Wrestling News & Rumors

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, WWE is even ratings poison as a subject.

[slik]

I wonder if LARS will debut at WrestleMania and shut up Elias

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think it'll probably be Cena.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Michael Elgin is no longer with the promotion. His contract expired on 3/31 and he didn’t renew the deal. Those at New Japan said it was his decision and the door is open to him if he would want to return. There has also been prelim talk with him and WWE, which, if something comes of that, would make sense both that he’s been quiet since they don’t want you talking about it and also that he’d leave. Little has been done with him since he lost the Never title, and he is also looking at going somewhere else in Japan.

AAA is even holding a press conference on 4/4 at 11:30 a.m. in Madison Square Garden to announce a date, tentatively set for 10/15. AAA is hoping for AEW involvement in some form on that show since the companies have a working agreement,. As of right now there is no deal in place and AEW right now has no plans to send talent to work the show.

It looks like Penta 0M & King Phoenix (Fenix) won’t be back in CMLL. They were last scheduled for El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, announced, and then pulled from the show. They canceled future dates and according to one source felt that they were expecting a raise and given a run around, and felt disrespected since they had clearly helped business. It’s notable that they and L.A. Park were the ones who were the keys in last year’s big business increase and right now Park is no longer working Arena Mexico (although is working CMLL Monday night shows in Puebla) and the other two are done. Crowds have also been down for the last two weeks since the big show on 3/15. There has been talk for some time that Pentagon & Fenix will work exclusively in Mexico for AAA. AAA has been trying to get them to sign a full-time exclusive deal which will mean AAA and whoever does business with AAA, like AEW.

Conrad Thompson’s Starrcast announced Kurt Angle, Cris Cyborg, Psicosis, Ted DiBiase, Tatsumi Fujinami and Brutus Beefcake. Evidently the advance sales for this have been through the roof because the expense of guys like Angle, Undertaker, Sting, Flair and Bret Hart, and the cost of Caesar’s Palace to run it, the break-even was multiple times what Chicago was and we’re told from a financial standpoint they are already a success.

WWE NXT traditionally films a TV episode prior to Takeover. Should they do that this Friday, it will be the brand's 500th TV episode.

WWE applied for two 'RKO' trademarks. One for clothing purposes and the other for toy merchandising purposes.

WrestleAmerica's application for a 'Doc Gallows' trademark has been given an initial refusal because it sounds similar to WWE's 'Luke Gallows' trademark.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has reported that the ankle injury to Rey Mysterio is legitimate stemming from the match with Baron Corbin on Raw. Mysterio was pulled from his scheduled match with Andrade on Tuesday with the injury cited as the reason. Andrade ended up working in an 18-person tag while Mysterio did not appear on the show. Mysterio posted a video where he flipped down and landed awkwardly on his feet. He has said he is hopeful of being fine in time for WrestleMania this Sunday for his match with Samoa Joe.

Tony Schiavone is back in the wrestling world and all over the place, with podcasts, Patreon, announcing gigs and live shows. But don't expect to see him back on MLW programming any time soon.

The legendary WCW announcer had picked up some Major League Wrestling duties as a part of their broadcast booth. However, with MLW moving to Saturday nights on BeIn Sports, Schiavone doesn't envision himself being back with the company this year.

"I still stay in touch with Court (Bauer). Our show is still on MLW Radio. Court a couple of weeks ago sent me an email two weeks ago saying 'are there any dates in 2019 where we can use you?' I said it didn't look like it. There was one day in June I thought I could, but I can't. If it's baseball season and it's a home series, I can get somebody to sub for me. When football starts, Friday and Saturday are taken out. Basketball season -- Fridays and Saturdays are out. I'm, under contract to them, but I don't see where I'm going to be able to do anything with them until 2020 at the earliest. I really enjoy the guys and the kids and really had fun doing it," said Schiavone.

A new WWE Hall of Fame statue will be unveiled at WrestleMania Axxess tomorrow night. WWE noted that Ric Flair, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, and Brutus Beefcake will be in attendance.

WWE Network News reported that the WrestleMania II, III, and IV press conferences, a Papa Shango vs. Tito Santana dark match from WrestleMania IX, and what seems to be two unaired Superstars segments will be tomorrow’s additions to the Network’s Hidden Gems section.
Link: https://www.wwenetworknews.com/2019/04/03/latest-hidden-gems-to-add-treasure-trove-of-wrestlemania-themed-content-includes-press-conferences-a-dark-match-and-more/

WWE will be inducting more names into the Legacy Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 35 weekend.

Some of the names going into the Legacy Wing this year include Wahoo MacDaniel, Luna Vachon, "Playboy" Buddy Rose and Jim Barnett, according to @Wrestlevotes.

The Legacy Wing was launched in 2016 to honor wrestlers from the early years of professional wrestling. The inductees are usually honored posthumously with a video package at the annual induction ceremony.

There will be various changes to WWE when the FOX deal goes through in this fall. This is especially true when it comes to touring.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, SmackDown talent will be doing a Thursday through Sunday road schedule once it starts on FOX. The second night of the road schedule will be live TV. The four-show per week road schedule has been a WWE tradition for years.

SmackDown currently tours from Saturday through Tuesday, while RAW tours from Friday to Monday with both tours ending with their respective television tapings.

The Usos have signed new contracts with WWE, according to PWInsider. The new deal was reportedly signed several weeks ago.

The new contracts are for five years and include a pay raise, Pro Wrestling Sheet added.

Their contracts had been set to expire at the end of the month and their WWE future was up in the air. Pro Wrestling Sheet added that they had been weighing their options for weeks and there was interest from AEW.

Lars Sullivan is reportedly returning "imminently" to WWE, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. While there is no timetable for his return, it was noted that it would likely be "sooner than later."

The next planned WWE show in Saudi Arabia has been rescheduled from May 3 to June 7, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The reason for the move was said to be for “logistical purposes.”

WWE didn’t schedule any shows from April 30 until May 5 because of the originally planned Saudi trip, so wrestlers will now likely have that time off unless WWE immediately books new house shows and arenas with such short notice.

Regarding rumors on The Undertaker working WWE's return to Saudi Arabia, The Observer notes that Taker was contacted and had agreed to return on the May 3 show. WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar was also scheduled for that show. There's no word yet on if they will still work the show with it being moved to June.


Quick notes:
* Observer Newsletter got released a day earlier than usual due to Mania Week and Meltzer traveling to New York and New Jersey for shows.
* Probably not going to post any more sheets reports for the week since I'll be busy watching wrestling shows around the same time I normally do this stuff on Thursday and Friday.

[XL]

Why is Luna going in the Legacy Wing? She worked for the company for years.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Raw last night for the day-after-WrestleMania episode averaged 2.92 million viewers, by far the lowest for the show in history for the day after Mania.

It was the biggest number Raw has done since August 20, and seems to indicate it will be difficult to hit three million viewers this year, although next week's Superstar Shakeup episode should challenge this show as the highest rated for the year.

The WWE announced that WrestleMania 35 did a live gate of $16.9 million at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. It is the second-highest gate in company history, trailing WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas that generated $17.3 million in 2016. The last time they ran MetLife Stadium in 2013 they did a gate of $11.9 million.

Fans unable to attend WrestleMania Axxess this past weekend will get a chance to check out the Worlds Collide event on WWE Network.

WWE announced the full schedule with airings for the upcoming World Collide specials on the WWE Network.

*NXT vs. NXT Alumni – Sunday, April 14 at 8/7 C
* Cruiserweights Collide – Wednesday, April 17 at 9/8 C
* Women Collide – Wednesday, April 24 at 9/8 C
* Brands Collide – Wednesday, May 1 at 9/8 C

The second hour of the Wrestlemania Kickoff Show garnered 749,000 viewers on the USA Network.

The WWE Hall of Fame special last night after Raw brought in 1,154,000 viewers.

The Undertaker’s appearance on Raw last night appears to have been done to set up a singles bout with Elias for the company’s return to Saudi Arabia.

WWE is down one backstage interviewer.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has reported that Dasha Fuentes has been released by WWE. No reason was given for her release from the company, but PWS does clarify that she was in New York City for this past weekend's WrestleMania festivities.

The finish of the main event of WrestleMania did not go down as planned.

The controversial pinfall win that saw Becky Lynch beat Ronda Rousey and claim two WWE Women's titles was the plan, but unfortunately, the plan went awry when Rousey's shoulders were not on the mat for the count. Fightful Select reported several backstage details on the match this afternoon.

Initially, referee Rod Zapata gained heat for the finish among some backstage, but that quickly seemed dissipate. However, at Monday's WWE Raw, Zapata was pulled aside by Vince McMahon, who discussed the situation, and Zapata was subsequently fined for the main event finish ...

There was also said to be an incident during the Gable & Roode vs. Ricochet & Black match on Raw in which Dan Engler (formerly known as Rudy Charles) ended up getting fined. The spot was said to be a small one, but that Vince McMahon wanted to set an example ...

Ronda Rousey was said to "not be happy" as she returned from backstage. Whether or not that had to do with her hand or the finish is unclear.

Aerostar has seemingly quit AAA, saying that he is not being valued enough and was blocked from working a show. On Instagram, he said he was taking bookings.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is the front-runner to host WrestleMania 37 in 2021, according to a story by the LA Times, which cites “multiple sources.”

According to the story, WrestleMania 37 will likely take place in Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California, just outside of LA. The stadium is still under construction and is scheduled to open in 2020. It will be the home stadium of both the LA Rams and LA Chargers. Its capacity will be 80,240, but it will be expandable to 100,240.

As mentioned, AJ Styles was injured during his WrestleMania match against Randy Orton and he won’t be on SmackDown.

He’s scheduled to be medically evaluated today, according to PWInsider. The injury is thought to be either a hip or lower back injury and he was said to be in a lot of pain after WrestleMania.

NJPW said that Hiroshi Tanahashi suffered an injury to his left elbow during his match against Zack Sabre Jr. on G1 Supercard on Saturday.

AEW announced that they have signed freelance Japanese wrestler Hikaru Shida, who has wrestled for various promotions.

The decision to open the main WrestleMania card with Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins was only made at around 5:30 PM ET last night, after the Kickoff show had already started, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

It’s not known what was originally supposed to open the show.
According to Post Wrestling, Orton vs. Styles was planned to open Mania but its not known where Lesnar vs. Rollins was originally planned for the card.

[GD]

Originally Posted by Fightful
The finish of the main event of WrestleMania did not go down as planned.

The controversial pinfall win that saw Becky Lynch beat Ronda Rousey and claim two WWE Women's titles was the plan, but unfortunately, the plan went awry when Rousey's shoulders were not on the mat for the count. Fightful Select reported several backstage details on the match this afternoon.

Initially, referee Rod Zapata gained heat for the finish among some backstage, but that quickly seemed dissipate. However, at Monday's WWE Raw, Zapata was pulled aside by Vince McMahon, who discussed the situation, and Zapata was subsequently fined for the main event finish ...

There was also said to be an incident during the Gable & Roode vs. Ricochet & Black match on Raw in which Dan Engler (formerly known as Rudy Charles) ended up getting fined. The spot was said to be a small one, but that Vince McMahon wanted to set an example ...

Ronda Rousey was said to "not be happy" as she returned from backstage. Whether or not that had to do with her hand or the finish is unclear.


Yeah! John Pollock of Post Wrestling reached out to someone in the company and they confirmed the finish. That being said, they did not intend for it to be controversial and the commentators jumping on it didn't help. It might've also taken away from the "moment".

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The National Wrestling Alliance has revealed the bracket for the Crockett Cup tournament that will take place later this month.

The tournament itself will comprise of eight teams from the NWA, ROH, CMLL and NJPW. A video posted tonight revealed the bracket:

Block A:
The Briscoes vs. The Rock 'n' Roll Express
Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata vs. PCO and Brody King

Block B:
Flip Gordon and Bandido vs. Stuka Jr. and Guerrero Maya Jr.
Jax Dane and Crimson vs. The winners of a wild card battle royal that will take place that night

The winners of both blocks will face each other in the finals to determine this year’s Crockett Cup winner.

At the NXT tapings tonight, there will be a test of a new technology where fans in the audience can listen to commentary live in the building. This will be done with a select group in the audience.

AJ Styles' injury issue has been confirmed to be a hip issues by several WWE sources. Styles is believed to have suffered the injury when hitting the forearm to the outside of the ring on Randy Orton.

Styles was sent home Monday and was slated to be diagnosed yesterday. PWInsider.com has not confirmed the diagnosis.

On today's edition of The Wendy Williams Show, Williams updated on WWE star Sasha Banks canceling at the last minute, noting that Banks had a family emergency and wished her and her family well.

Ian Riccaboni was sick as a dog with the flu the day of G1 Supercard and was doing everything in his power not to be pulled from the broadcast.

The original conceived plan for the debut of the former Beautiful People was to have Madison Rayne laid out as part of that angle but Rayne asked for and received her ROH release, unhappy with the creative for her.

The fan who was struck with the ladder at G1 Supercard met with several wrestlers, including Matt Taven and Kazuchika Okada and was given some merchandise before leaving MSG that night. We are told the ladder hit his knee but he's OK.

Former ROH stars Julius Smokes and Sal Rinauro were at G1 Supercard.

Kevin Eck and Joey Matthews have been more involved in working with the creative team of late, joining Delirious, Todd Sinclair and Bully Ray.

Team Brooklyn on last night's episode of Smackdown were Kris Stadtlander (who based on what I've seen on the independents has a HUGE upside) and Karissa Rivera, who has competed for ROH in the past.

NXT star Kairi Sane was at last night’s Smackdown taping in Brooklyn.

There’s talk of Beth Phoenix doing some more wrestling going forward, including next month’s European tour.

Interviewer Dasha Fuentes was released this past Thursday. We are told the company made the decision and it was not a case of Fuentes requesting a release. Fuentes has been replaced on the Raw brand by Sarah Schreiber. Fuente’s departure was first reported by Pro Wrestling Sheet.

Scott D’Amore, while speaking to PWInsider.com following the AAA press conference last week in Madison Square Garden, said the current hope is to find a new TV home for Impact on a larger platform by this Fall. If and when that happens, secondary Impact programming will pop up on Pursuit Channel (think Xplosion, etc) with the mothership series being placed elsewhere. Impact owner Anthem has a big ownership stake in Pursuit.

The belief among those we’ve spoken with is that Impact will pursue a breach of contract claim against Eli Drake, which would likely prevent him from signing elsewhere contractually until the situation is resolved. Impact terminated Drake’s contract officially on 4/7, just a few weeks before it was set to expire on 5/31, upset over public statements he had made about the company. Some in the company believed Drake was AEW-bound.

WWE Network News revealed that Ted DiBiase vs. Tom Magee from a December 12, 1988 Wrestling Challenge taping will be added to the Network’s Hidden Gems section tomorrow. WWE Network News also reported that more episodes of Mid South Wrestling will be uploaded to the Network on Monday.

WWE RAW and SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch spoke with Gorilla Position before last night's episode of SmackDown. During the conversation, Lynch talked about Vince McMahon's reaction to the first-ever women's main event at WrestleMania, the controversial finish, if she thinks Ronda Rousey will be back after her loss, and what her relationship is like with Rousey.

After Sunday's match was done, Lynch was asked how Vince reacted to it and it sounded like he gave Lynch, Charlotte, and Rousey's performance a thumbs up.

"He just said he was so proud of us," Lynch said. "He was so proud of us. He did [give us a hug]. He did, yep, but I said, 'I'm The Man now, Vince' and he said, 'Yep!"

Lucha Central Exclusive: Aerostar NOT Leaving AAA, Will Handle International Bookings Himself Going Forward

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol I love how Tom Magee has become a thing in 2019

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don’t like Eli Drake, but if you fire the guy, fire him. I’m not usually someone who cries “work,” because I often wonder what the point of this stuff is, but if this is some sort of lame publicity stunt by TNA like they did with Aries and Morrison, shame on them.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If they were intent to switch the Women’s Tag belts, I’d have preferred they did it with Nattie & Beth. I like the idea of them eventually turning heel and joining Charlotte. But give them a face run first. Would have been nice for Nattie and Beth, and would be kind of eerie if Kofi took a photo with himself, Beth Phoenix and Zack Ryder harkening back to that 2011 photo after TLC.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Should have been a straight tag too. Without turning heel, it should have been the veteran girls making the point that the Women’s Revolution didn’t start in 2015, and they were busting ass years previous.

[slik]

Rumored PPV schedule for #WWE:

5/19 - MITB (Hartford)
6/3 - Saudi Arabia
6/16 - Backlash (San Diego)
7/14 - Extreme Rules (Philly)
8/11 - SummerSlam (Toronto)
9/15 - HIAC (Atlanta)
10/ 6 - Clash of the Champions (Sacramento)
11/1 - Saudi Arabia
11/24 - Survivor Series (Chicago)
12/15 - TLC (Minneapolis)

[Mr. Nerfect]

I used to like to think that Backlash got its name because it was the backlash from the major show. I guess not. But there is a joke in Backlash following the Saudi show.

God, I wish they would stop TLC and HIAC as PPVs.

I hope there are AEW chants in Chicago at the first domestic show after their supposed TV launch.

[GD]

According to WOR: Sasha Banks reportedly tried to quit over the weekend.

She felt blindsided by having the titles taken off her and Bayley, felt there was so much they could have done.

[Fignuts]

Nothing against The Iiconics but Sasha and Bailey should have retained. Those titles need a good long reign to establish credibility.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

After days of speculation following her cancelation of the Wendy Williams Show, Wrestling Observer has reported that Sasha Banks wanted to leave WWE over WrestleMania weekend. Fightful has corroborated the story, with some additional details.

Observer stated that Sasha Banks was under the impression that she and Bayley would have the opportunity to have a strong run with the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles in an effort to establish them as serious championships.

It was reported that Banks was given a few weeks to think things over before making what the company figured was a rash decision, but Fightful's sources throughout the week had compared it to The Revival ... We were told that Bayley was also clearly frustrated by the entire situation.

Both sources within the company that Fightful spoke to said they'd be surprised if Banks was granted a release.

In addition, there was also talk of Alexa Bliss gaining the upper hand on both Banks and Bayley physically on Raw, which has been reported throughout the week. We're not told if this was just to be a physical altercation or an actual match, but Banks and Bliss ended up going back and forth on social media on Tuesday.
More on Banks wanting out of WWE.

Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that Rhea Ripley has suffered some ligament damage in her foot giving an explanation of why she was seen in a walking boot during Wrestlemania 35. According to their story, the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion will be out of action for up to eight weeks.

AJ Styles provides an update on his injury.

Earlier this week it was reported that AJ Styles went home after WrestleMania to deal with what was being described as a hip injury. On his Mixer channel last night, Styles clarified the injury.
Kofi Kingston And Becky Lynch Discuss Bret Hart Being Attacked At WWE Hall Of Fame
Related Article Kofi Kingston And Becky Lynch Discuss Bret Hart Being Attacked At WWE Hall Of Fame

"I sprained my SI (sacroiliac) joint. Nothing too severe. I just need the muscles to ease up and treat a sprain like a sprain. Hopefully, it doesn't take too long to heal. I'll be back in action soon. You don't know the degree of the sprain."

As those of you watching Smackdown this past Tuesday know, Drew McIntyre disappeared towards the end of his six man tag team match with The Bar against The New Day.

PWInsider.com readers who were live in Brooklyn sent along that McIntyre exited via the timekeeper's area from ringside and returned to the back. This spurred on concern that perhaps McIntyre had been injured over the course of the match. We are told that was not the case and he is not injured.

What did happen, according to a source who was backstage during the main event, was that time was cut from the bout. Since the finishing sequence was to focus on New Day beating the Bar, there was no time to explain taking Drew out of the equation. So, Drew was instructed to return to the back.

2:05 PM Update: Earlier I wrote, "One might wonder why they even booked McIntyre in the bout to begin with then, but we don't have any answer for that." Well, now we do. The original pitched main event for Smackdown this past Tuesday at WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre. It was changed into a six man tag as the day progressed.

So, there's no injury issue.

The premiere episode of Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring series averaged 154,000 viewers. The episode covering the relationship between Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth was the first of six episodes scheduled to air as part of the series.

On the new WWE Untold: Sting feature on the WWE Network, Paul Levesque explained why he beat Sting at WrestleMania 31 and the plans for the following year’s show. Levesque explained that he was scheduled to face The Rock at WrestleMania 32 in 2016 and was the reason he needed to beat Sting the year prior. The two shot an angle in October 2014 on SmackDown teasing a future match, but Rock’s schedule didn’t allow the match to take place, although Rock did appear on that show in Dallas in April 2016. Levesque and others interviewed on the Untold piece all acknowledged that in hindsight (and for some, foresight) that Sting should have won the match. On the same card where Levesque defeated Sting, they did the angle with The Rock and Ronda Rousey getting physical with Levesque and Stephanie McMahon.

The draft shows are 4/15 and 4/16 in Montreal and virtually nobody knows who ends up on what brand. There may be a few top exceptions, but just about every performer on the roster has no idea where they will end up and who they will be programmed with next. The only real teases were for Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman, which would indicate one was switching, and Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans, which could be on either brand, since Lynch made it clear in her promos that she would be working both brands as double champion ...

The general rule Vince has gone by in the past is you lose on your way out of the brand. So from that standpoint, people who would appear to have the best shot at switching are The Revival, Bayley, Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, The Bar, Andrade, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev and The Usos. They often also switch champions, so you could have a Kingston/Rollins switch, or a Balor/Joe switch, or a Hardys/Hawkins & Ryder switch.


As far as other WrestleMania news, the only other note is that the order of the matches changed literally after the show started. The Rollins win over Lesnar was originally slotted to go right before the women’s main event. Styles vs. Orton was booked to open the main card and everything was going to go in that order. Paul Heyman and Lesnar both pushed for Lesnar vs. Rollins to go early, as it hardly took a brain surgeon to realize it’ll come off better at 7 p.m. than at 11:45 p.m. For whatever reason, Hulk Hogan, who did a segment unannounced largely to do his posing routine, at 65, no longer taking off his shirt, was never told that Heyman was going to come out at the end of his segment for the easy heat of interrupting Hogan and set up the match right away.
That solves where Rollins vs. Lesnar was originally planned for Mania's card.

Mark Briscoe started swinging wildly with a fan out of the crowd, which turned out to be the former Enzo Amore. Amore was sitting with the former Big Cass, at ringside, surrounded by some planted fans and kept disguised. The idea was to make this look like it wasn’t part of the show. Those at ringside could immediately tell it was planned because security did nothing. Security was alerted ahead of time that an angle was being planned and to let it happen but weren’t told exactly what it is. The punches being thrown were really stiff because they wanted fans at ringside to think it was real. The idea was to fool everyone but as it turned out, while some fans were, most saw through it. They went so far as to keep this a secret from almost everyone. Tonga & Loa, who had just won, were not told, nor was anyone from the New Japan side told. They saw it, looked like they were mildly disgusted by it, didn’t fall for it and just walked away. Multiple sources have confirmed nobody in New Japan was told about it ahead of time. Tonga even tweeted sort of about it, just saying Enzo & Cass jumped the losers of the match not the winner and called it “ROH booking at its finest.” A number of people complained that this angle being booked at this time took away from the impact of the double title change.

The two will use the names nZo and CazXL and their tag team name will be the Free AgentZ. A big brawl ensued, none of which was shown to the streaming/PPV audience with the idea of presenting it like it wasn’t supposed to happen. In addition, they sent Bully Ray out there with the idea that he’s a big tough guy and would be the guy who would handle things for ROH if it was a real fight. Security when it was over got Enzo & Cass out. The key thing is they weren’t handcuffed or kicked out. Cass looked very out of shape, and was blown up with bloodshot eyes. He may have gotten hurt because the punches being thrown were very real because they wanted the ringsiders to believe it was a fight and he got several potatoes from the Briscoes ...

Regarding this situation, while it was most definitely an angle, and will play out, the two at press time had not signed contracts with ROH and have no future dates confirmed, although obviously they’re expected to appear. Withing the company, them being there was an issue that not everyone was on the same page on.

The paid attendance for the ROH / NJPW MSG show was 16,534, the largest for any non-WWE event in the U.S. since 1999. The gate was the largest ever in North America for any company other than WWE–the first in the U.S. ever to top $1 million, something even WCW at its peak never achieved.

What appears to be the situation here in regards to AAA at MSG is that the Oak View Group ... have made a deal to promote live events in the U.S. The goal is to start with this show, then run a second show at the Forum in Los Angeles, and then bring AAA into other major market arenas that the Oak View Group runs. Of course, the problem is whether it can draw. AAA had great success for a few years in the early 90s, mostly in Los Angeles and San Jose, and lesser in places like Chicago and New York. After the ensuing 25 years, they ran some U.S. shows, some of which drew okay and some of which didn’t, but obviously it was never successful enough to have staying power. During most of that period, the promotion had U.S. television with Galavision.

If Madison Square Garden doesn’t do well, it would have a good chance to nix the rest of the tour ... The idea here is the idea of bringing traditional Mexican entertainment to New York which happens to be wrestling, as opposed to the idea of drawing 15,000 pro wrestling fans to see AAA. It sounds logical on paper with so many tourists in town, but there is no historical precedent of this working with pro wrestling. Even in Mexico, AAA coming to town isn’t drawing 15,000 fans to a show except for TripleMania.

There was a lot of talk of selling out the venue, although those close to the situation said that the market research done claimed that they wouldn’t sell out, but would be able to draw a healthy crowd. The costs of running MSG are so high, far more than any other arena in North America, because you’re paying for the prestige of “the world’s most famous arena,” but it also means a show doing a $300,000 gate, which is fine just about everywhere else, is a huge money loser in MSG.

For the TV ratings for 3/29, AAA on Friday at 4:30 p.m. for two hours averaged a 2.3 rating and 4.1 million viewers, up 24 percent from the prior week. After seven weeks, the show has ranged from a low of 3.2 million in week two to a high of 4.4 million in week one and four, and averages 3.9 million viewers ... The viewership is 52 percent male, so they have, by percentage, a higher female viewership component than the U.S. groups and also far more children, as the audience is 24 percent 12 and under, 13 percent 13/18, 13 percent 19-29, 22 percent 30-44, 10 percent 45-54 and 18% 55+. So it skews much lower than WWE where about 50 percent of the viewers are over 50.

CMLL on Televisa on 3/30 at 4:30 p.m. (A better station and for a 4:30 p.m. start, Saturday is superior to Friday), cut to one hour from the usual two did a 1.1 rating and 1.3 million viewers.

They are discounting tickets in Dallas for 7/6 now because the advance is so disappointing. There are very different views as it’s been expressed that doing so feels like cheapening the product and New Japan’s appeal is to a select group that is willing to pay for the tickets, but the issue is how many of them are in specific markets, especially now with the key American market draws being done.

As far as the announcing team goes, Ross will do the shows, and I’m not certain if he’ll do the complete shows or just the major matches to get them over as special. The their play-to-play guys are Alex Marvez and Excalibur ... Another of Ross’ roles will be to mentor both Marvez and Excalibur.

Howard Finkel, 68, who hadn’t been seen in a long time, was at some of the WWE festivities this past week. He’s wheelchair bound. It’s been known his health situation is pretty bad although it’s largely been kept secretive what happened past Jerry Lawler saying on his podcast that Finkel had suffered a major stroke. It was described to me that everyone was very happy to see him, but also sad because of the condition he was in.

Regarding the Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee match, WWE has asked for the footage and wants to do a feature on it. Mary Kate Anthony, who has the VHS tape (Bret Hart should have the DVD) said that as long as Hart is fine with the footage being shared, since it’s his tape and she was just there to transfer it to DVD many years ago, then she would do so and send it to WWE. The thing is, Hart doesn’t own the rights to his WWE footage as far as I know, unless they made some sort of a deal, nobody owns WWE footage rights other than WWE. WWE did give Hart a copy of it for his own personal collection and then apparently somehow either lost or got rid of it. The only tapes Hart owns are the Stampede Wrestling tapes that feature him, since Ross Hart and the family were not allowed to sell anything regarding Bret, because of Bret getting ownership of it in a deal with his father, when the collection was sold to WWE. That held up a lot of the release of Stampede shows that feature Bret on them.


Big E suffered a torn meniscus in his match on SmackDown on Tuesday night. He said that it happened while taking a crossbody and he’ll be out for “a bit.”

Recovery time for a torn meniscus can be anywhere from three weeks to a few months depending on the severity.


Brian “Road Dogg” James stepped down as the co-head writer of SmackDown Live this week.

According to PWInsider, James had been growing increasingly frustrated with changes that were made to SmackDown scripts and storylines by Vince McMahon and hit a “breaking point” at this week’s SmackDown in Brooklyn.

James is expected to remain with WWE in another role, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet, who said that their sources claimed that it was a “mutual decision.” They say that James could end up in a variety of flexible “utility player” positions going forward, including Arn Anderson’s old role as a road agent.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

According to WOR: Sasha Banks reportedly tried to quit over the weekend.

Honestly she prob should leave. She's seemingly been unhappy with her direction forever. Feels like she's been lost in the shuffle. Traded wins with Charlotte and got that rub from main eventing a ppv but has she done anything of note since?

[Sepholio]

Bad timing on Big E.

[Sepholio]

Hope he is on the short end of the recovery time scale.

[Black Widow]

Sasha should quit but i likely wouldn't waste my time watching whatever lame indy company she goes to.

[GD]

Sasha should quit but i likely wouldn't waste my time watching whatever lame indy company she goes to.

What a story, mark.

[Black Widow]

My name is Amber actually.

[GD]

Last name lamps?

[Black Widow]

Bradley

[Evil Vito]

Amber Bradley is a pretty hot name. Props.

[ClockShot]

Way to go, G1 Supercard. Cracked 1 million at the Garden and sorta spooked WWE.

But, good freakin' luck in Dallas. You're gonna need it.

[slik]

Lots of tickets still available in Dallas too...

[GD]

Bayley is unhappy as well.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If someone wants out of WWE, let them go. Fuck's sake.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

New Japan Pro Wrestling has set a date for their return to Australia.

It was announced overnight that NJPW Southern Showdown is coming to Melbourne, Australia on Saturday, June 29. The event will take place at Melbourne's Festival Hall ...

Regarding the New Japan tour of Australia in June, there will be a major live New Japan World show in Melbourne on 6/29 and there will also be a show in Sydney that week.

Zachary Madsen's court appearance today in Kings Criminal Court in Brooklyn was continued until Tuesday 5/28.

Madsen has been charged with two counts of assault in the third degree as well as trespassing after hitting the ring that was being used as the stage for the acceptance speeches to tackle Bret Hart, taking down the WWE Hall of Famer and Natalya on Saturday 4/6. In New York, Assault in the third degree is an A misdemeanor and can be punishable in up to a year in jail per count, should Madsen be found guilty.

Major League Wrestling moved into a new corporate office building in New Rochelle, NY (minutes from NYC and also Stamford, CT), right now to Steiner Sports Collectibles HQ. They will be using the HQ to film content and as a podcasting studio as well as their own corporate offices. The company had been working with a "virtual" office out of wherever management was located but now they one formal central location.

There's been a lot of talk of doing an official MLW PPV later this year.

Discussions have opened up for a tour of the UK and Europe now that they have TV via Freesports TV in Great Britain and Ireland. No timeline as to when.

Due to the NHL playoffs, WWE Smackdown Live will shift channels in Canada this coming Tuesday night. Instead of airing as usual on Sportsnet 360, it will air LIVE on OLNHD. In Toronto, that is Channel 45 on Rogers in the Toronto area, but be sure to check your local listings and adjust your DVR recordings as needed.

Former WCW star and lucha libre legend Vampiro posted the following on his Facebook Page:

"Got some results from the doctor yesterday
Not the best of news
But in my heart I know it’s a fight I am gonna win
I am not worried about anything
I am worried about how I can give more back to everyone who needs support
I Don’t give a f--k about being sick , as me and my doctors have a plan! And I will be fine!
Alzheimer’s is bulls--t. I am scared about potential Parkinson’s disease because it might f--k up my PlayStation time
I have been beaten up for so long , this is an easy one
Also
Look at the news of the world
So much
Bulls--t going down
Just do what’s right and be cool to everyone
Don’t get involved in the stupid s--t
Not worth it
Be safe y’all and talk soon"

Even though the fan takeaway after the [G1 Supercard] show was that New Japan probably should work with someone other than ROH, right now, the relationship seems solid and one both sides want to keep.

On Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, Joey Ryan stated that the Penis Party show last Friday drew 1,200 people at the Hilton Midtown Hotel. That show went against NXT TakeOver, Joey Janela’s Spring Break III, and MLW’s Battle Riot, all of which sold out so it was a strong night for all four events.

Sasha Banks unfollowed the WWE account on Twitter and began following the AEW account. Make of that what you will.

Dominik Dijakovic deleted his Twitter account after he tried to work a gimmick that didn't go over so well for obvious reasons.

While this has not been confirmed, within the industry the belief is the Usos have signed or at least are staying. One person high up used the term “fairly certain” when talking about them signing a new deal and staying. WWE was offering much bigger money than in the past for talent whose deals were expiring because they can afford it and because of the AEW competition, and the Usos, as a great tag team, were in a great leverage position, as was the recently-signed A.J. Styles. With the kind of money WWE is now offering, I don’t see main roster guys who are in the thick of things leaving in great numbers. There are a few who are tight with AEW management or who are really into wanting to be featured and create a legacy of being top stars and feel that’s not going to happen with them on the main roster who have at least some interest. There are also some in NXT who feel they are more likely to be used well in AEW than the main roster who have expressed interest. A few are leaning toward going when their deals are up, and others are taking a wait-and-see. As noted before, the smart play is to wait and see how AEW does on television. If they do well in ratings and present a good product that looks stable, it’s a viable option, but WWE is a lock to make good money and isn’t going anywhere, and they don’t get rid of talent except usually for disciplinary reasons. So if you’re a solid performer and you stay, especially if you’re older and with a family, it’s a solid job to not leave.

Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet took to Twitter today and reported that Banks and Bayley were laying on the floor of the locker room at Met Life Stadium on Sunday, "loudly making it known they were unhappy" about dropping the titles. It was also noted that they made a similar scene back at the WWE hotel.

"Heard from a few sources now saying Sasha Banks and Bayley were laying on the floor of the locker room on Sunday, and back at the hotel in front of one of their rooms, loudly making it known they were unhappy about losing the tag titles," Satin wrote on Twitter.

Satin defended his report and said he heard the same information from multiple sources. "This info is from four different sources I've spoken with the past day. All independent from each other and all came to me about it, not the other way around," he wrote in one tweet to a fan. He continued in another tweet, "Was told this by four separate people who have no relation to each other. There were a lot of people staying in the hotel during Mania weekend."

The Brock Lesnar UFC roller coaster continued today with UFC president Dana White now saying that a proposed Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Cormier UFC fight may not even happen after all.

At a UFC press conference in Atlanta, White said, “Seriously, that fight isn’t even in the works. That might not even happen first [for Cormier].”


Daniel Bryan may have suffered an injury at WrestleMania.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Bryan went home after the PPV and WWE was awaiting word from a further evaluation if he was hurt or not.

There are no additional details right now, but sources told the Observer that the injury either “could be nothing” or “it could be serious.”

[Mr. Nerfect]

Brock Lesnar will have to start using AEW for leverage.

[Mr. Nerfect]

4.4 million people watching AAA in Mexico is pretty good.

[Fignuts]

lol so Bayley and Sasha were literally just laying on the floor yelling about it?

[Mr. Nerfect]

It sounds like it. I can imagine they were "lounging out" exasperated as opposed to throwing literal kicking and screaming tantrum. A Guru Dave tantrum.

[mike adamle]

They should both just quit and go the Paige route of fucking around with random wrestlers and making sextapes and shit.

[GD]

lol so Bayley and Sasha were literally just laying on the floor yelling about it?

I also read that Sasha was blowing raspberries at Steph while Bayley was throwing paper off of tables like a cat. Highly unlikely.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heard from a few sources now saying Sasha Banks and Bayley were laying on the floor of the locker room on Sunday, and back at the hotel in front of one of their rooms, loudly making it known they were unhappy about losing the tag titles.</p>&mdash; Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/1116838291041472513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Also, random TJP tweets in the responses.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It wouldn’t be the first purposefully orchestrated character assassination there...it’s actually quite a common occurrence. Like a social mafia.</p>&mdash; ���� TEDDY PLAYER ONE ���� (@MegaTJP) <a href="https://twitter.com/MegaTJP/status/1116882972693499904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mr. Nerfect]

I am genuinely curious as to who would make a better sex tape between Sasha and Bayley.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Also, fuck TJP.

[Black Widow]

I am genuinely curious as to who would make a better sex tape between Sasha and Bayley.

Sasha seems like more of a slut than Baylee

[Droford]

Paging RP

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sasha seems like more of a slut than Baylee

Yeah, she seems it, but sometimes women who seem like sluts are actually pretty high maintainence and women who seem all goody-goody surprise you with filth.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems Pro Wrestling Sheet's report got debunked based on some photo evidence of Sasha and Bayley at Wrestlemania. Fightful also hinted Satin's report was wrong by posting a photo of them and the IIconics after the match and both were in a happy mood.

Speculation is WWE knows who all of Satin's sources are in the company and purposely feed him the fake story to smear Sasha since she wants out. Probably to set an example to other stars who also want to leave so they reconsider and/or don't have the it leak out publicly.

Also seems WWE might know who WrestleVotes sources are since they claimed to have heard the exact same story from their sources but didn't report about it.

[Evil Vito]

Isn’t Sasha married to the WWE costume designer? Seems like she’s the only one not dating “one of the boys”

[Mr. Nerfect]

Does any of that debunk it though? Like, I don't think Sasha & Bayley being upset at the company for fucking them around is the same thing as having a personal gripe against The Iconics. And by the sounds if it, it still sounds like Sasha is unhappy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If Sasha wants out, she should leak a sex tape where she says awful things about Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia and that everyone steals her moves.

[erickman]

Seems Pro Wrestling Sheet's report got debunked based on some photo evidence of Sasha and Bayley at Wrestlemania. Fightful also hinted Satin's report was wrong by posting a photo of them and the IIconics after the match and both were in a happy mood.

Speculation is WWE knows who all of Satin's sources are in the company and purposely feed him the fake story to smear Sasha since she wants out. Probably to set an example to other stars who also want to leave so they reconsider and/or don't have the it leak out publicly.

Also seems WWE might know who WrestleVotes sources are since they claimed to have heard the exact same story from their sources but didn't report about it.
that would just piss sasha even more, an those stories made bayley look bad too and not likely to resign when her contract comes up. like that they make satin look like a dip shit though

[Mr. Nerfect]

Didn't Satin say something about his sources actually witnessing this?

[Emperor Smeat]

She's upset but seems to be part of the growing frustrations within WWE of Vince's antics in creative. Its why Road Dogg quit being a writer last week.

