[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Going up against coverage of the presidential impeachment hearings that dominated the cable TV ratings scene, NXT ratings rose this week, averaging 795,000 viewers on Wednesday night. That number was up two percent from last week. Perhaps more importantly, the show was up 13 percent in the important 18-49 demo. NXT averaged a 0.27 rating, good for 27th place for the night on cable. The news was not as good for AEW Dynamite. That show averaged just 683,000 viewers overall, down 12 percent from last week. It was the second lowest viewership total so far on TNT. NXT got its first win against Dynamite in the 18-49 demo this week. Dynamite was down 11 percent in that demo -- to a 0.25 rating -- and finished 31st for the night on cable. That rating was the lowest in the history of the show. While NXT usually only wins in the 50+ demo, this week they won every category except for men 18-49 and females 12-34. NXT's biggest win was in the 50+ demo, averaging a 0.36 rating to Dynamite's 0.27. But the impeachment hearings also drew heavily from that demo, so it's reasonable to assume the show may have had an even bigger lead with no competition.

Meltzer might be off in regards to the idea NXT's viewership lead could have been bigger if it wasn't for the Impeachment hearings. Younger viewers were also pulled away enough to hurt AEW a lot since that has been their strongest demo base.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling While NXT has topped AEW’s total viewers twice and tied them last week, this was their first victory in the key demo with AEW hitting its lowest mark among 18-49s since launching in October ... NXT saw a major spike in females with the 18-49 audience up 57% from the past week and with females 12-34 up by 37.5% from last week. Interestingly, Raw also had a spike in that demo this week by 32% from the week prior with a 0.22 that ties their highest mark in that demo since the first head-to-head week. Females 12-34 increased 37.5%, which is a demo Raw shot up with earlier in the week by 32%. In fact, NXT, AEW & Raw also saw major increases in that female demo this week. The 18-34 demo was up 29% for NXT. For AEW, the show also performed well with females 12-34 with a 44% increase from last week. Dynamite fell among males 12-34 by 25%, males 18-49 fell 15% and the 18-49 demo was down 11% from last week. AEW did win among males 18-49 (0.34 to 0.31), females 12-34 (0.13 to 0.11), and were even with people 25-54 with each show doing a 0.28.

Originally Posted by Observer CIMA is getting a World Heavyweight Championship shot when MLW returns to Philadelphia in February. MLW has announced that Jacob Fatu will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against CIMA at Fightland on Saturday, February 1. The show is taking place at the 2300 Arena.

Originally Posted by Observer NJPW has announced the rules for Lance Archer and Jon Moxley's Texas death match at Wrestle Kingdom 14. It will be a no disqualification match that can only be won by 10-count knockout or via submission. There will be no pinfalls in the match.

Originally Posted by PWI Fox announced that their 'New Year's Eve with Steve Harvey' Special will feature a "WWE Match with Roman Reigns". The event will be hosted by Maria Menounos and Rob Gronkowski.

Originally Posted by PWI The Becky Lynch special that aired after NXT last night did 420,000 overnight viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI Colt Cabana worked last night's TV taping doing commentary for AEW Dark. We have not heard Cabana has signed with the promotion. For those who have asked, there are no plans for an AEW event in Florida over Wrestlemania week.

