[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The Wednesday night wars on 11/13 saw AEW up 16.4 percent coming off the PPV to 957,000 viewers (1.55 viewers per home), while NXT fell 7.5 percent to 750,000 viewers (1.29 viewers per home). AEW was back to a 0.43 in the 18-49 demo to 0.25 for NXT. AEW was No. 2 in its time slot in 18-49, trailing only an NBA game on ESPN that did a 0.64 in the demo and 1,664,000 viewers. NXT was 12th in its time slot in the key demo ... The pattern remains that AEW has won every week, and dominated under 50 every week but one (which is still won, but didn’t dominate), NXT has won every week with the over 50 audience) ... In the segments, AEW opened with a Kenny Omega promo, Jon Moxley vs. Michael Nakazawa and a Moxley promo and did 1,080,000 viewers and 600,000 in 18-49. NXT opened with Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza in a title mach that drew 738,000 viewers and 312,000 in 18-49. AEW’s second quarter was Dark Order vs. Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt, plus a post-match angle to bring back Luchasaurus. It did 975,000 viewers overall and 542,000 in 18-49, or losses of 105,000 total and 58,000 in 18-49. NXT had the ending of Rush vs. Garza plus Xia Li vs. Aliyah. It did 774,000 viewers and 327,000 in 18-49, gains of 36,000 and 15,000 respectively. The third quarter saw AEW have Shawn Spears vs. Darby Allin vs. Peter Avalon. It did 861,000 viewers and 489,000 in 18-49, losses of 114,000 and 53,000 in 18-49. NXT had a Finn Balor promo, Matt Riddle attack and angle for War Games with Undisputed Era, Tommaso Ciampa and Keith Lee. It did 755,000 viewers and 334,000 in 18-49, a loss of 19,000 viewers but a 7,000 gain in 18-49. The fourth quarter saw AEW with a Nyla Rose squash, an Allie interview and attack by Awesome Kong and Brandi Rhodes, plus the beginning of the Chris Jericho interview. That did 916,000 viewers total and 527,000 in 18-49, a gain of 55,000 total and 38,000 in 18-49. NXT had Keith Lee vs. Roderick Strong. That did 709,000 viewers and 316,000 in 18-49, a loss of 46,000 and a loss of 8,000 in 18-49. The fifth quarter was after MJF came out so it was the Jericho/MJF show, with the Cody run in and debut of Wardlow. That did 1,013,000 viewers and 585,000 in 18-49, increases of 101,000 and 55,000. NXT had the end of Lee vs. Strong and another post-match brawl with the War Games angle. That did 766,000 viewers and 339,000 in 18-49, gains of 57,000 overall and 23,000 in 18-49. AEW followed with Adam Page vs. Pac, which did 940,000 viewers and 560,000 in 18-49, a loss of 77,000 overall and 25,000 in 18-49. NXT had Isaiah Scott vs. Bronson Reed. That did 723,000 viewers and 289,000 in 18-49, drops of 43,000 overall and 50,000 in 18-49. AEW next had the big Young Bucks brawl with Santana & Ortiz and the SCU ring entrance. That did 899,000 viewers and 547,000 in 18-49, drops of 41,000 overall and 13,000 in 18-49. NXT had the Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dain non-match with Damien Priest running in, which did 672,000 viewers and 275,000 in 18-49, drops of 51,000 overall and 14,000 in 18-49. The battle of main events saw AEW have Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky for the tag titles, which did 968,000 viewers and 584,000 in 18-49, gains of 64,000 overall and 37,000 in18-49. NXT had Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim in a ladder match which did 747,000 viewers and 308,000 in 18-49, gains of 75,000 overall and 33,000 in 18-49. After AEW ended, the NXT overrun gained 215,000 viewers, the largest to date, with 422,000 in 18-49. These were clearly AEW fans because not only did they pick up viewers, but their median age dropped two years immediately. The overrun improved the overall show number from 735,500 to 750,000.

Originally Posted by Observer The high point of the show was the Kabuki Warriors vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch title match that did 2,454,000 viewers. The low point, of 1,680,000 viewers was for the beginning of the OC vs. Ricochet & Randy Orton & Humberto Carrillo match, although the audience did grow during the match. The Kabuki Warriors vs. Lynch & Flair grew 75,000 viewers from start-to-finish. R-Truth vs. Singh Brothers lost 280,000 viewers continuing the trend of the 24/7 belt doing poorly. The Seth Rollins interview leading to the Walter match gained 64,000 viewers. Rollins vs. Walter turning into Rollins & Kevin Owens & Street Profits vs. Imperium lost 59,000 viewers. Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade lost 319,000 viewers. The Lana/Rusev/Lashley segment gained 85,000 viewers, Erick Rowan’s squash lost 12,000 viewers, Viking Raiders vs. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews lost 245,000 viewers, Orton & Ricochet & Carrillo vs. OC in the main event spot gained 16,000 viewers.

