an NXT Awards show on WWE Network prior to Takeover at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

WWE announced on NXT last night that TM-61's Shane Thorne underwent knee surgery and will be out 7-9 months.

Austin Aries will be getting his first WWE action figure as part of Mattel's WWE Series 71, which will also feature Charlotte, Undertaker, John Cena, Finn Balr, Baron Corbin and Seth Rollins. The Revival will receive their first action figures as part of WWE Battle Packs 41. They can pre-ordered now at www.ringsidecollectibles.com. You can use code PWINSIDER for 10% off your order.

There was a story going around that Brian James (Road Dogg) had replaced Ryan Ward as the head writer of Smackdown. The story is actually that James got a corporate promotion (the official title may be head consultant but we didn’t get the exact wording confirmed) , over Ward, but they are sharing the job of pitching Smackdown to Vince McMahon, who then rewrites it as he sees fit. James has been the guy reading the show to the other producers at the production meeting for some time now. So it’s not a major change in the show, nor are rumors Ward is no longer with the show correct, only that James got a promotion and would technically be above Ward in that way, but Ward is also still technically titled the lead writer of the show. James and Ward have essentially been co-head writer of the show since it started getting praised. James is considered Paul Levesque’s emissary on the show and to be one of the major power brokers going forward, particularly if and when Levesque does take over

Matey's Big Fred, Tugboat has been in hospital for 15 plus days and not doing well. He needs all the prayers from you guys so he can be out and about shaking hands and kissing kids. As you know he's a great guy and a good friend of mine. Pray matey's and God Bless Fred.
From Bushwhacker Luke's Facebook page in regards to Tugboat's health status. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155067687934940&set=a.435855214939.207004.648684939&type=3&theater

Netflix is near landing the rights to the documentary, “Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press,” the documentary that focuses on the case. Netflix reported has offered $2 million for the worldwide rights to the film

Eric Van Wagenen’s appearance on the Masks, Mat and Mayhem show said that the long hiatus for Lucha Underground was not something they knew about when they were filming the season. That was clear watching the show, as on TV they were giving a hard push for Johnny Mundo vs. The Mack in an All Night Long match for likely “next week,” when next week isn’t coming until probably the summer. He said they weren’t told how long the break would be and they didn’t know when they would be back on the air. His guess was that it would be after the El Rey Network up fronts, so that Lucha Underground would be running when the fall TV season starts. But that came off more like a guess.

Dutch Mantell is officially back on the TNA creative team with John Gaburick and Matt Conway

Darren Young’s injury was a hyperextension of the right elbow which resulted in a traumatic dislocation of the coronoid process of the right elbow. In other words, he hyperextended, dislocated and broke his elbow in taking a bump against Epico on the 1/16 Main Event tapings in Little Rock

I’m not sure if its’ because of bad quarter hours, but there has been a doctrine in recent weeks to keep the cruiserweight matches on Raw much shorter. Even this week when Swann vs. Dar went 5:00, almost the entire match was during the commercial break


Some other sheet news includes:

CBS Sports had a recent article about the first Royal Rumble in WWE history. http://www.cbssports.com/general/news/the-lost-royal-rumble-and-how-a-signature-wwe-event-survived-despite-early-failure/
During a recent episode of the Observer Radio show, Kenny Omega revealed he is staying with NJPW once his current deal ends next week. Also revealed it to be one year in length.
According to the Observer, WWE has recently sold almost 40k tickets for the upcoming Royal Rumble and is currently on track to become the highest non-Mania ppv in WWE history in terms of gate revenue.
WWE recently pulled Smackdown's 6-women tag match off Rumble's main card in favor of being on the 2 hour pre-show. At the moment, Smackdown only has one brand specific match on the card compared to 3 matches for RAW.
According to the Observer, Jerry Lawler recently signed a new 1 year contract with the WWE.

[#1-norm-fan]

Wait... Did they really have a 5 minute match with a commercial break in the middle? lol

[BigCrippyZ]

Former WWE star Dave Bautista was interviewed by The Daily Dead's Heather Wixson while over at the Sundance Film Festival for the release of his film "Bushwick" and had a lot of pointed comments about his (to date) final run with WWE in 2014 ...

Highlight from the wrestling centric portion of the interview:

Why his 2014 Run Didn't Work: "It was the company, man. They really just screwed me over. I was banging my head against the wall every day. It’s one of those things, I wish people knew how hard I fought to be there and how hard I fought to just give them the best matches and performances that I could. But it was an everyday struggle dealing with the company. It was such a f***ing nightmare."

The Original Plan for his last PPV Appearance and Fighting to Change It: "What most fans don’t realize is that I stayed an extra month. The reason I had to leave was because I had to go and do press for Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy. They were actually nice enough to let me stay an extra month. They wanted me to stay that extra month and work with Daniel Bryan at another pay-per-view, but I just thought that didn’t even make sense. We were just starting the Evolution thing, so why couldn’t we run with that instead of me putting Daniel over again, which I just did at WrestleMania? We’re not going to have a better match there than we did at Mania. Let’s just work more with Evolution and build these guys up. So we did. Then right after we built the hell out of them and they were so strong as a unit, they broke them all up. I said, “What is wrong with you guys?” But that was my struggle. I also think a lot of people thought that I really quit, that I really walked out, when in reality, I really stayed an extra month more than I was obligated to do just because I really wanted to be there. I felt like I finally hit my stride and I was so happy to be there again.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon blowing off his pitch to return at Summerslam 2014: "I said to them, because I wanted to come back for SummerSlam, “Wouldn’t it be great if I came back right when I’m also in the biggest film in the world?” Literally, it was Hunter [Triple H] and Stephanie [McMahon] who laughed at me, and Hunter goes, “We don’t even know if it’s going to be any good.” I swear to God. But I wanted to go back for SummerSlam, and they didn’t want me to come back. I think because they thought it was such a failure, that run, and it wasn’t a failure because of me. Sorry, I’m venting now."
Also revealed he originally wanted to come back as a heel since he felt

Love that Batista doesn't give a fuck about telling it like it is re: WWE

[Damian Rey 2.0]

We all know It was clearly the plan based on the booking that Batista was to come in as a huge face, only to have the crowd turn on him and insert Bryan into the Rumble, where the SHIELD would then take on and get put over by the reuniting Evolution.

C'mon guys those plans were in place for months. Batista is just working us.

[thecc]

Would have went that Ring of Honor show in Lowell in a heartbeat. But that's waaaaaaay up there.

Bummer.beyond wrestling and evolve are running a double header the day after in melrose. I would go to that instead anyways.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Would have went that Ring of Honor show in Lowell in a heartbeat. But that's waaaaaaay up there.

Bummer.

And Lowell isn't the best place to be: dangerous and trashy.

[#1-norm-fan]

We all know It was clearly the plan based on the booking that Batista was to come in as a huge face, only to have the crowd turn on him and insert Bryan into the Rumble, where the SHIELD would then take on and get put over by the reuniting Evolution.

C'mon guys those plans were in place for months. Batista is just working us.

#BatistaSheep

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Evil Bliss Appreciation Day:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/aa1aa0a5e487c71f57e7d0ce91b3d4d8/tumblr_ok2ki7UiRn1qevcs2o2_250.gif

We are told that WWE is waiting until the last second to make decisions on whether there will be any big surprises booked in the Royal Rumble in regard to outside talent popping up.

In regard to three rumors making the rounds for the Royal Rumble that we've been asked about in the last 24 hours, we are told Hulk Hogan is slated to be in Los Angeles this weekend. Kurt Angle, who has been the name we get asked about the most in terms of Rumble surprises, has told TMZ there's no chance he will be in the Rumble. Konnan has said publicly that Rey Mysterio's deal with Lucha Underground has expired, which, if the caee, would mean he's free and clear to appear in the Rumble if WWE wanted him. The NXT roster, even trainees, are also in Texas this weekend.

As noted, Triple H conducted an NXT Takeover San Antonio media call today, and during the call Triple H addressed the current state of NXT and the impact the WWE brand split had on NXT and its roster. On the current state of NXT, Triple H offered the following comment:

“I’m not happy with where it is right now by far. I want it to be much better than it is, but it’s a rebuilding process. All these things going on, they all make changes in the ecosystem. Where everything lands at the end of the day is a moving target.”

“I think NXT has the potential to be a lot of things. Where it sits is not 100% my decision. I know those conversations have happened.”
More from yesterday's Triple H pre-Takeover conference call.

The tryout match with the NXT women's four-way done last night in Houston was not good. Both the crowd didn't get into it and it was a sloppy match. They will likely be working it again tonight in Dallas to get ready for Sunday.

Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews and Trent Seven are all working on Sunday for Progress Wrestling at their show in London at the Electric Ballroom. They had been pulled from a show in London as well as a podcast the day before. We were told that five of the wrestlers in the U.K. tournament were being brought to San Antonio this weekend including the final four. So that looks to have changed. Tyler Bate is not listed for anything this weekend in the U.K. Dunne defends his Progress title against Jimmy Havoc in the main event.

WWE will be taping one week of NXT programming tomorrow night before they go on the air, at about 7 p.m. in San Antonio.

Nikki Bella has been named Executive Producer of Total Divas going forward.

WWE has moved the women's six man match on Sunday's Royal Rumble show to the preshow. Given the main show is four hours and has five matches, that would indicate maybe a surprise segment, as well as very long matches.

Mada Abdelhamid, who was on the last season of Tough Enough in 2014, has quit the promotion. He had done a few promos but wasn't figured into anything in NXT and had yet to be used on television.

Kurt Angle has pulled out of his scheduled signing at Wrestlecon, T-Mart Promotions (who were bringing him in) announced today. They are providing refunds for anyone who paid for Angle in advance. Obviously, Angle will be a little busy that weekend as hes being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The 1/26 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 307,000 viewers, largely even with last weeks 310,000 viewers.


Some other sheet news includes:

LA Times recently had interviews with both Dean Ambrose and Bayley about the upcoming Rumble. http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-dean-ambrose-royal-rumble-20170127-story.html , http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-bayley-royal-rumble-20170127-story.html
Sporting News recently had an interview with AJ Styles.http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/news/royal-rumble-2017-wwe-aj-styles-john-cena-samoa-joe-shawn-michaels-kurt-angle-championship-world-heavyweight/b42j379pnb4r13hximfnxd4sg
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, James Ellsworth had the same win-loss tv record as Brock Lesnar for 2016 with 6 matches wrestled, won 3 matches, and lost 3 matches. In an interesting twist, when including house shows their record still stays the same at 8-3. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5qhvst/i_thought_you_guys_might_enjoy_the_fact_that/
Kurt Angle revealed on his official Facebook page he wants either Austin, Cena, or Undertaker to induct him into the Hall.
WWE interviewer Charly Caruso revealed Nigel McGuinness will be one of the co-hosts for tomorrow's Takeover: San Antonio event. https://www.instagram.com/p/BPyKDdRD-Dl/

[Mr. Nerfect]

I really don't like the idea of Orton winning the Rumble and Wyatt winning the title. It feels majorly rushed and like unnecessary garnish for the feud.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Stone Cold <s>Steve Austin</s> Kevin Owens:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/566f266d62c917c167e0788a48dd842a/tumblr_okku48aMli1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

Full details aren't available at this time regarding the WWE's ratings from Monday night, but as expected, Raw increased significantly with the day after the Royal Rumble show. The episode did about 3.61 million viewers, up ten percent from last week.

Last week's go-home edition of Raw averaged 3.29 million viewers, which was up slightly from the 3.26 million the show did the week before.

The promotion of Triple H's return during the show didn't stop the third hour from being the least watched, but it did manage to minimize the decline.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.63 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.64 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.57 million viewers

For a comparison, last year's day after Rumble show did 4.09 million viewers, so it was a 12 percent year-to-year decline. That show was up 18 percent from the week before, and was bolstered by an appearance by Dwayne Johnson.

Likely will be RAW's peak range for this year's Road to Mania based on historical stuff. Also continuing the trend of recent Road to Manias being lower on average than the year before.

Those who were disappointed that Samoa Joe didn't appear at the Royal Rumble didn't have to wait very long for him to make his main roster debut.

While appearing on Raw for the first time, Joe attacked Seth Rollins in the main event segment of Monday night's show. The face-to-face confrontation between Rollins and Stephanie McMahon that had been advertised going into the night led to a promised collision between Rollins and Triple H later, but Joe blindsided Rollins before he could join Triple H in the ring.

The segment ended with Rollins passing out to the Coquina Clutch.

Joe's debut had been speculated about for weeks as he's been in a holding pattern in NXT since dropping the brand's title to Shinsuke Nakamura for the second time last December. His only appearance at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio was when he was shown on camera sitting in the audience.

With the Elimination Chamber less than two weeks away, WWE didn't waste time building to SmackDown's next pay-per-view on Tuesday night's show.

Shane McMahon announced in the opening segment of SmackDown that AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, The Miz, and Dean Ambrose would challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match on February 12th.

NJPW World has made the Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega match from the Tokyo Dome available to watch for free for a week.
Link to the match: https://twitter.com/njpwworld/status/826399687879954432

King Jerry Lawler's Memphis BBQ Company opened in Cordova, Tennessee on Monday night. Lawler is an owner of the restaurant.

Revolution Pro Wrestling announced that Omega would be appearing at their Epic Encounter show on April 13th at York Hall in London. The Young Bucks were previously announced for the show as well.

EVOLVE posted the full video of Chris Hero's farewell speech from last Saturday for free on YouTube.
Link to the speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDKXctBW_rg

In an interview with Fox Sports during the NHL's All Star weekend, CM Punk said that he's working hard on getting his next fight and is throwing names for opponents at Dana White. Punk said that he'll continue fighting even if his next fight isn't in the UFC.

There were also complaints regarding people getting their seats moved and problems with seating which we've gotten a few of and were making their way around social media. The complaints included the usual disabled parking lot being shut down by the building as WWE made it exclusive for talent, so disabled veterans and handicapped people who are used to parking there and were directed there by unknowing people working at the entrance had to park elsewhere. The WWE said they were not aware of that issue.
WWE also had a couple other crowd related problems at the Rumble and all seemed to be WWE's fault. Also forgot to tell arena staff about the problems going on so they were just as unhelpful to those affected.

There was a plan to make a bigger deal of John Cena tying Ric Flair's record but it was rewritten out of the show. I think so many people know it's not a real number (16) for Flair's titles, plus from a history perspective, as great as last night's match was, a short title reign is kind of weak for the record setter which may be why it's being downplayed. That also could be an argument not to have done it, but that was the long-term plan when it was supposed to be a big deal.

Chris Jericho suffered a minor ankle injury last night when he and everyone else was being thrown around by Brock Lesnar.
Ghost of Papa Shango ended up making a small appearance during the Rumble.

Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Mark Andrews both ended up working for Progress on Sunday in London. Andrews won a multiple person match over Marty Scurll, Trent Seven, Jack Sexsmith, Sebastian, Dave Mastiff and Nathan Cruz to get a title shot. Dunne retained his Progress title losing via DQ to Jimmy Havoc in the main event. So the only guys brought over were Wolfgang and Tyler Bate, who both worked on Saturday night's show in San Antonio in matches taped for NXT this week.

Also on the pre-show, WWE revealed this year's NXT Awards. Shinsuke Nakamura won both Overall and Male Competitor of the Year. Asuka won Female Competitor of the Year. The Revival won Tag Team of the Year, and their match against DIY from TakeOver: Toronto won Match of the Year.

The Senate Small Business Committee approved President Donald Trump's nomination of Linda McMahon as administrator of the Small Business Administration, a cabinet level position earlier today. She will now go before a United States Senate vote to confirm the position.

Update: The initial news about the approval listed McMahon as being unanimously approved. As it turns out, there was one person who voted against her in United States Senator Cory Booker, the same Democrat who recognized that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were at the approval hearing earlier this month and cracked that Stephanie was more intimidating looking.

Impact Wrestling tweeted the following about a new digital Series 'A Day in the Life' beginning February 1st.

New Digital Original! Coming 2.1 #ADayInTheLife

2.1: @RobbieEImpact
2.8: @MooseNation69
2.15: @AllieImpact
2.22: @TheEddieEdwards pic.twitter.com/OtiOAUWhux
— IMPACT WRESTLING (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 30, 2017

They also announced the 'My First Day' digital series will be concluding on February 25th, as well as announcing who will be featured on the final four episodes. Hopefully, talent still associated with the company.

#MyFirstDay wraps 2.25, don't miss final 4 episodes!

2.4: @RealMikeBennett
2.11: @realjoshmathews
2.18: @babyhebner
2.25: @CodyRhodes pic.twitter.com/wPMDdTvQIu
— IMPACT WRESTLING (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 30, 2017

WWE will run the new, renovated Nassau Coliseum for the first time on 4/10 with a live Monday Night Raw taping.

Prior to the venue shutting down in May 2015 for a complete renovation that saw capacity lowered, WWE had been running there for decades, dating back to the early 1970s when the Coliseum first opened.

The first episode of Saturday Night's Main Event was taped in the venue and the second Wrestlemania had it's New York portion featuring Mr. T boxing Roddy Piper hosted there. The venue also hosted a number of PPVs over the years, including Summerslam 2002 which saw Shawn Michaels return to the ring against HHH, Brock Lesnar win his first WWE championship and was one of the best top to bottom WWE shows ever.


Some other sheet news includes:

According to the Observer, the reason why Taker looked uncomfortable or a bit sloppy during the Rumble was due to Vince rushing Taker's recovery time from a recent surgery because he needed him at the Rumble for storyline reasons. Also according to the Observer, Taker was in serious pain backstage based on people around him after the event. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5r7tna/dave_meltzer_on_wor_so_undertaker_he_was_hurting/
According to reports, Sami Zayn will not be affected by the recent immigration ban which was passed quickly by President Trump and put on hold by Federal courts. Sami is of Syrian descent and one of the countries banned but won't have issues with his passport for traveling in and out of the US.
Kevin Owens was revealed to be tomorrow's guest for the Talk Is Jericho podcast show. https://twitter.com/TalkIsJericho/status/826476547599167491
According to MLW Radio, Lucha Underground and Netflix recently agreed to a deal where Season 1 and Season 2 will be available on Netflix starting on February 15th. https://twitter.com/luchablog/status/826596523341398018

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the heir of Swaggie Time:
http://i.imgur.com/qJA8l7u.gif

Following the best ratings number Raw has posted since last year's episode after WrestleMania on Monday night, SmackDown had a big jump as well for their post-Royal Rumble show on Tuesday.

The show averaged 2.817 million viewers. That is up 10 percent from last week's total and is the best number for the brand since December 27th, which was the return of John Cena to television after a lengthy absence. It was the third best number SmackDown has done since the live draft special last July.

Dave Meltzer reports that Rollins suffered an injury on Raw in his brawl with Samoa Joe. WWE confirmed the news in an announcement on their website that played into Rollins' storyline with Triple H and Joe. WWE's announcement said that Rollins suffered an injury to the same right knee where he previously tore his ACL.

WWE's post noted that Rollins would be evaluated later this week to determine the extent of the injury.

If Rollins is out for an extended period of time, it would be a blow to the WrestleMania 33 card after Rollins' previous knee injury kept him out of last year's show in Dallas ...

Video of Rollins leaving the building on crutches after Raw is available to watch below:

BREAKING: @WWERollins' right knee was re-injured at the hands of @SamoaJoe this past Monday night on #RAW! More: https://t.co/8aYrlzUHSP pic.twitter.com/VYxpVBoj3J

— WWE (@WWE) February 1, 2017

Seth Rollins posted a series of tweets about the knee injury that he suffered on Raw: "Wanted to take a second to thank everyone who has reached out to me over the last two days. Life doesn't always go your way, but that is no excuse to surrender. If anything, obstacles exist to help us grow and evolve. This reinjury to my surgically repaired knee is real and a lot is up in the air right now, but one thing remains constant: my resolve. This doesn't end for me until I've reclaimed the throne. And for me, fighting and defeating Triple H is the only way. I will work harder than I ever have and push myself beyond what I know. This isn't over. The only way to wear the crown is to slay the king. I know what must be done and there's nothing that can stop me."

Though the card could always change -- especially with the show being over a month away -- WWE is advertising that Kevin Owens will soon get a match with Brock Lesnar.

Madison Square Garden's website lists a "special attraction WWE Universal Championship match" between Owens and Lesnar for the venue's SmackDown brand house show on Sunday, March 12th. If that does happen, it would be the first time Owens and Lesnar have faced each other.

Despite it currently being listed as a title match, that could change with Owens defending his Universal Championship at Fastlane on March 5th.

The inclusion of the two Raw stars is the most noteworthy thing about the advertised MSG card, but some of the show's other matches could give an indication on SmackDown's post-Elimination Chamber booking.
Found that interesting since WWE could be considering Lesnar and not Goldberg to be the one to take the title off of Owens for their Mania match.

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley annnounced on Facebook that he was cleared for hip replacement surgery, writing, "I am cleared for hip surgery! It OK couple months, but I was able to get my health insurance back, and by getting my right hip replaced whenever I have a break in my schedule. The bad news is that a hip replacement will not allow me to fly for about six weeks, due to potential blood clotting issues – which can be fatal. Really nothing to play around with. The good news is that the GM position doesn't offer much in the way of long-term job security – so that break might present itself as a natural course of events." Foley noted that he would be keeping all of his scheduled bookings.
Hinted it likely is going to happen within the next 2-3 weeks. Link to the Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/RealMickFoley/photos/a.150133228350157.28288.126269440736536/1566574130039386/?type=3&theater

ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary on the XFL airs tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET. Basil DeVito spoke to The Post in Athens, Ohio about the documentary.
Link to the interview: http://www.thepostathens.com/article/2017/01/basil-devito-xfl-president-wwe-vince-mcmahon

MLW Radio noted that seasons one and two of Lucha Underground are coming to Netflix on February 15th. The two seasons will also be available on Netflix in Canada.

The third season of Lucha Underground will resume on the El Rey Network on May 31st.

Ricochet aka Prince Puma did an interview with Spain's SoloWrestling.com where he confirmed he is no longer under contract to Lucha Underground but cannot appear for another promotion's TV until Season Three of LU runs its course. There's absolutely been WWE interest in him in the past.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">�� <a href="https://twitter.com/WWERollins">@WWERollins</a> . You've got mail <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/getwellsoonseth?src=hash">#getwellsoonseth</a> <a href="https://t.co/NBuR8Ewsqj">pic.twitter.com/NBuR8Ewsqj</a></p>&mdash; Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) <a href="https://twitter.com/FinnBalor/status/826926716987854851">February 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE recently brought back the "Celebrating Black History" playlist for the WWE network which is mostly matches featuring African American wrestlers from recent years but includes a match from 1972 and a few from the 80s and 90s.
According to PWI, Lucha Underground is currently rumored to be in the process of leaving the El Rey network in favor of becoming a Netflix Original show. http://www.cagesideseats.com/2017/2/1/14470916/lucha-underground-netflix-feb-15-season-one-two-el-rey-future
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, RAW has lost around 46% of its total audience since the 3 Hour Era started in mid-2012. When not factoring in special shows, the real drop is between 20%-25%. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5ri3nl/raw_has_lost_46_of_their_audience_since_moving_to/
NXT rumored to be creating their own version of the Los Ingobernables stable with Andrade "Cien" Almas to be its leader. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5rixk3/rush_says_that_andrade_cien_almas_is_going_to/

[Simple Fan]

I'd be fine with Cien Almas starting his own WWE type wing like they did with The Club. Him and No Way Jose would be a good start, not sure who else NXT has that they could pair with them that would make sense.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Lince Dorado/Tozawa/Gran Metalik?

[Simple Fan]

Yeah Dorado could work. Tozawa would also be a fit.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Wrestling nutshot gif:
http://pa1.narvii.com/6022/f155f7820bc19103c8323ffdae6a9333f6c253e6_hq.gif


The Rock 'n' Roll Express are the latest names rumored to be inducted into the 2017 WWE Hall Of Fame class, according to PWinsider.

The tag team consisted of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson and was formed in 1983 in Memphis by head booker Jerry Lawler. They were originally paired together as an alternative to the popular team of The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) when they could not wrestle in certain towns ...

The only name confirmed for the 2017 WWE Hall Of Fame is Kurt Angle who will headline the class. Rumor from PWInsider also suggests DDP and Rick Rude will also be inducted while Wrestling Observer notes that other names being discussed include: Christian, William Regal, IRS and the Natural Disasters.

So this is the current WrestleMania lineup: Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal title; Undertaker vs. Reigns; HHH vs. Seth Rollins (obviously in jeopardy); Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title; Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens; John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse; Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal; Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title; not confirmed but likely is A.J. Styles vs. Shane McMahon. There could be an IC title match with Dean Ambrose. With Miz in the Cena match, that puts either Baron Corbin or Dolph Ziggler as the leading contenders for it. There are also both brand tag team titles and the Smackdown women’s title. Corbin also makes sense in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, where Braun Strowman, at one time scheduled to win it last year, would be the favorite. As far as top guys go, with the exception of Finn Balor, that seems to take care of everyone.

John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse ... But there is also a lot of talk that it would be Nikki Bella’s last match (there are reports of that but nobody we’ve asked about it internally either had any knowledge or confirmed it). If so, you can see her wanting to go out with her boyfriend at WrestleMania and see him maybe wanting that as well ... With the storyline where Natalya pushed that “John will never marry you,” I keep thinking this could lead to a proposal, and if that’s the case, in the big picture, this match makes sense. I don’t know that’s the case. That would be a far bigger thing as far as something memorable than anything, even a great match with A.J. Styles, that Cena could be to the majority of fans.

Dean Ambrose is kinda like, well he doesn't have anything for Wrestlemania at this point. I suppose they could do something for the IC title, I mean like a multiple person match or something, but y'know we'll see. There's already a lot of matches on the card and there's the battle royal and everything, but they could still add something. He may be subjected to being on the pre-show at this rate unless he's in that battle royal

Spoiler tags used since its related to current rumored Hall of Fame announcements and Mania plans.

Rollins was getting an evaluation on the knee on 2/1 in Birmingham and the early word was that he’d be out about eight weeks, meaning that Mania was possible but not definite. Obviously he’ll want to do it under any circumstances when it’s that close of a call but WWE these days, for legal reasons, is far more cautious about throwing talent back into the ring before they are ready than has been the case historically.

The much talked about ESPN 30 for 30 show "This is the XFL" debuts tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Vince McMahon was interviewed and is prominently featured. Charlie Ebersol, the son of Dick Ebersol, who co-owned the promotion with Vince, put this together. The show was gotten mixed reviews from those who have seen the screener.

There's more controversy in the AAA situation with Pentagon Jr. & Fenix. AAA is attempting to now trademark Penta el 0M and Fenix El Rey, which are the latest names they have been using. They never used those names in AAA, and the attempt is to prevent them from using those names in the U.S. and in Mexico. AAA already trademarked Rey Fenix, even though a character in Puerto Rico had used it previously and Fenix had never used it in AAA.

The Squared Circle Sirens web site noted a number of names at the current 42 women WWE tryouts this week. Among the names there are Nicole Matthews, Miranda Salinas, Hyaneyoung, Renee Michelle, Anna Theresa (who won the Ms. New York beauty pageant this past year), fitness competitor Stephanie Rowe and Lei'd Tapa.

WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash disclosed on his Instagram account that he would soon be going in for surgery after MRIs revealed he had suffered a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum. The former WWF and WCW World champion did not disclose how he suffered the injury, but the announcement accompanied video of him working out.

Nash noted it would be the 31st surgery he has undergone.

Tommy Dreamer has been tossed off balconies and set on fire, but it was his dog that nearly cost him an eye.

In a freak accident yesterday, Dreamer's dog's paw stuck him in the eye, breaking one of Dreamer's contacts in half and severely scratching his cornea. The swelling of the eye was so bad that doctors stopped fishing for the remainder of the contact lens.

If you need any indication of how much Dreamer is hurting, he actually pulled himself off international bookings in Germany this weekend.

Dreamer posted a photo of his eye on Twitter and it is pretty gruesome. We aren't posting it here because we didn't want to upset anyone with a weak stomach, but if you want to see it, you can at www.Twitter.com/TheTommyDreamer.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross' autobiography Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling will be officially released in hardcover on 10/2. The book is being co-authored by Paul O'Brien, who has written several excellent books of pro wrestling-centric fiction. The book is being released by Sports Publishing.

Yoshihiro Tajiri, who has been out of action with a knee injury, is expected back within the next two weeks.

The Royal Rumble PPV drew an announced crowd of 52,020. We don’t have an exact number. With the setup, had every possible seat been filled and with those blocked off for the stage, they could have gotten about 67,000 in. I was told three-quarters of the upper deck was tarped off, which would indicate a set up for around 45,000 to 47,000. We were given a 42,000 number from someone who knows the building but that is only an estimate. Coming into the show, the expected paid attendance was expected to be 35,000 to 40,000 but San Antonio is traditionally a decent walk-up market. WWE didn’t release any real numbers of gate info past the announced entertainment number. It’s possible the paid will be made clear at some point with financial figures. There are also no gate numbers available at this point, although we were told ahead of time that it would have been the largest live gate for a WWE show that wasn’t a WrestleMania.

Ric Flair will start his third podcast in a few weeks, with Robert Flores as the co-host. Flores, who used to work for ESPN and now works for the MLB and NHL Network, is a big wrestling fan. It will be on the MLW Network. Not sure what happened with Conrad Thompson, who is close friends and was strong at working with Flair. Thompson does shows with Bruce Prichard, and is now starting a show with Tony Schiavone

The new episodes of Lucha Underground will start airing again on 5/31. The key to this is that would peg the end of the season at 10/18.

The contracts actually specify a six month lag after the final episode of the season ends for the talent to be free to sign elsewhere, which would put th time frame at April 2018. But my feeling is that could be challenged and they could be free in October. Right now WWE is very conservative about signing talent until completely free and clear. The two key contracts are Prince Puma (Ricochet) and Rey Mysterio. Puma is gone for sure, but he’s concentrating on New Japan for now, but there is certainly a strong feeling he’ll wind up in WWE. Mysterio could be signed to a new deal. I could see that going either way. He’s the highest paid guy in the company and the company is losing tons of money, and while his name could be of value in many ways, their usage of him thus far both in and out of the ring has been a major disappointment. The problem with him is that at 42, and with bad knees and inability to work a full schedule, I’m not sure what WWE would do with him past being a brand ambassador type. And he can probably make a lot more on his own than what that pays, unless WWE will give him the HHH type of schedule

Over the past few weeks, the WWE has been calling a lot of the women from the past and told them they wanted them for WrestleMania

WWE has contacted talent in Asia looking for passport details and other info regarding an Asian tournament, similar to what was done in the U.K. They appear to be speeding up the process in response to the WCPW World Cup tournament. To make sure there is no confusion, the talent being contacted has been outright told no outside bookings if signed in the U.S, U.K. or Japan

Regarding Balor and talks of him being in the Rumble, he had an evaluation over the past week and was not cleared. I don’t know that he was ever considered for the Rumble in the first place as his target return was always said to be late February or more likely early March. But he expected to be on the WrestleMania show in some form.

Confirmed an announcement will be made online and to the live crowd at the Impact Zone regarding the name change to try and prevent the TNA chants. Predicts you'll get a few assholes trying to be clever though.

Says Ed Nordholm is pretty hands off and lets the wrestling people produce the show and won't interfere. In the meetings during the January tapings Ed said he will let the wrestling people (Dutch Mantell, Jeff Jarrett, John Gaburick, Madison Rayne) do what they need to do and that his job is to get it out there and promote and market the company and look after the business side of things like contracts and business strategies.

Tyrus puts over Dutch Mantell big time, says his influence is already being shown mentions Rosemary and Jade's stuff as a prime example where he is also works with Madison Rayne. He is also working with Jade on her promos. Says Gaburick is a more conservative type of booker, prefers the slow patient build, says the Allie stuff is Gaburick. Puts over Madison Rayne he says there is a wedding segment coming up which she wrote which he originally thought would stink the joint out but turned out to be downright hilarious.

Only drastic thing Ed has done so far is the name change, he flat out said he can't market a company with a name like that and that one can only take too many tits and ass jokes.

Jason Brown is the CEO, he is in charge of production with Aroluxe Media, he is basically in charge of set design and how it looks.

He says fact there is a polarising view on the Anthem Owl suggests they'll keep it as a mascot. Says the owl needs a name.

JR then says the likes of El Rey and Pop is a struggling network, Tyrus corrects him and says they're a young network. They are owned by CBS and will be on Hulu within the next few months, says Brad Schwartz has been great and fully supports the product. Tyrus then says people don't understand how hard it is in the US that if you're not WWE then the chances of getting on a big cable network are relatively slim.
Highlights from a recent Ross Report podcast show with Tyrus/Brodus Cay as the guest.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm not sure what the WWE is up to with these parallels, but I'm finding it extremely stressful, so... congratulations? <a href="https://t.co/2NReX46LMy">pic.twitter.com/2NReX46LMy</a></p>&mdash; Mithen Gifs (@MithGifs) <a href="https://twitter.com/MithGifs/status/827260052725567496">February 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

NJPW recently launched an English version of their website for those interested. http://www.njpw1972.com/
Observer announced they have opened a shop on ProWrestlingTees.com website with four shirts available and more considered for the future. http://www.f4wonline.com/other-wrestling/wrestling-observerfigure-four-online-pro-wrestling-tees-store-now-open-229416
Yesterday's episode of NXT included a tribute to Corey Graves who is leaving the show as one of its commentators. He made the announcement during NXT Takeover San Antonio with last night's NXT episode as his final show.
According to PWI, WWE is currently planning on releasing fewer DVD/BR wrestling sets this year than usual.
Some more details from the person who compiled the data about the audience drain the 3 Hour Era has been generating. He clarified some of the confusion people had with the data but with the same end result of the 3 Hour Era being terrible for RAW in terms of viewers. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5ro9jp/data_to_back_up_claim_that_the_reason_for_raws/
For those with Time Warner Cable, Univision recently pulled their programming off of the service due to a dispute involving fees and contract issues. Lucha Underground's tv network El Rey was among the channels affected from the dispute.

[Simple Fan]

Hope they sign Lei'D Tapa, would be a great matchup for Nia Jax.

[XL]

Would it?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

No. They are too similiar.

[Mr. Nerfect]

They've already got Nia Jax and Tamina. You don't want to clog your women's division with Amazonian acts that all blend together.

[Simple Fan]

Would it?

I think so. Tapa would be her biggest threat yet. Being so similar is what would make it a great match up. Nia vs Banks, Bailey, or even Charlotte is a mismatch that Nia should win easy. Put Tapa in there with her and it's a different story.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Stone Cold Renee Young:
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Should Rollins not be able to work Wrestlemania 33, there will obviously be a change in plans. One pitch that has made the rounds over the last 24 hours is for Triple H to wrestle Shane McMahon at the show. We will see if that ends up being the direction if Rollins' injury requires an extended period of absence from WWE storylines.

Spoiler tag used since its related to potential Mania plan changes.

The 2/2 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 299,000 viewers, down from last week's 307,000.

The "This was the XFL" special last night on ESPN did 917,000 viewers, which is a good number for such a show.

Kevin Kelly, who has served as the voice of Ring of Honor since 2010, departed the company this week, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Kelly had taken a full-time job with the company in their office last year, juggling his announcing duties with logistical duties that were meant to ease the pressures on ROH booker Hunter Johnston. At the time Kelly took the full time job, he had told PWInsider.com that he was there to work as a liaison between the wrestlers and the office to insure better communications and to help spearhead projects that ROH needed to work on, such as a streaming service and an updated website.

We are told that Kelly gave notice and departed the company. He completed his duties for the office this weekend is not currently scheduled for any additional announcing for the company at this time. He was not scheduled for this weekend's ROH events and is scheduled to travel to Japan to call the 2/5 New Japan Pro Wrestling event in Sapporo, so it would appear his exit from ROH would have no bearing on his NJPW duties. New Japan has expanded their English language commentary for their New Japan World streaming service.

An update on the Kevin Kelly situation is that he had to make a choice between keeping his full-time office job with ROH or his commitment to New Japan, as New Japan wanted him in Japan for the entire week this coming week. So he chose New Japan, which pays well, well enough to get Don Callis back into a business that he pretty much walked away from 15 years ago. Kelly is expected to still be used as on-air talent by ROH.

Cody Rhodes talks WWE wrestlers' knowledge of the indie scene.

On leaving WWE on his own accord: "I've done everything and more I was hoping to do, a lot of these independent groups come across like independents, they come across as brands. It's cool that I've done the more smaller independent shows, but also the larger companies too, last year I wrestled at WrestleMania, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles, TNA's Bound For Glory, Ring of Honor's Final Battle and then obviously I did New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom, so the statistic is rather staggering for me, to have a period of these events coming so fast in a featured way, it ways heavily on my mind because you want each to be good."
Link to the interview: http://www.totalwrestlingmagazine.co.uk/product/total-wrestling-magazine-january-2017-print-edition/

Jim Ross promoted his WrestleMania weekend show in Orlando. On WWE using older wrestlers to build the product: "They’re using some guys with some miles on the tires -- I’m not saying if the tires are treadless or not. But there’s two ways to use those veterans.You can use them against each other, get more eyeballs on the product and expose the younger talents in other ways, or you can figure out the way for the veterans to best give the rub to younger guys. WWE is doing a nice job of that right now."
Link to the interview: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/wrestling/os-wrestling-jim-ross-feature-20170202-story.html

Kenny Omega was announced today for Ring of Honor "Honor Rising" events at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on 2/26 and 2/27. The word that is making the rounds is that Omega will be making appearances Stateside for ROH later this year as well.

Since we have gotten some emails about a few TNA related topics, here is the latest:

*As of this writing, the company has not locked in Matt and Jeff Hardy to new deals.

*Drew Galloway has also yet to sign a new deal.

*Dixie Carter has moved out of the TNA offices in Nashville, TN and is not involved in any TNA decision-making. Her husband, Serg Salinas, is also no longer with the company. He lists on his LinkedIn Profile that in January, he left the company to work as General Manager of Trifecta Entertainment and Tex-Ville Tunes Music Publishing in Nashville, TN. Trifecta Entertainment was the company Dixie Carter owned and ran before TNA.

*Jeff Jarrett is believed to be coming on board as the new Executive Producer, replacing John "Big" Gaburick, but we have heard differing accounts of whether Jarrett's deal is done. Jarrett is still moving forward with GFW so it's possible he will try and bridge the two entities together going forward. I wouldn't be shocked to see the GFW TV that was filmed in Las Vegas eventually end up on Fight Network, but that's only my gut feeling.

*The latest word is John Gaburick is not leaving the company as we have heard he has restructured his deal to remain.

*There have been no major office departures and thus far, no real talk of moving the company to Toronto (yet).

*Dutch Mantel is officially on Creative, joining Matt Conway, Gaburick and Madison Rayne.

*Don West is, thus far, only back to help liquidate the TNA warehouse. We are told there was a ton of merchandise that needed to be sold off so the company is working towards that end. Bringing back West was a Jarrett idea.

The owners of Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre FMV LLC, have applied to trademark "Penta OM", the new name for the former Pentagon Jr.

What makes that interesting is that Pentagon Jr. left AAA to become an independent talent and changed his name because it was owned by AAA. AAA's Dorian Rodan was named head of Lucha Libre FMV right before Pentagon's exit and now that company is filing a trademark on Pentagon's new independent name, premumably to prevent him from actually using it.

Legendary professional wrestler Bret (Hitman) Hart says he’s 100 per cent recovered and back in the gym a year after surgery for prostate cancer.

Hart says it was a tough battle and he feared the worst, but he benefited from early detection.

The situation is not the same for his older brother, who also has prostate cancer.

Hart says his brother didn’t go for testing or take care of things early, and now he’s looking at maybe a year to live.

Hart, who is 59, has had serious health issues before -- he suffered a stroke in 2002 that left him partially paralyzed, but he made a successful recovery.


Some other sheet news includes:

The Orlando Sentinel recently had an interview with Sgt. Slaughter regarding his heel turn during the Gulf War. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/wrestling/os-wwe-sergeant-slaughter-wrestlemania-20170203-story.html
Vice had a recent article about Kenny Omega's rise from his days as a Junior hockey player to becoming a big star in wrestling recently. https://sports.vice.com/ca/article/kenny-omegas-journey-from-canadian-junior-hockey-goalie-to-wrestling-superstar
According to PWI, Tamina is expected to join the Smackdown brand based on recently updated card for an upcoming MSG house show. Also rumored to be returning as a face for the women's division.
Recent rumor going around the net involves Micheal Cole wanting to retire as a commentator and work in production for the WWE within the near future. May or may not be the reason why Corey Graves got promoted as a full-time RAW announcer recently.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Emmalina hype promos only need 18 more days to surpass the amount of time Emma was out injured. Emma had been injured for around 140 days before being cleared to return while Emmalina hype videos have been going on for around 123 days.
According to the Observer, Emmalina has become a running joke within the WWE and they currently don't have any plans for her actual debut. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerwon/status/827573072982970368

[Mr. Nerfect]

I said that if Vince and Kevin Dunn work out how hot Emma actually is, they are going to push her to the moon. Running joke or not, I think that when she does show up, they actually do it in a relatively big way. By that I mean I could see her immediately challenging Charlotte and winning the belt.

I'm totally fine with Michael Cole retiring from commentary. Isn't it like 20 years he's been with the company now? Tom Phillips and Corey Graves are the "young energized" couple that can handle a three-hour RAW on their own. That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to them hiring Kevin Kelly, but I can't see them doing that. Cole can still do the occasional special to make *him* feel special. Ideally there would only be 12 PPVs a year, and Cole could be the voice of those working with a color guy like Kurt Angle.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

They can't copyright a name they have never used.

[BigCrippyZ]

They can't copyright a name they have never used.

Um, you can't copyright a name. You can however file for a trademark.

[Lock Jaw]

Just like I have the trademark on Lock Jaw™

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the Nia-maker:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/be3f96600f36eda267637b0ca42cc41f/tumblr_okzdv6Oq221u1ljrzo1_500.gif

WWE numbers fell from last week, which isn't a story because the Monday after Royal Rumble is likely to be one of the two or three highest rated shows of the year.

But what was a surprise was how far they tumbled, as last night's show averaged 3.10 million viewers. To put that number into perspective, only five shows in 2016 outside of football season were lower, and this was with a fairly loaded show with Bill Goldberg and a fresh main event with Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe ...

With the exception of two shows in August against the Olympics, two June shows against major NBA playoff games, and a Monday that fell on July 4th, this week's number was lower than any non-football Raw of 2016.

It also had a bad drop and a very weak third hour.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.34 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.17 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.84 million viewers

Likely will be RAW's range for the Road to Mania since no more really big shows are left till the go-home Mania show.

Ivan Koloff, 74, one of pro wrestling's leading heels of the 70s and 80s, is battling liver cancer.

Koloff is best known for his January 18th, 1971, win over Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden which ended up being Sammartino's only pinfall loss in that building in his entire career. The win ended Sammartino's nearly eight year run as WWWF champion.
For those interested in donating, Koloff's daughter recently started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with medical costs: http://www.gofundme.com/Ivan-koloffs-urgent-financial-need

WWE issued an update on Shinsuke Nakamura's storyline knee injury, noting that there were no tears in Nakamura's knee and that he wouldn't require surgery.

The custom WWE Championship that WWE sent the New England Patriots after their Super Bowl 51 win was heavily featured during the team's victory parade today. Rob Gronkowski posted a picture with the title before the parade began and it appeared several times on the TV broadcast.

EVOLVE announced that Michael Elgin and Donovan Dijak would be wrestling for the promotion over WrestleMania weekend, which probably says something about Dijak's future with Ring of Honor. Elgin & Dijak will challenge for Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi's EVOLVE tag titles on March 30th in Orlando, Florida. Elgin will also face Zack Sabre Jr. the next night.

Paige's life story could soon be making its way to the big screen.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced on Facebook on Tuesday that his Seven Bucks Productions company is producing a film based on WWE wrestler Paige (real name Saraya-Jade Bevis) and her family. The movie was inspired by a documentary that aired on Channel 4 in the UK that chronicled Paige and her family's career in the wrestling business.

Based on the documentary, the film will be titled "Fighting With My Family."

"Years ago (2012) while shooting Fast & Furious in London, I was up at 3am (too much caffeine) and stumbled upon a documentary on a UK station about a local wrestling family and their daughter's unlikely journey into the global spotlight," Johnson wrote.

"That daughter, is current WWE Women's Superstar, Paige. The family element I saw in the doc, is what grabbed my attention. That no matter how crazy life gets, no matter how dysfunctional our families can sometimes be and especially regardless of how much we fight -- we're always there for each other when it counts. That's what families do."

Stephen Merchant will write and direct the film, with Johnson noting that Merchant grasped how gritty and heartfelt the comedy-drama should be. Johnson also noted that they would be partnering with WWE Studios and Film 4 on the project.

The Hollywood Reporter's story on the film said that Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden have been tapped for starring roles, with Johnson making a cameo as himself in addition to his position as executive producer.

Paige's wrestling career is currently on hold after she underwent neck surgery last year. She was also suspended by WWE twice for wellness policy violations in 2016.

The WWE signed a multi-year deal with Dana Warrior, the widow of Ultimate Warrior. This is part of continuing to market the Ultimate Warrior name, have her be part of the annual Ultimate Warrior Award, etc.

Adding to a class that already includes Kurt Angle as its headliner, it was revealed on Monday afternoon that The Rock 'n' Roll Express would also be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.

The announcement that Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson would be joining the Hall of Fame was made by CBS Sports, with WWE also posting an article about it on their website. Morton & Gibson were voted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 2014.

"It was a surprise," Morton said to CBS Sports. "I had a message on my phone (from WWE) to call the number back. I think they got ahold of Robert at the time. When they called, it was just like a suckerpunch. It just knocked us off our feet."

"It's an honor for Ricky and me to go into the Hall of Fame," Gibson said.

John Layfield will be doing a new "Legends with JBL" show on Wednesday talking with Stan Hansen. Those shows are always interesting.

Charles Robinson revealed in an interview on WWE.com that he tore his plantar fascia while refereeing John Cena vs. AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble and reflected on what it was like to be there for Cena's 16th title win.
Link to the interview: http://www.wwe.com/article/charles-robinson-on-john-cena-historic-championship-win

Don Callis makes his debut calling New Japan Pro Wrestling ... as he'll be calling the New Beginning in Sapporo with Kevin Kelly. The show will be headlined by Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Minoru Suzuki.
Replaces Steve Corino who recently joined the WWE as a new NXT trainer.

Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Ricochet, and Will Ospreay will be appearing for OTT Wrestling at a big show in Ireland on April 15th at National Stadium. The promotion also had a show today with Drew Galloway making a surprise appearance and Mark Haskins wrestling for the first time since taking time off with a neck injury last year.

As we reported yesterday, Seth Rollins was back in Birmingham, Alabama regarding the MCL tear in his knee. The hope among those I've spoken to today is that Rollins will be good to go by Wrestlemania, pending any further complications.