Originally Posted by PWI MLW today announced newly minted free agent Killer Kross will compete at MLW: FIGHTLAND at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday February 1. The event will be a MLW FUSION TV taping for beIN SPORTS.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling SmackDown Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston did an interview with Newsweek and talked about the new five-year extension that he, Big E and Xavier Woods signed with WWE and Kofi stated he has thought about putting the final touches on his career at the end of this next five-year stretch. “I’ve definitely thought about that. Five years is such a long time away, but you’d be a fool if you didn’t plan ahead. It’s really early to say, but at the end of this five years [it] might be the end of my career, not just from an injury or physical perspective, but just not being home. Being away from my kids is very difficult. We had to go an extra day last week and we had a live event and then media day in Minneapolis, and then we had TLC and then I came home Monday and then back on the road Tuesday. I’m doing the WWE holiday party in Stamford, and then I’ll go back home and come back to New York early on Friday to do a whole bunch of interviews and the live taping. All of that just to say that it’s a lot, and my kids are growing up, and there’s a lot of days that we miss. I’m considering hanging them up at the end of this five-year period, but you just don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen next week, but it has crossed my mind for sure. I’ve been doing this for a long time, over a decade. It’ll be 12 years on television in January, which is crazy to think about, but that’s the reality. You have to be thinking about those things as a family man and as a person in general.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling During an interview with talkSPORT, AEW co-Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes shared that there are plans to bring All Elite Wrestling to the United Kingdom in 2020 and the name ‘Royal Flush’ was thrown around as an event name: “So, Royal Flush was a real thing and we all actually thought it was a really good name until we said it multiple times and we realized it was a terrible name. Tony [Khan] was one of the first to spot that. But, with the U.K. and our representation with ITV and FITE, and the fact that the fan-base is really thriving and hungry, I mean, the U.K. independent scene got hot before the American independent scene and so many of us imports were going over there to do shows like I did with What Culture Pro Wrestling. I would say 100 percent that AEW is coming to the U.K. in 2020. I can’t be sure if we’re coming for Dynamite, a pay-per-view or a rare live event tour, but everyone is on-board with us coming in 2020 and if I’m incorrect with that statement, I will give you $500. No, I don’t know,” Cody laughed. “100 percent, you can hold us to it. We are coming to the U.K. in 2020 and we’ve got some tentative dates circled, but it’s a matter of where you’re going to hit as well. Are you going to hit as many markets as you can possibly hit or are you just going to do London and Manchester? What’s it going to be? But, for sure, in 2020 we’ll be live over there with AEW.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Tony Schiavone and Conrad Thompson covered the 12/20/99 episode of WCW Nitro for their ‘What Happened When’ podcast. As they were reviewing the show, Conrad Thompson brought up that the n.W.o. (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman & Hulk Hogan) are going into the WWE Hall Of Fame this coming April. Schiavone stated that it’s not right that Eric Bischoff isn’t going into the Hall Of Fame with them and said that he feels Bischoff was brought back to WWE just to be fired. Tony Schiavone also said that his family has been instructed to not let WWE induct him into the Hall Of Fame after he is no longer here. “Well Eric got f*cked over once by Vince [McMahon] this year, so why wouldn’t Vince f*ck him over again? You know what? That’s f*cking fine with me,” Schiavone said about not going into the WWE Hall Of Fame. “And I hope that I’m working with AEW until the day I die, because once it’s all over with, my family has been instructed… I’ve told you this I think on the air here before. My family has been instructed that if they want to induct me in anyway, postmortem, the answer from the family is no. So, don’t expect from me to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. You know, now I’m pissed off. I’m pissed off because Eric is not a part of the n.W.o. into the Hall Of Fame, and I’m pissed off because Eric got f*cked over by Vince McMahon. Not Bruce Prichard, who’s our friend, who’s a good guy, straight up guy, but by Vince McMahon. You know, and everybody knows that Eric was brought in just so he could get fired, and that f*cking sucks. I know it, and I’ll guarantee you that I’m right, and the fact he wasn’t put in the n.W.o. Hall Of Fame — into the Hall Of Fame with the n.W.o. confirms it.”