Going by the Observer and Fightful, seems she's upset that the past 2 years of hard work to get a Women's tag division made and establish the belts as credible titles were flushed down the toilet because of Vince. Considering how poorly she's been handled in recent years, that probably made her felt it would be better to leave the company.

The only known stuff about her sudden departure is something family related happened last week and she had to fly out of the country. Kalisto confirmed this via him traveling with her to the Dominican Republic.

If Vince and/or WWE are upset at Sasha then it makes sense to use Satin's sources which are likely compromised to get a smear or hit piece done on her. Satin is the perfect person to do this since he still has the rep of being a TMZ-like tabloid reporter.

Even Brad Shepard might have had his sources compromised recently since he's supposedly working on a report involving Sasha that paints her absence in a negative light. He also implied that Satin's report embellished things.

[Sepholio]

lol Noid really REALLY wants a Sasha sex tape.

[Mr. Nerfect]

But the truth has leaked anyway? I dunno, something about it all seems off and very pointless.

I'd feel sorry for Sasha if there was any reason to think that the company would ever get anything right. She's been up there for almost four years now.

[Big Vic]

lol Noid really REALLY wants a Sasha sex tape.

Yes, only Noid.................................................................................... :shifty:

[Volare]

Io Shirai....wow

(nsfw) https://imgur.com/a/hiyBVj5

[Evil Vito]

I'd smash.

[Volare]

Yes I put it here, cause it's major news to me that Io had that!

[Jordan]

Io Shirai....wow

(nsfw) https://imgur.com/a/hiyBVj5

Fuckkkkk yeah

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Within WWE, they are hopeful Sasha Banks will be returning after being given time off. I was told by one person that they hope to have her on the next pay-per-view, but nothing is set in stone regarding her status. Banks last worked at WrestleMania teaming with Bayley where they dropped the WWE women’s tag titles to the IIconics in a match involving Beth Phoenix & Natalya and Nia Jax & Tamina. As of today, if and when Banks returns, she is scheduled to be on Raw.

Monday’s Superstar Shakeup didn’t mean anything for Raw’s viewership as the show averaged 2,665,000 viewers. It was below the average of the five episodes of Raw going into WrestleMania, which averaged 2,705,000 viewers and down 26% from the 2018 Superstar Shakeup ...

Raw did go against the NBA playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers game doing 2,846,000, but so did last year’s Superstar Shakeup. In 2018, they faced an NBA playoff game that did 3,494,000 viewers, so they had tougher competition in 2018 and did a much higher viewership figure.

Unless there is something unexpected to spike the audience, it looks like Raw will fail to hit 3 million viewers for an episode in 2019 with the night after WrestleMania and the Superstar Shakeup failing to hit that number.
The last part about RAW unlikely to hit 3 million viewers at least once this year is a big concern for USA Network.

A profile piece from the Sports Business Journal on NXT revealed that going forward, Punishment Martinez will be going under the name Damien Priest.
Link: https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2019/04/15/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/WWE.aspx

KENTA (formerly Hideo Itami in WWE) will make a “special appearance” at Game Changer Wrestling’s Tournament of Survival 4 in Atlantic City on June 1.

The former Adam Rose wrote on Instagram that had a mild heart attack scare this past Saturday. “I am fine and at home already," he wrote. "Nothing to worry about. To those that love me, I love you back. See you soon.”

An update on where things stand in the lawsuit brought by cameraman Donald Anderson against World Wrestling Entertainment and WWE performer Thaddeus "Titus O'Neil" Bullard ...

As previously reported, Anderson (who had been hired through a third party, Uranus Productions/Gorilla Flicks) was backstage at a WWE TV taping filming a segment where Bullard was shocked by WWE performer Paige (Saraya-Jade Bevis). Bullard became, according to the lawsuit, "enraged", alleging charging and kicking the camera out of Anderson's hand, injuring him. Bullard has denied those allegations in his response to Anderson's lawsuit. Paige is not a party in the lawsuit.

On 3/29, Anderson filed a motion seeking a summary judgment against WWE and Bullard, claiming that Bullard’s counter-suit against him alleged that Anderson and the company that contracted him were involved in a conspiracy designed to shock Bullard with a cattle prod, the act that led to Bullard kicking him. Anderson is arguing that under Florida law, an employee cannot be part of a conspiracy with the company that employs them ...

Anderson also declared in his request for Summary Judgment that “It appears that BEVIS, who was a WWE talent, took it upon her own accord to go and shock BULLARD with the cattle prod.” That in itself is interesting, because should the court decide that was factually correct, it could open a potential door for Anderson to pursue Paige for causing the scenario to take place.

That same day Anderson filed his Motion Summary, however, Bullard requested an extension in his own discovery in the case, citing that he was unable to complete discovery so while WWE was in the process of learning whether they would be dismissed from the case or not, something that did not happen. WWE had argued they did not fall under jurisdiction of the court in Florida as they were a Connecticut-based company. Anderson had specifically used quotes from Paul Levesque and WWE Executive John Saboor about the importance of the WWE Performance Center in Florida in an Amended version of his lawsuit, attempting to use those comments in order to prove that WWE would indeed fall under the court's jurisdiction as they do business regularly in the Sunshine State.

Bullard requested an extension through 7/1 to conduct his own discovery, noting that his side intended to depose a number of those involved in the case ... In all of those depositions, Bullard is seeking to learn about the relationship between WWE and Gorilla/Uranus including whether Gorilla/Uranus “routinely film individuals being assaulted and battered without their consent.” A filing on 4/12 noted that in the case of Paige, they wanted to know the level of her involvement in the cattle prod incident and “to what extent she was directed” by Uranus/Gorilla ...

The court has approved Bullard’s request, giving him until 7/1 to complete his own case’s discovery. Unless the sides opt to settle out of court, there will not likely be any major updates to the case until this summer.

IMPACT Wrestling teams up with Reality of Wrestling to present Deep Impact on Saturday, July 6, at the Booker T World Gym Arena near Houston, both promotions jointly announced.

Deep Impact will feature cross-promotional dream matches with the stars of IMPACT Wrestling battling the stars from Reality of Wrestling in the first-ever intra-promotional show.

Deep Impact will air live on IMPACT Wrestling’s Twitch channel.

Fox 5 in Las Vegas is reporting that The Little White Wedding Chapel, which was the site of the storyline nuptials of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon on the November 29, 1999 episode of Monday Night Raw, is on the market for the total of $12 million. The owner, Charlotte Richards, who performed the ceremony for The Game and Stephanie says she's ready to retire.

Meanwhile, New York City's Webster Hall is slated to reopen on 4/26 with a Jay-Z performance after having shut down last year for extensive renovations. The venue hosted the first-ever Bret Hart vs. Mick Foley (as Mankind) match for a live episode of Shotgun Saturday Night. Impact Wrestling, then known as TNA, also ran the legendary club for a live event once.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed to PWInsider.com that they have concluded their investigation in the July 2018 death of former WWE star Brian "Christopher" Lawler last year while incarcerated following an arrest for DUI.

"Our investigation has concluded and all findings have been turned over to District Attorney General Mark Davidson. I will have to refer any questions to his office," TBI's Keli McAlister told PWInsider.com. PWInsider.com inquries to Davidson's office have not yet received a replay ...

With the investigation turned over to the District Attorney's office, there is no word if or when the findings of the investigation will be made public. Again, a PWInsider.com request to District Attorney General Mark Davidson's office has not yet received a reply.

Starrcast has announced that Dustin “No Legs” Thomas has been added to the convention in Las Vegas next month. Thomas was the breakout star at Joey Janela’s Spring Break last week after wrestling Tony Deppen on the first night and blew away everyone with his performance. Starrcast has also added Mance Warner, Sunny Onoo, and Ernest Miller.

The ongoing lawsuit brought by Ring of Honor star Scott “Colt Cabana” Colton against former WWE Champion Phil “CM Punk” Brooks in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois has seen one of the two allegations against Punk dismissed, leading to Punk personally responding before the court for the first time about Cabana's allegations of unpaid legal fees and breach of contract, stemming from the lawsuit that WWE physician Doctor Chris Amann filed against the two in the fallout of Punk's appearance on Cabana's November 2014 Art of Wrestling podcast.

Alexander Wolfe (formerly of SAnitY) tweeted this message tonight, saying “RIP SAnitY” and “Goodbye WWE.”

It’s not clear yet if he was released or if something else happened.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Today would have been Roddy Piper’s 65th birthday.

The AAF, which was going to be a competitor to the XFL, officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy today.

Local advertising has already been updated for a couple of upcoming WWE events.

The main event for the Smackdown show in Hungtinton, VW on 4/29 is Roman Reigns vs. Elias. Also appearing WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor, Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz, The Bar and Charlotte Flair.

The main event for the RAW show in Evansville, IN on 5/6 is AJ Styles, Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley. Also appearing Natalya, The Usos, Naomi, and RAW Tag Team Champions Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins

The 4/16 episode of Miz & Mrs. on the USA Network brought in 1,102,000 overnight viewers, up from last week's 997,000 overnight viewers.

Viceland's Dark Side of the Ring will return for its second episode tonight at 10 PM, featuring a documentary look at the Montreal Screwjob, the night Vince McMahon changed the finish of the 1997 Survivor Series WWF title bout between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels on Hart's final night in the company.

Subsequent episodes for the first season will feature:
Wednesday 4/24 - The Killing of Bruiser Brody
Wednesday 5/1 - The Last of the Von Erichs
Wednesday 5/8 - The Mysterious Death of Gorgeous Gino (Hernandez)
Wednesday 5/15 - The Fabulous Moolah

On today's edition of The Jim Ross Report, the WWE Hall of Famer talks with Cody about the plans regarding AEW ... The American Nightmare states they have 40 wrestlers under some sort of deal with the company. Rhodes says that they are already working on the shows past Double or Nothing. We will be hearing about how we can watch the show soon.

While WWE has announced a new, live WWE Network special featuring the following appearance of The Shield live from Moline, IL on Sunday 4/21 at 9:30 PM EST, that is not the only content they will be filming with Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

WWE's production team is scheduled to sit down with all three members of The Shield for interviews at the 4/19 WWE live event in St. Louis.

Fans may have noticed that Daniel Bryan has not appeared on television since losing the WWE Title to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35. According to PWInsider, Bryan was not at television this week and is currently dealing with an undisclosed injury. The report states that "the nature of the situation has been closely guarded."

Furthermore, Sheamus is reportedly dealing with an undisclosed injury as well. Sheamus was noticeably absent from last night's SmackDown as Cesaro teamed with Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura with Sheamus nowhere to be found. Sheamus last wrestled on the Apr. 9 episode of SmackDown, teaming with Cesaro & Drew McIntyre against The New Day in a six-man tag team bout.

There is no timetable for the return of either superstar.

WWE has a Superstar Shakeup this week, but there could be a shakeup happening in Ring of Honor's offices as we speak ...

Monster Factory's Danny Cage was cut from Ring of Honor after joining the company in early December. From what we're told he's still being paid by the company, and had a lot of ideas how to shift ROH and Future of Honor's production, which was met with heavy resistance ...

Speaking of Joey Mercury, Fightful reported this week that he was instrumental in getting Sons of Savagery signed by the company, and has pushed for Maria Manic to come in as well. All of which are alumni from MCW, where he's served as a trainer.

Mercury and Bully Ray are said to be gaining influence within Ring of Honor, while Delirious' (Hunter Johnston) creative input has decreased. Those that we spoke to expected this to accelerate as time moves on. It could be seen with Enzo and Cass, as well as Velvet Sky and Angelina Love being brought in ...

Those we spoke to in ROH say that there was some heat on any number of people who made the All In deal a reality, as the company ended up helping give crash courses to their upcoming competition for talent.

WWE announced that Shane Strickland and Garza Jr. have officially signed with the company and have reported to training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, along with another recent signee, Kushida.

Strickland has been on WWE’s radar for a while. He’s a great wrestler and is a former EVOLVE Champion, former MLW World Heavyweight Champion, former CZW World Heavyweight Champion, and also wrestled in Lucha Underground as Killshot.

Garza wrestled for Lucha Libre AAA from 2015-2017 and has been wrestling in the indies in Mexico since, and also wrestled in Impact from 2017-2018. He’s the cousin of Humberto Carrillo, who wrestles for 205 Live.

The tag team formerly known as the War Raiders made their main roster debuts as part of Raw on Monday and are now known as “The Viking Experience,” which has led to a lot of groaning by fans.

But according to PWInsider, that wasn’t the initial name change that was pitched. They were reportedly going to be called “The Berzerkers,” but that was changed as their debut got closer ...

“The Viking Experience” name is Vince McMahon’s idea, according to Dave Meltzer. It’s not clear why exactly he changed their name.

Yesterday on Twitter, Luke Harper said that he requested his release from WWE, while Alexander Wolfe said “goodbye” to WWE.

Neither of them have been released from the company as of this morning.

Harper’s contract expires some time around November, according to Dave Meltzer. Meltzer said that it was clear that Harper was looking to go to AEW. Harper is close friends with Chris Harrington, who is the Vice President of Business Strategy for AEW.

Alexander Wolfe is still under contract with WWE despite posting a message saying “Goodbye WWE” on Twitter, according to PWInsider. It’s not clear if he requested a release or if something else is going on.

In an update on the situation, Banks and Bayley were also told that they would be split up to different brands, so that was another reason why they were reportedly unhappy, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Bayley was moved to SmackDown last night as part of the Superstar Shake-up, while Sasha is still technically on Raw.

Sasha and Bayley had pushed for WWE to bring on Women’s Tag Team titles for a while, so it’s understandable that they’d be upset about their team being broken up so soon after the titles were finally introduced.

[Jordan]

Why does Daniel Bryan always get injured at Wrestlemania?

[Jordan]

Would be really smart if Harper and Alexander Wolfe are working the marks (us) and end up Nexusing the new Raw or Smackdown with Bray and a dominating once and for all Wyatt family.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

MLW announced today that the promotion is introducing a National Championship. It will be an openweight title, featuring wrestlers from the middleweight, heavyweight, and super heavyweight divisions.

The inaugural National Champion will be crowned at MLW's television tapings at the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Saturday, June 1.

The second episode episode of Viceland's pro wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring on 4/10 garnered 181,000 overnight viewers for their Montreal Screwjob episode, up from last week's 154,000 overnight viewers.

Next Wednesday's episode will focus on the Bruiser Brody murder.
Next week's numbers should be interesting since its been available online for a while due to Viceland airing it as the pilot episode for the series.

Since it’s been a couple of months, I just want to point out how bad it is that The Pursuit Channel, which is partially OWNED by Anthem, still has yet to be able to correct their cable and satellite guide listings to properly show that Impact Wrestling is a two-hour series. We continue to receive complaints about the issue from readers with different providers and again, this week, on my own provider, Verizon Fios, the series is listed for 30 minutes with 3 replays, which means that if I don’t add time to my DVR (or pay attention enough to care), I’d end up with 30 minutes and nothing more of the show. I know that Impact management has been well aware of the issue and the channel is slow to respond to requests, but at this point, it’s beyond terrible that nothing has been fixed

Chicago broadcaster legend Chester "Chet" Coppock, who had a storied career covering sports on Chicago Radio and TV passed away due to injuries suffered in a Georgia car accident on 4/11, his family announced today. Coppock was 70 years old at the time of his passing yesterday, surrounded by his family. He was very much a living legend in the Windy City, where he won several Emmys and was inducted into the city's Broadcaster Hall of Fame ...

Pro Wrestling was a small portion of Coppock's career. He had AWA competitors on his radio show regularly in Chicago to help promote live events that were taking place in Comiskey Park ...

Coppock was also the ring announcer for the Chicago portion of WWF's second Wrestlemania in 1986 and made at least one radio appearance doing announcing for WWF's Radio show, commentating with Gorilla Monsoon for a radio broadcast of Wrestlemania X in 1994 in NYC. He also handled local promotional interviews pushing WWF events in Chicago in the late 1980s.

Nikki Bella said on her podcast that a match with Stephanie McMahon would bring her out of retirement.

According to the Sports Business Journal, WWE talent signed to developmental contracts are paid on average $50,000 to $150,000 a year. The overall average for those in development is roughly $80,000. The report goes on to say that salaries can climb into the seven figures "if they reach the top of WWE."

Right now, the idea is that the women’s champions, double champion Becky Lynch and tag team champions Billie Kay & Peyton Royce will be working both brands and have different challengers on each brand. It was indicated Kay & Royce would also defend their titles on NXT. They made clear that the Raw and Smackdown titles are different and Raw brand wrestlers like Natalya and Lacey Evans made it clear they were after the Raw belt. It appears that when Lynch loses one of those titles, she’ll be exclusive to the other brand.

Only a few wrestlers were brought up. The two top stars of the last year on 205 Live, Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander, were moved off the brand, with Murphy going to Smackdown and Alexander to Raw. While it’s long been established that 205 Live is somewhere between developmental and purgatory, this establishes that the original goal of it being the home for the best under-205 pound guys in the company is over and it’s just an hour of filling time and waiting for the top guys to make it to the main roster. Even though Murphy was cruiserweight champion and on many PPV shows (granted, often on the pre-show), when he arrived on Smackdown he did an introduction interview with the premise most people didn’t know him and would be hearing about him for the first time.


The Mysterio move is interesting because FOX has been airing previews for Smackdown on baseball and the shots were of John Cena, Reigns, Mysterio and Flair as the four stars focused on the brand.
:lol: at WWE already messing things up for FOX's promotion of Smackdown's arrival on their network.

Regarding Sanity, Eric Young will be on Raw. Nobody knows what’s going on with Killian Dain, or his wife, Nikki Cross. Alexander Wolfe wrote a farewell message on social media to WWE, but those in WWE have told us that Wolfe isn’t leaving the company. There is talk he may go back to NXT as a single, or he could be used as a flagship guy on the European brand.

WWE last week also announced Legacy Hall of Fame inductees. This is the category they use to honor people who, for whatever reason, they don’t feel are marketable names to the modern audience to put in their actual Hall of Fame. It’s basically the answer of how can you have a Hall of Fame without Lou Thesz and Strangler Lewis, with the answer that they are quietly in it, just not listed in the main Hall of Fame. It’s basically a situation based on two factors, the nature of the WWE Hall of Fame being what it is, which as those in the company have always stressed, is nothing more than a marketing idea and not meant to be taken seriously, and an industry that has reshaped its history to where much of it is ignored and the modern fan knows little of it. The usual rules apply, one woman, one African-American, which can be tricky since that isn’t the easiest. They used Luna Vachon as the woman, which is fine since there are no real standards for a WWE Hall of Fame, past the point that Vachon shouldn’t even be in the legacy category since she was part of the company’s modern era. The African-American was S.D. Jones, the perennial prelim wrestler, joining Johnny Rodz as guys who were essentially television jobbers being in the Hall of Fame.

For the TV ratings this past week, the AAA show on 4/5 did a 2.1 rating and 9.0 share, with 4.4 million viewers. CMLL on 4/6 did a 1.2 rating and 2.6 share, for 1.3 million viewers

TV Azteca announced a series of tournaments for a weekly Saturday night show that starts on 5/4. It will be a ten-week series, with two one hour shows taped every other Thursday in Mexico City at either the Pepsi Center or the Jai Alai Fronton (where Impact taped). There will be tournaments in a number of weight divisions as well as tag teams. The number of people in the tournament varies by division. We don’t have names yet but they announced there would be competitors from Elite (the Mexican promotion, not AEW), Arolucha in the U.S., Impact, MLW and AAA in all divisions. The idea is that the winner of each weight class will be recognized as champion in all five promotions and defend the title in all of them. It will be a new weekly TV show short-term on TV Azteca for the summer. The name of the show looks to be “Gladiatores: Liga de Campeone de Lucha Libre,” or Champions League of Wrestling

Regarding television for AEW, there is nothing new to report this week other than it seemed a lock a few weeks ago what day the show would air, and now the day of the week is no longer a lock. But the two hours live weekly in prime time looks likely

Regarding Banks, it should be noted that the decision to put the women’s tag titles on The Iiconics was not a last minute decision and many people knew about it in the company. However, Banks & Bayley weren’t told until the day of the show. They were also told at the time that the company was going to drop them as a tag team ... So it was the combination of not getting the title run they expected to establish the belts as meaningful and not joke belts, and splitting up their team so quickly that got both of them upset. Bayley was upset but didn’t quit or anything.

Despite rumors to the contrary, she was never booked for television this week, at least since WrestleMania. They are hopeful she’ll be back over the next few weeks and she is tentatively booked for the 5/19 Money in the Bank show in Hartford, but nothing is concrete as far as her status. If she returns, she’s scheduled for Raw, because the reason for the split-up is that Bayley was always scheduled to move to Smackdown, a decision that has been the plan for some time even though kept secret until probably whenever they told Bayley she had to stay the extra day in Montreal this week

A lot of people have commented that the costs listed for expenses on the road for WWE talent were listed very high. While the estimates for rental cars was actually low, as noted, very often people share cars. Couples on the road also share rooms so total room costs would be a little bit lower. Plus, if WWE was handling it themselves, they would be able to get discounts. One person who is an accountant for a company that handles a lot of travel noted that WWE could open an account with Hilton as their official hotel and probably get costs down very low with deals that include parking, breakfast and gym access. In addition it was noted that a lot of wrestlers have gym memberships to chains, so that in most cities they can find a gym of that chain and it’s just part of their annual dues. That isn’t always the case. IRS guidelines are $71 per day per diems for workers on the road in most cities and $104 in major expensive cities like a New York or a San Francisco, although you can get that figure down if you have a hotel deal that provides for free breakfasts. The point being that one accountant who deals with this said even a $20 million estimate on costs to WWE for making talent employees would be insanely high.
This is in regards to Fightful's article about how much it would cost WWE to cover all of their wrestlers as actual employees. Basically the real amount would be a lot lower than what Fightful suggested and WWE pretty much doesn't do it due to their greed.

The agents for the Takeover matches were: War Raiders vs. Ricochet & Black was Terry Taylor. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle was Matt Bloom. Pete Dunne vs. Walter was Johnny Moss. The women’s match was Sara Amato. The Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole main event was Michael Hayes

Enzo & Cass were not at either ROH show this weekend, nor are they booked on anything announced going forward. They have been given no future dates and right now are not factored into anything. There were key people very upset with that segment internally and as noted before, internal divisiveness whether to do it and it brought negative attention in terms of reaction. The idea of why was explained last week, but not everyone bought that. The original idea was to do a very quick bit that would take place in the corner by the guard rails. Enzo was to grab Mark Briscoe and Mark was to shove Enzo and that would be it. It would be so quick so as not to sound the alarms. People on TV may or may not see it, but people would hear about it. I guess the idea, since Enzo did interrupt a WWE show legit, was to play off that. Security was to then take Enzo away to make it look real. The idea is that if there was a buzz, maybe they’d follow up, but if nobody cared, it was so short that people would just assume it was real. It got out of control and right now there are no plans to bring them back, but there are also different people with different viewpoints involved with creative and it’s not clear how the wind will blow.


Some TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE: Road Dogg Update, The Shield’s Final Opponents (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-road-dogg-update-the-shields-final-opponents/)
More on “The Viking Experience” Name Change (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/more-on-the-viking-experience-name-change/)
Injuries: Sheamus Has a Concussion, Ronda Rousey Surgery (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/injuries-sheamus-has-a-concussion-ronda-rousey-surgery/)

[erickman]

cass and enzo already out of roh wow

[Mr. Nerfect]

Promoting Rey on SmackDown makes sense. Lol at WWE messing that up. And lol at Enzo & Cass existing.

[Mr. Nerfect]

AEW have a big opportunity to treat their talent like human beings and completely out-babyface WWE.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Alexander Wolfe didn't wrestle at the NXT UK tapings today but was backstage. He is believed to debut tomorrow with a big push in this division.

There will be a Starrcast announcement this coming week that will blow some people's socks off. Some won't care, but those that do, will care a lot.
Placing bets on it being Ralphus.

ROH has announced that ROH & IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) will face The Briscoes at the War of the Worlds show in Villa Park, Illinois on Sunday, May 12. The show is an ROH television taping.

If Guerillas of Destiny are still ROH Tag Team Champions, the titles will be on the line when they face The Briscoes. Guerrillas of Destiny are also defending the ROH Tag Team titles against Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham at War of the Worlds: Buffalo on May 8.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has officially added a Sydney date to their return to Australia.

NJPW will hold a show at the University of New South Wales Roundhouse on Sunday, June 30. It will be a "smaller, more intimate event" than their show at Festival Hall in Melbourne on June 29.

Tickets for the event in Sydney will go on sale at noon AET on Friday, April 26. There is no pre-sale for the show.

The two-show Southern Showdown tour will be the first time NJPW has come to Australia since their Fallout Down Under events in February 2018.

On 4/15, WWE applied to trademark "WWE Stomping Grounds" for "G & S: Entertainment services, namely, a show about professional wrestling ...

Also on 4/15, Ric Flair LLC applied to trademark "King of Drip" and "Founder of Swag" for "G & S: Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer"

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley commented on the Viking Experience's name, writing, "Sure it’s a bad name - but it got people talking! Plus, these two guys are talented enough to weather the storm. For those of you who were sleeping, the #WarRaiders were transformed into the #VikingExperience for the WWE Raw debut, and many fans were not happy about it. I put out a little tweet, just being happy that two hard-working guys had made their debut on #Raw -and you would have thought I just praised John Cena with the heat I got for it! My guess is that anything with the word “war” in it is not going to go down well with USA Network or current and potential sponsors."

On this past week's episode of the show, Sam Roberts made his commentary debut alongside Byron Saxton and Renee Young. During a match between Dana Brooke and Tamina, Roberts went full heel in his burial of Brooke. Here are some highlights from Roberts on commentary:

"I wouldn't be in a wonderful mood if I found out I was returning to singles action and it was in a match against Dana Brooke of all people."

"You can show up every week, it takes a matter of skill."

"Support doesn't win matches."

"No big shocker here that the somersaults that Dana Brooke is doing aren't exactly paying off. I'm sure she's great on a balance beam."

"When has Dana Brooke ever seized the moment?"

Following the episode airing, Dana Brooke fired back on Twitter.

"Sam - always thought we were cool, but Damn, wondering why @WWE doesn’t have u on a lot, you burry people!! what have u accomplished.. prob gave up at it, unlike me I push through never giving up!Maybe @ReneeYoungWWE Will be right when I block you & 1 day make U eat your words!"

Brooke followed that up by calling Roberts "a mark" in a reply to a Twitter user.

This isn't the first time Roberts has buried talent as fans may recall his scathing comments aimed at Bianca Belair prior to NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. In his non-apology to Belair, Roberts said that he is not fed lines and is allowed to speak what is on his mind while in the booth.

For some of the Raw people who were moved to Smackdown and introduced on the show, as a way to keep them from knowing for sure, they were actually told to say in town as they were needed for promotional work, and then on Tuesday were told they were switching brands.

ECW Press will release the biography of WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson on Sept. 3.

"Soulman: The Rocky Johnson Story" was co-written by Scott Teal with the foreword written by Rocky's son, The Rock.


Some TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE: Nikki Cross on Raw Brand House Shows, Adam Cole Wrestling for EVOLVE (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-nikki-cross-on-raw-brand-house-shows-adam-cole-wrestling-for-evolve/)
Keith Lee Returns From Injury at NXT Show (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/keith-lee-returns-from-injury-at-nxt-show/)

[GD]

Sam Roberts' edgy demeanor is quite annoying. Not a fan.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I don't like him he works for Faux Business/Faux Noise.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Never liked Sam Roberts.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

tbh sounds like Dana Brooke is being a mark.

[Evil Vito]

Sam Roberts' edgy demeanor is quite annoying. Not a fan.

He's a cunt.

[Jordan]

Would love Sam Roberts to have a Stossel/Schultz moment.

[Mr. Nerfect]

He jumped the shark with me during an interview with Cornette. He asked Cornette about his dislike of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, and Corny spoke pretty bluntly about all the things he said. Then, after the interview ended, Roberts said it was impressive how he "spun" things. He wasn't trying to be an asshole, but he let Cornette tell his side and then just completely disregarded it for the internet narrative, which was so frustrating.

[slik]

WWE has cancelled the June BACKLASH ppv in San Diego as they have shifted the next Saudi Arabia show to June 7th, which was a week before BACKLASH was scheduled.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Backlash only makes sense to me as a PPV after Mania.

[slik]

Can't stand Sam Roberts...I know he is 'playing a role' but it's the kind of 'unbearable' that distracts u from the product

[GD]

The combination of Corey and Renee is slowly becoming insufferable as well.

[slik]

https://i.imgur.com/9F3xd0J.jpg

[slik]

WWE has made the event in San Diego, previously Backlash, into a RAW houseshow.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrade and Zelina Vega are Moving Back to SmackDown Live: <a href="https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI">https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI</a> <a href="https://t.co/0tM5oZC92j">pic.twitter.com/0tM5oZC92j</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1120391501853470721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>




<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UPDATE: Aleister Black is now officially listed on WWE dot com as a SmackDown Superstar as well. His profile states: &quot;After the 2019 Superstar Shake-up, Black set his sights on changing the landscape of SmackDown LIVE.&quot;<br><br>FULL ARTICLE ⏩⏩ <a href="https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI">https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI</a> <a href="https://t.co/CrXzpeoPYI">pic.twitter.com/CrXzpeoPYI</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1120403905526030342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">REPORT: John Pollock of POST Wrestling is reporting that Cesaro has moved to RAW as part of this most recent shuffle.</p>&mdash; Les Moore (@prowrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/prowrestling/status/1120418370174763009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Black Widow]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrade and Zelina Vega are Moving Back to SmackDown Live: <a href="https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI">https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI</a> <a href="https://t.co/0tM5oZC92j">pic.twitter.com/0tM5oZC92j</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1120391501853470721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>




<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UPDATE: Aleister Black is now officially listed on WWE dot com as a SmackDown Superstar as well. His profile states: &quot;After the 2019 Superstar Shake-up, Black set his sights on changing the landscape of SmackDown LIVE.&quot;<br><br>FULL ARTICLE ⏩⏩ <a href="https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI">https://t.co/p5XcgPejqI</a> <a href="https://t.co/CrXzpeoPYI">pic.twitter.com/CrXzpeoPYI</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1120403905526030342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">REPORT: John Pollock of POST Wrestling is reporting that Cesaro has moved to RAW as part of this most recent shuffle.</p>&mdash; Les Moore (@prowrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/prowrestling/status/1120418370174763009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>I'm sure it has nothing to do with their golden girl banging him.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The fuck?

[Sepholio]

Andrade move was probably because they realized they no longer had a high profile Hispanic star on SD! as well as his relationship with Charlotte.

I imagine Black and Cesaro were just a trade. Seems they decided to split Black and Ricochet, and it makes it easier to explain it away if they just put them on separate shows. Cesaro clearly has nothing to do now that Sheamus is out so just throw him over on RAW to give him some fresh faces to fight.

I would have probably sent Ricochet to SD! though and Black to Raw. Just due to personal preference of who I would have rather seen them feud with potentially. Black vs AJ and Ricochet vs Mustafa Ali would have been awesome. Now we'll get Ricochet with Cedric Alexander in some capacity probably and Black ends up in a program with Nakamura.

[Sepholio]

If they do have Black and Nakamura feud I hope they let them put on a more Japanese style program if that makes sense. Let those 2 go all out strong style and work the hell out of each other in July at Extreme Rules. Just to test out something a little different than the normal WWE booking. Lot of potential there. Plus you could get both of them over hard in the process and then everybody win!

[Evil Vito]

I would have probably sent Ricochet to SD! though and Black to Raw. Just due to personal preference of who I would have rather seen them feud with potentially. Black vs AJ and Ricochet vs Mustafa Ali would have been awesome. Now we'll get Ricochet with Cedric Alexander in some capacity probably and Black ends up in a program with Nakamura.

Once they decided to move Andrade back, they had to move Aleister as well to keep him with Zelina. They're pretty good about not splitting couple up given the different touring schedules the brands have.

Makes me think Alexa and Buddy Murphy are splitsville otherwise I think it would've been Buddy on Raw and Cedric on SmackDown.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Well, they don’t have to. There are plenty of wrestlers that don’t get to travel with their partners, and some may not want to be around each other so much. They do it, but they don’t have to.

As for Bliss/Murphy: I’d have guessed Raw for Murph and SD for Ceddy Xands too (in fact, I did), but they seem to only keep married couples together and split unwed ones. Could also just be that they don’t want the schedule. And Murphy was working 205 Live on Tuesday anyway.

Just don’t get why the moves and then the mind-changing. Shows how little clue they have.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

i've decided I like hate-reading Noid posts.

[Emperor Smeat]

Once they decided to move Andrade back, they had to move Aleister as well to keep him with Zelina. They're pretty good about not splitting couple up given the different touring schedules the brands have.

Makes me think Alexa and Buddy Murphy are splitsville otherwise I think it would've been Buddy on Raw and Cedric on SmackDown.

Apparently Bliss mentioned in a past episode of Lillian Garcia's podcast show that she's no longer dating Murphy. It was an amicable split and both are still close friends.

Only reason the married couple rule exists is due to how badly WWE handled the first draft from the original brand split and Vince's noted history of trying to wreck couples for petty reasons. He tried to split up Lana and Rusev for real due to him feeling Rusev wasn't worthy of having someone of Lana's beauty.

[Bad News Gertner]

Which is hilarious considering Lana is ugly.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Hey Gert, I found a pic of you

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/493/549/366.jpg

[Bad News Gertner]

Hahaha!


I only date foreheads, not fiveheads

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

http://www.relatably.com/m/img/fat-girl-memes-tumblr/9ce.jpg

[Bad News Gertner]

Some of us have standards.

Some of us settle.

Lana 1.5/10

Top left is the only one worth a go around

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lol I love how Maryse is who does it for you. I mean she's hot, don't get me wrong, but she's pretty cookie-cutter.

Is she related to PCO?

[Bad News Gertner]

Shes soooooooo hott. Plus that accent.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The first Raw after the two week period of WrestleMania and the Superstar Shake-up, the first real test of a normal show in a few weeks, did 2.37 million viewers, the lowest number since January 7, which was still against football ...

It was the lowest number in the modern history of the show outside of football season, with a massive second hour turnoff after an okay first hour.

It's a terrible sign because traditionally the show starts a decline this time of year, until June, with decreases as the NBA playoffs get into the later rounds ...

As far as the first-to-third hour drops, they were 18.5 percent in women 18-49, 14.7 percent in men 18-49, 6.3 percent in girls 12-17, and 33.1 percent in boys 12-17. The latter figure is an unprecedented level of teenage boys tuning out during the show.

Happy birthday to John Cena, who turns 42 today. Vince McMahon’s Twitter account sent a birthday message to Cena: “Happy birthday to @WWE’s Babe Ruth, @JohnCena! I really can’t describe in words how much @JohnCena means to me and the @WWEUniverse. #HustleLoyaltyRespectLove”

The long-awaited U.S. premiere of The Wrestlers is finally going to happen, which is the series hosted by Damian Abraham and had a limited run on VICE in Canada last year. Due to the success of “Dark Side of the Ring”, this series has been greenlit to air on Viceland with the network announcing that the ten episodes are set to air, although no premiere date has been released. The series is different from Dark Side of the Ring with Abraham traveling to locations including Japan, Nunavut, Bolivia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo with the professional wrestling as the backdrop. There are interviews throughout the series with MVP, Mia Yim, Rossy Ogawa, Atsushi Onita, Mayu Iwatani, Gabe Sapolsky, and others.

Starrcast announced today that former WWE star and ECW World Champion turned CBS Sports Radio personality Taz will make his first appearance in years at their event over Memorial Day Weeekend in Las Vegas

NXT stars chip in to help a friend.

On Apr. 17, Ricochet set up a GoFundMe to help his mother, who lost her home in a fire. As of this writing, the GoFundMe is up to $13,942. But the stars of NXT are going the extra mile to help out. NXT superstars launched "The Ricochet Family Fund," an auction fundraiser on eBay where fans can bid on items worn/signed by various NXT stars. All proceeds go toward Ricochet's mom and family.

Items include an event worn jacket from Matt Riddle, autographed and event worn boots from Candice LeRae, even worn gear from The Undisputed ERA, autographed items from Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa, an autographed and event worn shirt from Shayna Baszler and more.

The auction ends on Apr. 29.
Link for those interested: https://www.ebay.com/sch/ricochet_theoneandonly/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Jeff Hardy is dealing with a lower body injury. Hardy was said to be "limping significantly" at a WWE live event over the weekend. Hardy wrestled on Apr. 20 at a live event in Madison, Wisconsin, teaming with Matt Hardy to defeat The Usos. The following night in Rochester, Minnesota, Jeff was in Matt's corner as Matt took on Jimmy Uso in singles competition. At last night's live event in Sioux City, Iowa, Jeff was not on the show and Matt teamed with R-Truth to take on The Good Brothers ...

It is unknown how severe the injury is to Hardy or how much time he will miss.

ProWrestlingTees.com is running a 20% off sale today to celebrate the FIVE MILLION DOLLARS in royalties that they have paid out to their partners. Use the promo code 5MIL for a discount.

PWInsider reports that WWE is going to film footage of The Viking Raiders at a Viking Festival this month.

WWE may have big plans for the winner of the men's Money In the Bank Ladder Match this year.

There has been a strong push within the WWE creative team to have the 2019 men's MITB briefcase holder come out of the whole process looking like a real star, according to @WrestleVotes.

There's a feeling backstage that the company has "completely blown" the winners and their cash-ins over the last two years. It sounds like they are looking to fix that this year.

There is still nothing firm regarding whether the 6/8 San Jose Takeover show is still on with the Saudi Arabia show being on 6/7. Basically everything is on hold because the Saudi Arabia show, originally set for 5/3, then moved to 6/7, is probable but not 100 percent right now. What we do know is that tentatively the 6/7 Salt Lake City show was moved to 6/16 and the 6/8 Denver show was moved to 6/15. Those would be the dates they couldn't have U.S. shows is they are going to Saudi Arabia. The fact these moves have been made, but not announced, tells you they are pretty sure that Saudi show is on. The 6/16 Backlash show scheduled in San Diego is 6/16, but it is now no longer scheduled as a PPV, but will continue as a house show. There is talk the Backlash PPV will be on 6/23 which is currently listing shows in Spokane, WA or Abbotsford, BC. We were told it would most likely be in Washington, but it may not necessarily be Spokane.
Meltzer provided another update afterwards confirming Backlash now being held on June 23rd and in Tacoma, Washington.


Some TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE Pulls The Undertaker and Kurt Angle From Starrcast Wrestling Convention (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-pulls-the-undertaker-and-kurt-angle-from-starrcast-wrestling-convention/)
Sasha Banks and WWE Still at a “Stalemate” (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/sasha-banks-and-wwe-still-at-a-stalemate/)
Ronda Rousey Gives an Update on Her Uncertain WWE Future and Injury (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/ronda-rousey-gives-an-update-on-her-uncertain-wwe-future-and-injury/)
Four Wrestlers Added to the AEW Roster (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/four-wrestlers-added-to-the-aew-roster/)

[Bad News Gertner]

That's so fucking awesome that they are airing The Wrestlers. Damian Abraham is fucking cool as shit. You guys will LOVE his show.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've had the feeling Mustafa Ali has a good shot to win MITB, but I think McIntyre and Corbin are up there too. Will be interesting to see what their plans are, as opposed to what actually happens.