Erick Rowan is at the WWE Performance Center this week working towards being cleared from his torn rotator cuff.

Rich Swann was pulled out of in-ring duties due to a foot or ankle issue. That's why he disappeared from his storyline against Neville.

Hideo Itami is off the injured reserve.

Dave Meltzer noted on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE expects that Seth Rollins will be able to wrestle at WrestleMania 33. At this time, the Seth Rollins vs. Triple H match is on and that’s what WWE will work towards.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned there’s some truth to rumors claiming Nikki Bella will be done in the ring after WrestleMania 33 … but we’re told she won’t be leaving WWE.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Nikki had been trying her best to deal with the pain her neck has been feeling while also traveling a full-time schedule … however, it’s become too much.

As we previously reported, she had only intended to be a part-time performer upon her return.

We’re told the pain often causes numbness to one side of her body, so she’s hoping some time away will allow her to wrestle every once in awhile for WWE at big events in the future.

Our sources say Nikki’s contract is also up around the same time as Mania, but those close to the deal believe they’ll agree to a new one before WM33 that would keep her around for the foreseeable future.


Some other sheet news includes:

Observer recently debunked rumors of Eva Marie leaving the WWE after she got rid of all WWE related stuff from her Twitter account. Past reports about her teased the WWE still hasn't been willing to use her even for house shows after her suspension ended months ago.
ESPN had a recent interview with Sami Zayn about him wanting to help change the way Muslims are portrayed in wrestling and be a positive role model for them. http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18640018/rami-sebei-portrays-wwe-superstar-sami-zayn-works-demonization-muslims-wrestling
For those interested, the Observer Radio recently had an episode dedicated to the XFL and some of the crazy stuff Vince did not covered by the 30 For 30 documentary last week. http://www.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-radio/wor-everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-xfl-229611
WWE recently called up one of NXT's refs, Danilo Anfibio, to the Smackdown brand with this weekend's NXT house shows as his last there.
During a recent Observer Radio show, Dave Meltzer implied the reason for lack of Stone Cold podcast shows on the Network is due to the WWE souring on Austin and him unwilling to filter or let them have complete control for the episodes. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5sly7a/dave_meltzer_on_why_there_hasnt_been_new_network/
Apparently someone recently tried to kill former WWE wrestler/announcer Ricardo Rodriguez while he was driving with his family. Had his car shot at but lucky the shooter only managed to destroy the car's back window. https://twitter.com/RRWWE/status/829024803428429824

[Mr. Nerfect]

I heard that Ivan Koloff was battling cancer and that he isn't in the Hall of Fame. Go on, Vince -- put him in.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Bliss Era Appreciation Wednesday:
http://i.imgur.com/ndmoBHm.gif

SmackDown viewership was down last night to 2.627 million viewers, a drop of seven percent from the previous week, despite a main event featuring the two biggest stars on the brand in John Cena and Randy Orton ...

This was the go-home show for Sunday's Elimination Chamber PPV, the last SmackDown-exclusive PPV before WrestleMania.

Following an announcement that was made in Japan earlier in the day, Impact Wrestling announced on its website on Tuesday night that the company had entered an official working relationship with Pro Wrestling NOAH.

"We look forward to making a formal announcement soon in Tokyo and seeing IMPACT Stars compete at NOAH’s Yokohama event on March 12," Impact Wrestling wrote when announcing the agreement. "We are thrilled to build this relationship even further with more details to come."

Some of those details will likely be revealed when that formal announcement is made, but it appears that the promotions will at least be sharing talent going forward.

WWE added Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler vs. Apollo Crews & Kalisto in a handicap match to Sunday's Elimination Chamber card on last night's SmackDown. The updated Elimination Chamber lineup is:

John Cena defending the WWE Championship against AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Bray Wyatt, and Baron Corbin in an Elimination Chamber match
Alexa Bliss defending the SmackDown Women's Championship against Naomi
Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper
American Alpha defending the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos, Heath Slater & Rhyno, The Ascension, Breezango, and The Vaudevillains in a tag team turmoil match
Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James
Nikki Bella vs. Natalya
Dolph Ziggler vs. Apollo Crews & Kalisto in a handicap match



Another match was also added to the March 5th Fastlane card last night as Jack Gallagher became the number one contender for Neville's WWE Cruiserweight Championship by winning a fatal five-way match on 205 Live. Neville vs. Gallagher joins Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg for the Universal title and Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman as the matches already announced for Raw's last brand-exclusive pay-per-view before WrestleMania.

It was announced last night that Gran Metalik would be making his 205 Live debut next week.

NBC in Chicago ran a story about former WWE broadcaster Mike Adamle and the health issues he's battling. Adamle has been diagnosed with dementia and is possibly suffering from CTE as well, among other health problems. Adamle participated in the interview to tell his story and in the hopes that it would help others experiencing similar issues. Adamle is a former NFL player and has been a broadcaster for a number of outlets.

Paige and Alberto Del Rio were interviewed by TMZ Sports, with Paige saying that she'd consider trying out MMA when her time with WWE comes to an end.
Link to the interview: http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/08/paige-mma-alberto-del-rio-wwe/

Natalya noted on her Instagram account that she met Andre the Giant's daughter Robyn backstage at last night's Smackdown taping in Seattle. That is the first I've heard of her visiting at a WWE event. A few years back, she made an appearance at a comic convention to promote a graphic novel based on her father's life and noted she had no relationship with WWE at that point.
Link to the photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BQO6RN3lVrh/?hl=en

Nigel McGuinness makes his debut on commentary for NXT on the episode that airs tonight on the WWE Network.
For some reference, he is replacing Corey Graves who got promoted full-time for RAW and 205 Live. Last week was Graves final NXT show.

wXw announced today that Pete Dunne would no longer be wrestling for the promotion on February 24th, with Revolution Pro Wrestling also announcing that Dunne would be wrestling for them on the same date instead against the former Pentagon Jr.

The Rock announced that Nick Frost and Lena Headey would be starring in "Fighting With My Family", the WWE Studios comedy based on the lives of The Knights, Paige's family, which was officially announced yesterday. Frost is absolutely amazing as a comedic actor. I've been a huge fan of him since he was one of the stars of "Spaced" and "Shaun of the Dead. Headey is best known from "Game of Thrones" but was equally great in "Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles" series that was cancelled woefully premature by FOX. Rock made the announcement via Twitter:

Welcome the brilliant/bad ass @IAMLenaHeadey & the often mistaken as my twin @nickjfrost to our cast. #FightingWithMyFamily @SevenBucksProd pic.twitter.com/q7Y3hvKgse
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 8, 2017

Darren Young posted on his Instagram account that he will be getting his elbow loaded with some "serious hardware" tommorrow in Birmingham by Dr. Dugas. He also noted there is no timeframe set for his in-ring return.

Deadline Hollywood reported that WWE Studios has purchased the English language remake rights to Norwegian slasher "Cold Prey". The film is described as a cross between "The Grey" and "The Revanant" with a strong female lead. The plot centers around a group of friends who decide to ski out of bounds and are forced to take shelter when a storm hits, finding themselves imprisoned in an abandoned ski lodge along with a maniacal killer. The original film has already spawned a few sequels ."Cold Prey" is hailed as one of the best and most successful modern Norwegian horror franchises. Casey La Scala, who was a producer on "Donnie Darko" and the upcoming "Amityville: The Awakening", will serve as writer and executive producer on the project. La Scala recently wrote, produced and directed "The Remaining" for Sony.

WWE Network News is reporting that we will get one more Collection this month, a 2017 Hall of Fame Collection, listing the following synopis:

WWE Hall of Fame: Class of 2017

One of the greatest entertainers in WWE history, Kurt Angle headlines the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Inductees. Enjoy some of the Olympic Gold Medalist and six-time World Champion’s unforgettable accomplishments from his illustrious WWE career. Plus, be sure to keep an eye on this WWE Hall of Fame Collection as the Class of 2017 takes shape, with more memorable moments added for every inductee.

WWN announced that Michael Elgin and Donovan Dijak will be joining EVOLVE during WrestleMania weekend.

Evolve Tag Team Champions Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams will defend against Elgin and Dijak at EVOLVE 80 on March 30.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Elgin has been signed for EVOLVE 81 on March 31st.


Some other sheet news includes:

Sam Roberts was revealed to be the guest host for Elimination Chamber ppv's pre-show.
For those interested, WWE's online shop is currently selling replica List of Jericho clipboards for $25. http://shop.wwe.com/chris-jericho-the-list-of-jericho-clipboard/77104.html?dwvar_77104_color=No%20Color
WWE will be revealing updated Network numbers as part of tomorrow's investors meeting.
Papa Shango's Curse struck the WWE again with Tony Nese getting inducted as its newest member. Got hurt during the Cruiser match on RAW and ended up having to be pulled from yesterday's 205 Live episode.
According to a recent MLW podcast episode, ROH is currently dealing with serious problems backstage in regards to management no longer willing to work with Kevin Sullivan anymore. Main booker of the show (Delirious) thinks Sullivan is trying to steal his job while the locker room is upset since they like Sullivan more than Delirious. Also rumored to be a big reason why Kevin Kelly left the company. Also issues with current ownership barely caring about what goes on in the company while his successor can't do any big changes till he officially takes over. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5svzhz/former_roh_employee_court_bauer_on_this_weeks_mlw/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, the origin of Austin Aires' having a banana in his suit is based on a thread made in r/SquaredCircle about wrestlers who visit the board should cut a promo with a banana on tv. Aires, who follows the board, took it one step further with the current banana gag and hinted he wanted to do something goofy on tv for a while.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Um, you can't copyright a name. You can however file for a trademark.

Isn't that sort of vindictive baseless trademark filing considered grounds for lawsuit/fines?

[BigCrippyZ]

Isn't that sort of vindictive baseless trademark filing considered grounds for lawsuit/fines?

Nope. You don't have to actually already be currently using or have used the mark previously to apply for trademark registration. If you have actual good faith intent to use the mark commercially you can apply for trademark registration prior to your commercial use of the mark. The registration just won't be granted until you use the mark commercially, although there are some time limitations on how long you can wait.

That being said, if he's already using the mark commercially, even without registering it, he already has trademark protection, as long as he doesn't abandon the mark by not taking action against any future infringers.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Emma eating stuff:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/19afbe268a1dd3982728de193ffc477c/tumblr_okein5qGHE1w0apq4o6_250.gif

In their earnings report, WWE announced that as of 1/31, the WWE Network has 1.5 million paid subscribers, with 1.4 million paid in the United States and 0.4 million paid internationally.

WWE did not announce how many subscribers they currently have if you include the free subscriptions they have given away through Wrestlemania to former paid subscribers
First time since announcing Network numbers they didn't include the free accounts to pad it.

Revenue numbers are the highest in company history. Profits are still well below the pre-Network levels, although most projections are they will be at or ahead of those levels in 2017 due to an increase in TV rights fees and lower tax rates.

Most of the year was actually somewhat even in profits except that last year in the fourth quarter the company lost $1.2 million and this year's fourth quarter profits were $8.0 million. Total revenue in quarter four was $194.9 million, up from $166.2 million in quarter four of 2015 ...

U.S. subscriber numbers at year-end were 1,033,000, up from 940,000. However, the Network division overall decreased in profitability for the year from $48.4 million to $36.9 million, due to increases in costs of the Network programming and a major decline in PPV.

Virtually all significant profit growth comes from television rights fees. Profits were up on television from $88.0 million in 2015 to $114.8 million in 2016, even though revenue increased by $10.6 million. Some of that is misleading, in the sense that they expense some things to the Network that were formerly expensed to television ...

If there was a hidden negative, it's that live event attendance, while up overall due to running more shows, decreased in profitability as well as average attendance.

For the main brand shows, the average paid attendance in quarter four was 5,300, down from 6,300 in the same quarter last year. That doesn't factor in NXT events. The total profits for all fourth quarter shows, including NXT events, fell from $7.3 million to $6.2 million in the fourth quarter.
Net profit ended up being around $33.4 million overall which ends up being lower than pre-Network era for that category. TV fees basically carried the company this year since everything else was mostly down.

In the main take, Vince McMahon spoke of touring the 205 Live wrestlers with their own house shows, similar to NXT, as well as a European outpost with regular touring, stemming from the U.K. special. He didn't give any timetable as to when this would happen.

The idea of a U.K. or Europe based satellite group is something that has been talked about a lot, but the idea of doing house show tours with the cruiserweights is something that is new. If all groups are running and there are two NXT shows, that would leave the company with as many as six events every Saturday night.

Vince also said the brand extension is working extremely well, as they expected. He said there is some crossover with viewers, which they wanted, but they are introducing new viewers to SmackDown and that’s what they have been trying to do. He also mentioned fresh talent going from brand to brand, using Roman Reigns potentially jumping to SmackDown as an example.

Dwayne Johnson in step one apparently, is upset with Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank (Johnson has a shoe line with Under Armour) for his public support of Donald Trump, saying Plank's comments were divisive and lacking in perspective.
Won't go as far as Stephen Curry and drop the brand but said the CEO's support for Trump was bad considering the diversity of Under Armour. Link to the interview: http://news.sky.com/story/under-armour-slammed-by-the-rock-over-trump-support-10762886

Lance Archer will be undergoing surgery for a herniated disc in his lower back which will put him out of action for a long time. The timing couldn't be worse since he and Davey Boy Smith Jr. were primed for a run as the top foreign tag team in New Japan. For tonight's tag title match, Smith Jr. will team with Takashi Iizuka. Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that he's expected to undergo surgery at some point over the next week.

Mick Foley will be writing a Christmas book called "Saint Mick" this year for release during the Christmas season.

Matt Cross (Son of Havoc) just found out that he broke his leg four weeks ago on a show in Seattle. We had heard he injured his leg doing a moonsault and he'd been canceling his shows. When the leg wasn't getting better as quick as he'd hoped for, he got an X-ray and found out it was broken.

The 2/9 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 252,000 viewers, down from last week's 299,000 viewers.

The four-show Tokyo Dome series on Wrestle Kingdom 11 on AXS, which ended with a show headlined by Kushida vs. Hiromu Takahashi, that aired on 2/3, were considered successful by the station. It was enough that changing to airing more up-to-date matches is something likely to be discussed.

Jeff Jarrett has replaced John Gaburick as the main guy in TNA. This happened about two weeks ago but has been largely kept quiet. Gaburick is still with the company, but Dixie Carter and Serg Salinas are gone. Salinas is completely gone while Carter may still have a title but no longer is working out of the office and essentially is a non-entity. Salinas is listed as having left the company last month to become General Manager of Trifecta Entertainment. Trifecta Entertainment was the publicity company that Carter ran prior to the family purchasing TNA. Jarrett has spoken with people with the idea he’ll be able to make deals soon.

Jarrett has been trying to set up a meeting with the people doing ITV World of Sport. World of Sport wants someone to run their wrestling operations as they don’t want to be running a wrestling promotion, have no experience at it, but are interested in a promotion so they can run a weekly television show. The expectation is ITV will be making a decision shortly about wrestling. We’d heard talk of February tapings, and obviously that’s not happening but they are still in touch with people and talking like it’s a go, but this is also the television business where you operate like it’s a go as long as the idea is still alive.

It does look like Jarrett may be trying pull of an international relationship with TNA, Crash, NOAH and ITV just judging from recent meetings. Jarrett and Crash makes sense given that Jarrett is working the main event himself at the next Crash show, and bringing Eli Drake from TNA in as well. The problem is that the biggest stars Crash and Konnan have would be Rey Mysterio Jr., Penta 0M, Rey Fenix, Jeff Cobb, Ricochet, Brian Cage, etc. who are all under contract to Lucha Underground which means they can’t work for TNA.

Keith Lee was advertised for his final ROH appearances last week in San Antonio on Feb. 2 and Dallas on Feb. 3 in his hometown. According to multiple sources, ROH officials had decided earlier in the week not to use him on Saturday, but for some reason this was never communicated to Lee until Friday night.

Lee teamed with Shane Taylor as scheduled to face The Briscoes on Friday in a match that was set up at ROH’s TV Tapings in January. When Lee got his check for the show on Friday, he noticed he had only been paid for one match.

Lee attempted to find out what the plans were for him in Dallas on Friday. According to one source, Lee couldn’t find ROH booker Delirious to find out what was going on. Eventually an ROH official informed Lee he was off of the show on Friday. Another source noted that if Lee had been able to wrestle in Dallas, he would have been able to say goodbye to the company in front of his hometown fans.

One longtime ROH wrestler noted that they were happy that Lee was done with the coming. Many wrestlers were unhappy last month when ROH signed Shane Taylor to a contract, but Lee ended up announcing he was going to sign with EVOLVE. Lee made the announcement in January on his Twitter account a day after the ROH TV tapings had taken place.
More problems for ROH in regards to their current head booker situation.


Some other sheet news includes:

Miz was announced to be hosting ESPN's Sports Nation Show on March 2nd and 3rd.
Recent episode of Busted Open Radio podcast had Alberto Del Rio and Paige as the guests. https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmrush/alberto-el-patron-the-wwe-needed-me-more-than-i-needed-them
Observer recently teased Vince is considering having Hogan return at Mania as one of the big surprises for the show. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerwon/status/829791256435777536
WWE announced Curt Hawkins vs Mojo Rawley will be the pre-show match for Sunday's Elimination Chamber ppv.
WWE has recently started to add 2010 Smackdown episodes to the WWE Network with Smackdown's entire back catalog of episodes to be finished by next month.
Observer stating TNA is considering cutting the pay of their wrestlers as a way to save more money. Main reason is due to the amount of money Anthem has spent so far and likely haven't made any money back since being TNA's new owner.
Apparently a British indie promotion called PCW revealed an upcoming memorial show held in honor of a deceased wrestler won't actually involve the funds raised going to his family nor cancer related charities. Instead they are pocketing the money raised since they felt they already gave enough to the wrestler while he was alive. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230063774&postcount=7006

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Creation of Kevin:
http://i.imgur.com/PA6SHqv.jpg


New rumor going around the net for Mania teases at a potential multi-women's match with the twist being a New Gen vs Old Gen tag match. Would likely involve Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, and whoever else the WWE can get to show at Mania for the Old Gen team.

Spoiler tag used since its related to rumored Mania plans.

Raw started lower than last week, but declined far less during the show, and ended up at 3.07 million viewers, down one percent from last week.

It was the least-watched Monday Raw that didn't go up against a major sports event or fall on a major holiday, dating back to 1997.

Unlike the Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks title match, which was a huge ratings hit as the main event, the lone ratings positive out of Charlotte vs. Bayley is that the third hour number didn't fall at the same pace as it usually does ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.20 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.15 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.91 million viewers

For a comparison, last week's three hours were 3.34 million, 3.17 million, and 2.84 million.

Drop itself was really small compared to last week but still a horrible number considering its Road to Mania season.

Continuing the WrestleMania season tradition of announcing Hall of Fame inductees before Raw on Mondays, WWE added Teddy Long to the 2017 Hall of Fame class this week.

WWE chose Fox Sports to break the news, with an article also appearing on their own website. Long joins Kurt Angle and The Rock 'n' Roll Express as the already announced members of this year's class.

Vince Vaughn has been tapped for a role in "Fighting with my Family," the film that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's production company is producing about Paige and her family. Vaughn will play an "80's wrestling star who squandered his money and opportunities because he didn't have the capacity to handle his fame."

Kelly Kelly was backstage at Raw, with WWE posting a video on their YouTube channel teasing her making an appearance at WrestleMania.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RSOBndb580

Ring of Honor has announced Jay Lethal vs. Cody Rhodes in a Texas bullrope match and The Kingdom defending their trios titles against Silas Young, Beer City Bruiser, and a mystery partner for the promotion's WrestleMania weekend show in Lakeland, Florida on April 1st.

Marty Scurll defending the TV title against Lio Rush is also set for ROH's 15th Anniversary PPV on March 10th in Las Vegas.

In addition to the Honor Rising cards that were released, NJPW announced a Togi Makabe 20th anniversary show for February 21st at Korakuen Hall. Makabe will team with Tomoaki Honma against Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano in the show's main event.

Kazuchika Okada is scheduled to face Tiger Mask W in a non-title match for NJPW on March 6th.

According to MMAFighting, Brock Lesnar has notified UFC about his retirement from MMA. Lesnar has not made an official announcement but a UFC spokesperson has confirmed that they were notified.

Lesnar has also been removed from USADA's drug testing pool, as he is no longer officially a member of the UFC. He was suspended till July 15, 2017 but his suspension is frozen now since he is no longer in the testing pool. If he chooses to return to UFC at a later date, he will have to serve the remaining five months of his suspension before he can fight again.

In what was a formality given how the process had gone up until this point, Linda McMahon was confirmed as administrator of President Donald Trump's Small Business Administration on Tuesday morning.

The United States Senate voted on McMahon's nomination and confirmed her by a vote of 81-19. She was previously approved out of the Senate's Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee by an 18-1 vote.

Melina Roucka (Rosa Mendes) announced her retirement today[Feb. 13]. She hadn't wrestled since April 2015, when she was written out of storylines after finding out she was pregnant. She made the announcement on her daughter's first birthday.

Contenders Clothing, a men's active lifestyle apparel company, has partnered with WWE to co-brand WWE boxer briefs called the WWE Contenders Collection. There will be adult and youth boxer briefs of John Cena, Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and Steve Austin. They will be available for order on 2/21.

Dorian Roldan on Twitter confirmed for the first time the Lucha Underground deal on Netflix. He only said it would be available in the spring. The target date was this week and it will be available in both the U.S. and Mexico.

When TNA tapes Impact Wrestling from 3/2-3/5, they will back in the original Impact Zone, soundstage 21. They had not taped in that soundstage for years due to it not being available as it was booked by other productions on days TNA wanted to use it. This is the same soundstage that the company had a full-time lease for years ago.

New Japan World added their own tribute to the late Chavo Guerrero Sr.

The streaming service has added two WWF Light Heavyweight Title matches between Guerrero and WWE Hall of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami from 1980 - the first from 5/9/80 from the Fukuoka Sports Arena and the second from 8/9/80 at Shea Stadium in Queens, NY.

You can watch free at http://njpwworld.com/search/tag/man_45

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned there were big plans for the Emmalina character … but after multiple rehearsals, producers realized she couldn’t pull off what they were looking to accomplish.

Sources tell us Emmalina was intended to be a throwback to characters like Sable and The Kat — however, delays were caused after officials felt like she wasn’t committing enough to the role and ultimately they decided to just let Emma be evil again.

We’re told producers are still big fans of the character’s concept though — which is why they held hope it would work out — so it’s always possible that they’ll hold onto it for another female in the future.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gotta get rid of this thing..<br><br>Just in case. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FestivalOfFriendship?src=hash">#FestivalOfFriendship</a> <a href="https://t.co/khGCIoFVCP">pic.twitter.com/khGCIoFVCP</a></p>&mdash; Johnny Gargano (@JohnnyGargano) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnnyGargano/status/831346559908450305">February 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE was recently involved in a robbery incident with Heath Slater and The Ascension having their rental car broken into and stuff stolen during a house show yesterday.
Recent episode of the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast had Observer's Dave Meltzer as the guest. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/tmptow/episodes/2017-02-13T21_00_00-08_00
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the "HBK loses his smile" promo and vacating the WWF title.
WWE announced yesterday they recent agreed to work with Bill Simmons on an Andre the Giant documentary. Simmons had been trying for years to get the project made but for unknown reasons the WWE kept refusing to help.
Tonight is the series finale of "Legends with JBL" show on the Network. Jimmy Hart will be the final guest.
British promotion PCW recent responded to growing backlash in regards to holding a memorial show for a former wrestler and refusing to donate the money to Kris Travis' family or cancer related charities. They are still keeping the money but will be holding another special event later in the year for charity. https://twitter.com/PCW_UK/status/830104861005971457
Rumor going around the net is Kelly Kelly recently agreed to a 3 year deal to return to the WWE.

[Volare]

ROFL @ Gargano's tweet.

[Juan]

According to ESPN, Brock Lesnar has officially retired from UFC

[Mr. Nerfect]

That's a fucking shame about the Emmalina character, because that was her meal ticket. It's a shame that star role might go to someone else now.

[XL]

They want a "throwback Diva" character, Emma can't do it, rumours Kelly Kelly has been re-signed. Coincidence?

[Cool King]

Contenders Clothing, a men's active lifestyle apparel company, has partnered with WWE to co-brand WWE boxer briefs called the WWE Contenders Collection. There will be adult and youth boxer briefs of John Cena, Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and Steve Austin. They will be available for order on 2/21.

Gotta get me a pair of Steve Austins.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't get how Emma couldn't pull it off. It's not like you need a good voice (Sable, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle). Just stick her out there in skimpy gear and have her pose. I feel like this may seriously affect her time in the WWE and make me look wrong for predicting big things for her.

Evil Emma was pretty great though. I'm still pulling for a short title run where she edges Dana Brooke away from Charlotte and makes Charlotte chase.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently two other things doomed the Emmalina gimmick. One being the original writer/creator of the gimmick left the WWE and rest of Creative didn't know what to do with it. The other being the WWE supposedly only actually tested this gimmick out once and didn't like the results. Might have been the day of RAW they actually bothered to do rehearsal tests for it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I hope it is a swerve just to condition people to think it was terrible so she can get heat. That makes sense in my head somehow.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Renee Young gif:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/637e465b0c7e59276190eedfbc4dcf2e/tumblr_ol1gzzCpGt1u1ljrzo2_500.gif

Tuesday night's episode of SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 2,626,000 viewers, down just 1,000 from last week's show.

As has been the case with episodes following brand-specific pay-per-views since the roster split, there was no PPV "bounce back" this week following Sunday's Elimination Chamber show.

Vader posted a sad tweet regarding his health on Twitter: "As I enter my final days, proud of the Father Son Brother Football player Pro WrestlerThe Super Heavy Big Man Goat Im Grateful for the Time."
Vader previously revealed he was suffering from heart failure with original estimates giving him at least 6 months left to live. Either his health drastically changed for the worse or doctor(s) were too optimistic with their evaluation. Link to the tweet: https://twitter.com/itsvadertime/status/831639440909021185

The entire immediate McMahon family visited Washington, DC yesterday as Linda McMahon was confirmed and sworn in as the new administrator of the Small Business Administration, which produced what will become a memorable photo in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump. As has been noted, nearly half of the people in the picture, including the President of the United States, have been recipients of at least one stunner from Steve Austin.
Link to the photo: https://twitter.com/WONF4W/status/831873452843872256

Last night's SmackDown and Talking Smack were interesting in terms of WWE's booking for WrestleMania season. It was announced on Talking Smack that there would be a battle royal to determine a new number one contender to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania after Randy Orton refused to face Bray Wyatt, which figures to be a storyline that plays out over the next few weeks.

WWE also began to set up tension between AJ Styles and Shane McMahon with Styles complaining that he didn't get a one-on-one rematch for the title and Daniel Bryan not taking responsibility for the decision.

A new WWE.com video series premieres tomorrow. The show is called "My Son is a WWE Superstar," and the first episode features Finn Balor and his parents.
Link to a teaser: https://twitter.com/WWE/status/831963971271827456

Jay Lethal will face either Adam Cole or Bobby Fish in a top contenders match at Ring of Honor's 15th Anniversary PPV in Las Vegas on March 10th. Lethal's opponent will be whoever loses the Cole vs. Fish ROH World Championship match prior to that at Manhattan Mayhem.

Mark Andrews vs. Shane Strickland is set for PROGRESS Wrestling on February 26th at the Electric Ballroom in London. That show will be headlined by Mark Haskins, Jimmy Havoc & Flash Morgan Webster vs. Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate.

The Tampa Bay Times has an article featuring wrestlers from the area sharing Andre the Giant stories following the announcement that HBO would be partnering with WWE to make a documentary about Andre's life.
Link to the article: http://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa-area-wrestlers-share-their-andre-the-giant-stories-ahead-of-espn/2313260

Finn Balor is officially advertised for the May European tour for RAW shows.

Goldberg is advertised for the March 27 RAW Taping in Philadelphia which should be no surprise as its the go-home RAW for WrestleMania

Prior to the Rumble it became apparent (a lot due to betting odds being 1/25 at one point) that Randy Orton was winning the Rumble. All last week it was apparent again due to similar reasons that Bray Wyatt was winning the WWE Title. Goldberg becoming champion is now a similar situation, with almost everyone knowing the results pre event, and even the WMania33 Card being online before matches are announced, Cena/Nikki vs Miz/Maryse springs to mind. My question I guess is how does Vince feel about this? Does he even pay attention to the online sites getting everything correct from sources et al pre event? Surely he doesn’t want viewers knowing what happens in advance?

He knows that stuff gets out there and most of the time doesn’t make changes because of it. If he believes in his plans, he shouldn’t either. But make no mistake, he hates that it leaks and if he finds out who did it, he will fire them in most, if not all, cases.
From a recent Q&A session PWI holds weekly with one topic involving Vince's feelings when it comes to leaks.

Mick Foley recently appeared on Lilian Garcia's podcast. During the interview, Foley brought up an incident where Vince McMahon yelled at Braun Strowman:

"I was about to go out there a couple weeks ago, and I heard Braun Strowman say, I want a title shot. Mr. McMahon's behind the curtain, at the board watching the monitor, and he goes, oh god, it's not a title shot. I was thinking to myself, then what is it? That's exactly what I would go to call it when I would go out there. You want a title shot? He's like, it's a title match. It's a match! So if you ever wonder what it's like to see a six-foot-eight, three hundred pound behemoth get chewed out, you should've been there."
Wacky Vince story from not-so-back-in-the-day.


Some other sheet news includes:

Recent update for the WWE Network included support for Google Chromecast devices.
For those interested, WWE is releasing a new book called "The Official WWE Book of Rules: (And How to Break Them)" and arrives on February 28th. https://www.amazon.com/Official-WWE-Book-Rules-Break/dp/1942556101
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, recently retired Rose Mendes' ppv record in the WWE was 0 wins and 3 losses. Had one ppv match in 2009 and wouldn't have a second match till 2013. Biggest surprise was all there of her matches happened in the Big 4 tier of ppvs (2 at Mania, 1 at Survivor Series). https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5ub2au/in_honor_of_rosa_mendes_career_here_is_a/
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, supposedly the earliest known footage of someone body slamming Andre the Giant prior to Mania III is from 1972 during a match Andre had in Japan against Strong Kobayashi. Harley Race also slammed Andre once in 1979 for pre-Hogan slams. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230385442&postcount=12141

[Cool King]

I feel like that maybe Emma will be getting Eva Marie's gimmick but with a few tweaks, as the WWE seem to have completely forgotten that Eva Marie exists.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Bliss gif:
http://i.imgur.com/x4TbjG6.gif

WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund posted the following on Facebook

"I called George the Animal steel yesterday. His wife answered the phone. I asked if Mr. Steel was there. She said he was not at home. Then she said who are you. I told her my name and she said that he may not come home this time. As tears slowly came to my eyes, I told her that everyone loved GEORGE THE ANIMAL STEEL. HOPE".

There may be a first on tonight's Impact show. Because of legal threats from Lucha Underground, when the Hardys vs. Super Crazy & Psicosis match airs on Impact tonight, taped from a few weeks ago at the Auditorio in Tijuana, the referee will have to be digitized out. Marty Elias was the referee in the match and he's under contract to Lucha Underground, who evidently was looking for the piece to not air at all. The Crash promotion and Konnen tried to be careful to keep anyone under contract with Lucha Underground who worked their show away from what was being taped for TNA, but nobody considered the referee. They had other referees there, but Elias, because he's bilingual, is the guy they like in the ring when American talent works with Mexican talent.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, the movie "Fighting with my Family" will be shooting wrestling scenes on Monday night at the Staples Center, likely before or after Raw.

Ring of Honor is proud to announce that RING OF HONOR will be conducting the first ever WOMEN OF HONOR Tryout Camp and Seminar in partnership with Japanese female organization STARDOM!

ROH Camps have been the main catalyst to over 70 attendees getting ROH opportunities on live events, some of which are on national television. If they were never seen at these camps then they may never have had an ROH opportunity. Now, the first ever WOMEN OF HONOR camp will be held to search for the next great WOMEN OF HONOR stars as well as two competitors who may earn a tour of Japan with STARDOM!

Washington Times has an op-ed column on how Vince McMahon created a culture that defines America in 2017. Both Stephanie McMahon and Triple H commented about the piece, as you can read below.

"People have underestimated @VinceMcMahon 4 decades, never realizing he has created a culture that defines America" https://t.co/ROFfuBigFT"
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) February 15, 2017



.@VinceMcMahon vision can be seen not only sports & entertainment, but EVERYWHERE! #HonoredToSitUnderTheLearningTree https://t.co/q710VNYrTT
— Triple H (@TripleH) February 15, 2017
:lol:

Ring of Honor will present their 15th Anniversary PPV on Friday 3/10 from The Sams Town Casino in Las Vegas, airing on traditional PPV outlets and streaming live on The Fite App, which you can download to your cell phone, Samsung Smart TV, iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices for free.

The updated lineup for the PPV features:

*ROH champion Adam Cole vs. Christopher Daniels.

*ROH TV champion Marty Scurll vs. Lio Rush.

*ROH Tag Team champions The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice - Las Vegas Streetfight.

*Jay Lethal vs. Bobby Fish to determine top contender to ROH title (should Fish win belt on 3/4, Adam Cole will face Lethal at PPV)

*ROH Six Man Tag Team champions The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle & The Boys.

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Bray Wyatt pinned John Cena to retain his WWE Title for the second time on a row. Sean Waltman, who was backstage at SmackDown this past week in Anaheim, California, revealed on his recent podcast episode that it was actually Cena’s idea to put Wyatt over at Tuesday’s event.

“I’m not sure what the finish was supposed to be for the match last night. But I know this for a fact, that John Cena insisted on putting Bray Wyatt over again last night, insisted on it. That’s not just a rumor.”
Link to the podcast show: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5ugzo0/x_pac_who_was_backstage_says_john_cena_pushed_to/

We noted earlier this week how John Cena is scheduled to take more time away from WWE after the April 2nd WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view in Orlando. It's believed he will be filming The Pact, which is set for a theatrical release in 2018.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Cena has a lot of projects planned for this year. He is currently off advertising for SmackDown events beginning the week after WrestleMania, including the June 8th Money In the Bank pay-per-view from St. Louis.

Jeff Jarrett and officials from Anthem Entertainment are meeting with ITV in the U.K. on 2/16 regarding the proposed World of Sport wrestling show.

There’s nothing new on Drew Galloway or the Hardys as far as contracts go, but all three are expected at the TNA tapings.
TNA still the heavy favorites to sign all three to new deals.

I don’t know when or how extensively at this point, but the plan right now is that Angle will be doing at least some wrestling in WWE. He would have to pass a physical, and obviously at best it would be very limited

Jim Ross wrote that he’s been hearing that Angle will be inducted into the Hall of Fame by Cena

Kelly Kelly was backstage at Raw in Las Vegas. She’s one of the women who they called several weeks back regarding an idea for WrestleMania. Lisa Varon (Victoria) just teased something on Snapchat and since we were told they were calling the women stars of the past for an idea, she would fit in that category.
Current rumors regarding her apperance are either being involved in a Lumberjills type match or as part of a New Gen vs Old Gen tag match.


Some other sheet news includes:

PWI recently did some data analysis regarding WWE's and Daniel Bryan's claims about Ric Flair's title reigns being shorter than Cena's. End result was Flair's average title reign was almost 3x longer than the average Cena title reign. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/107781/daniel-bryan-was-wrong-the-truth-about-john-cena-vs-ric-flair-when-it-comes-to-title-reigns.html?p=1
UK newspaper The Mirror had a recent interview with Pete Dunne and revealing he will be debuting in NXT very soon. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/wrestling/wwe-uk-star-pete-dunne-9828369
According to the Observer, this week's RAW with Bayley's title win saw one of the largest demo drops in RAW history at least in regards to female viewers. Around 38% of teenage girls tuned out prior to the main event with Meltzer implying this was a big sign of how badly WWE has handled Bayley as a potential huge star. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5ufbd0/meltzer_bayley_is_not_a_draw_to_teenage_girls_38/
Brian Pillman's son announced he is starting training to become a wrestler. The goal to have a match by the 20th anniversary of his father's passing later this year. https://www.instagram.com/p/BQY2p0GBMSn/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, the original Impact Zone used to be in the same set as the Extreme Arena for tv show Nickelodeon Guts.
Former WWE wrestler Nicole Bass passed away today with Blue Meanie confirming the news on his Twitter account. Caused of death wasn't revealed but Bass' girlfriend revealed she had been very sick recently and her health took a turn for the worse today prior to her passing.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hang on. Cena's first WWE Title run lasted 280 days (exactly the same length as JBL before him). But he also had that reign that lasted over a year. That's at least two.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Interesting to hear about Angle wrestling. It'd be much nicer to have him versus Styles at Mania this year than Styles vs. Shane McMahon.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I haven't been particularly interesting in ROH lately, but that Daniels promo did make me order one of their PPVs. I'd actually find it to be quite the touching moment if he beat Adam Cole for the belt. Daniels "deserves it" as much as anybody. You can have Jay Lethal be his first opponent and that would be a great match for ROH too.

[Emperor Smeat]

Hang on. Cena's first WWE Title run lasted 280 days (exactly the same length as JBL before him). But he also had that reign that lasted over a year. That's at least two.

Yeah just noticed they made a big blunder with the bottom chart. Thought at first they were just combining lengths for reigns to fit the chart or extrapolating what Cena would really have if Flair's real record was included.

Cena still has 1 reign that goes over a year but also has more that went over 3 months. His average run in actual reigns is still shorter than Flair's but they could have done a lot better job with the bottom chart.

[Simple Fan]

I haven't been particularly interesting in ROH lately, but that Daniels promo did make me order one of their PPVs. I'd actually find it to be quite the touching moment if he beat Adam Cole for the belt. Daniels "deserves it" as much as anybody. You can have Jay Lethal be his first opponent and that would be a great match for ROH too.

Hoping Daniels wins as well. Such a great wrestler and it hard to believe he's never held a World title in ROH or TNA. Not sure how much longer the guy has left as he is pretty old. Would love to see m have a good sized run with the ROH World title before he's done.

[XL]

Interesting to hear about Angle wrestling. It'd be much nicer to have him versus Styles at Mania this year than Styles vs. Shane McMahon.

It'd be so easy to get to too; have AJ complaining about his treatment referring to himself as the "greatest wrestler ever" and having had a "Hall of Fame career" and have Shane bring out someone who begs to differ/definetly has a Hall of Fame career.

[XL]

...and out comes Koko B. Ware.

[#1-norm-fan]

When did Bryan say that thing about Cena/Flair's title reigns? That is a CyNick-level retarded thing to say.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Goldberg getting shocked Depreciation Day:
http://images.rapgenius.com/a294653ae03ce345d66f7e65c213588e.353x259x66.gif

The wrestling world got some sad news Friday morning as it was learned George "The Animal" Steele died Thursday night at the age of 79 years old.

Dave Meltzer reported Thursday that Steele (real name Jim Myers) was in hospice care.
Cause of death was revealed to be kidney failure according to the Observer.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has updated his Twitter, commenting on the passing of Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele, who passed away last night. You can read McMahon’s tribute to Steel below.

George Steele was only an animal in the ring. He was one of the truly nice men in the world. #RIP pic.twitter.com/uOvnlztlOs

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) February 17, 2017

It was reported yesterday that Nicole Bass had passed away. The news came from her girlfriend, Kristen Marrone.

However, Pro Wrestling Sheet is now reporting that Bass has not passed away, but that she will be taken off of life support today. Doctors say that she is brain dead. The site adds that Marrone posted that Bass had passed because she felt as though Bass was already gone.

The report of Bass’ death was picked up by several sites last night, and was reported on due to the fact that Bass’ girlfriend Kristen Marrone had announced the news.
Suffered a massive stroke leading to her being hospitalized and then suffered a heart attack causing her to become brain dead.

Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm, who are running TNA, met with ITV yesterday in the U.K. They were looking at a deal where Anthem would buy into the promotion and have certain roles. The goal is to make the ITV World of Sport show have television outside of the U.K.
Some more details regarding Jarrett and ITV meetings recently.

All Pro Wrestling will be on iPPV on Fite TV tonight from Daly City, CA with Cody Rhodes vs. Pentagon Jr. and Will Cuevas vs. Zack Sabre Jr. The show starts at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Jeff Cobb and Joey Ryan are also on the show.

Fite TV also has a show on Sunday which is taped, with Jim Ross announcing and Jerry Lawler vs. Jeff Jarrett and Hardys vs. War Machine as the main events.

TNA just made a contract offer to bring back Nick "Magnus" Aldis back. The deal hasn't been completed at press time but talks are significant.

Impact did 325,000 viewers last night, its best number since 12/15 and up 29 percent from the prior week.

Charles Robinson tweeted earlier today he was getting surgery.

Heading into surgery! Very excited for great results. See you soon @WWE @WWEUniverse pic.twitter.com/DckQ7Cm8YW
— Charles Robinson (@WWERobinson) February 17, 2017

All done! That to @Lodi1Brad for helping me out! #TrueFriend pic.twitter.com/D7NWx66sEV
— Charles Robinson (@WWERobinson) February 17, 2017

The Rock announced on his Instagram page that former TNA Knockout Thea "Rosita" Trinidad was joining the cast of the WWE Studios film "Fighting with My Family" to portray a Divas champion in the film based on the life of Paige's family in Great Britain:

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Starz is close to picking up an eight-episode series order on the hour-long drama "Heels". The show follows two rival brothers on the independent wrestling circuit as they war over their late father’s wrestling promotion, vying for national attention in small-town Georgia is actively is being developed by Paramount TV. The project will be written by Michael Waldron and to be directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez.

If the series is launched, it would be the second pro-wrestling centric series that is forthcoming, following Netflix ordering a season of GLOW, a new 80s set dramedy based on the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling that has filmed its first season.
Link to the report: http://deadline.com/2017/02/heels-wrestling-drama-series-starz-1201914899/

Why in the blue hell is there a four-man announcer booth on Smackdown?

They want Mauro to call wrestling, Tom Phillips to handle the "promotional" pushes, JBL to be the heel and they like Otunga and wanted to give him a role.
From a recent weekly Q&A session that had a question about why Smackdown has 4 announcers.

Lisa Varon (Victoria) just teased something on Snapchat and since we were told they were calling the women stars of the past for an idea, she would fit in that category.
More signs pointing to WWE doing something with former WWE women wrestlers at Mania this year.

Lots of horrible angles from 99-01 WCW. What's the one that sticks out to you the most that made you embarrassed to be calling it?

Well, I'm not so sure where the Yeti came in - I'd have to go back and look, but yeah, that was like the worst. It was a horrible thing to call and the angle was so bad.

The fingerpoke of doom was awful as well, I didn't know how to react to that. Also with Russo coming out and bashing Hogan at Bash at the Beach bothered a lot of people, but it didn't bother me at all.

I've called a lot of bad Lucha six man tag matches, where they would do good stuff but wouldn't sell any of it, and those were just horrible to call.

If I can piggyback, what was the most fun angle to call? Or angle that you were most impressed by? I'd have to imagine the initial Outsiders angle.

I had the most fun the night of Hogan and Goldberg at the Georgia Dome. But I go back, not to beat a dead horse, but to my first show at the Garden with Hogan and Bossman. I started out with Crockett and the next thing I know I am in the WWF. I probably had more fun that day than any other day in wrestling.

What, do you feel, is truly the greatest night in the history of our sport?

Well, I guess for me a lot of it could be pointing out to the final Nitro. Doing Nitro become such a chore and so difficult to do for many reasons, so I was glad it was over. Personally, one of the great nights for me was my first show at the Garden, with Lord Alfred Hayes and Hogan and Bossman in a cage. For me, those are the top two.

Was Scott Steiner as insane backstage as he was in the ring?

Yes he was. He scared the hell out of us all the time. We never knew what he would do next. Whenever he came out to the set, and I know I can speak for Heenan and Tenay, we were scared. I'm not so sure if he was sincerely like that, or if it was part of his gimmick and he wanted us to believe it, but we believed it!

Can you give us some great Dusty or Heenan stories from going down the road? You were the voice of my childhood. Thanks for everything. I love the podcast!

Heenan loved to play practical jokes on all of us, and he loved to get us announcers traveling with him laughing. I remember once we were in a convenient store in Maryland and there was a line of people. We had snacks, soda, and Heenan knocked down one of the displays on the counter. He apologized and reached to try and help the lady and knocked another one down. This went on until he'd knocked down five or six things.

We laughed so hard at that. For months. Any time there was something on a front desk, he would do something clumsy to knock it down, and that always made us laugh.
Highlights from a recent AMA Tony Schiavone had at r/SquaredCircle: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5uhpm0/its_the_greatest_ama_in_history_im_tony_schiavone/


Some other sheet news includes:

Ric Flair's newest podcast show called "Listen to the Man" was announced to be debuting next month.
Recent episode of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast show had Gillberg as the guest. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/tmptow/episodes/2017-02-16T21_00_00-08_00
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, WWE currently spends around $885k per episode of RAW and Smackdown based on their recent financial report released. When including associated costs, it ends up being closer to $1.1 million per episode but WWE gets around $215k back. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5uo9vp/the_average_cost_to_produce_each_episode_of_rawsd/
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, WWE's restaurant "The World" was such a disaster for the company it helped caused them to generate a net profit loss of $19 million when it had to be shut down in 2002/2003. Link to WWE's business history: http://i.imgur.com/DGeU1fo.png
Vampiro revealed on Twitter he was recently promoted to be the new director of talent for Mexican promotion AAA. https://twitter.com/apolovaldes/status/832655698450317316

[Volare]

19 million, jesus fuck that's insane.

[Lock Jaw]

All worth it for that one episode of Heat where Kaientai chased ninjas

[DaveWadding]

19 million, jesus fuck that's insane.

If you look at the link, The World lost 40 million dollars total, including submarining that one year.

[Cool King]

Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm, who are running TNA, met with ITV yesterday in the U.K. They were looking at a deal where Anthem would buy into the promotion and have certain roles. The goal is to make the ITV World of Sport show have television outside of the U.K.

The more Jarrett gets involved with World of Sport, the more I just think that World of Sport will basically just be "TNA UK" when it returns to television.

The Rock announced on his Instagram page that former TNA Knockout Thea "Rosita" Trinidad was joining the cast of the WWE Studios film "Fighting with My Family" to portray a Divas champion in the film based on the life of Paige's family in Great Britain:

I'm guessing Melina.

[Emperor Smeat]

If you look at the link, The World lost 40 million dollars total, including submarining that one year.

Rental alone was enough to tank whatever big plans the WWE had for The World restaurant. WWE decided to have it located in one of the most expensive areas in the country for business rentals and then had the double whammy of the food getting poor reviews.

[Cool King]

I remember always really wanting to go to WWF New York/The World back when I was a kid.