In regards to this past Monday's episode of RAW.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter In the latest example of never say never, C.M. Punk showed up at the end of WWE Backstage on 11/12, and announced he would be starting on the show next week. The news was something of a surprise, even though it was known he had pushed for the spot and had taken a screen test, and at the time it was widely expected he’d be hired ... The first episodes of the show were hardly the type of show those involved with the station had promised, with the idea they would surprise people with in-depth and real journalistic coverage ... Even though there were definitely people within WWE negative of the idea of Punk, because of how he left, what he said on the Colt Cabana podcast that led to a lawsuit, the nature of the WWE business is such that if he wanted back, he’d be back. Now was the right timing because he was the last free agent AEW could have signed that may have been a game changer. Still, some expected him to be the exception to the rule with the idea he would be adamant about never going back ... Times are competitive and Punk did get offers from AEW, which opened talks with him in 2018, long before anyone knew there was an AEW. When Tony Khan first decided to explore the idea of starting a wrestling company, Punk was one of the first people he contacted. According to those with knowledge of the deal, he was given a money offer and obviously he didn’t accept the offer. He had one personal meeting with Khan and the two had dialogue over time. But it went cold at the time AEW as a promotion became very serious and started having legitimate success, although there was contact as late as June based on what Punk has said ... FOX at one point pushed for him to co-host the show. Those in WWE who were aware of it, noted negativity about it at first, because of the past bad blood. But later, when he got a tryout, we were told that the expectation was that an offer would be made to him. He had claimed to have not gotten an offer when asked. That could have been true, or it could have been to build for the surprise moment.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Apparently one of the reasons little WWC content has shown up on WWE Network after they purchased the tape collection is that Hurricane Maria, which paralyzed Puerto Rico in September 2017 damaged some of the tapes. There is said to be a ton of tape and film reels that have been salvaged as well as some that can’t be restored

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter For Survivor Series, it appears that Bryan was originally earmarked for almost a dream match three-way with Roderick Strong and A.J. Styles in a non-title match of secondary title performers. We were never specifically told it was Bryan, but were told last week, before the match had been teased, that such a match would take place with Strong and Styles, and that Nakamura would lose the title. The Nakamura-Bryan program that started on Smackdown has been completely dropped, and Wyatt attacked Bryan in an interview segment to start their program. Nakamura at this point is not scheduled to drop the title and has been put into this match.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter As far as Full Gear goes, the show got a largely positive response, with most, but not all of the negativity regarding the polarizing Lights Out match. Chris Jericho beat Cody in the main event to retain the AEW title when MJF threw in the towel ... As far as the stips go, Cody had said that if he didn’t win the title, he would never challenge for it again. Those in the company are insistent that is exactly what will happen, and that this is step one in trying to teach people stipulations matter. Most modern fans, who only know of stipulations never adhered to, are hardly going to buy it. That’s probably one of the reasons the stipulation probably didn’t increase buys, because it’s a generation taught not to believe anything and think of the loophole and not even consider that it’s real. Time will tell here but so much damage has been done to stipulations in wrestling that it may not be able to be undone. Nick Jackson sent out a tweet when people were coming up with their own loopholes and how Cody will get another shot, saying that they were going to 100 percent live up to stips.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The big question regards talent whose deals are up within the next few months, most notably Marty Scurll, Brody King, Jeff Cobb, and Bandido. Scurll’s deal expires on 11/30 and people have believed he was AEW bound when his deal was up from the moment AEW was formed. ROH is said to have been making a strong offer to try and keep him and there’s always WWE, because he’d be a lock to be a top star in NXT with his ready-made name to that audience. Cobb’s big thing is still wanting to work as much New Japan as possible, and Bandido is the same, but one would think everyone wants Bandido. In the case of Bandido, another option those close to him have noted to us is that he signs nowhere, with the idea he could be the top guy who is a pure indie and could work for anyone, the way Pentagon & Fenix have been

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter It hasn’t been announced but the belief is Jon Moxley is working the Tokyo Dome. From those in AEW, they believe that to be the case but weren’t 100 percent on it. The logical match would be Lance Archer for the U.S. title since Moxley never lost the belt in the ring. They did a set-up for Archer vs. Juice Robinson in San Jose. They could do a three-way, although hopefully not, or they could do title matches both nights

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Takaaki Kidani, the head of Bushiroad, did an interview for Tokyo Sports regarding their goals in building up Stardom. The first thing he said was that they are looking at bringing back Io Shirai and Kairi Sane after their current WWE deals expire. Whether this will happen or not really depends on things down the line when their deals are up, in some form with Shirai if she’s making main roster money. The key is whether or not they would like to return to living in Japan and in the end, the WWE main roster money is strong ... Bushiroad takes over the company officially on 12/1 and have started marketing, setting up media and photo shoots for the top talent. The goal is to take the company from sales of $2 million per year to $6 million by 2022 or 2023. They are pushing media that hits young women in Japan, trying to change the audience base from almost exclusively young men to both men and women, in particular trying to get the teenage girls that made Japanese women’s wrestling such a hit on television and live in the 70s and 80s, or the mixed audience of male wrestling fans and women fans that attended in the 90s. At the press conference when they bought the promotion, they pushed attracting more women fans. He also brought up the idea of creating an IWGP women’s championship belt, with the idea that the IWGP name of the title has become big in Japan

