[slik]

From this week's Observer

* UFC's declining buyrates and losing Ronda/Conor led to FOX lowballing UFC and being more interested in WWE * The Bayley/Sasha storyline is going to continue through "at least" August. Vince thought about having them wrestle at Extreme Rules but changed his mind. * Vince directed there would be zero mentions of Lesnar on RAW, because he wants to sell the idea Brock Lesnar has walked out on WWE, as he believes it will lead to Roman getting cheered when he faces Lesnar in the future, since Roman is on TV every week. * Vince isn't sure if he wants Brock/Roman at SummerSlam or not, but Brock's contract is believed to end in August. Meltz speculates Roman/Lashley could continue at SummerSlam if Vince decides against a Brock match. * FOX is in 20 million more homes than the USA Network and SDLive is expected to draw 3 -- 3 1/2 million viewers each Friday night. WWE anticipates SD being the most watched show, more so than RAW, and will be treating it accordingly once the show moves. * FOX will air commercials for Smackdown Live during every NFL broadcast. There is early discussion about having top stars, like Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss, appear at NFL Games and cut promos when interviewed. * Current WWE viewing demos are about 65% male each week for viewers 18-49 and 50% male for viewers 12-17. Typical breakdown of viewers in ratings is: 0.4 - ages 12-17 0.5 - ages 18-34 0.8 - ages 35-49 0.9 - ages 50 and up Currently this means 2/3 of WWE's viewers are ages 35 and up. WWE expects the move of SDLive to FOX to attract younger and newer viewers, which will allow them to cater less to older fans. Vince expects newer fans to have less baggage on certain superstars, such as Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley, and that the move to FOX will help some top stars get better reactions as a result. * 40% of NJPW's ratings on AXS TV are from DVR, which indicates fans want to watch, even if they aren't home on Friday nights. Mark Cuban might want the show in a different timeslot in October 2019, as it would go head to head with the first hour of SmackDown Live. * Jonathan Coachman's joke about "Broken Ribs Going Around" after JR broke his ribs during the NJPW event at the Cow Palace, was believed to have been "A Vince McMahon joke" rather than a Jonathan Coachman original pun. * Jim Ross specifically asked that wrestlers stay away from the commentators the day before the show and, understandably so, is very upset about what transpired.