[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer On a night where both companies took different approaches to the idea of running a show with no fans, AEW Dynamite scored a big ratings success with their version of an empty arena show. Dynamite averaged 932,000 viewers on Wednesday night, up 22 percent from last week. With news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic dominating the cable ratings, Dynamite finished 20th in the 18-49 demo. That said, the rating in that category was a 0.35, up 35 percent from last week. The viewership was the best number for Dynamite since January 15. NXT, on the other hand, presented a show with no live wrestling action and video packages building up their current feuds. It averaged 542,000 viewers, down 22 percent from last week. In 18-49, the show averaged a 0.16 rating, dropping all the way to 81st in that category. The viewership was the lowest to date on USA Network. The 18-49 demo number was the second lowest, trailing only the January 1 episode, which was a Best Of show that also featured the NXT year-end awards. Detailed demo ratings for NXT are not available since the show finished outside the top 50. For Dynamite, the strongest demo was men 18-49, where it actually tied for seventh overall on cable with a 0.47 rating.

Originally Posted by Observer On this week’s episode of The Bellas Podcast, Daniel Bryan mentioned wanting to reduce his wrestling schedule when his contract comes up: “WWE has been great. They’re gonna give me six weeks paternity leave, which so few places in the United States do that. So I’ll get to be home that first six weeks. But then after that, it’s not long until my contract is up. We’ve been talking about what we do from there. To me, in my mind, it’s almost like, I think I’m just done being a full-time wrestler. I love being a dad. I will always love wrestling, and I always want to do wrestling. But when I say always do wrestling, that means maybe once a month or once every couple months.”

Originally Posted by PWI In an update from something I wrote last night, the word internally is that AEW Dynamite will indeed move forward with the Blood and Guts match ASAP. There were rumblings it would be pushed back last night after the taping last night but we are hearing now that it will be happening soon as AEW feels its important to have the match take place as advertised since fans are expecting that storyline to climax. For those who have asked, we are told everyone who entered AEW's taping last night was examined and checked out by the company's medical staff (headed by Dr. Sampson, the doctor who saved Jerry Lawler's life several years ago) before they were allowed to enter the facility. As noted last night, everyone who appeared did so voluntarily after being told they could skip the taping and still be paid. Those who did not make the taping (or who miss future tapings) will not have it held against them and will be paid as if they appear.

Originally Posted by PWI Matt Hardy's music on last night's AEW Dynamite was written and performed by his wife, Rebecca Hardy. MGM Resorts is stating they will resume live events in mid-May, which would technically mean Double or Nothing 2020 would still be officially on.

Originally Posted by PWI Brodie Lee was always planned as the Exalted One once AEW confirmed he would be free and coming to them. AEW leaned into the tease that it would be Matt Hardy to help mask Lee's debut.

Originally Posted by PWI Last week I asked numerous WWE sources why they didn’t have some employees or trainees in the seats at the PC to make some noise during the matches. They all said the same thing, they were not allowed. They couldn’t have people in the crowd and they had to perform in front of an empty area. WWE is not under the radar the way that AEW is (or maybe was) so they can’t violate rules. They are also publicly traded while AEW isn’t. As Mike reported on the site last night, it’s clear AEW realizes that what they did last night may be a one time only thing. The city or state or TNT itself may say you can’t do that again. That is why all of the graphics didn’t say “next week” when they talked about upcoming matches.

Originally Posted by PWI All of the interviews that were featured on last night's episode of WWE NXT were filmed on Tuesday at the WWE Performance Center. Triple H and Tom Phillips' wrap-around segments were shot at WWE's TV HQ in Stamford. Once that material was filmed, WWE's editing team worked with a frenzy to get the episode put together in time for it to air on time on the USA Network. We are told that they were literally down to the wire and got the episode completed 100% not long before they were scheduled to air. A few readers have asked why NXT didn't mention Wrestlemania has morphed into a two night broadcast. We are told the content that aired last night had already been taped before that decision was made.

Originally Posted by PWI The Main Event, the first WWE Studios-Netflix collaboration will be debuting on the streaming service on 4/10. As PWInsider.com exclusively broke back in February 2019, WWE Studios had been working develop new, original feature films in conjunction with Netflix, with plans to release them via the streaming service. The films will be directed towards family audiences. The Main Event tells the story of a ten-year old boy who is bullied but dreams of growing up to become a WWE professional wrestler. However, he gets to live his dream earlier when he discovers the secret to having super-strength in his breakfast cereal, becoming "The Spaghetti Kid." The screenplay features small roles for Keith Lee, Sheamus, The Miz and Bray Wyatt, with a number of references to WWE NXT as well.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling WrestleCon noted on Twitter that they wanted to book Shingo Takagi vs. Brodie Lee for WrestleMania but Lee’s “new boss” didn’t want him wrestling in Tampa. The tweet has since been deleted. Lee made his All Elite Wrestling debut on the March 18th episode of Dynamite and was revealed as “The Exalted One” of Dark Order.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Alberto El Patron made an appearance on the talk show Nos Cayó La Noche and it was during this appearance that El Patron said he’s been in communication with WWE about a potential return. Fightful Select reached out to WWE about said comments and the sports-entertainment company denied those claims. Another source reiterated to the site that they would not do anything to make Paige uncomfortable which includes having El Patron around.

Originally Posted by Fightful Former WWE wrestler Zeda Zhang reveals why WWE's expansion into the Chinese market did not do well. In an interview on the Pro And Bro Wrestling Podcast, Zhang talked about her time in WWE and said she was headed for training at the WWE Performance Center earlier than perhaps expected because they wanted to get a head start on expanding into the Chinese market. However, WWE's attempt to push the Chinese wrestlers it had on its roster stopped when a live event tour in the country did not go over so well. "Talking to staff there who handled the behind the scenes stuff, they always say that at the end of the day it's a business. If they can't use you for something, the timing, the market stuff, you can't even control. They have to release you. The reason why they pulled me so early, like six months early, was because the Chinese were coming and because I'm Chinese, they wanted to push me. They were trying to get into China and it didn't work so well. The first six months were amazing, we had our own camera crew, they filmed us for promos all the time. We were the only people that had our camera crew filming us for content to push in China. They went on tour over there and it didn't go over so well [and because of that], our camera crew was gone. No one's paying attention to us now," Zhang said. Zhang then spoke about why she believes WWE's expansion into the Chinese market did not go over as well as the company had hoped. Zhang said WWE tried to mimic the NBA's massive success in China, but that WWE's wrestling didn't quite fit well with the people over there and that they did not have a firm grasp or understanding of Chinese culture to succeed. "WWE is trying to get into China because they wanted to copy the NBA and their success. But the problem is, they don't know the culture very well and you got to think about Chinese history with their kung fu and they're watching wrestling. The style doesn't fit with what they like. They think that it's too fake and when they had their show out there, I guess since it was TVs, some people might not have tried so hard and some fans were just saying, 'This sh*t is so fake' and it's embarrassing for the Chinese talent that got to go over there. It's that and also China is very prideful of their culture and so they want to show something that has more than just a Chinese face," Zhang said.

TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE Planning to Tape Multiple Shows Over Next Week, May Tape WrestleMania Matches
• There Will Reportedly Be No Battle Royals at WrestleMania This Year
• WrestleMania Will Reportedly Take Place in Multiple Locations
• Matt Hardy Comments on Joining AEW