[Cool King]

Searching for photos of the place gave me a photo of Tia & Tamera Mowry at WWF New York on Valentine's Day.

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DNWXK7/feb-14-2001-k21104hmc-anand-jon-fall-2001-ace-collectionat-wwf-new-DNWXK7.jpg

Why they were there, I have no idea.

[Cool King]

So many questions.

[Mr. Nerfect]

When did Bryan say that thing about Cena/Flair's title reigns? That is a CyNick-level retarded thing to say.

I heard he said it on Talking Smack.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I really wish the commentary team on SmackDown was just Mauro and a color guy. I'd like to know how well Kurt Angle would do on commentary. I feel like JBL has been "played out" right now. He can do a whole bunch of other stuff (GM?).

[Stocky]

Rental alone was enough to tank whatever big plans the WWE had for The World restaurant. WWE decided to have it located in one of the most expensive areas in the country for business rentals and then had the double whammy of the food getting poor reviews.

Vince must have booked the meals

[Lock Jaw]

Searching for photos of the place gave me a photo of Tia & Tamera Mowry at WWF New York on Valentine's Day.

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DNWXK7/feb-14-2001-k21104hmc-anand-jon-fall-2001-ace-collectionat-wwf-new-DNWXK7.jpg

Why they were there, I have no idea.

Are we supposed to know who those brauds are.......

[Droford]

Even I know they did the show Sister Sister

[Lock Jaw]

Vaguely remember a show called that

[Ruien]

It was a very popular showing for Americans growing up. Canadians didn't put black people on their tv yet though.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

SISTA SISTAAAAAAAA

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

We got it in Canada too.

Both those girls stink though.

[Shadrick]

Are we supposed to know who those brauds are.......

I would venture to say you're in the minority if you don't know who they are.

Fun fact: I share the same birthday as them.

[Shadrick]

Vince must have booked the meals

MAKE THE MEALS LOOK STRONG DAMMIT.

[Lock Jaw]

I would venture to say you're in the minority if you don't know who they are.

Fun fact: I share the same birthday as them.

Nah, I am definitely right.

[Sepholio]

When I was a teenager the only thing that mattered about them was zomg hot twins yusssss.

[Cool King]

Damn, I didn't expect anybody to not know them. Especially in our age group.

I thought Sister Sister was popular and well known in North America seeing as it was pretty popular over here in the 90's.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

The more Jarrett gets involved with World of Sport, the more I just think that World of Sport will basically just be "TNA UK" when it returns to television.



I'm guessing Melina.

AJ Lee?

[BigCrippyZ]

Damn, I didn't expect anybody to not know them. Especially in our age group.

I thought Sister Sister was popular and well known in North America seeing as it was pretty popular over here in the 90's.

I think they were well known, especially among youth of the 90's. Not necessarily sure about how "popular" they were though.

[Cool King]

AJ Lee?

I thought that too but then I saw a photo of Rosita and noticed that she has breasts.

[EzekielKane]

Now for something less serious check out this kick ass match


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wohwQrhgZw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

http://i.imgur.com/q4IyHMH.jpg

White Trash Kid makes his entrance

http://i.imgur.com/KJagFd1.jpg

The champion Hairy Stylez defends his gold!

http://i.imgur.com/UDD4sJA.jpg

White Trash Kid getting choked out by Hairy Stylez!

Enjoy!

[Lock Jaw]

Damn, I didn't expect anybody to not know them. Especially in our age group.

I thought Sister Sister was popular and well known in North America seeing as it was pretty popular over here in the 90's.

Damn..... dunno what to say..... from my POV seems like I never really heard much about the show, and don't think I ever watched it......

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW gif:
http://i.imgflip.com/qvyr.gif

According to rumors going around the net, Kurt Angle is currently planned to become RAW's new GM after Mania. Also for a way for Foley to take the time off needed for his hip surgery.

Also a New Authority stable in rumored to be forming by then as well.
Spoiler tags used since its related to possible post-Mania plans.

This Monday brought another addition to the WWE Hall of Fame with the announcement that Diamond Dallas Page would be part of its 2017 class.

Rolling Stone was given the news by WWE and conducted an interview with Page. He is the fifth officially confirmed member of this year's class, joining Kurt Angle, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson of the Rock 'n' Roll Express, and Teddy Long.

In the interview with Rolling Stone, Page said he got the call from WWE telling him that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame all the way back in October.

"They handed me the phone and said, 'Boss wants to talk to you,'" Page said about finding out the news. "It's HHH. I called him a couple weeks earlier and he hadn't gotten back to me yet, so I thought this was that return call. So we're talking about casual stuff, and then I start to hear him talk about my career and where I've been and how I got here, and then it hits me -- is this that call? I'm not a guy who has trouble talking, but I couldn't talk. Tears are running down the sides of my cheeks and I just said, 'Bro, I love you man.'"

After Shinsuke Nakamura said that he would like to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania, Styles responded on Twitter: "@ShinsukeN how's this? Sorry, but I do have a match at Wrestlemania. N fact, I'll be headlining Wrestlemania after tonight."

Steve Austin was backstage at last night's Raw recording an episode of his podcast with Kevin Owens.

The first WWN Champion will be crowned over WrestleMania weekend at the EVOLVE vs. PROGRESS Mercury Rising supershow. The champion will be determined by a multi-man elimination match featuring current or former champions from WWN promotions. Drew Galloway has been announced for the match.

Pete Dunne pulled out of the Preston City Wrestling shows on 2/25 and 2/26. He claimed it was due to "insensitive comments from the promoter." There was controversy with the promoter's arguing with fans who complained to him that this weekend's shows, the Kris Travis tournament isn't a benefit show for Travis, a popular and talented wrestler who died of cancer. Preston City did a benefit show for Travis in 2015. A few weeks ago, after the comments were made, Dunne said he'd donate his purse to a local cancer charity. He pulled out today but said he would still donate money to the charity. He also said that he was supposed to face Pentagon Jr. on the Saturday show in the first round of the tournament, but would now face him for Revolution Pro in Portsmouth on Friday night. Given this was to be taped for DVD release, I'm not sure how he'd have been able to be in the tournament in the first place but he claimed this had nothing to do with WWE pulling him. There were people who had expected him to pull out since the tournament was being taped for DVD release.

Armando Montalvo, the obsessed Lita fan who was shot in front of the Performance Center by police after he kept banging on the glass door and came at officers threatening, was denied bail. In court, he tried to claim he was the victim because he was shot. Montalvo's father noted that he was mentally ill and without medication, tends to have outbursts. He was arrested again last month outside a bar, and charged with battery. He took a vacuum hose and put one end in his pants and the other up a woman's skirt, and was arrested and held with no bond. The judge ruled he had to stay in jail until his trial.

Get your Booty-O's ready ... 'cause THE NEW DAY has officially been tapped to host WrestleMania 33!

It's a HUUUUGE honor -- Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods broke the news on "TMZ Live" and said they're psyched ... since they'll essentially be the faces of the biggest WWE event of the year!

It all goes down in Orlando, FL on April 2 and the guys are already brainstorming ideas so they go down as the greatest WrestleMania hosts EVER ... a list that includes The Rock, John Cena and Kim Kardashian (she hosted in 2008).

"Our main goal is to have as much fun as possible because if were having fun, everybody's having fun!"

Tamina Snuka was back with WWE last night on the SmackDown brand. She worked as a face last night teaming with Natalya, who, because they were in Edmonton, also worked as a face.

WWE announced today that Seth Rollins would return to Raw this Monday for a sit-down interview with Michael Cole, responding to Samoa Joe's attack on him several weeks back.

As noted previously on PWInsider.com, Rollins has been rehabbing his MCL tear regularly in Birmingham, Alabama in hopes of being cleared to return to the ring by Wrestlemania 33, where he has been scheduled to face Triple H.

WWE also announced this Friday, four videos featuring Diamond Dallas Page will be added to their 'Hall of Fame: Class of 2017' collection on the WWE Network.

They also announced a George 'The Animal' Steele collection will debut this Friday as well.

With Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at Raw for the filming of scenes for "Fighting with My Family," there was naturally speculation that Johnson would make a surprise appearance on television.

That didn't happen, but Johnson did appear twice in front of the live crowd at the Staples Center. He got on the mic before Raw went on the air, with Vince McMahon even leading him off stage at the end of the segment.

Johnson came back after the conclusion of the show and before the filming of a scene where Paige (played by Florence Pugh and with Tessa Blanchard as a stunt double) wins the Divas Championship for the movie based on Paige and her family's life that Johnson's production company has partnered with WWE Studios and others on.

The presence of the fictional AJ Lee (played by Thea Trinidad) for the scene inspired the Los Angeles audience to chant for CM Punk, which led to Johnson attempting to call Punk. The two ultimately weren't able to find a connection, but Punk did tweet a thank you to the crowd after Johnson left a voicemail.

The rock calls @CMPunk from #wwelosangeles #raw pic.twitter.com/7q0b6a2Wqd

— Josy (@josy0710) February 21, 2017

Punk also offered the explanation that it was his dog's birthday for why he didn't answer the call.
In terms of the match tapings for the film, crowd booed heavily for it.

For those who have asked whether WWE was behind The Rock calling CM Punk last night in the ring after Raw went off the air, that would be a resounding No.

As I reported last night in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, it was simply something Rock did at the spur of the moment to pop the live crowd at the Staples Center. We heard from multiple sources that WWE management did not appear to have been happy with Rock going in that direction with his live promo to the crowd in Los Angeles. At one point, it appeared someone was sent to ringside to ask Rock to go in another direction. At another point, a fan yelled they were going to turn his mic off and Rock responded, "They better not turn off my mic."


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hahaha 2K doesn't care they didn't even bother to edit Lawler flubbing and rereading this<a href="https://t.co/69VmUFmJvz">https://t.co/69VmUFmJvz</a> <a href="https://t.co/jkAkc5R6SN">pic.twitter.com/jkAkc5R6SN</a></p>&mdash; It's KFG (@KungFu_Grip) <a href="https://twitter.com/KungFu_Grip/status/833969857393721344">February 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

Ratings and viewer numbers for RAW this week got delayed due to yesterday being a holiday.
For those interested, the Wrestling Observer is currently holding a sale on one month subscriptions for $3.99 http://www.f4wonline.com/news/f4wonlinecom-sale-one-full-month-unlimited-access-only-399-202426
ESPN had a recent interview with DDP with some topics including getting inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame and his post-wrestling career. http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18736233/wwe-diamond-dallas-page-reflects-hall-fame-induction-impact-ddp-yoga-long-underdog-path-success
Observer recently had an article about post-ppvs bumps since the current Brand Split started for both RAW and Smackdown. End result was RAW benefits a lot less with post-PPV bumps unless its a joint ppv while Smackdown stays pretty consistent regardless if a ppv was shown that week or not. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/looking-effects-brand-exclusive-ppvs-wwe-ratings-230246

[Mr. Nerfect]

If we're going forward with the Wyatt Family Triple Threat and Cena & Nikki vs. Miz & Maryse, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura would be more exciting to me than Styles vs. Shane. I do think that Styles vs. Shane will be fun and make Styles a babyface though.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Rebirth of the Bliss Era:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/f635bfdbe5e45772dabd3eb10bef30c9/tumblr_olr60eeilF1saykaxo2_500.gif

Monday's episode of Raw, which was headlined by Braun Strowman vs. Big Show, averaged 3.208 million viewers on the USA Network and was up four percent from last week ...

This week's third hour held up better than it usually does, although there was still a decline. Raw did 3.259 million in the first hour, stayed basically even at 3.261 for hour two, and the third hour dropped three percent, to 3.127 million. The usual decline of late has been about ten percent from hour one to three.
On the bright side, the 3rd hour drop was small although RAW didn't have strong numbers to begin with and this year's Road to Mania still on track on becoming the lowest ever since the pre-Attitude Era. In terms of audience demos, female audience overall was even smaller this week going into the main event.

It was announced this evening that Zack Sabre Jr. would be making his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut at the promotion's 45th anniversary event on March 6th. He will face Katsuyori Shibata, with Shibata’s RPW British Heavyweight Championship on the line.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweeted about calling CM Punk from the ring after Raw went off the air: "I work off instinct, always listen to the people and try to give em something special. Huge positive feedback from @WWE Universe. Fun night"

Former WWE star April Brooks AKA AJ Lee took to Twitter today to comment on Thea Trinidad playing her in the forthcoming WWE Studios film "Fighting With My Family" after a writer for IGN.com noted how bizarre it was. The exchange is below:

So bizarre hearing this song play again at a WWE event as the actress playing AJ Lee comes out to the ring to film #FightingWithMyFamily! pic.twitter.com/QU9CNfRo9d
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) February 21, 2017

@TheEricGoldman Whoa haha. I’ve never looked hotter…
— AJ Mendez Brooks (@AJBrooks) February 21, 2017

Highspots released a free video honoring the life of Ivan Koloff.
Link to the tribute video: https://www.highspotswrestlingnetwork.com/media/%22the-russian-bear%22-honoring-ivan-koloff/59551/feature

Jeff Jarrett continued his rah rah press tour for TNA in Great Britain for The Huffington Post. On the company's relationship with the UK, Jarrett said, "It’s no secret that the relationship between the Impact Wrestling audience and fans in the UK has been very prosperous over the last few years. It did fall on hard times and that’s the main reason Ed and I are here - to start back on those positive relationships. The app was launched, it was rushed to market and there was a good reason for that - because of the Challenge TV situation we wanted the fan base to have a way to stay engaged. So we’re here with multiple discussions, with multiple networks, with promotors and doing media to re-energise the relationship across all its facets."
Link to the interview: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/danny-stone/jeff-jarrett_b_14876242.html

Former WWE and TNA Producer Kevin Sullivan announced that he has returned to the company.

Sullivan had been producing videos for Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling while running his own production company, KSTV, LLC, producing videos for NBC TV. Sullivan is the latest member of the GFW core staff to return to TNA following Jarrett taking over the creative process as an executive producer, following Scott D'Amore and Dutch Mantel.

Sullivan announced his return via Twitter:

I'm excited to be back on the @IMPACTWRESTLING team. It was great catching up and seeing everyone in the studio today #MIGA @RealJeffJarrett
— Kevin Sullivan (@KevinSullyTV) February 21, 2017


Some other sheet news includes:

For those interested, today is the last day of the Observer's sale on a month subscription for $4. http://www.f4wonline.com/news/f4wonlinecom-sale-one-full-month-unlimited-access-only-399-202426
During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, New Day revealed they would like to see Conor McGregor make an appearance at Mania this year. http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/2/22/14704038/wwe-ufc-conor-mcgregor-new-day-fighting-wrestlemania-mma-wrestling-news
Smackdown's ratings and viewer numbers got delayed till tomorrow because of President's Day this week.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I imagine that's not the Kevin Sullivan that was the Taskmaster.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I thought that too but then I saw a photo of Rosita and noticed that she has breasts.

AJ has breasts and it's def AJ. Scene with her winning the title. It's also on Rosita's Wiki.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Florence_Pugh">@Florence_Pugh</a> is my new favorite actress. She did a great job playing my favorite female wrestler <a href="https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE">@RealPaigeWWE</a>. She can do the moves too! <a href="https://t.co/zKAOqxOgRE">pic.twitter.com/zKAOqxOgRE</a></p>&mdash; Fernando Jay Huerto (@fernandojhuerto) <a href="https://twitter.com/fernandojhuerto/status/834210029926391809">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Big Vic]

It is HIGHLY racist that Lock Jaw doesn't know who they are.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x45k5oq" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x45k5oq_are-you-afraid-of-the-dark-s05-07-the-tale-of-the-chameleons_fun" target="_blank">Are You Afraid Of The Dark S05 07 The Tale Of...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/drive0000000072" target="_blank">drive0000000072</a></i>

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Rasslin Mash-up gif:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/e1e6d24e25a8074c7c1d2986df3d86a9/tumblr_oc5zax1oo71rofocqo1_400.gif

Tuesday night's SmackDown on the USA Network was up to 2.792 million viewers, the show's third-best showing since last July's brand split.
Around 166k more viewers than last week and 2nd highest viewed show this year for the brand.

The WWE is booking Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Joseph Conners, T-Bone, Mark Andrews, James Drake, Dan Moloney Sean Gradwell, Saxon Huxley, Tucker and Jordan Devlin on its May tour of the U.K.

Defendants in the lawsuit filed by UFC fighter Mark Hunt against UFC, Brock Lesnar and UFC President Dana White have to respond to the lawsuit by 2/28 after being given a requested extension of time to respond to the suit, which was filed last month. Court records indicate that UFC was served officially with the suit, but does not note whether Lesnar was personally served.

As PWInsider.com reported last month, Hunt's lawsuit in the United States District Court of Nevada alleges that, "Without Mark Hunt's knowledge or consent, the UFC conspired and caused Brock Lesnar, a doping fighter, to fight Hunt, a clean fighter, despite the fact that Lesnar used substances banned by the UFC, USADA and WADA. The substances, Clomiphene and 4-Hydroxyclomiphene, are known “Post Cycle Therapy” (“PCT”) substances believed to be used after a period of strength training with anabolic steroids or similar prohibited substances."
Other claims in the lawsuit includes damaged reputation because Hunt lost the fight and compensation in terms of money a fairer share of the fight purse due to Lesnar cheating.

TNA production company (and at least at one point, minority owner) Aroluxe LLC and Ronald Dean Harris (aka Ron Harris of the Bruise Brothers) were dismissed as defendants in the ongoing lawsuit former TNA production company, Audience of One Productions, LLC filed against [Elite subscribers, click here] TNA parent company Impact Ventures LLC and TNA Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia on 2/6.

The dismissal came at the request of Audience of One following a hearing on 2/3 that saw Aroluxe's Jason Brown and Harris each speak regarding why they should not be defendants in the case ...

While Harris and Aroluxe had requested the lawsuit be dismissed, that request was dropped once Audience of One requested they be dropped as defendants. The court officially removed them without prejudice (which means that legal action could be opened against them again down the line, if Audience of One finds something over the course of the case that leads to them wishing to file new claims against them) and that each party would be responsible for their own legal costs.

With the dismissals, Impact Ventures and Broadhead remain the only defendants.

Audience of One's lawsuit alleges that TNA's Dean Broadhead and Impact Ventures worked to get them on board under the false pretense of using them full-time as TNA's production company, only to then fail to pay them in a timely fashion for work done, requiring the set up of an agreed upon payment plan. According to the lawsuit, TNA then allegedly stopped paying after the first initial payment installment was made.

Audience of One is seeking $223,000 plus interest and post-judgment costs for breach of contract and for the defendants violating Virginia code.

A Settlement Conference has been set for the morning of 4/5 in an attempt to settle the matter before going to trial.

WWE announced they would return to Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on 6/30 and 7/1. Additional details will be announced in March.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured a piece on Bruno Sammartino reflecting on the passings of George Steele and Ivan Koloff at this link. Sammartino noted that he helped to discover each and that with all of the surgeries he's racked up over the years, he's often wondered when his own number would be up, but he's "functioning fairly well" despite the toll pro wrestling has taken on his body.
Link to the interview: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2017/02/22/Ron-Cook-Bruno-Sammartino-feels-lucky-after-recent-loss-of-two-pro-wrestling-icons/stories/201702220084

Attorneys representing dozens of former WWF/WWE contracted performers (as well as talents who worked for the company in the past on a per match basis) filed a motion with the United States District Court of Connecticut yesterday regarding the class action lawsuit regarding WWE's alleged handling of concussions and the classification of WWE performers as independent contractors instead of professional wrestlers, arguing that the court should not stop discovery when it comes to the case (as WWE recently requested) invoking a number of recent deaths, including Jimmy Snuka, Ivan Koloff and George Steele, as a primary reason to push forward.

WWE attorneys have been attempting to stop discovery in case since the new class action suit was added to the existing lawsuits that were already ongoing, most recently filing a motion with their arguments to the court on 2/1. The plaintiffs' attorneys have been arguing that the plaintiffs (who filed their lawsuit in July 2016) were not yet suing WWE when discovery was halted on the existing, related cases, therefore the new plaintiffs could not have had time for the court to properly hear their charges.
More details about recent updates from the on-going concussion lawsuit: http://www.pwinsider.com/article/107937/attorneys-representing-former-wwfwwe-talents-in-concussion-lawsuit-argue-recent-series-of-wrestler-deaths-prove-discovery-in-case-should-move-forward-hearing-on-sanctions-of-attorneys-set-for-march.html?p=1

Billie Kay may have suffered an injury at tonight's WWE NXT TV tapings from the University of Central Florida.

After losing a quick match to Ember Moon via the Eclipse, trainers ran out to check on Billie. She ended up leaving on her own but was holding her neck and crying. It appeared she was injured by Ember's finisher.

That match should air on March 8th but it wasn't clear. Below are photos from the end of the match:

Trainers out to help Kay pic.twitter.com/K9Y23aO7tK
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) February 23, 2017


Billie is up. Being helped to the back. pic.twitter.com/FMF3iOyRiu
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) February 23, 2017

WWN, which is the Evolve family of promotions, is going to crown a champion that will be recognized throughout all of its promotions on the 4/1 show in Orlando. The idea is that every WWN promotion will send a representative into a multi-person elimination match to crown the first champion, who will defend the title in all of the groups

Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm met with ITV in the U.K. on 2/16 in Leicester, UK. We’re told the meeting went well. ITV is looking at launching World of Sport as a regular weekly television show, but they want to work with wrestling people to monetize the brand and get global distribution of the show. Anthem could put the show on The Fight Network and has connections for distribution, such as places that have deals with TNA as well. I don’t know how all the meetings worked out but ITV was looking at Anthem to put some money in, get some responsibilities, in exchange for owning a percentage of the promotion

The reason ref was Marty Elias was digitized in the Hardys match with Super Crazy & Psicosis from Tijuana on Impact was because Lucha Underground threatened them with legal action because the ref had appeared on their show. The funny part of the legal threat is that AAA was at about the same time trying to cut a deal with TNA to keep them from working with The Crash, even though AAA works with Lucha Underground, and the key guy in charge of both is Dorian Roldan. Dorian Roldan had contacted Jeff Jarrett about working together, since the word had gotten out that Jarrett was working a date for Konnan later this month.

Then, after their talk, TNA got a legal letter from Lucha Underground threatening a lawsuit because Marty Rubalcaba (Elias) who they have under contract and they consider their intellectual property was to appear on the TNA television show. The funny part of this is that TNA wouldn’t have really been that concerned because as one person noted, they get lawsuit threats all the time, but Lucha Underground also sent the letter to The Crash Promotion, Konnan, and Pop TV, and because it went to Pop TV, it became an issue with TNA. So for the first time I can ever recall, the referee had to be digitized out on a pro wrestling show. Needless to say that TNA wasn’t happy about how one day the company wants to work together and the next they threaten a lawsuit over a referee. Technically, Lucha Underground would be in the right.

In something of a surprise, since Galloway’s contract is done this month, before the next tapings, but TNA hasn’t talked with him regarding a new deal as of yet.

Nick Aldis (Magnus) was offered a contract to return. He hasn’t signed the deal.

The Hardys are very much up in the air. They are committed to dates through April. They have told indie promoters when it comes to dates starting in May that they can’t commit until they figure out their next step. Their contracts either have just expired or will be expiring within the next week. WWE has made it clear they want them while avoiding any direct negotiations with contracted talent

Regarding the WWE Network and deals with U.K. promotions, they are still on the table. Vince McMahon changed his mind so many times that the delay in announcing anything could have meant he did so again. But we’re told the delay is that WWE told ICW to get their house in order as it regarded trademarks and music and perhaps that WWE first wants to make its announcement about its own weekly television series in the U.K. An example of this is that Drew Galloway’s entrance music will be specific to ICW and the WWE Network when the deal goes through, and he’s had Psycho Dalek finishing a new custom entrance track that he debuted last week on the What Culture iPPV show

Evidently on the 2/14 Smackdown show in the Wyatt vs. Cena vs. Styles main event, the booked finish was Styles losing the fall. Cena pushed that he should lose the fall. Given the Styles lost at the end in the Chamber match and Cena is far more bullet proof, another clean loss would have hurt Styles far more than another clean loss would have hurt Cena, plus Styles is staying and Cena is leaving in less than two months so it makes sense. All the McMahons were gone that day. It works both ways. Years ago, when the Nexus angle was strong, a number of people blame Cena for not listening when several of the guys insisted that Nexus had to go over in that first match, and they didn’t


Some other sheet news includes:

During a recent set of NXT tapings, Finn Balor revealed he will be making his in-ring return within the next 2 weeks.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Glacier's debut in WCW. Website Vocativ had an article about the circumstances leading to WCW dropping the character a year later. http://www.vocativ.com/falsestart/403339/glacier-wcw-blood-runs-cold/
ROH is currently holding a 35% off sale on DVDs as part of their 15th Anniversary celebrations. www.ROHWrestling.com.
During a recent interview in Japan, Kota Ibushi revealed some tweaks to his Tiger W mask will likely be made so its easier for him to wrestler in it. Also hyped up his upcoming match against Okada. https://twitter.com/reasonjp/status/834866572078374912
Based on past incidents, WWE might end up dropping future mentions of "The List of Jericho" for PR reasons after a recent school incident and Jericho being named as the inspiration for it. A middle school student created a "Kill list" in the vein of Jericho's list and outed Jericho as the inspiration for his version of it. http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2017/2/22/student_reported_kill_list_poinciana.html
According to the Observer, Naomi suffered a similar knee injury as Seth Rollins and a same recovery time needed for it.

[Cool King]

Based on past incidents, WWE might end up dropping future mentions of "The List of Jericho" for PR reasons after a recent school incident and Jericho being named as the inspiration for it. A middle school student created a "Kill list" in the vein of Jericho's list and outed Jericho as the inspiration for his version of it.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8b/f6/42/8bf6424d9d60a563f04024ba75b5729c.jpg

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

give me a fucking break lol

[Sepholio]

lmao fucking pussies

[Jordan]

It's really disappointing if they buckle to that. I do except them to buckle however.

[Big Vic]

I think the list of Jericho is over anyway guys. No way he comes back goofy after taking that beating.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

yeah I was half thinking that.

His run is almost over anyways, he'll come back firey babyface styles, do the JOB to Owens in a fun storyline driven match and then go back to Fozzy in April MAYBE after another JOB to Owens at the next ppv.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Outta Nowhere Inc:
http://i.imgur.com/zX9iB4z.jpg

It feels like WWE may not be so sure about the Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal match at WrestleMania from this interview with Show on the web site which says:

WWE.COM: Last question: You’ve been very vocal about wanting a match with Shaq at WrestleMania, and you just called him out on Twitter over karaoke and doughnuts.

BIG SHOW: I mean, here’s the thing. We shot this off at the ESPY Awards, Shaq said he’s in, I thought this would be a good match for fans to see two giants go at it. And I see Shaq riding around, singing karaoke and stopping in at Krispy Kreme. I’m like, “Hey! If you’re not gonna take it serious, find something else to do!” I’ve given 22 years of my blood, sweat and tears to this business and I’m doing this favor to Shaq. This could be my last WrestleMania. He needs to step up. I’m not trying to be mean, but my time’s valuable. I get it. I don’t have foot powder commercials, car commercials, insurance commercials. I get it. He’s a busy man. But if he’s gonna step in the ring, in my business, at our biggest event of the year? Show me you’re serious. If anything, talk a little trash. Let me know you’re motivated. Because right now? I just get the feeling he’s terrified. He shot his mouth off, he’s in over his head and he’s trying to back out. So just let me know what’s going on, brother.
Seems like Shaq might be too busy and Big Show thinking this might be his final Mania and wanted to go out with something more meaningful instead.

As seen below, former WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly recently appeared on Maria Menounos’ podcast. Kelly confirms she will be at WrestleMania 33 but doesn’t believe she will be wrestling. They tease that Kelly may be helping with a WWE Hall of Fame induction. Maria says she’s been helping the mystery inductee with their style for the night.

Kelly also talks about being backstage at the recent RAW in Las Vegas. She reveals that WWE’s Mark Carrano asked her if she’d come back. As she said in the recent RAW Fallout video, Kelly says she is interested in one more run.
Link to the podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3JVUbn5TzM

Don Callis won't be announcing the New Japan shows this week. Kevin Kelly will be working with Rocky Romero.

The wedding on TNA last night with Laurel Van Ness and Braxton Sutter was great television, one of the best skits of the type on wrestling television in a long time. The live crowd was so great as was Maria Kanellis in her role as the evil heel, and really everyone involved. Aron Rex was tremendous in his character, Sutter was great doing the giant eyes seeing Allie in the Cinderella roll. TNA uploaded the entire segment on YouTube. It didn't move ratings as they only did 275,000 viewers.
In terms of viewers, down by around 50k compared to last week. Link to the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGsXMNTo9Mc

There is a petition to get Dick "Destroyer" Beyer in the WWE Hall of Fame. It's the only Hall of Fame that he's not already in. The petition is here.
Link to the petition: https://www.change.org/p/enshrine-the-destroyer-dick-beyer-in-the-wwe-hall-of-fame

The WWE is promoting a George Steele collection on the network. With the exception of a 1973 title match with Pedro Morales from Madison Square Garden, and a 1977 match with Bruno Sammartino, it's all 1983 or later. But the collection does have matches with Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan. Nothing from Ivan Koloff, but that's not a surprise.

It was previously reported here on the site that Lucha Underground's first two season would be coming to the Netflix streaming service this year.

CNET is reporting that Lucha Underground seasons 1 and 2 are coming to Netflix March 15.

Chris Jericho announced on his instagram that Raven has been added to his "Jericho Network" podcast group. 'The Raven Effect' will debut this coming Monday.

Dutch Mantel announced that he had officially signed to return to Impact Wrestling in a creative and advisory position. As I reported a few weeks back in the Elite section, the creative team going forward will be Jeff Jarrett overseeing a booking committee of Dutch Mantel and Scott D'Amore with Abyss, Jeremy Borash and Rockstar Spud assisting. There has been different stories floating about as to whether long-time creative team member Matt Conway is gone from TNA. There has been talk of hiring a writer who would be responsible for formatting the shows and turning them into scripts for production as well.

The belief is that any parity booking will be done with and a lot more old school elements will come into play. More than one person has pointed out the idea to me that now we will be able to see what TNA "could be like without Dixie Carter"

With John Gaburick out of creative, his push to bring in Alberto el Patron is done. Alberto was scheduled to appear at the last set of tapings but the decision was made to hold him off for March. Last we have heard, that wasn't going to happen. There had been on and off talks with Alberto dating back to the fall of 2016. Gaburick is now working on the production end.

WWE Network News has revealed the following content featuring DDP will added to the Hall of Fame 2017 Collection today :

Nitro 01/13/1997 – A Diamond in the Rough

After taking on Mark Starr, Diamond Dallas Page shows his true colors when the nWo tries to recruit DDP to their ranks.

Spring Stampede 1998 – DDP Plays by Raven’s Rules

Diamond Dallas Page tries to play by Raven’s Rules when DDP goes one-on-one with the leader of The Flock.

Bash at the Beach 1998 – An All-Star Confrontation

Worlds collide when Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone take on the nWo’s Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman.

Spring Stampede 1999 – Diamonds and Gold

Diamond Dallas Page looks to cement his legacy by taking on Sting, Hollywood Hogan, and Ric Flair for the WCW Title.

Naomi will be replaced by Asuka when WWE returns to Madison Square Garden on March 12th. It will be her debut in the venue.

Ryan Satin at Pro Wrestling Sheet has reported that Lucha Libre FMV, which is a company that has been set up to run both AAA and Lucha Underground, sent a legal notice to the PCW group out of California to attempt and block the company from using Pentagon Jr. and Ray Fenix. In the documents obtained by Pro Wrestling Sheet, PCW responded to the notice and are arguing that Ray Fenix was using that name prior to the formation of Lucha Libre FMV. Regarding Pentagon Jr., he has recently filed to obtain the rights to the name “Penta 0M” and Lucha Libre FMV is trying to trying to land the trademark on that name as well, but PCW is confident he will obtain the rights to the new name and don’t plan to market him under the moniker “Pentagon Jr.”.
Link to the article: http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/aaa-legal-letter-pentagon-fenix/#.WLBZY_krLs0

Apparently, McMahon does not eat with his bare hands, except for sandwiches. Even pizza, McMahon will not eat the parts he touches.

"'I don't [eat ribs or fried chicken]. How dare you insist I'm normal. God! Meat on a bone? Argh,'" Prichard scoffed imitating McMahon. "Yeah, I asked him one time the same thing about eating with his hands, 'well, what about a sandwich?' 'That doesn't count.' I said, 'okay, how about pizza?' 'I fold it over and I don't eat the part I touch.' What the f--k?"
Wacky Vince story from pretty much all the time according to Bruce Prichard. Came from a recent Ross Report podcast show.


Some other sheet news includes:

In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 3rd anniversary of the WWE Network and the 39th anniversary of Bob Backlund's 1st WWWF title win.
Tom Phillips currently rumored to be in hot water with the WWE in regards to likely violating their Social Media policy. Got busted sexting another women even though he's engaged and supposedly might have included dick pics being sent. The woman involved found out recently she was getting deceived and leaked what was going on between the two. https://twitter.com/TRKG12/status/835255996620673025

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Dana Does Something gif:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/abdd983d18ef71cd5f2bd11f2e3d535d/tumblr_om2c3mdZYy1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

The Raw go-home show for Fastlane dropped four percent last night from the week before, averaging 3.08 million viewers.

The number would be the second lowest for a non-holiday episode of the show that didn't go against major sports competition dating back to 1997, barely beating the record of 3.07 million set two weeks earlier ...

The third hour was built around the Braun Strowman-Roman Reigns contract signing as the main pushed item and lost ten percent of viewership from hour two, including a drop of 11 percent in the 18-49 demo.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.13 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.23 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.92 million viewers


Similar to Drew Galloway's situation, we are told that the Hardys did not physically receive new contracts until just a few weeks before their current deals were set to expire. One TNA source acknowledged that the contracts were late in arriving, explaining that they were behind due to the changeover involved in shifting TNA from its former parent company to the new infrastructure under Anthem Media. We are told that the Hardys were not happy with the last minute rushed nature of having to sign and some of the language in the contract, leaving all sides at an impasse ...

Another factor we have heard that Matt Hardy had extreme creative control over his character and the "Broken Universe" and under the new regime, that likely would not have continued. So, signing would have meant not just signing a new deal, but signing off on how much he could control his direction and characters. The irony there is that at one point last year, there had been talk about Matt Hardy coming on board creative himself, with the idea of putting his wrestling mindset towards helping other storylines and talents in the company while continuing to develop and perform the Broken Hardys act. Instead, Anthem brought back Jeff Jarrett as the new Chief Creative Officer and Jarrett began installing his own booking team, including Dutch Mantel and Scott D'Amore.

We are also told that new contracts being offered by TNA management include a clause that would require talents to have their outside appearances approved by the company and would require the talent to pay TNA 10% of those earnings. Multiple TNA sources declined to comment on whether new contracts indeed featured that clause.

So, from the perspective of the Hardys, they were looking at signing deals that would curtail their creative control (and leave them open to being broken up as an act, as Jeff Jarrett has been said to be keen on pushing Jeff Hardy as a top singles talent) and require the Hardys to pay a percentage of outside earnings to TNA after not receiving their deals until pretty much the last minute ...

The TNA management side appears to be that the company is looking at rebuilding the entire company and from their perspective, no one is irreplaceable if they don't want to be on board with the regime. The mindset appears to be that since the company viewership has been so low in comparison to the Spike days, that they are left in a rebuilding phase and that rebuild will not be changed if any of the current talents exit. One TNA source stated the company made what was described to PWInsider as a "big money offer" that would have seen the Hardys be one of the top paid, if not the top paid act, in the company, and if the Hardys didn't want to come to terms, then it was time to move on. If the Hardys indeed depart, we are told it will free up a lot of money for other potential signings under a regime that is very much about the bottom line financially, as opposed to spending money frivolously.
Some reasons for why the Hardys ended up leaving TNA.

Reby Hardy spoke to SiriusXM's Busted Open radio show about The Hardys' situation with TNA. She confirmed that they're leaving the company and said that Matt Hardy won't be giving up his Broken character any time soon.

Jeff Jarrett posted on Twitter about The Hardys and Drew Galloway leaving TNA (formatting has been added for readability): "For the record, it's @IMPACTWRESTLING 's corporate policy not to make any comments on talent contractual matters. I personally wish nothing but continued success for @JEFFHARDYBRAND @MATTHARDYBRAND @GallowaySpeaks. All three of them are fantastic talent and wherever they land they will obviously do very well. Wrestling business can be tough at times, but one thing is for sure the business is ALWAYS changing! Ready for @UniversalORL and can't wait for Thursday! #MIGA"

Matt Hardy tweeted about departing TNA: "My stint with @IMPACTWRESTLING was DELIGHTFUL. EXCEPTIONAL talent & locker room. A great, respectful team that worked hard in tough times. I wish @IMPACTWRESTLING all the best going forward, especially the INDUSTRIOUS talent. I hope they're all treated with respect & fairness."

If Broken Matt wants to continue using that name after leaving Impact Wrestling, he may have a fight on his hands — because right now there’s confusion over who owns the gimmick.

Sources close to Matt tell us his current deal gives Impact the ability to profit off of anything already filmed having to do with ANY gimmick he used throughout the course of his contract … but, once that’s over, he retains ownership of his name and characters.

However, our Impact Wrestling sources tell us that’s not the case at all. They claim the current deal specifically states that their company owns all IP creations.

As we previously reported, Matt and Jeff do not plan to re-sign with the company because they felt dissed during contract negotiations.

As for a possible non-compete clause, we’re told The Hardy Boyz don’t have one. Which means they could potentially show up in another company as soon as next week.

The prolonged contract situation with three of TNA's biggest names is coming to a head this week.

Drew Galloway announced on Twitter Sunday that he was not signing a new contract and was done with the promotion. TNA had only contacted him about a new deal in the last week or so, and he said that while TNA did try hard to make a deal in the last week and make things right, he had already made up his mind not to sign. They did go back-and-forth with talks until yesterday.

Galloway is expected to continue working with groups like WhatCulture, ICW, and EVOLVE, as well as other promotions in the U.K and around the world. He noted he made up his mind about not staying when it came close to his deal expiring and he hadn't been contacted, and thus had made decisions about his future that didn't include TNA.

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett have departed TNA, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources.

Their respective contracts expired in late 2016 and they had been working on per appearance deals over the last set of TNA TV tapings. TNA management had attempted to sign the pair to new contracts and according to one source, had agreed to terms with the company only to later inform TNA they would not be signing. So, the pair are already done and will not be working this week's TV tapings. The pair just appeared in the extremely entertaining Allie-Braxton Sutter wedding segment.

One of WrestleMania 33's planned matches seems to be in serious doubt.

While responding to rumors surrounding his scheduled WrestleMania match against Big Show, Shaquille O'Neal said on his podcast this week that the bout "probably" won't be happening.

"It's not going to happen?" Shaq asked. "That's probably right. It's not my fault, that's all you need to know. It ain't my fault. Oh, it ain't my fault."

Shaq went on to say that the plans likely falling through have nothing to do with him or his management. He said that it isn't definitive that the match is off yet, though things aren't looking good. He claimed that he's still training like it's going to take place and challenged Big Show to meet him wherever he wants to meet, leaving the door open for this to be part of a storyline if the match does occur.

New Japan Pro Wrestling revealed the brackets for the promotion's upcoming New Japan Cup tournament on Monday night. The tournament will take place later this March.

The opening rounds are scheduled for March 11th and 12th and will air live on New Japan World. The first round matchups are as follows:

The left side of the bracket (March 11th) --

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
Tomoaki Honma vs. Tanga Roa
Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale
Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga


The right side of the bracket (March 12th) --

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki
Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega
YOSHI-HASHI vs. SANADA


The winners of these matches will advance to quarterfinal bouts, which will be held on March 13th-17th. Semifinal matches will be held on March 19th, with the final match taking place on the 20th. The last two dates will air live on NJPW World.

As WWE gets closer to WrestleMania with each passing week, the company revealed another member of this year's Hall of Fame class on Monday afternoon.

USA Today was chosen to break the news that Beth Phoenix will be inducted into the 2017 Hall of Fame class. She joins Kurt Angle, The Rock 'n' Roll Express, Teddy Long, and Diamond Dallas Page as the already announced members of the lineup.

“To hear they find my career was worthy enough and that I did well enough in the ring to be honored among the greatest of all time was incredible and the biggest compliment I could ever ask for,” Phoenix told USA Today. “It’s still sinking in and is very surreal.”

With Phoenix's husband Adam "Edge" Copeland having previously been inducted in 2012, the couple are now the only spouses currently in the Hall of Fame.

Casey Michael of Squared Circle Sirens reported that Canadian weightlifter Isabel Lahela has signed with WWE and will be starting at the Performance Center in April.

Goldberg tweeted a congratulations to Asuka on having 149 wins in a row.
Link to the tweet: https://twitter.com/Goldberg/status/835535722593452032

There is also a LOT of talk that the company has a strategy to discontinue the TNA name officially. A few readers have asked if there's a possibility that the GFW name will replace the TNA initials. I haven't heard that officially, but it certainly would make a lot of sense.
Also making a big push towards signing younger stars and potential stars as a way to rebuild the brand.

There are expected to changes to talent contracts as the company goes further. Previously, talents were paid by the episode they appeared in on TV, so if, for example, Robbie E. worked four different episodes in the span of one taping day, he was paid per episode appearance. We are hearing that the company is shifting to a pay scale that would be per date, so if E now worked those four different episodes, it would count as one payday because he worked the one date. In some cases, talent will only be able to work approved independent dates and will be required to pay the company 10% of their wrestling earnings outside of TNA. There's been a lot of talk among talents we've heard from about royalty payments changing as well. TNA sources we reached out to declined to comment on contractual changes.
Pretty much is going to lead to even more wrestlers leaving once their contracts are up.

The Wyatt Family has been splintered on the road to WrestleMania 33 … and now, to add further intrigue, Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Erick Rowan‘s been cleared to return.

As we previously reported, Rowan went under the knife to repair a torn rotator cuff back in October and it was expected that he’d be out of action until March.

Looks like that timeline was right on target, because we’re told he’s been given the green light.

Erick’s medical news couldn’t come at a better time. Bray Wyatt just recently won the WWE Championship and is currently feuding with Rowan’s former tag partner Luke Harper.

The wrestler tweeted this creepy video today as well.

pic.twitter.com/lkioNiFVuF

— Erick Rowan (@ERICKROWAN) February 28, 2017


Some other sheet news includes:

Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Cena and a big highlight involving Cena stating his biggest regret in wrestling was trashing Rock's Hollywood career now that he realized why Rock did it and how it can expand his own image outside of wrestling. http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/02/27/john-cena-aj-styles-rock-nintendo
According to the Observer, Finn Balor recently got medically cleared to return to the ring and expected to be back for RAW any day now. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/836696507092893696
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, yesterday was Ric Flair's 68th birthday.
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Goldberg has the chance to break a WWE record if he wins the Universal title this Sunday. Would break Kane's record of longest time in between main championship reigns. Also has the chance of becoming the 2nd oldest World/WWE/Universal champ in WWE history (Vince is #1). https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5wqeow/bill_goldberg_will_break_a_record_this_sunday/
Asuka was revealed to be joining the Smackdown brand at least for upcoming house show events although won't be getting called up any time soon.
Besides several wrestlers leaving TNA, management also had a big shake up recently with several TNA Creative members also departing as part of on-going changes by TNA's new owners.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Dana Does Something Again gif:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/dc77c81b21de78fde44b4a256ef181a9/tumblr_oi53avgjWA1u1ljrzo1_500.gif


Rumor going around the net for post-Mania stuff involves Lesnar winning the Universal title at Mania against Goldberg and then feuding with Strowman.

Spoiler tags used since its related to potential Mania and post-Mania plans.

Jack Swagger has requested his release from WWE.

In an appearance on "Beyond the Fight" with Chael Sonnen on Wednesday, Swagger announced the news and said that his decision to leave the company was made because of a lack of opportunities in WWE and the sides being so far apart in contract negotiations.

"As of yesterday, Chael, I asked for my release from WWE," Swagger said. "It's still kind of an ongoing process right now. Basically, it came down to contract negotiations and we were way off. They didn't value me at what I thought I was valued at. So, you can be angry about it because wrestling is something that you get so passionate about, but this was a business decision. They weren't giving me the opportunity to make the full amount of income I could for my family, so when you put it like that it's time to go."

Swagger said that the start-and-stop nature of his booking was frustrating, but noted that it's something that happens all of the time and that there are two people in a room in WWE who determine who the best wrestlers are even though the crowd may like others more.

When asked what his plans are going forward, Swagger noted that he's young and is leaving because he wasn't getting opportunities. He said that he intends to keep wrestling and wants to go to Mexico, the UK, and Japan, but it would be hard to turn down a good offer to try out mixed martial arts.
http://i.imgur.com/l6C5lj4.gif

The Tuesday, February 28th editon of WWE SmackDown averaged 2.566 million viewers, down 8% from last week's impressive number.

The second hour of the show went up against U.S. President Donald Trump's address to Congress which had 43 million viewers.

Owens also appeared on today's episode of the Steve Austin Show, which was taped backstage at the February 20th Raw in Los Angeles.
Link to the podcast episode: http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=542&pid=1714905

After the angle where Randy Orton turned his back on Bray Wyatt last night, there was a segment on Talking Smack that furthered tensions between AJ Styles and Shane McMahon with Styles still demanding to challenge for Wyatt's WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

In an interview with the Sporting News, Big Show was asked about Shaquille O'Neal claiming that their WrestleMania match "probably" won't happen and said that he still doesn't know whether the match is off yet.
Link to the interview: http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/news/wwe-big-show-jetsons-movie-wrestlemania-33-shaq/1nk5ox3l7w8x01dueqg3l41b0s

Netflix's GLOW series, which was inspired by the pro wrestling promotion of the same name, will premiere on June 23rd.

Revolution Pro Wrestling announced Marty Scurll vs. Ricochet for their show in Orlando on March 31st. RevPro also tweeted a thank you to Ring of Honor for allowing Scurll and Will Ospreay to work the show.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross announced on his podcast today that highlights from his three "Ringside with Jim Ross" shows from last year's WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, Texas will be edited into one three hour show that will debut on the Fite App for VOD viewing starting 3/8 at 5 PM.

Former TNA champion Drew Galloway was interviewed by The Scottish Sun today to discuss his decision to not sign a new TNA contract and instead, depart the company.

Galloway confirmed the story reported by PWInsider.com several days ago, that the company tried to lock him in too close to the previous contract ending. He told the newspaper, ""They came to me last week with an offer and it was very very good one, one of the best in the company and a position as top guy but the reality is that because they waited until the last second I had to turn it down. Everything was so last minute. I had to to think about back-up plans and family because it went to the wire. I was surprised I got no heads-up beforehand and when they got in touch last week they wouldn’t accept no for an answer and the financial offer was great so it was a very hard decision to make. If all of this was said three weeks ago I would have signed."'