[Droford]

I've had the feeling Mustafa Ali has a good shot to win MITB, but I think McIntyre and Corbin are up there too. Will be interesting to see what their plans are, as opposed to what actually happens.

McIntyre either wins it or he should ask for his release and good back to Impact or AEW

[Jordan]

In response to the report that dubya dubya E is gonna make a star from the MITB winner the first guy that popped up in my mind was Almos. Drew Mac would be a great choice too but I personally see more in Andrade.

[mike adamle]

I bet Dean Ambrose comes back and wins

[Droford]

Not nearly enough time to do a complete makeover so he can be Jon Moxley or J Mox

[#1-norm-fan]

In response to the report that dubya dubya E is gonna make a star from the MITB winner the first guy that popped up in my mind was Almos. Drew Mac would be a great choice too but I personally see more in Andrade.

I think the idea is probably to make a star out of the winner every year so I wouldn't put any stock into that report.

[Black Widow]

NXT must not have paid well enough if a gofundme was needed to help his mom out.

[Fignuts]

Top stars in NXT make around 50-60,000, which is a nice income, but not enough to be able to buy your mom a new house at a moment's notice.

[slik]

BREAKING:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The latest WWE Fan Council survey lists The Viking Raiders as “The Viking Warriors” <a href="https://t.co/mx7OZPA6EK">pic.twitter.com/mx7OZPA6EK</a></p>&mdash; HeelByNature.com (@HeelByNatureYT) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeelByNatureYT/status/1121138053333098502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Top stars in NXT make around 50-60,000, which is a nice income, but not enough to be able to buy your mom a new house at a moment's notice.

I make almost 60k a year at my insurance gig. It's not luxurious salary at all

[slik]

Big Doggo Dog rumored to face Shane McMahon at Saudi Arabia ppv

Elias rumored to face Undertaker at event

[Emperor Smeat]

Top stars in NXT make around 50-60,000, which is a nice income, but not enough to be able to buy your mom a new house at a moment's notice.

Plus having to quickly replace personal stuff lost in the fire. Even with fire insurance, that's still a sizable amount of money needed to get life back to normal.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Tuesday night's SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 2.072 million viewers, down seven percent from last week's episode. It was the second straight night of bad ratings news for the company -- as Raw was down from the previous week and down over 26 percent year-over-year.

SmackDown retained a higher-than-usual 87 percent of the Raw audience and thus was "only" down just over 18 percent from 2018 ...

Miz and Mrs., which followed SmackDown on the USA Network, did a series-low 940,000 viewers, so last episode having the show's highest ratings for the second part of season one was likely a result of the higher-than-usual SmackDown number.

Former WWE creative team member/indie wrestler RD Evans posted a video referencing quitting at this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony. He’s changed his Twitter name to R.D. “Quitman” Evans. At the end of the video, Evans holds up a “Will Wrestle 4 Food” sign, says that’s a terrible idea and he doesn’t want to wrestle, and then changes it to “Will Wrestle Orange Cassidy 4 Food.”

At Starrcast II, Bret Hart and Tom Magee will take part in an event where they’ll discuss their famous “lost” match from 1986. Mark Henry, Allie, and Rosemary were also announced for Starrcast.

No Sasha Banks at WWE TV this week and there doesn't seem to be any known indication of when she would be returning based on those we've spoken to.

Luke Harper was not at Smackdown last night.

WWE Network News is reporting that July 28, 1985, Midsouth Wrestling "Wrestlefest" event will be tomorrow's Hidden Gem.

07/28/1985 – Mid-South Wrestlefest 1985 [Duration: 01:46:23]

Dusty Rhodes battles ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair, while Ted Dibiase faces Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts in this star-studded spectacular.

The event which took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma featured the following action:

Al Perez vs. Mark Ragin
One Man Gang vs. Wendell Cooley
Barbarian (John Nord) vs. Brickhouse Brown
The Fantastics vs. Eddie Gilbert & Jerry Gray
Ted DiBiase vs. Jake The Snake Roberts
Dutch Mantell vs. Butch Reed
NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes
Bill Watts, Hacksaw Duggan, & Dick Murdoch vs Kareem Muhammed, Kamala, & Skandor Akbar


Lucha Central has reported on the recent television viewership figures AAA has been posting on Friday nights on TV Azteca’s Azteca 7 network. This past Friday’s show on Good Friday did a 3.2 rating and 5,400,000 viewers for the show featuring The Young Bucks defeating Pentagon Jr. and Fenix for the AAA tag titles from the Rey de Reyes card last month. The audience number is up 38% from the previous week’s episode that averaged 3,900,000 viewers. This past week’s audience was their highest mark since starting on Azteca 7 with the previous weekly high of 4.4 million viewers.

As noted, this week's WWE RAW saw Cesaro come to the roster from SmackDown, in a late Superstar Shakeup move. Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that Cesaro came over due to WWE wanting to keep some of the couples together. The Cesaro roster change was not originally planned for the Shakeup.

There was reportedly a lot of negativity within WWE over Charlotte Flair and Andrade being split up in the Superstar Shakeup. Meltzer noted that there were a lot of people who were not happy with Flair and Andrade being on different rosters coming out of the Shakeup. That is part of the reason why WWE quietly brought Andrade and Zelina Vega back to SmackDown this week. Vega returning to SmackDown meant Aleister Black had to move to the blue brand as well.
WWE's handling of this year's Shakeup was a big mess even going by their low standards.

Sasha Banks is reportedly at a stalemate with WWE, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio ...

Word from within WWE is that Banks wants to sit out the rest of her contract, according to Meltzer.

There's no word yet on when Banks would be eligible to leave the company but Meltzer noted that WWE could add time to the contract for the time she spends not working, similar to the situation with Neville in late 2017. She could be out of action for a significant amount of time if WWE adds time to the contract.

It was noted that WWE does want Banks back in the mix, but she wants things to be different. Those differences are unclear and not agreed on because the two sides have not made up yet.


Some TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE Releases Two NXT Developmental Wrestlers (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-releases-two-nxt-developmental-wrestlers/)
Interview: AEW Owner Tony Khan on AEW’s 5-Year Plan, If AEW Will Be “Edgy,” WCW Comparisons (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/interview-aew-owner-tony-khan-on-aews-5-year-plan-if-aew-will-be-edgy-wcw-comparisons/)
Charlotte Flair Denies Rumors That She’s Engaged to Andrade (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/charlotte-flair-denies-rumors-that-shes-engaged-to-andrade/)
WWE: Daniel Bryan Still Out of Action, Jinder Mahal Moves to SmackDown (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-daniel-bryan-still-out-of-action-jinder-mahal-moves-to-smackdown/)

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Yeah same here, same gig. I ain't limousine ridin or jet flyin.

I'm definitely wheeling and dealing.......for bargains lol

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I hopeSasha Banks just quits. She's not going to be happy there. Prob ever. The idea that Vince would sit there and pay a wrestlerto sit on their ass and sit out their contract is asinine. If the person is that miserable and wants nothing to do with your company, they're no longer an asset. Let them go.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Word on the street is that sponsors aren't a big fan of the Bray Wyatt gimmick. The source I saw was sketchy, but the story makes sense, and it will be interesting to see if anything comes of it.

[Emperor Smeat]

If true, wouldn't be surprised since evil clowns might be the limit sponsors would feel comfortable with for twisted gimmicks involving kids.

WCW had a similar problem when it came to debuting Seven (Goldust) since his hype involved kids and leaned way too much towards the creepy territory.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oh well, that's what you get when you sell your soul for a quick buck.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The third episode episode of Viceland's pro wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring on 4/10 garnered 214,000 overnight viewers for their Bruiser Brody episode, up from last week's 181,000 overnight viewers.

Next Wednesday's episode will focus on the Von Erich family.

Rhea Ripley issued an apology after using a homophobic slur while appearing on a Twitch stream with Brennan Williams, Mansoor Al-Shehail, and Reina Gonzalez. The stream had an option for viewers to tip $15 and receive an insult in Spanish or Australian. Ripley wrote in her apology: “Demi Bennett speaking here: I know a lot of you are upset with me after tonight, but I just wanted to publically say that I am sorry. My brain to mouth filter came down for a second and I forgot that some words are a big no no to a lot of people. I am a firm believer that everyone should be treated equally, whether that be race or sexual orientation. With that said, I just wanted to say how dearly sorry I am to everyone that was offended by my choice of words tonight.”
Apparently the NXT person who hosted the stream scrubbed both his Tiwtch account and Youtube channel afterwards likely due to WWE being pissed when they found out.

The Shad Gaspard and Jayson Paul General Partnership have applied to trademark 'Cryme Tyme' for "Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer." WWE trademarked the name back in 2009 but cancelled their registration in 2015.

The 'AEW', 'All Elite Wrestling', 'Tuesday Night Dynamite' and 'Fight for the Fallen' trademarks will be published for opposition on 5/28.

This may not mean much now but the 'Dead Man Talking' trademark by Starrcast will be published for opposition on 5/21.

The biggest thing was the about-face of breaking up the relationship between Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte Flair) and Manny Andrade by putting them on different brands. The relationship wasn’t a secret and the decision was made with knowledge of this. But it didn’t play out well in real life so it was reversed with Andrade moving back to Smackdown the next week. Because they didn’t want to break up the Andrade/Zelina Vega act, they moved Thea Trinidad (Vega) back to Smackdown as well. Unfortunately, then they were breaking up a married couple, so her husband, Tom Budgen (Aleister Black) also had to be moved to Smackdown. That broke up the Ricochet & Aleister Black tag team, and based on Ricochet losing to a repackaged Bobby Roode, now back to doing the Robert Roode character with a Don Frye mustache, the orders from above to protect the second run of NXT call-ups ended.

Regarding reports that Andrade and Vega were moved to Smackdown at the request of FOX, wanting a Latino act on the show, that’s not the reason, or at least the prime reason, but it’s not untrue either. The prime reason regarded breaking up the couple, whether it be because they were unhappy or because it made the company look bad regarding the original decision. The company is trying to listen to the audience and not look like bad guy, although that’s within reason, as it’s not like they’re going to give up the Saudi Arabia deal. The company is doing more focus group work than ever before to try and identify why ratings and arena business are down and what will keep fans engaged. In addition, they are fully aware that there is a wrestling war, and don’t want to come across as the bad guy promotion, giving the opposition the role of having fans rallying behind them as the protest vote.

The Sasha Banks situation also remains unchanged. She isn’t happy and the company isn’t reacting much to her. The attitude right now from the company side is that she can go sit out the rest of her contract if she wants to. The bad part of that is that if she doesn’t wrestle and tries to sit out, they can freeze the contract as well.

Another change, based on fan reaction, is that the former War Raiders, then changed to Viking Experience, had their names changed again after one week to the Viking Raiders. There was also a questionnaire sent to fans after TV that listed their names as Viking Warriors, so it may change again next week, or at least at some point that name has also been considered.

As was expected by many and reported in some places including Pro Wrestling Sheet a few weeks ago, Dustin Runnels’ (Dustin Rhodes/Goldust) is headed here and will face brother Cody on Double or Nothing on 5/25 in Las Vegas. Runnels asked for his notice from WWE on 1/19, and they gave it to him, but he was given a 90-day non-compete which ended on 4/19. From the WWE side, Vince McMahon was said to be against it but Paul Levesque talked him into allowing Runnels to leave. The reality is WWE hadn’t done anything with Runnels in years, and he’s 50, and coming off double knee surgery. It’s hard to figure the decisions on who they let go, since with Runnels, it was a lock if he was let out of his contract, he was coming here (and his contract was expiring fairly soon, but WWE could have frozen it and continued it for another eight months due to his time off after the most recent surgeries).

A few notes on ratings. While USA Network bills itself as No. 1 on cable, they use the term in entertainment. For 2018, the top ten stations, in order, were Fox News Channel, ESPN, MSNBC, HGTV, USA, TBS, TNT, Hallmark, History and The Discovery Channel. USA averaged 1,291,000 in prime time but would fall to around 950,000 without WWE, or out of the top ten, which is why the rights to Raw were so valuable. If nothing changes next year with USA and the other channels, with the loss of Smackdown would fall only below TBS and still beat TNT. But with the loss of Raw, they’d fight for the ninth spot, and that explains the value of Raw t that network even with the declining ratings. USA dropped nine percent for the year, so the wrestling shows are declining faster than the network.

Since, with AEW rumors, TNT’s prime time average in 2018 was 1,171,000 viewers. That’s going to be a very difficult number for a new show with only an Internet fan base to hit. It should also be noted that TNA did beat station averages, albeit far weaker stations, on Spike, Destination America and Pop, even if all three canceled it for various reasons, and New Japan has consistently been one of the best rated shows on AXS, as has MLW on Bein, but the standards are obviously far lower on those stations. FOX this past Friday averaged 3,043,000 viewers in the time slot Smackdown is getting

Kota Ibushi said that he’s made a lifetime deal to stay with New Japan. He signed an extended contract and said that he would be with New Japan for the rest of his career, using the term “until the day I die.” I guess we should hope for Kenny Omega to be back because The Golden Lovers really need to do matches from time-to-time and there needs to be an Omega vs. Ibushi match in MSG or the a Dome

The 7/13 show in Jacksonville had about 1,000 tickets left (set up for 5,180) after the first day of ticket sales to the general public. It wasn’t the instant sellout, but I don’t know that anyone expected a local market show in Jacksonville to have that kind of a ticket run. Daytona Beach on 6/29, the over/under would be the 2,350 that the similar CEO show did in the market last year with Omega, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito as the top stars and now it’s Omega, Young Bucks and Cody. Jacksonville usually draws 250 to 400 for NXT and the AEW crowd will beat most WWE shows in the market.

The Saudi Arabian government once again made WWE look sleazy by going. One would have thought they wanted to make the announcement of going at the investors call on 4/25 because the expectation is the company will either make a very small profit or actually have lost money this past quarter due to major added expenses. So announcing a $40 million plus show would be a good thing, especially when the negativity the company got about going last time has quelled down. But on 4/23, the Saudi government beheaded 37 people.
WWE's Saudi deal might be the ultimate "Monkey's Paw" scenario in wrestling history. WWE got a ton of money and in return can't catch a break with the timing of all the controversies that keep happening.

Obviously with the Becky 2 belts chant and catch phrase, the ban on the word belts has come to a close. WWE even sent out a promotional e-mail using the term “title belts,” a term that had been banned for years because Vince associated it with old school rasslin

WWE road agent Dean Malenko has quit his role with the company, multiple sources have told Sports Illustrated.

Malenko (real name Dean Simon, 58) had been employed by WWE as a backstage agent for the past eight years, booking matches .

The WWE released their results for the first quarter with the company hit with declines in several key areas ...

For the WWE Network, they did release the total number of subscribers on the day after WrestleMania 35 earlier this month. On April 8, there were 2 million total subscribers, which is down 6% from the day after WrestleMania 2018, which hit an all-time high of 2,124,000 subs.

Of the 2 million subscribers worldwide this year, 1,767,000 were paid and 233,000 were on a free trial. The paid number is down 2% year-over-year, but the free number dropped 26% when it had 316,000 free subs last year. The free number being down isn’t inherently a negative if free subscribers were converting over but in this case, the paid number was also down and would indicate there are less interest in this year’s show.

For the entire quarter, they averaged 1,584,000 paid subscribers, which is up slightly from 1,558,000 in the first quarter last year.

They are projecting an average of 1.7 paid subs for the second quarter, which includes WrestleMania ...

Television ratings were down 14% for Raw and 13% for SmackDown this quarter with the USA Network down 12% and the top 25 cable outlets down 5% ...

The explanation the company kept going back to what the number of performers that missed time and citing this as reasons for television viewership and live events being down. That reason only holds so much water because this decline came at their peak time of the year leading into WrestleMania and it’s not like we don’t write about the enormous declines each week, which have continued, specifically for Raw.

When assessing viewership being down due to cord cutting, the USA Network was in 91 million homes in 2018 and this year they are in 90 million homes.
Stocks got hammered due to investors not buying Vince and WWE's excuses this time for the company's woes. They also remembered all the broken promises within the past year by Vince to fix the company.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

WWE Reportedly Not Going to Release Luke Harper, Adding More Time to His Contract (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-reportedly-not-going-to-release-luke-harper-adding-more-time-to-his-contract/)
Lio Rush Reportedly Has Backstage Heat (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/lio-rush-reportedly-has-backstage-heat/)
Decision to Turn Kevin Owens Heel Was Made After Daniel Bryan Injury (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/decision-to-turn-kevin-owens-heel-was-made-after-daniel-bryan-injury/)
More Superstar Shake-up Brand Changes: Nikki Cross, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, More (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/more-superstar-shake-up-brand-changes-nikki-cross-bo-dallas-curtis-axel-more/)
WWE Releases 2019 Q1 Earnings Report – Stock Down Big (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/wwe-releases-2019-q1-earnings-report-stock-down-big/)

[Fignuts]

37 people getting beheaded is not a "controversy". It's a fucking massacre.

[Droford]

Becky needs to start saying other banned words

Maybe Vince can't understand her because of her accent

[Droford]

Also time to bring Simon Dean back

The Simon System 2.0

[Mr. Nerfect]

Dean Malenko and Arn Anderson as road agents in AEW would be a good thing for them.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't know if the WWE should really consider the timing of the "controversy" unlucky, or if that's just the inevitability of doing business with an evil fucking regime.

[Emperor Smeat]

37 people getting beheaded is not a "controversy". It's a fucking massacre.

I don't know if the WWE should really consider the timing of the "controversy" unlucky, or if that's just the inevitability of doing business with an evil fucking regime.

Yeah its bad either way for WWE's image.

Felt comparing the whole thing with a Monkey's PAW scenario fit the best since WWE got its richest ever non-television deal but in return, they have gotten nothing but bad luck and a tarnished image because of how despicable the current Saudi government has been since then.

WWE had a chance to save face from this deal but refused because of greed and now any bad PR caused for them is all self-inflicted.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's not something that they will be able to deny. I know some people are like "whatever, does anyone even care?" but it doesn't need to be a timely issue or have an immediate impact to become something people get upset over at any point in the future, even if you consider that to be frivolous.

All it would take is one really big faux pas by WWE, a really slow news week, or a viral social media trend that gets people upset for accepting Saudi money. They can't play ignorant -- now or ever. It may not be anyone's biggest priority right now, but should it become an actual news story to people (and it's far more likely than them getting any sort of mainstream media attention for anything positive), then they could be dropped by sponsors and even TV networks.

They've got ten years of this shit lined up, and it's not going to be a major story until it is. Then they've got ten years of history for people to eventually dig up and use against them, or to keep younger engaged people from financially supporting the company. Engaged people are probably far less likely to be fans of WWE in the first place, because they'd have fucking lives lol, but it could certainly be a factor.

For example, it's an edge that AEW is always going to have over WWE. They don't have the history of accepting blood money from a murderous regime. One is clearly going to be the babyface for the upcoming generation that was born in an era where not having a smart phone that can summon up this history in seconds is unthinkable, and the other is clearly going to be a heel, and that's not something ideal when you're a publicly traded company.

Well, there's that and then there's that they generally insult your intelligence.

[Mr. Nerfect]

There's another rumor going around that SmackDown is going to be expanded to 3 hours when they move to FOX. George Barrios said something about WWE monetizing 6 hours of content a week. Some have speculated that the 6th hour is just going to be the studio show.

Personally, I hope they do add a 3rd hour to SmackDown. Anything to make them even more unwatchable when AEW shows up.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Coming off the disappointing quarterly report, the WWE stock dropped another 2% on Friday and closed at $83.52.

The day after it was revealed that he quit WWE, Dean Malenko was confirmed for Starrcast II.

Starrcast announced today that Malenko will be appearing at their convention next month: "This Superstarr is known as The Man of a 1000 holds!! He’s held championships all over the world... #Starrcast II is proud to welcome DEAN MALENKO to Las Vegas, Memorial Day Weekend! Appearing Friday 1-4pm at Caesars Palace Meet & Greets on sale now."

Stacey Ervin Jr. is officially no longer with WWE.

In an Instagram post today, Ervin confirmed his departure from the company ...

Ervin is a gymnast who joined the Performance Center in July 2018 after signing with WWE. He received strong reviews for his performances and high flying at NXT house shows and also wrestled one match on NXT television during his time with the company.

The last time Ervin wrestled was on March 8. Squared Circle Sirens reported that Ervin quit WWE after going through a concussion scare.
Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwuaae8l3LB/

Forty athletes are at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for a tryout this week.

WWE.com posted an article today revealing the list of names attending the tryout. Among those in attendance are Lucha Underground wrestler Ivelisse Velez and Lance Anoa'i, who is Samu's son and a member of the Anoa'i dynasty.
Link: https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/article/wwe-performance-center-tryout-april-2019

NXT referee Tom Castor suffered a broken leg during Thursday’s main event in Omaha, Nebraska. Castor was the referee for Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze and suffered the break but finished the match and made the three count.

Dave Schilling, who had been hired for WWE Creative a few weeks back, is already gone from the company.

Progress Wrestling is holding their Super Strong Style 16 tournament next weekend from Alexandra Palace in London. The 16-man tournament features several performers being sent by NXT with the following opening round matches revealed by the promotion:
*Chris Brookes vs. Ilja Dragunov
*Aerostar vs. Trevor Lee
*Travis Banks vs. DJ Z
*David Starr vs. Artemis Spencer
*Kyle O’Reilly vs. Chris Ridgeway
*Darby Allin (the lone AEW talent) vs. Paul Robinson
*Lucky Kid vs. Jordan Devlin
*Kyle Fletcher vs Daga

Daniel Bryan is no longer the WWE Champion, but lest we not forget the greatest gift he gave us during his title reign.

Not happy with the leather strap on the current WWE Title, Daniel Bryan trashed the belt on the Jan. 29 episode of SmackDown Live. He went on to reveal a more eco-friendly title made of natural wood and hemp. Unfortunately, a replica of the belt was not for sale. Until now.

WWE announced that fans can finally purchase replicas of Bryan's eco-friendly title, even though it will no longer be seen on WWE television. Supplies are limited, but more will be available in May.

Replicas of The Beard’s custom, sustainable variation on the WWE Title are now available for the first time on WWEShop.com.

The titles are priced at $399.99 with a limited initial quantity in stock of 50. Additional titles will be available at the end of May with a second delivery. Get one of your very own at #WWEShop today & join the eco-movement!

The National Wrestling Alliance announced the teams for the Wild Card Battle Royal for this Saturday's Crockett Cup. The winning team will occupy the final spot in the NWA Crockett Cup, facing Jax Dane & Crimson in the first round.

The teams are as followed:
- Jocephus & A Mystery Partner
- The Boys
- Zane & Dave Dawson

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SuperLuchas source has AAA getting 777K viewers, not 5.4 million. <a href="https://t.co/XY68AZzXIU">https://t.co/XY68AZzXIU</a></p>&mdash; luchablog (@luchablog) <a href="https://twitter.com/luchablog/status/1121897687304032256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mr. Nerfect]

That's a big discrepancy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You'd think that with FOX paying out the ass for SmackDown, they wouldn't want ratings that don't match their previously scheduled Friday programming. That means that WWE is going to have to make 1 million fans out of this FOX exposure. Hmm.

[Evil Vito]

Lance Anoa'i is, well, an Anoa'i so he's 100% getting signed soon.

[Mr. Nerfect]

As long as AEW gets Jacob Fatu.

[Jordan]

Lance Anoai is okay. I saw him at the MLW WM week tapings. He was fine but Jacob Fatu is awesome.

[slik]

The curse of the Saudi Arabia show strikes again, this time taking out the NXT Takeover event scheduled for San Jose in June, per Meltzer.


”Takeover is supposed to be June 8th, but since the Saudi show is June 7th, the San Jose TakeOver…I was told today...it does not look like the San Jose TakeOver will take place on that day.”

[Evil Vito]

Fuck this company.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Well, that’s not so much the curse so much as it is the company rescheduling. Not so much the shows are cursed as WWE getting into bed with a massive human rights abuser.

[Droford]

There's another rumor going around that SmackDown is going to be expanded to 3 hours when they move to FOX. George Barrios said something about WWE monetizing 6 hours of content a week. Some have speculated that the 6th hour is just going to be the studio show.

Personally, I hope they do add a 3rd hour to SmackDown. Anything to make them even more unwatchable when AEW shows up.

Problem with that is Fox only does 2 hours of primetime and local news at 10. They have moved things around for the World Series before but I can bet that it won't happen every week for wrestling. It's going to be either the studio show or NXT on Fs1

[Mr. Nerfect]

Ah okay. What do they do before?

[Droford]

they delay the news til whatever sports thing is over. I dont know how hard local affiliates would fight moving news back to 11 on fridays (who watches the news on a friday night?) but I would at least say FOX has been a network for 30 years or more and theyve never strayed from 2 hour primetime except for sports events, and I dont know if wrestling qualifies.

still think the 6th hour is the weekly studio show or possibly nxt.

[slik]

More on Lio Rush being an idiot from PWInsider


There's been a lot of talk about the future of Lio Rush. He was backstage at Raw last night, but was not used. There's been a lot of talk within the company that he's going to be shifted back over to WWE NXT in the near future.


Rush has been a polarizing figure backstage for some time among other wrestlers, dating back to the November 2018 European tour, where as the junior member of the tour, he blew off what has long been considered standard backstage etiquette for the junior member of the roster on overseas tours, including being at the gorilla position after matches to provide water to talents as they returned from the ring as well as carrying coolers and drinks into the hotels where the roster was staying in order to set up a common area where everyone could socialize privately together.


These sorts of menial jobs are often done to show respect to the locker room and the business and are usually passed on to the next junior member of the locker room when someone else is brought up to the main roster. Given that this was his first European tour, these responsibilities would have technically fallen on Rush’s shoulders. When several veterans tried to explain to Rush that he was making a mistake, he blew off the advice and complained to WWE management, which didn't score him any points.


Things calmed down in recent months, but there have been additional issues, including Rush allegedly bringing friends and relatives backstage without proper credentials and other moments where he has blown off counsel of senior Raw roster members. Rush has completely disappeared from Raw with zero explanation of the end of his on-screen relationship with Bobby Lashley.

[erickman]

wheres wrestlers cort when needed who is running that locker room

[slik]

I think Big Doggo is in charge of wrestler's court now, he's the one that evicted Enzo from being allowed to change in the locker room w/ everyone else.

[Evil Vito]

-Jim Ross mentioned during a podcast appearance that there was one talent AEW was interested in but it turned out he had also just signed a $500k a year extension. While he obviously didn't disclose the name, he described the person as being in their early 30s and who never gets used on TV, but WWE was still content to pay them that to keep around because he could help younger talents.

Most people are jumping to the conclusion that this was Tyler Breeze who is 31 and had been vocal on Twitter about not getting used, but he's recently been getting sent to work the NXT live event loops to work with people there.

[Mr. Nerfect]

What a fucking idiot.

[Evil Vito]

Yeah like.....he probably never expected to get that much money. And if an easy half million dollar payday to do nothing is enough for him to give up his ambitions of ever being booked, so be it. But he's waived his right to complain.

[Evil Vito]

Brock Lesnar isn't going back to the UFC now, that's dead and over with, according to Ariel Helwani and Brett Okamoto. Dana White is saying Lesnar told him he's retiring for good, so I'm guessing some of that Saudi blood money is now Canadian dollars in Lesnar's bank account.

[mike adamle]

If it was half a million a year he was right to take that offer. He is absolutely not worth that and if the biggest company in the world is willing to pay him that much he'd be a fool not to take it. AEW hasn't even run a show yet. And with the WWE ratings in the shitter there are less people watching wrestling than in quite some time. AEW is coming in at a really shitty time. Maybe if this was 2010-2013ish they'd have a chance to be something but right now it's going to be an uphill battle.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Raw set yet another all-time modern low outside of football season last night with 2.16 million viewers.

The show only beat episodes this past New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve for the record-low mark. What's really scary is this was a nine percent drop from the record non-football season low of 2.37 million viewers that was set last week ...

For a year-to-year comparison, the NBA playoffs were down 18.3 percent from the same week last year, while Raw was down 29.4 percent, the biggest drop from the previous year when you compare two shows that weren't specials (such as a year after a very highly rated nostalgia show).

The audience under the age of 35 was almost identical to last year, and over 50 was down, but not an unusual amount. It was the 35-49 audience that collapsed from last week, although even based on not including that demo it would have done a record low number.

The three hours were:
8 p.m. 2.34 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.24 million viewers
10 p.m. 1.90 million viewers


Michael James Nelson (NBC’s Off Their Rockers) and Andrea Kail (TruTV’s Comedy Knockouts) have been added to WWE’s creative team, PWInsider reports.

Rey Mysterio made his debut 30 years ago today. He wrote on Twitter: On this day at the age of 14 I made my debut and it’s a very special day in Mexico “ Día del niño” “Day of the Kid” if I had the opportunity to [relive] these 30 yrs I would do it all over again. Thank you to all my fans!! Much love and respect!”.

Do you know where the NXT Takeover will be taking place? I noticed they haven't announced the June card yet.

It will take place in San Jose, CA. We covered it when Triple H announced it on the conference call. They have plenty of time to get the card out there.
From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

4/29 THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
* 1995 - Collision in Korea. The largest crowd to attend a professional wrestling event ever assembles in Pyongyang, North Korea for the second New Japan Pro Wrestling event held in Pyongyang Stadium as part of the World Peace Festival. The show drew a crowd of 190,000, shattering the record of 150,000 from the previous day.

* 1999 - UPN broadcast a special titled WWE Smackdown!, which doubled as a pilot for a second weekly two hour series for WWF. Scoring a 5.8 rating, the show would go to series in August 1999 and Smackdown has run consecutively since, eventually moving to the CW Network, MyNetworkTV and finally onto cable television on SyFy.


4/30 THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
* 1977 - Superstar Billy Graham defeats Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Title in Baltimore, Maryland, ending Bruno's second run with the title.

* 2006 - WWE held their Backlash PPV.
Vince & Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels & God.
Winner: Vince & Shane McMahon

The story going around about an NXT Money in the Bank match at the next PPV was a fake.

The story from Fightful.com going around that The Revival turned down five-year contracts for $500,000 apiece per year is accurate.

The 4/27 Crockett Cup event had 1,100-1,200 paid and 1,400 in the building total.

Superstar Billy Graham has a Go Fund Me campaign set up for assistance with upcoming hip surgery. Graham says he needs a total hip revision, which is a $100,000 surgery, which Medicaid only covers ¾ of. Graham is hopeful of raising the extra $25,000. He has been on crutches for the last 18 months to keep his body weight off the left hip and has prevented him from traveling.
Link for those interested in donating: https://www.gofundme.com/superstarbg

Lilian Garcia has joined the Professional Fighters League as an in-cage announcer.

Garcia signing with the mixed martial arts promotion was announced during her appearance on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show today. Garcia noted that she'll still be able to make special appearances for WWE as long as they don't conflict with the 10 shows that the PFL has this season.

During the most recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that Lance Archer has a position in New Japan Pro Wrestling to push ticket sales for the company's shows in North America.

Brock Lesnar has decided not to return to MMA, according to ESPN's Ariel Helwani. The Beast is now retired from the sport.

UFC President Dana White told Helwani today that Lesnar has informed the company that he does not plan on fighting in the Octagon again.

Lesnar had been rumored for a summer 2019 fight against UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier. That fight will not happen as Lesnar told White last week that he is retired from the sport.

"He told me he's done, he's retired," White told ESPN. "We're going to move in another direction with Cormier."


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Kurt Angle Signs New Deal With WWE, Reveals His Role Going Forward (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/kurt-angle-signs-new-deal-with-wwe-reveals-his-role-going-forward/)
More on Gallows & Anderson Moving to Raw and Their Current WWE Status (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/more-on-gallows-anderson-moving-to-raw-and-their-current-wwe-status/)
Joey Ryan Hints That He Has Signed Somewhere, Announces Indie Farewell Tour (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/joey-ryan-hints-that-he-has-signed-somewhere-announces-indie-farewell-tour/)
Lucha Underground Trying to Block Jeff Cobb, Willie Mack, Sonny Kiss From Working Elsewhere (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/lucha-underground-trying-to-block-jeff-cobb-willie-mack-sonny-kiss-from-working-elsewhere/)

[BigCrippyZ]

Michael James Nelson (NBC’s Off Their Rockers) and Andrea Kail (TruTV’s Comedy Knockouts) have been added to WWE’s creative team, PWInsider reports.

No wonder WWE's writing is awful. They're hiring B quality TV writers from shows that essentially no one knows exists (and a show that only made it 3 seasons), who never had to write anything more than a 23-24 minute comedies and that the long term storyline didn't really matter.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Vince McMahon wants so desperately to be considered legitimate entertainment, but has no clue what legitimate entertainment is.

[slik]

Per Brad Shepard's latest podcast



* Brock Lesnar told Vince last week he plans to retire from WWE likely in 2020.


* WWE is open to a return from CM Punk, despite the lawsuit. "The Door is always open if it's best for business to stay open" type of thing.


* Sasha Banks is expected to replace Dana Brooke in MITB but possibly not until the week of the show.


* Lio has been protected backstage by Titus O'Neill but Lio is upsetting so many people even Titus can't shield him forever. If Rush isn't moved to 205Live then he will likely be released soon.


* Undertaker and John Cena are both scheduled for SmackDownLIVE's debut on FOX this October.


* Like most things for creative staff behind the scenes, the "SuperStar Shakeup" was a huge headache and everything was last-minute due to Vince altering things on a whim and changing his mind repeatedly.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I missed Gallows & Anderson going to Raw. I imagine they’ll align with either Styles or Rollins.

Lol, “even Titus O’Neil.” I get he’s a respected and dignified dude, but there’s something funny about the way it’s worded.

Thought they would get Rock for FOX SmackDown. Might still happen. But they need actual draws for that show.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Last night's SmackDown on the USA Network averaged 1.833 million viewers, the lowest number for the show since the 2016 brand split and its move to airing live on Tuesday nights.

The show was down 12 percent from last week and almost 25 percent from the same week in 2018 ...

SmackDown usually finishes in the middle of the top 10 in terms of total cable viewers for the night, but it fell all the way to 15th yesterday. Perhaps more importantly, in the key 18-49 demo, where SmackDown is usually first or second, the show fell to seventh on the night with a 0.54 rating.

SmackDown did air opposite an NBA playoff game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics that did a big audience of 4.404 million. A later game featuring the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets did an even bigger audience of 6.073 million, starting at 10:30 p.m. Even an NHL playoff game finished close to SmackDown in viewers with 1.664 million, and it beat SmackDown in the demo ...

As bad as these numbers are, they could get even lower with the NBA playoffs getting into the deeper rounds and network TV shows soon airing their season finales, which are often the highest rated episodes of the year.

Beth Phoenix is the latest addition to the NXT commentary team.

She came out during tonight’s NXT tapings at Full Sail University and was announced as the newest member of the commentary team. Percy Watson, who usually joins Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness on commentary, was not there and his status on NXT is currently unknown.

David Otunga was part of the commentary team for this week's 205 Live and called the show with Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, and Aiden English.

WWE Network News reported that a one-hour Pro Wrestling USA video will be tomorrow’s addition to the WWE Network’s Hidden Gems section. Here’s the description for it: “Ric Flair battles Sgt. Slaughter while The Fabulous Freebirds face The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering from Pro Wrestling USA.”
Link: https://www.wwenetworknews.com/2019/05/02/exclusive-pro-wrestling-usa-video-ft-sgt-slaughter-vs-ric-flair-and-more-set-to-be-this-weeks-wwe-hidden-gems-addition/

Lucha Central reported that an agreement has been reached for Jeff Cobb to receive his release from Lucha Underground.

Tickets for the 9/15 AAA debut at Madison Square Garden are slated to go on sale this Sunday 5/5.

NXT is currently filming its latest set of television tapings from Full Sail. At the tapings, a superstar from the main roster returned to NXT.

Read below if you want to be spoiled.

Tyler Breeze is officially back in NXT. Prince Pretty returned to Full Sail to interrupt Velveteen Dream, making it known that he is coming after the NXT North American Title. Breeze said in his promo that he had returned "home" and based on the segment with Dream, looks to be back in NXT on a full-time basis. Breeze would take a selfie with Dream before laying him out.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Scoop #28: Dream welcomes Breeze back to The Dream’s NXT, he doesn’t know how they do it on Raw or SD, The NXT Universe wants a real man, not a boy who plays cops and robbers, just because he couldn’t cut it on M or T doesn’t mean he could come back here <a href="https://t.co/FfI86BcrzQ">pic.twitter.com/FfI86BcrzQ</a></p>&mdash; Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrJacobCohen/status/1123740021595439110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Don't count on Tony Khan being the "Mr. McMahon" of All Elite Wrestling.

The authority character has been a staple in pro wrestling for decades, with the role sometimes being portrayed by real-life bosses. While that head honcho spot may be something utilized in the upcoming All Elite Wrestling promotion, don't expect Tony Khan to be the one cutting promos.

"I have thought about it and I'm not going to do it. We have some of the greatest on-air performers in the world and look, I am who I am in the promotion. I am the president and the CEO and the founder of this company but it's not going to be me all over TV and I'm not going to be doing a lot of interviews or backstage segments on television," Khan told WSVN-TV's Chris Van Vliet in a new interview.

Dash Wilder will be sticking around a bit longer.

Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net is reporting that WWE is adding an extra two months to the contract of Dash Wilder due to time he missed in 2017 with a jaw injury. Wilder's contract was reportedly set to expire in April 2020, but the extra two months will see his contract run until June 2020.

Scott Dawson's contract is still set to expire in April 2020.

On the most recent episode of What Happened When, Conrad Thompson discussed WWE offering replacements for Undertaker, who was originally booked for Starrcast. WWE offered Ric Flair, Sting, and Eric Bischoff. However, Conrad had already booked them to appear. Then, WWE offered Sting and The APA. Both Sting and Ron Simmons were already booked and Conrad didn't want to book JBL. Conrad asked if in exchange for Undertaker, he could have Shawn Michaels. WWE didn't respond.

Conrad also said originally the plan was for Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon to provide alternate commentary for their ladder match at WrestleMania X. That idea fell through, but Conrad said that Shawn Michaels liked the idea so much he pitched it to WWE and both he and Razor provided alternate commentary for their ladder match at WrestleMania X on WWE's YouTube channel.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Various: Singh Brothers Moved to 205 Live, Impact Plus Launches w/ New Design (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/various-singh-brothers-moved-to-205-live-impact-plus-launches-w-new-design/)
Killian Dain Reportedly Moving Back to NXT (https://www.tpww.net/2019/04/killian-dain-reportedly-moving-back-to-nxt/)

[Mr. Nerfect]

I have no clue why 205 Live needs a four-person booth, lol.

