[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Ballonmaker, Kazuchika Okada:

Originally Posted by Observer The company [WWE]also has great interest in Juice Robinson. Robinson has started to appear the last few weeks as a cast member in Being the Elite, which seems to be the best avenue to raise the American profile for an independent wrestler. It didn’t work out for Robinson the first time he was there, but even then, in Dusty Rhodes’ interview classes he was considered the best. His current profile is the biggest it’s ever been by far based off the reaction to his interviews and his recent matches, particularly the Cow Palace match with Jay White and the reaction it got. A number of New Japan regulars actually aren’t under contract, similar to A.J. Styles when he was there, so legally WWE can approach them without it being tampering. Others it has to be more nuanced, but they are making plays right now.

Originally Posted by Observer Juice Robinson did an interview last night after his match with Kenny Omega and said he's not only not going back to WWE but he's never going. We noted WWE had interest in bringing him back.

Originally Posted by Observer While this isn’t a secret, on the 7/20 ROH streaming broadcast, it was outright said that the Young Bucks contract with the promotion expires after the Final Battle show in September. That is correct. It’s just interesting that they noted it.

Originally Posted by Observer Another name that has been talked about once again, although they’ve [WWE] talked about him on-and-off-for years, and at first the hold-up was his Lucha Underground contract, is Angelico.

Originally Posted by Observer/PWI Indies Roundup: Pro Wrestling Revolver on 8/3 in Dayton at the Rockstar Pro Arena with Santana & Ortiz vs. OWE in the main event plus tag champs Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Neveah & Jessicka Havok, and Sami Callihan vs. Matt Palmer in a street fight. PWA is doing a Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles rematch on 8/11. PCW Ultra tomorrow night on FITE TV from Wilmington, CA with Pentagon Jr. & Warbeast vs. Sami Callihan & OVE, Shane Strickland vs. Flip Gordon, Tessa Blanchard vs. Britt Baker, ACH vs. Dragon Lee, Brody King vs. ?, Hammerstone vs. Timothy Thatcher and Jake Atlas vs. Matt Cross vs. Rich Swann (if he's healthy). Beyond Wrestling on Sunday in Worcester, MA has Joey Janela vs. David Starr in a no rope barbed wire match plus Matt Riddle & Tom Lawlor vs. Nick Gage & Matt Tremont, PCO vs. Brian Cage, Brody King vs. Josh Briggs, Tracy Williams vs. Wheeler Yuta, Jonathan Gresham vs. ?, Chris Dickinson & Jake & LAX vs. Jordynne Grace & Kimber Lee & Mia Yim & Skylar and Chuckie T & Orange Cassidy vs. Team Tremendous vs. Massage Force vs. Beaver Boys. Tickets for the Major League Wrestling return to The Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY on 10/4 are now on sale at www.MLWTickets.com. The event, which will feature the return of L.A. Park (the original La Parka) has been titled Fury Road and will be taped for MLW's weekly Friday night series on BeIN Sports. The following press release was issued to PWInsider.com: IMPACT WRESTLING & XCITE WRESTLING PRESENT ONE NIGHT ONLY PAY PER VIEW , Saturday Night, August 25th , American Legion Post 80 , 76 Main St - Binghamton, NY

Originally Posted by Observer Tickets for the upcoming NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed event will be going on sale next week. New Japan announced this morning that tickets will go on sale August 1, next Wednesday, starting at 10:00 a.m. PST. Prices will start at $50 and will go up as high as $300 for Arena Premium Gold seats. Those who who get Premium Gold or Silver tickets will receive a currently unknown limited edition gift. This would be the third show New Japan has ran in California this year. They started with Long Beach back in March, where the Golden Lovers defeated the Young Bucks in the main event. Earlier this month they ran the Cow Palace in San Francisco where Omega defeated Cody to retain the IWGP title. Fighting Spirit Unleashed will be bringing New Japan back to Long Beach for the second time this year. Fighting Spirit Unleashed will take place on September 30 at the Walter Pyramid.

Originally Posted by Observer Another confirmation of one of pro wrestling's worst-kept-secrets is a Combat Zone Wrestling advertisement that just came out for the promotion's Saturday night New Heights show in Voorhees, New Jersey that is advertising, "Don't miss one of Matt Riddle's final indy appearances before going to WWE!" Riddle has pulled out of a number of dates, most notably SummerSlam weekend and dates in September over the past week, including being replaced by Trevor Lee in PWG's Battle of Los Angeles. It is widely expected WWE will announce Riddle at the NXT show in Brooklyn, or some time around that period and he will start in NXT imminently.

Link: https://www.f4wonline.com/sites/www....mattriddle.jpg

Originally Posted by PWI Ring Warriors announced today that current Impact Wrestling Champion Austin Aries will be working their TV tapings on 8/8 and 8/9 in Las Vegas following a back and forth on social media that ended with Aries declaring he was coming to the tapings and wouldn't be alone: Well @RingWarriorsNet, I have plenty Title Belts. What I really want? My own playground with its own TV show...say on @wgnamerica? So I’m coming for more than the @RingWarriorsNet Grand Championship. I’m coming for it all...and I’m not coming alone.#TheTruth #TheGameChanger https://t.co/WmiEuVn29l — Austin Aries (@AustinAries) July 26, 2018 PWInsider.com has confirmed, however, that Aries will be doing a lot more than just performing at the TV tapings. Aries will be working behind the scenes on both the creative and operational aspect of Ring Warriors, which will debut on WGN America this September on Saturday mornings.