Galloway said that the company wanted him to be positioned as the top talent in Europe, the UK and the United States, but they reached out to him too late for him to want to stay.
Both ITV and WWE are rumored to be interested in signing him. Link to the interview: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/655296/scots-wrestler-drew-galloway-stunner-as-he-snubs-lucrative-tna-contract/

PWInsider brought news this morning of yet another high-profile talent who won’t be re-signing with Anthem-owned Impact, former Knockouts champion Jade (aka Mia Yim). She follows Drew Galloway, Matt & Jeff Hardy and Michael Bennett & Maria Kanellis out the door. There’s no word on if she’ll appear at the taping to write her character off, but Insider reports the company plans to only use talent they have locked up on the Mar. 2 - 4 shows in Orlando, so... don’t count on it.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Bruce Prichard will be making his return to Impact Wrestling this week … and not just in a backstage role, he’ll also be on camera.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Prichard will be be flying to Orlando for the upcoming taping to appear in an on-air role, as well as work in an advisory position behind the scenes.

As we previously reported … this week saw the Impact Wrestling departures of Broken Matt, Jeff Hardy, Drew Galloway, Mike Bennett, Maria and Jade.

Unclear what Bruce’s on-air role will be at this point, but we’re told the huge numbers his podcast has been receiving were partly the reason for bringing him back.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Last night I asked for my release from Impact Wrestling. This morning they informed me I was never employed.</p>&mdash; Chuck Taylor (@SexyChuckieT) <a href="https://twitter.com/SexyChuckieT/status/837084061969567746">March 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

For those who get AXS TV channel, they are going to be holding Omega themed NJPW episodes this month as part of a "Rise of Kenny Omega" series.
Jeff Jarrett is currently rumored to be the person pushing for TNA talent to not be allowed to work for other indie companies and likely the one who came up with the 10% fee if they do. Main reason is he wants a locked down roster for touring reasons and for long term rebuilding.
WWE announced they are releasing a Kevin Owens set called "Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story" this July.

[DaveWadding]

KO Blu-Ray :y:

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Dana Does Something Doubly Again gif:
http://i.imgur.com/uV0D6cS.gif


Former WWE Champion Alberto El Patron just defeated Bobby Lashley to win the TNA championship in his official TNA in-ring debut. As we noted earlier on the site, he is in full-time and was coming in with a big push.

When John Gaburick was running TNA creative, he intended to bring in Alberto and have him win the title on his first night but they never came to terms. Under the new regime Alberto came to terms, and still ended up with the title on the first night.

At the tapings for next Thursday's show, they show an angle with Borash confronting Josh Mathews, basically saying that everyone hates Mathews, that he disrespects fans, legends, and the new management wants a change.

As noted, the new storyline is that the people who were running TNA the last few years were idiots and Borash said that Mike Tenay had been training him to be the new lead announcer, but then the stupid former owners of the company jumped on a guy who was just fired by WWE and he was put in the spot.

The belief is that the stupid former owners will be a theme of the shows as they start the new regime.

Mathews then claimed that he was taught by Jim Ross and he has announced at WrestleMania.

The transition will not happen overnight as the two are set to feud first.

Spoiler tags used since its related to recent TNA tv tapings and storylines.

The new regime of Impact Wrestling debuts at tonight's tapings with a ton of new faces expected as well as old faces being gone.

Besides the names already written about, Alberto El Patron, Garza Jr., Rachael Ellering, Kongo Kong, and Laredo Kid are coming in along with the likes of Konnan, Matt Morgan, Bruce Prichard, and perhaps Karen Jarrett.

Brooke Adams will not be appearing for any of the tapings. Cody appears only tonight.

It also appears Jeremy Borash will be the new lead announcer for TNA.

For the many of you who have asked, yes, Paige is indeed backstage at the TNA Impact Wrestling taping tonight in Orlando, Florida.

Impact Wrestling announced a new television deal in the United Kingdom today with Spike U.K., a two-year-old station in the market that also airs Bellator.

Spike U.K. airs a lot of Spike TV programming as well as some shows from parent Ch. 5 in the U.K.

The station broadcasts in the U.K. and Ireland. Only a handful of shows in the history of the station have done 200,000 viewers.

The deal goes into effect in the spring, and will air Impact every week, as well as monthly live and taped PPVs. TNA Xplosion will air on the smaller My5.

Impact will air on Friday nights, the night after the show debuts in the U.S. and Canada.

Impact had been out of the U.K. since being canceled by Challenge TV. Its ratings had declined greatly on the station prior to being dropped. Impact had often had more viewers than Raw or SmackDown in the U.K. in the past, but that's misleading since Challenge was available in far more homes than Sky.


Hot on the heels of their UK TV announcement, TNA will hold its first round of TV tapings tonight at Soundstage 21 at Universal Orlando in Florida. It's the first under Dutch Mantel as head of creative and Jeff Jarrett's new role as Chief Creative Officer and with the churn of talent, is going to be very interesting to see who is used, how they are used, what old faces return and what new faces debut. It's a new slate starting with these tapings. The episodes begin to air next week.

In their announcement for the UK TV deal (which starts on 4/21), the company also unveiled a new, sleeker logo:

http://www.pwinsiderelite.com/Pics/newimpactlogo.jpg

Conspiracy theorists, it is interesting to note the shade of green in the logo matches the shade used by Global Force Wrestling in their own logo.

TNA also announced today that when Moose goes to work for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, he'll be in the ring with The Great Muta.

Boy, if this happens and Jim Ross comes back to the announce booth for Impact, it would be a huge get.

Good luck to all my friends working in #Orlando for @IMPACTWRESTLING.

Expecting many changes including perhaps a different soundtrack. ?????
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) March 2, 2017

AAA is getting an even worse rep with some indie promotions that had worked with them, as they’ve sent cease and desist letters to promoters who are booking Pentagon and Fenix. It’s not just trying to stop them from using their old names, which they’ve stopped using, and registering their new names to keep them from using them, but now are trying to get indie groups to stop booking them by threatening legal action. Based on this, one wonders if Lucha Underground will use them for the next season

While it’s too early to know if this will have any effect on the promotion, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Inc., the parent company of ROH, has approached Tribune Media Company to talk about a merger according to a report by Reuters on 3/1. The deal would hinge on current regulations being changed. A deal would combine two of the largest owners of television stations in the U.S. Tribune owns WGN America and 42 stations while Sinclair owns or operates 173 stations in 81 markets. The article indicated it was more Sinclair looking to buy Tribune, or parts of Tribune.

Right now there is an FCC regulation that no owner of broadcast television stations can reach more than 39 percent of the country’s homes, but the feeling is President Donaldwould relax those types of rules. Since from the story, it would appear the Sinclair side would remain in charge, that would likely not mean anything regarding this promotion, but when big changes are made, you never know what it means for smaller cogs in the wheel and company’s priorities can change

The situation with ITV is that ITV is very much looking at doing a wrestling show, but after doing the pilot, realized that producing weekly episodic shows with storylines and such is something they don’t have the capacity to do, as well as run a touring house show promotion. Unlike with Lucha Underground, where it was with this television mindset and losing tens of millions in the process, they realize they need to get a wrestling promotion built from the television show and have talked with Jarrett about that. Exactly what this would entail, or if they even reach a deal, is up in the air
Some potential bad news regarding ITV and plans for their weekly tv wrestling show.

The 2017 TNA Slammiversary PPV will be Sunday 7/2 in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios.

The WAW UK promotion announced U.K. shows with Jack Swagger (his first non-WWE appearance), Jazz, Bushwhacker Luke Williams and Scott Hall for 3/10 and 3/11.

Handsome Rusev’s recent appearance on Talk Is Jericho revealed a lot — his first job in the United States was as a house painter and eventually he worked at a Wendy’s — but the best moment is the mention that the NXT version of the Bulgarian Brute was almost a pro wrestling genie.

The quote, courtesy of Dusty Rhodes’ wonderful, Glacier-creating imagination:

“He has given me so many good and bad ideas that you have no idea! He tried to make me a genie. ‘Baby, I see you with that new gear. You look like a genie! I want you to work with that Russian chick, Anya, and she’s going to, baby, rub the lamp and you’re going to, pop, appear! … He made me do genie promos for the next three weeks. Well, he had the lamp and this kickboxing chick we had back in FCW, she rubbed the lamp and I appeared.”

"How about fan fiction?

Young: You know what I saw the other day—it must’ve been on my Instagram or on Twitter or something, but somebody tagged me in it—it was a shirt that was a picture, obviously a fan-drawn cartoon thing of just you and Roman [Reigns, a fellow WWE Superstar] in … a deep embrace. I wanted to buy it. [Laughs] It was a thing on Etsy, a real thing that I could’ve bought. It was hysterical.

Ambrose: There are psychotic fans.

Young: Insane.

Ambrose: Especially, like, I think I draw a certain … I think a lot of my particular …

Young: Fan base?

Ambrose: I have a particular demographic. I think I appeal to a lot of people who might have problems of their own [and] they relate to me. It’s cool when you can help and inspire people and stuff, but sometimes people just attach to you for strange reasons, [and] their behavior is not the best.

Like what?

Ambrose: I’ve been stalked, I’ve been—

Young: I get many a death threat.

Death threats?

Young: Well, I mean, there’s a lot of anti–Renee Young pages out there.

Ambrose: It’s actually good to make this point. But without going into too much detail, I’ve been stalked on the phone and my home and hotels, to the point where it’s a little Single White Female scary, though I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna get beaten up and kidnapped by a 15-year-old girl.

Young: I don’t know … there are a lot of steroids in foods now.

Ambrose: I’ve been stalked fairly regularly for the last two years. I have to go to great lengths to keep that shit at bay."
From a recent interview Dean Ambrose and Renee Young had with website Vegas Seven: http://vegasseven.com/2017/03/02/wwes-dean-ambrose-renee-young-power-couple/

There are discussions of [Pete]Dunne working either on Raw or Smackdown on the post-Mania shows in Orlando. All the U.K. talent contracted talent is coming in, with some likely performing at Axxess

Wrestlers at the WWE Performance Center recently learned a thing or two from The Book of Truth … because The Sheet has learned ex-ROH manager Truth Martini coached them for a week.

Multiple sources tell us Martini’s stint was a few weeks ago, but it somehow slipped under the radar.

Recent guest coaches include Scotty 2 Hotty and Steve Corino … who were both eventually hired by WWE to work with talent at the Performance Center.

The company also hired Nigel McGuiness, who had been working for Ring of Honor — where Truth Martini called home for six years.

No word on whether this will lead to any further relationship between the two sides.

On his weekly podcast (link is external) with Fightful Wrestling, Riddle said the [TNA]company has attempted to get ahold of him.

"They haven't been contacting me direct, because they don't have my contact information. But, they've contacted people to get a hold of me, I've been so busy though I haven't got back to that yet. But I don't want to mention names of said contacts but one of my former coaches and ECW alumni at the Monster Factory told me somebody wanted my information," said Riddle.

Currently Riddle is signed to a contract with Evolve, but has liberties to wrestle for other independent promotions and to look for bigger opportunities. Fightful Wrestling's podcast host Sean Ross Sapp asked him what he would be allowed to do regarding Impact Wrestling and Riddle said he was unsure.



Some other sheet news includes:

Brooke Adams is currently rumored to be joining the batch of recent departures from TNA. Wasn't used in the current set of tv tapings and her contract ends very soon.
TNA announced during tonight's set of tv tapings they have have officially dropped the TNA name in favor of being called just Impact Wrestling going forward.
Mauro recently thanked fans on his Instagram page for voting him as the winner of the Observer's "Best Television Announcer" award. Ended up beating Corey Graves for the award by 289 votes. https://www.instagram.com/p/BRItX-7AOoT/
According to PWI, Jack Swagger is technically still with the WWE at least for the short time being.
ESPN had a recent interview with Kurt Angle mainly about his upcoming Hall of Fame induction. http://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/18804834

[Lock Jaw]

Mauro is far behind Corey Graves.........

[Cool King]

For the many of you who have asked, yes, Paige is indeed backstage at the TNA Impact Wrestling taping tonight in Orlando, Florida.

Wow, she's like a lost puppy. It seems like she follows Del Rio everywhere.

I wonder if Del Rio were to die, would Paige jump into the coffin with him?

[Cool King]

Hot on the heels of their UK TV announcement, TNA will hold its first round of TV tapings tonight at Soundstage 21 at Universal Orlando in Florida. It's the first under Dutch Mantel as head of creative and Jeff Jarrett's new role as Chief Creative Officer and with the churn of talent, is going to be very interesting to see who is used, how they are used, what old faces return and what new faces debut. It's a new slate starting with these tapings. The episodes begin to air next week.

In their announcement for the UK TV deal (which starts on 4/21), the company also unveiled a new, sleeker logo:

http://www.pwinsiderelite.com/Pics/newimpactlogo.jpg

Conspiracy theorists, it is interesting to note the shade of green in the logo matches the shade used by Global Force Wrestling in their own logo.

TNA also announced today that when Moose goes to work for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, he'll be in the ring with The Great Muta.

That logo is so much better.

What possessed them to even consider the previous abortion and then think "Yeah that's good, let's go with that" will forever baffle me.

[Cool King]

The word "Wrestling" could have been in orange but yeah, green is good too.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Finale of Random Dana Does Something gif Week:
http://i.imgur.com/8QLhssH.gif


Impact Wrestling tapings are scheduled to begin soon, but it was announced to the crowd that Alberto El Patron didn't want to win the title that way and the belt is officially vacant. So, Alberto won the belt yesterday and the championship was vacated today.

8:35 PM Update: Later on, Despite Jeremy Borash telling the crowd earlier that the Impact World Championship was vacant, Bobby Lashley came out with the belt and was being referred to as champion. This whole thing has been so weird.

Spoiler tags used since its related to today's Impact tv tapings.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Broken Matt and Jeff Hardy have begun preliminary talks with WWE about a return to the company … this according to multiple sources.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us talks started this week after the brothers’ Impact Wrestling contracts expired, and right now things are looking good.

No deal has been offered quite yet, and something could always change — but as of right now it looks as though they’re heading towards Matt and Jeff returning home to WWE.

As we previously reported, Broken Matt and Jeff felt dissed during contract negotiations with Impact and their lawyer was told to call WWE if they didn’t like the offer being given.

It’s unclear what creative plans for the brothers are if they get signed.

The WWE officially announced today that Jacob Hager, aka Jack Swagger, has not been released, even though he said that he was leaving the company on Wednesday.

Where this gets interesting is that Swagger has been announced for several shows next weekend in the U.K., the first being a singles match on March 10th against Alberto El Patron in Norwich, England for the WAW promotion.

WWE claims he can not do that match, noting that when he is officially released, at that point he would have a 90-day non-compete period where WWE will pay him based on his downside guarantee, but during that period he can't wrestle anywhere else, whether that be promotions they consider rivals, television promotions, or anywhere else.

"He's currently under contract to WWE," said a WWE company source. "When he is released, he would have a 90 day non-compete."

Swagger appeared on Chael Sonnen's "Beyond the Fight" podcast earlier this week to announce that he had requested his release from WWE and to explain why he made the decision.

The 3/2 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 293,000 viewers, up from last week's 275,000 viewers.

Homicide is backstage at the TNA Impact Wrestling taping.

Also backstage are the TNA Tag Team championship belts, which I am assuming Vanguard-1 carried from Cameron, NC to return to TNA management.

The storyline of WWE trying to figure out who will challenge for Bray Wyatt's championship at WrestleMania may be coming to an end on Tuesday.

It was announced on Friday morning that Randy Orton would face AJ Styles on next week's SmackDown to determine a number one contender for the WWE Championship. It will be a first-ever match between the two.

Tomoaki Honma was injured earlier today in a match in Okinawa and carried out of the ring, seemingly immobile after taking a DDT off the middle rope from Jado.

About 9:00 into the match at the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan Gymnasium, with Honma, Togi Makabe & Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Jado, Jado delivered the move. Honma couldn't get up and the match was immediately stopped.

Evidently in coming off the ropes, Honma's foot got caught on the ropes, changing the trajectory of his landing.

The match was immediately stopped and medical personnel came into the ring. They removed the top rope and carried him out of the ring on a stretcher. He was able to talk to doctors but did not appear able to move.

We haven't heard anything new since this morning regarding Tomoaki Honma, who was rushed to the hospital after landing badly on a DDT off the middle rope from Jado during a match today in Okinawa. We've been in contact with people from New Japan and as of last word, they still don't know anything new.
According to recent reports from Japan, Honma suffered paralysis from the neck down. Image of the severity of the accident and pretty much a miracle he's even alive: http://imgur.com/6NegyOx

The WWE officially announced today that Jacob Hager, aka Jack Swagger, has not been released, even though he said that he was leaving the company on Wednesday.

Where this gets interesting is that Swagger has been announced for several shows next weekend in the U.K., the first being a singles match on March 10th against Alberto El Patron in Norwich, England for the WAW promotion.

WWE claims he can not do that match, noting that when he is officially released, at that point he would have a 90-day non-compete period where WWE will pay him based on his downside guarantee, but during that period he can't wrestle anywhere else, whether that be promotions they consider rivals, television promotions, or anywhere else.

"He's currently under contract to WWE," said a WWE company source. "When he is released, he would have a 90 day non-compete."

Swagger appeared on Chael Sonnen's "Beyond the Fight" podcast earlier this week to announce that he had requested his release from WWE and to explain why he made the decision.


Jerry Lawler will be in Milwaukee to do the post-fight show after Fast Lane on the WWE Network.

The Evolve show on 3/30 at 8 p.m. in Orlando, the Thursday before WrestleMania, has a strong lineup with Zack Sabre Jr. vs. ACH for the Evolve title, Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi vs. Michael Elgin & Donovan Dijak for the tag titles, Matt Riddle vs. Drew Galloway, Ricochet vs. Keith Lee plus Ethan Page, Timothy Thatcher and more. They also run 3/31 at 4 P.M. with Sabre Jr. vs. Elgin for the Evolve title, Yehi vs. Riddle, Lee vs. Dijak, and ACH vs. Galloway.

The deal for Impact Wrestling to bring in Alberto El Patron wasn't finalized until Wednesday.

Reno Scum's match was taped for next week's Impact and they were wearing the GFW tag team titles belts, so GFW and those belts will be acknowledged on television.

Add Tanea Brooks (Rebel) to the list of those expected back in Impact this week.
There was some speculation online Del Rio didn't sign a deal yet and Impact were just assuming he'd return the next night of tapings as a gesture of good will and make things official.

Leon White (Vader) on his health issues from the Two Man Power Trip:

The cryptic tweets regarding his health:

“I really kind of regret tweeting it out. In other words when I got diagnosed and was told, 'Leon, you have a bad heart and you have congestive heart failure and we feel your time is limited and you have maybe a couple of years left...two years or less to live.' I remember getting very angry and said this has got to be bullshit because I don't feel bad and I remember getting extremely angry. Since that time and when I got the news I left the hospital and went right to the gym and rode the bike for a half hour. Hard. As hard as I could and when I got off the bike and got on the treadmill and walked for another 15 minutes pretty hard and I was exhausted but my heart felt fine so how can I do that if my heart is going to give out? The doctor in some of the ongoing appointments that I had with him explained to me that when you are tipping the scales at 400 and 420-25 pounds that a man that size and that heavy isn't supposed to be able to push himself in a cardiovascular endeavor no matter what it is much past 2 or 3 minutes.”

Accepting his fate and still taking bookings to wrestle:

“I kind of wish I hadn’t brought it up, and I am continuing to wrestle. Someone said, ‘Aren’t you afraid? Why would you get a booking (to wrestle) at this point when you’ve had this type of diagnosis?’ I said, ‘Brother, where would you rather die in a bed at home, or in the hospital, or would you rather die in front of 10,000 people having fun in the ring?”

“So, if it’s true, if this doctor isn’t just totally full of sh*t which, that’s what I’m betting on, and I should say ‘these doctors’ at this point you know, that’s my choice, and that’s the way I decide to go out. If this thing’s gonna happen, I’d rather be in a ring, anywhere, compared to sitting in a hospital room in a hospital bed, sitting there like some sheep getting ready to be slaughtered. It’s not who I am, and it’s not the way it’s gonna happen with me.”
Link to the podcast episode: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/tmptow/episodes/2017-03-02T21_00_00-08_00

"It's on Shaq," the Big Show, whose real name is Paul Wight, told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "He has to figure things out in his own camp. Maybe he is just too scared to show up because he's too busy riding around singing karaoke with John Cena and going to Krispy Kreme and getting fatter every week." "Maybe he doesn't want to put on spandex and show the entire world that Shaquille O'Neal, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, looks like Jabba the Hutt," Big Show said. "It's on him. He has to weigh these consequences in his own mind. Does he want the world to know how fat and out of shape he is or does he want to sit back and talk s--- into a podcast."
From a recent interview ESPN had with Big Show about Shaq being the reason why their Mania match might not happen (assuming he's not pulling a worked promo on the whole situation).

Most of the U.K. contracted wrestlers are being booked on the upcoming post-Mania tour in May. Listed as appearing on the shows are Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, Wolfgang, Trent Seven, Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone, James Drake, Dan Moloney, San Gradwell, Saxon Huxley, Tucker and Jordan Devlin. They will be working six-man tags with six guys on the Raw tour and six on the Smackdown tour. The matches vary but Seven, Bate, Wolfgang, Gradwell and Huxley are working as faces and Dunne, Conners, T-Bone and Drake are working as heels

Dick Beyer, The Destroyer, now 86, is looking to get into the WWE Hall of Fame. He did work with WWE a few years ago when they inducted Gorgeous George because George’s last major program before he died was doing two hair vs. mask matches with Destroyer in Southern California. But the combination of being before 1984 and not owning a tape collection makes this not someone they’d usually put in. Jim Ross and Gerald Brisco couldn’t even get Danny Hodge in, and Pat Patterson was able to get Mad Dog Vachon in, but not Ray Stevens even when WrestleMania was in Northern California


It appears the ice cream plans for New Day that they are pushing will be frozen pops. Merchandise regarding that was already on sale at the Raw show in Green Bay

Notes from the 2/28 Smackdown tapings in St. Paul. Smackdown is more and more outdrawing Raw, as they had 10,000 fans here, way more than Smackdown usually does in a market that size. They’ve also been beating Raw domestically all year at the house shows.


Some other sheet news includes:

Jim Ross recently debunked rumors of him signing a deal with Impact nor being at the recent set of tv tapings for the company. https://twitter.com/JRsBBQ/status/837780725625683968
Kurt Angle's final indie booking took place tonight with a cage match against Cody Rhodes for Northeast Wrestling.
According to F4W/Observer, Joe vs Cena was the Mania match they teased about not wanting to leak due to fears of Vince scrapping it. Joe was meant to be on the Smackdown brand before recent stuff caused a change in those plans. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5xe4uh/that_mania_match_alvarez_teased_a_couple_months/
Corey Graves revealed he will be interviewing Kurt Angle for the next episode of WWE Network's Bring It To The Table show on March 13th. https://www.instagram.com/p/BRL6wlSD4Sh/
According to the Observer, WWE has recently been scouting Asia for new talent and likely for the rumored Asian tournament expected to happen within the near future.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Architect making the right choice as a kid:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/5003414012eccd3dc97ddf9f2ad5d27d/tumblr_omfh5biDh31u1ljrzo1_540.gif

The angle that would appear to end Josh Mathews as Impact announcer was shot yesterday with Team JB beating Team Josh in an eight-man tag team match that will air in early April. Chris Masters as Chris Adonis and Matt Morgan were both involved in that match as babyfaces on Team JB with Morgan winning it for the team.

Spoiler tag used since its related to the results for Impact's announcer storyline.

Coming the day after Fastlane, Raw was up four percent from last week, averaging 3.20 million viewers, with a particularly strong second hour but a major drop in the third hour.

The number was virtually identical to that of two weeks earlier and based on normal patterns of gaining about 10 percent after football season ends, Raw should be doing 3.2 million viewers weekly right now ...

There was an across the board third hour drop, of 13 percent, far larger than usual, even in the male demos which usually hold steady in that hour.

The third hour was built around a confrontation with Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman that never happened, and Undertaker was never advertised to appear, and both Lesnar and Goldberg had already appeared by that time.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.32 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.38 million viewers
10 p.m 2.95 million viewers


The 2017 WWE Hall of Fame class is up to seven official members.

In an announcement made by Bleacher Report on Monday afternoon, WWE revealed that Rick Rude would be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. He joins Kurt Angle, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson of the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Teddy Long, Diamond Dallas Page, and Beth Phoenix as those set to be honored on March 31st over WrestleMania weekend in Orlando, Florida.

Rude is the first posthumous member of the 2017 class and will be inducted by Ricky Steamboat. Bleacher Report spoke to Steamboat about Rude's career.

Tomoaki Honma has started to get some movement back after a scary injury that took place on Friday.

Honma took a draping DDT from Jado in a six-man tag team match held in Okinawa. Most likely the finish of the match would have involved his side winning, but after taking the move, he laid prone on the mat and couldn't move. Jado pinned him and medical assistance was provided and he was carried out, almost motionless, on a stretcher. He was fully conscious and talking at the time.

Honma, according to sources at New Japan, has regained movement in his arms and legs but is still very weak. He is as of yet unable to sit up.

Japanese media reports state that the injury was to the C-3 and C-4 vertebrae in his neck and that he's been moved out of the emergency room. He has said that he is getting better and vowed that some day he will return to the ring.


NJPW announced that Yuji Nagata will be Tomoaki Honma's replacement in the New Japan Cup. Nagata will face Tanga Loa in the first round.

The wrestling world was just filled with interesting news at last night's ROH tapings with the Hardys saying they've signed an ROH deal and Bully Ray saying the same.
Supposedly Impact tried to sign Bully Ray to a deal but he rejected because of how low the offer was.

Charlotte Flair appeared at Saturday's Milwaukee Bucks game and interrupted the mascot race with a steel chair. The Bucks play at the Bradley Center, which is where Fastlane will take place on Sunday, and Charlotte was also interviewed before the game.

For the first time since becoming Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, The Hardys will defend their titles at Friday's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view. They'll face The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice in a triple threat Vegas street fight. Bully Ray will also make his ROH in-ring debut in a six-man tag team match as he teams up with The Briscoes to take on War Machine & Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Shaquille O'Neal on his podcast has claimed that he's back in talks with WWE officials about the WrestleMania match with Big Show.

Zack Sabre Jr. joined Suzuki-gun at today's New Japan anniversary show.

Last night's show was the rare show where the smart money didn't come in late at all, and major underdogs won matches including Sasha Banks and Roman Reigns. I mentioned by the betting patterns that it never appeared this was a smart money show.
Some details regarding betting and Fastlane ppv.

Chris Jericho has a fundraising campaign for Type 1 diabetes research and is selling Stupid Idiot T-shirts for the next two weeks to raise money. For more info and ordering you can go here.

Bully Ray, who is scheduled to work regularly for ROH going forward, will be co-hosting the SiriusXM wrestling show Busted Open with Dave LaGreca, debuting today and tomorrow and starting next week, will be a regular every Thursday and Friday on the show.

Ring of Honor has come to terms with Kevin Kelly to work their PPV this Friday (as well as the TV taping the next night.)

Kelly and Ian Riccaboni will be handling the announcing of the 15th Anniversary PPV from Las Vegas.

The future of the legendary Mid-South Coliseum, home of classic professional wrestling for decades under Jarrett Promotions, may finally be determined by the end of the month.

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal reported today that Wiseacre Brewing will decide by the end of the month whether it wishes to move forward with a $12 million renovation and lease of the former entertainment venue, which was shut down in 2006 due to the costs needed to renovate the venue in order to bring it into modern standards. An attempt by Jerry Lawler to run the venue one last time, featuring a proposed match between himself and Hulk Hogan was denied by the city.

If Wisacre moves forward with their plans, they would take over the the first floor of the Coliseum and rent the remaining space to a mix of businesses that according to the Commercial Appeal, "might include restaurants, a bowling alley, climbing walls, a wrestling museum and a Civil Rights homage."

Developer Brian Saulsberry had pushed to restore the venue as a concert and entertainment hub, but his bis was denied due to doubts he would be able to raise the necessary funding.

There has been a huge push from Memphis residents to save the facility, as opposed to paying to have it destroyed. Memphis wrestling historian and author Mark James has been very involved in the campaign.

On 3/1, Matt Hardy applied to trademark "Broken Matt Hardy", officially laying claim to ownership of the character.

The trademark is listed as goods & services, described as, " Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer."

Hardy's claim states that the character was first used on April 20th, 2016 and first used in commerce on Mat 20th, 2016.

What's the difference between the Kassius Ohno from three years ago to the Kassius Ohno of today?
OHNO: Aside from about 50 pounds? [Laughs] I'm smarter. I've matured and I don't have a chip on my shoulder. I'm more comfortable and I know my worth.

What drove that need to come back to NXT?

OHNO: I've worked hard not to let my previous tenure define my career. I knew I didn't have to come back to prove myself to anyone. What I need [to do] is to come back and accomplish all the things I failed to accomplish my first time here. I also need to reach those goals for anyone who has ever believed in and supported me.

Now that you're back, it seems that your objective is clear.

OHNO: My focus is zeroed in on the NXT Championship. I have accomplished everything I've ever wanted, everywhere I've ever been. Championships, tournaments, you name it. The NXT Championship is something that I don't just want, it's what I need. I plan to become the face and ambassador of NXT. I want to bring the absolute best in-ring action all over the world.
From a recent interview Ohno had with WWE's website: http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/article/kassius-ohno-exclusive-interview-nxt?sf60487349=1


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coming soon... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAW?src=hash">#RAW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmaWWE">@EmmaWWE</a> <a href="https://t.co/ILoS3Ck9En">pic.twitter.com/ILoS3Ck9En</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/838959129934716928">March 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Over/under on her debut taking the same amount of weeks as Emmalina did?


Some other sheet news includes:

Natalya recently revealed she will be writing weekly articles for the Calgary Sun similar to her uncle Bret Hart who did the same for years. Link to her first article: http://m.calgarysun.com/2017/03/02/natalya-neidhart-embrace-lifes-challenges-and-thrive
According to reports, Dana Brooke managed to reach 5th place for the Arnold Classic held over the weekend.
WWE announced this year's Extreme Rules ppv with be a RAW exclusive event.
WWE teasing Finn Balor could be making his return to RAW as early as next week. Got cleared to return to house shows starting this weekend.

[Black Widow]

Bet Shaq gasses out even more than Goldberg.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Smackdown gif:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/e68685811c68c7e39744997cc185dc1a/tumblr_omh38shg0l1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

SmackDown averaged 2.738 million viewers on Tuesday night. That number is up from the 2.566 million the show did last week, which was against President Donald Trump's address to Congress, and closer to the strong number that SmackDown did two weeks ago when it averaged 2.792 million viewers.

Daniel Bryan and The Miz continued to blur the line between storyline and reality on Talking Smack last night. After Bryan said that he didn't want to be an actor like Miz claimed to be, Miz replied that Bryan wants to wrestle but can't because of his history of head injuries. Bryan then asked if it was because he couldn't wrestle or if WWE wouldn't let him, and said that we'll see in a year and a half.

There was also a continuation of the storyline between AJ Styles and Shane McMahon, with Styles confronting Shane after SmackDown went off the air.
Link to the video and Micheal Hayes pulling a Foley for wacky wardrobe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O8qM47GNJY

A 12-foot-tall version of the WWE Championship was unveiled on the shore of Lake Eola in Orlando today in advance of WrestleMania 33 taking place in the city next month.
Link to the image of the giant WWE belt: http://i.imgur.com/yiXDTVC.jpg

Edge celebrated International Women's Day with a post on his Facebook account about his wife Beth Phoenix and her induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Link to the posting: https://www.facebook.com/EdgeWWE/posts/10154582874015186

Miz’s promo material from the March 7 SmackDown about John Cena & Nikki Bella’s relationship being “for the cameras” and designed to make them more marketable is based on real backstage WWE gossip.

When Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin gets added to the WrestleMania card, expect it to be some sort of gimmick match.

The line-up for SmackDown’s Women’s title match at Mania is left open in hopes Naomi can be cleared and Eva Marie’s schedule is open.

Continued mixed signals on The Hardys future, as they were reportedly spotted in Pittsburgh last week, leading to speculation they were there to take their WWE physicals.

While at the same time, Matt filed for a trademark on the “Broken” character, which would likely mean if they came to WWE, it would be with their old or a different gimmick.
Some recent news and rumors from Cagesideseats about Mania and the Hardys-WWE situation.

The Hardys will face The Briscoes at ROH's TV tapings in Las Vegas on Saturday after the promotion's 15th Anniversary pay-per-view the night before.

Glenn Moore sent this item.

I am the co-host of Jerry “The King” Lawler’s new podcast called ‘Dinner With The King’. We launched today with the first episode and will be releasing a new episode every Wednesday. You can find more information and links here: www.podavenue.com/king

During today’s first episode, Jerry reveals he will be doing commentary during one WrestleMania match and appearing on the pre-show. He also goes over his new contract with WWE, including when and where he got the phone call from WWE on status back in December. It was later followed up by a phone call from Vince McMahon.

The updated lineup for Wrestlemania 33 on 4/2 Orlando, Florida:

*WWE Universal champion Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar.

*WWE champion Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton.

*The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns.

*WWE United States champion Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens.

*WWE Raw Women's champion Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte.

*WWE Raw Tag Team champions Gallows & Anderson vs. Cesaro & Sheamus/Enzo & Cass 3/12 Raw winner.

*WWE Smackdown Women's champion Alexa Bliss defending her championship against the Smackdown women's roster.

*The fourth annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal - Apollo Crews, Mojo Rawley.

*POSSIBLY: Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal.
Current Mania card at the moment. Probably between 3-5 more matches remaining before the final card gets revealed.

After all, as you mentioned many casual fans come back once a year to watch the big show (and some may even come back to watch The Big Show). In most businesses, the company would use that uptick in customers to expose those fans to the great things that they have to offer.

In WWE’s case however, they put older, part time talent in prime positions and do it at the expense of the guys that did all of the heavy lifting all year long. It makes no sense at all to me to with people tuning in once a year you give them a 50 year old who has still not worked more than a few minutes defending the WWE Title against a part time guy who has decimated the entire roster, except for the 50 year old guy.

Why would they do it? Well in the old days the explanation always given was, “We charge a lot of money for this PPV, we have to put names on it that the casual fans know in the top matches" ...

With the advent of the WWE Network, they don’t need to chase the PPV beast anymore. People can either get a free month of the WWE Network or just pay $9.99 for it and get the biggest show of the year. They are not chasing buys any more. I get that they want to have a big name match with Lesnar vs. Goldberg and I am fine with that. That match is a draw all by itself. It doesn’t need the Title attached to it. But it has one and Kevin Owens is now relegated to a grudge match with Chris Jericho. To me, it would have made much, much more sense to have the casual fan tune in and see, “Hey, this Kevin Owens guy is really good and he just beat Chris Jericho, who is a huge star!”

In the case of Smackdown, it looks like it will be Randy Orton taking on Bray Wyatt so they at least could have Orton lose and elevate Wyatt, but that does nothing for AJ Styles, who was the MVP of the brand all year and maybe of the entire company over the period.

So to recap, no I can’t come up with any good reason to sacrifice the hard work that Styles and Owens put in all year. I think Vince McMahon made a really bad decision in both of their cases. Maybe they will both have amazing matches and it will make the casual fan stay on to watch them but there would have been a much better chance of that happening if those fans tuned in and saw those two as long running champions.

Instead, they will tune in and see that nothing much has changed since last year and I predict a significant percentage of them will do what they do every other year: Take the rest of the year off from WWE until next year’s WrestleMania.
From PWI's weekly Q&A articles about people being upset at part-timers hogging too much of the spotlight at Mania and why WWE can't rely on the casual Mania crowd to boost RAW/Smackdown for the rest of the year. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/108178/reposted-at-1128-et-the-huge-mistake-that-wwe-has-made-going-into-wrestlemania.html?p=1


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE is currently selling a new Kurt Angle shirt designed by artist Rob Schamberger at their online shop. http://shop.wwe.com/kurt-angle-rob-schamberger-art-print-t-shirt/59051.html
Recent episode of the Observer Radio podcast show had Christopher Daniels as the guest to hype ROH's upcoming 15th Anniversary ppv. http://www.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-live/wol-chris-daniels-talks-roh-15th-anniversary-show-all-news-and-more-231426
For those that missed Talking Smack last night, the Miz-Bryan segment from the show is available here: https://streamable.com/8e4tg
Edge teasing an announcement regarding the next season of The Edge & Christian Show will be occurring very soon. https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR/status/839592690203389965

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by "Why 10 is Perfect" by Tye Dillinger now available at the TPWW Store for $10:
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As of now, there are still no plans for a proper Roman Reigns heel turn, even with the Undertaker match at WrestleMania.
WrestleMania is expected to be a 7 hour show this year.
The SmackDown tag team titles may not be defended at WrestleMania 33, and it could be the impetus for a post-event storyline for American Alpha/the entirety of the blue brands tag division.
Apparently Jerry Lawler will be doing commentary for at least one match at WrestleMania 33.


Spoiler tags used since its related to rumored Mania plans and news.

It will likely be announced shortly that Anthem Entertainment and ITV have reached a deal. This was the deal Jeff Jarrett was working on as ITV wants a wrestling show for the U.K. but doesn't want to run a wrestling promotion. So the two companies will be partnering in some form on a promotion.

ROH's 5/12 show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York will be a PPV featuring a lot of New Japan talent.

Bully Ray said that his ROH contract was for one year or longer.

E! Online has an article on Brie Bella gracing the cover of "Pregnancy and Baby " Magazine and that her daughter's name will be Birdy Joe Danielson. She mentioned that her and husband Daniel Bryan wanted their children to have names that begin with Bs.

The WWE Network has added a collection devoted to Shawn Michaels' Wrestlemania matches. Titled "Mr. Wrestlemania", the collection features the following:

WrestleMania V – Rocking The Twin Towers
Shawn Michaels makes his WrestleMania debut when The Rockers take to the ring to battle The Twin Towers.

WrestleMania VI – A Ride on The Orient Express
The Rockers journey across the border to Canada for a memorable battle against The Orient Express.

WrestleMania VII – The Rockers Get Barbaric
Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty continue to light up the WWE Universe, as The Rockers take on The Barbarian and Haku.

WrestleMania VIII – Heartbreak for El Matador
Shawn Michaels goes solo on The Grandest Stage of Them All in a match against ‘El Matador’ Tito Santana.

WrestleMania IX – Going Native
Shawn Michaels puts the Intercontinental Championship on the line in a match with Tatanka.

WrestleMania X – On a Razor’s Edge
Shawn Michaels climbs to new heights with Razor Ramon in a Ladder Match to determine the real Intercontinental Champion.

WrestleMania XI – No Friends in Matters of Gold
Shawn Michaels’ quest for gold and glory leads him to a shot at the WWE Championship against his former ally, Diesel.

WrestleMania XII – The Boyhood Dream
Shawn Michaels goes the distance by challenging Bret Hart for the WWE Championship in the first ever Iron Man Match.

WrestleMania XIV – A Degenerate’s Fall
With Mike Tyson in his corner, Shawn Michaels puts the WWE Championship on the line against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

WrestleMania XIX – An Icon Returns to WrestleMania
Five years after his last match on The Grandest Stage of Them All, Shawn Michaels returns to battle Chris Jericho.

WrestleMania 21 – The Olympian’s Pride
The heated rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle comes to a head at The Showcase of the Immortals.

WrestleMania 22 – Disciplinary Action
The tumultuous relationship between Mr. McMahon and Shawn Michaels explodes in a No Holds Barred Match.

WrestleMania 23 – You Can’t See The Showstopper
Shawn Michaels looks to prove why he is The Showstopper by challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship.

WrestleMania 24 – Farewell to a Legend
With Ric Flair’s career on the line, Shawn Michaels battles The Nature Boy in an emotional confrontation.

WrestleMania 25 – Challenging The Streak
While promising to bring darkness to light, Shawn Michaels challenges The Undertaker’s Streak at The Show of Shows.

WrestleMania 26 – Mr. WrestleMania’s Final Curtain
Shawn Michaels puts his career on the line in a final effort to lay The Undertaker’s Streak to rest.

The Fite App has announced that WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross will be chatting with fans on their platform during the entire Ring of Honor Anniversary tomorrow evening from 9 PM Eastern on, discussing the show and interacting with fans as they watch the ROH PPV.

You can download the Fite App for free for your cell phone or mobile device, for free by clicking here (http://www.fite.tv/wrestling/JnWEpq). The App can be streamed from your phone to Samsung smart TVs as well as Roku devices, as long as the items are on the same wifi network.

To order the show directly on the Fite.TV website, click here (http://www.fite.tv/v/2j40k).

Gail Kim, who was backstage for at least one of the Impact Wrestling tapings last week, as scheduled to wrestle for Absolute Intense Wrestling this weekend. It was announced that she is not cleared to wrestle and Rebel from Impact will be taking her place. Kim will still appear at the event in Cleveland, Ohio.

With Jeff Jarrett in charge of Impact what's the status of his promotion Global Wrestling Federation?

I don't know about the GWF. You'd have to ask Joe Pedicino! However, Global Force Wrestling still technically exists. Their belts and talents will be appearing on Impact programming. Jarrett also has a standing production deal and has been in discussions for a potential TV deal through that relationship. My guess is that it will fade into Impact and will have those elements featured on the former TNA instead. It may be that they do something independent with it, but my guess is that's more of a longshot now.
From a weekly Q&A article by PWI about the potential future of GFW now that Jarrett is more occupied with Impact stuff.

Just a quick note to ask everyone to keep Dennis Stamp, who worked several territories and actually wrestled Bret Hart in Hart's first ever match and was immortalized with the words "I'm not booked" in the Barry Blaustein documentary Beyond the Mat in 1999, and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Stamp has been battling cancer again since it re-emerged in September 2016. Things have taken a turn of the worse in recent weeks as it has now spread to his bone marrow.

At press time, there were only about 250 tickets left for WrestleMania on the primary market before it would be an actual sellout, so it’s a lock to be sold out, probably within a week. That would be 55,000 people with the current set up. There are ways to get it up to 60,000 if they want to add seats and start selling new seats. Hall of Fame tickets sold out this past week. As far as secondary market demand, the price of entry for WrestleMania is $120 (which indicates a softer than expected secondary market since face value on the cheapest tickets is $160), Raw is $101, NXT is $75, Hall of Fame is $31 and Smackdown is $18.

Kairi Hojo of Stardom has agreed to a three-year contract with WWE. She’s a great wrestler who was one of the women on the Lucha Underground show against Pentagon Dark earlier this season. Nakamura has been pushing for her to come to NXT for several months, since before we originally reported her getting an offer. She had told Stardom officials that she had turned down the offer and was staying with them. She just told the promotion now that she was leaving and wanted to leave in April. She’s got two titles and Stardom wants to her drop the titles before she leaves. The company felt they were misled by Hojo through all this. Io Shirai, the company’s top star, was more up front about her situation. She’s also reconsidered coming and said that she will be going to Orlando later this month but would not be working any shows over Mania weekend. This would replenish NXT’s women’s division that has really been just Asuka, to a degree Ember Moon, and a bunch of women who aren’t anywhere near that level
Stardom is pretty much screwed if Shirai also leaves since within a few months they'd be losing 3 of their top stars with a fourth big star also rumored to be leaving. One is already guaranteed to leave due to retirement soon.

Now that you are in the best shape of your life, how much longer do you see yourself wrestling?

Big Show: I know I’m done February 2018. That’s when my contract ends as a full-time, live event guy. We’ll see what happens after that, whether I roll into an ambassador role or what WWE has for me. I know I’ve been with them for a long time and I have a great relationship with them. I also understand there’s a time for me to step aside and for other guys to step up. We got a lot of great new athletic talent that will probably be coming up at WrestleMania to be introduced. I don’t have any regrets or any shoulda, coulda, wouldas in my career. I’ve had a very blessed career with the greatest superstars this business has ever seen. And for me, it’s about giving that space up to those guys that are there to do it and me finding new challenges to help inspire and motivate me. That’s what I’ll be doing. Anything to keep from having to get a real job.
From a recent interview Big Show had with Yahoo Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/big-show-qa-shaquille-oneal-is-scared-to-wrestle-me-at-wrestlemania-33-033642190.html

WWE makes it clear they want talent not to say the Hardys may be coming. Similarly, we were told Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis Bennett, who also left TNA after their contracts expired, have a destination but wanted to keep their destination quiet. Given the limited options, the destination would either be ROH/New Japan or both, which is what they did before TNA, or WWE.

Lucha Underground has signed a deal to air in Germany on Tele 5. Tele 5 had been airing Raw but opted out due to the price tag. The station’s contract to air Raw ends at the end of this month.

The alliance with Konnan and Crash has some political implications because if Lucha Underground goes down, or if they make the call not to use Pentagon, Fenix, Brian Cage and others who have left AAA for Crash, Impact will have a direct line to all of its key talent. Now, WWE will also be interested since they are looking at opening up a Mexico branch. Rey Mysterio’s contract is up with Lucha Underground shortly after this season completes airing in the fall so he would be available as well unless Lucha Underground continues and he gets signed to a new deal. But once again, unless Impact finds a very to get new revenue sources, they will have a limited talent budget

Ricky Morton wanted Jim Cornette to induct the Rock & Roll Express to the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. He hasn’t said anything publicly about it and hasn’t confirmed it


Some other sheet news includes:

Orlando Sentinel had a recent interview with Shinsuke Nakamura about his time in NXT and future plans in the WWE. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/wrestling/os-wwe-shinsuke-nakamura-nxt-20170308-story,amp.html
According to the Observer, Daniel Bryan is considering a run in CMLL and NJPW once his current WWE contract ends late 2018.
Also according to the Observer, WWE is rumored to be making an official announcement regarding a women's tournament after the next Takeover special.
Recent episode of the Observer Radio show revealed Lesnar was the main reason why the potential Lesnar-Shane Mania match got dropped. Lesnar hated the idea and the storyline so he pushed for it to get dropped in favor of getting Goldberg instead. Shane was allowed to pick his new Mania opponent which became Styles and the reason why the Shane-Ambrose storyline got abruptly dropped.
Konnor revealed on his Instagram page that he recently found out he will become a father by this September. https://www.instagram.com/p/BRbocOSllmf/

[#1-norm-fan]

Really hope Jim Cornette actually inducts the Rock & Roll Express into the HoF. Also hope he gives a great induction speech and then ends it with "Thank you, fuck you, bye".