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The Austin Idol wrestling school commercials on NWA Powerrr, which were a spoof, is now a reality. Idol, 70, real name Mike McCord, has opened the Austin Idol Universal Wrestling College in Greenville, SC, where he’s lived since 2007.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The NWA officially sold out the third night of their 12/14 to 12/16 tapings at the PBS Studios in Atlanta. The first night PPV and second night tapings were already sold out. It is 150 to 250 tickets

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter There was an altercation on 11/7 at Tony Schiavone’s birthday party at Jimmy’s Seafood in Baltimore. The gist of the story was that Jimmy Havoc had too much to drink, was being talked with, apparently took a swing at Excalibur, who then choked him out. From those who were there, they said it really wasn’t as dramatic as it reads nor was the swing as big a deal as it sounds, although Excalibur did choke him out. One person who was there was actually on the phone with me when it happened and I didn’t even know it until two days later as he said it was so nothing if you were there that he didn’t even think it was a big enough deal to stop the conversation or mention it and pretty much felt it was a nothing and was shocked it became this story afterwards. Tony Khan at the post-show press conference said it happened but categorized it as nothing big and called it a draw

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling IPW in the U.K. has decided to end its tenure as a live event promotion. The company, which has been in operation since 2004, issued the following statement on Friday: "IPW can confirm that after several internal discussions, the company will cease being a live wrestling events promotion at the end of 2019. The company has a rich history of over 15 years, however with many changes in the British wrestling climate in the last 2 years, it has been decided that this is an appropriate time to draw an end to live events. Therefore, the IPW World Championship will be defended for the last time at Undisputed III, taking place at Mote Hall in Maidstone on December 15th, where we plan to celebrate IPW’s successful years of live events."

Originally Posted by Voices of Wrestling Thanks to BritWres Roundtable's Robin Reid for compiling this list of companies that have died/scaled-down since NXT UK was announced. For the record, not all of these companies are dead BECAUSE of WWE or NXT UK but it's undeniable that the scene has seen a collapse: Defiant Southside IPW:UK Clash Chaos Breed (hiatus) ICW (running a 1/4 of the shows they used to) Lucha Forever 5 Star Fight! Nation Pro Wrestling Kingdom Great Bear Pro Wrestling Pride Fight Forever (Haven't run a show since March) World of Sport PWU CCW Shropshire Wrestling Alliance (Haven't run a show since March) OWE:UK PROGRESS (drew 5k for biggest show last year, down to below 2.5k this year & far less shows)

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling During Friday’s NXT UK television tapings, they announced NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II for January 2020. Wrestling INC is reporting that the show is set for Saturday, January 11th.

Originally Posted by PWI During this week's episode of Total Divas, it was revealed that the original Wrestlemania 35 plan was for Asuka to defend the Smackdown Women's title against Sonya Deville at Metlife Stadium, but creative plans changed, leading to the Smackdown title and the Raw title both being defended in the Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch bout that main evented the PPV.

Originally Posted by Fightful Moxley, who wrestled as Dean Ambrose for years in WWE before signing with AEW, spoke about feeling unhappy during his final year with WWE on a panel at Starrcast IV. Moxley, who cited frustrations with the direction of his character as a key reason for leaving WWE, had hoped a heel turn done correctly would entice him to stay. But even that ended up not being enough and Moxley explained his feelings in those final months with WWE. Moxley called WWE so incomeptent that it basically forced him to walk away from what was surely a lot of money if he had decided to re-sign with the company. "The whole time from when I came back to about the beginning of the year, I knew I was leaving. But I was pissed about it. I wasn't excited to leave, I was bitter about it. I can't believe that they're going to make me leave. I can't believe they're going to make me walk away from all this money. Can [WWE] not write just one good storyline? Can they just give me one good promo? Does everything have to be f***ing stupid? Does everything have to make me look like an idiot? For f***'s sake, you're going to make me walk away from all this f***ing money because it's not like I wanted that money. Yeah, I want it, but I'm not doing that sh*t. So I was pissed. I can't believe they were so incompetent that they're going to make me walk away from all this money. Jesus Christ, now I have to go back to the indies, f*** it, let's go," Moxley said. Moxley said he started to map out what his post-WWE career would be like during a hike with his wife Renee Young at the start of the year. Moxley said he figured he would wrestle in Japan, go to the indies and make his own schedule, which he sounded excited to do.

TPWW Frontpage:

• Nick Jackson vs. Fenix Announced for AEW Dynamite
• WWE: ACH in Contact With Another Promotion, Hulk Hogan Has Surgery, CM Punk Behind the Scenes
• AEW Full Gear PPV Buy Estimates
• AEW Releases Their Top Five Weekly Rankings as of 11/15
• MLW Re-Signs World Champion Jacob Fatu to Multi-Year Deal