[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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.

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

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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

Originally Posted by Fightful 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.

Originally Posted by PWI 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.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter 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.

Originally Posted by WWE Network News 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.