[DaveWadding]

Hojo and Shirai are great gets for NXT. Now all they need to do is to get Mayu Iwatani to sign.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Suplex Appreciation Day:
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In the last few weeks, there have been only minor changes to the original plans for WrestleMania. It is now, officially:

Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal title. Whether this is positioned last or not, this was told to us from the start as the main event on the show. Unless plans change, Lesnar will win the title. Goldberg’s contract expires with this show but they can always sign a new deal. But the reason Lesnar put Goldberg over so quickly at Survivor Series and the Rumble is that this would be the end result. Goldberg having two quick matches would indicate this also won’t be a long match ...

Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns. No matter what the long-term plan is as far as Reigns and a heel turn, he will be the biggest heel on the show. The finish here is very interesting. People will passionately hate the idea of Reigns winning, but if the idea is to go to Reigns as the guy to beat Lesnar (which was the plan at WrestleMania two years ago but they held back based on crowd reaction, which has only gotten worse since then), then Reigns shouldn’t lose to Undertaker at this stage of the game. Originally Undertaker was to wrestle John Cena, but Vince McMahon changed it and he has always wanted an Undertaker vs. Reigns match, for whatever reason, at a WrestleMania before Undertaker retires ...

Bayley vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title on Raw. Originally Nia Jax was in this match, and clearly with Jax having beaten Bayley and Banks in recent weeks, if she was pulled, it was a late change. They still could add her. But if she was pulled, then Banks beating her at Fast Lane at least makes sense. This is essentially the same match, except Bayley in the spot Becky Lynch had, of the three-way match that most thought to be the best match last year.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya vs. Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James vs. Carmella vs. ? for the Smackdown women’s title. It was announced on Smackdown that Bliss will defend against every available woman. Natalya, Lynch and James were made clear. Naomi’s name has been mentioned in recent promos but that would depend upon her being ready by Mania, which isn’t clear. Carmella would fit the list. There could be other names as well, including Tamina, who has been working Smackdown house shows but hasn’t been put on TV, and Eva Marie, who is on the roster, but hasn’t been on television in months ...

Andre the Giant Battle Royal. One figures this as a showcase for Braun Strowman, with all the people on the Raw and Smackdown roster that don’t already have matches, a list that is very long. Mojo Rawley and Dolph Ziggler appear to be on it.

There are 13 matches right here, and with other entertainment, multiple New Day segments, and your various surprises whether that be Hulk Hogan or Dwayne Johnson or Shawn Michaels, that is plenty for a show scheduled to start at 5 p.m. local time and end after 11 p.m

The Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal match is officially off according to an interview with Show with ESPN. O’Neal, on his podcast, claimed different, saying he was back in discussions for doing the match. “I’ve talked to somebody high up in the organization and they, we’re back talking again. I just want the people to know it had nothing to do with me, despite what you hear.” If that bout is on, that would make it 14 or 15 matches, which would feel like too many.

Spoiler tags used since its related to current Mania plans and possible results.

The reason for John Cena's post WrestleMania departure from WWE is because he will be in a starring role in the movie, Daddy's Home 2.

In the original, Cena had a cameo in the final minute playing the ex-husband of the wife of the character played by Mark Wahlberg. Deadline reported this morning that the movie will start filming in Boston with Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, John Lithgow, and Linda Cardellini starring along with Cena.

The movie is more about how the characters played by Ferrell and Wahlberg, who were at odds in the first movie, are now best friends working together to raise Walhberg's daughter while Ferrell is married to Wahlberg's ex-wife. The other daughter that Wahlberg is raising, his own stepdaughter, is Cena's.

Cena is scheduled to work through WrestleMania and then has extended time off.

Add Chris Jericho to the list of those who will be departing WWE temporarily soon.

Jericho's recent stay in the company was scheduled originally to end last fall, but due to how much fun he was having with his role with Kevin Owens, he delayed it and kept the program going, saving the first match for WrestleMania.

It appears Jericho will remain with the company for a few weeks after WrestleMania, but will be touring with his band Fozzy from 5/5 to 5/27.

It appears this will be a short-term departure as Jericho has been pulled from all May shows, but is being advertised for shows in June.

Some more on the WWE taping television on 5/6 and 5/7 in Norwich, England at Epic Studios. This will be a taping for the WWE's new U.K. television show. It's not clear if this will air on the network or on Sky, or somewhere else, but the idea was not for it to be a network show originally as it's meant to get the jump on ITV running its weekly show, which is not official, but probable. It is the same studio that the WAW promotion in the U.K. tapes out of, which is Paige's family. However, they are furious for WWE going there feeling it's their taping studio. It will be set up for 900 seats both days. This is obviously a late thing because the U.K. talent had been booked on WWE house shows those days and now they've been pulled. This will be a combination of the wrestlers under contract in the U.K. and several of the WWE cruiserweights who would be booked on 5/8 and 5/9 for Raw and Smackdown but weren't booked on the house shows in the U.K., so they were already coming, but headed in two days earlier. Taping that week makes sense, the production crew comes in without a separate trip, announcers already in, and non U.K. based talent was already coming in.

WWE is clearly working with Progress because fans of Progress Wrestling and on their mailing list were told they had a four-hour window to buy tickets today before they went on sale to the public.

Ricky Knight, Paige's father, claimed it was a conspiracy that WWE announced this toady as it was the day before the biggest weekend in WAW history and he said would hurt their ticket sales in the local market, and also noted that 5/6 and 5/7 were a week before they had booked the same building. Zak said they had an idea why WWE was doing this, but didn't want to say it publicly.

The show does go head-up with a Revolution Pro show on 5/7 in London, so any guys under WWE contract booked for that show are going to be pulled.
More details regarding the upcoming UK tapings by the WWE.

WWE has been contacting women talent for dates in mid-May for a taping for the beginning of a women's tournament on the WWE Network similar to the cruiserweight tournament.

Impact Wrestling sent Matt and Jeff Hardy (and perhaps others) a 3* page cease and desist letter today, demanding they immediately stop all utilization of the "Broken" characters, PWInsider.com has confimed. We are told that Impact is claiming that that intellectual property of the characters and anything related to them would fall under the ownership of the company, not Matt and Jeff Hardy, and that as of today, the Hardys are not to use anything related to the "Broken" universe going forward.

Multiple sources are indicating that all of the PPV distributors carrying tonight's Ring of Honor PPV as well as Ring of Honor itself also received legal notices regarding the "Broken Hardys" intellectual property.

For those who have asked, we are told this a decision made by Anthem Media management, not something that Jeff Jarrett (who is now in charge of creative direction) is directly responsible for. It is said to be a case of the corporate owners protecting what they feel is their IP.

Reby Hardy is going nuts on Twitter today on Impact. So the back story to all this is Impact is claiming the entire Broken Hardys angle as its intellectual property and have threatened to sue Matt Hardy if they continue to use it outside of the company. Of course that's before tonight's ROH PPV. At the same time, since ROH & Impact are both on Fight Network, and Anthem owns Fight Network and Impact, they want to work cohesively with ROH, although there are other things going on there which may change that game as well.

If they haven't already, Impact and Anthem are attempting to get an injunction against further use of the character and in particular the use of Senor Benjamin, claiming that name and character was Impact IP. She also claims that Matt had his contract breached due to numerous issues on the TNA side. She also noted that Ed Nordholm sent them a wishing you well tweet hours before then threatening to sue them. She also accused Jeff Jarrett of "nonsensical drunk texts." "Everything these boys have done for the company and you want to try and f*** us for the sake of it. Literally no other reason except you mad." She also noted Matt left to do television for TNA one day after his son was born and that the highest rated episodes of the show were financed by Matt & Jeff. She also noted Impact waited until the last minute to even offer the Hardys their new deals. You can go to Reby Hardy's Twitter to get the latest.
Hasney's post from the Hardys Leaving TNA thread had details of what Reby said: http://www.tpwwforums.com/showpost.php?p=4939697&postcount=100

Just one day after all the surprise cuts at The Fight Network, WWE cut people from its social media department yesterday. They are merging social media with digital into one department.

So the reason for the Billie Kay worked injury on NXT from Wednesday night is a storyline where Billie Kay & Peyton Royce are demanding that the Eclipse be banned.

The Hardys match from CWF Mid Atlantic that was originally supposed to air on Impact last night was aired by Matt Hardy on his Facebook page.

ROH COO Joe Koff in an interview basically said the Hardys are only in for a short period of time ("they are with us for the immediate future") in an interview on local CBS radio. He noted Bully Ray is in longer.

The 3/9 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 292,000 viewers, down slightly from last week's 293,000 viewers.

"They’ve really hurt his character in the last year. They’ve really watered it down. It’s great that Bray is champion, but my worry is that they’re pulling him away from his character. The people were chanting, “You deserve it!” to him on Smackdown after he won the title. Is that a chant for a heel? Hell no, but that’s just the nature of the business these days. Bray needs to do something really nasty, and now is the time. He needs to be the one to do something crude and wrong. Hopefully they’ll let him keep his character and hold onto the belt for a while. If this is just WWE quickly using Bray to change the guard, then it’s a waste of time."
From a recent interview Jake Roberts had with Sports Illustrated regarding WWE's handling of Bray Wyatt over his career. http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/03/08/week-wrestling-jim-ross-okada-naito-njpw-g1-climax

"I didn't think he was going to do it! You know, I remember meeting with Vince McMahon and Hogan came into the room. Vince had us together and we were staring each other in the eyes - it was a pretty intense meeting. Hogan and I were sitting where our knees were touching. Vince was just off to the side. He basically just said, we were looking at each other and I hear Vince say, 'Alright Terry, you're going to tap out to Kurt tonight.'

"Terry paused for about five seconds and he looked me in the eyes and he said, 'Okay. Let's do this.'

"I was shocked! You know, you hear some rumors about Hulk Hogan, that he has difficulty putting guys over. But he didn't do that. So the whole rumors were thrown out the window for me. And whether they are true or not, I don't believe them.

"I think Hogan has always been about the business, but also, Hogan is and was the business. So, I think, looking out for the business, he had to go over 98% of the time because it was always good for the business. I don't think Terry ever had a thing about what was best for business. I just think he always did the right thing, it was just for almost all his matches, the best thing was for Hulk Hogan to win. So, I've never had any hard feelings about Hulk Hogan. I think that if anything, I respected him more that night for tapping out to me."
From a recent AMA session Kurt Angle had at Reddit: http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0309/623964/kurt-angle-on-first-meeting-with-vince-mcmahon-in-11-years/

Jerry Lawler had talk shows scheduled for 3/15 in Birmingham, UK, 3/16 in London and 3/17 in Manchester that were canceled on 3/8. He had made the deal for the shows when he was dropped from his contract and given a legends deal which is something like $10,000 per year to stay affiliated. When the decision was made to bring him back and offer him a new contract, I guess the pressure came from the company to pull him from the dates. He’s mainly worked PPV shows and those dates don’t coincide with PPV shows. The statement made said that “Due to circumstances beyond both Eros Comedy & Jerry Lawler’s control, we’ve been left with no alternative except to postpone his tour currently scheduled for next week.” The promotion said they would try and reschedule for late fall or early winter and all ticket money will be returned. Lawler has been promised he will get to announce one match at Mania this year and will also be part of the expert panel before and after the show

As we discussed yesterday during the NXT & Beyond audio show in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, there will be some segments on tonight's Impact that knocks the previous regime. While there were a number of wrestlers backstage who felt it was a shot at the roster as much as previous members of management, Eli Drake became upset and confronted Jeff Jarrett about it and the two had a discussion.

It was never described to me as getting ugly but Drake voiced some frustrations the existing roster was having with the changeover last week. There were talents who felt the shots at the previous regime were unfair because they didn't see them as a shot at management, but as everyone who had been working there. Since they had been perservering long before Anthem purchased the company, despite not knowing if and when it would fall apart and whether they would get the money they were owed - therefore there was nothing wrong with the talent. Since the segments ruffled some feathers, Drake went right to Jarrett and voiced that.

The shots (which will be seen in at least two segments tonight) were meant to be specifically aimed at former members of management (read: Dixie Carter) with the idea of distancing the company going forward without an official reboot. More than one person described it as "awkward" since John Gaburick was heavily involved in creative and now he was backstage working the tapings as that era was being kicked in the face verbally and there was some sympathy for him, even among talents who would usually dismiss him privately to me. With Jeff Jarrett laying out that it as his way (taking on an old school promoter approach) when it came to the new vision of the company, it was a culture shock to some of the talents that had been there under Gaburick as he was open enough, when laying out directives, to take feedback and let talents try to tweak it a little.

I do believe there was a disconnect between the Impact roster and the new GFW talents coming in (and that was felt backstage) at first but over the course of the tapings, there were talents who opened up the eyes of the new management as to what their potential was. It's a weird situation in that a lot of talents that already had track records there were pretty much having to prove themselves again for the new bosses, even if that wasn't stated as such openly. But all that is part of the change that has happened, like a sports team having to impress the new coach.


Some other sheet news includes:

According to Wrestling DVD Network, WWE will be releasing a Finn Balor DVD called "Finn Balor: Iconic Matches" this April although at the moment is UK exclusive.
Gail Kim recently revealed on Twitter her contract with Impact recently expired but is hopeful at a new deal being signed soon. https://twitter.com/gailkimITSME/status/839130030810759168
Edge revealed the hyped big announcement teased was him and Christian starting a new podcast show and not being Season 2 of the Edge & Christian Show. https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR/status/840245314929995776
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Braun Strowman wrestled just 7 matches in his entire career before his debut on WWE's main shows. http://www.profightdb.com/wrestlers/braun-strowman-9702.html?res=250
Update to the Brie and Daniel Bryan baby news as it turns out the new baby will be named "Birdy Joe" following the idea both wanted to keep the "B" trend in the family. Also Brie claims she wasn't inspired by her lingerie brand called "BirdieBee." http://www.eonline.com/shows/total_divas/news/833421/brie-bella-reveals-daughter-s-adorable-name-in-fit-pregnancy-and-baby-magazine-hint-it-starts-with-a-b

[#1-norm-fan]

lol They're releasing a Finn Balor DVD already? What?

[Black Widow]

Can't wait for them to name their boy's Branch and Peacock.

[Jordan]

E&C podcast should be great

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Braaaaaaaaauuuuun OUUTA NOWHERE:
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There are now nine matches set for WrestleMania 33. The updated card for the show, which will take place on April 2nd in Orlando, Florida, is:

Universal Champion Goldberg defending against Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Bray Wyatt defending against Randy Orton
The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse
Raw Women's Champion Bayley defending against Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match
SmackDown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss defending against every available woman on the SmackDown roster
United States Champion Chris Jericho defending against Kevin Owens
Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defending against Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Cesaro & Sheamus in a triple threat match
The 2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal



Big Show was confirmed as an entrant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which would likely mean that his match against Shaquille O'Neal is now definitely off.

Former Rutgers University defensive tackle Eric LeGrand will be honored by WWE at this year's Hall of Fame ceremony.

It was announced on Monday that LeGrand would be the recipient of the 2017 Warrior Award. LeGrand was paralyzed from the neck down while making a tackle on a kickoff return during a football game in 2010. He has since served as a motivational speaker and started Team LeGrand of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation to help those living with spinal cord injuries.

In an interview with ESPN, LeGrand said that it was Paul "Triple H" Levesque who told him that he would be receiving the award.

With WWE announcing the "Warrior Award" winner yesterday, I asked around within WWE about the expected induction of William Regal (which we reported several weeks ago and mentioned again yesterday on PWInsider.com) not being announced instead as the last several years, the Warrior Award has been the last announcement. Two different sources within the company told me this afternoon told me that they did not believe Regal was still planned to be inducted this year.

No word on a Celebrity inductee yet. One would think it would have been Shaquille O'Neal this year, but that's obviously not happening. The one who is most blatantly missing from the Hall is Cyndi Lauper but she is on tour in Australia Wrestlemania weekend, so that would eliminate her. Maybe they will finally get around to honoring Regis Philbin?

We are told there have been plans for another round of "Legacy" inductees, but no word yet what names could be included.

The WWE will air a one hour edited version of the Hall of Fame show at 11:05 p.m. on the Monday after WrestleMania, which should do great ratings since the Raw that night is likely to be the most-watched Raw of the year.

WWE have applied to trademark "Bella Style" and "Bella Glam" which are associated with the Bella Twins Youtube channel.

They also took out a number of trademarks for "Be Like No One", what looks to be a name for a new show.

Bray Wyatt got a bit of a plug on ESPN. They have a ticker going through all the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament teams with some interesting stats, including one notable alumnus for each school. Bray Wyatt was named as the notable alumnus for Troy University.

Dennis Stamp, best known to modern fans for his role in the movie "Beyond the Mat," passed away Monday at the age of 68.

Stamp had been suffering from cancer ...

In the movie "Beyond the Mat," Stamp was shown talking with Terry Funk, hoping to be booked on the show with Funk's so-called 1997 retirement match in Amarillo against Bret Hart, who was then the WWF champion. He was mad about not being booked, even though he hadn't wrestled in years. Eventually he was booked as the referee of the match. He gained some cult popularity from that movie with the phrase "I'm not booked" and the shots of him training in case he gets called for a match, even though he hadn't wrestled in years.

Jack Swagger is officially done with WWE.

After a couple of weeks where his status was up in the air, WWE announced on Monday afternoon that Swagger had been released by the company.

Their statement: "WWE has come to terms on the release of Jack Swagger as of today, March 13, 2017. WWE wishes Swagger the best in all his future endeavors"

Swagger initially appeared on the "Beyond the Fight" podcast with Chael Sonnen at the beginning of this month to reveal that he had requested to leave WWE. But the company clarified that Swagger had not yet been released when he started to take outside bookings, including a match against Alberto Del Rio for WAW in the United Kingdom.

When noting that Swagger hadn't yet been granted his release then, WWE said that Swagger would have a 90-day non-compete clause once he officially left the company where he would get his downside guarantee and wouldn't be able to wrestle for other promotions during that period.


It is confirmed that Rusev had shoulder surgery last week. There were rumors going around and we were only told he'd be out of action for a while, but WWE officials confirmed it was shoulder surgery. Cedric Alexander is also out of action with a right knee injury. Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported the Alexander news.

Impact announced that even though TV ratings weren't up, that YouTube views were up to 2.4 million and up 275% percent from the prior week.

They also announced they would be taping television on 5/30 and 5/31 in Mumbai, India. They will tape two hours of the show both nights, meaning that in June, there will be four shows from India. They also announced they were looking at doing their own satellite promotion in India for local television in quarter four of this year, using a lot of local talent and flying in Impact talent for tapings.

Saraya Knight, Paige's mother, announced that the Bellatrix promotion would be holding a women's tournament on 5/12 and she's looking for women from all over the world to attend.
Rumored to be happening as part of the Paige Family's payback for the recent antics by the WWE. Being rumored the date for this tournament is when the WWE was planning on holding their own and targeting some of the same women wrestlers the WWE wants for their own tournament.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso, Bully Ray claimed that his Bully Ray character was previously set to debut in WWE when he was with the company but the idea was nixed at the last minute. “We came one day away in August from debuting Bully Ray in WWE,” Bully Ray said. “At the last second, the decision was made to not go forward with it. Bully Ray was ready to go, but that’s all I can tell you. We were one day away, and they had to pull the plug on it.”
Link to the interview: http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/03/10/bully-ray-bubba-dudley-wwe-roh-interview

Reby Hardy continued to go off on Impact Wrestling on Twitter today. She tweeted: "UPDATE: TNA sending 'spooky' letters to cable providers threatening to sue if they air Hardys. Trying to screw ROH & ruin wrestling for fans," and told Dish Network to do better by fans after they didn't carry last night's ROH pay-per-view because of legal threats. She also claimed that Matt Hardy's contract with TNA didn't have any exclusivity and he could have appeared on any other televised wrestling program while under contract with them, and questioned who would work with Impact now.

Pete Dunne and Mark Haskins will be wrestling at WWN's WrestleMania weekend EVOLVE vs. PROGRESS Supershow. PROGRESS announced Haskins, Sami Callihan, Toni Storm, and the South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper, Travis Banks & Dahlia Black) for their show in Orlando.

There is promotional material circulating from the Snickers brand regarding an interview opportunity with Enzo and Cass promoting their very own SAWFT bars as a part of Snickers' Hunger bars campaign for Wrestlemania 33


Some other sheet news includes:

According to reports, Kane is done with the WWE at least for the time being. Currently preoccupied with running his insurance business and plans to run for mayor for Knox County, Tennessee.
RAW's ratings and numbers got delayed till a TBA date this week due to Nielsen's data center in Florida suffering from power outages recently.
Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with HBK involving Mania 33, the Kliq, and Kurt Angle's return to the WWE. http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/03/13/wwe-shawn-michaels-aj-styles-wrestlemania
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Bray vs Orton for the WWE title at Mania 33 will be the first time in Mania's history a main event tier match had all participants be sons of former Mania wrestlers. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5zcxd6/this_is_the_first_time_that_wrestlemania_will_be/

[Cool King]

Saraya Knight, Paige's mother, announced that the Bellatrix promotion would be holding a women's tournament on 5/12 and she's looking for women from all over the world to attend.

Rumored to be happening as part of the Paige Family's payback for the recent antics by the WWE. Being rumored the date for this tournament is when the WWE was planning on holding their own and targeting some of the same women wrestlers the WWE wants for their own tournament.

So, these women have the choice of signing with the WWE and wrestling all over the world or signing with a family of chavs and wrestling in Norwich and the rest of the East Anglia area.

What a tough choice that is.

[Volare]

It is kind of like fighting a losing battle...

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Mania 33's newest tag line:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/7d58c39f1d9c5d97abac2be291fec3f7/tumblr_omu0n9q6CZ1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

Io Shirai, the current World of Stardom Champion, is the top name at this week’s WWE tryouts at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

WWE.com posted an article about Shirai trying out that has since been taken down.

It has been known for a while that Shirai, one of the top wrestlers in the Stardom promotion in Japan, was on WWE’s radar. Dave Meltzer reported in the October 31st, 2016 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that both she and fellow Stardom star Kairi Hojo had been offered deals to start with WWE in 2017.

It was later reported that both had decided to stay. However, in last week’s Observer, Meltzer wrote that Hojo had signed a three-year contract with WWE, telling Stardom she was leaving in April. He also noted that Shirai was reconsidering coming in as well.

Other names at this week’s tryouts are:

Ingrid “Kira” Hogtun and Kamilla “Natasja” Tjöstland (independent wrestlers from Norway)
Delilah Doom (Texas-based independent wrestler)
Chik Tormenta (independent wrestler from Mexico)
Katsiaryna Kavaleva (championship kickboxer/MMA fighter from Belarus)
Jaime Espinal (Dominican-born Olympic freestyle wrestler that represented Puerto Rico in 2012)
Wes Brisco (former FCW developmental talent, son of Gerald Brisco and nephew of Jack Brisco)



WWE posted an interesting teaser for "Southpaw Regional Wrestling," which appears to be a parody show based on territorial wrestling.
Link to the teaser: https://twitter.com/WWE/status/842074228312559616

NXT will be touring the UK from June 5-11. The last three dates of the tour will again be part of the Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. GMT on Friday. The schedule for the other shows is:

June 5th -- GE Oil & Gas Arena in Aberdeen, Scotland
June 6th -- Manchester Arena in Manchester, England
June 7th -- First Direct Arena in Leeds, England
June 8th -- Brighton Centre in Brighton, England



The first two seasons of Lucha Underground have officially made their way to Netflix and are available for streaming in North America.

Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa will be appearing at MLW Radio's WaleMania III event in Orlando on March 30th and will be part of a live podcast. Our Dave Meltzer is also scheduled for the show.

Earlier this evening, Bobby Fish announced that as of 3/27, he was accepting independent bookings. Fish's long-term Ring of Honor deal expired towards the end of 2016, but he had been working exclusively with the company via a series of short-term 30 day extensions under his previous terms. While he may continue working with the company, it will no longer be under an exclusive deal, which leaves the door open for him to explore outside options.

Fish's announcement on Twitter reads:

Beginning March 27, 2017... I am once again accepting independent professional wrestling bookings...Please DM me here... Thank you. pic.twitter.com/XGylHHtMmc
— Bobby Fish (@theBobbyFish) March 15, 2017

Fish's ReDragon partner Kyle O'Reilly left ROH in January.

Mauro Ranallo missed Smackdown last night due to being stranded due to the weather conditions in the Northeast.

Erick Rowan was backstage at Smackdown last night and is cleared to return.

David Otunga had been scheduled to miss the taping due to a film role. Otunga has been booking a number of acting roles of late, including an upcoming Adam Sandler Netflix comedy "Sandy Wexler" that will be released on 4/14. series follows a group of friends go through the trials and tribulations of life during college.
Some recent Smackdown related news from PWI.

On "Talking Smack" LAST NIGHT, Daniel Bryan and Renée Young revealed that earlier in the day WWE filmed a 360° VR interview with Daniel Bryan and Kurt Angle in which they discuss a fantasy showdowns between the two. Young said the interview will be coming to WWE social platforms (most likely YouTube) soon.

On the second episode of Dinner With The King, hosted by Jerry “The King” Lawler and Glenn Moore, The King states he feels WWE will never clear him to wrestle again. This even after the fact he’s been wrestling on the independent scene for the past few years. He also states WWE doctors have never done an in-depth exam to clear him.

He goes on to talk about having a final WrestleMania match and stating his ideal opponent would be Dolph Ziggler. Of course, this all ties in the heart attack and recent interaction between the two on Smackdown Live.

The King also talks about working his lone WrestleMania match with Michael Cole, including chipping Cole’s teeth showing him a dropkick while preparing for the match. For more information about the show, go to www.podavenue.com/king.


Some other sheet news includes:

Rumor going around the net is Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly potential WWE debuts have been delayed due to legal issues between ROH and WWE. Supposedly ROH hit the WWE with legal threats due to possible claims of WWE contacting the wrestlers prior to their contracts being up.
According to PWI, Canadian indie promotion Border City Wrestling recently signed a working agreement with Japanese promotion NOAH with Impact Wrestling and GFW helping to get the deal done. NOAH will be sending a wrestler in the near future to work in BCW as the first talent exchange between companies.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Kevin Owens has been a champion for around 56% of his entire WWE career so far when including NXT. In terms of reigns, his recent Universal reign was the longest at 188 days. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5zj8pf/kevin_owens_has_been_a_champion_56_of_the_time/
Zack Ryder recently revealed on Twitter the Z! True Long Island Youtube series will be returning from its long hiatus within the near future. https://twitter.com/ZackRyder/status/842083064490602500

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Happy 3:16 Day:
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7989199/4e8c8a_d54fc8cb5add4623817ed559974fe3b3.gif

Raw on Monday was up less than one percent from the previous week to 3.23 million viewers, but the change in viewing patterns due to Daylight Savings Time were felt immediately.

The first hour, which had been the highest rated for months, was the lowest rated this past week. That is part of traditional patterns so you really can't read anything into it. Because of that, with viewers coming in late, the third hour decline was less than in previous weeks, although hour three was down four percent from hour two.

Ratings were delayed by two days due to a power outage at Nielsen over the weekend and they have been playing catchup all week ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.18 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.32 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.20 million viewers

Also had the rare occurrence of female viewers increasing every hour for this week.

The 3/14 edition of Smackdown Live brought in 2,628,0000, down from last week's 2,738,000 viewers.

We now know who will be inducting Kurt Angle into the WWE Hall of Fame.

WWE announced on Thursday afternoon that John Cena would be doing the honors. Cena debuted in WWE against Angle by answering an open challenge on SmackDown in June 2002, where Cena was portrayed as putting up a good fight before losing to Angle.

After it was announced that he would be headlining the 2017 Hall of Fame class, Angle spoke to Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso and called it a "no-brainer" for Steve Austin to induct him.

Angle later appeared on Live Audio Wrestling with John Pollock, where he said the decision wasn't up to him but believed WWE would listen to his input. He mentioned Austin, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, and Cena as potential choices.

Right now the plan is for Nakamura to debut on the main roster very shortly. I’m not sure what date it will be, but the likely scenario is he loses to Bobby Roode at Takeover and starts immediately after, with Raw after WrestleMania being a good bet.

There were 80,709 fans through the turnstiles at AT&T Stadium for WrestleMania 32 says the Arlington, TX police department. Brandon Howard has a story.
Ends up being lower than previous estimates for the event's legit number which was 97k and 84k. Still breaks Mania III's legit number assumed to be 78k. Mania 33 still broke the gate revenue record mainly due to ticket prices being higher. Link with more details: http://www.fightful.com/exclusive-wrestlemania-32-had-just-over-80000-fans

John Cena will be on the Tonight show on 3/22 to push WrestleMania.

"And I did get in touch with Vince recently. I wanted to be a producer. I thought the Network was phenomenal and a chance for me to go through all that old footage? Holy smokes, that'd been great. And I heard they needed a producer, but I never heard back from him.

"I got in touch with them and Kevin Dunn called me and said, 'well, we have announcers. We don't need any other. Don't take this the wrong way, but we've got announcers that we want and they're younger guys.' And I said, 'I understand. Younger guys work for a lot less and you've got some good guys.' I said, 'Kevin,' and I can't remember who all I talked to, who all I sent texts to, I said, 'I don't want to announce wrestling anymore. I want to be a producer. I want to work on The Network.'

"That's what I want to do. I want to produce. And he said, 'well, I'll get back in touch with you' and he never did. So that again tells me that… I don't know if you call that 'blacklisted' or not, but that's fine. But, again, to answer your question, I just don't know. I could probably do it again. My voice was going. It was I was screaming a lot, two hours and forty-five minutes on a pay-per-view, three hours on a Nitro, and then, taping a Thunder, about Wednesday, my voice was shot, so I don't know if I've got that in me anymore."
From a recent episode of Tony Schiavone's podcast show. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0314/624121/tony-schiavone-on-wcw-demise/

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was announced today as the host of NBC's Saturday Night Live for the fifth time on May 20th.

Johnson will join the "Five-Timers Club," a list of elite level celebrities that the show itself first started promoting in 1990.

The club list at this point that Johnson will join consists of Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Candice Bergen, Chevy Chase, Danny DeVito, Tina Fey, John Goodman, Elliott Gould, Tom Hanks, Buck Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Paul Simon, Justin Timberlake, and Christopher Walken.

Also noted is that the show itself is changing next month where it will air live nationwide. The West Coast since the inception of the show has gotten a feed to air at 11:30 p.m. local time after the news. However, SNL will move to 8:30 p.m. on the West Coast five weeks before Johnson hosts the show.

The episode that Johnson is hosting will be the season finale.


As WWE announced yesterday, they will unleash the first ever edition of "Southpaw Regional Wrestling" on the WWE Network tomorrow.

For those of you who have seen $5 Wrestling when it was being produced by Highspots.com, it's pretty obvious that this is at least somewhat inspired by that project. The idea is to do a take on old school Southern rassling in a comedic way.

There was a pitch for Southpaw floating around within WWE as far back as September of last year.

Luke Gallows will be reprising his "Sex Ferguson" character, which he portrayed on a few Highspots.com DVD releases, but the character will be rechristened "Tex Ferguson" on the Southpaw show.

“Southpaw Regional Wrestling is a concept of this … basically 1980s southern regional wrestling promotion or territory, and it’s a lot of stuff that the guys have been doing for years backstage to entertain each other. I know my character in particular has been an ongoing thing for the better part of a decade ...

It was really us getting to kind of take the gloves off and use our… comedic style, if there is one. You’ll get the chance to judge for yourself, but you’ll see a lot of people step outside of the realm of what you’ve seen them do, character-wise, and as in-ring performers as a part of WWE. So it’s kind of a chance for everybody to let their hair down. I didn’t get to because I don’t have any, but everybody else. And we had a blast doing it, man. That thing drops tomorrow. I just watched the teaser myself, I was trying to get them to shoot me a link but they won’t do it.”
Recent interview Luke Gallows had with Fox Sports about this new parody wrestling show for the WWE. http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/gallery/wwe-wrestlemania-luke-gallows-interview-karl-anderson-wwe-raw-tag-team-031617

Ric Flair's planned podcast return has been canceled.
Makes it the third podcast show that Ric Flair had to end.

There's been talk lately of Christy Olson, who does broadcasting for AfterbuzzTV getting looked at as a broadcaster.

The WWE digital album Uncaged II has been removed from its Amazon.com listing. The album was slated to be released tomorrow.

EVOLVE announced that Lio Rush would be working for the company over Wrestlemania weekend. Rush's ROH deal is up shortly and the word making the rounds is that he has given the company notice that he wasn't going to sign another exclusive deal.

Io Shirai (Masami Odate, 26), who is one of the two or three best woman wrestlers in the world right now, is in Orlando at this writing as part of a WWE tryout. In her case, this isn’t so much a tryout as her being there to do drills as WWE has been after her for months. But unlike the others at the tryout, the ball is in her court on whether to accept the offer or not. Unlike Kairi Hojo, who as noted last week has already signed her three-year contract, Shirai was invited to Orlando to check things out and then decide what she wanted to do. With Hojo leaving, if Shirai follows, and Mayu Iwatani retires, it would be a killer to Stardom, which had been the leading women’s pro wrestling organization in the world.

A lot of times people talk about how there’s no long-term planning but the WrestleMania 34 main event for April 8, 2018, which obviously could change, is set for Lesnar vs. Reigns for the Universal title. That doesn’t necessarily mean Reigns is beating Undertaker or that Lesnar will have a full one year run as champion, although both could happen. I have no idea of what the finish will be of Undertaker vs. Reigns. The goal is very much to make Reigns the next Cena, which was the plan for Santa Clara two years ago, until they decided to delay it based on fan reaction. The plan is to once again build for a year and have the big coronation at WrestleMania. The idea between now and then is for Reigns to be the face, not just when he wins the title, but to fully replace John Cena as the lead babyface of the company.
Would also fit previous reports by the Observer hinting the WWE had Reigns locked in a main event tier match for at least 4 Manias with Mania 31 as the start.

WWE plans to hold another Draft sometime this year. However, it won’t be a full-fledged Draft like last year, but rather a series of trades to freshen up the WWE landscape.

WWE plans on having Raw and SmackDown LIVE authority figures pick Superstars from the opposite brand, as well as NXT. Champions would not be eligible to be drafted, and Raw and SmackDown LIVE can “protect” certain Superstars.

While there hasn’t been much discussion internally about which Superstars will switch brands in the next WWE Draft, AJ Styles to Raw and The New Day to SmackDown LIVE are two moves that Vince McMahon has brought up on multiple occasions during creative meetings.

Rollins also speculated to be moving to Smackdown as a potential trade.

Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal is off. It should be noted that O’Neal showed a photo of himself and he, in fact, was in great shape, so the idea that he hadn’t trained and was out of shape as Show had been saying wasn’t the case. It was very clearly a financial situation since negotiations had been continuing and they hadn’t agreed on a price. One would think that should have been done, and maybe it was done and one side or another changed, when they shot the angles for the match at last year’s WrestleMania and at the Espy Awards in 2016. But Show was confirmed as being in the Battle Royal.


Some other sheet news includes:

According to the Observer, Mauro Ranallo didn't miss this week's Smackdown due to weather issues but implied it was something more serious instead. Speculation around the net involves Mauro suffering another mental illness since he has a history of it or being in the "dog house" by management.
Recent episode of LAW podcast show had Kurt Angle as the guest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLTg5Kcp2sY%C2%A0
According to the Observer, WWE is considering extending Goldberg's contract beyond this year's Mania due to being very happy how successful his run has been for the company.

[Cool King]

While there hasn’t been much discussion internally about which Superstars will switch brands in the next WWE Draft, AJ Styles to Raw and The New Day to SmackDown LIVE are two moves that Vince McMahon has brought up on multiple occasions during creative meetings.

Oh sweet Jesus no.

[Ruien]

Should make AJ the new Taker for SD.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the Southpaw Regional Wrestling Appreciation Day:
https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/17126507_433549993651591_4017746716324265984_n.jpg

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ranallo’s absence was not due to the weather. Host Dave Meltzer wrote that while WWE claimed Otunga was filming a movie and Ranallo was held back by the weather, “at least half of that was true, since Otunga was out filming a movie.” Co-host Bryan Alvarez asked what he meant, and Meltzer replied that he could not talk about it.

Because Ranallo’s contract is supposedly running out, many suspect that he has stopped caring since he is on his way out. Others have noticed he had become a lot more flustered in recent weeks, often flubbing lines or getting names wrong. He constantly called the Elimination Chamber match “Hell in a Cell,” and has repeatedly referred to WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins as “Chad Hawkins.” Many also feel that the presence of Phillips at the announce table is throwing Mauro off his game. Phillips is seen as a replacement for Ranallo and a “message,” although it is much more probable that he is there to learn and eventually replace either Ranallo or play-by-play announcer Michael Cole.

His absence was also met with criticism from some former WWE commentators. JBL also took a shot at his broadcast colleague, writing on Twitter:

.@mauroranallo I made the show, everyone made the show, everyone. Maybe he shouldn't have bashed me if he wasn't going to show up.

— John Layfield (@jclayfield) March 17, 2017

.@0fficialtaz @mauroranallo Great video-trying to shock me-We could have talked about it but you didn't show up for work. Everyone else did.
— John Layfield (@jclayfield) March 17, 2017

Earlier today, explicit photos and video of WWE star Paige leaked onto the Internet and have been passed around on a number of social media platforms and forums. Paige issued the following via her Twitter account this evening:

Personal and private photos of mine were stolen and unfortunately they were shared publicly without my consent.
— PAIGE (@RealPaigeWWE) March 17, 2017

A site on the internet "reported" that Alexa Bliss had heat on her from WWE management. I hadn't heard anything like that one.

On Twitter, Joe Cronin (@JoeCroninJCS) tweeted WWE's Brian "Road Dogg" James to ask if the story was true.

James shot down the "story" tweeting:

@JoeCroninJCS hell no! She is adored by EVERYONE. She's a star dude and everyone knows it. This is what's wrong w/the internet lol #bull????
— Brian G. James (@WWERoadDogg) March 17, 2017

That is such a loaded question Road Dogg! Seriously though, that's what you get with NEWZ site.

Alexa Bliss responded:

And this is why @WWERoadDogg is the best !!! #Awesome #lovewwe https://t.co/Dk72zK2WGn
— Alexa Bliss (@AlexaBliss_WWE) March 17, 2017
Was some website called SportsKeeda.

The 3/16 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 344,000 viewers, well up from last week's 292,000 viewers. That is great news for them.
Highest since the first week of November last year.

The reunited APA, Ron Simmons and JBL, will be inducting Teddy Long into the WWE Hall of Fame on Friday 3/31 in Orlando, Florida.

The updated WWE Hall of Fame class of 2017:

*Kurt Angle, inducted by John Cena.

*Rick Rude, inducted by Ricky Steamboat.

*The Rock N' Roll Express.

*Beth Phoenix.

*Teddy Long, inducted by The APA.

*Diamond Dallas Page.

*Warrior Award: Eric LeGrand, inducted by Dana Warrior.

There will also be new "Legacy" inductees.

The company was nominated for some Social Media Shorty awards. The award winners will be announced on 4/23 in New York:

Best in Entertainment - WWE and WrestleMania
Best Integration with Live TV - WWE
Best Overall YouTube Presence - WWE
Best Use of Comedy - John Cena Prank on the Cricket Wireless ad
Best Brand Identity - Xavier Woods UpUpDownDown


Rusev will be out of action for about two months due to surgery on his left shoulder which I believe was on 3/9, although it was confirmed it was this past week. That continues the shoulder epidemic in the company. He’s been needing the surgery for some time and I guess it couldn’t go any longer since the timing of it, where he’d be off the biggest payoff show of the year, couldn’t be worse. That’s why Show squashed him so badly at Fast Lane and why they broke he and Mahal up for no reason without doing a feud. That’s also why Lana did a match in Florida a week ago

Women have been contacted for a new WWE tournament for the Network. This was the one originally set for January through March, but moved back when WWE prioritized the U.K. tournament due to the ITV television show. Talent has been called about clearing their calendars for a first round of tapings in the latter part of May

There has been a lot of talk around wrestling over the past few weeks that Jim Cornette will be the one to induct the Rock & Roll Express into the WWE Hall of Fame on 3/31. Some will be surprised about Cornette being at a WWE function, but I’m not in the least as he wasn’t going to turn down being part of honoring the team. Neither the WWE nor Cornette would confirm or deny the story

The WWE’s annual stockholders meeting will be on 4/20 ...

It’s interesting that in management goals for 2017, the stated goal is not based on adding new subscribers to the network, but based on adding the average hours consumed per subscriber, which was a number that declined in 2016 from 2015 ...

Listed as the company’s key goals in 2017 are to grow the WWE Network, although as noted, the main goal listed is to grow the average amount of hours consumed per subscriber, and not grow subscriber numbers; increase international revenue; increase “certain television ratings, social media metric; sponsorships and net promoter score,” increase revenue from new product initiatives and come up with actionable business initiatives to generate new revenue and social media followers in certain new markets.
Seems like the WWE might have finally given up on ever getting the 2-5 million goal for the Network if the new plans are to focus more on boosting viewing hours instead.

Dalton Castle, who is under an exclusive ROH contract, is believed to have that deal expiring a few months. Independent promoters have noted that word has gone around that Castle will be available for dates later in the year, although that could be testing the waters. Castle's act will get over in NXT if WWE has interest in it. As far as the WWE main roster, who can tell anymore because the WWE main roster booking has marginalized so much good talent.


Some other sheet news includes:

Bayley had a recently interview with The Kingston Whig-Standard mostly about her upcoming Mania debut. http://www.kingstonthisweek.com/2017/03/16/bayleys-dreams-about-to-come-true-at-wrestlemania
For those interested, Natalya's newest weekly article for the Calgary Sun was recently published online. http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/03/16/natalya-neidhart-wrestlemania-memorable-in-so-many-ways
According to PWI, WWE will be releasing merch for Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 15th anniversary of Rock vs Hogan at Mania 18.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Snickers and Sheamus:
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Last night's Raw broke the record for the lowest audience to watch the show since 1997 on a night when they weren't facing major sports competition or it being a major holiday, with 3.04 million viewers.

The previous record low outside of shows during football season, or going against either the NBA playoffs or the Olympics, or on a major holiday, was 3.07 million viewers for the February 13th show.

What's bad is that leading up to WrestleMania, and before the NBA playoffs, ratings are often at their highest marks of the year ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.16 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.12 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.87 million viewers


WWE posted a teaser for upcoming WWE 24 specials, which will be focused on Finn Balor, Goldberg, the 2016 Raw after WrestleMania, and Kurt Angle.
Pretty much foreshadowing Angle and Balor's return to the WWE. Link to the teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if_zXsDXQFY

Vince McMahon was involved in a car accident near WWE headquarters today, though TMZ reports that the accident was relatively minor and everyone is okay.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ that "something went wrong" when McMahon was driving his Bentley less than a mile from WWE's home base in Stamford, Connecticut.

On the 911 call, someone who witnessed the accident noted that the other car was a Toyota Camry. McMahon can briefly be heard on the audio when he was asked what type of car he was driving.

The witness called it a "big" accident and both cars seemed to be significantly damaged.

Some of the best European-based wrestlers in the world will be appearing in a WWE ring for the first time during WrestleMania weekend.

WWE announced on Tuesday that wrestlers from NXT, 205 Live, PROGRESS Wrestling, and ICW, as well as some from the UK tournament, will be wrestling in matches at WrestleMania Axxess. NXT matches have been part of the attractions at Axxess over the last few years.

Of those that WWE is advertising, Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins, the South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper, Travis Banks & Dahlia Black), Toni Storm, and Jinny are from outside of the company. They will be in Orlando for the show PROGRESS is running on March 31st, which is part of WWN's weekend of events.
List of matches and dates in the link: http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/progress-icw-wrestlers-part-wwe-wrestlemania-axxess-232156

Following yesterday's announcement of Jim Cornette inducting the Rock 'n' Roll Express into the Hall of Fame, WWE revealed on Tuesday afternoon that Eric Bischoff would be doing the honors for Diamond Dallas Page.

Bischoff and DDP have been longtime friends, working together in the AWA and again when Bischoff was in control of WCW.

“I’m honored,” Bischoff said about inducting Page. “It puts a smile on my face because I know how much it means to him. This is the Holy Grail for him.”

“His journey [in life] is similar to his journey in the ring,” Bischoff said. “DDP was the common guy, the everyman, a blue-collar guy from New Jersey. He represented something that the average person could believe in, in a way that was a little unique. [People thought] ‘That could be me. If I could just get that break, work a little harder, I could be that guy.’ That’s a very inspirational quality to have.”

WWE hasn't yet confirmed who will be inducting Beth Phoenix, but all other members of the company's 2017 Hall of Fame class are accounted for.

Jan Ross, the wife of Jim Ross, was in a terrible accident yesterday and received multiple skull fractures.

Jim Ross tweeted late last night, "My wife Jan, my little angel, was hit while rising her Vespa and has multiple skull fractures. She's in surgery now. We need a miracle."

The Norman, OK, police department reported that Jan Ross was driving at 9:33 p.m. when she was struck from behind by a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis driven by a 17-year-old and was thrown from her Vespa. The car and her scooter caught fire.

Jan was going to the gym, and was not wearing her helmet, and landed on her head causing multiple skull fractures. She was listed in critical condition before surgery.

At yesterday's Rey de Reyes show in Monterrey, Jeff Jarrett was introduced during the show and AAA announced they established a working agreement with Impact. Also at the show, they unified all of their major singles titles in a three-way as Latin American champion Johnny Mundo beat AAA Mega heavyweight champion El Texano Jr. and AAA cruiserweight champion El Hijo del Fantasma (King Cuerno) and he now holds all three belts.
Would make it 3 companies Impact now has a talent swap deal with since getting new owners. The others being Mexican lucha promotion CRASH and Japanese promotion NOAH. Deal doesn't seem to include talent exclusive to Lucha Underground though.

WWE also announced that Shinsuke Nakamura would be on the June tour of the U.K. He was not originally scheduled for the tour. Nakamura is also scheduled for NXT house shows after WrestleMania. That doesn't necessarily mean anything but being added to an overseas tour as late as June would be a surprise if he was to be touring on the main roster.

ROH announced that Jushin Liger and Yoshi-Hashi are off the 4/1 show in Lakeland, FL. The company posted on Facebook that due to delay in U.S. visa processing, the wrestlers will be unable to attend the show as planned. They announced that Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa would take their place in a six-man tag, teaming with Hangman Page against six-man champions Mark & Jay Briscoe & Bully Ray. They also announced Volador Jr. & Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee & Jay White for the show, which sounds like a potentially great match.

Peter Kaasa posted on Facebook that he's taking a hiatus from wrestling due to medical evaluations taken after he was injured by the middle rope breaking during his match against Jaka at EVOLVE 76 in San Antonio. Kaasa wrote, "I have decided to take a hiatus from professional wrestling. I won't say retirement as I am not sure right now. Because of the rope breaking, I have a moderately bulging disc in my cervical spine that has been causing a lot of discomfort and pain and stiffness on a daily basis since the accident. To actually have gotten up after what happened in the ring that night was a miracle in itself let alone finishing the match and being able to still do all I am doing now." There were three incidents with the ring at that show, with the ropes also breaking twice during the Chris Hero vs. Keith Lee main event.

