[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Mankind-Taker Hell ina Cell Anniversary:

Originally Posted by Observer The WWE released information that the total worldwide value of its television deals, which were $215 million last year (this includes both U.S. and the rest of the world), increases to $235 million this year. In 2019, with the big deals kicking in for the last three months, it would be up to $314 million. The combination of the FOX and USA Network deals would be $435 million in 2020, $462 million in 2021, and escalate past $470 million in 2022. Right now the company is estimating $79 million for television rights outside the U.S. in 2020 and $80 million in 2021, but those numbers because of the various deals that haven’t come due, can change, meaning a projection of $542 million in 2021. The company should shoot past the $1 billion revenue mark by 2020.

Originally Posted by Observer Really, this is the make-or-break week for Lesnar and UFC. If he doesn’t enter the USADA testing pool by 6/29, he won’t be able to fight the winner of the 7/7 Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier heavyweight title match on 12/29, or fight Jon Jones if somehow they can figure out a way to retain a smidgen of credibility for their drug testing program and somehow give Jones less than two years on a positive steroid test ... If Lesnar doesn’t enter the testing pool, as he needs six months of clean testing before he can fight in UFC, it would indicate the whole leaving for UFC is a leverage negotiating play. Cormier, who is on friendly terms with Lesnar, said in an interview this past week with Ariel Helwani that his plan is to beat Miocic, defend against Lesnar and then end his career with another match with Jones.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding AAA and Madison Square Garden, it is notable that WWE did not attempt to block their date. AAA still has a hold on 9/16, but it’s not going to happen as Konnan said that they won’t be ready. They were looking for a TV deal and a sponsorship deal where the chances of success would be better. If they ran with no television and no sponsorship, it would not be successful so there would be no point. But they are hoping to run MSG in 2019. It’s pretty clear WWE isn’t against anyone else running MSG as much as blocking people who they feel would be successful running MSG.

Originally Posted by Observer The 7/7 Cow Palace show is listed for four-and-a-half hours live on AXS after the eight hour Bullet Club marathon that starts at Noon Eastern time with wrap-arounds by the Young Bucks & Cody ... Cow Palace ticket sales are a little over 5,000 at ths point. However, almost all the tickets sold are the most expensive, so it is likely already the largest gate in the history of the building. One reader who regularly goes to Japan town in San Francisco said they’ve seen no advertising or publicity anywhere except for one poster at a super market, which lists no matches and only four names, Okada, Omega, Tanahashi and Naito. I’ve seen nothing anywhere and there’s no local awareness of the event from anyone outside the hardcore wrestling fan base. Most area fans have no clue there is a show.

Most recent check had ticket sales at slightly over 7400.

Originally Posted by Observer Vice TV will be doing a series of weekly pro wrestling documentaries starting on 10/19. There will be ten of them in total on subjects that include Gino Hernandez, Dino Bravo, The Von Erichs and Bruiser Brody. From what I understand, the Hernandez one will have a ton of stuff that has never been reported. Hernandez is a subject that most modern fans aren’t familiar with since he died more than 30 years ago and was only 28 at the time of his death from a cocaine overdose. When he was around, there were guys like Ric Flair and Roddy Piper who had similar roles of being the good looking arrogant top heel and were better at it. But by today’s standards, with no Ric Flair’s or Roddy Piper’s in the business today, Hernandez’s out of the ring stuff, his promos, and his arrogance and presence comes off even more impressive because there is no heel remotely like him. I’ve seen the Brody trailer, which focuses on Tony Atlas, and it’s riveting. There are some really interesting things that will come up in all of them, but the Hernandez story is one that will be amazing with the many different paths it takes because unlike most of the stories that they are doing, which have been done in detail multiple times, the Hernandez death was one that happened, a million rumors came after, but nobody really did any investigation on it past the cocaine overdose aspect of the death. Kevin Von Erich said that he never opened up as much as he did as the crew came and spent several days with him and his family on Maui, where the entire family lives in a group of homes all together and raises fruit.

Originally Posted by Observer Just to clarify, the ROH contracts with the Young Bucks & Cody all expire at the end of this year. This is going to be one of the biggest stories to the year to follow because of the timing of all three, as well as Kenny Omega being due. All have indicated in different interviews that they are not looking at going to WWE, with Cody adamant about not wanting to go somewhere where he can’t write his own music. New Japan made a big move with the Bucks and Omega at Dominion and they are keys to their international expansion. But WWE can afford to put on paper terms that nobody else in wrestling can meet. These guys are the exceptions in the sense they can all make big money in wrestling away from WWE, and work their own programs, as has been shown in both ROH and New Japan, as well as have far more control of their matches and their schedules. They all work far less dates than WWE talent. They are also a lock to be in top positions outside of WWE, while there is no guarantee how WWE would use them ... They will also likely be at the peak of bargaining power after All In, because don’t think for a second that WWE wants any doors opened to the idea that somebody else is significant in promoting wrestling in this country like happened when Hot Topic, a major chain, picked up the New Japan/Bullet Club merchandise and then it greatly outsold WWE merchandise, and all in was in many ways probably the third hottest pro wrestling ticket of the year behind WrestleMania and Royal Rumble and probably the second hottest traveling ticket. It’s early to speculate on how this goes down, as there are three different key acts involved, and there are a lot of landscape changes going on. New Japan’s expansion makes New Japan top talent that much more important for WWE to take. The MSG situation is likely to put WWE and Sinclair into a battle and these are Sinclair’s prime wrestling talents. There also could be someone on the periphery starting up, or joining in.