Link: https://twitter.com/AustinAries/stat...18832034930688

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The WWE reported their second-quarterly report on Thursday, which covered the period from April through June, including WrestleMania 34. ... As of June 30th, the WWE Network had a total of 1,787,000 worldwide subscribers with 1,742,000 of those paid subscribers (1,272,000 U.S., 470,000 International). To analyze their retention rate from WrestleMania, on April 9th the network had a worldwide total of 2,124,000 subscribers with 1,808,000 paid and 316,000 free subscribers. For the entirety of the second quarter, they averaged 1,800,000 paid subscribers as compared to 1,634,000 for the second quarter of 2017.

Originally Posted by Observer ROH is trying to book C.M. Punk for the Madison Square Garden show on 4/6. We’re told the chances of this happening are slim as he’s told those close to him that he doesn’t have any interest in doing pro wrestling.

Originally Posted by Observer Harold Meij visited Hiromu Takahashi in the hospital this past week. Takahashi’s actual injuries still haven’t been revealed, but given it’s 18 days as of this writing after the match at the Cow Palace and he’s not home, that wouldn’t be a good thing

Originally Posted by Observer The company currently has 24 full-time women on the main rosters, not including Stephanie McMahon and Nikki Bella. Stephanie McMahon didn’t answer directly as to whether or not she’d perform on the show. She did say that the rumored women’s tag team titles idea that went around during the week would happen, but not right now. Paul Levesque spoke to Sky Sports and said it was up to the fans if this would be a one-time thing, noting that they don’t need to do an annual women’s only or men’s only show, but can it be a regular show, he said it could be if the fans want it to be and they will decide based on the fan reaction. There are another 30 woman wrestlers under contract between NXT and the U.K. division.

Originally Posted by Observer Due to TNA taping on 8/12 and 8/13, Don Callis won’t be there for the final three nights of G-1, so Kevin Kelly & Rocky Romero are going to be the broadcast team. Callis is expected back for the big shows going forward as the way the tapings work and New Japan big shows fall, there won’t be another date conflict for the rest of the year as things stand right now

Originally Posted by Observer There are reports that Alex Shelley (Patrick Martin, 35) announced his retirement at the last tapings. He cut a promo saying what we had already reported, that he was taking time off to finish school and heal up. His contract here expires before he’ll be back in action so he’d be a free agent at that time. But ROH did bring him to television for a promo. There are wrestlers tweeting that thanked him for wrestling and acted like he is retiring, and those in ROH were of the belief he was retiring

Originally Posted by Observer Chris Jericho, who at first said that he would never work in the U.S. for anyone (and turned down New Japan’s Long Beach and Cow Palace shows), but WWE, has teased the idea he’d be interested in doing the MSG show. He’s also teased he’d be open to work for Impact. Don Callis, who was the brains behind the original Jericho vs. Omega idea, since he was friends with both, may open the door and Jericho did love their PPV this past weekend. Callis and Jericho talk all the time

Originally Posted by Observer WWE is attempting to trademark the term Starrcade for pro wrestling, which indicates they are going to follow up and do another Starrcade show in the Carolinas probably in November

Originally Posted by Observer The ten most watched shows of this past week on the WWE Network were: 1. Table for 3 with Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and Angle; 2. Extreme Rules; 3. Elias Live from Bourbon Street; 4. NXT from 7/18; 5. Table for 3 with Bruce Prichard, JBL and Eric Bischoff; 6. 205 Live from 7/17; 7. WrestleMania 2018; 8. Money in the Bank 2018; 9. Something Else to Wrestle With with Conrad Thompson and Bruce Prichard on C.M. Punk; 10. Greatest Royal Rumble

Some other sheet news includes:

• Seems Jason Jordan is currently dealing with a "Daniel Bryan" type situation in the WWE. PWI reported he still has yet to be medically cleared from his recent neck injury even though he's already past WWE's timetable for his return. Rumor going around online is Jordan's doctors have cleared him but WWE refuses to do the same for unknown reasons.
• According to the Observer, a deal between Matt Riddle and WWE is likely already done but similar to other recent contracts, WWE is keeping things quiet until they make the official announcement first.
• Also according to the Observer, NJPW is likely going to make a strong push to sign Shinsuke Nakamura once his current WWE deal expires in a few months.
• Based on some data from WWE's recent investor's meeting, WWE's Saudi deal is rumored to be worth in the range of $49 million per year. https://twitter.com/mookieghana/stat...62477643202560
• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Chris Jericho talking about changing his character for NJPW, his new "goth" look, and the Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club match at his upcoming cruise event. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...er-in-wwe-and/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Toni Storm Added to Mae Young Classic
• There’s Been Talk About The Rock Returning to the Ring at WrestleMania 35
• Various: Average Size of WWE Champs, Reigns vs. Tonga, Impact Schedule
• WWE Reports Record Revenue in Q2 2018, Stock Hits All Time High