Matt Hardy took to Twitter today to comment on the situation between his family and Impact Wrestling. You can read his words below.

My Soldiers have been loyal & supportive throughout my existence. Thank you.

They know the truth--That the #BROKEN Universe is my PROPERTY.
— #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 21, 2017

The sincere, respectful & appreciative tweets I posted when my TNA contract was up- https://t.co/yJkKZF39Te & https://t.co/ZF0AzYmPKK pic.twitter.com/i3bt3eiZ1M
— #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 21, 2017

The condescending & disingenuous tweets posted by @EdNordholm when my TNA contract was up- https://t.co/tup39takni & https://t.co/Lsod77I1eY pic.twitter.com/sPJWhD60oK
— #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 21, 2017

FOLLOW the journey of #BrotherNero & I, LOYAL SOLDIERS..#HouseHardy will continue to make MAGIC & HISTORY while DELETING the opposition. pic.twitter.com/Wdd0JC96PU
— #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 21, 2017

Paige's father, Ricky Knight, commented on Facebook on Paige being hacked and her private photos and videos being leaked. He noted that he was worried for her mental well being. He wrote:

"my last say on the scandal surrounding my daughter I have just spoken to her over facebook and I am worried for her mental health or worse ffs world get a grip she has not killed anyone robbed anyone she was having sex in a private situation between consulting adults and then has been betrayed by some low lifes as her dad I urge people to back off as I say I am very worried for her it will be no good backing her when its too late like many other celebrities who have left us."

Paige's mother, Saraya Knight, echoed similar sentiments on Twitter, noting that their family was devastated and wrote that "the business we love will kill us it seems."

Sat with my husband, he is sobbing, he can't even speak. I'm losing everything I love, the business we love will kill us it seems
— SarayaKnight (@RealsarayaK) March 20, 2017

Tonight's WWE SmackDown in Uncasville, CT was called by JBL, Tom Phillips and David Otunga as Mauro Ranallo missed the show for the second week in a row. Tom noted that Mauro is out sick this week. Last week it was noted that he missed the show due to the winter weather in the Northeast part of the country.

There's been speculation on Mauro's status with the company after many questioned his excuse for missing last week's show.

Mauro is usually pretty active on social media but he's been quiet since before last Tuesday's SmackDown.
According to John Pollock from LAW Radio podcast, Mauro is feeling ok and likely is going to take more time off.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned that new contract offers have officially been extended to Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy by WWE — and all signs point to an inevitable return.

We first reported that the two sides were in talks last month and The Sheet can now confirm that an actual deal is on the table for The Hardy Boyz to make a comeback in WWE.

As we previously reported, Broken Matt is currently battling with Impact Wrestling over the use of his name/gimmick. The wrestling company believes they should be paid when it’s used, but Hardy doesn’t agree. The brothers are also the current ROH tag champs after signing a short-term deal.

Still no word on whether WWE creative is looking to use their “broken” characters, but the legal side of things probably doesn’t bode well for a chance of that happening immediately.

We noted before that Paige was the apparent victim of a hack on Friday as some of her private photos and videos were leaked online.

There was a closed-door meeting backstage at Monday's RAW in Brooklyn to discuss the matter, according to PWInsider. Vince McMahon, Triple H, officials from Talent Relations and others were present. No details regarding what was discussed were revealed.

On a related note, Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the company will not be taking action against Paige or Xavier Woods. Meltzer added that the company will just wait for the situation to blow over but if it doesn't, some sort of action could be taken if a sponsor or someone else prominent complains.


Some other sheet news includes:

Jonathan Coachman revealed ESPN will be holding live coverage of Mania this year. https://twitter.com/TheCoachESPN/status/844217647080357888
Christian revealed Goldberg will be the first guest for the debut episode of the upcoming Edge & Christian Podcast show. https://twitter.com/Christian4Peeps/status/843995106713722884
WWE is currently holding a poll on their official website asking fans which Southpaw Regional Wrestling star they'd like to show up on either RAW or Smackdown in the future. http://www.wwe.com/polls/which-southpaw-regional-wrestling-star-see-on-raw-smackdown-live
WWE, Puma, and Footlocker are currently partnering on a line of sneakers featuring classic WWE wrestlers. http://sneakernews.com/2017/03/21/wwe-puma-foot-locker-release-date/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Breezella Appreciation Day:
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PWInsider confirmed reports that Matt and Jeff Hardy have been in talks with WWE, and noted that "it's a matter or when, not if" the brothers return to the company. As noted, Pro Wrestling Sheet had reported that the Hardys and WWE were in "deep talks."

According to PWInsider, the deal is only for Matt and Jeff, and not for Reby or Senor Benjamin. It was noted that one major issue that would have to be worked out is the schedule, as the Hardys likely don't want a full time schedule.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned WWE and Sinclair Broadcast Group have recently discussed a potential buyout of Ring of Honor in secret … this according to sources.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell us the companies have been talking since January and things have been slowly progressing, with the plan being a full takeover if the deal is made official.

This would include the weekly TV show beginning to air on the WWE Network. No word at this point on whether every wrestler on the roster would continue working in ROH if it happens.

Keep in mind, there’s no actual deal on the table right now and discussions are simply that. This means the buyout could always fall through if both sides can’t agree on specifics.

Case in point, WWE had discussions with TNA last year about a buyout that never came to fruition.

Tuesday night's episode of SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 2.647 million viewers, up about one percent from last week's rating ...

The numbers may have been helped by the fact that both ABC and CBS ran repeat programming on Tuesday and ratings in the 8-10 p.m. block were down about 30 percent from normal levels.

John Cena will be on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC.

The Big Show will be on Conan with Conan O'Brien on TBS promoting Wrestlemania 32.

Shane McMahon will be on ESPN Sportscenter at 9 PM Eastern tonight promoting Wrestlemania as well.

WWE continued to make Hall of Fame announcements on Wednesday by revealing that Natalya would be inducting Beth Phoenix.

The two are good friends and teamed together in the ring before Phoenix retired.

“There’s nobody that I can think of that deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame more than Beth Phoenix,” Natalya said in an interview with WWE.com. “She’s a pioneer for women in our division. Beth did extraordinary things for women in WWE.”

Phoenix tweeted about the news, "When it comes to friends, she is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. @NatbyNature thank you #DOD4Ever"

Paul Heyman and his Heyman Hustle website are partnering with Yahoo to produce content leading up to WrestleMania.

Zack Sabre Jr. will face Drew Galloway at EVOLVE 82 in Queens, New York on April 22nd and Lio Rush at EVOLVE 83 in Brooklyn the next night. Those matches will be for Sabre's EVOLVE title if he's still champion after WrestleMania weekend.

Marty Scurll will face Kyle O'Reilly for Revolution Pro Wrestling on May 7th.

Will Ospreay vs. Jimmy Havoc at PROGRESS Chapter 46 this Sunday will be a "Fans Bring the Weapons" match. PROGRESS posted details about what the procedure for the match will be.

Former WWE announcer Arda Ocal aka Kyle Edwards announced he was launching a new podcast for the MSG Network today. Since leaving WWE, Ocal has been one of the hosts of The Hockey Show on the cable network:

Announcing new podcast! Drops every Wed on @iTunes & @MSGNetworks website. Check out ???????????????? 1st guest, @FlaPanthers lawyer @WWECreative_ish! ???? pic.twitter.com/ZPQm8e6H1c
— Arda Ocal (@ArdaOcalTV) March 22, 2017

On the second episode of Dinner With The King, hosted by Jerry “The King” Lawler and Glenn Moore, The King gives an update to the possibility of the Memphis wrestling library being available on the WWE Network in the near future.

“Yes, I do own [the library]. There’s just some controversy about USWA footage, which would have been from ’88 to ’96. But all the other, from ’77 to ’88 and from ’96 on, yeah, I own that footage.”

When asked about the library being on the WWE Network, his answer was, “Yes, absolutely. Without a doubt.”

WWE has released WWE 24: Wrestlemania Monday on DVD and Blu-Ray. Listed as a "director's cut", promotional material for the 3/21 release notes, "The Raw after WrestleMania has become one of the most anticipated nights in sports entertainment. New Superstars emerge, familiar faces return, and the WWE Universe feels the fallout from The Showcase of the Immortals. For the first time ever, get a behind-the-scenes look and follow both WWE Superstars and spectators alike as they experience one of WWE’s most exciting events of the year."

At tonight's SmackDown Live, WWE announced to the live crowd that their next show in the state of Connecticut will be the return of the Bad Blood pay-per-view. It will be a RAW exclusive show, and it will take place on July 9th at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. This marks the first WWE pay-per-view to take place at the XL Center since Vengeance in 2004.

The first Bad Blood pay-per-view took place on October 5, 1997, and marked the first-ever "Hell In A Cell" match, which saw Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker after Kane made his debut and interfered. There were two more Bad Blood pay-per-views - in 2003 and 2004 - which were RAW exclusive shows.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A Priest gave my wife Jan her last rites tonight. My little Angel is gone. 🙏🙏</p>&mdash; Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/JRsBBQ/status/844710423081488384">March 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
JR had posted on his blog details of the accident and how much she meant to him prior to getting horrible news tonight. Link to the blog posting for those interested: http://jrsbarbq.com/blog/51427


Some other sheet news includes:

Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Bray Wyatt and topics including Bray wanting Bo Dallas to join the Wyatt Family. http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/03/22/wwe-wrestling-bray-wyatt-wrestlemania-tk-oryan-kyle-oreilly
Cena revealed the next season of his American Grit show will premiere on June 11. https://twitter.com/JohnCena/status/844696271118090241

[KIRA]

Feel bad for JR stuff like this just comes from outta nowhere and it must be hard.

[DaveWadding]

Good to know that Big Show will be talking with Conan about last year's Wrestlemania.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Nutshot Appreciation Day:
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AJ Styles is scheduled to face off against Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania 33. This is a match that has gained a lot of criticism from fans who don’t think that they are a good pairing. After the year AJ has had, WWE fans wanted to see him face an incredible wrestler on the big stage.

It turns out that AJ Styles was originally planned to face an incredible wrestler at Wrestlemania 33, it just fell through…..

The ‘Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and revealed that WWE wanted him to face AJ Styles at Wrestlemania 33 but he ultimately declined.

“I could’ve had that match, they did not have an opponent for AJ at Wrestlemania”

Shawn would go on to say that he was approached to take on AJ because fans wanted to see the match. It also had to do with them not having any other plans for AJ at the time. Michaels declined, wanting to stay retired.

“I wish that man was here 10 years ago man, I really do”
From a recent interview HBK had with the Sam Roberts podcast show: http://www.iwnerd.com/wwe-news-original-plans-aj-styles-wrestlemania-33/

Michaels later said on the podcast that he'll be involved with the WrestleMania 33 pre-show on the WWE Network, but called it unlikely that he'll be doing anything else on the show unless something changes at the last minute.
From the same podcast interview as above.

Joe Koff had something sent to ROH talent to tell them that the discussions with WWE regarded licensing old footage from their library.
Recent episode of Observer Radio hinted what WWE's plans are in regards to ROH: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/611a0n/wor_wwes_plans_when_trying_to_buy_roh_and_others/

It should be noted, however, that according to a WWE source, there have been off and on conversations between the companies in recent months but those talks were surrounding the possibility of the WWE Network carrying the Ring of Honor TV show, similar to deals in place that will eventually see PROGRESS Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling broadcast as "independent wrestling" content on the WWE Network.

While no deal has been signed, the idea would be that WWE license that material from ROH, something ROH COO Joe Koff has said in the past he would be open to, if it was the right deal for Ring of Honor. In the past, WWE licensed material from Sinclair for a number of projects, including the CM Punk documentary. We are told there has also been interest in licensing material for future DVDs, which makes sense considering there are Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins DVDs set for release in the coming months.

If a deal goes through, ROH TV would air on the WWE Network just as it airs currently on COMET TV, The Fite App and on Sinclair affiliate stations, but again, no deal has been completed as of this writing.
More details from PWI in regards to WWE-ROH buyout rumors.

The new ITV World of Sport series will hold its first TV tapings on 5/25-5/27 at Preston Guild Hall.

The plan is for the series to have a late Saturday afternoon/early evening timeslot on ITV.

Anthem has put a TM over all its YouTube videos that involve the Broken Hardys gimmick.

Konnan has said that he will have nothing to do with the AAA talent if they appear on Impact and that the Crash talent will not be in the same matches as the AAA talent.

On the WWE conference call today, Paul Levesque said that there will be no specific television tapings done at Fan Axxess this year. All the matches will be taped but not for specific television shows. Last year they did an NXT taping in Dallas at Fan Axxess, but since they're in Orlando, this year they are doing it at Full Sail University on 4/5.

More names added to the WrestleCon roster at WrestleMania include Jeff & Karen Jarrett, Moose, Kevin Sullivan, Shane Douglas, Tommy Rich, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Matt Morgan, King Mo Lawal, James Storm, Adam Rose and MVP.

Alberto El Patron has pulled out of all gigs in Orlando that weekend stating it's due to the invasion of privacy involving his fiance.

Ring of Honor announced that its April 1st Supercard of Honor show from the Lakeland Civic Center will be broadcast live as an internet PPV and almost head-to-head with the NXT TakeOver show on the WWE Network.

The iPPV will cost $29.99 and will air on both ROHWrestling.com and FITE TV starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time.

The show has the biggest advance ticket sales in the history of the company.

There will also be a live Facebook pregame show with SoCal Val.

FITE TV will also be airing a show on March 31st and April 1st from WrestleCon.

The ROH show is headlined by The Hardys vs. Young Bucks for the ROH tag team titles in a ladder match, plus Christopher Daniels defends the ROH title against Dalton Castle, Marty Scurll defends the TV title against Adam Cole, and The Briscoes & Bully Ray vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Hangman Page, as well as Volador Jr. & Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee & Jay White.


The former Tommy End will be making his televised NXT debut over WrestleMania weekend.

A few weeks of videos hyped the arrival of Aleister Black before it was announced on Wednesday night's episode of NXT that he would be debuting against Andrade "Cien" Almas at TakeOver: Orlando.

After signing with WWE, Black wrestled on the Network for the first time under the name Tommy End against Neville on the second night of the UK tournament ...

The current card for NXT TakeOver: Orlando is:

NXT Champion Bobby Roode defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
NXT Women's Champion Asuka defending against Ember Moon
NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain defending against DIY and The Revival in a triple threat elimination match
Aleister Black vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas


Kyle O'Reilly has officially come to terms with EVOLVE. O'Reilly will not be working the Wrestlemania events in Orlando but will be working post-Wrestlemania dates for the company. The two sides had been in discussions of late, but as we reported, they were unable to terms. They reconvened today and were able to make a deal for O'Reilly to come in.

We noted earlier this week how Summer Rae was apparently training for her return at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Summer has been out of action since last summer with a knee injury.

While Summer has not appeared on WWE TV since the Draft after being sent to the RAW roster, The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that there’s talk of bringing her back to the SmackDown roster with an appearance at WrestleMania 33 in the SmackDown Women’s Title match.

Regarding that match, graphics have confirmed that it will be Alexa Bliss defending against Becky Lynch, Mickie James, Carmella and Natalya but it’s possible we also see appearances by Naomi, Tamina Snuka, Eva Marie and Summer. There’s also been rumors of a stipulation being added to the match.

The Observer adds that it’s also possible we see former WWE Superstars return for the SmackDown Women’s Title match. We’ve noted how the company contacted several women from the past about appearing at WrestleMania 33 for an angle or match that has been kept secret. Kelly Kelly and Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria) were among those contacted about working for the company in Orlando that Sunday.

Triple H did a media call today to promote WWE NXT "Takeover: Orlando" and WrestleMania 33. You can check out the full call in the video above or the audio player below, here are some highlights ...

* He called the passing of Jan Ross tragic and unfortunate. He noted how Jim Ross has always been a part of the WWE family and he can't express how sad they are. He says they all knew Jan very well

* Regarding Takeover ... He feels Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT Champion Bobby Roode is lining up what NXT will be after WrestleMania - will it take Roode's Glorious path or the Strong Style path of Nakamura that we've seen for the past year or so. He says NXT Women's Champion Asuka continues to evolve and get better. They knew she was a game-changer when they brought her in and that's what she's been. He also praised Ember Moon, saying it took her a while to hit her stride but now she has and it's amazing. He called her an incredibly talented performer and believes Ember vs. Asuka has the chance to steal the whole week ... Regarding Aleister Black vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas, he says Almas has sky-rocketed in the last few weeks or last month. He believes Almas' comfort level as a heel has hit his stride and the match against the debuting Black should be phenomenal ...

* Triple H is asked about comments he made on a recent call about not being happy with where NXT was at that point, and how he feels about improvements the brand has made. Triple H says he will probably never be happy with the product because you always want it to be better and to be more than what it is. He makes it clear that his unhappiness had nothing to do with talent - it had to do with his end, with creative, production and other aspects. He says there were reasons for all of it as the Performance Center was designed to create everything they do, not just in-ring performers, and it did that very well. As those talents were moved up, it "strip-mined" NXT and around the same time they lost a lot of their performers, specifically with the WWE Draft, they had to start over in many ways. They also started over behind the scenes. He talks about how they had to reinvent everything but he's much happier with where they're at now, not because it's where he wants NXT to be but because he's on a path to get there. There's nothing worse to him than saying he's unhappy with something and not having the abilities to fix it, or he's not on the way to fixing it ...

* Regarding the NXT, WWE UK, 205 Live, PROGRESS and ICW matches at WrestleMania Axxess possibly airing at a later date, he says there are not doing actual TV tapings at Axxess this year

* He's asked what he thinks about the development and starts of some of the younger talents, including some we haven't seen yet ... Triple H is really happy with the system they have and how talents are progressing. He talks again about how The Authors of Pain have progressed. He also talks about the NXT women's division with younger talents like Ember Moon, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay and Nikki Cross with experience but you also have talents like Aliyah, Liv Morgan, Daria Berenato and Macey Estrella. He says Mandy Rose will also have a big impact soon. He says it's really impressive to see these talents grow and become something more, thriving in the environment.

* Triple H was asked about possibly branching out the Performance Center in other key markets, such as locations in the UK, Los Angeles or Toronto. He says he's been having those conversations since the moment he first thought up the Performance Center. They've talked about what is the best way to execute those plans. He says they are currently maxed out with around 100 talents at the Performance Center and he's out-grown the space a little bit and would love for it to be more robust ... He says as they expand, there is probably a logical point where there will be the need for other facilities but it is something they look at all the time.
Link with more detailed highlights and video of the conference call: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0323/624408/triple-h-talks-wrestlemania-33-creative/

As noted, Mauro Ranallo missed WWE SmackDown for the second week in a row this week. Last week it was announced that Mauro missed the show due to the winter weather in the Northeast but this week it was noted that he missed the show due to being sick.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Mauro has been out of contact with people he's known for years dating back to March 13th, which was the Monday before the first show he missed. However, two of Mauro's closest friends noted to The Observer that he's okay and resting up. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Mauro is doing better but he also speculated that there's more to the story that he's working to confirm.


Some other sheet news includes:

Fox Sports had a recent interview with Triple H and topics including how callups are determined in NXT and expansion plans for the future. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0323/624419/triple-h-on-if-they-keep-people-in-nxt-instead-of-the-main/
According to PWI, former ECW star Jerry Lynn was a recent guest trainer for WWE's Performance Center.
Triple H also had a recent interview with Cheap Heat podcast show with the biggest highlight involving him teasing the WWE is open to the idea of letting Kurt Angle wrestle matches. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0323/624395/triple-h-on-kurt-angle-possibly-wrestling-in-wwe-again/
According to WCYB News, Kane has recently filed paperwork to become an official candidate for next year's mayoral election for Knox County, Tennessee. http://www.wcyb.com/news/tennessee/glenn-jacobs-aka-kane-running-for-knox-co-tn-mayor/411499678
WWE announced the next update for the Network's subscriber numbers will occur on April 3rd.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Mojo Rawley gif:
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Based on T-shirts that have been printed, these are the Legacy Award Hall of Famers for the WWE Hall of Fame this year:

Judy Grable -- One of the female stars of the 50s. She took her name from Betty Grable. She wasn't one of the top tier women in her era but she was a legitimate star.
Toots Mondt -- Mondt was a former shooter who worked with Strangler Lewis and Billy Sandow in the 20s and controlled the world title for a time and bounced from place to place. He was Vince McMahon Sr.'s business partner and some said the wrestling brains behind the outfit into the 1960s. He was considered a very controversial person in the industry.
Rikidozan -- The father of Japanese pro wrestling and easily the single most influential pro wrestler in history. No wrestler was ever such a major cultural figure, in both Japan and in North Korea after his death. On a cultural basis, he would be far closer to Muhammad Ali than to Hulk Hogan.
Farmer Burns -- A world champion in the late 1800s, Burns was the coach and promoter of Frank Gotch, the first true superstar pro wrestler and mainstream sports figure to come out of wrestling.
Luther Lindsay -- A noted shooter. He was a star, but not a major star. Like Art Thomas, this is what it is.
Dr. Jerry Graham -- Vince McMahon's childhood favorite pro wrestler. The Graham Brothers (Jerry & Eddie, who were not brothers) vs. Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez was a huge program in Madison Square Garden. The Doc was a colorful figure, whose problems with alcohol prematurely ended a run that should have had a lot of legs left in him. Vince McMahon and his father tried to bring him back a few times but it never worked out.
June Byers -- Byers claimed the women's world title from 1953 to 1964 although there were other claimants. Most of her era considered her the best of the women wrestlers after the retirement of Mildred Burke.
Haystacks Calhoun -- Billed at 450 to 600 pounds, Calhoun was a great touring attraction in pro wrestler, similar to what Andre the Giant later would be, but not on the same level as Andre.



ITV and Impact Wrestling announced today officially that World of Sport will return to ITV with tapings at the Preston Guild Hall on May 25th and 26th.

The announcement was of a 10-episode series. ITV greenlit the series which would be largely funded by Anthem Entertainment, which would run the wrestling end, with Jeff Jarrett in charge of the wrestling.

They announced tickets would go on sale on April 7th at Gigsandtours.com, Ticketmaster.co.uk, and prestonguildhall.co.uk.

There will be a launch announcement on March 27th at 2 p.m. in Manchester where more details will be announced, including the roster, as well as a Q&A ...

While no deal has been closed, Jim Ross had been earmarked as the host of the show. Officially, only Alex Shane, who co-hosted the pilot with Ross that aired on December 31st, is an announcer. Grado will enter the tapings billed as the World of Sport champion based on the first episode.

Kyle O'Reilly's first matches for Evolve are set for 4/22 in Queens, NY against Keith Lee, 4/23 in Brooklyn against Fred Yehi, 5/20 in Chicago against Matt Riddle and 5/21 in Livonia, MI.

There will be a new Undertaker collection added on Monday to the WWE Network. It will likely be a collection of his WrestleMania matches, that are already up in other forms.

WWE announced that Corey Graves' interview with Kurt angle would air Tuesday night after Talking Smack on the WWE Network.

There will be another Bring it to the Table with Corey Graves, JBL and Peter Rosenberg on Thursday at 8 p.m.

Maria Menounos will again host the Hall of Fame red carpet ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday night.

The 3/23 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 305,000 viewers, down over 10 percent from last week's 344,000 viewers.

Any chance WWE does Big Show vs. Shaq at Wrestlemania next year?

No. Show has made it clear his current deal expires in February 2018 and has openly talked about quietly fading away at that point. Shaq in Florida would have meant something. I don't know the match has the same appeal in New Orleans.
From PWI's weekly Q&A article on the possibility the WWE could do Shaq vs Big Show for next year's Mania.

The debut episode of Edge and Christian's Pod Of Awesomeness with WWE Universal champion Bill Goldberg was really good.

During his appearance, Goldberg mentions the new attitude of the locker room saying that there are no big characters in locker room. Edge questions if the guys are handcuffed. Goldberg explains that things are more structured now and that management may not have the faith in the current roster to do whatever they want.

They obviously talk about Goldberg facing Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 33 and the challenges that are involved when it comes to fans' perception. Goldberg promised a knockdown, drag-out "blood fest" at Wrestlemania and said they are both going to do things beyond the constraints of their previous encounters. Goldberg implied that they were not allowed to do very much in the first few encounters in order to garner interest in a third bout and to play on people's nostalgia of his character.

Goldberg mentioned how physically taxing this current run has beenfrom travel, training , balancing work and family. He even mentioned the problems with picking up Rusev due to excessive training, busting himself open before going out on live TV, his relationship with Vince McMahon and more.
Link to the podcast episode: https://art19.com/shows/ecs-pod-of-awesomeness

WWE NXT episodes have been completed on WWE Network going back to the June 2012 reboot of the brand under Full Sail University. This includes early 2014 episodes before the Network.

Matt Hardy commented on Kurt Angle being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, writing on Twitter:

So proud & happy for my amigo @RealKurtAngle for achieving this HONOR. Kurt has overcome & defeated all of life's obstacles.

100% deserved. https://t.co/BDTls2WN01
— #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 24, 2017

- WWEShop.com now has Southpaw Regional Wrestling merchandise available. Also, for today only, select WWE merchandise is only $5. There is no code required.

The official store for the Hardys officially closed down yesterday. It had been running for 5 years. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer was asked on Twitter if WWE is "maybe the reason" for the store closing down, to which he replied, "Not maybe definitely."

Former WWE Writer Kevin Eck stated yesterday on Wade Keller's PWTorch Livecast that he feels that the odds of a Reigns heel turn are good, because at one point in his run as a creative team member, Vince actually signed off on a John Cena heel turn. He added that creative was ready to execute and that Cena himself liked the idea.

At the time, Vince believed that Sheamus, currently the World Champion, would be the next "guy" due to his "aura." But Vince scrapped Cena's heel turn later, citing that they just reached an exclusive merchandising deal with Cena and Walmart, and with Cena's numbers still way ahead of everyone else's, it wasn't a good time.


There were meetings this past week with New Japan officials and AXS officials. Nothing official has been announced but they were working on ideas to work together for New Japan’s entrance into the U.S. market on 7/1 and 7/2 in Long Beach, as well as attempts to get the television more caught up like it was for the Tokyo Dome show.

The Young Bucks and Hardys program has been agreed upon to be a major deal on Impact television until the Hardys situation changed. Both ROH and Impact had signed off on working together where there would be multiple dates for months in both companies, going back-and-forth, where the Young Bucks would have debuted on the April tapings. It would have run the gamut to matches on each other’s PPV shows as well as a match at the Hardy compound and eventually to the ladder match as the likely final match. Impact was still interested in the Young Bucks, as Jeff Jarrett showed interest in everyone who he thought had a name that could help the company. Even if the Hardys leaving wouldn’t have killed the idea, and realistically, it probably did, the legal threat that cost ROH the Dish Network PPV buys would have certainly killed it dead.

It also appears that they are trying to keep the participants in the Smackdown women’s title match a secret, as well as if there is a stipulation involved. The graphics and angles continue to suggest Alexa Bliss defending against Mickie James, Carmella, Natalya and Becky Lynch. But they are pushing that all Smackdown wrestlers available that night will be involved, which could include Naomi, if she’s recovered from her knee injury; Summer Rae, who is training right now in Orlando for her return; Tamina, who has been on the road full-time doing house shows but hasn’t been put on television; and Eva Marie, who hasn’t been on television since she’s been doing acting gigs.

It’s also possible the teased surprises could be women stars of the past. Several were contacted many weeks ago about appearing on the show as part of a scenario that has been kept secret. Kelly Kelly is the name that has gotten out and others have been called as well. Lita recently wrestled an independent match and Lisa Varon (Victoria) is another name out there. Maria Kanellis is in the category of going somewhere in secret and most of the time when there is a destination that has to be kept a secret, that means WWE.

With time running out and no talk for several weeks, it appears that WWE and Conor McGregor couldn’t come to a financial deal. That is also likely the reason the Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal match fell through, leaving the show right now with 14 matches. Show was announced for the Battle Royal, killing the idea of a singles match, but Paul Levesque, on ESPN, when asked about the match and O’Neal, tried to tease that something was still alive.

Brandon Howard at Fightful.com got a report from the Arlington, TX police department that the actual number of people who went through the turnstiles at AT&T Stadium for WrestleMania last year was 80,709. That’s greatly under the 101,763 plus number that WWE claimed. The stadium itself told us there were 97,769 people in the building, but that included everyone from the wrestlers and office people to ushers and concession stand people. I was also told 93,770 was the number of paid and comps of people, both ticket holders and box holders, not actually working at the show by the stadium, and the paid was in the 79,000 range.

The difference between 80,709 and 93,770 I can’t really explain because it was made clear that 80,709 number included party passes, which, if legit (the only question is if a Wifi failure screwed up the turnstile count) means they the entire stadium was set up for 67,000 and all those 80,000 and 100,000 figures they’ve used in the past for other sports events in that stadium were heavily worked numbers. That also explains the low legitimate paid number for a show that didn’t appear to be heavily papered.
Seems like Mania 32's paid attendance number might be even lower than previous statements since the Observer thinks the real number might be 67k.


Some other sheet news includes:

In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is Undertaker's 52nd birthday.
IGN had a recent interview with Randy Orton mainly talking about WWE's Hall of Fame and his match against Lesnar last year. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0324/624454/randy-orton-on-taking-a-few-steps-back-after-brock-lesnar-match/
According to close friends of Mauro Ranallo, JBL and others are being implied as the cause for Ranallo's recent bout of depression. Bas Rutten himself recently hinted at wanting to beat up JBL and others for how they've treated Mauro. https://twitter.com/BasRuttenMMA/status/843222307384516612
According to the Observer, Hardys are currently booked till the end of April for indie commitments which could mean a possible WWE return being no earlier than May.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Owen Hart channeling his inner Bayley:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522a2049e4b0a0ce717e990c/5879687ae58c62d26c0c51f5/5879690629687f8f4b97d7a2/1484351821354/Owen+Hart+suplexes+Tanaka.gif

The go-home Raw for WrestleMania, with Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Bill Goldberg, and Seth Rollins all known to be attending in advance, did 3.29 million viewers, an increase of eight percent from last week ...

It was still down 13 percent from the 3.76 million viewers for the go-home Raw last year.

The third hour decline was consistent with all the key demos across the board.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.25 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.43 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.20 million viewers


WWE announced that Neville vs. Austin Aries for the Cruiserweight title, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and the SmackDown Women's Championship match will be airing on the WrestleMania 33 pre-show, which will be two hours and begins at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday. Renee Young, Jerry Lawler, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels will be on the panel, with the first hour airing on the WWE Network and other platforms before the second hour airs on the USA Network in addition to those.

On a day that should bring more announcements for WrestleMania (including the addition of Triple H vs. Seth Rollins to the card on tonight's go-home episode of Raw), WWE revealed some of the celebrities who will be involved with WrestleMania 33 on Monday.

It was announced that Pitbull would be performing at WrestleMania after the main card broadcast kicks off. He'll be joined by Flo Rida, LunchMoney Lewis, and Stephen Marley. Pitbull, Flo Rida, and Lewis' song "Greenlight" is the official theme of WrestleMania 33.

As was noted previously, Tinashe is set to perform "America the Beautiful" on the show.

Add former women's champion Eve Torres Gracie to the list of those being brought in for WrestleMania according PW Insider. As noted here, a number of former women's stars were contacted months ago about being part of the weekend.

Wrestlecon tweeted that due to health reasons Terry Funk will not be able to make it to Orlando, Florida:

Just got off phone with Terry Funk. Due to health reasons, he's unable to travel. All preorders will be refunded in 24hrs.
— WrestleCon (@wrestlecon) March 28, 2017

A WWE title will be defended on another promotion's show during WrestleMania weekend.

PROGRESS Wrestling co-owner Glen Joseph announced on Facebook Live today that Tyler Bate would put his WWE United Kingdom Championship up for grabs against Mark Andrews on March 31st at PROGRESS: Orlando ...

The UK title match won't be the only collaboration between WWE and PROGRESS in Orlando, with PROGRESS wrestlers also featuring in matches at WrestleMania Axxess.

The site of WWE's Battleground PPV, which will be a SmackDown show, will be the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

The WWE made the announcement live during last night's Raw show at the building.

Battleground takes place on July 23rd and will be one of two PPVs that month. The Raw brand will run on July 9th with the Bad Blood show, the day after what is expected to be UFC's biggest event of the year, the annual International Fight Week major show.

In an interview with The Sporting News, Bobby Fish made it clear that he is going to be continuing to work with ROH for the time being, but he didn't sign a new contract (his short-term deal expired today) but said he's no longer exclusive to ROH but is open for offers from anyone.

In an attempt to boost Monday's announcement of numbers, WWE has sent out another mailer offering former subscribers three months free as long as they sign up by Monday, which is when the announcement will be made. The push is if you sign up now you get WrestleMania, Payback, Backlash, Extreme Rules and Money in the Bank free.

Paul Heyman did a talk show today promoting WrestleMania where he pushed that Charlotte Flair could become the first woman to close the show at WrestleMania. Don't think he meant this year, just that it could happen during her career.
Wouldn't be surprised since its been somewhat obvious the WWE currently cares about her the most out of all the women wrestlers on the roster. Link to the podcast episode: http://www.foxsports.com/ufc/story/paul-heyman-talks-brock-lesnar-ronda-rousey-and-wrestlemania-33-on-the-fight-society-podcast-032717

Jan Ross, who passed away on Wednesday, was an organ donor and all of her internal organs were in good shape. The one silver lining out of the tragedy of her death is that four people are going to be able to live better lives due to it. If anything, this is a message because sometimes this is no preparing and age and health and don't guarantee anything but if you are an organ donor, you can help someone who was often dealt a bad hand live a better life.

Former WWE star Jack Swagger announced he would be making his first post-WWE appearances this weekend:

I'm excited to announce I'll be signing at #WrestleCon on Friday and Saturday . #WethePeople come say hi.
— You Dont Know Jack (@RealJackSwagger) March 28, 2017

During media appearances yesterday in Great Britain, Jeff Jarrett stated that the World of Sport revival would debut on ITV in July.

Jarrett told The Mirror in the UK that the plan is for the World of Sport group to be a "full on promotion", not just a TV series.

Mauro Ranallo missed WWE SmackDown for the third week in a row tonight. His WrestleMania 33 status appears to be up in the air after missing tonight's go-home episode. As noted, Mauro's absence is related to his battle with depression, which he has fought since he was a teenager. Mauro's friend and podcast co-host Bas Rutten commented on Mauro's status and Mauro being bi-polar during an appearance on The Luke Thomas Show last week. He said:

"Yeah, he's doing OK. As everybody knows, he's very vocal about it but Mauro is bi-polar and sometimes, a few times a year, things are going too fast and he needs to just simply slow down. But he's doing good and I talked to him... he's sending me funny video clips, he just sent me something... It's all in good spirits, I think he will be back to normal very soon."

ESPN has a new interview with Triple H. Below are a couple of highlights:

People wanting to cut Enzo Amore:

"There's been guys that have made it that over the course of a couple of years that were constantly on the cut list. Enzo Amore, when I brought him in, everyone at the tryout was saying, 'Get rid of this kid!' I was like, 'He's got a huge personality. If he can annoy us all this bad here, imagine what he can do on TV.' ... Every time he'd get his review, they'd be like, 'I'd cut him.' Dusty [Rhodes] and I would be like, 'Keep him.' Look at him now. ... Is he ever going to make you money from an in-ring performer standpoint? Probably not. But he's money on the mic."
Link to the interview with more topics discussed: http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/19017689/wwe-paul-triple-h-levesque-busy-balancing-two-lives-how-much-longer

What was it like working in an environment with constant change?

I’d do Monday Night Raw and go on the air many times without a script because they would rewrite the show while it was happening. I couldn’t prepare and it was hard to ask questions and not many people had answers. Even if you did ask questions upper management were not too keen. So I was left out of the loop and left to sink or swim. This was live TV. On social media people love to jump on you when you make a mistake, and there were so many times where I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do and hope that was I making the best guess. Otherwise you’d hear about it.

Why was that happening?

Well the writers would put the show together, then Vince would approve it, once it got to show day he would decide that he didn’t like it and certain things had to change. You’d be at the arena all day and the hours would go by, we’d be about to go live on TV and we’d have heard nothing. Sometimes I’d get the script right before I went out there, sometimes while I was at ringside, sometimes I’d only get the few two segments, even after the show had already started. As the show went on you’d get updates.
From a recent interview former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts had with website Memorabilia Guy: https://memorabiliaguy.com/2017/03/28/justin-roberts-the-fans-arent-getting-a-show-that-is-catered-for-them/

With Wrestlemania just days away, there has been some speculation about Eva Marie being a part of the SmackDown Women's title match this Sunday. Eva has not appeared on television since being suspended for 30 days on August 17, 2016 for her first violation of the company's Wellness Policy.

After asking around, a source at WWE informed me that the company will not be renewing Eva's contract. Eva had been with the company since 2013 and was a featured cast member of Total Divas for the show's six seasons. No announcement has been made by either side, but Eva is apparently done with the company.

Kenny and Mikey of The Spirit Squad have both been removed from the SmackDown LIVE roster, thus officially ending their return stint in WWE.

Their profiles on WWE.com were recently removed from the SmackDown LIVE roster page and placed in the WWE Alumni section ...

The duo worked together through November, at which point WWE stopping using them on SmackDown LIVE without explanation.

Kenny and Mikey weren't signed to WWE contracts, hence their quiet departure. Both wrestlers are continuing to work on the independent circuit. They will be wrestling together this Friday in the UK.


Some other sheet news includes:

Paige recently posted on her Tiwtter account about starting to move forward with her life and starting to feel better mentally ever since her private photos and videos were leaked. https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/846571091854266368
ESPN had a recent interview with Shinsuke Nakamura mainly about the creation of his entrance music in the WWE. http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/19016401/wwe-nxt-shinsuke-nakamura-substance-style-takes-many-elements-makes-own
Shane McMahon was revealed to be this week's guest for the Edge & Christian podcast show.
According to the WWE, Sheamus ended up getting legit busted open last night on RAW and needed stitches to close the wound above his eye.
According to the Observer, WWE currently doesn't have plans for Asuka to be among the upcoming batch of callups from NXT.

[Savio]

Feel bad that Kenny could get a contract but Ellsworth did.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

like the new hart foundation vs new orient express gif. Owen does such a good belly-to-belly.

[Evil Vito]

According to the Observer, WWE currently doesn't have plans for Asuka to be among the upcoming batch of callups from NXT.

That's dumb.

[Cool King]

Kenny and Mikey of The Spirit Squad have both been removed from the SmackDown LIVE roster, thus officially ending their return stint in WWE.

Their profiles on WWE.com were recently removed from the SmackDown LIVE roster page and placed in the WWE Alumni section ...

The duo worked together through November, at which point WWE stopping using them on SmackDown LIVE without explanation.

Kenny and Mikey weren't signed to WWE contracts, hence their quiet departure. Both wrestlers are continuing to work on the independent circuit. They will be wrestling together this Friday in the UK.

Damn, that sucks.

I feel pretty bad for Kenny though. He risked his job for the WWE and ended up getting fired from it when he missed too many days.

Now, he doesn't have a job or a WWE contract.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Miz's artistic interpretation of Daniel Bryan:
http://i.imgur.com/NVAjs8a.gif

The WrestleMania go-home episode of SmackDown was watched by 2,698,000 viewers, which is up two percent from last week.
In terms of comparisons, last week had 2.647 million viewers while last year's go-home show had 2.328 million viewers.

After missing SmackDown again last night, Mauro Ranallo tweeted: "Feeling love from everyone. I am stronger. I want to wish my @WWE family another AMAZING #WrestleMania #KeepUpTheGoodFight #MentalHealth"

The Usos were added to the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on SmackDown last night, which means that there won't be a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match scheduled for WrestleMania.

Jim Ross opened up about the death of his wife Jan on this week's episode of his podcast. Ross also explained why he's still fulfilling his commitments in Orlando, saying that being around his friends and working is what he needs and what his wife would've wanted. Ric Flair and Goldberg were the guests on the podcast, with the Goldberg interview having been taped before Jan's passing.
Link to the podcast episode: http://podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=619&pid=1722649

New Japan Pro Wrestling's weekly TV show in Japan is moving up an hour to 2 a.m. and has been extended to a full hour from the previous 30 minutes.

On this week's NXT, they announced that Sanity (Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain, Eric Young, and Nikki Cross) will face Roderick Strong, Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, and Ruby Riot in an Eight Person Tag Match at Takeover on Saturday night from Orlando.

On the fourth episode of Dinner With The King, hosted by Jerry “The King” Lawler and Glenn Moore, The King hints that WWE might limit the amount of Hall of Fame inductees per year in the future because the speeches have gotten longer and longer.

He also gives insight on being backstage with Vince McMahon during the Hall of Fame ceremony and his willingness to let presenters/inductees speak longer than expected. He also tells a story about Mr. T going long and Kane having to come out as “the hook”.

Finally, The King tells some stories about the Rock ’n’ Roll Express and Rick Rude from their days in Memphis, including creating the Rock ’n’ Roll Express gimmick.
Link to the podcast episode: http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5212005/height/90/width/640/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/2179bd/

As previously noted, the WWE Network is sitting at about 1.5 million paid subscribers as of January 31 of this year. We reported last week that WWE will host a conference call the day after WrestleMania to provide an update on the number of subscribers to the WWE Network following WrestleMania.

PWInsider reports that the aim for WWE is to break the 2 million threshold.
I'd be legit shocked if they could hit it even with the sudden surge of them trying to pad the numbers with 3 months of free Network offers.

As noted, WWE sent an offer to people on their mailing list who have never subscribed to the Network for three months of the Network for only $9.99, then the regular $9.99 price after this period is over. This includes WrestleMania 33, NXT Takeover, Payback, Backlash, Extreme Rules and Money In The Bank. For inactive subscriptions of former members, WWE offered a deal where they can get three months for free, and then come back and pay 9.99 after this period was over.

Of course, this is to meet the goal of passing 2 million subscribers, even if it is inflated, in order to look good to stockholders on Monday's conference call.

According to a report from the New York Post, WWE tryout attendee James 'Rude Boy' Riley has been arrested on child pornography charges. The local Staten Island professional wrestler was taken into custody earlier today after having his stash of child pornography found, which included photos of infants.

The 25-year-old was busted after the New York Police Department found the stash on his iPhone. He was arraigned on 'charges of promotion and possession of a sexual performance by a child' and made a $3,500 bail. Riley had also reportedly uploaded some of the photos to his Google and Tumblr accounts.

He had attended a WWE tryout back in February ... He was also scheduled to wrestle tonight and Friday for Punk Pro Wrestling. The promotion soon made the following announcement shortly after his arrest:

"Due to circumstances James Rudeboy Riley is being pulled from this weeks events. This is only statement we have concerning it."

As noted, Adam Cole's contract with Ring of Honor expires at the end of April and there have been rumors that he may sign with WWE when it's up. Cole joined Busted Open with Dave LaGreca and Doug Mortman today and commented on his current contract situation with Ring of Honor and what the future might hold for him once his deal is up.

"I've discussed this before and I totally don't mind talking about because it's a very talked about thing," Cole said. "I have about a month left on my Ring of Honor contract where at that point, I kind of have to make a decision. And the truth of the matter is, I haven't made my decision of what I would like to do yet. Because, obviously, there are a lot of options I have to consider. There are a lot of situations I have to consider. So for me to make my best possible decision, I need to know all the avenues that I can take.

"So as of right now, again this kind of sounds like a cliché answer, I have big match after big match every single weekend. So I have to focus on this next month that I have: challenging for the Ring of Honor Television Championship this weekend, I'd like to get back over to New Japan. Right now, all of my focus is on making as much of an impact in Ring of Honor as I can. When it comes to May, that's something that's kind of up in the air at this point."

The Hardys are coming to WWE, and soon. The only question is what day and what brand. One would think Smackdown is the brand that needs the most help in the tag team division. As far as the Broken gimmick, Matt is claiming ownership of it. Impact’s case was at least strong enough for ROH to state that the Hardys will not be doing the gimmick on their iPPV show the night before WrestleMania. The Hardys are also scheduled for morning activities in Orlando for WWN as part of a tailgate party, so they will be in the area hours before the show. Contractually, they can debut whenever WWE wants them to debut. The only question is the legal aspect of the gimmick and where that stands.


Some other sheet news includes:

Paul Heyman recently wrote an article for Yahoo Sports in support of indie promotions using Mania week to run their own big shows in the area. He does think there is too many companies running shows during Mania week but also realizes how important it is for them in terms of money and exposure it provides for the rest of the year. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/support-your-local-wrestling-promoter-232933791.html
WWE announced they have signed a multi-year deal with StubHub making them the official ticket reseller for the company.
Chris Jericho revealed Roman Reigns will be the guest for this Friday's episode of Talk Is Jericho podcast show. https://www.instagram.com/p/BSOXTh_F-Xu/
The data analyst used by the Observer recently released a chart listing the gate revenue generated by every Mania. Some interesting tidbits include Hogan's mega-star power was done after 1990 and 2003-2006 being the lowest gates since end of the Attitude Era. http://www.fightful.com/sites/default/files/wmgates1.png
According to a recent Observer Radio show, more evidence points towards JBL being the cause of Mauro Ranallo's recent bout of depression. Believes what triggered the latest bout was JBL being pissed Ranallo was happy to win the Observer's Announcer of the Year award and using the recent episode of Bring it to the Table to trash him. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/62avj7/won_jbls_comments_about_mauro_are_the_likely/ , https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/5z9yji/jbl_gets_hot_over_mauro_ranallo_the_wrestling/

[Droford]

I get why 04-06 gate was so low but they had 50000 at Safeco Field in 03 why is that so low

[Cool King]

According to a report from the New York Post, WWE tryout attendee James 'Rude Boy' Riley has been arrested on child pornography charges. The local Staten Island professional wrestler was taken into custody earlier today after having his stash of child pornography found, which included photos of infants.

The 25-year-old was busted after the New York Police Department found the stash on his iPhone. He was arraigned on 'charges of promotion and possession of a sexual performance by a child' and made a $3,500 bail. Riley had also reportedly uploaded some of the photos to his Google and Tumblr accounts.

He had attended a WWE tryout back in February

Well he can kiss that opportunity goodbye now.

[Cool King]

I wonder why Paedophiles would have stuff like that on their phones. It seems to be a common thing amongst them. Whenever the news reports on this kind of thing, the offender is always found to have stuff on their phone.

Do they just go about their normal lives then are suddenly hit with the urge to look at that stuff and that's why they feel the need to have it on their phones?

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Dancing Vince Thursday:
https://i.giphy.com/7EcgJbeY0yCRy.gif

Shelton Benjamin announced on Twitter Thursday that he has been cleared to return to the ring following a torn rotator cuff injury.

After 9 of the hardest months of my life, I'm happy to announce I have been OFFICIALLY CLEARED to return to action. Effective Immediately!