[BigCrippyZ]

I have no clue why 205 Live needs a four-person booth, lol.

Why does any show need more than a 2 person booth? It's just stupid, and any extra person (except for insane talent) adds absolutely nothing 9 times out of 10.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Agreed.

[Volare]

Since when did "creative has nothing for you" hit announcers?

[KIRA]

Apparently Vince just doesn't get Luke Harper and he's pissed that Harper can't do a Southern accent he denied Harper's request for release in writing but at the same time after seeing him in a dark match with EC3 ( which he reportedly hated) decided not to put Harper on either brand

[KIRA]

Apparently Vince just doesn't get Luke Harper and he's pissed that Harper can't do a Southern accent he denied Harper's request for release in writing but at the same time after seeing him in a dark match with EC3 ( which he reportedly hated) decided not to put Harper on either brand
That's why this company is so much flaming garbage I don't see how anybody could stand to work for Vince McMahon here we have a guy who wants to work is a great worker but because of Vince McMahon's insane standards the guy is probably just going to have to sit out his contract I hope this company tanks I do.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The fourth installment of Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring series on “The Last of the Von Erichs” produced another season-high with Wednesday’s episode averaging 234,000 viewers. This week’s episode was up 9% from last week’s episode on Bruiser Brody. Next week’s episode covers the 1986 death of Gino Hernandez and includes interviews with his mother and sister. The season finale is in two weeks on the Fabulous Moolah.

The Viceland Dark Side of the Ring series will air in Australia on SBS Viceland On Demand starting on 5/8 and will air on TV on SBS Viceland starting on 6/3.

The announced WWE NXT Takeover for San Jose, CA on 6/8 has been canceled.

It has been announced the next Takeover will take instead take place on 6/1. No location has been announced. More details will be made via Triple H's social media this Monday.

WWE NXT does has a Live Event in Fort Pierce, FL on that date, but they can easily cancel the date if necessary.

PWInsider reported that Rich Swann has signed a new two-year deal with Impact.

n the interview with Sapp, Rush responded to our report that he had heat during the November 2018 European tour for not wanting to handle menial tasks assigned to junior members of the tour, including bringing water to veteran talents at the gorilla position following their matches and carrying coolers into hotels in advance of talents having a common, private area to congregate after shows, stating, "It’s not about race and it has never been, but public perception is important to me and when we have fans that travel all over the globe and watch us get off of buses and into hotels, the LOOK of a black kid carrying waters and bags for other wrestlers is just not a good look, especially when I’m trying to portray myself as a superstar as well,"

One WWE talent who was on that tour, however, contacted PWInsider.com this morning to point out that while Rush blew off the responsibilities, The Authors of Pain and Drake Maverick, who were also on their first European tours did not. The source questioned why those three talents, especially one already as well established as Maverick was in the industry, had zero issue with paying respect, but Rush did, wondering if it was because Rush had brought his wife with him on the tour. That same source noted that there would be no way a fan would know if Rush brought water backstage to a veteran wrestler and would have been seen carrying coolers alongside other WWE stars who were junior members of the tour ...

During the interview with Fightful, Rush also implied that he was not able to make a livable wage working for WWE, which signed him to a developmental deal in 2017, stating, "My issue isn’t with my on-screen role. My issue is the fact that I haven’t been on meet & greets with Bobby, haven’t been getting paid for merchandise for us that has my catchphrases on them. (I) have been sent to live shows and TVs and forced to pay for my own rental for 5 days as well as hotel while not making enough money to do so. Walking around broke in the biggest sports entertainment industry that there is while having two kids and a wife to support."

Rush's claims are interesting, especially since WWE sources have claimed today that Rush was offered a new, five-year contract that was said to be in the $300 thousand per year range, but turned it down, instead, according to multiple sources, asking for double that number.
More details: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/126136/lio-rushwwe-updates-including-the-latest-on-his-status-lio-on-his-heat-mark-henry-comments-on-lios-issues-and-more.html?p=1

You wrote about several recent creative hirings, but I was wondering about podcaster and writer Dave Schilling, who announced he was going to work for WWE Creative on Twitter but is back writing about WWE on websites. What happened?

We are told Schilling was let go after an extremely short time with the company. One source told me that Schilling publicly announcing he was hired by the company may have put him in a bad light before he started. That's unfortunate, if true.

I read somewhere that late comedian Patrice O'Neal worked for WWE? Is this true?

Yes, he was on the creative team for a short time. He was let go when he had a stand up gig and chose that over his WWE commitments. He once told the story on Opie & Anthony about Stephanie McMahon firing him over the phone and he shrugged at it, as comedians and writers do when its time to move onto the next gig, leading to Stephanie calling him back and firing him again on the phone, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation, which O'Neil found hilarious.

Why is Sam Roberts now on commentary?

I was told they really liked the heel reaction he got when he buried Bianca Belair and now they are exploring that when he's used,
From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

Becky 2 Belts is facing a familar foe at Money in the Bank, but current plans don't call for her to run it back yet again at WrestleMania 36.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer reports that plans for Becky Lynch's WrestleMania 36 opponent have changed. While originally WWE had pegged Lynch to build for a match against Charlotte Flair, Meltzer states that there is a new plan in order for Lynch, but hasn't specified who. However, Lynch figures to be a top booked woman on the event, according to the report. Ronda Rousey is not the planned match either, though Meltzer stated that it isn't out of the question if she chose to return.

The update on Harper is that Vince McMahon, in writing, told him he wouldn’t release him. He was earmarked to work a program with Zayn after Mania, but the decision was made not to do it. One person close to the situation told us that he needs to get out because they made a call that they weren’t going to use him after Vince saw him in his return. Vince said that he didn’t “get him” and complained that he couldn’t even do a Southern accent (that was from them wanting him to do a Southern accent four years ago). He was regularly pitching ideas when he was out with an injury and they turned down every pitch. He wasn’t booked anywhere after being cleared but Fan Axxess, and then Vince McMahon out of the blue wanted to know why he wasn’t in the Battle Royal, so that’s why he was put in at the last minute. Apparently the end was a mess as Strowman forgot his spots, which is one of the reasons Strowman hasn’t done much since winning.

He was booked to start the Zayn program the day after Mania, but was then told after Mania he wasn’t needed for TV. So he went home, but then was called to comeback on Tuesday for a match with EC 3. He was basically used as the opponent to test out the EC 3 and Maverick pairing as wrestler/manager. The agents set up a bunch of manager spots in the match. Vince then watched it and said he hated the manager spots. The creative meeting the day of the draft when it was asked about which brand Harper would be on, Vince said how the guy can’t even do a Southern accent, said the match with EC 3 was bad, so they didn’t put him with either brand and that’s when he asked for his release.

For the first three months of 2019, WWE generated $182,448,000 in revenue, and ended up with $8,396,000 in losses. The same three month period last year generated $187,721,000 in revenue, but posted a $14,835,000 profit. There are a few things notable in these numbers. The first is that taxes make the gap between the two years seem closer than they really are in profit/loss. The company’s net, before taxes, this year was a loss of $11,349,000, but the company received $2,953,000 from the government due to the losses when it came to taxes. And the losses were actually due to $12,828,000 in senior management compensation due to bonuses paid this quarter based on meeting performance levels in 2018. Last year the executive bonuses were $7,073,000. There’s something totally legal but amazingly unsettling when you think about the tax implications in this first quarter, a company that paid nearly $13 million in bonuses and got a $3 million tax break to cover a percentage of losses both in the same quarter. But due to increased spending, even factoring that out, profits were way down.
Basically WWE's losses were due to upper management treating themselves to a nice pay bonus that somehow managed to tank profits for the quarter. On top of that, managed to get $3 million back as a tax break from the government because of loopholes in US tax laws.

Brock Lesnar went to WWE because UFC wouldn't pay him nothing.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Brock Lesnar decided to retire from MMA because Dana White and the UFC did not meet his price point for a fight with Daniel Cormier. With UFC signing a deal with ESPN, their pay-per-view money is now guaranteed, meaning they are less reliant on buyrates and top stars selling more pay-per-views in order to boost revenue.
Exclusive: RVD Says Money Was The Motivating Factor For Impact Return
Related Article Exclusive: RVD Says Money Was The Motivating Factor For Impact Return

Lesnar, being a top draw every time he steps into the Octagon, wanted a higher flat fee to make up for potentially losing out on pay-per-view buys. White did not reach Lesnar's price, leading to the fight with Cormier falling through and White saying Lesnar has retired.

WWE officially announced its third show in Saudi Arabia on 6/7 in Jeddah, the same city the second show was held at. The show, the company’s biggest of the year as far as dollar value goes, will feature the highest paid talent, in this case returns of Bill Goldberg, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar ...

Those in WWE say the company approached Goldberg, figuring he was the one guy left who could go to AEW and perhaps bring back lapsed fans, similar to how Vince McMahon, without the benefit of hindsight, left the door open to WCW for Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Randy Savage in the 90s.

The big news was that Brian Cage won the championship but also suffered a serious back injury. Michael Elgin showed up after the championship match to lay out Cage. Elgin also won a top contenders match the next day at television so it looks to be Cage vs. Elgin as the title direction. Elgin, who looked in tremendous cosmetic shape, quit New Japan recently after just being a guy on the card in recent months. Elgin was never even used by New Japan in the U.S., likely because at an AAW show the crowd reacted terribly bad for him in the wake of a story that claimed he somehow covered up a sexual assault, even though he clearly encouraged the alleged victim to go to the police, and it led to him suing the accuser.

It’s been long enough that, at least in the building in Toronto, there was no backlash. Impact had wanted to use Elgin probably since Don Callis started in a power position, since he knew him from New Japan, but also knew at the time it was a risk of a social media backlash if they were to use him. Later, Callis did want to use Elgin, Davey Boy Smith Jr., and perhaps others from New Japan, but New Japan told its contracted talent that they didn’t want them working for anyone that they saw as competition to ROH. Since Elgin was going to be brought in for a top spot, he decided to leave New Japan. New Japan has said that if things don’t work out, that Elgin can return.

The announcement regarding PPV, streaming, or both of Double or Nothing will be announced soon, likely the next week or two.

Since they are going through with the Tuesday Night Dynamite trademark. As of a month or two ago, the idea of a Tuesday night show was dead based on the stations being talked with having other programming, but it is back alive now.

Regarding the 2021 WrestleMania, this is the update. Los Angeles is the likely destination. The city has put in a bid for it for the new Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park. The stadium will be the new home for the Rams and the Chargers, and will have a capacity of 80,240, but will be expanded to 100,000 for the 2022 Super Bowl, World Cup games, Olympic events and other major events. WWE wanted to go in 2022, after the Super Bowl, with the idea they would announce a number bigger than whatever the Super Bowl does and probably also announce a new attendance record for the company. But the city put in a bid for 2021, wanting to use WrestleMania, with so many out-of-town tourists, to kind of test everything out and remove the kinks before the Super Bowl comes the next February.

There was a poster going around which listed an NXT Money in the Bank match for the PPV. According to those in the know, not only is the poster a fake, but such a match has never been discussed.

For those keeping score, FOX on 4/26 averaged 2,103,000 viewers in prime time. That sounds bad, but that’s also with rerun programming. In fact their first hour with reruns beat what Smackdown did live on a Tuesday.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Daniel Bryan Cleared to Return to the Ring (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/daniel-bryan-cleared-to-return-to-the-ring/)
The Viking Raiders Resolve NXT Tag Team Title Situation at NXT Tapings (Spoilers) (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/the-viking-raiders-resolve-nxt-tag-team-title-situation-at-nxt-tapings-spoilers/)

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

At February's ticket announcement party, it was announced that CIMA would be teaming with two partners from Oriental Wrestling Entertainment in a six-man tag match against SoCal Uncensored at AEW Double or Nothing.

That was followed up on today, with it being revealed that CIMA, T-Hawk & El Lindaman will be facing SCU (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) at Double or Nothing. The show is taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 25.

New Japan teased a newcomer in a video today, with the idea he'll be a future opponent of Juice Robinson for the U.S. title. The guy had a Union Jack on his outfit if that's supposed to be a part of it.

Dixie Carter was in Stamford being taped for future network or DVD documentaries.

Willie Mack has signed a new deal with Impact Wrestling, according to WrestlingInc.com. This comes on the heels of Rich Swann signing a new deal with the company.

Ring of Honor parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group issued the following:

SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP TO ACQUIRE 21 REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORKS FROM DISNEY AT A VALUATION OF $10.6 BILLION

BALTIMORE, MD and BURBANK, CA (May 3, 2019) -- Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) (“Sinclair” or the “Company”) and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (“Disney”) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sinclair will acquire the equity interests in 21 Regional Sports Networks (the “RSNs”) and Fox College Sports, which were acquired by Disney in its acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (“21st Century Fox”).

Where has Big Show been? I know they announced he signed a new deal but then he was with the Bar and then he disappeared! What's up with this guy?

Big Show is still under contract to the company and has been doing some community outreach appearances for them. He had taken some time off to film a recurring role for the Syfy series Happy in New York City and will likely pop up when creative has something for him.

Any chance of CM Punk working AEW Double or Nothing as a surprise?

Punk is currently booked to do commentary on an MMA show that night. If he's there, he won't be in Vegas.

Rich Swann announced yesterday he was going to sign a new Impact deal. Are their deals guaranteed money like WWE at this point?

It's possible some of them are, but most of the deals we have heard of only provide a certain pay scale per booking with no guarantee of dates. Some of the main event talents might get guarantees, but the vast majority of the roster gets paid by the booking and the contract locked in their exclusivity with Impact to prevent them from going to WWE.
From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

MLW's return to Philadelphia has been pushed back again and will not take place until 2020.

Rich Swann's new Impact Wrestling deal will not likely impact (pun intended) his MLW appearances.

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T weighed in on Sasha's frustrations on a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast.

"There are those ones like Sasha Banks, who has all that talent and rises up to that top level and gets there and then realizes that it is not what she thought it was going to be because the reason is that it is not all about you. It is never going to be about you," said Booker. "One of the reasons why I am still here today is I never really cared about what the script was. Give it to me and let me go out and get it done. If it was something that I didn’t disagree with, I was going to go out there and get it done. If I had disagreed with it, I would have said, 'Hey, I don’t agree with this. Let’s change this because I am not doing it this way.' Then they would change it, and that is the way business was always been done with me. I can’t say that with everybody, but with me, that was how it was done. I never looked at (wrestling) as anything but entertainment. I never looked at it like it was anything but storylines. Sasha Banks has had a lot of success. How many women get in the business that never win?"

Booker went on to compare Sasha to Ember Moon, who works hard, isn't in a top spot, yet doesn't complain about her position.

Booker continued, "Sasha Banks has had more life-changing moments than so many that have walked into this business. She is made. She can do anything she wants as far as this business goes from what she has gotten from this business. So, I don’t understand it. I don’t understand a lot of this stuff that goes on these days. We are in a totally different world right now as far as the wrestling business goes. Hey man, for me, it was all about the money and taking care of my family. Create moments and memories along the way be able to touch people to change their lives."

WWE has posted a teaser for the feud between The Revival and The Usos continuing on Monday's RAW from the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The interesting part of the teaser is a line about a potential change for the team of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. WWE wrote, "In other words, this could be the beginning of a whole new Revival or the first humiliation of many. The choice is up to them."

Going into this week's RAW, it was reported that The Revival had turned down new 5 year contracts, worth $500,000 per year. We've noted how Dawson and Wilder requested their releases back in January after being unhappy with how they were used

Sasha Banks was set to compete in the upcoming women's Money In the Bank Ladder Match, but she was pulled from the show due to her ongoing issues with WWE.

Banks was replaced in the match by Dana Brooke, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The match at the May 19 WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view will feature Brooke, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Mandy Rose, Bayley, Carmella and Ember Moon.

Banks was originally earmarked for the match but she has not agreed to return to work for the company after recently requesting her release.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Impact: Brian Cage Missing Tapings, Rich Swann Re-Signs, RVD at ECW Arena, Live Special Sunday (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/impact-brian-cage-missing-tapings-rich-swann-re-signs-rvd-at-ecw-arena-live-special-this-weekend/)

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I understand both point of views there, as far what Booker is saying.

Booker showed up to work and did what was asked. Maybe if he stood up for himself a little more he'd have had that win against Triple H and cemented himself as a top babyface. Instead of being a career mid carder that was pretty much a gate keeper. Not that he had a bad career at all. However, that loss to H, imo, sealed the deal that he was a "B+" player.

Banks, meanwhile, had a good run as a top heel on nxt, putting on great matches, but hasn't seen that treatment translated. Hot shot the title with Charlotte before being firmly planted in the under card of the division with not a ton of direction while she is seeing herself her lapped by Charlotte, Rousey and Lynch.

Another big difference is the indies can bereally lucrative these days and certainly easier on the body. Whereas in Booker's time, there was WWE, TNA, and......ROH? I don't think NJPW was at the level it's currently at in the early to mid 2000s. Maybe I'm wrong.

I can't blame Banks tho. If she's unhappy she should be allowed to leave.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The one good thing that can be said about the Raw rating last night is that against tougher competition than last week, the show was up four percent.

The 2.24 million viewers was still the second lowest non-holiday episode, but appearances by Vince McMahon, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and Kofi Kingston from SmackDown, including two WrestleMania rematches, kept the show from doing the record low it would have done without the changes ...

In the declines during the show, women 18-49 dropped 15 percent from the first to third hour, men 18-49 dropped 21 percent, Teenage girls, which started remarkably low, dropped seven percent, teenage boys dropped a record setting 41 percent during the show, which has to be the basketball game since the Warriors game was up 85 percent with teenage boys and men 18-49 were up 97 percent from the first game to the second game.

Still, given the competition the success of the show only depended on not setting a record low or not dipping below 1.8 million viewers in hour three.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 2.47 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.24 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.02 million viewers


Viceland announced that they will be premiering The Wrestlers documentary series starting on May 22 at 10 p.m. ET. Extended cuts of the Dark Side of the Ring series featuring new footage will air an hour before The Wrestlers at 9 p.m. ET.

Former WWE/Impact star Matt Morgan has been named the new mayor of Longwood, Florida after a vote by Longwood City commissioners.

With WWE gaining much negative press for their association and deal in Saudi Arabia that sees them go there twice a year, a former Women's Champion in Natalya is hoping to change that perception. When speaking to ESPN 1530's No Holds Barred, Natalya says she wants to wrestle in Saudi Arabia.

"I would really love a chance, one day, to go to Saudi Arabia. I think that would be such an incredible thing for women to make some history over there. So one day I hope, in a way that Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss were able to wrestle in Abu Dhabi, one day hopefully that would be a place (Saudi Arabia) I would like to go to and be able to do something historical for women over there," said Natalya.

Vince McMahon's new WWE Wild Card Rule could end up leading to issues for the company, as described on Wrestling Observer Radio today ...

The gimmick was created as a response to ratings pressure from NBCUniversal (USA Network) and Fox. Vince did not want to give up the idea of separate brands, but the networks want star power on both shows and there has been a feeling that the brands don't have enough star power individually. Furthermore, it was also reported that Fox wants RAW and SmackDown storylines on the blue brand show when it goes to their network on Friday nights in October. There has been pressure from both networks to have the top WWE Superstars work both shows.

The Wild Card Rule will potentially cause issues for WWE live events, such as false advertising. Due to the way WWE creative operates these days, WWE likely won't plan out these weekly Wild Card Rule appearances in advance, which could lead to incidents where Superstars have been advertised for live events, for weeks or even months, but they're pulled from those live events to appear on TV at the last minute.

While WWE likely won't plan out the Wild Card Rule appearances in advance, it was noted that Roman Reigns is expected to appear on both RAW and SmackDown often. We noted before how NBCU recently asked questions about why WWE gave up a star like Reigns to SmackDown in the 2019 Superstar Shakeup.

We've reported on how WWE has made recent hires to help bring live event business back up, and they noted during the Q1 2019 earnings call that they are focused on bringing that part of the business back to where it should be. The WWE Wild Card Rule could create more of a decline in live event business, at a time where they're focused on getting it back up.

Sasha Banks has said she wants to do a match with Tessa Blanchard. That will take some work and it's not likely. I have a feeling WWE will freeze Banks' contract so long she'll think she's in Antarctica.

Lio Rush was not backstage at Raw last night and is not slated for the European tour.

Triple H had fans talking on social media this afternoon when he "liked" a fan tweet that was sent to Vince McMahon on why the WWE ratings might be down, and about how talents should have health insurance.

The fan wrote, "@VinceMcMahon maybe the problem with the Raw and SmackDown ratings isn't due to wrestlers injured, it's that you put confusing and pointless storylines. Although it wouldn't hurt if you gave your wrestlers insurance. Just a thought @StephMcMahon @TripleH @WWE"

Triple H un-liked the tweet within 3 hours of liking it, and it no longer appears under the tab on his account. You can see a screenshot of the "like" on Triple H's page before he un-liked it below.

D'Lo Brown, Gail Kim, Petey Williams and Pat Buck (who just finished a run as Guest Coach at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando) worked as producers over the weekend [Impact] TV tapings. Brown got really good reviews as a producer again.

Eli Drake was abruptly fired by Impact Wrestling, and now we know why.

The outspoken Eli Drake's release from the company has been linked to his refusal to wrestle Tessa Blanchard, a situation in which many figured to be a work. As it turns out, it wasn't, and Impact fired Drake via e-mail as a result -- along with a couple of other reasons.

According to a source, there was also a situation cited where Impact's writers felt Drake had disparaged them on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, when he said that they "booked him into oblivion" after not being figured in to many plans. That, added to the Tessa Blanchard situation, and Drake mentioning in a tweet that Killer Kross would destroy Jordynne Grace in a real fight, led to Impact Wrestling severing ties with Drake.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Ross and Marshall Von Erich Sign With MLW (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/ross-and-marshall-von-erich-sign-with-mlw/)
Various: Impact Working Towards the Future, Sabu Impresses, WOW Season 2 (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/various-impact-working-towards-the-future-sabu-impresses-wow-season-2/)
WWE: Mojo Rawley Cuts a Promo Off-Air During Raw, WWE Delaying YouTube Uploads (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-mojo-rawley-cuts-a-promo-off-air-during-raw-wwe-delaying-youtube-uploads/)
NJPW Reveals Group Blocks and Full Schedule for Best of the Super Juniors 2019 Tournament (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/njpw-reveals-group-blocks-and-full-schedule-for-best-of-the-super-juniors-2019-tournament/)

[ClockShot]

Congratulations to Mayor Matt Morgan.

[Droford]

Sasha Banks should work under a mask for the Tessa Blanchard match.

[Innovator]

Satin announced that Alexa and Murphy called off their engagement, even though I think Alexa announced it a while ago on a podcast

[Fignuts]

Fuck yeah, trouble in paradise. This is my chance.

[Evil Vito]

Some of the single dudes on the roster chase the ring rats and get laid in every town

Come on Alexa! You can do it too.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Week one of the "Wild Card rules" era proved to be a small ratings success for SmackDown. This week's episode was up five percent from last week's record low number ...

The show finished 11th for the night on cable in terms of total viewers. That's a better performance from last week but still worse than it would normally do, as SmackDown is usually in the top 10. The rating in the 18-49 demo was back up to fourth on cable with a 0.58 rating, trailing only sports competition in the form of two NBA games on TNT and an NHL game on NBC Sports Network.

Year-over-year, SmackDown also did a little better than it had been doing, dropping "only" 16 percent after having been down around 20 percent in recent weeks.

Nikki and Brie Bella will be at the NBC Upfronts this Monday afternoon, representing the company at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

John Cena, Ronda Rousey, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and Big Show are slated to appear at the FOX Upfronts at the Beacon Theater later that day.

There had been talk a week ago that Hulk Hogan would also represent the company next week, but we have not heard that is actually happening.

WWE isn't spying on their talent -- at least on social media.

Much has been made lately of WWE talent being required to turn over their social media login information upon coming to the company. It was recently reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider that was the case, as he mentioned on a recent PWInsider audio.

"I do believe that WWE has the right to control Twitter accounts. When you sign there, you're told to give your password over to the digital media department and you're told not to give your password to anyone else. It's possible that anything that pops up there in terms of pushing storylines those have been pushed by digital media," said Johnson ...

Fightful reached out to wrestlers across Raw, Smackdown, NXT and NXT UK and in each case were told that WWE has never requested that they turn over social media logins ...

WWE does send out memos and updates to talent that outline basic social media behavior and things that they need to know, but at least these days, they aren't asking for login information.

In one instance, there were wrestlers who were asked to make social media posts in order to promote a coordinated sponsor, and a wrestler requested that a social media manager take care of it, and even offered up the passcode to their phone. However, the social media manager informed them that the department isn't even supposed to do that.

We're told that Mike Johnson stated this week that "this policy is not active" when updating the situation.
Basis for this whole situation was an incorrect report from PWI and Ryback claiming WWE was in control of his social media accounts while he was there.

According to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, All Elite Wrestling has signed former Lucha Underground star Angelico.

Todd Pettengill, who worked for World Wrestling Entertainment as an announcer in the mid-1990s, officially announced today the radio station that has been his home for decades of NYC morning radio, WPLJ, has been sold and will officially cease broadcasting on 5/31.

"The rumors you've been hearing are true," said Pettengill this morning on Todd and Jayde in the morning.. "As hard as it is to believe, WPLJ will be going away on Friday, May 31st. The format and personalities that you've come to love over the years, will no longer broadcast on 95.5."

WPLJ 95.5 has been Todd Pettengill's home for decades as he's hosted the morning show there for 27 years, originally co-hosting with the legendary Scott Shannon and now as the lead host of Todd and Jayde in the morning. During his time with WWE, Pettengill would cross-promote the company on WPLJ, with PLJ personalities getting involved in a number of WWE charitable events in NYC to raise money for the Salvation Army and other organizations.

Major League Wrestling has restructured their deal with Salina de la Renta, locking her in with the company for several more years. As part of the new deal, she will be working more in the front office. She had already been serving as a liason for MLW in Mexico with talent negotiations and will be learning the production end of the company. At only 22 years old, she's quickly propelled herself into one of the most important talents in the entire company.

Major League Wrestling has also signed Tristen Thai, a Johnny Rodz trainee who has worked for Beyond Wrestling, among other independent groups in the Northeast. There had been interest in him for some time after Court Bauer came across his work on social media platforms.

Another new MLW signing is slated to be revealed as soon as this Saturday's episode of MLW Fusion on BeIN Sports.

The Salina de la Renta-centic episode of MLW Fusion has done incredible numbers for the promotion on YouTube and may be on the way to being the top viewed MLW episode to date on that platform.

On Tuesday night, Stardom announced on their social media that an upcoming bout between NXT UK Champion Toni Storm and AEW signee Bea Priestley had been pulled from their May 16 event. The reason given was "circumstances beyond our control."

It was reported in late 2018 that NXT UK talent had restrictions in their contracts that precluded them from wrestling talent signed to major organizations. It has not been confirmed that this is the reason as to why the match between Storm and Priestley is not happening.

On the latest episode of the Road to Double or Nothing, it was officially confirmed that Double or Nothing will air as a live pay-per-view.

Dark Side of the Ring uploaded a bonus clip from tonight’s Gino Hernandez episode, with Hernandez’s mother denying rumors that Paul Boesch was Hernandez’s father.
Link: https://twitter.com/DarkSideOfRing/status/1126212632770301952

All Elite Wrestling announced today that the company has hired former ECW and Ring of Honor Champion Jerry Lynn, who will be working for the company as a Producer. That is a great pickup.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Mauro Ranallo Signs New Deal With WWE (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/mauro-ranallo-signs-new-deal-with-wwe/)
Dominic Dijakovic Undergoes Surgery for Torn Meniscus (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/dominic-dijakovic-undergoes-surgery-for-torn-meniscus/)
WWE: Sasha Banks Notes, SmackDown Dark Matches and Off Air Segments (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-sasha-banks-notes-smackdown-dark-matches-and-off-air-segments/)
Dean Ambrose Joining the Cast of an Upcoming MMA-Themed Movie (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/dean-ambrose-joining-the-cast-of-an-upcoming-mma-themed-movie/)

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Regarding the Lynch 2020 WrestleMania plan, the one thing we’ve been told is that the opponent planned right now is not Stephanie McMahon, and as noted not Rousey (although if Rousey wants that spot she would almost certainly get it) or Flair

Harper has been given no future bookings, but also won’t be let out of his contract. He asked Vince McMahon if he wasn’t going to be used if he could get out in November as is the contract expiration date, before WWE extended it six months based on his being out with an injury. McMahon told him to take it up with Paul Levesque, who then didn’t respond to him.

Vince’s decision was basically one of believing the issue was that they don’t have enough stars, even after shuffling the deck to create new matchups, to keep the ratings strong. So the idea is that the biggest stars will work both shows so there is more star depth. That also means less time for the unhappy middle that want out (some publicly, many others privately) and less time to create stars. The strength of the brand split is the idea that more talent gets opportunities. But the new format cuts that way back ...

The idea was not to drop the brand split, for one, because it makes touring more complicated (not impossible, but harder) and also because it’s seen as a failure decision since they just went back to it. So the idea was to put top people on both shows, but not always, and you don’t know who, creating the surprise feeling, and not the same people every week ...

There are a few issues with the wild card idea. The first is that this week with the European tour and a Smackdown show on Monday and Raw show on Tuesday, that they’ll have to strip down the house shows to add talent to the television shows. Going forward, having guys from Raw stay for Smackdown may add one day to their schedule, but if you revolve different guys, it won’t be too bad. But for Raw, if you take four top Smackdown guys off the Monday night house show, you will be heavily weakening that product. This week was unique. Because it was originally the Saudi Arabia week, there were no house shows booked until a Raw show on Sunday. So the Smackdown crew was only working Monday and Tuesday originally. So when Monday was canceled, the crew just had an extra day home.

Angle is currently training to become a producer. He’s shadowing the producers right now and learning the different aspects of the job

A lot of the references on the Bray Wyatt Firefly Funhouse segments stem from PTSD therapy. One therapist noted that “Special place” is a standard coping skill used for trauma. The art work of the house in fire is also related to trauma therapy. Putting his hands over his heart is a reference to butterfly hugs, which are used for PTSD therapy involving bilateral stimulation. From a PTSD therapist point of view, the idea from all this is that he’s reformed but haunted by a traumatic past

World of Sport is coming to the United States. World of Sport took to social media to announce that they have signed a deal with digital network Stadium. WOS will air 10, one-hour episodes beginning this Sunday, May 12 at 7 p.m. ET. The show will air weekly with replays throughout the week.

The fifth episode episode of Viceland's pro wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring on 5/8 garnered 225,000 overnight viewers for their Gino Hernandez episode, down from last week's 234,000 overnight viewers14,000 overnight viewers.

Next Wednesday's season finale episode will focus on The Fabulous Moolah.

The announcement is that Double or Nothing on 5/25 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be carried in the U.K. as a PPV from 1 to 5 a.m. early Sunday morning 5/26 on ITV Box Office for 14.95 pounds ($19.44 U.S.). The U.K. traditionally has far cheaper PPV prices than the U.S., Canada and Australia whether it be boxing or formerly with WWE ...

In addition, there will be a one-hour preshow called BUY-IN at midnight airing on ITV 4, featuring the Casino Battle Royale as well as a singles match with Sammy Guevara vs. Kip Sabian. The show will be a combination of the two matches as well as hyping people to purchase the PPV.

Announcements on other markets have not been made officially, but in the U.S., the PPV portion of the show will be on traditional television PPV, through inDemand on cable, as well as DirecTV and Dish Network is either finalized or finalized but pen may not be to paper yet, but should be imminently. There will be a streaming component in the U.S. that is expected to be announced within the next week. There is a strong chance that the streaming service that carries the show in the U.S. will be tied in with the television station that will carry the weekly television show in the fall.

When it comes to Canada, the cable companies affiliated with inDemand in the U.S. will carry the event on television. It is not clear regarding other PPV companies, but there will be streaming of the show as an iPPV on FITE TV that will be available everywhere except the U.S. because of the individual deal for that country, and the U.K. because ITV will have the exclusive rights. Australia at this point as well as the rest of Europe look to be exclusively streaming through FITE TV with no television PPV component.

The U.K. deal was put together by Tony Khan, who lives much of the time in the U.K. in his role with the Fulham soccer team. Those connections enabled him to have the contacts to put this deal together and open the door for future deals with ITV. The sides started talking at first around December and negotiations got more serious over the last few months.

We don’t have an updated number, but coming off Dontaku, New Japan World’s worldwide number is right at the highest level it’s ever been. The figure was estimated at around 120,000 by us, the figure they were at coming off the Tokyo Dome show, but that number wasn’t confirmed exactly. The usual pattern has been a high the week of WrestleKingdom, a decline, a pickup for G-1, then a decline, and then a new record at WrestleKingdom. The key this year is that there was no decline after WrestleKingdom set the new mark for the Omega-Tanahashi and Jericho-Naito double main.

This week, we weren’t able to tell you in advance what was set to hit the WWE Hidden Gems section on WWE Network today. As it turns out, we’ve been treated to several legitimate rarities from the Texas territory best known as World Class Championship Wrestling. First up, WWE has uploaded a portion of a Texas Death match between The Sheik and Fritz Von Erich (titled “To Tame a Madman“) from the pre-WCCW days when the territory was better known as Big Time Wrestling. The given date is 02/28/1977, which lines up with a match between the two at a Fort Worth taping ...

Next up, we amazingly have a full 40-minute TV episode dated 10/27/1980, a good 15 months earlier than any full weekly WCCW show previously uploaded to the WWE Network. It’s been given the fitting name of “Becoming WCCW“, as it takes place during the transition between Big Time Wrestling and the official transformation into World Class ...

Last but far from least, we have “The Battle With Brody“, dated 06/07/1981 which sees The Great Kabuki battle Bruiser Brody in a steel cage at one of WCCW’s major “Star Wars” events. This is actually the second match from this particular show to be made available in Hidden Gems, with the first being Ernie Ladd vs Kerry Von Erich.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Bret Hart and Tom Magee's long-lost match is finally being made available to the public.

WWE has announced that Hart vs. Magee will air on the WWE Network after Monday's episode of Raw. It will be accompanied by a documentary explaining the relevance of the match, how the tape was discovered, and what happened to Magee.

The special is called "The Holy Grail: The Search for WWE’s Most Infamous Lost Match."

An ad on WWE.com confirms that the Andre the Giant documentary that was advertised last week in an email blast as coming to WWE Network this Sunday will be on demand.

Kofi is returning home.

The current WWE Champion Kofi Kingston has a busy month of May ahead as he is set to defend his WWE Championship against Kevin Owens at Money In The Bank on the 19th and is currently on tour with WWE as a part of their post-WrestleMania European tour. At the end of the month, Kofi is also set to return to Ghana, West Africa. Kofi shared the press release on Instagram and it is noted within the press release that the visit will be for four days and a documentary is in the works that is being put together by WWE.

According to Rajah.com, WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg's appearance for next month's Saudi Arabia show is a one-off appearance.

Tye Dillinger opens up about his decision to seek his WWE release ...

Appearing on Edge & Christian's Pod of Awesomeness, Dillinger went into detail about his decision to leave.

"The decision had been in my mind...it was a six-month process. I got injured in October but before that, I was going to ask for a couple weeks off to clear my head and figure out what I wanted to do. But then I got injured, so that gave me three months to think. I changed my look, I changed my gear, and I pitched half a dozen ideas," said Dillinger. "I (talked to Vince McMahon) and I might have put my foot in my mouth, but I needed to say what I needed to say and I stand by what I said. I did feel that when I came back, things were going to be different. They were not. I had a conversation and was told to wait and give it a few weeks. Weeks passed and it was it. It put me in a bad place because my performance was suffering. I was dreading it. I was praying that (the audience) would acknowledge that I still existed because it felt like I didn't at the time. When you're not giving it your all, they could see it and it wasn't fair to them. It was time to go. I was probably late in leaving, actually."

Dillinger continued, taking fans through the day he decided to ask for his release.

"A month before, I had made the decision that I was going to go into television and (ask for my release) on (my birthday). It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. I didn't ask many peoples opinion about it because I didn't want to be influenced. It needed to be on me. My family had no idea. My mother had no idea. My wife [Peyton Royce] knew," recalled Dillinger. "As you guys know, right now is a good time for wrestling overall. I walked in and I said to talent relations, 'I need to go.' They said, 'we're about to offer you a substantial raise.' I put my hands up. I'm not close to a millionaire but for me, it wasn't about the money. I didn't let him get the offer out of his mouth. I found out what it was a couple of weeks later but it wasn't going to change anything. I was still going to feel the same way. They said they would run it up the ladder and I gave them the day to do so. I messaged Hunter and said, 'Please talk to talent relations when you can.' To Hunter's credit, every time I've asked to talk to him, he's always given me the time of day. I didn't hear anything by the end of the day and I couldn't let them fire me twice. That's why I put out that statement."

Flip Gordon explains what happened with his visa that has forced him to withdraw from NJPW Best of Super Juniors.

Earlier today, NJPW announced that Flip Gordon is out of the upcoming Best of Super Juniors tournament due to visa issues. Fightful reached out to Flip to get his side of what happened and why he won't be in Japan for this year's tournament.

Flip explained that "the second certificate of eligibility, in order to apply for a new visa, got lost in the mail. They sent it back on April 12. I should have had it in enough time to apply for a new visa. It was a miscommunication with the consulate. I drove to the consulate to see if we could get an extension on the current visa, which was the wrong via, but we didn't know the current visa had expired until yesterday."

Gordon clarified that he applied for, and received, a visa in January to work the NJPW Honor Rising tour in February. However, instead of getting a re-entry visa, which would have allowed him to work BOSJ despite missing Honor Rising, he received a shorter term visa, which expired in four months.

The WWE Network will no longer be available on the following devices as of May 21: Amazon Fire Tablets, Apple TV 3rd Generation and earlier models, LG 2016 and earlier models, PlayStation 3, Samsung 2016 and earlier models, Samsung and Sony Blu-Ray Players, Sony non-Android TVs, Windows 10 Desktop, and Xbox 360.

Paige talked to Comic Book about how she became the manager for the new tag team of Kairi Sane and Asuka. "I pitched to manage Ronda Rousey, kind of like the Paul Heyman-Brock Lesnar thing," she said. "And then also be with Asuka, because Asuka had trouble speaking on the mic sometimes. As much as she's an amazing athlete, an incredible wrestler, and I was like, 'I'll help her, give me the microphone, I'll talk for her.' And then Paul Heyman called me one day and said, 'We have a great role for you. You can be the next me with these two women.' I was like, 'Wow, what a crazy tag team, they're incredible.... Absolutely, I'll take it!'"

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's not really a Holy Grail or a search when you've had it in your vault since you taped it.