Originally Posted by Observer In something that may have significance down the line, Lightning One Productions, which is the company owned by William “Billy” Corgan as well as the parent company of the NWA, is producing “All Us,” which will be a series of videos promoting the “All In” show on 9/1 in Chicago. At minimum, the NWA is working with the show given the probable Nick Aldis vs. Cody NWA title match (as the storyline goes, Cody first has to win the ROH title, he’s getting a shot in a three-way with Marty Scurll and champ Dalton Castle on the 6/29 PPV show in Baltimore), that is pretty much the only match that’s been talked about publicly for the show.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding Rey Mysterio Jr., the announcement of his return in the video game has led to expectations of a return. But this is like all the video game announcements of talent which are separate negotiations from WWE, but the historical track record with Sting, Bill Goldberg and Ultimate Warrior is that it ends up opening the doors and the deal is made. In this case, those doors were already opened a long time ago. Mysterio has met with Paul Levesque. At this point no deal has been agreed to but I expect to happen, maybe even going so far as to say I strongly expect it to happen in relatively short order. Really, it’s been pretty much more of a when than if since the reaction at the Royal Rumble and how well he was moving opened up strong interest from WWE. It’s a matter of working out the money and dates but my impression is they are close on both. This is one of those situations where WWE will likely announce it as soon as the deal is done because they very much want to break the announcement themselves. As far as what that means with All In, that I don’t know.

Originally Posted by Observer Cass has a 90-day non-compete in his contract ... Still, a ton of promoters, particularly overseas, would likely pay well for Enzo & Cass as a team. And the issue is the two of them hate each other right now. Enzo has clearly not gone headfirst into the indie scene and is looking at making it as a rapper. Before he was fired, he had openly talked of potentially leaving and trying to do other entertainment work, but his merchandise money was so big that he probably never would have made that break. Him saying basically that on a phone call that other wrestlers heard was essentially the reason he was kicked off the bus on that European tour.

Originally Posted by Observer Ric Flair will be undergoing surgery on 7/9. This is the last operation he’s scheduled for related to his bad health problems last year.

Almost all signs are that this upcoming version of the XFL will be every different from the first one. Oliver Luck, who was hired by Vince McMahon to be both CEO and commissioner of the new league, said he got assurances the league would be completely different from the original. Vince is also very willing to spend money because the Sports Business Journal reported that Luck’s multi-year contract guarantees him $20 million and it could grow to more than $30 million if the league is successful. Luck was considered the heir apparent to the position held by Mike Emmett as President of NCAA Football so it took that kind of an offer to take him out of that future ... This is a league that will either succeed or fail based on one metric, which is media rights fees. The idea is Vince will pump money into it for years until it gets a foundation and then it can get those rights fees. Luck said that they have a long-term goal including spending big money to hire name coaches. The other difference is that Vince himself is in so much better financial state. He has readily said he expects to lose more than $100 million getting it started. The other difference is the competition, because as noted, there are a number of leagues planning to start, with Charlie Ebersol’s AAF being the most serious of them since it already has a deal with CBS and CBS Sports Network. The AAF also has announced Birmingham, San Diego, Atlanta, Orlando, Memphis, Salt Lake City and Phoenix as cities for its teams, which would make those markets very difficult for the XFL.

Originally Posted by Observer If Vince McMahon had known this was coming he’d have surely waited to sell so much stock. In December, he sold 3,340,000 shares at $28.68 per share to raise $95,791,200 for the XFL start-up. If he sold those shares today at market value (and if he did sell, it would actually be at slightly below market value) he’d have raised $236,672,400 so had he just sat right for six months he could have retained far more stock while raising far more money, and funded a ton of XFL early losses. But either way, he’s at the stage where he can afford however large the losses will be at first. It’s just a decision of giving up or not giving up on the belief it’ll make it long-term. It’s long past the point that money will ever be an issue with him or the XFL.

Originally Posted by Observer MLW will be crowning a Middleweight Champion at their Battle Riot show in Queens, New York next month. The promotion announced today that Joey Ryan will face Maxwell J. Friedman (MJF) at the Melrose Ballroom on July 19 to decide the inaugural champion. This will be MLW's third active title, joining their World Heavyweight and Tag Team Championships. Those are currently held by Shane Strickland and Pentagon Jr. & Fenix, respectively.

