[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Evil Emma and Head Patter Dana:

Originally Posted by Observer At this point, the plans for Smackdown remain tapings every Tuesday and airing every Thursday. Last week, when Jim Ross was talking about changes in the show, and going back a few months when we had reported changes in the show, the signing of Mauro Ranallo was the big one that WWE had been working on. The deal was all but finalized in October. Talks had begun in September. when Michael Cole sent an e-mail to Ranallo to gauge his interest. The deal was put together with Frank Shamrock, a close friend of Ranallo’s who is also his agent. Once Cole got the talks going, Paul Levesque finalized the deal. The belief was that key people in WWE had seen him do the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, since while Levesque is not a big sports fan, he is a big Mayweather fan, and also knew he had a pro wrestling background, and the idea that they should reach out to the guy who actually comes from wrestling but rose to be the announcer for the biggest PPV of all-time.

Originally Posted by Observer Ranallo will still be appearing on the first six episodes of 2016 of New Japan World Pro Wrestling Returns because they have already been produced, so the new announcer would not be on the air until late February. It is known that Ranallo gave AXS plenty of lead time in letting them know he was taking the WWE job, and they have been involved in talks regarding the position for several weeks.

Originally Posted by Observer Unless it’s HHH, and he does have no other clear opponent with The Rock unable to wrestle on the show at this point, and Rollins also out, there’s no WrestleMania heel right now. They could still turn Dean Ambrose, or get Kevin Owens hot. If Reigns is the top face and successful in carrying that position, they could ever turn Cena, although that’s a decision they may not want to make because of him being almost a public face for the Make-a-Wish and WWE alliance. They could also have Lesnar or Undertaker as a surprise winner of the Rumble, although the fans will cheer Undertaker over him and may still cheer Lesnar over him. But right now, the strongest Mania main event dynamic for the vibe and without leading to an outcome that people won’t want or isn’t the best thing (Undertaker beating Reigns isn’t the right move if he’s going to be the face of the company; Reigns beating Undertaker won’t make people happy, so it’s a match that is tough for an ending), the Lesnar match has the most potential. But the Cena match, which was the plan prior to the Rollins injury, whether he’s a face and it’s a passing of the torch in front of a record crowd, or a heel, also makes sense.

At the moment, WWE is undecided on who Reigns would be facing at Mania. Easiest is Cena vs Reigns but it could involve the dreaded Cena heel turn the company hates to consider.

Originally Posted by Observer Jeff Hardy needs another surgery, I believe on his knee, and we’re told he won’t be wrestling until likely late 2016 although the timetable isn’t a certainty until they do the surgery. He also has told friends that he’ll no longer be able to wrestle the style he had in the past, and will have to tone things down. The broken leg he suffered in the dirt bike accident at his home track was easily the worst injury he’s suffered in his life. Both Hardys deals with TNA are up in about 10 to 12 weeks

Originally Posted by Observer Impact averaged 276,000 viewers in October for its first airing and 85,000 for the replay this month. If you add up both ratings as one, that’s down 65.0% from the 1.03 million viewers on Spike at the same time last year. If you only add up the first run show it’s down 73.2% from last year. The 2013 number was 1.14 million viewer s and the 2012 number was 1.16 million viewers.

Originally Posted by Observer Pop TV Brad Schwartz in interviews has talked about how TNA was getting 1.3 million viewers on Spike and they think that’s a base they can build from. If he really thinks that, the odds are he’ll be really disappointed fast, but if he was just saying that for press and is really expecting far less than that, maybe things will be better. If he’s even expecting 1 million viewers, that’s not good at all for the company long-term as they were falling below that on Spike, and Spike is a far higher profile station, far better for a pro wrestling show due to regular audience, and Spike at the time TNA left was in 24 million more homes than Pop is in right now

For those with Cablevision, POP managed to get a deal done to be carried by that provider although not in time for Impact's debut. Won't be till end of January that TNA shows will air there.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE has gotten Coca Cola as a sponsor, both for Tribute to the Troops and the Slammys, which is something they’ve been wanting for decades. Even though ratings are down and normal business is at no better levels than it’s been for the last few years, they have managed to build a perception the product is hot. Also, NBC Universal, because they now have such a financial stake in WWE with five hours in prime time on USA, had worked hard to change the advertising community’s perception and it clearly has worked to a degree.

NBC has been working very hard to get those advertisers to change their views on wrestling and its working. Hedging all their bets on getting enough advertisers to cover whatever is getting lost by declining ratings and tv interest. Whether they stick around or not is all up to how well the WWE can keep them happy with good shows.

Originally Posted by 411Mania NXT’s current taping schedule appears to take the promotion through to WrestleMania season. The NXT TV tapings have dates of January 7th, January 22nd and January 27th. Each date will have multiple tapings and should be enough to take the promotion through March, thus giving us the likely card for Takeover: Dallas by the end of January.

Originally Posted by Observer The Baron Corbin win over Apollo Crews was to set up some Finn Balor vs Corbin matches for the NXT title.

Some other sheet news includes:

• WWE currently planning for a Scott Hall DVD/Blu-Ray set to be released during July 2016.
• Ticket sales for Wrestle Kingdom 10 is currently a big issue for NJPW since the event still hasn't sold out yet compared to past years.
• Observer confirmed rumors of a planned Shane McMahon dvd set being canceled for 2016.
• TNA currently going after potential ROH wrestlers to sign a deal with the company once their ROH ends. Idea is to get enough surprise names for their debut show on POP or within the first few weeks.
• Next season of Total Divas is currently scheduled to be going against TNA Impact in terms of wrestling-based shows.
• Stardust rumored to be injured again although it wasn't specified by the Observer if this was a new injury or related to the one from last week. Seems like its a new one and possibly a concussion.
• Both Jack Evans and Aneglico recently rejected offers by the WWE in order to stay in AAA and Lucha Undrground. Main source is in Spanish: http://www.wrestlination.com.br/2015...ack-evans.html
• For those in the West Coast and interested in going to the upcoming Los Angeles house show that has Lesnar, WWE is currently offering free food vouchers to help beef up ticket sales for the show. Interest right now is a lot lower than the WWE was expecting.