[#1-norm-fan]

Lol @ Paige thinking she can be the Paul Heyman to anyone’s Brock Lesnar.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, that was not something she should have said.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The difference of live or taped in pro wrestling continues to be somewhat overblown, since last night's Raw show did 2.35 million viewers, the best in three weeks and up five percent from last week.

It wasn't that the show was better, or even a sign WWE is making a comeback. The increase is more indicative of not having the NBA playoffs against them, like the past two weeks ...

The only sports competition was the San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues NHL playoff game on NBC Sports Network that did 1.39 million viewers ...

This show in particular cratered with women. In the first-to-third hour drop, women 18-49 were down 32 percent, men 18-49 were down 17 percent, teenage girls dropped 33 percent, and teenage boys dropped 21 percent.

The reason the overall drop wasn't worse was because of the over 50 audience, the majority of the viewers, sticking with the show at a higher rate.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 2.58 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.39 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.08 million viewers


Vince McMahon, along with other key WWE executives, talked to Variety for a cover story about WWE’s move to FOX this fall, the Last Week Tonight segment on WWE, and their momentum. McMahon said wrestlers can get time off without repercussions: “Anybody who wants time off can get time off. That’s easy. In addition to that, it’s easy to weave a talent in and out of a storyline. If they get injured, you’re not expecting that. Or if they have a family matter. Our characters are real people with real problems. It’s a revolving situation where this talent will work these dates, that talent will work those dates.”

Nothing about that subject is “easy”. Talent is rarely going to push for time off given the natural concern of losing their spot. While an extreme example, CM Punk outlined the pressure after having surgery to come back so soon and do a TLC match on television in January 2013. We have also seen examples of talent having their contracts frozen and time tacked onto the deals, which brings up the question of whether a talent taking two months off would be expected to make up for that time at the expiration of their deal. With the emergence of AEW and other viable options outside WWE, talent seems more willing to rock the boat in public and voice their unhappiness or make public their intentions to leave. However, the pushback is someone like Luke Harper, who appears to have had his requests rebuffed and is in professional purgatory.
In regards to Vince's comments about it being "easy" for talent to request time off and not suffer any repercussions to their status or pushes.

The WrestleMania main event between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte and Becky Lynch has been nominated for a MTV Movie/TV award for Best Fight. Roman Reigns is nominated for Best Real-Life Hero.

NJPW will hold a ten bell ceremony on May 22 in remembrance of Silver King, who wrestled there as Black Tiger III.

DJZ is officially the latest wrestler to join the WWE Performance Center.

WWE.com confirmed today that DJZ (real name Michael Paris) has signed with the company, noting that he reported to the Performance Center this week. In March, it was reported by PWInsider and confirmed by Dave Meltzer that DJZ signed with WWE and was headed to NXT.

The lawsuit brought by cameraman Donald Anderson against World Wrestling Entertainment and WWE performer Thaddeus "Titus O'Neil" Bullard in the United States District Court, Middle Division, of Florida was officially dismissed yesterday after Anderson informed the court that all sides had come to a legal settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

As PWInsider.com has previously covered, Anderson’s lawsuit against WWE and Bullard alleged Battery, Assault, Willful Misconduct, Negligence, Gross Negligence, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress. Anderson has alleged that WWE placed him in an unsafe working environment and that they had a duty to protect him from being placed in such a situation. Anderson had alleged that he was injured by Bullard after the WWE star became upset while being filmed for a segment on WWE Network prank series Swerved. Anderson (who had been hired through a third party, Uranus Productions/Gorilla Flicks) was backstage at a WWE TV taping filming a segment where Bullard was shocked by WWE performer Paige (Saraya-Jade Bevis). Bullard became, according to Anderson's lawsuit, "enraged", alleging charging and kicking the camera out of Anderson's hand, injuring him. Bullard has denied those allegations in his response to Anderson's lawsuit. Paige was not a party in the lawsuit.
More details regarding the lawsuit itself: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/126441/titus-oneilswerved-lawsuit-dismissed-after-settlement.html?p=1

TheWrap has an article talking with the head of programming for ESPN, Burke Magnus, about why they passed on acquiring Smackdown.

"We did talk to WWE during their process some months ago. Took a hard look at it, we’re obviously big fans of them. We just went into business with them on the XFL indirectly,” Magnus, executive vice president of ESPN’s programming and scheduling department said, “But we couldn’t find a fit for it, primarily based on schedule. As you know, those properties are 52 weeks a year live,” he continued. “And I’m proud to say we have a pretty good problem, which is that we can’t clear anything 52 weeks a year live. We have a pretty full portfolio of content as it is" ...

According to the interview, ESPN's deal with UFC had no impact on the negotiations.

When asked about AEW coming to the table, it was made clear that the company did not come to ESPN at all.

In regard to the Killer Kross situation, numerous sources within Impact Wrestling made it clear that Kross would not be getting a release from his current contract. The company stance is that they attempted to restructure the deal in good faith and that since Kross locked himself into a deal, they expect him to adhere to that contract. The feeling is that the company signed him during a time period where he didn't have any interest from WWE and now that he's used their platform to raise his profile, if there's interest from WWE or elsewhere, that doesn't mean Kross can just walk away from his existing deal. From a legal standpoint, they would be in the right, although it has to be completely frustrating for Kross to see the potential of what he could make elsewhere and not be able to capitalize on that, while making far, far less working for Impact.

WrestlingDVDNetwork.com reported that a collection featuring unreleased matches of WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper entitled "Getting Rowdy: the Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper" will be released August 27 in the US and September 2 in the UK. The 2 disc set will feature an interview with Ronda Rousey discussing her interactions with the legend.
Link: http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/summer-wwe-dvd-schedule-roddy-piper-unreleased-update/168432

YUKE's, which has been behind the creation of many of WWE's video games throughout the years are planning on developing a new wrestling game I.P. to prevent stagnation and according to 'Video Game Chronicle', that begins with YUKE's development team creating a new I.P. that can compete with their current wrestling series being WWE 2K.

Luke Harper is caught in WWE purgatory, and has been for quite some time.

Several WWE sources spoke to Fightful recently, and confirmed several reports from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and gained some new information along the way.

We were told the match itself was a disaster to put together and execute, and that Luke Harper wasn't happy that Braun Strowman both forgot his spot and that Ali ended up hurt in the match. In addition to that, Braun hit Harper with a stiff kick just ahead of that. Harper, in an effort to protect Ali during his elimination, hurt his back and/or shoulder trying to keep him from flying out of control. Afterwards, we're told that Strowman didn't think he had done anything wrong, which caused a little more frustration.

A source close to the situation spoke of the Harper vs. EC3 match and said that Vince McMahon himself seemed to have a long-term issue with Luke Harper and that whatever happened wouldn't have mattered anyway, going as far as to say that McMahon "decided to hate anything he was involved in long ago."

Details regarding the creation of Bray Wyatt's new mask.

Last night on "Firefly Fun House," things took a dark turn as Bray Wyatt debuted a new mask as a way to reboot his character.

Earlier today, Kyle A. Scarborough, a tattoo artist in Washington, MO, took to Facebook to share the origin story behind the design of the mask.

As mentioned, the actual mask was put together by Tom Savini's FX studio.

Savini's team has been behind a lot of what you see on "Firefly Fun House," directing the episodes and designing the characters.
Link: https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/details-origin-and-creation-bray-wyatt-s-mask-firefly-fun-house

Over the weekend, luchador Silver King tragically passed away after collapsing in the ring during a Lucha Libre World show in London, England.

Silver King was best known by American fans for his four-year run in World Championship Wrestling where he helped bring the Lucha Libre style to a larger audience in the United States. Speaking to TMZ, former WCW President Eric Bischoff discussed Silver King's influence on WCW.

"From my perspective, the luchadors were such a vital part of WCW Nitro and they never really got the credit. Fans should know that Silver King and a lot of luchadors were way more responsible for the success of Nitro, and the ability to out-perform WWE, than they were given credit for, including by me," said Bischoff. "What I hope is that Silver King and other luchadors are recognized for breaking through and being the catalyst for a pop culture kind of phenomenon in the United States that everybody is familiar with. 25 years ago, outside of California, nobody knew what lucha libre was. I'd like Silver King to be recognized for that. He was one of those people that, when you saw him backstage, he always had a smile on his face. He was always happy being right where he was, around his peers and in wrestling."


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

WWE SmackDown Listed as 2-Hour Show on FOX (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/smackdown-to-remain-as-a-weekly-2-hours-show-on-fox/)
WWE Fines Lars Sullivan $100,000 for His Past Comments (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-fines-lars-sullivan-100000-for-his-past-comments/)
Updated Double or Nothing Card: Two New Matches, Bringing Total to 10 (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/updated-double-or-nothing-card-two-new-matches-bringing-total-to-10/)

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Coming into this week, it was expected that Raw's ratings might be up slightly due to the NBA having Monday night off -- and that SmackDown would be hurt going against game one of the Western Conference finals and the NBA Draft Lottery special.

This all held true as, after a night in which Raw was slightly up from the last couple of weeks, SmackDown had its lowest audience total since the 2016 brand split, coming in slightly less than the previous low-water mark from two weeks ago.

SmackDown averaged 1.827 million viewers for Tuesday night's taped episode from London. The show dropped all the way to 13th overall in terms of total viewers on cable and, perhaps more importantly to the network, down to sixth in the 18-49 demo with a 0.56 rating ...

Year-over-year, SmackDown was down 20.5 percent, which is right about where it is most weeks.

It was announced on last night’s SmackDown that Asuka & Kairi Sane’s tag team name will be “The Kabuki Warriors.” Paige responded to someone on Twitter about the name and noted that it was Asuka & Sane who chose it, though they wanted it to be Kabuki Girls: “You know it was the girls who chose their name right? Well technically they wanted ‘kabuki girls’ but it was changed to kabuki warriors. Chill”
Asuka also defended the new tag team name on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WWEAsuka/status/1128509214429573120

WWE Network News reported that three matches featuring Andre the Giant will be added to the WWE Network’s Hidden Gems section tomorrow, which comes after HBO’s documentary on Andre was uploaded to the Network. The matches are Andre vs. Jerry Blackwell in a Bodyslam Challenge match (AWA, 1980), Andre & Hulk Hogan vs. Bobby Heenan, Nick Bockwinkel, Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum in a handicap match (AWA, 1982), and Andre vs. Big John Studd (WWF, 1984).

WWE Network News is reporting that more WCW Thunder will be coming to the WWE Network this Monday, May 20 as a part of this month's Classic Content Drop. As of now the number of episodes were not specified, but one can guess it is probably going to be at least 20.

WWE filed for trademarks on the names "WWE SuperShowdown" and "WWE Supershow" on 5/7.

Andrade and WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor will likely continue their feud after Sunday's WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. They are currently scheduled to work the men's MITB Ladder Match with Ricochet, Randy Orton, Ali, Sami Zayn, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin.

Andrade won a Fatal 4 Way over Balor, Orton and Ali on last night's SmackDown, getting the pin on Balor to win. Meltzer noted that there is a lot of backing for Andrade right now within WWE, as far as his character goes. WWE officials have been high on Andrade for some time now and it was reported in late 2018 that they had big push plans for him in 2019.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

AEW: No Scripted Promos, Double or Nothing Price (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/aew-no-scripted-promos-double-or-nothing-price/)
Lars Sullivan Apologizes to Members of WWE Roster, More on WWE Fine (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/lars-sullivan-apologizes-to-members-of-wwe-roster-more-on-wwe-fine/)
Four Matches Advertised for Extreme Rules PPV in July (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/four-matches-advertised-for-extreme-rules-ppv-in-july/)
AEW Signs Five Referees, Including Earl Hebner (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/aew-signs-five-referees-including-earl-hebner/)

[Droford]

$50 bucks is more than All In waa

[KIRA]

okay fine I feel a little bit better knowing that they got to choose the name if that's true still don't like the fact that Asuka has been thrown into this tag team arcari for that matter they should be singles competitors Triple H must be tearing his non-existent hair out

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

WWE announced this afternoon that Alexa Bliss has not been medically cleared to compete in this Sunday's Women's Money in the Bank Ladder match and will be replaced in the match ...

Bliss last wrestled on the 4/29 edition of Raw, losing to Naomi.

PWInsider.com She has suffered several concussions over the course of her WWE run and has pulled from the ring in the past to be sure she had adequately recovered from them.
Some conflicting reports regarding the nature of her injury since both the Observer and Post Wrestling reported that her exact injury isn't known.

Some notes regarding different things of late. Paul Levesque, while never saying anything publicly, those close to the situation say he’s very frustrated with how things are going on the main roster. One person noted that a big problem isn’t Vince not being open to suggestions, but that they believe he’s far too open these days to suggestions and that it ends up watering down all the original visions and storylines. We’re told that there has been too much input from too many people on the team who haven’t figured out that when you change something in a story, it has a ripple effect on every aspect of the story. He solicits input on so much from so many people that it leads to things being watered down.

There is a question of how Vince is going to cope with things early next year once the XFL starts. I can recall in 2001 when everyone doing both was just exhausted during football season. For better or worse, Vince’s workload is crazy now. He’s often in the office past midnight, close to 3 a.m. at least once a week and Friday’s his easy day, he’s working until 8 p.m. It’s mostly work and lifting weights, and occasionally watching some football on the weekend. The feeling is once the XFL starts, even though he says nothing will change, that it is simply impossible that’s the case unless he spends little time on the XFL. And since he’s got so much riding on the XFL, and is spending so much money on it, I can’t see him staying out of it. Regarding the family, Levesque picks his spots to talk with Vince, but never does it in front of anyone. Stephanie has nothing to do with creative. Shane does pitch ideas for himself but they rarely get used

An embarrassing story is that this past week, Alberto El Patron was using social media to build up a three-way match on 5/5 in Monterrey with Alberto & brother El Hijo de Cien Caras facing Pentagon & Fenix and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner & Galeno del Mal. In the buildup, Alberto said that Pentagon wasn’t really a star because a real star would never wrestle in front of 300 or 400 fans and he’d never lower himself to work those kind of shows because he’s a real star. He has claimed that because of the crowds he’s worked in front of that he is one of the biggest Mexican stars of all-time, and at one point had heat with his uncle claiming he was actually a bigger star than Mil Mascaras ever was.

Pentagon shot back saying that Alberto used to be a star, but he isn’t one anymore. There were people who thought they had legit heat, but evidently not enough, since the match drew 500 fans in a 5,000 seat building. A lot of people were making fun of Alberto after the show regarding his drawing power. He was definitely a huge star years ago but his drawing power has fallen. He rarely wrestles and the last time he was in Mexico City a few months ago, that didn’t draw either

Crowds were down for the recent War of the Worlds tour. It’s pretty clear things are flat right now. The actual crowd for 5/8 in Buffalo was 600. Toronto on 5/9 was 1,000, well down from the expected 1,500. Grand Rapids, MI on 5/11 was 700 and Chicago on 5/12 drew 900 for television, which is less than the 2,000 that MLW has been doing in the market
According to the Observer, MLW is currently the #2 promotion in the US going by event attendance and tv viewership. They beat ROH in ticket sales and Impact in tv ratings.

ROH has announced a Summer Supercard for SummerSlam weekend in Toronto.

It was announced today that Summer Supercard will take place at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto on Friday, August 9. The show will include wrestlers from ROH, NJPW, CMLL, and the NWA.

NJPW's G1 Climax will still be going on when Summer Supercard takes place, so Summer Supercard won't feature wrestlers in the tournament.

Summer Supercard will air live on HonorClub. ROH hyped that it will "feature the greatest wrestlers from the US, Japan, and Mexico competing for championships and in dream matches."

Gursinder Singh announced that he has received his Impact Wrestling release, a month after publicly announcing he had requested it.

Announcing to the world that I have officially been granted my release from Impact Wrestling. Looking forward to the future! #freeagent
— Gursinder Singh (@GursinderImpact) May 15, 2019

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that Road Dogg was "feeling so much pressure" during his time as SmackDown lead writer, which led to him stepping down. Meltzer notes that if/when he returns, he will likely work under/for Triple H.

The IIconics address the post-WrestleMania rumors about Sasha Banks and Bayley.

At WrestleMania 35 last month, Sasha Banks and Bayley walked into MetLife Stadium as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions and they also dropped the titles to Peyton Royce and Billie Kay at the show. The IIconics are still holders of the titles coming out of WWE's European tour. Following WrestleMania, reports and rumors made the rounds that Sasha Banks and Bayley were upset and threw their respective "temper tantrums" about dropping the titles after winning them two months prior at Elimination Chamber.

Peyton Royce and Billie Kay recently chatted with Express Sport and shared that they did not see any of what was rumored and added that everyone was happy for them including Banks and Bayley.

“Immediately after the match we were all in tears, all crying." Peyton Royce shared. "Just filled with emotion, we got pictures together which we then posted on our Instagram. I mean, I know there’s all these rumors going around and we didn’t see anything."

All Elite Wrestling and WarnerMedia announced officially at the latters’ upfronts at the Hulu Theater a deal for weekly prime time wrestling on TNT ...

The deal also includes content on B/R Live, including PPV shows. The PPV content will be done more like UFC, where it will be a full price PPV at $49.95, and not undercutting the PPV providers’ price. That may have been something that they had little choice on, because in cutting recent deals with inDemand, Dish and DirecTV, the contract stipulations likely called for an inability to undercut the price on streaming. WWE was able to do that by basically just doing it, and the PPV providers had to either agree to continue airing the shows or not. But WWE had leverage due to its long history which AEW wouldn’t have had.

The belief within the company is this deal will allow them to be profitable by 2020. But there are still very obvious challenges, such as being able to draw prime time ratings on a station like TNT. TNT averaged 1,171,000 viewers in prime time in 2018, putting it in seventh place on cable, behind Fox News, ESPN, MSNBC, HGTV, USA and TBS.

From the Turner side, because of the ability of wrestling to be a product on multi-platforms, with television as the main driver but not the only driver, that it doesn’t have to do the network average to be a big success. But the number is always important. Previously, because the role of wrestling was largely to bring up the network average, since wrestling performed poorly when it came to selling ads, a wrestling show was of no value if it didn’t beat the network average. TNT is available in slightly more homes, just under 90 million, than USA, which is in just under 89 million homes. USA only beats TNT in ratings due to Raw and Smackdown.

Cesar Gonzalez, best known as Silver King in Mexico and Ramses in the movie “Nacho Libre,” passed away in the ring on 5/11 on a show in London due to a heart attack during a match with Juventud Guerrera ...

Guerrera said that while he didn’t know it at the time, Gonzalez had a pre-existing health condition. Others have stated the same thing, although he had passed tests to get licensed in several commissions in Mexico. The Torreon commission said he passed their medical testing last in February. Daniel Lopez (El Satanico), who heads the commission in Zapopan, outside Guadalajara, said that he doesn’t want to say what he really thinks about all this because it would get him in trouble, but said that he will insist on more stringent medical procedures as a necessity than what he saw on the video. Most commissions that regulate wrestling require a doctor, and some an ambulance. But in the U.K., where things aren’t regulated, like really most of the U.S. and Canada, there was no such requirement.

The incident had led to a movement, mandated in MLW, and talked about in other companies by referees, regarding referees taking CPR classes.

Still, in Mexico, the media has not come down hard on it for the most part. Gonzalez was working a series of shows for Lucha Libre World, a promotion headed by El Hijo del Santo ...

Silver King delivered a flying clothesline, and then went for a pin. Guerrera kicked out. Silver King then seemingly couldn’t get up. He struggled and moved and then couldn’t any longer and laid on the mat. Both Guerrera and Terry tried to stall for time for him to get up, rather than checking on him ... Guerrera then went to end the match and tried to turn Silver King over to his back, but had to struggle to do so since Silver King was dead weight. He went for the pin. Terry counted to two, but knowing this wasn’t the planned finish, actually held up the count very awkwardly for a few seconds, before counting three.

This was about 90 seconds after he collapsed. Guerrera celebrated. King laid there and there was another 90 seconds before anyone else got in the ring. A few people working at the show were in the ring, hovering over him but not treating him. Other wrestlers, including Santo and Guerrera were also in there. Fans in the arena were confused, with many thinking it was part of the show. The match was being streamed like on Santo’s Facebook page and those watching could see Silver King laying there with nobody tending to him for a long time. Finally, at about seven minutes in, a stretcher was brought in and they announced they were taking a break in the show. An ambulance arrived after ten minutes after he collapsed but it was too late. Due to his death, the show didn’t resume.

We don’t know of what sponsors reacted past Mars Wrigley Confectionery was furious after receiving a letter from a circlejerk user who used the name “SnitchBoy.”
:lol: at the user name of the person who brought Suillivan's past bigoted comments back into the public. Also seems based on Meltzer's report, WWE becoming more aware of mental health issues post-Ranallo bullying incident and not wanting to release him since he could be of value elsewhere ended up being the key reasons why Lars wasn't fired.

[AAA owner] Roldan’s goal is still U.S. expansion, noting there is so much more money to be made in the U.S. He also said that by targeting the Hispanic market, they are not competition for WWE and AEW. I think he doesn’t understand how WWE thinks. He said the success or lack of it for the MSG show will determine what happens next. He said they never expected to sell out in advance like the New Japan/ROH show, because the Hispanic market buys late. He felt they’ve done well. I do know that MSG is very concerned over the ticket sales, particularly coming off New Japan selling out in an instant and MSG’s belief that there are so many more Latinos than Japanese, not realizing Japanese aren’t the ones supporting New Japan, and again, it may have been a Young Bucks & Omega & Cody sellout in hindsight.

Ranallo has signed a new multi-year contract to continue announcing NXT. The contract has the same stipulations as the previous deal in that he can announce for any other company except those within pro wrestling. He highest-profile gig is with Showtime boxing and he also works for Bellator, but not on every show

The stock was down this week, closing at press time at $81.22 per share giving the combat a market value of $6.339 billion. It’s actually lower now than when the earnings report came out so despite analysts being bullish on the future with the great TV deals and the expected big India deal, the market hasn’t come back
Almost 20% of the stock's value got wiped away since WWE's recent fiscal report.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

Various: Tye Dillinger & Tyler Breeze Open Wrestling School, Austin Aries’ MLW Opponent (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/various-tye-dillinger-tyler-breeze-open-wrestling-school-austin-aries-mlw-opponent/)
WWE Reportedly Moving to a New Channel in the UK (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-reportedly-moving-to-a-new-channel-in-the-uk/)
WWE Is High on Andrade (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-is-high-on-andrade/)
Lars Sullivan’s Anxiety Issues Were Reportedly Due to Fear of Repercussions for Past Comments (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/lars-sullivans-anxiety-issues-were-reportedly-due-to-fear-of-repercussions-for-past-comments/)

[Sepholio]

50 bucks is too steep a price for me, especially for an untested product. Sucks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, I’m really keen to support them, although I don’t think they’re up in Australia yet, but $50 is too much for me to justify right now. They could sell a lot more PPVs to the curious if they cut it. Of all the people interested in this, I think that’s been a pretty unanimous verdict. It’s really limiting.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

A number of websites, including TheBlast.com, have published a statement purportedly from former WWE star Shelly Martinez about the cause of death of Ashley Massaro yesterday.

Martinez was one of Massaro's closest friends, but reached out to PWInsider.com shortly after we quoted the Blast report to inform us that she has not issued any public statement regarding Massaro's cause of death.

The quote being wrongly attributed to Martinez has been taken from a fake Facebook account claiming to be the former WWE star. Martinez does not maintain a public Facebook account.

Alexa Bliss's injury is officially listed by WWE as undisclosed. Of late, undisclosed has usually meant concussion and that term has been used in some reports of the injury.

A Television title match is set for ROH's Best in the World pay-per-view.

In this week's Eck's Files article on ROH's website, it was announced that Bandido will challenge for Shane Taylor's Television Championship at Best in the World. The PPV is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28.

FITE TV sent us the following:

FITE TV Presents AEW’s Inaugural “DOUBLE OR NOTHING” PPV Event Live Globally on Saturday, May 25

UNIONDALE, NY (May 17, 2019) -- FITE TV, the largest digital combat sports platform, announced that All Elite Wrestling’s highly anticipated DOUBLE OR NOTHING pay-per-view event will be available live to non-United States viewers on Saturday, May 25.

AEW fans from all corners of the globe will be able to order the DOUBLE OR NOTHING PPV and watch it via FITE.TV. All of the action begins at 8 p.m. ET. Viewers can check their local listings and pricing on the FITE app or on www.FITE.tv.

Following the passing of Silver King, MLW referees will be trained in CPR in order to assist in case of a medical emergency. I can't speak highly enough about this decision and sincerely hope all other promotions will follow suit, because they should.

Bleacher Report’s Kenny Herzog has a lengthy feature on All Elite Wrestling, including interviews with president Tony Khan, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Jim Ross. Here are the highlights:
-The Young Bucks didn’t want to announce the formation of the company until closer to May, or even at Double or Nothing, but it was Tony Khan’s call to announce as soon as possible.
-Nick Jackson said that it was within ROH and New Japan’s power to keep them if they had offered the duo the deals they wanted. Nick felt New Japan never saw the value of the team and were not paid well. They were paid better in Ring of Honor and suggested that the two promotions get together to offer them a dual contract, but they didn’t do that.
-When asked about a union, there was a hesitancy to commit to it and rather go with an idea of raising pay for the talent, covering their in-ring injuries along with rehab and recovery, and some will have benefits and health care.
-Khan said outright he wouldn’t run on Monday or Friday nights against WWE, go against the NFL, or pay to get onto television
-There will be no offseason, but they won’t be running a full-time schedule like WWE with talent being given lots of time to recover and rest.
-It is brought up in the piece the question of how the dynamic will exist between Tony Khan and his EVPs. Cody has spoken at length about allowing wrestling people to handle wrestling and not micromanaging a product to death while Khan states in the piece he will be very hands-on and begs the question if both philosophies can co-exist.

Jim Ross was a guest on the Sports Media podcast this week with host Richard Deitsch. Ross speculated that AEW’s television show would be two-hours beginning in the fall and airing on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. Regarding differences, he would like to see from the WWE’s product is the elimination of commercial breaks during matches. He said the three-man team with Excalibur and Alex Marvez will feature each playing a specific role. He noted Excalibur would be the “wrestling guy” that knows the holds and has the perspective of a former wrestler, Marvez he compared to their version of Jay Glazer, who can introduce meaningful stats that help tell the story of the match.

WrestleMania Weekend plans are already taking shape. Game Changer Wrestling has announced that The Collective group of events will return, and they have booked The Cuban Club in Ybor City, Florida for April 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. This past year’s umbrella event known as The Collective featured events promoted by IWS, AIW, Black Label Pro, CHIKARA, Black Craft Wrestling, and GCW’s in-house shows for Joey Janela’s Spring Break, Bloodsport, and an Orange Cassidy themed event. Joey Janela noted that the venue they are running in 2020 has a capacity of 4,500 people.

More details regarding WWE fining Lars Sullivan ...

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, a clause in WWE contracts allowed the company to issue the fine.

The clause states, "Wrestler shall act at all times with due regard to public morals and conventions during the term of this agreement. If wrestler shall have committed or shall commit any act or do anything that is or shall be an offense or violation involving moral turpitude under federal, state or local laws, or which brings wrestler into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule, or which insults or offends the community or any employee, agent or affiliate of promoter or which injures wrestlers’ reputation in promoter’s sole judgment, or diminishes the value of wrestler’s professional wrestling services to the public or promoter, then at the time of any such act, or any time after promoter learns of any such act, promoter shall have the right to fine wrestler in an amount to be determined by promoter; and promoter shall have the right to immediately suspend wrestler and/or terminate this agreement pursuant to Section 12.”

As many remember Sasha and Bayley were reportedly so unhappy with losing the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 35 that they laying on the locker room floor. Now Cathy Kelley is confirming that Banks was at the WrestleMania 35 After Party.

WWE Now's Cathy Kelley shared a birthday wish to Dash Wilder along with a photo. One user noticed that in the photo was Sasha Banks's socks and shoes, which Kelley confirmed that was her.

She also confirmed that Sasha Banks was not only there, but it was the After Party of WrestleMania 35 and she was both happy and grateful.
Link: https://twitter.com/catherinekelley/status/1129542205520138241

Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins is the current plan for WWE's Super ShowDown event from Saudi Arabia, according to Wrestlevotes.

Rollins won the title from Lesnar back at WrestleMania 35. This will be Lesnar's first match since the loss.


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

SmackDown House Show Canceled Because of the Wild Card Rule (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/smackdown-house-show-canceled-because-of-the-wild-card-rule/)
Killian Dain Returns to NXT (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/killian-dain-returns-to-nxt/)
Ric Flair’s Surgery Postponed Until Monday (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/ric-flairs-surgery-postponed-until-monday/)

[Simple Fan]

So how does Lars get fined for something he said while not with WWE when this is the first thing said? His lawyer is worthless.

Wrestler shall act at all times with due regard to public morals and conventions during the term of this agreement.

[Emperor Smeat]

So how does Lars get fined for something he said while not with WWE when this is the first thing said? His lawyer is worthless.

That first sentence simply brings him into regulations with WWE's rules while he's in the company. Its the wording afterwards that leaves wiggle room for broad interpretations.

Like this part gives room for WWE to expand their disciplinary powers to cover those comments since they can claim ignorance even if they knew beforehand and his past actions are causing current PR problems for the company.

then at the time of any such act, or any time after promoter learns of any such act, promoter shall have the right to fine wrestler in an amount to be determined by promoter

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

It's not like he has to cut a check either. They just take some from his guarantee until its paid.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The combination of being the day after a major pay-per-view that ended with curiosity, and the show-long Brock Lesnar cash-in tease led to Raw doing 2.52 million viewers last night, up seven percent from the week before, even though last week had no NBA playoff competition.

It was the best the show has done since the start of the playoffs. Even with the push of the 24/7 title and the strong tease of a cash-in, the third hour still was down 14.2 percent from the first hour. That figure is much better than recent weeks, but still would have been considered a huge drop two years ago.

The same week last year, which also went against the NBA playoffs, but wasn't coming the day after a PPV, did 2.66 million viewers, so Raw held up far better than any show has done in a long time based on year-over-year comparisons ..

The three hours were:
8 p.m. 2.68 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.58 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.30 million viewers

There was a WWE talent meeting earlier today [Sunday] headed by Stephanie McMahon. It was mostly the same rah-rah type speech they do from time-to-time. The only thing notable is that they directly addressed AEW as their competition. They were pushing the WWE brand hard, the same social media and YouTube stats they always talk about with the idea of having 1 billion followers (adding every form of social media for every performer related to the company), and then said that they are having to compete with video games, movies, other streaming services as well as now AEW. In giving this speech, at no time have they ever mentioned a competing wrestling company.

Squared Circle Sirens reports that WWE is scouting the promotion Gatoh Move in Thailand and Singapore Pro Wrestling in South East Asia
One person beign scouted is Riho who recently signed a 5-show deal with AEW.

AJ Styles was interviewed by Newsweek and noted during the conversation that his current WWE contract is the last pro wrestling contract he will ever sign.

Styles commented, "I can tell you that this contract that I’ve signed is my last. This is the perfect place for me to be. It’s family-oriented, I have no problem taking my family to the shows. It’s a PG product, which Ienjoy. I’m in the best place I can be for my career."

Styles also commented on potential competition for WWE, commenting, "As far as the indies and whatnot, I don’t think they should ever be competitive with the WWE. They should compete with themselves to make sure they get better everyday because there’s no competition, if you want me to be honest. WWE is globally huge. It’s unbelievable to know how big the WWE is. People don’t understand it. If you want to succeed, don’t compete. Be something different, be the alternative. There’s a lot of people that have a good chance, but competition is always a great thing. I hope any company does well so they can be that competition. Competition will always make a better product."

Impact Wrestling saw signing Jordynne Grace yesterday as a victory. The two sides officially came to terms yesterday for a multi-year deal. There was interest from both WWE and AEW, so Impact was really pleased that Grace, despite having strong interest elsewhere, made the decision to finally lock herself into a deal wtih them. There wasn't a clear answer as far as why Grace never signed the initial deal that she was supposed to sign last October. We are told that Grace provided Impact with data, including social media engagement, to showcase why she was worth more than the initial deal that was offered. One would think that in the end, she landed a better financial deal than she was probably originally offered. Her new contract will run through May 2021.

Q - Is it legal for WWE to add time to wrestlers contracts when they are injured? They are still part if the company and still get paid even if they don’t wrestle. They aren’t released from their contracts when they are injured. Sounds like immature pettiness.

A - They get paid their downside and it’s part of the contract that they agreed to. If they didn’t agree, they wouldn’t sign the contract.
From PWI's weekly Q&A articles on how WWE gets away with freezing and adding time to contracts.

While promoting the Super Showdown on Raw, Michael Cole stated they were “returning to Jeddah” for an international event. We were told that at least one other international department was instructed that they could identify the show as happening in Jeddah but would not be saying Saudi Arabia, although that could change as they get closer to the event.

Starrcast put out a statement confirming Ric Flair will not be in Las Vegas this week following his heart procedure on Monday. The Roast of Ric Flair has been postponed to a later date, which was scheduled to air on Fite TV as well on pay-per-view on at least one provider in Canada. We have confirmed that the panel with Jim Ross and Ricky Steamboat (which Flair was part of) is not going to take place Thursday night due to Flair’s absence. I was told that a replacement is going to be announced for that slot at Starrcast and Fite TV. Flair had also been scheduled for meet-and-greets with the Four Horseman.

SCWPro tweeted that they’ve been told Flair’s appearance at their debut show in East Moline, Illinois on May 31 is still on: “We've been in constant contact w/ representatives for @RicFlairNatrBoy & we're happy to announce that we've been told his appearance at our debut event at the Rust Belt on May 31st is STILL ON!”

Beth Phoenix, Bruno Sammartino, Thunderbolt Patterson, Sgt. Slaughter, Brian Shields and Daniel Cormier will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, which will be held on July 25-27.

The "Bash at the Beach" trademark by Cody Rhodes was given an initial refusal by The USPTO because likelihood of confusion with WWE's registered "The Bash" trademark.

His trademark for "Dusty Rhodes" has also been given an initial refusal because of likelihood of confusion to the "Dustin Rhodes" trademark registered to Dustin Runnels.

All his other trademarks - BattleBowl, Bunkhouse Stampede, The Prince of Wrestling, The American Nightmare, and The American Dream have been approved to publish for opposition at a later date.

Meanwhile, WWE's trademark for "Garza Jr." has been given an initial refusal because, according to The USPTO, they are just trademarking a last name/surname which is not a rare name. They supplied the WWE.com article of Garza's signing as evidence in which WWE made mention of his uncle Hector Garza.

The Usos, a Raw team, won a non-title match against the Smackdown tag team champions, who had previously beaten the Usos to win the Smackdown Tag Team Championships -- a title on a brand the Usos aren't on.

Charlotte Flair's reign as Smackdown Women's Champion was the shortest of all time. She now holds the longest and shortest reigns, and three of the five shortest reigns.

AJ Styles and Seth Rollins worked together 25 times over the last three years in WWE, but never had a singles match against one another in the company until Money in the Bank.

Combined, the three women's championship matches lasted 16:10 combined, which was less than the WWE Universal Championship match's 19:51 time.
From Fightful's stats article on last Sunday's Money in the Bank event

The honeymoon between IMPACT and Pursuit is over.

According to Mike Johnson at PWInsider, the hope in IMPACT Wrestling is the company can find a new, better TV outlet in the fall. IMPACT is currently on the Pursuit channel, which is also owned by IMPACT's parent company, Anthem. The company has run into problems on the network, including this past Friday when Pursuit aired 24 minutes of commercials instead of the main event.

IMPACT had to issue an apology for the technical snafu.

Along with this past Friday's issue, Pursuit continues to list IMPACT as four 30-minute episodes instead of one two-hour episode. The channel has reportedly been "very slow in responding to IMPACT requests and dealing with reported issues."

Carmella takes down her tweet about Mandy.

At the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, there was a point during the women's Money In The Bank Ladder match when former SmackDown Live Women's Champion Carmella had her leg caught in between a ladder as she was attempting to lift it up and Mandy Rose came over and kicked the ladder into Carmella's leg. Mandy attempted to wrestle Carmella to the mat but Carmella shoved Rose off multiple times and told her to back off as she was hurt. The two competitors engaged in a social media feud after the pay-per-view and Rose expressed that the Money In The Bank contract was supposed to be her's which led to Carmella chiming in and eventually noting that Rose needs to go back to NXT and learn how to be safe in the ring. Carmella has since deleted that tweet.
Deleted tweet screenshot: https://www.fightful.com/sites/default/files/xxiue18.jpg

On tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown, Big E made his first appearance since tearing his meniscus on the Apr. 10 episode of SmackDown Live. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston welcomed Big E back with a party to open SmackDown Live. Big E's appearance included smelling his comrades and still pining after Becky Lynch's mom.

However, there was a sour note on the return as Xavier confirmed that Big E has yet to be cleared to compete. It is unknown when Big E will return to in-ring competition.

Speaking at the JP Morgan Investors Conference, WWE Co-President George Barrios was asked about AEW being competition to WWE.

"If you're in the business of fighting for people's time....sleep is competition. Whether it's Fortnite, the NBA, kung fu novels, we are fighting for people's time. Everyone and everything is a competitor. AEW has announced (the deal with Turner). Welcome to the game. We'll see how it goes."


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Watch: AEW Releases Full Hangman Page vs. PAC Match (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/aew-releases-full-hangman-page-vs-pac-match/)
WWE Changing Up the Look of the Third Hour of Raw (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-changing-up-the-look-of-the-third-hour-of-raw/)
Rey Mysterio Injured, “Future of US Title” to Be Addressed on Raw (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/rey-mysterio-injured-future-of-us-title-to-be-addressed-on-raw/)
Ric Flair Pulls Out of Celebrity Roast Because of Surgery (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/ric-flair-pulls-out-of-celebrity-roast-because-of-surgery/)
Jordynne Grace Officially Signs With Impact Wrestling for “Years to Come” (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/jordynne-grace-officially-signs-with-impact-wrestling-for-years-to-come/)

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't know why TNA expects to move up in the world.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Several days after Ashley Massaro's lawyer released an affadavit that included a claim she was sexually assaulted on a 2007 Kuwait tour and was told not to report it, WWE released a statement addressing the claim.

"WWE is saddened by the death of Ashley Massaro, and we reiterate our condolences to her family. However, we regret that her attorney Konstantine Kyros, who filed multiple cases against WWE, lost all of them, and was sanctioned multiple times by the Court for repeated misconduct and false allegations, is using Ashley’s death to further his malicious campaign against WWE by releasing an affidavit that she submitted to the Court and later apologized to WWE for being involved with, so we wish to make certain things crystal clear.

At no time was Vince McMahon or the management of WWE ever informed by Ashley Massaro or anybody else that she had been sexually assaulted, drugged, raped or sodomized by a military doctor with a nurse standing guard while on a goodwill tour in 2007 to U.S. military bases in Kuwait. In fact, if she ever articulated such a claim to WWE, we would have reported it immediately to the Base Commander.