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) March 30, 2017
May or may not still be going to Smackdown like originally planned prior to his injury.

The SmackDown Women's Championship match is no longer listed as being on the WrestleMania 33 pre-show on WWE's website and as of now is grouped with the rest of the main card matches.

SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain & Nikki Cross) vs. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, No Way Jose & Ruby Riot was officially added to the NXT TakeOver: Orlando card last night. There are five matches scheduled for the show, with Bobby Roode defending the NXT Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka defending the NXT Women's Championship against Ember Moon, The Authors of Pain putting their tag titles on the line against DIY and The Revival in a triple threat elimination match, and Aleister Black vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas in addition to the eight-person tag.

Goldberg tweeted a message clarifying comments that he made about being "miserable" during his current WWE run on the Edge & Christian podcast. Goldberg had said that he was miserable due to the training that's required in his role but reiterated that his time in WWE since returning has been an awesome experience.

WWE officially unveiled a WWE Hall of Fame statue for Ric Flair at the opening session of Wrestlemania AXXESS this evening.

Appearing at the ceremony were Sting, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Arn Anderson, The Rock N' Roll Express, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, Flair's girlfriend Wendi aka former WCW star Fifi The Maid and all of Flair's children.
Picture of the statue: http://imgur.com/Udzxpro

For those who have asked about these two talents, we are told Kane is slated to be in Orlando Wrestlemania weekend while Eva Marie is not. Marie not coming in says a lot about her standing with the company going forward.
Another name has been added to the list of entrants for the 2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

WWE announced on Thursday that Tian Bing would be making an appearance at WrestleMania 33 as part of the battle royal. Bing previously made a brief cameo on NXT TV alongside HoHo Lun in the first round of last year's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and has been wrestling on NXT house shows.

Bing signed with WWE last summer as part of the company's ongoing plans to enter the Chinese market. He later made his debut at a house show in Shanghai, China in September against Bo Dallas.

As Dave Meltzer noted in this week's edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this will be the first year that WrestleMania is available to watch live in China. It will be offered as an iPPV by PPTV since there is no WWE Network availability in the country

In addition to Tian Bing, WWE announced Mark Henry for the 2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal today.

FloSlam officially announced that OTT's ScrapperMania 3 show at National Stadium in Dublin, with Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Will Ospreay, Ricochet & Ryan Smile in the main event, will air live on the service on April 15th.

It was noted in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy are returning to WWE soon. No word yet on exactly, but it was noted that the only question is regarding the legal issues over the gimmick and where it stands. There's been a lot of speculation on The Hardys appearing at WrestleMania 33 on Sunday, perhaps to challenge SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos as they do not have a match. We do know that they will be in Orlando on Sunday as they are hosting a tailgate party near Camping World Stadium earlier in the day. The Observer adds that Matt and Jeff can legally debut whenever WWE wants them to.

WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair, Sting and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat will be filming a "Table For Three" episode during WrestleMania 33 Week in Orlando. WWE Network content is expected to be filmed all week long. As noted, another "Table For Three" filmed this week will feature Eve Torres, Maryse and Kelly Kelly.

There is nothing really new from the lead story last week on ROH sale talks. It should be noted that there were reports that Flo Sports at one point had attempted to buy ROH, and also had attempted to make a big money deal to stream all of the ROH events on Flo Slam (the latter is very much true), which were turned down. It’s also notable that even though WWE was attempting to buy the company as well, that ROH had gotten WWE to back off on deals with a number of wrestlers, names we know of being Donovan Dijak, Ray Rowe, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, threatening WWE with tampering charges


Some other sheet news includes:

Papa Shango's Curse struck 3 wrestlers during the past week with Nikki Bella injuring her neck again, Rollins dealing with a cold and fever, and Noam Dar with an unspecified injury.
CBS Sports had a recent interview with Shinsuke Nakamura involving his entrance and him wanting to be on Smackdown when he gets called up because the better dream matchups there. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0330/624660/shinsuke-nakamura-on-the-important-of-his-entrance/
According to PWI, security had been tossing out and arresting fans trying to enter the hotel being used by the WWE for its wrestlers. WWE officials reportedly do not want any uninvited guests to be at the hotel likely due to security reasons.
Hulk Hogan currently denying rumors of him being at Mania 33 but will be in the area due to his new Hogan's Beach Shop holding an autograph session in the afternoon. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0330/624652/hulk-hogan-addresses-wrestlemania-rumors-at-his-beach-shop/
Jim Ross currently dealing with another death in the family with this time being his wife's cat. https://twitter.com/JRsBBQ/status/847513744532025344

[Cool King]

The SmackDown Women's Championship match is no longer listed as being on the WrestleMania 33 pre-show on WWE's website and as of now is grouped with the rest of the main card matches.

Rightfully so.

[Cool King]

It can also be seen as being more proof that Naomi will be winning the championship back.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Kurt Angle officially joining the WWE Hall of Fame tonight:
https://tribzap2it.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/18gmns.gif

Fans will be hearing a familiar voice calling at least part of Wrestlemania 33, PWInsider.com has learned.

WWE has signed a new deal with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross that will commence will Ross returning this Sunday at Wrestlemania 33 to commentate Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar.

We are told that the deal will see Ross used in something of a Legends deal for material on the WWE Network, documentaries, etc. while occasionally appearing on WWE TV to commentate bouts post-Wrestlemania. How often Ross would appear on WWE television remains to be seen.

The new WWE deal would mean that Ross could not be involved the World of Sport revival when that series tapes its first episodes this May in Great Britain. Ross called the pilot on New Year's Eve last year and was involved with a lot of the creative and production. It appears that the possibility of Ross calling a series for ITV prompted the new WWE deal.

For those wondering about Ross calling New Japan on AXS TV, we are told that his status with that series would not change with this new WWE deal.

We are told that the new deal was offered and signed prior to the recent passing of Ross' wife Jan. One source stated the deal was done five weeks ago.

As noted, the plan for WrestleMania 33 this Sunday was for the Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Goldberg match to close the show. WWE officials have apparently changed their mind.

Dave Meltzer noted on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns will most likely be the last match at WrestleMania. WWE apparently made the change after gauging fan interest for the event, and Taker vs. Reigns is the most anticipated match on the card. Obviously Vince McMahon can always change his mind, but as things stand, Reigns vs. Taker will main event the show.

It was confirmed on tonight's WWE Hall of Fame pre-show that the SmackDown Women's Title match was moved from the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show to the main card. Cathy Kelley noted that the change was made after fans took to social media and demanded it. The match will see Alexa Bliss defend against Carmella, Mickie James, Becky Lynch, Natalya and Naomi.

In what will be a must see show, Michael Hayes just announced the following.

Just did Table for 3 with Bischoff and Cornette, 1st time Eric and Corny had spoke in over 24 years!!! Never been a Table for 3 like this!!!
— Michael PS Hayes (@MichaelPSHayes1) March 31, 2017

There were a lot of technical issues with today's PROGRESS Wrestling iPPV, which was offered on WWNLive.com. WWN's Gabe Sapolsky tweeted that their website had a "denial of server attack" and apologized for the problems. Sapolsky said that they would offer free VOD to everyone who ordered the live only option and would extend another make good to those who ordered it with VOD. He told those who wanted refunds to stop watching it if they were and to send an email asking for one.

Jeff Hardy played down talks of an imminent WWE return in an interview with CBS Sports. He said that The Hardys' contracts with ROH run through the summer and that signing with WWE would be a long process with all of the testing that they do. If and when they do return to WWE, The Hardys obviously wouldn't confirm it in any interviews.
Link to the interview: http://sports.cbslocal.com/2017/03/31/jeff-hardy-says-hes-not-signing-with-wwe-staying-at-ring-of-honor/

Tomoaki Honma underwent surgery for his cervical spine injury within the last few days and has begun rehab.

The 3/30 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 297,000 viewers, down from last week's 305,000 viewers.

Daniel Bryan spoke with Gorilla Position about wrestling at WrestleMania 34 and facing The Miz. You can also hear his comments in the video above.

"Okay, if you can convince these guys [WWE] to let me do it, like, I'd love to do it." Bryan was asked about facing The Miz at that show.

"Uh, yeah, although- I don't know if I'd really want to go against The Miz. [Laughs] Okay, just look at the people around here, you got Nakamura over there. AJ Styles. Ya know, ya got, all the different people, ya know? So, yeah, great story and that might be the match that people would most want to see because they'd love to see me punch him in the face, I'd love to punch him in the face, but they don't let me punch people in the face anymore. It's not my deal anymore."

As noted, Sting, Ric Flair and Jim Ross were at the WrestleCon Kickoff Q&A yesterday. Wrestling Inc. was on hand for the event, below are some highlights from Flair:

* Flair said that he has no problem with John Cena tying his record.

* He argued with Vince McMahon about wrestling Sting on the last WCW Monday Nitro because he was not happy with his appearance.

* The original Black Scorpion was supposed to be Al Perez, but he didn't want to get beat.

* He said that he'd never get back in the podcast business again after the backlash he received for saying that Finn Bálor would never main event a WrestleMania.

* Flair said that if Sting would've gone to WWE before Hulk Hogan, there would've never been a Hogan because Sting would've been so over. Jim Ross added that Sting was reliable and very athletic.

* He feels that Jay Lethal should be in the WWE, and thinks that Seth Rollins is a better heel than he is a face.
The podcast answer is pretty interesting considering he's already had 3 failed podcast shows.

Above is video from tonight's live "Bring It To The Table" with JBL, Peter Rosenberg and Corey Graves. The episode was shot from inside Camping World Stadium in Orlando, the site of WrestleMania 33. After making positive comments about Roman Reigns before, JBL says he's now hot about how the fans reacted. The SmackDown announcer said:

"For all these internet fans out there that want to hate Roman Reigns and say, 'No, we're standing up because we don't like him...' Few people in the history of this business walk into an arena and everybody stands on their feet - everybody. I've seen it night after night after night. That to me is an absolute Superstar. Whether you love him or whether you hate him, Roman Reigns has earned his spot and I'm hot at all these little crybabies out there going, 'We just stand up and boo him because we really don't like him.' Oh, really?"
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVBq7Vnt4Iw

There are a ton of moves being made behind-the-scenes regarding WWE in the U.K. market in particular. I’ve noticed a number of people in the U.K. who were very happy with how the market was going who are worried about how the obvious war with ITV and WWE will change things. Again, the key is we don’t know ITV is in for the long haul. But if they are, the idea that promotions are going to have to choose sides like happens in Mexico. In Mexico, local promoters can book guys from one promotion but not the other is possible, if not likely to happen. WWE has put rules in play regarding its contracted talent, but the no streaming services may mean something for some companies, but for other companies, they can use the WWE talent with no restrictions

Bully Ray did an interview with The Sporting News and said the reason he never appeared as Bully Ray (a name he took out ownership of) in WWE was because of a character of a bully when WWE was working with Be a Star. That sounds weird because you could just do the character and not use the name Bully, since many of the heels in WWE and notably the heel authority figures are all bullies. He said Impact came at him hard with a significant money offer and he considered both ROH and Impact. He said that if Impact had communicated with him a little better he may have ended up there but his heart was with trying ROH and at the last moment he made the call

At press time, with more seats opened up after production has moved in, the only actually sold-out WWE events for the weekend are the NXT show on 4/1 and Raw on 4/3, both at the Amway Arena. Some seats were added for WrestleMania. On 3/28, there were 1,500 tickets left for WrestleMania, but by the next afternoon, more than 600 were sold and there were about 900 left. They put most of those new tickets on sale for $80, the lowest ticket price yet on the primary market.

Smackdown has 500 tickets left. The Hall of Fame has 400 tickets left. What hurts the sales for the latter two is that it’s a soft market for those shows, in the sense that ticket speculators had assumed demand would be higher and they’d be able to get a good return on the tickets. You can get a better deal on the secondary market for all three shows and there are a ton of secondary market tickets out. The reality is the demand is lower than the supply for everything but the two sold out shows.

The price of entry at press time for WrestleMania is $109, well under the previous lowest ticket price of $160. For Raw it’s $75, above the lowest ticket price. Takeover is $53. The Hall of Fame is $15 and Smackdown is down to $11. Last year’s hottest ticket on the secondary market by far, was the NXT show because WrestleMania was in such a large stadium that getting tickets wasn’t nearly as difficult. But that was all about the debut of Shinsuke Nakamura, who exploded the secondary market. This year, with Nakamura having had a year in the company, his title match with Bobby Roode is strong enough that NXT has exceeded the demand in the same building of both the Hall of Fame and, more impressively, Smackdown. It also shows that the reputation of the Raw after WrestleMania is not there at all at this point for Smackdown.
Gate revenue probably going to end up lower than what Mania 28 did which was the last time they were in Florida.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You got plans Saturday, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJimCornette">@TheJimCornette</a>? <a href="https://t.co/fDEkVUFs2K">pic.twitter.com/fDEkVUFs2K</a></p>&mdash; Scott Dawson (@ScottDawsonWWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottDawsonWWE/status/847633389746241537">March 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

For those with a FloSlam account and/or want to watch a really funny wrestling show, GCW held their Joey Janela Spring Break show last night which was one of the funniest wrestling shows I've ever seen. The Clusterf**k match itself was great for hilarious moments.
Based on recent merch designs, WWE might be considering "The Vibe" as a catchphrase for Shinsuke Nakamura when he gets called up to the main roster. Image of his new shirt: http://shop.wwe.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-main/default/dw59b06ed2/images/large/W13224.jpg
According to the Observer, former WWE ring announcer Justin Robert's upcoming book supposedly has several untold stories about the amount of harassing and terrible stuff done by JBL while he was at the company.
During a recent episode of Sam Roberts podcast show, Big Show revealed this will be his final Wrestlemania and he will be retiring before the end of this year. Also revealed the issues with Shaq was more of a scheduling problem since Shaq wanted to show up just for Mania while WWE wanted him for all of Mania week. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/62kws4/big_show_just_said_on_jim_norton_and_sam_roberts/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Vince McMahon once won a championship belt outside of WWE or ECW. Happened in August 2016 for Japanese promotion DDT for the Ironman Heavyweight championship and involved Vince's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star submitting Joey Ryan to become the new champion (#1147). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Heavymetalweight_Championship#Inanimate_objects

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtshets sponsored by The Face That Runs The Place's glorious hair:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/fa431d0f8f3988ab1b1a6d540f251eb7/tumblr_ont2d2OzOU1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

The Raw after WrestleMania, in what is traditionally the most-watched show of the year, did 3.76 million viewers, which is up from the 3.61 million for the show the day after the Royal Rumble. It was down eight percent from last year's 4.09 million on the similar show, but that's good in comparison since Raw most weeks is down double digits from the same week a year earlier ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.83 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.89 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.58 million viewers

For some historical comparisons, last year's After Mania show had around 320k more viewers and 2015's show had 1.6 million more.

While things are still pretty vague, WWE.com has revealed some details about the "superstar shake-up" that was announced for next week on Monday night. Raw and SmackDown will be allowed to "make trades, deals and other moves that they feel fit." It appears that changes will be relatively limited rather than a full draft, but no other information has been given.

Diamond Dallas Page appeared on the Dan Le Batard show today on ESPN Radio and got mad when Le Batard kept asking about real life arguments DDP had with Ric Flair and Scott Steiner. DDP tried to explain that things are good between them now without going into the past, but the interview was cut off when Page swore after Le Batard kept looking for details about a past fight with Steiner.

Nikki Bella tweeted today: "This isn't goodbye, just need time to heal. When the day is right I will be back and hopefully then....BRIE MODE will be ACTIVATED! Can't wait for the day I can lace up my kicks throw on my jersey put on my SnapBack & come back home. Until then..Stay Fearless Bella Army!" She's scheduled to take time off to heal her neck injury while John Cena will also be absent to film a movie.
Probably returning after Summerslam like Cena is rumored to be now.

The New England Patriots reportedly gave Rob Gronkowski permission to get involved with the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33.

Chris Charlton translated a tweet from New Japan Pro Wrestling owner Takaaki Kidani about the G1 preview shows in Long Beach selling out so quickly: "New Japan in LA sold out in two hours. Our pickaxe has struck a vein of gold. This will be a pivotal year in wrestling history."

Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kenny Omega have been officially announced for the shows in Long Beach. An article on NJPW's website noted that they were looking for ways to add some more seats.

Taeler Hendrix indicated that she's left Ring of Honor on Twitter today. She wrote: "Want to thank @ringofhonor for all the opportunities given to me! I'm forever grateful. I wish you well, and I look forward to the future!"

The WWE released its subscriber information today regarding the WWE Network and the WrestleMania build and season was more successful in growth than last year.

Concentrating on actual paid subscriptions, the network has 1,661,000 subscribers as of today, broken down as 1,237,000 in the United States and 424,000 over the rest of the world.

With all the different free offers to bring back older subscribers and create new subscribers, there were 280,000 free subscribers as of today between the one and three months free numbers, which breaks down as 215,000 free in the U.S. and 65,000 free outside the U.S., meaning total subscribers were 1,949,000.

There were also some lower priced bargain subscriptions and actual revenues and how that all ads up won't be available until the quarterly conference call that will take place toward the end of this month or first week of May.

Last year on the day after WrestleMania, the network had 1,109,000 subscribers in the U.S. and 345,000 outside the U.S. The greater outside the U.S. increase was because of adding new markets, but now the network is available worldwide everywhere except China, which got Mania for the first time on iPPV. George Barrios was asked today about the China numbers but didn't answer that question.


We have notes on the network number. The number of paid was slightly above what I had listed to be a success based on last year's growth patterns. Even with all the push to get former subscribers to subscribe free, that number was down. The stock fell 37 cents per share today to $21.85, which is still a strong number historically, way up from the same period last year. Overall the company is a very stable business which will increase in profitability this year and continue to do so unless something bad happens to the TV rights market, which is possible, or they reach WCW levels of acumen on the television product, which I seriously doubt can happen.

Impact has inked a television deal with Game TV in Canada to air the shows in the same time slot as on Pop TV in the U.S., at 8 P.M. Eastern on Thursday nights. Game TV is in 9.5 million homes, which is in more homes than The Fight Network, which Anthem owns. Impact will also remain airing at the same time on The Fight Network.

Saturday's biggest surprise news involved Drew Galloway, back as Drew McIntyre, signing. This was said to have been a late put together deal as Galloway was scheduled in the main event of the WWN Super Show in a six-way title match and had to be "injured" early in the show and left. Matt Riddle won the WWN title which was the guy I had expected to win. McIntyre will be in NXT, not WWE, likely as they are looking for some potential singles main events to replace Shinsuke Nakamura. We talked a lot about Galloway and Jim Ross on the show we did last night and how these moves are U.K. market related. The indication we were given is Galloway will be able to drop the What Culture title in the ring, but Galloway was the key guy in plans for a number of different U.K. groups.
Interview McIntyre had with ESPN revealing a new deal was signed: http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/19056390/wwe-drew-mcintyre-confirms-nxt-signing

Galloway will be allowed to finish up his bookings as he's on the 4/22 and 4/23 Evolve shows, facing Zack Sabre Jr. on the first night in Queens and Matt Riddle in an I Quit match on 4/23 in Brooklyn.

WrestleMania 33 won't be the last we've seen of Jim Ross on WWE television.

In an article that Fox Sports ran about his weekend in Orlando, it was noted that Ross has signed a two-year contract with WWE to return in a variety of roles.

"It has a specific number of dates that I’m obligated to work, which I think is good for me,” Ross said. “So look at it this way: I got my jersey back. I got brought back to my home team, and my opportunities back in WWE, I’m sure, will be multi-fold."

Gabe Sapolsky announced that the EVOLVE show on May 20th in Summit, IL oroginally scheduled for 8 pm Central time will move to an afternoon timeslot so fans can make it a doubleheader with NXT Takeover: Chicago.

Matt Hardy posted the following via Twitter, giving some storyline explanation as to why he is no longer "Broken" upon returning to WWE:

The sheer NIRVANA of coming home to that DEAFENING ovation at #Wrestlemania seems to have contained my CONDISHTION.

If it CAN be contained.
— #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) April 4, 2017

Edge tweeted the following indicating that this week's Edge and Christian Podcast will feature his wife and new WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix, Wrestlemania hijinks and thoughts on the Undertaker's retirement.

This week @EandCPod explodes in your face with our guest @TheBethPhoenix (my get), the results of #MockMockMania and thoughts on Undertaker
— Adam (Edge) Copeland (@EdgeRatedR) April 4, 2017

While appearing at Jim Ross' One Man Show as a surprise on Sunday, Foley said that he was originally not going to attend any WWE events Wrestlemania weekend in order to cement the finalist of his "firing" as Raw GM but Stephanie McMahon pushed for him to attend. He said that he was no longer being paid by the company and joked that it felt like a real firing.

Foley wrote on his Facebook Page that his hip replacement surgery is set for 4/19. He will be taking off bookings through July, except for one appearance that he has scheduled in Queens, NY on May 13.

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke about the WWE's current Hall Of Fame standards and if Chris Benoit should be inducted one day during a Q&A, covered by Hannibal TV. JR noted that he doesn't think that Benoit should ever be in the WWE Hall of Fame.

"You know Rock is gonna go in, right? Owen Hart, you got to have it balanced - so what are we gonna do have a whole posthumous Hall Of Fame? Here's your Hall Of Fame folks. Ironically based on the voting everybody's deceased.

"Chris Benoit, I don't think he'll ever get in. I don't think Chris Benoit should get in, and I'm okay with my opinion. If you differ I respect that. I was the guy that hired Chris Benoit, nothing Chris Benoit does wasn't right there that wasn't already with him. If there was a line to him, wherever he is, you say, 'hay should you be inducted into the Hall Of Fame?' Who do you want to induct you? I think he'd say it'll create too much publicity, it'll take the importance off of everybody else who's going in, it's gonna be the talk of the town. The WWE is inducting into the Hall Of Fame a murderer and suicide victim. That's the story. You guys know how the media are. That'll be the story. Can you imagine him going in with The Rock? All of a sudden let's forget about The Rock, it's about that murderer guy. So that's what I think. His talents, skill, accomplishments in the ring match a Hall Of Fame career. Absolutely. But I think he took all those opportunities away with the last 24 hours or so of his life."
Link to the interview with Hannibal TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNMctRsCDo

David Penzer of Hannibal TV catches up with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart at WrestleCon in Orlando this past week. Penzer mentions Neidhart having a Hall of Fame career and that's when his tune changes. Anvil said, "Excuse me, Hall of Fame? I'm not in the Hall of Fame. I am not good enough to be in the Hall of Fame. ... You would think with everybody around me in the Hall of Fame, you would think I would be in the Hall of Fame. I was the one that started this pink thing in the first place."

In regards to his daughter Natalya working WrestleMania 33 this year, Jim said he feels good about it and commented on her being a good wrestler. Penzer said he hopes Anvil makes it into the Hall of Fame one day but he replied, "I'm not going to keep the light on at night waiting for that thing. I don't think that'll ever come. In fact, I don't think I want to be in the Hall of Fame."


Some other sheet news includes:

According to the Observer and Goldberg's post-RAW speech, Goldberg is currently open to the idea of doing another run in the idea although not any time soon. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/goldberg-discusses-his-wwe-future-after-raw-233126
Also according to the Observer, WWE will not consider using the Broken gimmick for the Hardys till after the legal mess with Anthem is finished. Anthem currently fighting to own a percentage of the gimmick and any money the WWE would make off of it. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/63fe69/wor_meltzer_says_wwe_do_not_want_the_legal_fight/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Triple H currently owns the most losses in Mania history with 12 after his loss to Rollins at Mania 33. Current record is 9-12 and previously was tied with HBK for most losses at 11.
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Natalya managed to become the first female wrestler in WWE history to wrestle in 40 ppvs for a career. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/63hjux/til_that_natalya_became_the_first_woman_to/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Rowan showing off his newest mask purchase:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/08919d456f7500c447d2d9bb97c1c773/tumblr_onwu5lBwLf1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

The post-WrestleMania edition of SmackDown on the USA Network drew an audience of 2.885 million viewers, tying the highest viewership the show has done since the WWE draft.

It matched the final episode of 2016, which featured the return of John Cena after a lengthy absence and three title matches.

Simon Gotch is gone from WWE.

News of his release was announced on WWE.com today, with it being noted that the company and Gotch mutually agreed to part ways. Their statement: "WWE has come to terms on a mutually agreed upon release with Simon Gotch as of today, April 5, 2017. WWE wishes Gotch the best in all his future endeavors."

Matt Hardy announced on Twitter that WWE is allowing The Hardys to fulfill previously booked independent wrestling dates. They'll be wrestling for IWC on April 8th, House of Hardcore on the 21st and 22nd, and Pro Wrestling South on the 29th.

Lana appeared on the Busted Open radio show on Sirius XM today. She said that Rusev has recently started working out again after undergoing shoulder surgery and should be back in 2-4 months. She also claimed that her and Rusev didn't get heat from WWE for announcing their engagement.

The former Damien Sandow revealed in an interview with Title Match Wrestling that he's no longer working for Impact Wrestling. He had wrestled there as Aron Rex and seemed to indicate that he might be done with wrestling now, but later tweeted that he's not retiring and is just doing other stuff for a while. He also wrote, "I am not retired. @lmpactWrestIing was some of the most fun I have had in my career, great company. Just exploring other opportunities."
Link to the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LNq_VefGgE

Ricochet tweeted that "there's an underground fighting company holding me back" when asked why he hasn't signed with a major promotion.

Joey Janela and Game Changer Wrestling will be running another event in New Orleans during WrestleMania week next year after the success of Joey Janela's Spring Break.

On his latest podcast, Jim Ross noted that for the next set of New Japan on AXS TV episodes, which he will be voicing over in July, it looks like AXS will be handling the editing, as opposed to NJPW, who traditionally have handled that aspect.

Former ROH World Champion Adam Cole, whose ROH contract reportedly expires this month, posted this cryptic message on Twitter:

Well...no looking back now... pic.twitter.com/j21NnVxiD8
— Adam Cole (@AdamColePro) April 5, 2017

Former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan was interviewed by Hannibal TV to discuss his time with WCW and regrets throughout his career. Here are some of the highlights:

His proudest achievements with WCW:

"The thing was, I have to thank Vince McMahon because it was his talent I was using. Really he got them over. I had Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, a guy that's over looked, Syxx Pac. The only person that was in The Kliq, DX, and NWO. He's a guy that gets looked over. We had them all and it just worked. Hogan turned heel, Randy [Savage] turned heel. It was a great run and I had great baby faces. Sting, Luger, the Steiners."

Convincing Hulk Hogan to turn heel:

"He was at my house. I had to keep him in my house. Everyone was telling me you can't do it, you're going to kill yourself. It revitalized Hulk because at that time Mean Gene did something amazing. One night in Chicago Hulk came down for an interview and they were booing him out, and Gene said 'You can hear the somber mood here.' So I went to him and I said, 'you gotta turn'. Hulk stayed in my spare bedroom and I wouldn't let his agent sleep in the bed, I made him sleep on the couch, because till the last minute he was trying to keep him babyface. I arrived at the building, during the semi-final I didn't want anybody to get to him, and he did the job and history was written back then" ...

His thoughts on Goldberg headlining Wrestlemania after having created him in WCW:

"I was the one that started Bill Goldberg, I saw the streak, I changed him into Mike Tyson with the short boots with the tights. Before that he was just an Atlanta Falcon. I am very proud of Bill and God bless him, I hope he wrestles another 12 years."
Link with more highlights and video: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0405/624975/kevin-sullivan-on-creating-goldberg/

As seen at WrestleMania 33 this past Sunday, The Undertaker seemingly wrestled his final match in a losing effort to Roman Reigns. Dave Meltzer reported on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that Taker "is getting more surgeries now," noting that he had held off on hip surgery. As noted, Taker likely needs a full hip replacement and has been holding off on that surgery until he retires.


Some other sheet news includes:

Besides getting a new set of belts, NXT also got a new set of graphics and music for tv shows which debuted tonight. https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON/status/849748427411935232
Recent episode of the Jim Ross Report podcast show had Observer's Dave Meltzer as the guest. http://podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=619&pid=1723649
Chris Jericho revealed Kurt Angle will be this Friday's guest for the Talk Is Jericho podcast show. https://twitter.com/IAmJericho/status/849413030987403264
WWNLive announced their streaming service suffered a massive DDoS attack during Mania weekend and as the official reason why PROGRESS' event had broadcasting issues. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/108884/statement-on-attack-of-wwnlive-website-over-wrestlemania-weekend.html?p=1

[Cool King]

Lana appeared on the Busted Open radio show on Sirius XM today. She said that Rusev has recently started working out again after undergoing shoulder surgery and should be back in 2-4 months. She also claimed that her and Rusev didn't get heat from WWE for announcing their engagement.

Now I'm expecting to see a surprise appearance by Rusev at either SummerSlam or the Raw or SmackDown after it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Smackdown gif:
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Regarding the “Superstar shake-up,” when we first heard about it, the talk was that the key moves would be Roman Reigns to Smackdown and A.J. Styles to Raw. This was months ago. This past week we were told that Reigns isn’t going anywhere and the key moves were said to be Styles to Raw and The New Day to Smackdown. The latter makes sense since the tag team division in Smackdown has been weak from day one. However, with Cena leaving for a while, moving Styles also, which is taking the two most over guys on that side off the table, makes no sense. Smackdown gave you the impression that Styles will be moving over. He wasn’t booked for any program going forward and settled his issue with Shane McMahon.

Michael Paris (Impact's DJZ) was injured last night at The Crash show in Mexico City. He has undergone major surgery due to issues with his colon rupturing and internal bleeding stemming from that. He was in great pain. He took a 450 splash in a match with Rey Horus, Laredo Kid, Mr. 450, Septimo Dragon and Ultimo Ninja and couldn't continue. He's doing better today and the surgery was successful. Sexy Star was also apparently injured an in great pain and taken out of a title match. Not sure if that was just a way for her to lose her title without doing a job or it was a real injury. Fans thought it was real.

Sonjay Dutt has signed a deal with Impact. He's been tight with Jeff Jarrett for some time so that's not a surprise. He had spent a week as a guest instructor for WWE at the Performance Center and also worked the ROH show in New York last month.

The WWE Network has added a lot of 1981 and 1982 Mid South Wrestling shows, including a stream of them in a row so they can be viewed in context. They've also posted old episodes of Tuesday Night Titans, 1997 episodes of ECW that build up the Barely Legal PPV, and older episodes of NXT.

The WWE will be releasing a three disc DVD called "Kurt Angle: The Essential Collection" this summer according to Wrestling DVD Network. It will feature Angle matches with Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, Edge, Shawn Michaels, HHH and others.

WWE announced a partnership today with SEGA for a free-to-play idle mobile game called WWE Tap Mania. It's developed by The Tap Lab in Cambridge, MA for launch later this year.

Our friends at www.ProWrestlingTees.com announced the following:
April 17th is Your Last Day To Buy Hardy Tees At ProWrestlingTees

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A.J. Brooks (A.J. Lee) has been doing media promoting her autobiography. Her main point was that she is suffering from bipolar disorder, as does her mother. She said WWE wanted to do an angle based on that and she said she wasn't comfortable with it and they took her off TV for two months after that.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross will present his "Ringside with Jim Ross" show on Sunday 5/21 at 2 PM with Chicago, IL before the WWE Backlash PPV at Zanies.

Tickets for the event will go on sale this Saturday at 10 CT.

The latest episode X-Pac 12360 is now online, which you can watch in the video above or download on iTunes. Ron Funches returned to join Sean Waltman and his crew for the show this week, which also featured highlights from the Kliq Q&A over the weekend.

They sent us these highlights:

The Big Show upset about the Braun Strowman spot during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal:

"Before thing was even over, Big Show had a bunch of guys that were in the Battle Royal back in the back and he was going off… I think it was over the stuff with him and Strowman. Because they had a moment there and I think the moment got taken from them too quick."

As noted, WWE announced on Wednesday that Simon Gotch of The Vaudevillains had been released from the company after he apparently requested his release.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that former partner Aiden English is scheduled to receive a push coming out of the breakup of The Vaudevillains.

Regarding Gotch's departure, there had been speculation on his release ever since the backstage fight with Sin Cara in the summer of 2016. That fight was said to be a "one-sided destruction" by Cara and it was reported at the time that "Gotch's mouth sometimes gets people mad at him." The Observer noted this week that Gotch's personality rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

One of the funniest Vince-isms of the week was the decree that the term Camping World Stadium, the site of the show, couldn’t be used. So it was the Citrus Bowl, the old name of the stadium.

Expect a bigger role for Matt Taven in ROH. His successfully main eventing Arena Mexico as a single and doing well in title matches there has upped his stock.

DDP did an interview and noted it was WWE that chose Bischoff to induct him. He said that he would have wanted Dusty Rhodes to do so, but since Dusty passed away, he listed five people, Jake Roberts, Scott Hall, Bischoff, Austin and Foley and the company went with Bischoff. It’s notable that Angle also wanted Austin to do so but they went with Cena. Austin was not in Orlando all weekend. From what we understand, although nothing has been said about it, the contract with Austin and WWE for putting regular podcasts on the network has expired. People have asked about it since the one he did with Ambrose, which got a lot of negative reviews. The Austin podcasts at first were the highest rated shows on the network other than the PPV shows. They went with Jericho at one time after there was an issue with WWE and Austin, but then went back to Austin, and then to JBL, and even though the JBL shows were good, for whatever reason, the company made the decision not to do them.

At the Wrestlecon kickoff party, Ric Flair said he was out of the podcast business completely because he can’t stay objective about WWE due to his daughter’s position and his statements affecting her career. He said that straw that broke the camel’s back with the company was saying that he thought Balor would never main event at WrestleMania due to his size. He said he got so much heat from the company for that comment that you wouldn’t believe it. Can you imagine the equivalent of this in any other sport? The company very much doesn’t want the perception that they are all about size, even though if you look at the top three matches and where the 205 Live match was at Mania, it’s is still a strong attribute. One of the reasons Bret Hart gave up his podcast was his feeling that it wasn’t worth it due to the reaction if he said anything negative about the company, although in his case he also noted time and the fact he wasn’t making significant money with it as reasons for giving it up.

The reason the original women’s storyline for this year, which was to culminate in Bayley beating Charlotte to win the four-way at Mania and take the title was changed to having Bayley win a TV match earlier was the feeling that they needed more ups and downs in the story to get from January to Mania so did the title change earlier.

One of the strangest statements of the past week came in an article about Kurt Angle in the National Post of Canada. He talked about his four DUI’s between 2007 and 2013, and said that there was actually a fifth DUI, but he wouldn’t say where or when, and that he paid a judge off $800 in cash and he threw the case out. Considering how completely illegal that is both from his perspective, let alone a judge’s perspective, that’s something amazing that he would say it. If it’s true, he committed a federal crime and the judge should be disbarred. If it’s not true, why would you ever make up a story like that.

Now, Ranallo was known for re-tweeting positive comments, perhaps to the extreme, but many people do the same with Twitter. I try not to a lot, but if you work your ass off and mentally spend yourself to do an issue or a big story, and people thank you, you really do like it and you really do want to say “Thank you.” Many do it because of the idea it promotes your brand and such, but if you’ve watched Ranallo do any sport, whether it be pro wrestling, boxing, kickboxing or MMA, you can tell, like his style or not, that he works extremely hard in preparation.

The actual subject is the company hired somebody well known to have a mental health issue, and has worked for years to educate people on that subject and be almost a public spokesperson for it. It’s a company that has a strong public stance against bullying, yet people who have worked and do work for the company one after the other will tell you internally it’s very different. This won’t turn into a subject like the bullying of women based on being overweight (and the company’s version of overweight when it comes to women is quite unique as many who have worked there have noted) or appearance that the company would never do today because what did get people upset were essentially non-real life portrayals in television angles. This isn’t a television angle. There are many people in pro wrestling who privately battle similar issues, perhaps not as bad, but very few go public, and none would to the extent Ranallo has to essentially try and be a spokesperson and an advocate for it. Most people know someone, and many know a lot of people in the same situation. And everyone knows how tight Layfield is with Vince McMahon. The belief across-the-board is Layfield’s weeding out those who can’t take it comes from above. I think the other aspect is knowing people who have known Ranallo for years and essentially being told exactly how this would probably play out right before it did also makes this situation so upsetting. There was a terrible lapse of judgment here, and the fact WWE continued to replay the show indicated a lack of remorse and understanding of the issue.

The company is in a very weird position right now because Ranallo not being there makes this a public issue. But it’s a story that will probably not get them any negative publicity even though it’s real. So corporately, they don’t have to react and haven’t. Hopefully, this is the wake-up call to change and realize the old days are over. In most modern wrestling companies, they are over. There really may only be one left. As much as that one company despises the old days of carny rasslin, in reality, behind-the-scenes, they may be the last major one left with the same mentality.
Some more details about the JBL-Ranallo on-going situation with Observer speculating Mauro's return might get delayed due to Justin Roberts book being released. Also the growing belief from his sources about upper management being responsible for Mauro's current bout of depression since they like to use JBL as their mouthpiece whenever they hate someone.


Some other sheet news includes:

Horror makeup artist Tom Savini was revealed to have created the custom mask Kalisto wore at Mania 33 for the Andre Battle Royale match. http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3430707/tom-savini-created-badass-mask-seen-wrestlemania-33/
Some more tales about JBL's bullying habits in the WWE were leaked recently from Justin Roberts new book. Also revealed Triple H had the habit of trying to pants Roberts whenever those two were together. Tommy Dreamer was revealed to be the person who kept JBL in check when Smackdown and ECW brands started to tour together. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/63tmwg/some_of_the_bullying_listed_in_justin_roberts/
According to the Observer, both The Drifter and Andrade Cien Almas are expected to be getting called up soon to the main roster and could appear as early as next week's trade episodes.
Also according to the Observer, Mick Foley's current deal with the WWE recently expired although it was never an actual contract but something based on dates. Since he's going to be away for a while for hip surgery and recovery, his current deal expired as a result.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Lariato/Clothesline Appreciation Day:
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Ranallo deleted all references to being a WWE announcer on his Twitter account. As of right now, he is under contract to WWE through 8/12.

This morning, WWE star JBL responded to several allegations that have been levied against him in recent days via Twitter.

One of those allegations were that JBL sparked Mauro Ranallo's recent depression issues with comments made about Ranallo on the air. JBL responded:

@JoeCroninJCS No Joe, and I won't-I shouldn't commenting on Internet stuff. I play a heel. I sincerely wish Mauro nothing but the absolute best.
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) April 7, 2017

JBL also responded to an allegation made by Justin Roberts about bullying Roberts endured while touring with the Smackdown brand as a ring announcer, including his passport being stolen. In his excellent book Best Seat In The House, Roberts tells many stories about JBL's behavior on international tours when it came to hazing and bullying Roberts. JBL responded:

I won't answer Net rumors-but I didn't take Justin Roberts passport. Could have been anyone/he was hated by the whole crew. He's an idiot.
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) April 7, 2017

However, it should be noted in Roberts' book that he never accuses JBL of the theft. He simply recounts the story about how his passport disappeared, leaving him stuck in Great Britain when it was time for the rest of the crew to depart. Nowhere in the book does JBL get blamed for that passport disappearing, although there are many other antics that Roberts specifically recounts JBL as being responsible for.
More new stories about JBL's bullying antics in the link: http://www.pwinsider.com/article/108924/jbl-responds-to-allegations-brought-against-him.html?p=1

John Layfield may have put his foot in his mouth this morning. When asked about Justin Roberts and when they stole Roberts' passport while he was in Europe, Layfield said, "I won't answer net rumors, but I didn't take Justin Roberts passport. Could have been anyone. He was hated by the whole crew. He's an idiot." In an article hours later, John Hennigan (Mundo) was quoted as saying that on that trip, Layfield asked he and Joey Mercury to steal Roberts' passport. Hennigan talked in the article about how he knew if he did it he'd no longer be bullied, but he wouldn't do it because he wouldn't have wanted something like that done to him, and figured he got heat for not doing it. There's more on that in this Deadspin story about Layfield. Forbes has a story on Layfield as well.

I have gotten texts and DM's as well as spoken personally to 15 different Justin Roberts who all contacted me after the article I wrote.

Justin was the only one without any interest in going back who would speak publicly. The rest were just thanking me because they went through the same thing.

It's way worse and well known that I had imagined.

Only one of them knew Mauro, only their own experiences.

Source is Dave's own Observer message board account. Subscribers can view the thread here: http://theboard.f4wonline.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=202303&start=675

Edit: To be clear, by "15 different Justin Roberts" he means others in the company who have been bullied by JBL.

Edit 2: Worth reviewing....

Daivari shoots on JBL (and others) bullying Muhammad Hassan

Mark Henry shoots on JBL bullying him

Matt Hardy shoots on JBL bullying other wrestlers

Rene Dupree shoots on JBL being a backstage bully

Ivory shoots on JBL bullying rookie talent


Link to the shoot videos in the source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/6420p4/meltzer_says_he_has_spoken_with_15_different/
Apparently the stories about JBL's bullying are a lot worse than previously assumed. Blue Meanie also revealed in the past JBL attacked him for real at ECW One Night Stand 2005 because he spoke out in public about JBL's bullying antics. Links to the video shoots inside the source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/6420p4/meltzer_says_he_has_spoken_with_15_different/

The 4/6 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 309,000 viewers, up from last week's 297,000 viewers.

Michael Paris (DJZ) wrote about his surgery in Mexico that it went well, that they fixed his colon (which was ruptured in taking a 450 splash in a match Wednesday night in Mexico City) and will make a full recovery in a few weeks. He said he'll have to take time off from the ring but was scared at one point that his career was over. He said he's not happy to have a sweet scar on his stomach, but he's glad to be alive.

Glenn "Kane" Jacobs is expected to announce on 4/11 officially that he's running for Mayor of Knox County, TN. He will be running as a Republican as opposed to a Libertarian.

Deadline reported that Kurt Angle and Paul "Big Show" Wight have signed with the Agency for Performing Arts for potential acting roles.

With all the talk of the Superstar Shake-up this Monday at the Nassau Coliseum, obviously there is going to be a lot of talk of who should move brands.

As I discussed last month in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, the two major names that had been talked about when it came to "trades" between Raw and Smackdown were AJ Styles and Roman Reigns. In the case of Styles, there was a desire within the company to reunite him with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. In recent days, there's been more talk of Gallows and Anderson moving to Smackdown and Styles remaining where he is, however.

There's also been a lot of talk about greatly changing the Women's roster. There's been a big pitch to move Sasha Banks to Smackdown in recent days. Last week, there was a pitch to shift Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss and have them switch brands.

As we discussed Wednesday morning on the We Don't Need No Stinkin' Name Show, there has also been talk of bringing Andrades "Cien" Almas to the main roster, so it's possible that could happen shortly as well.

There's been a lot of talk this morning about Alberto el Patron going live on Periscope knocking WWE, while standing next to Paige, who is still under contract to WWE and was trying to "ssh" him, including Patron saying that everyone who works for WWE are "p****ies" especially the guy "with the big nose", obviously a reference to Triple H. One WWE source believed Patron's recent shots at the company came from WWE trying to book Paige to appear at AXXESS Wrestlemania week but telling her they did not want Patron in Orlando with her. Obviously, she did not appear at AXXESS.

ODB, who recently returned to Impact Wrestling, spoke to The Roman Show this past weekend. She noted that she had been away from the business to start her food truck business, which is called "The Meat and Greet".

"It's stationed in Daytona Beach," ODB said. "I am working with WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart. It's located at Jimmy's bar. I'll be traveling all over the Florida area selling my sides and cooking."

She noted that she has not been keeping up with pro wrestling during her time away.

"I've been out of the scene for the past three years," she said. "I've been going to barbecue festivals not wrestling shows. I am ready for whomever. I got a couple of more years left."

The A.V. Club has a new interview with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, who was promoting his "Ringside" show in Chicago at Zanies Rosemont on May 21st. Below are some highlights:

His new deal with WWE:

"I think I'm going to do 30-40 dates in my first 12 months of my deal. Those dates are to be determined. There's nothing they can assign me that I haven't done before. How many wrestling matches you think I've called in my lifetime—100,000? If they want me to do U.K. or NXT or Main Event, I don't care. It's all good to me. My days of being the lead guy, the No. 1 voice—all that is way yesterday. Guys who've had those issues like I have had in my career, they have self-esteem and confidence issues. I have both those. Totally happy to admit it, but I ain't got them no more. I'm 65 years old. I feel great, I just lost my wife, I'm trying to get back on my feet here, and I've said this and I truly mean it: I'm happy to get my jersey back. I'm happy to re-sign with my old team. Whatever role I need to play, I'm fine with."
Link to the interview with more highlights: http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-ross-his-wrestlemania-return-undertakers-retir-253359

The women’s tournament was officially announced as a new special WWE network show. The 32-woman tournament will feature women from 17 different countries, so the idea is to give it an international flavor. Most of the best women who do not have an existing contract with WWE or another promotion are expected to be invited, including American and U.K.-based women who tour for Stardom. The tournament was originally scheduled for January, but moved back when WWE prioritized a U.K. territory and proposed television show getting off the ground due to ITV airing a wrestling product ... The idea was to be similar to the cruiserweight classic, which would mean a ten or 11 or so week television show taped at different intervals at Full Sail University most likely, although that is not official. We are aware that women had been contacted a couple of months ago and told to clear their schedules for late May, although that could change. We do know that Toni Storm, the top foreigner from Stardom, who was wrestling at Axxess (and the general response we got was the U.K. contingent both men and women were much better than the NXT regulars) and Io Shirai have been contacted for the tournament. People like Storm and Tessa Blanchard have been considered a lock all along. I’d expect Jinny from the U.K. based on her doing matches at Axxess and getting good reviews for them. The belief is Shirai has also agreed to go, although nobody in Japan seems to know for sure what her situation is. Nixon Newell, who was to start about that time, would make sense and she and Kairi Hojo, also scheduled to start around that time, makes sense ... A number of women set for the tournament are getting contract offers, so the idea seems to be to sign at least the key people they are looking at pushing as the winners up ahead of time so the cruiserweight situation doesn’t repeat itself. Even though it seems kind of weird because women are a key part of NXT, Raw and Smackdown, but the working idea is to come out of the tournament with a one hour weekly show for the network, like 205 Live. The only way I can see that is to drop Main Event on Monday and tape the women’s show before Raw. It’s a different dynamic because for women, the indies aren’t as lucrative and there aren’t the options like for Ibushi where there’s no need to sign a full-time deal, so the odds of one of the top women they want to push turning down a contract offer are a lot lower. I was told that the field is about 90 percent booked right now.