Originally Posted by Fightful Ember Moon is the latest WWE superstar to speak out on the lack of spotlight currently on the women's division. Moon recently appeared on WWE Backstage where the topic of the current state of the WWE women's division was discussed. Women have had a banner year in WWE with the peak being at WrestleMania 35 when Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair headlined the show. But since then, some have felt that the division has cooled off. "Since WrestleMania, we've only featured four or five of our female superstars and there is a plethora out there," said Ember. "It's irritating to sit back and watch these women who work so hard and are so passionate, that just want to steal the show and entertain that aren't getting that opportunity and aren't getting that platform. Just because Ronda is gone doesn't mean there isn't a women's division. There are so many girls; Sarah Logan, The IIconics, Liv Morgan, Dana Brooke. There's so many people reaching for that brass ring and they just need that platform. I want another Evolution. I want to give those women the opportunity to show the world what they can do. We proved the first time that Evolution was the hottest pay-per-view of the year. We deserve every year to have that opportunity." Paige made similar comments on WWE After The Bell, believing some girls are held back at the expense of others.

Originally Posted by Fightful As one of the biggest box office draws in wrestling history, Steve Austin knows what it takes to get over in the business. When it comes to the current generation, Austin has praised the likes of Becky Lynch and Kevin Owens for ascending to the top of the mountain. And now he has his eye on another superstar he believes has "top guy" potential. “Right now, the people that are on top are the people that should be on top,” Austin told Sports Illustrated. “But I called this two years ago watching his match when he did the favors for somebody that night, and I said, ‘Man, this Andrade kid is going to be a player one of these days.’ I think he’s proving that. The people that have tremendous success either have a gimmick that is so close to them that it’s basically them turned up or it’s so far away from them that it cannot be missed. It’s all about how you resonate with the people. Wrestling is a relationship, whether you’re a heel or a babyface, you’re establishing yourself as a brand. How do you make them feel? They’re living vicariously through your storylines. They feel strength, vulnerability, or power. If it works, you’re doing something that resonates with people in regards to entertainment and wanting to invest in a person." Austin said about Andrade, "He still has a ways to go, but it’s just tweaking that character. The kid’s a hell of a damn worker."

Originally Posted by Fightful Oney Lorcan has another interesting story to share, this time from his time appearing as enhancement talent for WWE. Lorcan shared a tweet that included a picture of himself in what was technically his WWE debut a decade ago. Lorcan wrestled as "The Carolina Panther" and lost to The Great Khali on the January 1, 2010 edition of Friday Night SmackDown (the show was taped on December 29, 2009). Earlier in that day, Lorcan claimed he saw AEW World Champion Chris Jericho taking a dump. Here is what Lorcan wrote.

Link: https://twitter.com/_StarDESTROYER/s...76553605414913

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc John Cena reportedly wants to have a big role at WrestleMania 36. It was reported today, via @Wrestlevotes, that Cena wants to do "something substantial" at WrestleMania in April. Cena appeared at WrestleMania 35 earlier this year for a segment with Elias, but word now is that he wants to do more than just an appearance like that this year. WrestleMania 36 takes place on April 5, 2020 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. It was noted that Cena lives within the Tampa area and it seems like this WrestleMania is important to him.

Originally Posted by PWI Q - There's been a lot of talk about Edge returning to the ring. Do you think this will actually happen? A - I do. We've heard that Edge signed a new deal with WWE that has a pretty nice upside. We also reported a few months ago he was in Pittsburgh for WWE business and that's where WWE Wellness Policy head Dr. Joseph Maroon is headquartered. My gut feeling is we'll see Edge in the Royal Rumble as a surprise (as that seems like the perfect place to make a big splash with a return for Wrestlemania season) and possibly even see him do a few matches on major events. I will point out that Edge has denied on social media that he's doing anything, but the talk has persisted internally that he's on the way back to the ring and I do believe there is something to it. We will see if I am right soon enough.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.


TPWW Frontpage:

• Injury Updates: Samoa Joe, EC3, Jinder Mahal, Nia Jax, Ruby Riott, Xavier Woods, Lars Sullivan
• AEW Dark Taping Results – Dec. 18, 2019 – Janela vs. Spears, 4-Way Tag Match
• Several Matches for Next NXT and AEW Dynamite Episodes Announced
• Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Returning Next Year