At no time was there ever a meeting with Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, John Laurinaitis or other company executives in which she told them of such a claim and was instructed to keep it quiet."

The 39-year-old Massaro died of an apparent suicide last Thursday at her Long Island, NY, home.

Massaro was one of 60 wrestlers Kyros represented in a concussion-related lawsuit that was filed in 2016. After it was thrown out of court last fall, an appeal is set to be heard in July. WWE provided the New York Post with an email from Massaro sent last October in which she apologized for being part of the lawsuit and said Kyros "poached" her. He said he never saw the email and that she never withdrew from the case.


A number of women in professional wrestling who worked alongside the late Ashley Massaro, who passed away last week, have banded together to launch a GoFundMe Campaign to assist in Massaro's daughter Alexa being able to continue her education.
Link for those interested in donating: https://www.gofundme.com/AshleyMassarosDaughterEducationalFund

Gail Kim is going to auction off the gear she wore in her retirement match against Tessa Blanchard at Impact’s Rebellion PPV to raise money for Massaro’s daughter.

Maria Kanellis paid tribute to Massaro on last night’s 205 Live by having “Ashley” written on her hand.
Links: https://twitter.com/gailkimITSME/status/1131248005561110530 , https://www.instagram.com/p/BxwB72JBxhy/

WWE Co-President comments on recent backstage creative changes.

This past year has brought about many backstage changes to WWE. It started in February when WWE brought back Bruce Prichard to a full-time creative position. From there, Jeff Jarrett and Dana Warrior were added to the creative team while R.D. Evans, Kazeem Famuyide, and others left and Road Dogg stepped down as head writer of SmackDown. WWE has also cycled in and out producers with Abyss, Sonjay Dutt and Gregory Helms joining the team and Arn Anderson and Dean Malenko departing.

With all the changes behind the scenes, it's easy to wonder how that affects the creative process. WWE Co-President George Barrios wouldn't put much stock into the changes.

"What gives me confidence is that we've been creating stars and putting smiles on people's faces for a long time. You're always looking to get better in terms of your process and tools you're using. We've got a lot of great talent and we try to supplement that over time. I wouldn't put too big a spotlight on (creative hires)," Barrios said during a JP Morgan Investors Conference. "The most important asset we have is our talent. So, what should we be focused on, what's going to move the needle and what's the best way to engage in our fanbase?"


Several readers sent word this morning that on his latest podcast, Chris Jericho stated that AEW's weekly series would be airing on ITV in Great Britain this Fall when it will also debut for TNT here in the United States.

With Ric Flair unable to attend Starrcast II this weekend as he recovers from heart surgery, the following events have been added to the weekend at Caesar's Palace:

Thursday 5/23 at 6 PM - REMEMBERING OWEN. Jim Ross will host a panel discussing memories of the late Owen Hart.

Thursday 5/23 at 8:30 PM - RON FUNCHES & FRIENDS COMEDY SHOW.

Friday 5/24 at 7 PM - READY TO RUMBLE WATCH-ALONG with Tony Schivaone, David Arquette, Shane Helms and surprise guests.

WWE stock closed the day at $77.46 per share, down two percent from yesterday.
Almost 25% down since their last fiscal report.

WWE congratulated Bayley on being their first women’s triple crown champion. She currently holds the SmackDown Women’s Championship and has previously held the Raw Women’s Championship and Women’s Tag Team titles. WWE also acknowledged Rey Mysterio being a grand slam champion after his first US title win.

WE issued the following press release for their return to Australia later this year:

WWE RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA

MELBOURNE, Australia and STAMFORD, Conn., May 22, 2019 – WWE LIVE will return to Australia with three events, including Monday, October 21 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Tuesday, October 22 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane and Wednesday, October 23 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, presented in partnership with TEG Dainty.

It's looking more and more like Brock Lesnar will cash in his Money In the Bank briefcase against WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins at WWE Super ShowDown from Saudi Arabia on June 7.

Lesnar is currently scheduled to announce his cash-in decision on Monday's RAW and then may return for the final episode before Super ShowDown, which would be the June 3 episode, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that Lesnar will then work Super ShowDown, but after that we likely won't see him until around SummerSlam time in August, to set up his match for that pay-per-view.

The plan has been for Lesnar to face Rollins at Saudi Arabia, as far back as around WrestleMania 35 time. It is possible that WWE announces Lesnar vs. Rollins as a regular match, and have him keep the briefcase, but that seems unlikely.


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Aleister Black Also Reportedly Not Going to Saudi Arabia (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/aleister-black-also-reportedly-not-going-to-saudi-arabia/)
Ruby Riott Injured, Undergoes Surgery (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/ruby-riott-injured-undergoes-surgery/)
Ric Flair Back Home After Surgery (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/ric-flair-back-home-after-surgery/)
Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan Are Not Going to Saudi Arabia (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/kevin-owens-and-daniel-bryan-are-not-going-to-saudi-arabia/)

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

5/23 THIS DAY IN HISTORY: OWEN HART PASSES AWAY

1999 - Owen Hart dies of cardiac arrest after falling from the ceiling in the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri during the WWF Over The Edge Pay-per-view. The fall was not seen on television, as a pre-taped interview was being shown at the time. Owen was to have made a "Blue Blazer" entrance on a cable when his harness malfunctioned, causing the fall. Hart was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead. Owen was 34 years old.

The show continued, with Jim Ross informing the home viewer later in the program that Owen had died, but the fans in the building were not told of his passing. The decision to continue running the show and not announcing Hart's death to the live crowd have been hotly debated since 1999. The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin in the main event to win the WWF Title in the main event. The show would be the only WWF PPV, to date, that was never released on home video after it was held.

Q - Loved the Bret Hart-Tom Magee match and documentary, but for a match that was meant only for the crowd and was never going to be shown on television, how does it have commentary with Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan?

A - They may have later voiced it over to use on one of the syndicated shows but for whatever reason, never used the match. WWF used to voice over old content all the time and re-use it for Prime Time Wrestling, Home Videos, etc. so it wasn’t out of the ordinary.
From PWI's weekly Q&A article on why the Hart-Magee match had commentary.

The Tacoma Dome is locally advertising the following matches for the 6/23 WWE Stomping Grounds PPV:
*Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship
*Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship
*Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

The updated lineup advertised locally for the 7/14 WWE Extreme Rules on 7/13 PPV in Philadelphia features:
*Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Match
*Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship in a Tables Match
*Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a Handicap Match.
*AJ Styles vs. a mystery opponent
*Plus: Becky Lynch, Randy Orton, Elias.

The move will come three months after what is expected to be AEW’s debut on ITV 4 in October with a regular live television show. The AEW deal is not official, but Cody strongly hinted at it on Being the Elite and Chris Jericho has talked about it on his podcast. ITV 4 will be airing both a Countdown like show for Double or Nothing on 5/24 and the one-hour Buy In show, as well as handle the PPV show in the U.K. market on ITV Box Office. The final deal is said to be not official until TNA decides whether to run the weekly two-hour live show on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. The hope is for ITV 4 to run the show live.

New Japan World subscribers have hit 122,000 with good gains coming with the start of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. An interesting note is that the two most-watched matches thus far have been Rocky Romero’s matches with Will Ospreay and Robbie Eagles. Some of that is because Australia and the U.K. are in more favorable time slots than the U.S., but still, you’d think the Japanese bouts would dominate since Japan has the most subscribers. This has helped Eagles in the eyes of management. The new people who have signed up in the last week are mostly from Europe, not the U.S., or Japan, so there’s a feeling Ospreay being in a key position has helped a lot. Eagles was said to be the most popular newcomer this year, with part of the reason believed that the fans are comfortable with him because he’s half-Asian. His new Bullet Club T-shirt is the best selling Bullet Club shirt in Japan since the Young Bucks were taken out of the group. It was noted he’s also getting over with women and children, similar to Juice Robinson, and women are a key demographic they are after

The company got some good news with the on-sale for the Bridgeport Takeover show. While not sold out, the advance for the 7,000 seat set up is strong and it look like it will either sell out or come very close. This would be the first Takeover in a major arena that wasn’t the day before a major WWE PPV show.
According to the Observer, NXT's show is selling at a faster pace than the upcoming AEW Jacksonville show and NJPW G1 show in Dallas.

The 7/6 Dallas show at last report had sold about 2,800 tickets. They are hoping for a big late buy, and they did get that in San Francisco once the card was announced, but late buys are going to be local and New Japan doesn’t have that many fans in Dallas. Lance Archer has been heavily promoting the show including going to indie cards in the area and selling tickets. Jushin Liger has been added to the show. London on 8/30 is at 6,100 tickets sold at this point, so it will sell out

In an interesting move, the Double or Nothing show is treating media like they are covering a sports event. They sent out a list of things that a real sport would send out to media with details, credentials, areas to file stories, backstage interviews for stories after the show and much more. WWE does do a media room in the suites for WrestleMania, and Takeovers do have a post-show press conference with Paul Levesque, but not with the talent, but this likely comes from the sports background of Tony Khan and with the guys involved learning from their days working New Japan major shows.

Pac was scheduled to beat Page, which with the win, was to lead to bigger matches ...

The feeling here is that beating Page had to be a big deal and lead to a major main event, because they are positioning Page as a big star. If it’s not to set up a match with Omega, Jericho or Cody, nobody should be beating Page. You could do a DQ, and many would, or a draw. They made the decision that they wanted winners and losers when you pay for a PPV. To not adhere to that concept on the first show basically ruins the concept they are pushing right out of the gate. They were not going to sacrifice the entire concept of what they were building to get out of a match.

As far as the draw idea goes, that had problems as well ... First, Tony Khan was at the Revolution Pro show where Pac and Will Ospreay did a 30:00 draw in what was an easy ****3/4 match. But as great as the match was, the fans booed the draw. Khan didn’t want that reaction on his show, and also noted it wasn’t just that match, but other Pac draws in the U.K. had gotten similar reactions, noting another great match with Zack Sabre Jr. The fact that in the 70s, or in New Japan, a long classic match ending in a draw would be viewed one way didn’t matter, because it’s neither the 70s nor Japan. He didn’t want a negative reaction like that on the debut show.

Second, it didn’t work out. If they did a 20:00 draw, they’d have to cut time from other matches to make it work. Plus, if in the future, they wanted a non-main event to go more than 20:00, the precedent would be set that a third from the top match has that time limit. If they went 30:00, they’d have to cut more time out of perhaps multiple matches ...

As far as Pac goes, for right now he will not be working for the promotion. He won’t be at Fyter Fest, and likely angles or match announcements will be made coming off the show to make sense for however that main event is to be changed. He is not expected to be back until he loses the Dream Gate belt, because with the style of booking they are doing, they can’t do business with somebody who can’t ever lose.

Regarding the most talked about mystery guys, Joey Ryan is booked on that night for AIW in Cleveland. C.M. Punk is doing play-by-play of an MMA show in Southern California. Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) is doing an MMA movie, although it is possible he could get a day off.
In regards to AEW's upcoming Casino Battle Royal match.

The medical examiner’s office in London confirmed the early reports that the death of Cesar Gonzalez, better known as Silver King, on 5/11 in the ring in London, was due to a heart attack. It was noted that his father, the legendary Dr. Wagner, died the same way at the age of 68

One thing notable about his death is that, as noted last week, there has been a movement throughout wrestling for referees to get CPR training, which is only a good thing. Daniel Lopez, better known as El Satanico, who runs the commission out of Zapopan, which is the Guadalajara region, has now mandated that shows need two ambulances on site and one paramedic, who will be assigned by the commission, will be on every show along with a doctor and that at least one referee on every show will need to have had CPR training. Lopez said that he wants all referees to have that training

Even though Primo Colon has been working in Puerto Rico a lot as of late, he is still under contract here. Both Colons have it in their deal that because of the longstanding WWE relationship with Carlos Colon, that they are allowed to work shows for WWC. It’s not like they are missing WWE main event bookings by going there. Primo is one of those guys who was a good worker since he was a teenager and he’s made a living here with his downside and all, and Puerto Rico is so dead that it was the best thing for him in the big picture, but he’s also a guy who nobody realizes how good he is who has never been able to show it

The 5/17 television show was a mess for a number of reasons. The first and main thing is that in the much-lauded Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann, in the television version on Pursuit, after Swann did three dives and a top rope move, they went to a commercial break. This was 96 minutes into a two-hour show. The next 24 minutes were nothing but commercials and they never came back. It wasn’t a problem with the tape, because they air the show at the same time on Twitch and they showed the complete match.

The worst part of all this is that so few people watch Impact now (the last rating we heard for the show on Pursuit was around 10,000 viewers) that there was almost no talk about the miscue anywhere.

For the third time in four weeks, SmackDown's Monday night house show won't be taking place as scheduled.

WWE announced today that SmackDown's house show that was supposed to take place at the Tony's Pizza Event Center in Salina, Kansas on Monday (May 27) has been rescheduled to Saturday, October 26. Tickets that were purchased for Monday will be honored on that October 26 date, and WWE noted that fans who cannot attend should go to their point of purchase for refunds.

For those who have asked about Lio Rush, we are told he is still WWE NXT bound.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that Johnny Gargano is currently dealing with a knee injury. Gargano hasn't worked an NXT live event since Mar. 8 but did wrestle at TakeOver: New York against Adam Cole and has wrestled at recent NXT television tapings. His TakeOver: XXV match on June 1 with Cole is reportedly not in jeopardy but it is unclear how active he will be following that match ...

Meltzer also reports that Bobby Fish is dealing with an undisclosed injury but that it is not considered serious. Fish was kicked in the head during a tag team match at an NXT live event on May 17, which reportedly left him woozy. He showed up the next night with his arm in a sling, unable to wrestle.

Fish is being advertised for NXT TakeOver: XXV where he will team with Kyle O'Reilly in a fatal four-way tag team ladder match to crown new NXT Tag Team Champions.


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE: Matt Riddle NXT Title Plans, More on Owens Not Going to Saudi Arabia (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-matt-riddle-nxt-title-plans-more-on-owens-not-going-to-saudi-arabia/)
New Talk Show Hosted By Steve Austin Coming to USA Network (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/new-talk-show-hosted-by-steve-austin-coming-to-usa-network/)
WWE Reportedly Added the 24/7 Title Because of Pressure From USA Network (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-reportedly-added-the-24-7-title-because-of-pressure-from-usa-network/)
Aleister Black Isn’t Going to Saudi Arabia Because of His Tattoos (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/aleister-black-isnt-going-to-saudi-arabia-because-of-his-tattoos/)

[Droford]

If everyone got a ton of tattoos that would stop the Saudi shiws

[Mr. Nerfect]

The AEW booking thing still doesn’t make any sense.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Raw star Drew McIntyre is being advertised for a number of upcoming Smackdown brand events, so it appears the Wild Card rule will be in effect for future live events presented by WWE. McIntyre is currently advertised by WWE for the following events:
Saturday 6/1 in Waco, Texas
Sunday 6/2 in College Station, Texas
Monday 6/3 in Corpus Christie, Texas (opposite that night's live Raw broadcast)
Sunday 6/9 in Stockton, CA
Monday 6/10 in Reno, Nevada (opposite that night's live Raw broadcast)

Sasha Banks was in the NYC area this past Wednesday for WWE. One source we spoke to believed she was working on material for the next WWE video game release.

Rey Mysterio provided an update on his shoulder injury from this past weekend at the Money in the Bank show. Mysterio stated that he suffered a separated AC joint and received PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatment on his left shoulder

Jimmy's Famous Seafood held their annual golf tournament this week which hosted WWE Superstars Jimmy and Jey Uso as well as MLW's Lance Anoa'i.

While at the event, the wrestlers joined forces with "Team Famous" to present The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with a $5 thousand donation. The money was presented on behalf of Roman Reigns and the entire Anoa'i family.

Don Callis noted that he will be returning to New Japan for the Dominion card on June 9th in Osaka. Earlier in the week, Impact will be taping television on June 6th and 7th at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City.

One of the many questions I have that I haven’t seen poised elsewhere, is Kenny Omega’s effect, specifically to the Canadian market. We have seen through history the impact a strong personality can have on this market from Bret Hart maintaining the WWF’s business in Canada even when they were underneath WCW in the U.S, and of course, Georges St-Pierre’s rise with the UFC. Since “All In”, Omega had a widely distributed documentary in Canada, and did a media run that got him onto many mainstream outlets across the country where he came off tremendously. I’m not expecting Omega to take this pay-per-view and do a blockbuster number, but I do feel his profile has risen since September.

During Thursday's "An Evening With Cody & The Young Bucks" stage show at Starrcast II, Cody Rhodes casually announced that All Elite Wrestling will air on ITV in the UK beginning in the fall. Cody also stated that "WWE's TV deal in the UK sucks compared to ours." The weekly show will likely air on ITV 4, which will air the Buy-In pre-show ahead of AEW Double or Nothing on Saturday.

ITV 4 is available in nearly 27 million homes while BT Sport, which will be the new home of WWE in the UK, is in 2.19 million homes.
For some comparisons, even TNA/Impact was available in more homes than WWE was in the UK prior to WWE leaving Sky Sports. Also averaged higher number of viewers for their weekly shows than WWE's shows.

WWE has announced that they’ll be holding a house show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China on September 21. NXT’s Xia Li and Boa, who are Chinese nationals, are advertised for the show. There will also be a four-day tryout in Shanghai from July 15-18.

Vince McMahon’s XFL put in a bid for some of the defunct and bankrupt AAF’s assets, currently located in San Antonio, Texas.

Lio Rush will be doing an autograph signing at MCW Pro Wrestling’s show in Joppa, Maryland on June 1. All proceeds from the event will benefit MCW’s “The Bruiser” RJ Meyer as he battles leukemia.

With yesterday being the 20th anniversary of Owen Hart’s death, Chris Jericho and Dave Meltzer paid tribute to Owen and discussed his career on today’s episode of Talk is Jericho.
Link: https://omny.fm/shows/talk-is-jericho/from-the-blue-blazer-to-the-black-hart-owen-flies

During his [Starrcast] panel discussion today, Arn Anderson announced he will be teaming with Conrad Thompson to do a podcast later this year. Given Arn's history and his promo skills, that could be one for the ages.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Pretty cool that there is a genuine chance AEW will beat WWE in the UK.

[#1-norm-fan]

Wasn’t TNA beating WWE in the ratings there at one time?

-edit- Oh. Smeat covered it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah although they rarely took advantage of that particular situation in meaningful ways outside of a tour or two per year in the UK for a while. Especially when they started to shift their international focus more towards India.

TV-wise, they've suffered a similar situation of network hopping in recent years although not as dire as their US network problems.

[Ultra Mantis]

There's an unconfirmed rumour going around that Fandango is currently in limbo, similar to Luke Harper.

He has been cleared to return since January but there has apparently been no interest from the office in putting him back on the road in any capacity, as a result he allegedly asked for his release but was flat out refused. Unlike Harper, who worked AXXESS, they didn't even want him for anything over Wrestlemania weekend.

Big if true.

[Evil Vito]

What a way to treat a guy who has been with the company for 13 years.

[erickman]

There's an unconfirmed rumour going around that Fandango is currently in limbo, similar to Luke Harper.

He has been cleared to return since January but there has apparently been no interest from the office in putting him back on the road in any capacity, as a result he allegedly asked for his release but was flat out refused. Unlike Harper, who worked AXXESS, they didn't even want him for anything over Wrestlemania weekend.

Big if true.

did he ever get his tag team title match with r-truth for winning tough enough

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I don't understand why they keep paying him to sit on his ass

[XL]

Company’s a shitstorm. Surely they can call them on the bullshit they pull? It’s been reported that Goldust asked for, and was granted his release (with 90 no compete) without an extension for the period he was injured, as was Shawn Spears/Tye Dillinger, yet they’re holding certain guys “hostage”?

There’s even less opportunity for a Harper/Curtis given the “Wildcard” set up has Reigns in 3 feuds at the minute. Former US champs Nakamura and Rusev haven’t been on TV for 4 weeks. Buddy Murphy is yet to debut on SDL following the Shake Up. As is Chad Gable. And Liv Morgan. And Mickie James. And Apollo Crews - who somehow appeared on Raw as a Wildcard but is yet debut on his new “home”. Same for Heavy Machinery. Eric Young made his Raw debut scrambling to pick up the lowest of lower card titles - and failing. A segment that also gave Cedric Alexander his second appearance - and 2nd loss.

Mess.

[Fignuts]

Made a thread on it a while ago. They have way too many people signed. And now it’s blowing up in their face even worse since they’ve been forced to have people on both shows.

[#1-norm-fan]

Fandango is quietly one of the biggest dropped balls in WWE history. Just having him on the payroll while not using him at all is the next logical step for the clueless excuse of a wrestling company.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Made a thread on it a while ago. They have way too many people signed. And now it’s blowing up in their face even worse since they’ve been forced to have people on both shows.

It’s a very WCW problem. Well, it’s got a different context for WWE, because creativity seems to be a larger issue now. Many in WCW were happy to get paid and sit at home. WWE is spinning all these plates promising opportunities, which they logistically can’t deliver. Broken promises in business are always a bad idea.

[Jordan]

Fandango is quietly one of the biggest dropped balls in WWE history. Just having him on the payroll while not using him at all is the next logical step for the clueless excuse of a wrestling company.

Yes he is a big deal. AEW should swipe him up and shoot him to the to top like WWF did with Jericho.

[#1-norm-fan]

There’s nothing the guy lacks. He looks like a movie star, he’s so natural on camera that it’s ridiculous. He’s not gonna be putting on six star matches in Japan or anything but he’s good in the ring. What the fuck else could they want?

[Damian Rey 2.0]

He's got some tattoos that enhance his look too. Fandango is a sexy man. And has charisma up the ass.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Fandango could have babies with my sister and my mom and I wouldn’t even be pissed about how confusing my family was.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The guy’s not stellar in the ring, but he’s athletic as hell. The guy does the RVD leap to the top and can land on his feet after a tope con hilo.

It makes me kind of furious he is still doing the Fandango gimmick 6 years later.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Johnny Curtis has been Fandango for longer than Eddie Guerrero worked in WWE. Triple H debuted with the WWF in 1995. He was out with his quad injury 6 years later.

Johnny has been a pro for 20 years, in WWE for 13 and on the main roster for over 8.

[Emperor Smeat]

There’s even less opportunity for a Harper/Curtis given the “Wildcard” set up has Reigns in 3 feuds at the minute. Former US champs Nakamura and Rusev haven’t been on TV for 4 weeks. Buddy Murphy is yet to debut on SDL following the Shake Up. As is Chad Gable. And Liv Morgan. And Mickie James. And Apollo Crews - who somehow appeared on Raw as a Wildcard but is yet debut on his new “home”. Same for Heavy Machinery. Eric Young made his Raw debut scrambling to pick up the lowest of lower card titles - and failing. A segment that also gave Cedric Alexander his second appearance - and 2nd loss.

Mess.

Its basically the same problems that lead to the downfall of the 1st Brand Split Era. Back then it was a mix of Vince and/or Creative becoming way too complacent after Cena (and Orton) were established as top stars and neglecting everything else including belts. Worst was Vince's paranoia when it came to Cena losing any merch sales which knee capped a lot of real big pushes for others.

Near the end of it, they had to loosen up the brand split rules because of the lack of big new stars on the brands, especially Smackdown. People who befitted before suddenly got less time and those who could have benefited were neglected as usual.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

For those of you wondering what happened to the advertised Fatal Four Way Elimination match on Raw, we are told that over the course of the day, WWE officials went back and forth on whether it should be an Elimination match or a single fall bout.

The argument was made that to protect talents, there should not be three eliminations and eventually that argument won out, so the match was changed to one finish, with Baron Corbin pinning the Miz to secure his Universal title bout with Seth Rollins
Makes WWE look extra dumb that they still announced it as Elimination style when it happened even though it never was.

SoCal Uncensored is reporting that Joey Ryan has turned down an AEW deal. He has been doing a “farewell to the indies” tour recently, and will make an announcement at Bar Wrestling’s Pickle Jar Hero event on 5/30 regarding his future.

Pro Wrestling EVE is countering WWE Super Showdown by airing an alternative stream that will feature women’s pro wrestling during the event.
Think they did the same with the last Saudi event.

Jordynne Grace, Petey Williams and Scott Steiner have been announced as a team for the upcoming CHIKARA King of Trios event this October.

MLW has announced another debut for this weekend's Fury Road event.

Flamita will make his MLW debut against Rey Horus at Saturday's Fury Road television tapings. The show is taking place at the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

MLW noted that Flamita has signed on to be a regular with them and will return later this summer after a tour of Japan in July.

In regard to rumors that Ric Flair was originally set to present the AEW title at Double or Nothing, that is incorrect. Bret Hart was always planned for that role, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

The 6/29 FyterFest and 7/13 Fight for the Fallen events will be streaming live on Bleacher Report Live. There were representatives of TNT and Bleacher Report backstage at Double or Nothing ...

The Chicago hotel for Starrcast for All Out weekend sold out almost immediately after the third Starrcast was announced.

AEW President Tony Khan personally timed the Double or Nothing PPV last night and brought the show in 15 minutes before the end of their alotted time. There were a lot of people impressed by Khan's ability to do so since it was the first time he had undertaken the task. Khan was also suggesting shots for the Director of the PPV.

A number of those backstage passed on word that Khan was excitedly congratulating everyone after their matches, personally thanking them and even high-fiving them. It was said his enthusiasm really touched a lot backstage as they realized how invested he was on a personal level.

The Awesome Kong surprise was locked in four months ago but kept to a very small circle of people. Kong said today that only four people total knew she would be there. Kong noted that Diamond Dallas Page gave her a huge motivational speech before her appearance that helped her find the "Kong" persona again as she returned to the ring for the first time in years. Kong will be appearing on the filmed and completed GLOW Season three on Netflix.

Kevin Sullivan, one of the top producers for Impact Wrestling, was the one credited for the AEW video packages on the PPV.

The look of the PPV was designed to be as sports-oriented as possible. Keith Mitchell headed production. There were a number of former WCW production employees working the show.

Bob Rosen, formerly of TNA, built the ring that AEW utilized last night specifically for the promotion. Rosen also worked as timekeeper at ringside.

Atlas Security was in the house and will be working for the promotion going forward.

An opposition is in the process of being filed against Starrcast registering 'Dead Man Talking' from being trademarked, but it's not from you who would think.

Audioboom have requested for a 30-day extension to file an opposition, which they have till 7/20 to do.

Audioboom produces a non-wrestling podcast called 'Dead Man Talking'.

If they wish to, WWE still have till 6/20 to file an opposition or request an extension.

During the Canadian broadcast of Raw on Sportsnet 360, they ran an ad promoting Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton for the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view on June 23rd in Tacoma, Washington.

The wrestling world has another interesting free agent, as Fightful has learned that Jonathan Gresham is without a contract.

The Ring of Honor standout isn't technically committed to Ring of Honor. Gresham's deal expired in late April, leaving him as a free agent in a wrestling world with a lot of options. It was expected that he would be quickly re-signed or extended, but thus far a deal hasn't been reached.

The situation is made even more interesting considering the fact that Gresham works as a trainer at the Ring of Honor Dojo as, well.

Kenny Omega gets emotional when talking about Kota Ibushi.

The day after AEW Double or Nothing, Kenny Omega made an appearance at Starrcast II, fielding a variety of questions. One subject that came up during Omega's session was his relationship with Kota Ibushi and why his Golden Lovers partner isn't in All Elite Wrestling. Omega quickly became choked up when discussing his decision not to ask Ibushi to join him in AEW.

"I knew I couldn't ask [Kota] Ibushi to sign [with AEW]," Omega said before pausing to compose himself. "I knew it was his time [in NJPW]. I knew that if I asked for him to come [to AEW], that he would. And if I begged for him to come that he would. But I knew that his dream, before anything we ever did, was to win the IWGP Heavyweight Belt."


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

It’s Unclear if Sami Zayn’s AEW Mention on Raw Was Scripted or Not (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/its-unclear-if-sami-zayns-aew-mention-on-raw-was-scripted-or-not/)
Moxley vs. Juice Robinson NJPW Match Announced, NJPW Denies AEW Relationship (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/moxley-vs-juice-robinson-njpw-match-announced-njpw-denies-aew-relationship/)
WWE: Mysterio to Relinquish US Title, Main Event Taping Results, Ratings Delayed (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-mysterio-to-relinquish-us-title-main-event-taping-results/)

[Fignuts]

Gresham would be a good get for AEW as a mid card worker.

Guy doesn’t have much star presence but he’s a great hand and can offer a different style from most.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Raw on Memorial Day did 2.19 million viewers, which would be the fourth lowest number for the show in modern history.

The only episodes lower were last year's shows on both Christmas and New Year's Eve and the April 29, 2019 show, which did 2.16 million viewers ...

The good news is that there wasn't the usual big first-to-third hour drop, which was only 9.4 percent, partially because of how low the first hour was ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 2.27 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.25 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.05 million viewers


We no longer have conflicting reports. Zayn was of the belief he was supposed to say it. Most in the company weren't aware so the original word was it wasn't scripted but several sources have called it a miscommunication issue but he didn't say it on his own.

...It was scripted. They just lied to their own employees to make it out like Sami went against the script, not realizing anyone with a brain knows about the 15 second delay. Not to mention the people who did know would eventually tell those who don't.

This is Bischoff WCW and they didn't learn a thing from it. It draws no money and only makes paranoid talent even more paranoid, and makes employees think they're working for an insane company, neither of which is a positive.

WWE has canceled another one of SmackDown’s Monday night house shows. The house show that was scheduled to take place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas next Monday (June 3) will no longer be happening, with WWE citing a scheduling conflict. Aside from the week of their European tour, WWE has canceled all of SmackDown’s Monday events since the Wild Card rule was introduced.

WWE Network News reported that three matches from Texas in the 1950s will be added to the Network’s Hidden Gems section tomorrow morning. They are: The Sheik vs. Juan Humberto (1954), Danny Savich vs. Wild Bill Curry (1955), Maurice Vachon vs. The Amazing Zuma (1957).
Link: https://www.wwenetworknews.com/2019/05/29/latest-wwe-network-hidden-gems-to-throwback-to-a-golden-era-with-matches-from-1950s-texas/

Daniel Bryan told Sports Illustrated about how long he wants to wrestle for: “There are people who say, ‘I only want to do this for three or four more years,’ or ‘I only want to do this until I’m 45.’ No. I want to do this until I’m 70. Months before I die, I want to be doing a wrestling show. I won’t be able to do the stuff I do now, but I want to go out and do this thing I’ve been passionate about wrestling my entire life. I want to do that my whole life.”

Dave Meltzer notes that, in 12 hours, today’s Talk is Jericho episode with Jon Moxley beat the all-time number for any previous episode of the show.

Tomohiro Ishii and Jeff Cobb have been announced for the opening night of this year’s G1 Climax in Dallas on July 6. Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Jushin Thunder Liger, EVIL, and SANADA are also advertised for the show, though NJPW has yet to reveal the tournament participants for the G1.

Rachael Evers is okay following a hit and run car accident that took place this afternoon.

Evers wrote about the situation on Twitter, saying that the accident was due to a drunk driver.

“Let me start by saying this: I am ok,” she wrote. "I was hit by a drunk driver today on my way home from the [WWE Performance Center]. Hit and run. I’m extremely thankful it was my passengers side that was hit. Some people aren’t so lucky-please DONT DRINK AND DRIVE.”

Lars Sullivan’s Twitter account has been deleted.

WWE have requested for a 90-day extension to oppose registration of the "Dead Man Talking" trademark. They have until 9/18 to file an opposition.

As noted a few days ago on PWInsider.com, Audioboom requested for a 30-day extension to file an opposition, which they have until 7/20. Audioboom produces a non-wrestling podcast called 'Dead Man Talking'.

Adam Page's Full Gear Challenge ends in a good cause.

Adam "Hangman" Page won the All Elite Wrestling Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing to earn a shot at the AEW World Championship and he and Chris Jericho will clash at a later date for that title. On the road to Double Or Nothing, Page was getting his body ready for the show so that he can fit into his ring gear which was dubbed the 'Full Gear Challenge'. Adam Page auctioned off his ring gear to benefit the National Eating Disorders Association and an article was published about his auction on NEDA.com and here's an excerpt from the post:
Link: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/wrestler-adam-page-auctions-ring-gear-benefit-neda

Jon Moxley revealed during his appearance on the latest episode of Chris Jericho's podcast, Talk Is Jericho, that former deathmatch wrestler Nick Mondo was the director of his infamous prison break viral video.

Wrestling Inc. can also confirm that Mondo directed Moxley's recent "Time's Up" video reveal for New Japan Pro Wrestling, which you can watch in the video above. That video is also included on Mondo's website, as well as NJPW's YouTube page.



TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE Apparently Confiscated “Save Us HHH” and “You Aren’t MJF” Signs on SmackDown (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/wwe-apparently-confiscated-save-us-hhh-and-you-arent-mjf-signs-on-smackdown/)
AEW: PAC Off of Fyter Fest, Best Friends Entrance Video (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/aew-pac-off-of-fyter-fest-best-friends-entrance-video/)

[DAMN iNATOR]

https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2019/5/29/18644564/vince-mcmahon-dean-ambrose-horrible-line-roman-reigns-cancer

Article about how Vince allegedly wanted Moxley to say something so bad in a promo addressing Roman's battle with leukemia that it would have lost the company sponsors. YIKES.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Following a night in which Raw had its second lowest non-holiday audience in history, SmackDown was actually up five percent this week, averaging 2.072 million viewers for Tuesday's show.

This matched the April 23 episode for SmackDown's highest number since April's Superstar Shake-up.

The main reason for this week's increase would be the lack of competition, as both the NBA and NHL playoffs had the night off. SmackDown finished seventh overall for the night on cable, trailing only news programming, and topped the 18-49 demo with a 0.69 rating. In fact, in that demo, SmackDown beat everything on television with the exception of NBC, which was the only network to have first-run shows on Tuesday night ...

Year-over-year, SmackDown was only down six percent, the second straight week the year-over-year decline was in the single digits. In fact, it was the best retention from the previous year that SmackDown has done since going back to October 30 of last year, when the decline was 0.4 percent.

Paul Levesque hosted a conference call with reporters today in advance of Saturday’s Takeover show. Adam Hopkins introduced HHH and we were off and running. ...

Mike Johnson then got in. H said two’s not bad. Mike asked what the biggest lessons he learned from the first show until now.

H said that the biggest learning curve was making the brand have its own identity, making it a stand-alone brand. He said it was about learning who the players where and what their journeys were. They have all different stories. He talked about the differences between all of the people that have come in. Some have been lifetime fans, others were folks that chose wrestling after doing something else. It’s great to see those people grow and come to love the business. To H, he has learned from all of their perspectives and where the wrestlers have come from. He said that it’s been inspiring and meaningful for him. He loves going to the Performance Center because it gives him a shot of adrenaline. It’s awe inspiring ...

Jason Powell asked H saying he wants to have a six month plan for talents. It hasn’t happened. Why?

H said necessity takes precedence. If the main roster needs talent, that can throw plans out the window. He said when that happens and talents get called up, he’s excited for the talents. He would like to have a plan, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. He compared it to baseball, where talents get called up due to need and circumstance.

He was asked about taking jabs at AEW and them coming back. Are they good for business and will NXT do it?

H said that at the Hall of Fame Billy being there was the elephant in the room and DX does that kind of thing. That is all it was. For him, he doesn’t really think about AEW, he just wants to put out the best NXT product that he can. He is focused on this Saturday at Takeover 25, putting on the best show and growing the brand ...

He was asked if NXT could be used on FOX?

He said they are looking at everything, there is interest in NXT. It’s also valuable to them on the Network. We will get there.

Triple H speaks about the remarks made about AEW at the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony and TakeOver XXV.

“Hall Of Fame, to me, there was a moment -- Billy’s [Gunn] there. There’s kinda sorta this moment where if you don’t sort of say there’s an elephant in the room, everybody sorta goes, ‘Well why didn’t they mention the elephant in the room?’ It was nothing more than that and to be honest with DX, if you don’t do that, then we’re sorta kinda not doing what we do and trust me, a lot of that was not necessarily laid out and planned. Things kinda just went along." He revealed. "So, what they are… for me, I don’t really even think about it to be honest. For me, when it comes to this TakeOver, I just wanna put out the best product possible. I’m not focused on anybody else, I’m not thinking about anybody else’s creative or what they said or didn’t say or anything else. To me, I’m focused on this Saturday at TakeOver 25 and the brand and making everybody bigger stars coming out of it, putting on the best show we possibly can for fans and continuing to grow the brand.”

Major League Wrestling will debut in Dallas, Texas, the promotion announced:

Are you a subscriber to the MLW Newsletter?
If you were, you'd have seen this news earlier today:
"It's official: MLW has closed a deal for its Dallas debut. More details on this will be available soon."
Sign up for the newsletter here: https://t.co/5vtcqJjctT pic.twitter.com/lomKEzvViF
— MLW FURY ROAD • JUNE 1 (@MLW) May 29, 2019

The plan is to build the debut around Ross and Marshall Von Erich

The Chinese-based OWE (Oriental Wrestling Entertainment) group has partnered with Toronto’s Smash Wrestling to stage two events in the city over SummerSlam week this August. OWE will be part of the groups that are running at The MET (The Midtown Event Centre). OWE will be presenting shows on Wednesday, August 7th at 4 pm and Saturday, August 10th at 3 pm. They are joining Smash Wrestling, Progress, wXw, SHIMMER, RISE, and Femme Fatales, who are all running cards at the venue that week. The group will be running a total of nine events that week from Wednesday through Sunday.

Ring of Honor has announced that the main event of the Best in the World pay-per-view will feature Matt Taven defending the ROH title against Jeff Cobb in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28th. Cobb lost the ROH Television title earlier this month in Toronto in a four-way match where wasn’t pinned and Shane Taylor won the title. On the same show, Taylor will be defending the Television title against Bandido.

I received an update on AOP, who have been set to return for a few weeks. Akam has been cleared and it’s simply a matter of coming up with a program for the duo. One of the reasons for their delayed return was the addition of the Wild Card rule, which has tied up television time. Akam has been out since January with a knee injury while Rezar has been used sparingly during that time.

John Martin, a member of the British Columbia Legislature, took time to acknowledge Mauro Ranallo for his efforts to raise awareness and understanding of mental health. At the end of the clip, he got the members of the legislature to join and yell, “Mamma Mia”.
Link: https://twitter.com/davedotca/status/1133916501713440768

The World title match at Best In The World has been made official.

Former ROH World Television Champion Jeff Cobb arrived in Ring Of Honor in July of 2018. He went on to capture the ROH World Television Championship and on June 28th in Baltimore, Maryland, Cobb will get his opportunity at the ROH World Championship when he challenges the current champion Matt Taven at Best In The World.