More details: https://www.f4wonline.com/indies/mlw...ot-show-260586

Originally Posted by Observer Indies Roundup: Besides the ROH show tomorrow night, there is the Kenny Omega promoted New Japan show in Daytona Beach on Twitch and Bellator on Paramount Network. PCW Ultra on 7/27 in Wilmington, CA on FITE TV has Penta 0M & Warbeast vs. OVE & Sami Callhan, Shane Strickland vs. Flip Gordon for the light heavyweight title, Tessa Blanchard vs. Britt Baker for the women's title, Matt Riddle vs. Brody King, Rich Swann vs. Matt Cross vs. Jake Atlas, Dragon Lee vs. ACH and Hammerstone vs. Timothy Thatcher. Jake Roberts will also be a special guest. MCW's annual Shane Shamrock Cup is 7/13 and 7/14 in Joppa,MD. 2 Cold Scorpio will be on the show. Mark Henry, Danielle Moinet (Summer Rae), Milena Roucka (Rosa Mendes) will be making appearances on the 7/13 show. Beyond Wrestling Americanrana on 7/29 in Worcester, MA at the White Eagle has PCO vs. Brian Cage, Brody King vs. Josh Briggs, Matt Riddle & Tom Lawlor vs Nick Gage & Matt Tremont, Tracy Williams vs. Wheeler Yuta, Jonathan Gresham vs MJF and more.

Originally Posted by PWI How come guys from Impact are allowed to work companies with nationally broadcasted TV shows? You see Aries working ROH & MLW; along with Callihan & Konnan? Impact allows that because they simply can’t afford to pay the talents a full-time salary that keeps them exclusive to Impact and Impact alone. So, the talents work wherever they want, making sure Impact has the priority for TV taping dates. Until Impact Wrestling is in a different financial position, that’s how its going to be.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles on why Impact allows their stars to be on rival TV shows.

Originally Posted by PWI Variety reported that Dwayne Johnson's sequel to last year's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" now has a release date of December 13, 2019. That is an extremely interesting date as it sets the film, the sequel to the biggest movie in Sony history, on a direct path with Disney's Star Wars Episode IX, which will be released the following weekend. While Star Wars has traditionally been a juggernaut, the divisive reaction to the franchise's Episode VIII and the lackluster success of the most recent film Solo: A Star Wars Story puts the Jumanji sequel in a position to, for the first time, be a film that can undercut the success of a Star Wars movie, something that would be unthinkable even a few years ago.

Ignoring debates on the quality of the films and diversity/SJW complaints online, Disney seriously damaged the box office power of the Star Wars series by making it an annual thing. Was a big shock last year Jumanji managed to be a big box office hit but if Rock does it again next year against Star Wars, would just cement his status as a big box office drawing machine for Hollywood.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Jax vs. Rousey Raw Women's Championship match was discussed to be the main event of the evening, with the major emphasis being Bliss cashing in the briefcase and winning the title heading into Raw to next evening ... The WON noted that media was told Money in the Bank was going to end at 10:30 p.m. EST, with enough cushion for an overrun to end before 11:00 p.m., as the goal is for only the "big four" pay-per-views – Rumble Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series – to potentially run over 11:00 p.m. Early in the show, producers realized that the 10:30 p.m. finish was not going to happen, and the show ended at about 11:20 p.m. EST. While the feeling was that it would have been a risk main-eventing Rousey in just her first singles match and second match overall, Rousey's performances has caused WWE to be much more comfortable with headlining her in the final match of the card on future events.

Some other sheet news includes:

• According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, an official announcement regarding NXT's future is expected to be made very soon. Current rumors are the show going to Fox Sports 1 as part of WWE's new TV deals. https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status...42234472370177
• According to the Observer, WWE is currently considering suing the Bakerfield PD due to Monday's incident involving Shinsuke Nakamura. Main reason is due to Nakamua's return status is currently unclear and it affecting their plans for this weekend's tour of Japan.
• Also according to the Observer, AXS TV currently has plans for their Women of Wrestling show to start next year.
• In a "WWE Did You Know' type fact, today is the 20th anniversary of the famous Mankind-Taker Hell in a Cell match. Not only did the match end up as one of the most famous and influential matches in WWE history, it also cemented the legacy of the Cell and Foley's stardom status in the WWE. Post Wrestling recently released a retrospective of the famous bout. https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/0...-a-cell-match/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE: Jeff Hardy Wrestling w/ Leg Injury, Charlotte Flair Story in ESPN
• Why the Cruiserweights Haven’t Been on Raw Recently
• Laurel Van Ness and Robbie E Trying Out for WWE
• WWE Says that Lars Sullivan Has a Broken Jaw