Some other sheet news includes:

As reported above, Deadspin had a recent interview with Johnny Mundo/John Morrison regarding JBL's bullying rep with Mundo revealing JBL asked him to steal Justin Roberts passport. Also revealed JBL had the habit of cutting MNM's jackets and then do nothing as they'd get yelled by management for the jackets being destroyed. http://deadspin.com/ex-wweer-on-announcer-jbls-bullying-this-stuff-is-enc-1794126676
Chris Jericho revealed on his Instagram account his podcast show called Talk Is Jericho is currently in the Top 100 list for most listened podcast shows in the world. https://www.instagram.com/p/BSkpoz0l2qM/
According to Dave Meltzer, WWE currently has plans for Kurt Angle to wrestle as part of his current run in the company although he still needs to pass the physicals to make it happen. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/850446063081107456

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Destroyer of the Roman Empire:
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With a show based around talent movement, Raw ratings, while falling from last week's 2017 high point for the Raw after WrestleMania, remained strong, doing 3.42 million viewers ...

For a comparison, the same show one year ago did 3.52 million viewers but that was a regular Raw episode and not a show built around talent changing brands. But a three percent year-to-year drop is far below the usual double-digit drops that have been the case with most weeks this year ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.43 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.60 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.26 million viewers


Glenn Jacobs (better known as Kane to wrestling fans) is officially running for political office.

Jacobs launched his campaign to become mayor of Knox County, Tennessee at an event at Sweet P's BBQ & Soul House in Knoxville today. The announcement was a formality given that Jacobs had filed paperwork to appoint a campaign treasurer last month, which would allow him to begin raising money.

At the event today, Jacobs promised to keep taxes low and make Knox County somewhere that people can be proud of.

Though he's labeled himself as a Libertarian in the past, Jacobs will be running as a Republican. The election to replace current Republican mayor Tim Burchett, who can't run again due to term limits, will take place on May 1st, 2018.

Wrestling DVD Network posted the content listing for the DVD that WWE is producing on Kevin Owens that will be released in July. The first disc will be a documentary, the second will have special features and matches, and the third will have more matches.

Mark Haskins will face Mark Andrews in a number one contender's match for PROGRESS Wrestling on April 23rd. The winner will get a shot at Pete Dunne's title.

The angle at Raw last week where The Revival took out Kofi Kingston's leg was to cover for the fact that he needed ankle surgery.

WWE reported that Kingston had ankle surgery and will be out of action for several weeks.

Dr. Chris Amann gave what may have been the real diagnosis, although obviously was not the actual reason for the injury on the WWE.com website saying:

"During the attack by The Revival, Kofi injured his right ankle and heard a crack, and was unable to put weight on his leg following the attack. Further evaluation and an MRI revealed that the attack had caused fragments of bone to break off the ankle bone (talus), requiring arthroscopic surgery to remove the bone chips from the damaged joint."

Regarding the situation with Katsuyori Shibata and surgery that was reported on the New Japan web site for a subdural hematoma suffered in the match with Kazuchika Okada, that may be storyline to put over the brutality of the match.
Current speculation is the injury is real but NJPW is now using it for storyline purposes.

For fans of old Mid South Wrestling, the WWE Network has added more new shows this week and now every show from December 1981 through January 1983 is up, in order, so it actually can be watched as is. That was some of the best episodic television of its era, or really, any era. That would be the Junkyard Dog heyday but before the real boom in 1984.

WWE Studios filed a lawsuit against BitTorrent in a copyright infringement claim in U.S. District Court in Connecticut on Thursday alleging they distributed their movie "Eliminators." They are asking for $150,000 per infringement plus court costs in a jury trail.

Several news outlets including USA Today, the Indianapolis Star and Pro Wrestling Sheet have reported that Ric Flair was kicked out of a bar, the Deck at the Gas House in Fort Wayne, or calling a bartender a "fat ass," when she poured a new drink into his old drink. This was caught by someone's camera phone and because of Flair's celebrity status got covered in a lot of places. The Indianapolis star reported that Flair was only there for a few minutes before being kicked out.

After involving himself in the Ranallo situation yesterday by claiming that ESPN doesn't report on "rumors," Jonathan Coachman said that he's done covering WWE for ESPN, noting that he doesn't have the time and has a big project coming up. He also said that there's no bullying culture in WWE.

Jim Ross confirmed that he'll still be calling NJPW on AXS even after returning to WWE. As Dave Meltzer has reported in the Observer, Ross has a non-exclusive deal with AXS and officials from the station expected him to continue.

Numerous sources have confirmed to PWInsider that Finn Balor suffered a concussion last night against Jinder Mahal on Raw, his first singles bout back since returning to WWE TV.

There is no word yet how long Balor may be out.

WWE has not officially acknowledged the injury as of this writing.

As noted in TV taping results for Ring of Honor, Kenny Dykstra and Mike Mondo debuted doing their Spirit Squad team. The original plan for their debut was to have them challenge The Young Bucks at the last Hammerstein Ballroom event, but those plans were changed when Matt and Jeff Hardy left TV and became available to ROH for a short run.

The Miz spoke with The Wrestling Compadres about the time he went on Talking Smack and completely lit up General Manager, Daniel Bryan. He also talked about how he has "no filter," once he gets going.

"You guys are getting an exclusive here, I don't think I've ever told this. So here was my day up to that point: I wasn't written on the episode that day and I'm the Intercontinental champion. This is the title that I've loved since I was a child, and I don't want to be the guy who says, 'I'm going to make it great,' and then not do anything. I want to make it great. So I told them to put me on 'Talking Smack.' They asked, 'Well what are you going to do?' And I said I'm going to rip into Daniel Bryan. And then I guess I kind of went overboard. And when I go, I have no filter. It's everything that is fueling inside of me and I just black out.'"

The Miz also indicated that Bryan's response wasn't scripted:

"He actually left. I didn't expect him to leave — I expected him to hit me. The things I was laying in to him on were very below the belt and very mean and very rude, but when I go, I just go."
Link to the interview: http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/story/wwe-the-miz-wrestlemania-maryse-john-cena-nikki-bella-daniel-bryan-promo-talking-smack-superstar-shakeup-040817

There has been a lot of interest in signing former Ring of Honor star Lio Rush for the WWE NXT brand, according to PWInsider. Rush recently finished up with ROH and was backstage for the post-WrestleMania 33 RAW in Orlando last week. Rush previously held the Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Titles with current NXT Superstar Patrick Clark.

As noted, Mauro Ranallo returned to social media this weekend and has been very active on Twitter after removing any WWE mentions from his profiles. While Mauro received a ton of support on Twitter yesterday, it was noted on today's Wrestling Observer Radio that JBL was blocking people that were tweeting the well wishes. JBL also blocked people that were following both he and Mauro on Twitter.


Some other sheet news includes:

Recent episode of the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling had Kane as the guest and talked about his mayoral run. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/tmptow/episodes/2017-04-11T13_31_29-07_00
Sports Illustrated, Vice, Huffington Post, and Yahoo Sports all recently joined the list of media currently reporting on the JBL-Mauro bullying saga.

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/04/11/mauro-ranallo-jbl-wwe-bullying
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bullying-is-shameful-and-not-just-when-children-do_us_58ebf137e4b081da6ad006ce
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/firejbl-wrestling-fans-denounce-wwe-amid-allegations-of-announcer-bullying
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/questions-remain-wwe-bullying-scandal-153609621.html

Update to Noam Dar's injury status as it appears he was recently medically cleared to return to the ring as early as tonight's 205 Live episode.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Kevin Owens' worst nightmare:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/2b2423d6eef4e600b7561cde18abc636/tumblr_oo9sue9Q3w1u1ljrzo2_540.gif

Tuesday night's "Superstar Shakeup" edition of SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 3,105,000 viewers, the best number for the show since the WWE draft last July.

That number was up eight percent from last week's post-WrestleMania SmackDown and well above the 2.57 million the show has been averaging since the brand split.

The situation between Mauro Ranallo and John "Bradshaw" Layfield has continued to get more media attention today. The New York Post ran a story asking how long WWE can ignore reports of JBL's bullying, Brandon Howard of Fightful.com compiled an oral history of JBL and WWE's culture of hazing, the Dayton Daily News wrote about Jonathan Coachman stopping his SportsCenter segment amid complaints about ESPN's coverage of WWE, and David Bixenspan's latest article for Deadspin also focused on Coachman's coverage.
Links to the articles: http://nypost.com/2017/04/12/how-long-can-wwe-ignore-bullying-story/ , http://www.fightful.com/jbl-and-wwes-culture-hazing-bullying-oral-history , http://www.daytondailynews.com/entertainment/espn-anchor-draws-ire-over-network-soft-wwe-coverage-drops-pro-wrestling-sportscenter-segment/y3xD1Neam9Wa1Mz51csMOI/ , http://deadspin.com/espns-jonathan-coachman-acts-like-he-still-works-for-ww-1794258058

There were some signs of support for Ranallo in the crowd at the SmackDown tapings in Boston last night, as well as some negative chants towards JBL. Ranallo thanked fans for their support but also tweeted, "Please support the men & women who put their bodies on the line. I am gonna be fine. No one buys a ticket for an announcer."

Lana posted on Twitter this morning that inappropriate behavior by TSA agents at Logan Airport in Boston made her feel violated. She later tweeted an update, saying that police helped resolve the problem.

Braun Strowman responded to a petition that called for him to be fired after the angle on Raw where he destroyed Roman Reigns: "I do what I want when I want and your stupid petition won't change that!! #NoOneIsSafe #EveryoneWillFall #YourTearsHydrateMe"

EVOLVE's show in Chicago on May 20th has been moved to 2:30 p.m. with NXT TakeOver taking place in the city that night.

Another WWE couple has tied the knot.

Renee Young confirmed on Twitter this morning that her and Dean Ambrose have gotten married. She wrote: "Marriage is nice. Thanks for all the love."

Speculation about their marriage began when Ambrose wore a ring on his finger on this week's episode of Raw. Young also wore a ring on Talking Smack on Tuesday, with both Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens making references to her marriage.

Next Tuesday's episode of Smackdown Live will not air live in Canada.

Sportsnet 360 in Canada will air Game 4 of the NHL playoff featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Smackdown live will be broadcast on Sportsnet 360 Wednesday night at 7:30 PM.

On the fifth episode of Dinner With The King, hosted by Jerry “The King” Lawler and Glenn Moore, The King shares his opinion on the recent JBL controversy, including how ribs and joking around are prevelant in pro wrestling’s culture. He also thinks JBL won’t lose his job over something like this.

“I’m a JBL fan. Here’s the thing about JBL; you have to know the guy. And if you don’t get an opportunity to really know JBL, you can be offended. JBL is a funny guy. He’s a big guy. He’s boisterous. He comes across as, sometimes, crude and loud. But you gotta know him. That’s just JBL. He’s the same guy on commentary as he is in catering.”

When it comes to JBL losing his job, Lawler adds, “I don’t [think so], but hey, that’s my opinion. I don’t think he will, not over something like this."
Link to the episode: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/more-glenn-moore-podcast/dinner-with-the-king

WWE Network has added three episodes of Prime Time Wrestling from March and April 1987. The episodes were taped in Baltimore, Maryland and are hosted by WWE Hall of Famers Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon.

This week, WrestlingINC President Raj Giri caught up with WWE Hall Of Famer and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle. Among other things, Angle talked about things being different in WWE now, whether his current general manager role is preventing his in-ring return, and the AngleStrong app ...

According to Angle, he does not expect to be performing in a WWE ring until the end of the year and that happening hinges on the outcome of a physical examination.

"I don't know about 'soon'. I think that the general manager role is going to last a little while. I don't think they want me to go any step further than that, but you do have to keep in mind that until I take the physical [no in-ring return will happen]." Angle continued, "I don't know when it's going to occur, but I'd say it'd most likely occur. But, I'd say probably near the end of the year is what I'm guessing and I really don't know."

Angle noted that he has not yet taken a physical to return to the ring. In Angle's estimation, WWE officials want to see how 'The American Hero' does for a little bit before letting him back into the squared circle as a competitor.

"I did hint to Triple H at the very beginning of our talks that I did want to wrestle again and he said, 'we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. You're going to have to take a physical and you're going to have to pass.' So he said, 'let's just take it one step at a time.' I really believe, and this was not mentioned by anybody, and this is my own belief, I really believe they want to see how I do. They want to see if I really am the person I say I am, that I've been staying clean for four years, that I've got my life together, that I have everything on track. It's a bit of a longer process, but you've got to earn back the trust."
Link to the interview and more highlights: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0412/625218/kurt-angle-on-if-he-has-taken-the-wwe-physical/

Bray Wyatt going to the RAW brand in the "Superstar Shakeup" may have been a late change as his "House of Horrors" match with WWE Champion Randy Orton had been planned for the May 21st Backlash pay-per-view from Chicago, according to PWInsider. As noted, the match will take place at the April 30th Payback pay-per-view from San Jose.

As noted, new SmackDown Superstar Kofi Kingston suffered an ankle injury last week and is expected to be out of action for several weeks after having surgery. He posted the following update to fans on Instagram Tuesday:

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes! I'm doing just fine! I'll be back when the time is right!Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes! I'm doing just fine! I'll be back when the time is right!
Link to the Instagram posting: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSw48YzjZ-z/

Former WWE broadcaster Rich Brennan did an interview with Under The Mat radio and gave his thoughts on JBL:

"JBL was difficult to work with as a broadcast partner, it’s nothing you can do about it because that’s Vince’s guy. With this whole thing going on (Mauro Ranallo situation) I don’t know but it seems like he’s entrenched there. He basically violates all rules when it comes to broadcast announcers in how we are trained to be announcers because he can. Difficult to work with, part of that is his heel persona, some of that is if he (JBL) doesn’t like you or respect you then it’s dialed up little bit. At times I felt like he really didn’t work to make the product better, he was just there to get himself over. Backstage he was ok to me. Can I see him giving Mauro a hard time? Absolutely, I can."
Link to the podcast episode: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/underthematradio/2017/04/10/under-the-mat-radio-rich-bocchini-effect


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE recently released NXT's new opening theme on their official WWEMusic Youtube channel. Song is called "Rage" by CFO$. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLnH8qFWFV0
The LAW's John Pollock recently wrote an article about WWE's JBL-Mauro bullying saga with him saying a lot of people in the industry supports Mauro butalso thinks the WWE won't do nothing and just wants it to fade away from the public instead. Understands not everyone like Mauro's style but was upset the most at people not taking his medical condition or the issue of bullying seriously considering how badly it can be mentally. http://fightnetwork.com/law/april-12-news-update-the-mauro-ranallo-story-is-gaining-more-attention/
In the same article as above, John Pollock revealed a documentary is in the works about Mauro's career and covers his struggles trying to succeed as someone with bipolarism.
According to the Observer, anti-bullying organization Be A Star is owned by the WWE but those running it are very uncomfortable right now due to JBL's bullying saga. Also worried at the real possibility of associated charities will start to pull support the longer the bullying saga goes. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/852266458792960000
WWE is currently holding a sale on their online shop with hoodies and sweatshirts getting a $20 discount only for today. http://shop.wwe.com/sweatshirts-sweatpants-and-fleece/?AID=12707648&PID=5461499&utm_source=CommissionJunction&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CJ&utm_content=5461499

[drave]

Booooooo @ the new NXT theme.

[Cool King]

Braun Strowman responded to a petition that called for him to be fired after the angle on Raw where he destroyed Roman Reigns: "I do what I want when I want and your stupid petition won't change that!! #NoOneIsSafe #EveryoneWillFall #YourTearsHydrateMe"

#YourTearsHydrateMe

That's great. :lol:

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Wrestling Greatest Retirement Match - Terry Funk vs Straw Hat, Funk's 128th retirement match:
http://i.imgur.com/ujLF2e4.gif


The Orton vs Wyatt house of horrors match will be the blow off with Wyatt losing. He won't be taking the belt to RAW.

(WWE apparently still doesn't even know what a HoH match is. They sent out a survey asking fans what they wanted to see and it looks like it's gonna be a mess. "fog, creepy noises, etc")

Styles and Owens is set for Backlash in May for the US belt. While that feud is going it seems Orton will be in a program with Corbin since it's "to early for Nakamura"

Brock will defend the Universal belt against Braun in "June or July"

The plan is still Brock vs Roman at Mania next year. So they'll continue to be kept apart.
Taken from r/SquaredCircle that summarized several reports from this week's Observer Newsletter

Spoiler tags used since its related to rumored upcoming plans for the WWE, Universal, and US title according to the Observer

At press time, neither Mauro Ranallo nor WWE have made any statements on the case past WWE saying Ranallo is under contract through 8/12. Ranallo’s contract doesn’t allow him to give unauthorized interviews on WWE and the belief is that WWE is working hard to come to a settlement that would include an agreement that he not publicly talk about the issue.

Layfield going off on Ranallo on the WWE Network show “Bring It To The Table,” which was the final catalyst for what happened, while positioned and purported to be an unscripted show, that’s not exactly the case. The show isn’t exactly scripted, but the topics, the tone, the parameters and where to go and not to go are all discussed in advance. It is Chris Chambers who puts together the show and Kevin Dunn is the person responsible for the show. Because of that, Layfield’s attack on Ranallo was not something done off the cuff or out of the blue. Chambers had to know about it and Dunn had to know about. Vince McMahon may not have known about it, but after it became an issue, he would have known about it and the show was re-aired without the segment being edited off. Whether or not it was Layfield’s idea to do it, what they could and couldn’t do was up to Chambers. The insults, at least the tone or degree of them, had to have been approved in advance.

The JBL situation has continued to get more and more mainstream media attention. There was an article in the New York Post this morning. It has become a big talking point locally in Fairfield County, CT where WWE HQ is as well. As I wrote a few weeks ago, I didn't expect WWE to make any moves or comment on the situation unless it started to pick up momentum in the mainstream press or with their corporate partners. It appears that momentum has started.

As an aside, Justin Roberts couldn't have timed his book to come out at a better time when you think about it, as all of this is only help fuel attention to his book.
Link to the NY Post article: http://nypost.com/2017/04/12/how-long-can-wwe-ignore-bullying-story/

WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash took to Twitter and defended JBL as the heat continues for the SmackDown announcer over his issues with Mauro Ranallo. Nash wrote:

JBL broke in in an era of 300 pound bad ass men. So his psychological thoughts are very real. Everyone could go. He's shifted to our new era
— Kevin Nash (@RealKevinNash) April 13, 2017


JBL is one of the most thoughtful on air personalities WWE has. He's a mans man. But looking to always advance talent. #dont' be a b---h
— Kevin Nash (@RealKevinNash) April 13, 2017
Jim Cornette also recently defended JBL and the bullying accusations against him by recalling his own stories of bullying people in the industry.

They apparently haven’t decided on what a House of Horrors match is yet. In fact, they’ve actually done a survey at the WWE Fan Council this past week asking them what they’d like it to be, bringing up various weapons and such. The question asked people to check what elements they’d like in the match, listing cage, darkness, fire, pitchforks, mirrors, projected images (that worked just great at WrestleMania), fog, a match done outside the arena, creepy scary venue, music, “Sheepie” and “nothing different.” Well, it can’t be a straight match after they’ve already named it House of Horrors.

An update on the situation with Katsuyori Shibata. Unfortunately the news appears to be very bad and that the injuries are not storyline. This is not 100 percent because there are many situations historically where this could be just storyline or a cover for something else, but it appears this is the case and that a combination of dehydration and the trauma of the legitimately skull-on-skull head-butt hospitalized him and at this point it is believed he will never be cleared to wrestle. He is currently in the hospital and is awake, can carry on a conversation, has some memories of the match itself. He initially had some right side paralysis but that is getting better.
Initially, the Observer thought NJPW was making the injury sound worse than it really was for storyline purposes but backtracked once actual medical info started to get released.

There is a major story that affects independent promotions and WWE as well who made revenue from YouTube. By doing this, almost all wrestling channels will be losing virtually all ad revenue, which in cases of companies that pushed product consumption on YouTube as a significant part of their business plan, that's a major hit.
In terms of the WWE, they'd be losing around $6-$7 million as a result while smaller indies are teasing at possibly shutting down from the lost revenue.

Producer Mike Ryan said on Dan LeBatard's show in the third national hour yesterday that he believed WWE had banned them from getting guests, saying, "They don't trust us, and you know what, that's probably a good call by them." Ryan is a big fan. They had DDP on last week and he seemed to get mad when LeBatard tried to press him on a fight he had with Scott Steiner in the 90s.

Despite the storyline injury from the Braun Strowman attack at Monday's RAW, Roman Reigns is still scheduled to work weekend WWE live events. F4Wonline.com adds that live event listings for this weekend have Superstars scheduled to work with the brands they were on before the "Superstar Shakeup" roster changes made this week.

In the video above, Mojo Rawley talks to TMZ Sports about WWE possibly signing good friend Rob Gronkowski of the NFL's New England Patriots.

Gronk helped Mojo win the fourth annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33 and assisted him again on SmackDown. Regarding Gronk possibly coming to WWE to team with Mojo, he said:

"Oh man, are you kidding me? Of course we've explored that opportunity but Gronk's focused on his career right now. He's been training real hard and yeah, he's been having a little but of fun with us the past couple of weeks but he doesn't let that take away from his NFL career, from the Patriots, so he's staying focused. We don't want to rope him in too far because he's really in the zone right now but hey, you never know what the future will hold."
Link to the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqi50ghkOW8

As noted, David Otunga's RAW commentary debut has been delayed for six weeks as he's off filming a lead role in an action movie. That movie is titled "Katrina" and is set in 2005 New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Otunga stars as edgy DEA agent James "World" Lawson. No word yet on when the movie will be released.

As noted, Jonathan Coachman stated this past weekend that he would no longer be covering WWE on ESPN. Coach had been hosting the Off the Top Rope segment on Wednesday nights on SportsCenter, which featured an interview with a WWE star and clips from WWE programming from earlier in the week. Coach cited a big project that he's working on as the reason for why he is no longer hosting it, and said that ESPN would still be covering WWE. It's not clear if he meant that ESPN would continue to do the segment or just cover it in general, but there was no mention of it or WWE on last night's SportsCenter.

We've noted how Stephanie McMahon has been kept off WWE TV to sell the table bump from Triple H vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 33. According to Dave Meltzer, the table bump spot wasn't so much to get Rollins over, but because Stephanie had a family vacation scheduled at the Turks & Caicos Beaches Resort in the Caribbean.

As noted, WWE parted ways with Simon Gotch of The Vaudevillains last week after he apparently requested his release.

This may not have anything to do with the departure but Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that there was an incident with Gotch at catering before the April 4th SmackDown in Orlando.

Gotch reportedly tipped over his own chair and got mad when he went over. The Observer notes that the fall was bad enough that it caused a scene.

From someone on the WWE side with full knowledge of the particulars of how the negotiations were going, at least as of right now, all talks about WWE buying ROH are considered dead. ROH and WWE are still in talks about licensing old content on the WWE Network, but no deal has been made on that.

Drew Galloway had never agreed to appear on the ITV project but the Impact side claims that Jim Ross was on board to do the show but hadn’t signed. He backed out after getting the WWE offer, which was about five or so weeks ago. The offer was said to be extremely strong. The one thing we’d heard was that Ross’ view is that the ITV project was only guaranteed for ten episodes, while his WWE deal was for two years and that WWE would always be around.

Randy Orton was a guest at his home town of St. Louis’ recent Wizard World convention, held last weekend, April 7 - 9. During his Q & A, the WWE World champ was brutally honest about his entrance at WrestleMania 33, which saw him walk down the 80 yard ramp while a “Viper” was projected beneath his feet

As Orton told the crowd, including one pre-teen boy who asked him about it, he’s often “screwed out of entrances” like the ones Triple H gets. He particularly disliked this year’s because “The snake looked like giant sperm”.

He reiterated his thoughts on the ‘Mania 33 entrance when he told the crowd he loved “Big 4” pay-per-view (PPV) events, but WrestleMania can have downsides like having to “ride a giant sperm” to the ring.


Some other sheet news includes:

More of the media has started to pick up on the WWE bullying saga with ESPN also targeted for their refusal to cover the news due to business deals with the company.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 20th anniversary of ECW's first ever ppv called Barley Legal.
According to the Observer, there is currently some doubt if Shelton Benjamin will actually return to the WWE. He got medically cleared to wrestle recently but the original offer by the WWE was pulled when they discovered he was injured and were not informed prior to the talks.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Dean's Wacky Dive:
http://i.imgur.com/my0TveL.gif

The WWE has initiated settlement talks with Mauro Ranallo's representatives. It was pretty much incumbent that was going to have to happen.
For some reference, Mauro's current contract doesn't end till August 2md and if its anything like Del Rio's non-disparagement deal, WWE is likely spending over a million for it.

Peter Rosenberg
@Rosenbergradio

"I apologize in advance to anyone who is listening to cheap heat hoping to hear me bury JBL. I only speak on my experience-not ur storyline"
Host of Cheap Heat podcast show and pretty much outted himself as not wanting to risk his business relationship with the WWE to cover the bullying saga.

Former WWE Stars Ken Anderson and Shawn Daivari appeared once again on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show and discussed whether WrestleMania 33 was The Undertaker's last match, as well as backstage JBL stories. They sent us these highlights:

How to stop JBL's hazing backstage:

Anderson: "I read something where he told Justin Roberts to go kill himself, everyday. He would say stuff like that, but the minute somebody would fire back at him, or just no-sell it, [they'll] be fine. He wouldn't keep hammering... I'm not saying that his way is right, but people are really, really sensitive nowadays for that reason."

Daivari: "Whenever I hear about John being a bully to whoever, and the specific names that come out, it's because the person he was quote-unquote bullying was trying so hard to get over with him. Like, dude, not everybody is gonna like you. Maybe [John] doesn't like you, you don't have to prove a point and defend [yourself]. If he says you're a dork and he hates you, you don't have to prove to him that you're not a dork and he should like you. Just let it go."

Anderson shares a time where both Edge and John Morrison stood up to JBL:

"Paul Heyman told me this story about how JBL was needling Edge on a bus, overseas. Edge was pretty new to the company, and [JBL kept needling him]. JBL had a beer in his hand, Edge just stood up, and swatted the beer out of his hand, and said 'Let's go right now. I'm sick of it.' From that point on, JBL said 'Oh calm down, sweetheart.' Everything was smoothed over, and he didn't mess with him again.

"[John Morrison] stood up to him one night. JBL didn't like the way him and Miz had sold at the end of their match. They hadn't celebrated enough. [JBL was getting on him], and Johnny basically just snapped on him, and told him to mind his own business. They almost went at it."

Daivari shares a story when he stood up to JBL:

"John came [backstage] and just picked me as his target. A bunch of people weren't watching [his main event match from backstage], and he goes, 'Shawn Daivari doesn't need to watch the main event! Shawn Daivari knows everything about everything in wrestling! Shawn doesn't have to watch the main event! He's good, he's got it!' And I said, 'No. You've been doing the same match 17 nights in a row. I can call every single move you did, I can tell you exactly what happened, I can tell you what heat you did to the crowd to get them involved, I've seen it! No, I don't need to watch it tonight!'"
Link to the interview and more highlights: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0413/625259/former-wwe-stars-on-edge-and-john-morrison-standing-up-to-jbl/

Booker T will be returning to WWE commentary for a limited time.

Though it was announced that David Otunga would be joining the Raw announce team and swapping places with Byron Saxton as part of WWE's roster shakeup, WWE.com noted yesterday that Otunga would be absent from the show for the next six weeks because he's filming a movie.

The website teased the announcement of a replacement for Otunga during that period, then revealed Booker T as the choice today. He'll be calling Raw alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves.

The company's quarterly report will be on 5/4. That will cover the first three months of the year, prior to WrestleMania. The report that would cover WrestleMania wouldn't come out until late July or early August.

The 4/13 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 302,000 viewers, down slightly from last week's 309,000 viewers.

WWE's website ran a story noting that New Day's Big E will be officiating weddings in Los Angeles next week. Big E tweeted a few days ago that he would be officiating weddings the weekend of 4/20-4/22 and he can be contacted for wedding bookings at MarriedbyBigE@gmail.com.

Speaking of New Day, there's been talk of keeping them off TV for their official "debut" on Smackdown until Kofi Kingson is ready to return to action.

Alexa Bliss was interviewed by FOX Sports about her move to the Raw brand. Bliss said she learned officially that day she was moving to Raw and even when she got travel, she didn't know if it meant she was moving or they were bringing some talents to the show to throw fans off.
Link to the interview: http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/gallery/wwe-alexa-bliss-interview-raw-superstar-shakeup-results-041317

Raven spoke with Title Match Wrestling during WrestleMania weekend to talk about a number of topics. In this video, they focused on Goldberg and his time in WCW. Here are some of the highlights:

Wrestling against Goldberg:

"Havin' that match with Goldberg was great for both of us - not at the time, for me, because I was just one more number on the train - but the quality of the match, when Goldberg wasn't having the most outstanding level of matches, and continued not to have them. Which he'll admit, he'll be very frank about it, that he didn't have great matches."

Bad booking decisions with Goldberg's WCW run:

"I think the problem with the run of Goldberg at the end, wasn't that the matches weren't longer, but was that they beat him. Ya know? They never should have beat him, he had the whole company on his back. I mean, I think that was a purely ego-driven decision and it wasn't based on business...I would have definitely kept him undefeated a lot longer. I think the mindset was - besides being slightly ego-driven - was the fact that, 'Well, we have to beat him, it'll be to give him sympathy,' but it just wasn't time for it yet. I mean, he was a unique thing that didn't apply to the rules, he was an exception, and sometimes that's why there are exceptions to rules."

During a Q&A, AJ Lee was asked about one specific time when she was walking to the ring with Big E and Dolph Ziggler. It was when Big E was stretching his arms back and mistakenly hit her hard in the chest. AJ said afterwards she played it up that she was hurt for the week and even told Big E her sternum was broken before eventually saying she was fine. At the Q&A she said:

"He's like the most - also, I can take a lot of pain, so I was just like 'Whatever,' - but he's the most gentle giant and so, we got the back and he's just like 'Oh my god! Oh my god!' He was on the verge of tears and was like 'What can I do? Are you okay?' and so I thought it would really - you know, to be a really good friend - I was like 'let me make him feel so bad about this.'"

@AJBrooks talking about the time @WWEBigE almost broke her sternum pic.twitter.com/MdlsoHOgz6
— Cynthia (@FactsAJ) April 14, 2017

WWE issued a Fan Council Survey this past week and asked fans which elements would interest them for a "House of Horrors" match. The elements listed were:

* Cage
* "Sheeple"
* A match set outside the arena
* Darkness
* Mirrors
* Creepy/Scary
* Fire
* Projected images
* Music
* Pitch forks
* Fog
* Other
* Nothing different
Some new details about what the WWE is currently considering as ideas for the WWE title match.

We noted before that Bray Wyatt's "Superstar Shakeup" move to the RAW roster appeared to be a late decision as his "House of Horrors" match with WWE Champion Randy Orton, now announced for the April 30th Payback pay-per-view, was originally being planned for the May 21st Backlash pay-per-view. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that a lot of the changes were last minute but some of the changes had been locks for some time. Wyatt apparently replaced AJ Styles, who had been penciled in for a move to RAW going back several months ago.

Besides Styles, there was also a plan to move Roman Reigns and that move was still being discussed as of late. It was noted that moving Reigns to the blue brand would also require them to move Braun Strowman and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar as top summer storylines involve Strowman working against Reigns to get to Strowman vs. Lesnar while keeping Reigns vs. Lesnar alive with the idea of keeping them apart as long as possible. WWE officials are still planning on doing Reigns vs. Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.
Some details regarding why Reigns and Styles didn't move brands from the "Superstar Shakeup."

As previously noted, it became public knowledge that Dean Ambrose and Renee Young are a married couple. While they filed for marriage back in October 2016, a ceremony was reportedly just held this past weekend in Las Vegas. It’s unknown if there is any heat on Ambrose and Young but there is speculation about why WWE put them on separate brands right after their ceremony.

To fail USADA test your epi/test ratio has to be 2:1 or greater.

To fail WWE Wellness test your ratio has to be 10:1 or greater.

To sum it up, you have to be pretty dumb or have very bad timing to fail WWE testing.
From a thread a couple days ago on r/SquaredCircle about Jinder Mahal's recent bulking and how hard it would be to fail a Wellness Test. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/64zrts/regarding_jinder_mahals_supposed_steroid_use/


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now Rosenberg said that <a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON">@davemeltzerWON</a> doesn't do research/reporting &amp; has an axe to grind because his livelihood depends on WWE<br><br>I...what?</p>&mdash; David Bixenspan (@davidbix) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/852770900873060352">April 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Some other sheet news includes:

Website Fightful recently had an article regarding the potential aftermath from Youtube restricting ad revenue for wrestling companies using their service. http://www.fightful.com/youtube-ad-revenue-changes-hurting-indie-promotions-potentially-wwe
NJPW's owner stated if the upcoming US tour ends up being a success, they will seriously consider holding more events in the US for the future.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 12th anniversary of the debut of Cena's Spinner version of the WWE title.
According to a belt maker for the WWE, the company still has plans of giving the blue treatment for the WWE title soon to match other belts given the same red/blue design because of the brand split.
According to the Observer, next major feud for the NXT titles is set to be Authors of Pain vs Heavy Machinery.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Braun taking out some trash:
https://i.giphy.com/3oKIPEiO25pBIJSeGY.gif

Raw last night was down from the past two weeks but the 3.33 million viewers has to be considered strong for a regular show with NBA playoff competition.

The show only dropped three percent from the Superstar Shakeup episode, even going against two strong NBA games on TNT, the Indiana Pacers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game that did 3.58 million viewers against the first half of Raw, and the Memphis Grizzlies vs. San Antonio Spurs game that did 3.17 million viewers against the second half of Raw ...

Still, in this day and age, any Raw number over 3.2 million viewers for a regular show has to be considered successful ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.41 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.47 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.17 million viewers


From Chris Aiken on why Steve Austin wasn't at WrestleMania this year: "Steve Austin sold his Broken Skull Ranch property outside Tilden, Texas. He revealed the news about the 2,100 acre ranch on his podcast. In going public with the news, Austin also dispelled rumors related to him not appearing at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando. He said any rumors of him being at odds with WWE are false, and added that he missed attending WrestleMania because he was too busy with the process of selling the ranch property, among other reasons related to his schedule and workload. Austin went on to say he and his wife would like to buy another ranch closer to where they live in California. He said the traveling distance between their home in Marina Del Ray to Tilden was too far. In selling the property, Austin retained rights to the 'Broken Skull Ranch' name as his intellectual property and the new owners will rename the ranch."

WWE is running a sweepstakes where people who are current WWE Network subscribers and have subscribed since before August 1st, 2014 are entered to win a trip to WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. Those eligible for the sweepstakes have already been entered automatically and will receive one entry for every day that they've been subscribed to the Network.

Ken Anderson will be wrestling for Ring of Honor for the first time on April 28th in Hopkins, Minnesota. He'll be challenging Marty Scurll for the ROH World Television title.

ROH revealed that EVIL and Hirooki Goto are set to appear on the upcoming War of the Worlds tour. KUSHIDA and Tetsuya Naito were announced for the tour yesterday.

Officials from both Impact Wrestling and AAA detailed how the promotions plan to collaborate in the future at a press conference in Mexico today.

It was announced that they would be exchanging talent, with wrestlers from AAA working Impact's Slammiversary pay-per-view on July 2nd and wrestlers from Impact working Triplemania XXV on August 26th.

Bobby Lashley, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, and Moose have been confirmed for Triplemania. Jeff Jarrett said at the press conference that the AAA wrestlers appearing at Slammiversary haven't been decided on yet.

One of Impact's titles will also be defended at Triplemania.

The promotions revealed in a press release that they plan to run "co-branded live tours" in the fall as well.

Impact and AAA officially announced their working agreement at Rey de Reyes in Monterrey last month. Since Anthem Sports & Entertainment took over the company, Impact has struck a deal to partner with ITV on the World of Sport revival in the UK, announced an alliance with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, and also began a working relationship with The Crash (which is a rival promotion to AAA) in Mexico.


Matt Anoa'i, who was best known in wrestling for his time as Rosey in WWE, passed away yesterday at 47 years old.

News of his death was announced on social media this morning, with Anoa'i's ex-wife noting in a Facebook post that he was aware that his health was fragile. He was previously hospitalized for congestive heart failure in 2014.

On Twitter, Mauro Ranallo, when plugging his calling Showtime boxing this coming weekend, said, "You best believe I'll be calling pro wrestling again, too."

One half of The Revival will be out of action for the next several weeks after suffering an injury.

WWE.com announced today that Dash Wilder fractured his jaw at an NXT house show over the weekend. Wilder last wrestled when he teamed with Scott Dawson against Shinsuke Nakamura & Hideo Itami in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Friday night.
Supposedly happened from a stiff strike by Itami that nailed Wilder's jaw.

Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA) admitted before the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia that the company indeed breached their deal with former production company Audience of One Productions, LLC and that their Repayment Agreement with AO1 was a "valid and enforceable" contract in a filing on 4/14.

As part of that admission, Impact Wrestling agreed that the remaining balance they owed AO1 would be paid immediately, plus interest. Impact agreed to pay AO1 $336,602. The court officially closed the lawsuit yesterday with prejudice, which means that as long as AO1 is paid in full, they could not bring new claims against the company.

As noted, Shelton Benjamin will be returning to action this week for the first time since undergoing surgery for a torn rotator cuff last fall. Benjamin was scheduled to return to WWE until the shoulder issue was found while taking the company's physical.

Benjamin took to Twitter to clear up any confusion regarding his WWE status. He noted that he never actually signed with WWE because of his injury and he is currently a free agent.

"Let me clear this up now. I am not signed to @WWE," Benjamin wrote. "I never signed due to injury. While that could change, as of 4-16-2017 I am a free agent"

Benjamin will be wrestling Mike Orlando at this Friday's "World War 360" Brii Combination Wrestling event in Elmhurst, NY. It is his first match since last July.

@MFSteveHere @TheSonOfMuta @JoyOfBearding Let me clear this up now. I am not signed to @WWE. I never signed due to injury. While that could change, as of 4-16-2017 I am a free agent
— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) April 16, 2017

The two major WWE pushes for this year are Baron Corbin on the SmackDown side and Braun Strowman on the RAW brand. While both are being groomed as top stars and the top heels on their respective brands, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE officials have higher hopes for Corbin as a main event talent.

Maria Kanellis is set for a WWE return and her husband Mike Bennett is coming with her, according to a report on Monday by SportsKeeda.

Mike and Maria are reportedly headed to WWE's SmackDown brand. PWTorch reported today that a return to Impact Wrestling was a possibility but WWE's offer was more appealing to the couple.

WWE is reportedly planning on using the "Broken" character for Matt Hardy. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is working on a deal with Impact Wrestling to use the character on television, which has yet to be finalized.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Goodbye, Mr. Cone. <a href="https://t.co/oAEu2VGvW2">pic.twitter.com/oAEu2VGvW2</a></p>&mdash; TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) <a href="https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/854178921201512451">April 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Cool King]

One half of The Revival will be out of action for the next several weeks after suffering an injury.

WWE.com announced today that Dash Wilder fractured his jaw at an NXT house show over the weekend. Wilder last wrestled when he teamed with Scott Dawson against Shinsuke Nakamura & Hideo Itami in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Friday night.

Supposedly happened from a stiff strike by Itami that nailed Wilder's jaw.

So will Itami wear a T-shirt that says "I broke Wilder's jaw"?

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Psycho Sid laughing at things:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522a2049e4b0a0ce717e990c/t/58d9bfd7893fc01b3a3f2bbd/1490665474441/?format=300w

After last week's post-brand split high-water mark of 3.11 million viewers for the second night of WWE's Superstar Shakeup, SmackDown ratings came crashing all the way down to 2.54 million this week.

That's the lowest number the show has done since January 10th and well below what SmackDown has been averaging since moving to its live format on Tuesday nights.
Missed being the least viewed show of the year by around 11k and had the biggest weekly drop since moving to USA Network.

Daria Berenato and Macey Estrella both got new names at the [NXT]tapings. Berenato is now known as "Sonya Deville" and Estrella's new name is "Lacey Evans."

After they moved over from Raw in the Superstar Shakeup, Primo and Epico were repackaged as "The Colons" on television this week.

What Culture Pro Wrestling announced that Drew Galloway would defend his WCPW title in a 30-man Championship Rumble match at an iPPV on April 29th. His final date for the promotion will be the next day as he fulfills his commitments after re-signing with WWE.

Continuing to add members of Los Ingobernables de Japon to the War of the Worlds tour, Ring of Honor announced SANADA and BUSHI for the four shows. Tetsuya Naito and EVIL were both previously announced for the tour. The stops are in Toronto on May 7th, Dearborn on the 10th, New York on the 12th, and Philadelphia on the 14th.

Christopher Daniels will defend his ROH World Championship against Matt Taven on the show in Dearborn.

On the sixth episode of ‘Dinner With The King’, Jerry “The King” Lawler talks with co-host Glenn Moore about his feud with Andy Kaufman. This episode if the first of a multi-part series about the famous pro wrestling vs. entertainment battle early 80s.

The subject of Andy Kaufman and the WWE Hall of Fame came up and The King proclaimed that Kaufman rightfully deserves to be inducted.

"I think that without a doubt he does. Probably the main drawback, or main hold up, or resistance to that is the fact that Andy never had a match in WWE. There’s definitely a place for Andy, at least, in the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.

That match that Andy and I had, it almost supersedes any organization. It was just about wrestling, in general. If you look back and really consider all the facts, that match was so important in the way wrestling evolved after.

That was the beginning of sports entertainment. That was the first time that wrestling and the entertainment world collided head-to-head and wound up working together.”

He also talks about how Vince McMahon Sr. turned down Kaufman’s idea, and later was told by Vince K. McMahon that he was jealous that Lawler was able to work with Kaufman and gained all the publicity. He goes on to share audio from the beginning of his feud with Kaufman and how the match came to fruition.

World Wrestling Entertainment filed a motion seeking a summary judgment that would end the lawsuit brought against them by former WWE performer Vito LoGrasso and former WWE developmental talent Evan Singleton on 4/17 in the United States District Court of Connecticut.

To review, previous lawsuits against WWE involving Billy Jack Haynes, Ryan Sakoda, Russ McCullough and Matthew "Luther Reigns" Wiese have all been dismissed (all are currently appealing that decision) while a lawsuit brought by Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton saw all of their claims against WWE tossed from court, with the exception of one claim - one alleging that in 2005, WWE "became aware of and failed to disclose to its wrestlers information concerning a link between repeated head trauma and permanent degenerative neurological conditions" - was allowed to move forward. Since WWE had created it's Wellness Policy in 2005 and LoGrasso and Singleton had wrestled during that period, the court ruled it was within reason that there was a possibility that WWE had a "greater knowledge" of the dangers via information cultivated via Wellness Policy data. So the court has allowed that aspect of the case to move forward so the matter can be determined, although depositions involving the Plaintiffs in that case have revealed holes in those claims.
Link with more details (Make sure ad/pop-up blocker is enabled since PWI's website is pretty bad in general): http://www.pwinsider.com/article/109146/wwe-files-huge-motion-in-attempt-to-end-lawsuit-brought-against-them-by-vito-lograsso-and-former-developmental-talent-evan-singleton-regarding-concussions.html?p=1

As seen in the video above, TMZ Sports caught up with Tommy Dreamer and Bubba Ray Dudley, who spoke about Shane McMahon. Bubba was asked if Shane was a good wrestler, and while Bubba said Shane isn't necessarily "in the traditional sense," Shane is great at "creating that holy sh-t moment." Bubba added that Shane is crazy and is always looking to steal the show.

Dreamer added that Shane is technically sound, citing Shane's match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33. He also said that Shane should enter the UFC because he "is a real badass" and would fare well and would choke people out or knock them out. Bubba agreed, saying that Shane is like a rabid pitbull that would fight to the death and that "you would have to kill him to beat him."
:lol: Been laughing at the mental image of Shane throwing his terrible looking punches in a real fight.

As noted, Jinder Mahal won the Six-Pack Challenge and became new #1 contender to WWE Champion Randy Orton thanks to an assist from The Bollywood Boyz. It appears they have dropped that gimmick and are now being called The Singh Brothers, Gurv and Harv. WWE posted this photo of the group backstage after the match:
Link to the Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BTDDZjKgi0q/

Ember Moon may have suffered an injury at tonight's WWE NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University.

A battle royal to crown a new #1 contender to NXT Women's Champion Asuka was taped for the May 17th episode ...

During the match, Ember was knocked from the top rope to the floor. Our correspondent noted that she essentially did a suicide dive and nailed the guardrail with her shoulder. The match soon ended while Ember was seen crying at ringside. She was helped to the back by referees and medics.

Regarding WWE working on a deal with Anthem, WWE is not willing to give Anthem any royalties or budge on any long-term merchandise deals. WWE officials are hoping to make it a done deal with one lump sum and take full control of the gimmick forever. While they are hoping the “Broken” changes will begin once The Hardys drop the titles, they won’t begin things until the deal with Anthem is done.

WWE officials realize that the current Hardy Boys gimmick will eventually run its course and they are bringing the “Broken” gimmicks to WWE as a way to capitalize off the brothers and make money with them longterm.

On a related note, we reported after WrestleMania 33 how Jeff was banged up going into the big return match in Orlando. Hardy has been in pain since and continues to work banged up. Vince McMahon is reportedly interested in giving Jeff a main event singles run sooner than later. Vince has mentioned doing feuds with Jeff vs. Finn Balor and Jeff vs. current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.
Link to the article: http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/wwes-big-broken-plans-for-the-hardys-jeff-hardy-singles-run-talk-wwe-impact-negotiations/


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I was just in disguise tonight lads.... Specky Lynch. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDLive?src=hash">#SDLive</a> <a href="https://t.co/IxUWD4t0jp">pic.twitter.com/IxUWD4t0jp</a></p>&mdash; Becky Lynch (@BeckyLynchWWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/854523559582027776">April 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Some other sheet news includes:

Sports Illustrated recently had an interview with Cody Rhodes talking about his time in the indies, Dusty Rhodes, and not being able to use the Rhodes name. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/04/19/week-wrestling
Current rumor going around the net implied Lucha Underground is getting close to being done as a promotion. Supposedly company itself is very close to collapsing and in-fighting is going on with the company's owners.
According to the Observer, WWE is currently upset with 205 Live in regards to overall public interest. Supposedly they are upset the most at the low viewership for the show with NXT performing better of the two Network exclusive shows.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, yesterday's Six Pack Challenge match was Jinder Mahal's first match on Smackdown since May 2014. Also his first tv win on Smackdown since October 2012.
WWE is currently rumored to have spent around $5 million making the stage for Wrestlemania 33.

[Black Widow]

Jinder getting a title match is a joke!

Ryder would be a better choice and i hate him also.

[Volare]

Someone new getting a shot, and everyone hates it, but in 2 weeks we'll see more bitching of "the same old thing"

[Lock Jaw]

Think it is more the jobber to #1 contender transition (none). Although in Black Widow's case it could just also be a racist thing.

[Big Vic]

Why did they give bray those legit wins in that 6 week span if he is just jobbing now.