Chris Jericho appeared on Busted Open Radio today and revealed that he will do battle with "Hangman" Adam Page at AEW's All Out pay-per-view during Labor Day Weekend near Chicago.

Page won the Casino Battle Royale on the AEW Double Or Nothing "Buy In" pre-show this past Saturday night to earn a shot against the winner of Jericho vs. Kenny Omega, in a match that will crown the first-ever AEW World Heavyweight Champion. It looks like AEW will be crowning that champion at All Out.

All Out takes place on Saturday, August 31 from the Sears Centre Arena near Chicago, the same arena where All In was held last year. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 14.

At least a few have enquired about leaving [WWE] including a couple of names that would shock you. Also said that the total would take more than “two hands to count”.


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Tyler Breeze Is Part of the NXT Roster (For Now) (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/tyler-breeze-is-part-of-the-nxt-roster-for-now/)
Jon Moxley Provides Insight on Why EC3 May Be Getting Buried By WWE (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/jon-moxley-provides-insight-on-why-ec3-may-be-getting-buried-by-wwe/)



This week's Observer Newsletter got delayed by a day due to Meltzer needing more time to work on it.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Double or Nothing is currently estimated at doing roughly 98,000 buys between television and digital PPV, with close to a 50/50 split between the two ...

Because of the smaller building, the gate was not close to what New Japan and ROH got for the Madison Square Garden show. It would have to be considered the most successful debut event of a pro wrestling promotion, even if the attendance was less than what Roy Shire drew for his first show at the Cow Palace in 1961. And that’s the only comparison product ...

Las Vegas historically is a great boxing and UFC market, and WCW and WWE did well at times when they were hot, but as a general rule it is not a strong wrestling market. WrestleMania in 1993 at Caesar’s was set up for less than 16,000 and didn’t even sell out ...

Overall merchandise numbers for AEW were said to be excellent, including the convention. Merchandise at the live show was above what WWE would do in a similar sized building for a PPV, but not by that much, probably in the $120,000 to $130,000 ballpark. It was nothing like Mania level per-head merchandise buying.

AEW was the second most searched item on Saturday night on Google, topping 220,000, trailing only the Toronto Raptors. All In, New Japan Tokyo Domes, and ROH/NJPW in Madison Square Garden never cracked the top 20. NXT has only once done so, hitting 50,000 for the most recent Takeover show in Brooklyn. It beat the last UFC show by 12 percent and beat Money in the Bank by 35 percent. However, when it came to second-day interest, it more than quadrupled Money in the Bank and was more than six times greater than UFC 237, and that’s with Raw the day after Money in the Bank and ESPN news coverage the day after UFC 237.


AEW has announced two smaller shows that look to be streamed on B/R Live, a 6/29 show in Daytona Beach with Young Bucks & Omega vs. Pentagon Jr.& Fenix & mystery partner, Moxley vs. Joey Janela, Darby Allin vs. Cody and local promoter Alex Jebailey vs. Michael Nakazawa that has sold about 3,000 tickets; and a 7/16 show in Jacksonville with Omega vs. Cima, Young Bucks vs. Rhodes Brothers and Brandi Rhodes vs. Allie that at last word had several hundred tickets left in a building set up for 5,180.

WWE’s unique Super Showdown card on 6/7 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is a show with a unique dream match from 20 years ago, a grudge match from 15 years ago in a country outdated by about 100 years. The company is pushing the show with the tag line that it will be “as big if not bigger than WrestleMania.”

While the show will put far more money into the company’s coffers than WrestleMania, the as big or bigger likely ends there. With a show scheduled from 2-6 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, the audience watching will be minuscule in comparison and the overall interest level will likely fall well below Double or Nothing from a group that has no television. Currently there are nine matches announced for the show that pretty much exposes that whatever principles WWE has regarding women and minorities are for sale, admittedly, for a high price ...

By the way, you can say whatever you want about empowering women and being against racism but at the end of the day, real stands involve putting your money where your mouth is. Prejudice against ethnicity is just like skin color or any other banning of someone without any actions they have done. It can’t be justified and that’s the end.

As for Reigns, he told Newsweek, “It gets a lot of mixed and negative reactions. The bottom line for me is, if we’re going to help promote change, if we’re going to set out to make an impact, then I have to be a part of it. I’m not going to sit on the sideline and talk about how we can get there. I want to be part of the action. I look at it a being part of the solution while still respecting cultures, but it’s a big world and I want to experience all of it. So if we can help make a positive impact that’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to put smiles on everyone’s faces. We don’t discriminate, that’s our goal to help and promote positivity and take that to every inch of the world.”

I’m sorry, but yes, WWE doesn’t discriminate on their own, but based on the situation with Zayn and Black, it’s more than just doing business with people who do, which is one question and quite frankly a lot of companies do, but this is one step farther. It’s one to do business with those people, but this is different. This is being paid by people who are telling you that for what they pay you, you can’t hire people we don’t like, based on gender, religion or where they come from.

This is allowing discrimination to be part of your own company and product on your own show, and you can make all the excuses you want for it, but I can’t believe that deep down people can’t see that. Anyone can talk the talk when they don’t have a hard decision to make. The test of if you’re real is if you walk the walk when you have a hard decision to make.

They didn’t want Syrians in. They didn’t want women in. They could have easily said they didn’t want African-Americans, Canadians, Jews, Mexicans or Samoans because the principle we’re talking about is the same. If you really want to make change, the company should put its foot down and do what so many athletes and entertainers did a generation ago in South Africa. That’s what led to change, not taking money and going there while professing the company is behind women and against discrimination and racism.

The lack of women proves their much-pushed Women’s Revolution, itself 50 years behind the times, is a buzzword that they won’t back up with actions. Freedom of religious thought was for sale, given Aleister Black not being allowed to go. Racism, well their Martin Luther King tributes are exposed as being convenient, but money means more, with Sami Zayn being held back. Or, the reality, that they have no beliefs, but profess to have them because it’s a nice marketing gimmick. What we’ve got instead is a show where they have banned mentions of the country it is taking place on their broadcasts. They’ll probably ban it during the show as well.

Season three of Netflix's GLOW has its premiere date.

Netflix announced today that season three of GLOW will be uploaded on Friday, August 9. Like with the first two seasons, this one will have 10 episodes.

The Authors of Pain are scheduled to return to action next month, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Akam and Rezar are scheduled for Smackdown Live events in June, the first live events the team have worked since early 2019 when Akam suffered a knee injured and required surgery.

Chris Pierce sent word that Matt Striker is now working as a fantasy baseball expert:

The impact of sabermetrics on fantasy baseball?

Brian Kenny talks about it with wrestler-turned-fantasy baseball expert @Matt_Striker_. #MLBNow pic.twitter.com/p50Eqa0vaS
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 31, 2019

On Friday’s Best of the Super Juniors card, Shingo Takagi clinched the A Block by defeating Taiji Ishimori in their final tournament match. Takagi ran the table with a 9-0 record in the A Block matches and will face the winner of Monday’s match between Will Ospreay and Ryusuke Taguchi. The finals of the tournament take place next Wednesday from Sumo Hall and the winner receives an IWGP junior heavyweight title shot against Dragon Lee at Dominion.
Spoiler tags used since it reveals the winner of A block for those who haven't watched today's show nor have been spoiled yet.

So this is how things stand with Penta 0M & Rey Fenix. On the 5/24 show in Tijuana, they lost their Crash tag titles to Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf in a match where Black Danger helped Bestia & Wolf. Penta then teased after the match that this would be their last match with the promotion. There has been a lot of talk that they’ll be finishing up indie dates and signing a deal in some form with AEW that would also allow them to work regularly in AAA. They’ve been under a Lucha Underground contract so AEW has been able to use them, but not sign them. But obviously they want them and reports are they were given a big money offer. WWE wanted them as well. But then the 6/15 show was announced and while no match was listed, Penta and Fenix were both announced. The tag title match was originally a TLC match, which sounded scary the day before Double or Nothing. I guess they were able to get that changed.

New Japan’s television audience is 10 percent under the age of 20, 14 percent between 20-29, 26 percent, 36 percent from 40-49 and 13 percent over the age of 50. Unlike WWE, where the median age of the television viewer is 54, New Japan is 39. But WWE does attract more kids. Of the New Japan fan base, 39 percent became fans over the last year, 17 percent have been fans one to three years, 11 percent four to five year and 29 percent more than six years. Only four percent were winning back lapsed fans. The television audience is 66 percent male, which isn’t much different from WWE. But at live shows, the audience is 50/50, so New Japan does a better job of translating their women’s audience into being ticket buyers, but one can argue they don’t do as good a job as WWE with the male audience becoming ticket buyers.

Harold Meij said that all entertainment is their competition. His goal is to make Japanese wrestling into something known worldwide culturally, similar to Mexico, where one of the thing non-wrestling fan tourists do when they go to Mexico City is go to Friday night Arena Mexico shows. He’d like to create a situation where tourists coming to Tokyo feel one of the things they need to see is New Japan wrestling. He said the goal is to attract more children, maybe through card games or comics. Meij said when he signed that he would consider himself a failure if he can’t get New Japan annual revenues to $100 million within three years of his taking over. They are closer to $40 million and he’s about one year in. The only way to reach that number is to be able to get a strong series of international television deals.


A bill that could change the very face of pro wrestling contracts, known as AB5, passed in the California state Assembly on 5/29. The bill provided specific rules as to the difference between an employee and an independent contractor and would affect WWE, UFC and AEW competitors most likely. It would also affect Uber and Amazon drivers, manicurists and exotic dancers. All people classified as employees would get labor protection, unemployment insurance, health care subsidies, paid parental leave, overtime pay, workmen’s comp and others.

The bill classifies independent contractors as workers who are completely free of company control, doing work that isn’t a central part of the company’s business and has an independent business in that same industry. Wrestlers simply don’t meet those standards. This would mean that if talent from these companies perform on shows in California, they would then be considered employees. The bill still has to pass the state Senate and be signed into law. It also could lead to similar bills introduced in other states

The health issue that Ric Flair was hospitalized for was blood clots in his leg and chest. He was already scheduled for a heart surgery that week. The blood clots were why they had to delay the surgery a few days until they were able to clear them up. Flair suffered blood clots in his leg years on two different occasions in 2013 including the first time while going to Japan where he was going to do a match for All Japan Pro Wrestling at the time his son Reid was going to start as a full-timer for the promotion

A-Kid, who was at the last NXT U.K. tapings, is expected to be signing if he hasn’t already. He’s the guy who had incredible matches in Spain with the likes of Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., and Ricochet

Ideas have been batted around for the 24/7 title to be defended on YouTube, Instagram and at the Performance Center between shows

WWE employees told security to watch out and get any AEW signs or any signs bashing WWE as an entity (it was okay to have negative signs on specific talent). There were multiple AEW chants throughout the show, but in a positive note, they were never loud enough that it came across strongly on television. There were chants after Zayn made the remark that were audible, but not loud and they played Rollins’ music immediately when they started.

Steve Austin announced that his Steve Austin Show podcast will return on June 18.


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Joey Ryan Isn’t Going to AEW or WWE, He’s Staying in Indie Wrestling (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/joey-ryan-announces-that-hes-staying-in-indie-wrestling/)
Sasha Banks Had a Meeting With Vince McMahon Last Week and Things Are “Better” (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/sasha-banks-had-a-meeting-with-vince-mcmahon-last-week-and-things-are-better/)
Update on Which Day of the Week AEW’s TV Show May Air (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/update-on-which-day-of-the-week-aews-tv-show-may-air/)
Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page Announced for AEW All Out (https://www.tpww.net/2019/05/chris-jericho-vs-hangman-page-announced-for-aew-all-out/)

[Mr. Nerfect]

Cool news about the independent contractor thing, although it wouldn't surprise me if Jerry McDevitt finds a way around it.

[SenatorJPO]

At first, I was dumbfounded that Joey Ryan booked himself to lose-to Austin Theory's valet, at the very event where he announced he will sign with neither AEW nor WWE.

But then, I figured-out Ryan was trying-to tell AEW fans that he, personally, does not believe wins and losses matter in his world of pro wrestling.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Joey Ryan probably took a back bump and then The Sound of Silence started playing when he realized his gimmick has left him stranded and he just forgot to kick out.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Raw last night did 2.41 million viewers, up 10 percent from last week with a different ratings pattern than in months.

Even though the tradition is during the summer for the second hour to be rated the highest, of late that has not been the case because of the situation where fans tune out as the show gets going ...

It was the largest first-to-second hour increase since March 2, 2015 ...

Still, a 2.41 million average when you promised a MITB cash-in and probable title change and made it clear Undertaker and Lesnar would be appearing shows just how much they've lost in recent months overall.

The third hour dropped, even with Undertaker, but it still did better than the first hour, which almost never happens.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 2.31 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.56 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.35 million viewers


WWE is among a number of investors in FloSports, that raised another $47 million in funding. FloSports briefly had a pro wrestling channel, that was disbanded. They have all kinds of minor sports channels including a strong amateur wrestling channel. They have more than 250 rights deals. Fertitta Capital, an investment firm owned by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, were also inventors in the latest round of funding.

BOOM! Studios will be ending its WWE comic book series with the forthcoming issue #25.

A number of readers who subscribe to the series were informed via email today that the series will be ending, with BOOM! offering alternative titles to subscribe to instead.

The WWE series launched in 2017, featuring original stories that filled in storyline gaps and character history for WWE performers.

Atsushi Aoki has passed away at the age of 41 following a motorcycle accident.

Kyodo reported this afternoon (via translations from Chris Charlton) that Aoki was killed in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo Monday night after his bike failed to take a curve, hitting the wall of a tunnel. There are no further details on the accident at this time ...

Along with Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Aoki departed from NOAH in January of 2013 and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling, with the group forming a stable known as Burning. Aoki ended up winning the Jr. Heavyweight title on three occasions and the All Asia tag team championships three times, once with Kotaro Suzuki and twice with Hikaru Sato.

Aoki is the current AJPW World Jr. champion, having just won the title on 5/20. He was set to defend the championship against Hikaru Sato on 6/18 at Korakuen Hall.


OWE vice-president Michael Nee told The South China Morning Post that around four Chinese wrestlers from OWE were invited to Double or Nothing, but were unable to go due to visa issues. They are hoping to resolve the problem by All Out on August 31.

Hikaru Shida tweeted that she won’t be at AEW’s Fyter Fest show on June 29 because she’ll be on tour in Japan. Shida noted that she’s moving to the United States after the tour.

Two more matches have been made official for ROH Best in the World 2019.

ROH has announced Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee and Rush vs. Flip Gordon for the pay-per-view. It's taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has announced when this year's Battle of Los Angeles will be taking place.

On Twitter tonight, PWG revealed that the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles will be held on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. The three-night tournament is usually held on successive days from Friday to Sunday, but there is no show on the Saturday of that weekend this year.

The reason there isn't a show on that Saturday is because the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California, which will host the Battle of Los Angeles, has another event booked that night.

One of the greatest luchadores of all-time, Dr. Wagner Jr., will voyage to Chicago on July 6th as he competes for Major League Wrestling for the first-time ever alongside his son, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.

MLW today announced Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr will be in tag team competition at MLW: Kings of Colosseum at Cicero Stadium in Chicago. The event is a TV taping for beIN SPORTS on Saturday night July 6th with a 7 p.m. bell time.

WWE are holding having a tryout for women at their PC in the UK this week. Debbie Keitel, Valkyrie (not Taya), Candy Floss and a few others are expected to be taking part. Keitel and Valkyrie regulars in Ireland's OTT.

MLW drew 742 people on Saturday for their first show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which they were happy with and described it as a “healthy start”. One of the big news items from the show was that they broke their existing merchandise record and their new “Aloha Von Erich” shirts sold out. Marshall & Ross Von Erich were said to have received a big reaction for their six-man tornado match teaming with Tom Lawlor against Contra. They seemed to be very high on Austin Aries, who worked the show on Saturday and while it wasn’t said if he’s been booked for future shows, it seems like the promotion is keen on using him.

Peter Rosenberg, who did some WWE television work including kickoff shows, said he was no longer with the company beacuse there was no spot for him. He said he was doing other projects and missed some shows, but he was free for WrestleMania and expected to do the show, but Michael Cole told him he was no longer going to be used.
For some reference, supposedly Rosenberg was paying WWE for all of his appearances on their pre-shows. Not sure if Sam Roberts does the same but he was able to work more shows than Rosenberg could and became WWE's go-to guy for the special guest spot instead.

Now that he's away from WWE, Moxley gives his thoughts on the three-hour Raw and offers solutions on how WWE can make things better for the fans and talent.

"Three hours of Raw. I get why they do it. They get paid, but it's too much. It deludes the product. They have so much product with Raw, SmackDown, 205 Live. It gets deluded after awhile. Especially when it's all produced and all looks the same," said Moxley in an interview with Wade Keller of PWTorch. "The opening segment with 15-minute promos and stuff but I don't know how to fill three hours every week with good stuff. Because you can only give them so much wrestling, even a big wrestling fan can only watch so much wrestling. So you end up giving away these big pay-per-view matches on TV. Go back to an hour. I don't know. I'm not a genius who can tell you how to fill [three hours] but three hours is a hell of a lot of time to fill. SmackDown is much more manageable."

Moxley continued, "They retread the same matches over and over. One problem that I never had is, some guys just don't ever get used. I was always at least doing something. There are some guys that sit there and don't get used. But the guys that get used, are over-used. You see the same matches three weeks in a row. I always thought, why don't they do, me vs. Bray Wyatt one week and instead of doing it again the next, show clips from last week and then give Tyler Breeze a match. Give me and Bray Wyatt an extra day off and let Tyler Breeze have a week on Raw."

With Jon Moxley set to make his New Japan debut at Best of Super Juniors Finals on Wednesday and Chris Jericho returning to face Kazuchika Okada at Dominion on June 9, many have wondered about the relationship between All Elite Wrestling and New Japan. According to NJPW GM Michael Craven, there is no relationship.

“NJPW has a long and rich history with our international partners, including CMLL in Mexico, Ring of Honor in America, and RevPro in the United Kingdom,” said Craven in an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. “Loyalty is a big virtue, especially in Japanese culture. Loyalty to our partners is of utmost importance to us as we continue to foster the premiere network of wrestling talent in the world. We wish everybody at All Elite Wrestling nothing but the best in their ongoing endeavors, though we must stress we have no working arrangement at this time. Again, we think our partners seek and deserve loyalty and an appropriate amount of care. We want our relationships to be mutually beneficial over the long haul, rather than just thinking in the moment.”

Former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi has been out of action since the Summer of 2018 when he suffered what is to be believed to be a broken neck but that has yet to be confirmed by New Japan Pro Wrestling. Takahashi remains active on social media on his road to recovery and at the conclusion of his latest video, the date June 5th, 2019 has a timer next to it and June 5th is the finals of the Best Of The Super Juniors tournament in Tokyo.


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Eli Drake Is Officially a Free Agent (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/eli-drake-is-officially-a-free-agent/)
Full Card for NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2019 Finals (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/full-card-for-njpw-best-of-the-super-juniors-2019-finals/)
WWE: Millions of Views for Jinder/R-Truth Video, Stomping Grounds Match, Mickie James Injured (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/wwe-millions-of-views-for-jinder-r-truth-video-stomping-grounds-match-mickie-james-injured/)
Several NXT Wrestlers Get New Names, Including Trevor Lee & Eric Bugenhagen (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/several-nxt-wrestlers-get-new-names-including-trevor-lee-eric-bugenhagen/)
Impact World Champ Brian Cage Almost Appeared at Double or Nothing (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/impact-world-champ-brian-cage-almost-appeared-at-double-or-nothing/)

[Fignuts]

I’d much rather see NJPW partner with AEW than ROH, but I gotta respect the loyalty.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, "diluted" not "deluded."

[Emperor Smeat]

I’d much rather see NJPW partner with AEW than ROH, but I gotta respect the loyalty.
CMLL and AEW getting the Lucha Bros are probably the only reason why the NJPW-ROH partnership remains for the foreseeable future.

AEW getting the Lucha Bros put them closer in bed with AAA. That causes potential issues for CMLL which then makes it harder for an AEW-NJPW partnership to happen.

On the flip side, the longer it takes for NJPW to partner up with AEW, the more likely AEW partners with someone else in Japan like Dragon Gate (prior to the PAC mess) or DDT.

When NJPW ditched the NWA for ROH, it was a lot easier for them since it didn't conflict with their CMLL partnership.

[Fignuts]

They need to partner with Stardom.

Their female roster is small, and there's not a lot of experienced talent there. Most of them are relatively new and still a bit sloppy.

Stardom would give their women's division instant credibilty, and working with that level of talent will improve the girls who are still a little rough around the edges.

[Fignuts]

Plus, fuck's sake, WWE already got Kairi and Io, don't let them get Mayu too.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Last year, you got the vibe that New Japan really wanted to lock some people down and use them to expand their presence a bit. AEW kind of cut that grass. They've been dealt the hand that the top North American talent is not going to be primarily associated with New Japan, which has got to sting. There's also that loyalty to ROH and CMLL, despite AEW and AAA each casting a much longer shadow at this point.

If the Lucha Bros have signed with CMLL as well as AEW, then you'd think that it would open up the parties to negotiating. The AEW/AAA relationship might have scared off CMLL, but if Pentagon and Fenix are there, then there seems to be streams crossing all over the place.

The exposure New Japan would get on TNT is far more valuable than anything ROH can offer them right now. They don't have to completely forsake the CMLL relationship for it either. They can have their talent work with each other or with talent that they know aren't going to be, for example, jobbed out to Sammy Guevara the next week.

It's a little part loyalty another part stubbornness.

[Jordan]

The ability to have true main eventers guest star on AEW is only possible with a NJPW relationship. So far things look more promising than not. Obviously they haven't cut a deal together but they do support each other and are more like friendly promotions than not.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Following a night in which Raw ratings rebounded, SmackDown did not follow suit.

Despite a much-hyped appearance by Goldberg ahead of his match against The Undertaker at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia, SmackDown dropped to 2.016 million viewers on Tuesday, down three percent from last week. There was no major sports competition, with both the NBA and NHL finals having the night off ...

Year-over-year, SmackDown was only down six percent, the third straight week that drop has been in the single digits. The episode retained the usual 84 percent of Raw's audience from the night before.

A pre-show match has been added to the lineup for Friday's Super ShowDown event.

WWE announced today that The Usos will face The Revival on the Super ShowDown pre-show. The pre-show begins at 1 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.

The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and NWA National Champion will be teaming up at ROH Best in the World.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis & NWA National Champion Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes has been announced for Best in the World. The pay-per-view is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28.

Mickie James will be out of action for the foreseeable future, as she is going to undergo ACL surgery.

She confirmed the news this afternoon on a Instagram Live post. She said that she had an MRI on Monday and found out the same day about the injury. She also mentioned that she didn’t know when she would be getting the surgery.

She was injured during a match this past weekend against Carmella at a house show in Waco, Texas that eventually had to be cut short. There were earlier reports that she was injured, but to what extent wasn’t known at the time.

The GoFundMe Campaign to assist the daughter of Ashley Massaro created by a number of current and former WWE stars has raised $46,010 and counting. To assist in the effort, which is raising money for Massaro's daughter's education, click here.

Meanwhile, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley will be selling Cactus Jack t-shirts via Pro Wrestling Tees with the proceeds going to Massaro's daughter's education fund starting this Friday:
Link for those interested: https://www.gofundme.com/ashleymassarosdaughtereducationalfund , https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/wrestler-t-shirts/mick-foley/original-cactus-jack-wanted-dead-or-alive-2.html

As of this morning, the WWE live event in Reno, Nevada is still scheduled to take place. If it does, it will be the first Smackdown Monday night live event to take place and not be canceled since the Wild Card rule was announced.

Sami Zayn announced that he will be running another fundraising campaign to raise money for medical relief in Syria, timed to begin at the same time as WWE's Super Showdown in Saudi Arabia, this Friday at 2 PM EST:.

That timing is obviously set for a reason:

Intensified attacks in NW Syria are targeting civilians & medical facilities.

I will once again be partnering with @sams_usa to launch a mobile clinic in Syria to bring medical aid to those in desperate need.

Our fundraiser will be launched Friday, June 7, 2pm EDT.

Please RT. https://t.co/ypQi7HOjST
— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) June 5, 2019

Link: https://twitter.com/SamiZayn/status/1136374623824678912

Dustin Rhodes discusses his bloody affair with Cody.

One of the highlights at All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing was the brother vs. brother affair between Dustin and Cody Rhodes ...

Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk is Jericho, Dustin discussed getting busted open in the bout and his philosophy on blood.

"I know a lot of people were worried. I was worried. You do it and you see it start streaming out and I was like, 'Oh no. I went a little bit too deep.' 10 minutes go by and I'm starting to worry because the whole ring is red, it's all in my eyes, I'm trying to wipe it out but it keeps shooting out to my heartbeat. It gets scary. After 15 minutes, I knew I'd be okay. You saw the fans faces. They were horrified, but into it. It was incredible," said Dustin.

"I've always been told, 'red on the head is green in the pocket.' I believe that to be true to an extent, when it's used sparingly. It was just right [At Double or Nothing]. I'm still on a huge high from this match. We stole the show from the legendary Chris Jericho," he joked.

A few years ago, WWE started doing live podcast episodes of the Steve Austin Show on WWE Network. Guests included Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, and others. While most of the interviews went smoothly and featured Austin chatting with his guests about a variety of topics, his interview with Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE) was an awkward affair that Austin couldn't get back on track after Moxley checked out.

Speaking to Wade Keller of PWTorch, Moxley revealed why he shut down during the interview.

"I don't remember it being very good. I was looking forward to it. I went there on my day off and I was like, 'Cool, we're going to talk wrestling.' A producer called me a week before to prep and was trying to ask super personal deep questions about my childhood. And I was like, 'it's kinda none of your business.' I didn't want to drag up my shit on national television. Within five seconds [of the interview], I'm getting these questions. [Austin] said something that pissed me off and I mentally shut down," recalled Moxley. "I love Steve and had that been a regular interview, I would have hung up on him. I think he wanted me to bury the shit out of everything. But I'm WWE Champion at the time and doing double shots. I'm beat to shit and working my ass off. And guys like Steve will be, 'Why don't you just go off-script?' The whole situation is different than when he was there. He could say 'Austin 3:16,' I get a dumb script. I can't go into all this on this podcast because I'm trying to stand up for my generation and the boys. I just wanted to talk about wrestling."

Moxley continued, "All these Attitude Era guys are calling our generation 'lazy and scared for our jobs.' They don't understand the shit we're dealing with. It's not 1998. I didn't know how to get into that in that setting. I just went to autopilot. I knew what he wanted but I didn't know how to give it to him. We didn't have enough time to get into it all. And I was pissed off because I felt bamboozled by that producer that I told that I was interested in talking about my family."

Mattel is celebrating Randy Savage's time as the spokesperson for Slim Jim by releasing an exclusive figure that will be available in limited quantities at Mattel's San Diego Comic-Con retail booth from July 17-21. Fans can pre-order the figure, which costs $29.99, through Entertainment Earth beginning on June 18.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SNAP INTO IT! This exclusive <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MachoMan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MachoMan</a> Randy Savage figure will be available for pre-order at <a href="https://t.co/Cxfl22Yn65">https://t.co/Cxfl22Yn65</a> starting Tuesday, June 18, and in limited quantities at <a href="https://twitter.com/Mattel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mattel</a>'s San Diego <a href="https://twitter.com/Comic_Con?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Comic_Con</a> retail booth from July 17-21! <a href="https://t.co/cvayXoDAh3">https://t.co/cvayXoDAh3</a> <a href="https://t.co/u8WRqwRNVT">pic.twitter.com/u8WRqwRNVT</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1136316815322357760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Impact: Slammiversary Matches, Eli Drake Update, Kongo Kong Done (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/impact-slammiversary-matches-eli-drake-update-kongo-kong-done/)
Alexa Bliss and Natalya Reportedly Traveling to Saudi Arabia (Updated) (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/alexa-bliss-and-natalya-reportedly-traveling-to-saudi-arabia/)
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2019 Finals Results – June 5, 2019 – Ospreay vs. Takagi (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/njpw-best-of-the-super-juniors-2019-finals-june-5-2019-ospreay-vs-takagi/)

[Sepholio]

….I'm getting that Macho Man action figure and I am going to proudly display it for all time.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

WWE has revealed a list of names who tried out for NXT UK this week in London, England.

The camp, which ran for three days, hosted eighteen women from across Europe, Australia and Canada. William Regal, along with Sarah Stock, Jack Starz, James Mason, Joel Allen and Chris Sharpe led the tryouts.

Some of the highlights of the list include:

Karen Glennon, who is best known as Session Moth Martina. She has worked for a number of UK promotions including EVE, OTT and PROGRESS as well as SHIMMER and Stardom.
Candy Floss, who has made appearances before on NXT UK.
Valkyrie Marie Cusack, who is the current OTT women’s champion.
Steph De Lander from Australia, known as the Python Powerhouse. She has played soccer and has a ballet and tap dancing background.
Jamie Hayer, from Southampton, England, who has done tours with Stardom.
Gisele Mayordo, who trained under Lance Storm and was a competitive figure skater before transitioning to pro wrestling.
Kaydell Joyce, aka Debbie Keitel. A former powerlifting champion who has trained with Marty Jones and Emi Sakura.
Chloe Smyth, who wrestles under the name Dani Luna and is the current Dragon Pro Wrestling women’s champion.


Dr. Wagner Jr. and LA Park will be facing off in a tag match when Wagner makes his MLW debut next month.

Wagner & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Park & El Hijo de LA Park has been announced for MLW's television tapings in Cicero, Illinois on Saturday, July 6. The tapings are being called "Kings of Colosseum" and are taking place at Cicero Stadium.

7,650 people was the attendance for the BOSJ finals at Sumo Hall.

I noticed on Instagram that Sasha Banks is using her real name. Should WWE be concerned about another CM Punk scenario, or are we already there?

No. It's a CM Punk situation when she walks out and doesn't return. All indications are that she will be returning when the time is right. Using her real name on Instagram is nothing more than her using it to differentiate herself from the persona she portrays on WWE TV.
From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

With less than a day to go before WWE’s Super Showdown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, there is a story which for long-term news and propaganda purposes makes the first and probably last Undertaker vs. Bill Goldberg mach seem like nothing ...

But, for real, there will be a time, and it may even be on 6/7, that WWE does host the first women’s pro wrestling match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya and Alexa Bliss are in Saudi Arabia as of this writing. WWE will take credit for changing culture. Of course, that’s silly. There are women competing in sports at schools (only in private schools, so rich has its privilege but two years ago women in public schools were allowed to at least take P.E. classes). Until last year, women were prohibited from attending any events in most stadiums. Last year that changed, although they are allowed at shows like this, although it is segregated seating. Somehow I don’t think the female Sputnik Monroe is coming from WWE to modernize this and change society, but we shall see. Women’s basketball competition dates back to 2003.

By the way, it was outside forces that have led to changes for women in Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t WWE, it was the IOC. You know how they did it? Before the 2012 Olympics, they told Saudi Arabia that if you don’t have a women’s team, your men’s team is banned from competing. Suddenly, there were women, at least in certain social circles, allowed to compete in sports, private school were allowed sports teams and they’ve sent women to the last two Olympics. Going there, taking the money, and waiting as is going on at this writing for the government to decide what it’s going to do hardly qualifies. Still, will WWE at some pont, maybe next week, talk about its influence more than you ever heard watching the last two Olympics? Yes.

So here’s the situation. At one point, evidently the government told WWE that they would allow them to have a women’s bout on the 6/7 show in Jeddah, which is a more progressive city than Riyadh, likely the home of the November show. That may explain why there is no All-women’s PPV show on the 2019 schedule after how successful, at least aesthetically, the first show was.

But it’s gone back-and-forth. WWE never spoke a word about it, because it would be an embarrassment if they promoted it and then got the thumbs down when they arrived. But now, it’s still going to be tough. The news is out that Natalya and Bliss are in Saudi Arabia with the idea of doing a match. There is no confirmation such a match will or won’t take place. The company has hinted about it in case it doesn’t. But if it doesn’t, the company does look bad because at that point they would have been strung along, and then told no. For that reason, if Saudi Arabia looks at the big picture and doesn’t want to embarrass WWE, they need to allow it. They care enough about not embarrassing WWE that they allowed them to do the second show without spouting the propaganda that the relationship was built on in the first place.

Even now, WWE has promoted the show, constantly talking about how it is as big or bigger than WrestleMania, using the city “Jeddah,” but banning the term Saudi Arabia from its own television. Of course that term isn’t banned with all the localized promos the wrestlers have done for that market.

Really, there’s no reason women shouldn’t be allowed on the show. The IOC forced them to allow women to compete in sports. The Russian circus came to town and for whatever reason, they were allowed to have their women perform in tight outfits. Of course, that led to a conservative backlash and the people who okayed that ended up it hot water over it. Mariah Carey performed there on 1/31, and was heavily criticized for doing so, more covered up than se would be at a U.S. concert, but still flashingly dressed. Actually most of the criticism of her came from Saudi Arabian women, who felt a star of her stature shouldn’t endorse and do the bidding of a government that treats women the way they do. Unlike Carey, WWE is way below the line that people in the U.S., or Saudi Arabia, would care. And it was believed the government brought in Carey specifically to rebuild its image after the Khashoggi murder.

It will be a ten or 11 match show, with Natalya vs. Bliss as the question mark. While the show is listed for a 2 p.m. Eastern start, the first match, the Usos vs. The Revival, will likely go into the ring about 30 minutes earlier, during the pre-show, so it’s likely a four-and-a-half hour show.
Basically WWE is going to try and take credit for changing Saudi culture by having a women's match in reality it was the IOC that told the Saudi government to ease their ban on women or else be banned from the Olympics a few years ago and the Saudi government trying to clean up its image post-embassy murder scandal.

We have a lot more information regarding the television PPV business in the U.S. as it regards WWE, AEW and Impact ...

At this point, Double or Nothing is estimated at somewhere between 98,500 and 113,000 buys worldwide. The best estimate has U.S. PPV buys at around 71,000, with almost an exact 50/50 split between television and B/R Live. That’s notable because nobody does a 50/50 split. The biggest split I’ve heard of for a television PPV and streaming was Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, which was an 80/20 split in favor of television. Usually it’s closer to 85/15. What’s also notable is that in the U.K., the split was closer to 75/25 in favor of television, but in the U.K. the heavy marketing was on ITV 4 for ITV Box Office and there wasn’t really much of a push for streaming PPV, but still a solid percentage did get it streaming.

WWE Money in the Bank did about 15,700 PPV buys. It looks like,. because most WWE fans get PPV on the network rather than television because of the lower price, it’s probably around 11 percent of the number of who would have bought the PPV at regular prices, are still buying these shows on PPV.

The 6/29 show in Melbourne, Australia will be broadcast live as a worldwide iPPV on Fite TV rather than on New Japan World. “Expanding into a new market brings with it new challenges; while we did not have the infrastructure in place in Australia for the quality of stream World viewers deserve, FITE have stepped up and offered their world class production and distribution expertise for the event,”NJPW’s General Manager of the International Department Michael Craven told Foxsports.com.au. “We realize how important it is that NJPW World has complete coverage of every single major event we put out, but also want to accommodate those fans that want to watch live, and that's what drove us to go with FITE for the timed exclusivity deal.”

While it’s a year away, this has been talked about for a long time, but the decision regarding the 2020 G-1 is a big one. Almost all the major arenas in Japan will be booked for the 2020 Olympics. So either they will have to move G-1 up earlier, or later, or do a G-1 outside of Japan. If their U.S. business was stronger I could see a U.S., U.K. and Australia G-1, maybe finishing in Japan after the Olympics, but this Dallas show has not been a success thus far even with the G-1 label. The loss of Kenny Omega has really hurt outside of Japan.

The New York Post ran a major story on Ashley Massaro (they actually have run a number of stories on her since her death) noting that on 5/15 she was texting Rochelle Loewen, who worked with her in WWE before later playing several seasons in the Lingerie Football League ...

The Post reported that many had speculated on, that Massaro was found hanging by her 18-year-old daughter Alexis. Loewen said Massaro had talked with her about depression but she never thought Massaro would kill herself. The story also quoted Cara Pipia, said to be Massaro’s best friend since childhood, who said that when they were 15 or 16 they had lost one of their best friends to suicide and then over the past year they had lost another friend to it and Massaro supported suicide awareness hotlines. Massaro went so far as to talk about suicide prevention and suicide awareness on her weekly radio show. The Go Fund Me campaign for Alexis’ for her education has topped $45,000 over the weekend.


Since this involves one of the most famous angles in pro wrestling history, David Letterman gave some interesting history regarding the 1982 episode of his show with Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman as guests. The two were doing an angle in Memphis that got national attention since Kaufman was a major television star who was mocking Lawler and Memphis and Lawler gave him a jumping piledriver. Kaufman pretended he was badly injured, was hospitalized and went everywhere in a neck brace to put the angle over. Then they ended up on Letterman to supposedly make amends, but it ended with Lawler slapping Kaufman, Kaufman throwing water or coffee on Lawler and Kaufman doing an expletive laden promo on live television (it was bleeped out). Many lists of the biggest moments in U.S. television history have listed that episode of the Letterman show. Letterman was on “My Next Guest” and asked about the episode and said that Kaufman did let him know before they started filming what was going to happen. Letterman did open his show the next night and basically said it was something Lawler and Kaufman had planned, but even after saying that a lot of people believed it was real

Pro Wrestling Revolution owner Gabriel Ramirez announced that starting with its 6/22 show, they will hire two EMTs for every event. Ramirez, who said he was close with Silver King and went to Mexico recently, said even with the added cost that he realized that if something happened to a wrestler, or a fan, at his show, he could never say he did at least what he should have been able to do to avoid a tragedy. He noted that in commission states, this is mandated, but so many states are no longer regulated and Silver King’s death came in a place where the show wasn’t regulated and it took so long before he got medical attention. He’s hoping that in California in particular, because it’s not regulated, that promoters all do the same, comparing it to auto insurance, with the idea that nobody likes having to pay for insurance, but if you want to drive a car, you really have to have it

Regarding whether AEW will acknowledge Jon Moxley as U.S. champion on its 6/29 show in Daytona Beach hasn’t been decided. The key debate points are this. New Japan has no relations with AEW and does have relations with ROH, a competitor. However, a huge percentage of AEW fans likely subscribe to New Japan World, or if not, an Internet-driven company, they would be aware of Moxley as champion. To deny it and ignore it would be taking a page from WWE and create a needless elephant in the room. AEW is also focused on very few belts, with the idea of keeping the belts important. That’s an argument not to talk about other belts, although they did have an AAA tag title match on their first PPV show, but AAA is also a partner.

In another change, talent being signed to new NXT contracts are getting five-year deals instead of the previous three-year deals for beginners, trying to lock people in to where it’s a long time before they can test the free agent market. It’s one thing for someone like Mysterio to be able to get an 18 month deal because WWE wanted him away from the outside and he realized he had leverage to get what he wanted, and it’s another thing for guys with no experience to try and say they don’t want to commit to five years and only want three. But really that’s the case across the board at least WWE contracts guarantee significant money unlike some other company contracts that are out there where guys are making nothing and locked up in a marketplace where WWE wants to lock up anyone they see as marketable talent

More NXT name changes.

At tonight's NXT live event in Largo two Independent stars who recently signed with NXT made their in-ring debuts. And have new names to boot.

First, DJZ made his debut, taking on Kona Reeves. DJZ scored the victory in the contest, but the big news is that DJZ is now going by the name Joaquin Wilde.

Next up, Shane Strickland made his debut in a tag team bout. Strickland teamed with Brennan Williams to take on Elliot Sexton and Jonah Rock. Strickland and Williams picked up the victory in the contest. Like DJZ, Strickland got a new name in his NXT debut and is now Isaiah Scott.


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Goldberg’s SmackDown Promo Was Not Scripted By WWE (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/goldbergs-smackdown-promo-was-not-scripted-by-wwe/)
Jinder Mahal Wins 24/7 Title on an Airport Tarmac (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/jinder-mahal-wins-24-7-title-on-an-airport-tarmac/)
R-Truth Recaptures 24/7 Title on an Airplane (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/r-truth-recaptures-24-7-title-on-an-airplane/)

[RP]

If anything happens to Alexa Bliss, i'm coming for you Vince!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, WWE ignoring a history of women's athletics to try and promote their Women's Revolution. That is going to be classic.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

John Cena is officially part of the Fast and the Furious cast.

It was confirmed today that Cena has joined the cast for "Fast & Furious 9." The character that he's playing has yet to be revealed, but Deadline reported that the word coming to them is that Cena plays "a badass.”

Deadline also noted that they've heard Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson won't be in "Fast & Furious 9."

Three title matches have been added to the card for Stomping Grounds.

Universal Champion Seth Rollins will defend his title against Baron Corbin, Kofi Kingston will defend the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match, and Becky Lynch will defend the Raw Women's Championship against Lacey Evans. All three of those matches were announced during today's Super ShowDown broadcast.

Rollins vs. Corbin and Kingston vs. Ziggler are both rematches from Super ShowDown.

Rollins retained against Corbin at Super ShowDown after Corbin argued with the referee. Corbin tried to bring a steel chair into the ring, Corbin and referee John Cone argued, and Rollins rolled up Corbin to get the win ...

The steel cage stipulation for Kingston vs. Ziggler at Stomping Grounds was set up by their match today. After Ziggler superkicked Xavier Woods on the outside, Woods kicked Ziggler when the referee wasn't looking. Kingston then hit Trouble in Paradise on Ziggler to win.

Ziggler did a post-match interview backstage, calling Kingston a coward and demanding the steel cage match.

Those in Saudi Arabia noted to us that Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss, a match they [WWE] hoped to be a late addition on today's WWE Super ShowDown event, was not approved by the Saudi Arabian government.

The two women flew to Saudi Arabia this week with the crew.

At one point, the government had indicated to WWE they could have their first women's match on this show, but then wavered on it.

Joey Janela vs. Low Ki for the first time ever was announced for the 7/14 GCW Tribute to Homicide event in Brooklyn, NY at Villain, with the story being that Janela wants to "end the myth" of Low KI before he leaves the independents for AEW this October

There has also been discussion of adding several more Producers to the main roster [WWE].

In contacting a number of wrestlers, and of course what Moxley said is true and it’s hardly a secret, other than some of the new details of what he went through, even those who personally didn’t like him had nothing negative to say about what he said. It’s pretty much acknowledged that it’s all true and we haven’t seen or heard from one person disputing that. One person who was not close to him at all and felt he was a guy who couldn’t be happy said they listened to him on the Jericho podcast and felt he was very honest from this perspective, that the system in place is obviously broken and that’s not a secret nor is there any doubt about it, and that even Vince McMahon realizes that

Marty Jannetty has take to his personal Facebook page and shared a detailed message in-which he is calling out for help. Jannetty noted that he is consistently partying and when he doesn't, he has withdrawals of sorts. He added that rehab is not suggestion he is considering and that he has an irregular heartbeat.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/1martyjannetty

Minoru Suzuki wants a crack at Chris Jericho and the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley.

Translation of his tweet: "To say what you want to say... @IAmJericho I want to fight with Chris Jericho and John Moksley. Want to pro wrestling. The world's professional wrestling fans want to see this. The world is waiting. Listen carefully! I'm the Japan Suzuki!"

[Fignuts]

Marty Jannetty just can’t stop partying.

[RP]

Good move Vince. Dont put Alexa in danger. Very smart. Smart guy.

[Droford]

Marty Jannetty just can’t stop partying.

New gimmick Party Jannetty

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Wish Marty could get some real help

[GD]

Remember when Jannetty made a weird post asking if it was okay to sleep with someone who might be his offspring?

[Sepholio]

Marty Jannetty just can’t stop partying.

What a true WWE legend. All these years later and he still just likes to have fun.

[Jordan]

Wish Marty could get some real help

I don't think even DDP coud help him at this point. He's far far gone.

[Jordan]

He's still talking about "working every day of the year and twice on Sunday"... he's talking about a 6 or so year stretch where he had a job.

[RP]

I hope Marty gets help, but some people dont want help. I know this.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

As was predicted, Raw last night, in doing 2.13 million viewers, did the lowest mark in its modern history with the exception of Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

The Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors game five did 18.22 million viewers in the United States, and was the sole reason for the record low number, even coming after a pay-per-view when Raw traditionally gets a bump ...

The previous non-holiday low was April 29, which did 2.16 million viewers ...

The show had a 19.8 percent first-to-third hour drop, which isn't record levels, but it among the biggest drops of all-time.

To show where viewers left, women 18-49 dropped 31 percent from the first to third hour, men 18-49 dropped 15 percent, teenage girls dropped 63 percent, teenage boys actually increased ten percent, and over 50 dropped 18 percent. It is notable that during a hot basketball game, that it was women, by far, turning off Raw more than men, even though in the 18-49 demo, the basketball game had a 66-34 male skew.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 2.38 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.09 million viewers
10 p.m. 1.91 million viewers


The Big Lead reported that Renee Young is “highly likely” to be the host of WWE’s studio show on FS1 that will begin this fall.

Cody Rhodes spoke to ComicBook.com about Fyter Fest being free on B/R Live: "I'm thrilled that we get to do it for free. That was such a huge discussion and I'm so excited. I mean, [you get Jon] Moxley's first match in AEW for free. It's great. The people at B/R Live, I couldn't ask for better partners. You do need a subscription, but it is a free subscription. It's not a hook in and you're charged type of deal. You'll need to probably, if you're looking to see Fyter, and it's streaming for free here in the United States, you should go on the site before the actual event, get yourself signed up so you've got all your ducks in a row and you're ready to go."

Dusty Rhodes passed away on this day in 2015. Cody thanked everyone who reached out to him today: “Thanks to all who reached out. Dusty was my hero & it’s a gift that due to his fame he was a hero for others. Mourning transcends social media. ‘RIP’ may be trendy, but what’s even better is reaching out to those you love today & letting them know how important they are to you”

Dustin Rhodes paid tribute to his father: “Pops, I am doing everything you taught me. Be strong, be a man, follow your dreams. All those things you said to me I do daily, or I try my best to. The one thing I do without fail is to always #KeepSteppin #MissYouDad”

Chris Jericho tweeted about why his “Judas” theme song didn’t play on New Japan World’s broadcast of Dominion: “There was a small rights fee involved that @njpwworld & @njpw1972 chose not to pay. End of story.”

"The Samoa Submission Machine" Samoa Joe regained the United States Championship two weeks ago on RAW when Rey Mysterio had to relinquish the title due to injury. Samoa Joe brought his U.S. Title to Saudi Arabia for WWE Super ShowDown and competed in the 50-man Battle Royal. The commentators described the temperature in the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium as "real feel heat" and it was over 100 degrees in the area near ringside.

Samoa Joe stated that it was quite the inferno in the ring and said that there is no way to prepare for heat like that but just to realize that it is not going to be enjoyable.

"No, I don't think anybody ever has [competed in heat like that]. It was a chaotic scene, let me tell you that in 101-degree weather and a lot of human body heat." Samoa Joe told Sporting News. "It was quite the inferno in that ring. That's the kind of heat you don't make adjustments for. You just realize it's going to suck really, really bad. You're going to have to grin and bear it. With the exception of maybe running sprints in a sauna, I don't think there's anything you can really do to prepare for that."

Andrade and Charlotte Flair are currently taking some time away from WWE action due to Andrade's mother passing away, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Flair and Andrade missed weekend and Monday WWE live events, and Flair's status for tonight's SmackDown from Sacramento, CA is up in the air. Meltzer noted that Andrade likely will not be at SmackDown tonight.

Andrade's mother, Juanis Oropeza, reportedly passed away over the weekend while Andrade was in Saudi Arabia for the WWE Super ShowDown match against WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor. Oropeza reportedly had been sick for several weeks, if not months.

This past Friday at WWE Super ShowDown, Lars Sullivan defeated the Lucha House Party via disqualification. Despite the match being a three-on-one handicap match, the Lucha House Party were disqualified for triple teaming Sullivan.

Dave Meltzer noted on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that the finish of the match was reportedly changed. The original ending would have likely featured Sullivan picking up a dominant victory.

While it's not known why the finish was changed, there is speculation that WWE may do the Sullivan vs. Lucha House Party match again at WWE Stomping Grounds in two weeks.

NXT has proven to be quite the breeding ground for fresh new talent for WWE. Recently an influx of talent debuted on the main roster. One of those debuting stars was former NXT champion, Aleister Black. Black joined fellow superstar Sheamus on his Celtic Warrior Workouts to talk about his career and current move ...

Black was quick to admit his time in NXT was short. And, as short as his time there seemed, the notice of his call up was that much shorter.

"I wasn't scheduled to be called up. It was a last minute decision," said Black. "I was just done (with a workout) and it was 11:30 and I didn't have to be at the live event until 1:00. So, I was just going to take a 45-minute nap. I had my phone by me, and my phone starts to go off and its coach Bloom. He said, 'I have some news for you' and as a joke, I said ' you are firing me'. And he said, 'Something like that, this Sunday your flying to Tennessee (so the debut could be kept a secret) and this Monday you make your debut on Raw and Tuesday on SmackDown."

Sasha Banks is receiving some attention on social media for "liking" a tweet that is critical of the WWE product.

The tweet, made by a fan at @TooSweetmania, reads like this:

"With every passing Raw and Smackdown I grow less and less interested in the product. I'm starting to realize that I'm supporting a s--tty company for its past greatness rather than critiquing it's current bulls--t. I can't even sit through Raw or Smackdown anymore."

Banks "liked" the tweet more than a day ago and has not "un-liked it" yet, as some people do once their "like" makes headlines ...

The Boss has also "liked" a number of AEW tweets as of late, including Cody Rhodes' post on the seating chart and tickets for August's AEW All Out pay-per-view.

It looks like All Elite Wrestling could be planning to release their pay-per-view events on video.

The official AEW Twitter account issued a poll today to gauge fan interest in a potential AEW Double Or Nothing DVD or Blu-ray release.

The poll asked, "Which format would you like to see #AEW's #DoubleOrNothing released on... #AEWDoN #AEWDVD #AEWBluRay"

As of this writing, 76% have voted for the Blu-ray release. As of this writing, there have been 27,228 votes since the poll was issued at 9:55am ET today.

All Elite Wrestling has hired former Senior Director, Live Event Marketing of WWE, Rafael Morfi to handle the live event aspect of the company. Morfi, who was with the New York Mets before his WWE run and worked for the New York Cosmos soccer team after departing WWE, has also worked with Impact Wrestling, MLW, House of Hardcore, Brian Knobbs' Legends of Wrestling events and Jim Ross, among others, via his Signature Move Productions Company. He's been well liked and respect within the pro wrestling world for many years.

Morfi was all "Double or Nothing" last month and will be an important part of the AEW operations going forward. It's a big hire for the company.

Alberto El Patron took to social media and promoted that a new Lucha Libre promotion entitled 'Nacion Lucha Libre' was coming to the professional wrestling world and more details emerged during the press conference that was held today for the promotion. Details from the press conference were provided to Fightful by @luchablog on Twitter and the promotion's first show is slated for July 11th in Mexico City. Their first show will air on Imagen TV on July 14th and they have a time slot of 10:30 PM to midnight on Sundays.

The likes of former WWE United States Champion MVP, Chavo Guerrero, Alberto El Patron and Carlito are involved with the promotion.

Here is something cool, which was uploaded by Jon Boucher. It’s highlights of a card from Maple Leaf Gardens on January 15, 1957, featuring Edouard Carpentier vs. Steve Stanlee, Bill & Ed Miller vs. Ken Kenneth & Pat Flanagan, and Billy Red Lyons vs. Baron Gattoni with narration from Dave Price.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xWUUJdDHs9o" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Cesaro Not Injured on Raw After Taking a 630 to the Leg (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/cesaro-not-injured-on-raw-after-taking-a-630-to-the-leg/)
ACH Gets a New Name in NXT (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/ach-gets-a-new-name-in-nxt/)
Three More Wrestlers Get NXT Name Changes: Jonah Rock, Garza Jr, Samuel Shaw (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/three-more-wrestlers-get-nxt-name-changes-jonah-rock-garza-jr-samuel-shaw/)
NJPW and WOW Moving to Saturday Nights on AXS TV (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/njpw-and-wow-moving-to-saturday-nights-on-axs-tv/)

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Following a night in which Raw posted record low non-holiday ratings, SmackDown held up slightly better, dropping just four percent from last week.

At an average of 1.93 million viewers, it was still among the lowest viewership totals for SmackDown since moving to Tuesday night, but several episodes in the last few months have had lower numbers ...

Year-over-year, SmackDown was down 12 percent, the first time in a month that the show has had a double-digit decline.

During his appearance on Sean Waltman's podcast yesterday, RoadDogg noted that he and Jeremy Borash have been working on vignettes for Killian Dain, and The Outliers. He noted his official role at the Performance Center is evolving and he doesn't have an official title.

Batista isn't one to bite his tongue about WWE, and that isn't letting up in retirement.

The star of the WrestleMania 30 press conference where he went off-script and criticized WWE's heavily planned nature, "Stuber" star Batista still hasn't quite come around on that point. When talking to Pro Wrestling Sheet recently, he said that the situation only got more frustrating.

The creative process I still don’t get. It was a nightmare to me the last time I was there, which was 2014, and it seems like its become worse. I feel like they don’t have a clear vision, a long term vision, everything is very week-to-week. It doesn’t seem like they stick to a plan very much.” [Chris] Jericho pointed out something to me that makes complete sense. He said that John Cena is the last guy who is gonna be over like he is and it’s because the performers now they’re limited. Their hands are tied. They can’t go to war like we used to. We used to go to war and beat the crap out of each other and it earned a level of respect from people. And it was just like a different level of respect, it was a different level of getting over. We had more freedom," Batista said.

Stephanie McMahon speaks on women potentially wrestling in Saudi Arabia.

Last Friday at Super ShowDown, WWE returned to Saudi Arabia for the third time in their ten-year agreement with Saudi Arabia's General Sports Authority. This trip was different from the previous two as Alexa Bliss and Natalya made the flight over with the promotion. Previously, Renee Young was the only talent who had been on the trip to Saudi Arabia and appear on-screen. WWE was reportedly hoping to have Bliss and Natalya wrestle on the show but the match never came to fruition due to the Saudi government.

Speaking at the Celebrating Women in Sports Luncheon, Stephanie McMahon was asked about WWE's deal with Saudi Arabia.

"In terms of women....we've been promised that we will be at the forefront of change that's coming in Saudi. I believe we will have a women's match in the near future."
:lol: at WWE still thinking they will be a big promoter of cultural change in Saudi Arabia. WWE probably will get a women's match one of these days for their Saudi shows but it won't be because of their own influence.

D-Generation X reunited as "Road Dogg" Brian James sat down with Sean "X-Pac" Waltman on the latest episode of X-Pac 1,2,360. Fightful was sent the following highlights from the interview.

Brian “Road Dogg” James On Why He Likes Working On NXT

"For me to get to work with the guys and build a relationship with them and have that camaraderie because it is something I missed as the lead writer {of Smackdown}…. For Smackdown I wouldn't even go out there and do rehearsals anymore. I very rarely talked to the talent because I was just in the writers room or in with Vince going over the show or you know whatever we were doing. I was kind of isolated away on the creative side of the railroad tracks so this is a disconnect. And then the talent calls me on a Wednesday when I'm in prepping for a meeting to go in to pitch a show or whatever ..."

John Cena Confirms "Accidental Boners" While In The Ring
Just found the headline used for the article to be really hilarious. Link for those interested in the interview: https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/john-cena-confirms-accidental-boners-while-ring

MLW was ecstatic with first-day ticket sales for their debut in Dallas this September as they were the best first day sales for any event in company history. The sales were stronger than any first day sale for Chicago, which has been been a great market for the company, so the hope is that Dallas will turn into a cornerstone market for the company. The first event will be 9/7 with the Von Erichs appearing and the first-ever War Chamber match.

Austin Aries has returned to Major League Wrestling with a force. The Milwaukee native has set his sights on MLW's return to New York City for the next stage as he continues his march up the MLW rankings.

MLW today announced Austin Aries will compete at MLW: Never Say Never '19 at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City on July 25. The event will be a MLW FUSION TV taping for beIN SPORTS.

A story made the rounds recently by way of the 'Daily Beast' that George Murdoch, also known in professional wrestling as "Brodus Clay" and/or "Tyrus" was removed from the Fox Nation show 'UN PC' after a dispute with his co-host Britt McHenry that was unspecified and details were scarce concerning the dispute. The site has confirmed with their sources that the reason Murdoch was removed from the show is because McHenry claimed that the former Brodus Clay sent her unwanted, sexual text messages on multiple occasions.

George Murdoch was taken off of 'UN PC' and placed on his own show entitled 'Nuff Said'. The Daily Beast notes that Britt McHenry's complaints were not surprising to colleagues of the two 'UN PC' hosts and added that Tyrus has a reputation for "making off-color or politically incorrect remarks or jokes". Tyrus and McHenry were reached out to but neither have provided a statement or comment on the matter ...

Tyrus began his career in wrestling in 2006 and worked for the WWE for eight years. He then had two runs in IMPACT Wrestling but officially departed from the company in 2018. Tyrus has been affiliated with FOX since 2016 and as more information regarding this situation comes to the forefront, this article will be updated or a new article will be published.
Supposedly Brodus had similar issues of acting inappropriately during the tapings for season 1 of Netflix's GLOW series.

After the storyline on SmackDown where he was trapped in a loading crate while hiding and shipped to Raw, R-Truth posted a video from inside the crate and asked for help.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Help, help, With a Capital HELP!!! Somebody tell’em my phone is about to die! I’m trapped in a blue box, and it’s headed to LA for Monday Night Raw! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Help?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Help</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thatzendurance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thatzendurance</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Raw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SDLive</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DanceBreak?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DanceBreak</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/247champ?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#247champ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/itsme?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#itsme</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/saveme?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#saveme</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hardtobreathinhereyall?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hardtobreathinhereyall</a> <a href="https://t.co/xZobdnfqiG">pic.twitter.com/xZobdnfqiG</a></p>&mdash; WWE R-Truth (@RonKillings) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonKillings/status/1138924076679008256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger) Officially Signs With AEW (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/shawn-spears-tye-dillinger-officially-signs-with-aew/)
WWE: Chad Gable on 205 Live, Possible Cruiserweight Title Match at Stomping Grounds (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/wwe-chad-gable-on-205-live-possible-cruiserweight-title-match-at-stomping-grounds/)
Triple Threat Match Added to AEW Fyter Fest (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/triple-threat-match-added-to-aew-fyter-fest/)
Fandango Spotted in Orlando, Possibly Returning to NXT? (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/fandango-spotted-in-orlando-possibly-returning-to-nxt/)

[Mr. Nerfect]

Unsolicited sexual advancements aren't cool, but the irony of FOX broadcasters getting upset about conduct on a show called "UN PC" is pretty delicious in its own right.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The knee injury to Lars Sullivan that kept him off SmackDown Tuesday is worse than originally believed. There are no definitive details until he undergoes an MRI, but it doesn't look like a small thing and he'll be back Monday at this point.

The GoFundMe Campaign launched to assist Ashley Massaro's daughter Alexa with her education in the wake of Massaro's passing hit its $100,000 goal this evening, in part due to fundraising efforts by Mick Foley, who donated the proceeds of autographed Cactus Jack shirts over the weekend to the campaign.

The Main Event, the first WWE Studios-Netflix collaboration will be shooting this summer in Vancouver, British Columbia. The filming will begin later this month and run through late August.

As PWInsider.com exclusively broke back in February, WWE Studios have been working develop new, original feature films in conjunction with Netflix, with plans to release them via the streaming service. The films will be directed towards family audiences.

The Main Event tells the story of a ten-year old boy who is bullied but dreams of growing up to become a WWE professional wrestler. However, he gets to live his dream earlier when he discovers the secret to having super-strength in his breakfast cereal, becoming "The Spaghetti Kid." We are told that John Cena is referenced in the film and has a cameo role late in the film. The screenplay features small roles for Sheamus, The Miz and Bray Wyatt, with a number of references to WWE NXT as well.

WWE returned to Saudi Arabia this weekend, but what could have been its biggest story coming out of the show never happened. WWE had been told some time back that they would be able to use women on the show. And then they were told they couldn’t. It was going back-and-forth.

It’s hard to explain why they wouldn’t be allowed to. When OSN still existed and WWE was on television in the area, people in the area saw women’s wrestling. It’s kind of crazy trying to protect people in a live setting from seeing something available on television. Still, making sense in our culture doesn’t exactly work either, because MMA was on television in New York for a decade and shows were held everywhere but called amateur shows, but pro shows weren’t allowed. Granted, there was an insane political reason, essentially the speaker of the house was beholden to a union that had an affiliation with another until that wanted to unionize Lorenzo Fertitta’s casinos in Las Vegas. Because of that, for years, he blocked any vote to allow the sport in the state. So who knows how government works there.

What we do know is that women participate in sports there, Women appear in entertainment now. Mariah Carey just did a show a few months ago, and was heavily criticized for going. Lindsay Lohan is going soon. Then again, when the Russian circus had women performers, it was heavily criticized. Alexa Bliss and Natalya made the trip. When they got there, they were still told it was up in the air whether they would have match or not. The WWE pushed for the Sports Authority to make a call, and in the end, they turned them down ...

Before the show, the women found out that they wouldn’t have a match, nor appear on the show. Eventually in this ten year deal there will almost surely be a women’s match and WWE will take credit for changing a culture. It’ll be no more real than the story about WWE leading a revolution in women’s sports in the U.S. when they were more than 50 years behind tennis and golf and probably nothing made more of a mockery about women being respected as athletes as the entire presentation of the old divas division.

Since OSN closed up shot, WWE is on MBC Action, a satellite network. It airs an edited version of Raw, Afterburn (edited Smackdown) and an Arabic recap show. WWE Network has almost no subscribers in the area. WWE is said to be very big with children in Saudi Arabia but not with any other age group. From a kids standpoint, it’s much bigger than the U.S., but it’s one of those cultural things few other than children pay much attention. It’s just as well. Super Showdown wasn’t much of a show. It got among the worst poll results in our history. Even though it was pushed like it was equal to or bigger than WrestleMania, it’s clear WWE announcers have no credibility left because nobody bought it as such. Google searches of 100,000 for the show were less than ten percent of what UFC did the next day. With a Friday afternoon time slot, it would be a shock if it wasn’t the least-watched main roster PPV show of the year.

There wasn’t much positive to say other than the crowd went crazy when they put Mansoor from Saudi Arabia over in the biggest Battle Royal in history. Of course, that ended up meaning nothing since Mansoor followed by not appearing on Raw, Smackdown or NXT tapings so far this week. So it was just to give the local audience a pop, and perhaps smooth things over for their hosts and maybe they won’t dick them around so much on letting women wrestle ...

Super Showdown drew about 21,000 fans at King Abdullah Sports Stadium in Jeddah. It was nowhere close to full, like last year’s show. The crowd was pretty dead, aside from a few pops here and there for trademark spots.

Some more names added to the list from last week of women at the recent U.K. Performance Center tryouts. The biggest name is Karen Glennon, better known as Session Moth Martina, 28, from Scotland, who has wrestled all over the world. Sabrina Casiraghi from Italy, who has worked in Italy and ICW in Scotland ...

We’re told that Martina is in. In the U.K. there are people talking as if she’s already signed. There was a lot of heat among non-WWE wrestlers in the U.K. because just days before the camp she was posing wearing an anti-WWE pro-independents T-shirt with David Starr, and then she went to the camp and is expected to sign with them

I don’t know if this week was a first, but Vince McMahon, Stephanie, HHH and Kevin Dunn all didn’t come to the California tapings. Stephanie is not a regular at TV these days. She only comes when she’s needed which hasn’t been the case of late. HHH decided to go to Florida since they were doing two days of television with four hours each day (eight television shows from 6/19 to 8/8). It’s everything leading into the Toronto Takeover/SummerSlam weekend show. So he felt he needed to be there getting everything ready. Vince had some corporate items that he felt he needed to take care of, and Kevin Dunn isn’t coming to television when Vince isn’t there. Ed Koskey was running around like crazy at Raw kind of in control. Dana Warrior was there working hands on with Lacey Evans. I don’t know that Evans is a Warrior project but she does work heavily with Evans on her promos

Impact Wrestling star Killer Kross appeared on Petey Williams' podcast last night and when asked about PWInsider.com's report last month that he had requested a release from his Impact Wrestling contract, commented that our story was "100% correct" but that he was upset the story came to the public light, which is understandable from his perspective ...

Kross noted that he liked everyone at Impact and everyone had been professional with him, but intimated that when he signed his deal, he did so after being led to believe there were not other opportunities for him elsewhere. Now that he's learned there are, and he's aware of what others within Impact are getting paid, he sought to be paid something on that level or be allowed to leave to prove he could draw and earn that money elsewhere. Kross noted that he has family members he is responsible for and as a man, it's on him to provide for them ...

Kross noted that Scarlett Bordeaux's situation with the company is unreleated to his and is "worse" in that she's still living at home with her mother and needs a "side job" to support herself in order to perform in professional wrestling. PWInsider.com can confirm that Impact officials sat down with Bordeaux last week in New York City and both sides are discussing the situation, but as of this writing, nothing has been resolved.

Kross and Bordeaux both worked the most recent TV tapings. PWInsider.com has been told by sources that both Kross and Bordeaux wish to remain and work for Impact but want to be paid at a better scale in order to do so.

Former WWE and Impact Wrestling star Brodus Clay aka Tyrus (real name George Murdoch) is at the center of the latest sexual harassment allegations at FOX News ...

After leaving UN-PC, Tyrus has been given his own series on FOX News’ streaming platform.

Last night, McHenry responded to the FOX News statement, tweeting (and later deleting), "You act like I don't like have proof," she wrote. "Smh [Shaking my head]. Carry on."

McHenry has now hired attorney Douglas Wigdor, who has filed a number of lawsuits for clients allegedly wronged by FOX News ...

Murdoch has not responded publicly to the allegations but when asked by The Hollywood Reporter's Jeremy Barr whether his departure from UN-PC was related to McHenry via private messaging on Twitter, Murdoch responded, "No comment and don't message me again," before blocking Barr on the social media platform.
A few new details regarding the Brodus Clay sexual harassment allegations.

Jon Moxley, Shingo Takagi, Will Ospreay and KENTA all challenged to get into this year’s G-1 Climax tournament at Dominion on 6/9 in Osaka, amidst a lot of changes with New Japan Pro Wrestling in the U.S. market. The tournament will be the key in trying to establish Saturday night as New Japan night on AXS TV. They are moving it away from the Friday night lead-in to live MMA, in order to stay away from WWE competition when Smackdown moves to Friday on FOX in October.

AXS airs the first night of G-1, the show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, live on 7/6, a Saturday. They are moving both New Japan and Women of Wrestling to Saturday, with WOW replays airing at 8 p.m. every Saturday starting on 7/13, and up-to-date New Japan episodes starting at 9 p.m.,and will be expanded to two hours weekly. During G-1, they will be airing the Saturday night show from Japan each week, with the top matches on each show edited to two hours, on a same day tape delay.

There was a question regarding Jericho’s entrance music, “Judas,” not playing on the streaming replay when it had in all of his previous matches with the company. What happened was, unbeknownst to Jericho, Sony had contacted New Japan and wanted a $2,500 rights fee for usage of the music. New Japan turned it down and instead put over a cover song. Jericho said that if he would have known about it, he’d have paid the $2,500 himself.

The big thing that was major buzz on 6/9 was the Laredo Kid vs. El Hijo del Vikingo cruiserweight title match from the TV tapings that night at Arena Coliseo in Monterrey. I know of several people who thought it was better than the Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay match the same day. I wouldn’t go that far as far as a match where spots were built, or had the same level of drama, but for innovative and amazing moves, believe it or not, it was on par, and perhaps better as far as new things. What I will say is that whether it’s AEW, AAW, PWG, Impact, MLW or anyone who has access to these guys really should match them up. Vikingo can be one of the major stars of the future of the business as his flying is out of this world and he’s only going to get a lot better over the next three years, particularly if he gets to work more places.

Right now what’s keeping him from the U.S. scene is that he doesn’t have a visa. So that leaves him right now down to a group that will get him one, and if that happens, he’ll probably be booked all over the place. There’s talk AAA would get him a visa and put him on the MSG show and then he’d be able to take U.S. bookings. We know that Vikingo wants in Battle of Los Angeles this year. AEW had interest in him for Double or Nothing but the show was loaded as it was. Barring injury, this is a guy on the indie scene who will blow up immediately and eventually he’s almost surely ending up in AEW or WWE, although I don’t know how he makes it in WWE because they’ll try and change him and re-program him and spend years on it and the tone him down. It will the hot indie feud and match in the U.S. for 2019. I went ****½ but most ratings I saw were *****.

Fenix & Pentagon Jr. seem to be done here [Impact Wrestling]. They weren’t used for television and were moved on the web site to the alumni page. I think it’s inevitable once (if) they get a Lucha Underground release that they will sign with AEW at least for the U.S. market and retain rights to work AAA and Mexican indies

The Buy In show on ITV 4, the Double or Nothing pre-show, did 74,000 viewers, which for a Saturday night at midnight would be a good number, but not a great number. For comparison, for numbers the next week in the U.K. Raw did 42,500 viewers, Smackdown did 63,000 and MLW did 24,900. Impact did 14,900 on UK Fight Night on Showcase but their largest audience would come on 5USA and we don’t have that figure

The situation with Brian Cage at the Double or Nothing show is that they contacted him to be in the Casino Battle Royale. The idea was they would given him some spots to look good before eliminating him. Cage hadn’t cleared it with Impact, who he has an exclusive contract with and is their world champion. They called Don Callis shortly before the match and his take was that he didn’t think his world champion should be in a pre-show Battle Royal, just based on the idea of an old school positioning of your world champion. Based on the mentality of protecting your world champion and having him positioned as a star, he wasn’t wrong. So Cage was pulled from the match. Impact wasn’t against him appearing per se, in the sense that if they made the deal ahead of time they probably could have worked creative out and worked out something that made sense to both sides like AAA did by giving the Young Bucks their tag titles

In honor of the anniversary of his passing this week, the NWA released a classic Dusty Rhodes vs. Gino Hernandez bout from Houston:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v0arOVsIAOY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

WWE: Botched Ending in Gable vs. Gallagher 205 Live Match, Lars vs. Hardy Match Pulled (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/wwe-botched-ending-in-gable-vs-gallagher-205-live-match-lars-vs-hardy-match-pulled/)
Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega Announced for AEW All Out (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/jon-moxley-vs-kenny-omega-announced-for-aew-all-out/)



* Likely won't be posting a sheets report for Friday due to being out of the house for most of the night tomorrow. Either one gets posted very early Saturday or might just skip doing it if nothing major happens that's not on the Frontpage.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The whole thing with the women in Saudi Arabia and WWE waiting to jump on it like some sort of "history changing" thing is kind of making my skin crawl.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

The story going around about Gedo being out as New Japan booker is false. No idea where it came from but New Japan has denied it, and Gedo has told friends he has no idea where it came from.

Earlier today, a report began circulating that Gedo had stepped down as the booker of New Japan Pro Wrestling before Dominion. This was first published by Miruhon and spread to the English-language part of Twitter by @STRIGGA (podcaster and owner of Cagematch.net and Purolove.com,) sharing a Kakutolog article about the report.

With Spandex reached out to NJPW sources for comment and was told that the reports of Gedo stepping down as the promotion’s booker are untrue. A source within the NJPW office went as far as to call it “a crazy rumor.”

WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Ron Simmons are being interviewed today in Atlanta for the forthcoming A&E documentary on Booker T.

It was announced this past April that the cable network and WWE would be partnering for a quintet of documentaries on the lives of WWE personalities. Beyond Booker T, there are plans for documentaries on Steve Austin, the late Roddy Piper, Randy Savage and the late Randy Savage.

PWInsider.com has also learned that The Rock's Seven Bucks Productions also has early plans on doing a documentary on the life of Roddy Piper, one of WWE's greatest antagonists, who passed away in 2015. We are told this project, should it go forward, would be independent of the A&E/WWE documentary. It's been bandied about for some time.

There are said to be a lot of WWE talents who are counting the days until they can get out of their WWE contracts, according to Wrestling Observer Radio.

There have been rumors of WWE talents wanting to leave for months, but Dave Meltzer noted on WOR that AEW putting on a successful show with Double Or Nothing has really changed things.

On a related note, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon was in Orlando this week for a business luncheon. She also visited the WWE Performance Center and Wednesday's WWE NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University. Stephanie reportedly held a talent meeting before Wednesday's tapings, which was described as a pep talk.

Stephanie reportedly pushed how great everything is with the company, and how talents get to be their own brands in the company. Stephanie also pushed social media in a big way. Her presentation included a big screen that showed how Forbes recently listed WWE and WrestleMania as one of the top 10 most powerful brands on social media, among other points.

It was also noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is trying to convince talents that their careers are over if they leave. Talents have believed this in previous years, but most aren't buying it these days and a lot of wrestlers who leave are happy that they made the decision. Meltzer noted how WWE is also trying to convince the fans that it's WWE or nothing, and that wrestlers are jokes if they aren't with WWE. Meltzer pointed to the enhancement talents with the YOLO County Tag Team Titles on Tuesday's SmackDown, which were featured in the angle with Heavy Machinery and SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan.

Count the WWE Champion as one of the many who see the writing on the wall when it comes to how WWE has booked Shane McMahon over the past several months. Some would even argue that McMahon is the strongest heel WWE has on its main roster.

It’s a little odd that in the year 2019, the common line of thinking among many in WWE is the best way to give an individual an even bigger push is to just book them opposite of someone in the McMahon Family tree.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Kingston opens about the possibility of not only facing Shane in the ring, but also Vince McMahon as well.

"I would love to fight Shane, and I would love to get Vince in the ring, too. I think it’s really cool that Shane is in this role of walking the line of an authoritative figure, but, at the same time, is an active superstar. Shane does some pretty crazy things in the ring, as you see in every single match that he has, so I would love to mix it up with him.”

Strangely enough, this Kingston quote also lines up with rumors of an even bigger Shane-O-Mac push yet to come.

Steve Austin, who has been on a sabbatical from recording new podcast episodes for some time, announced he would return with a new episode on 6/18 with All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan as his special guest. That should be a fun conversation given the depth of Khan's love of professonal wrestling.

Lucha star Daga is done with Major League Wrestling, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Daga, who had a short feud with Low Ki in the company, was booked for the promotion's 6/1 date in Wisconsin, but pulled out at the last second, citing that he had scheduled a vacation.

MLW later learned he was actually working dates in Mexico instead and have dropped him from all future bookings.

Daga was in line for a push with plans to be turned heel later this year.

Fite TV has confirmed that they will be carrying Fyter Fest on Saturday, June 29th for those outside the U.S., U.K., and Ireland. We have been told Fite will be doing the same for the Fight for the Fallen card next month.

AAA’s annual Verano de Escandalo (‘Summer of Scandal’) card takes place this Sunday night from Merida, Yucatan in Mexico from the Poliforum Zamna with a live stream of the event on their Twitch channel at 5 pm Eastern. One of the big matches features the Young Bucks returning to Mexico to defend the AAA tag titles against Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix in a rematch from Double or Nothing. There was a lot of buzz this week for the promotion following Laredo Kid and El Hijo del Vikingo’s match in Monterrey last Sunday. The two are in different matches this weekend but it’s a good-looking card from AAA and it’s happening on a quiet weekend where they have the night to themselves.


Appearing on the NotSam Wrestling Podcast with Sam Roberts, Ryan explained why he turned down a deal with AEW.

"People still think I'm [in AEW] or expect me to be there. Those guys are my best friends, and that doesn't change. I've had extensive discussions with them, and they're not sure if what I do can play on their television show," revealed Ryan. "They don't really have an idea specifically for me where it's like 'if we bring you on, we have to take away what makes you over.' So, it's a gamble for me, not only creatively, but financially, because I'm making better money than these contracts offer, at least to start. So I'd be taking a pay cut and essentially start over. We've had discussions, but it just didn't make sense. It felt like I'd be irresponsible to myself and where I'm at with my life, finances, my geography, and creativity. It would be a gamble that I don't need to take."

Ryan continued, "We realized they're gonna be successful without me and I'm gonna be successful without them. Maybe our paths will cross at some point, but there is no urgency to it because neither of us necessarily needs the other one right now. It'd be nice to work with my friends, but it's not a necessity right now until they figure out their product and how they want to present it."


TPWW Frontpage stuff:

Bray Wyatt Scheduled to Be Backstage at Raw This Monday (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/bray-wyatt-scheduled-to-be-backstage-at-raw-this-monday/)
AEW All Out Tickets Sell Out in 15 Minutes (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/aew-all-out-tickets-sell-out-in-15-minutes/)
Possible Matches for NXT TakeOver: Toronto (Spoilers) (https://www.tpww.net/2019/06/possible-matches-for-nxt-takeover-toronto-spoilers/)

[#1-norm-fan]

It only took 2 live shows for Saudi Arabia to realize WWE is horrible and not worth their time. That’s progress.

[GD]

What?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

It only took 2 live shows for Saudi Arabia to realize WWE is horrible and not worth their time. That’s progress.

:lol:

[Droford]

Joey Ryan probably wants to wait til his divorce is final before going to aew

[Fignuts]

"be their own brand"

That's amazing that Steph tried to sell them on that. In a company where you have to say exactly what they tell you to say, and perform matches exactly as they want you to work them.

[Fignuts]

That's exactly the problem with WWE. Every worker is the same fucking brand.