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Old 09-09-2020, 07:25 PM   #1454
Emperor Smeat
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The Sheets:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Observer
Raw on Labor Day did 1.73 million viewers and a 0.48 rating in 18-49, by far the lowest for a show since the beginning of the ThunderDome.

Raw was hurt by sports competition with the NBA playoff game going against the first 72 minutes doing 2.71 million viewers and a 1.06 rating in 18-49, and the game against the last 108 minutes doing 3.45 million viewers and a 1.21 rating in 18-49. College football on ESPN did 1.15 million viewers and 0.35 and the NHL playoffs on NBC Sports did 958,000 viewers and 0.28.

As compared to last week, Raw was down nine percent overall, 17 percent in 18-49, and 30 percent in 18-34 ...

In 18-49, Raw was fifth behind two NBA playoff games, Inside the NBA, and Below Deck Mediterranean.

The first-to-third hour drop was eight percent, actually low, but that was because the first hour started low due to Labor Day. Labor Day traditionally has people starting the show later than usual, peaking in hour two, and then falling. Usually the third hour drop isn't as bad because so many tuned in after 9 p.m. as compared to a usual week.

In women 18-49, Raw was 12 percent higher in hour three than hour one due to tuning in late, although males 18-49 were 14 percent down, teenage girls were 12 percent down, teenage boys were 10 percent down, and over 50 was eight percent down.

As compared to the same week last year, it should be noted that this week last year was the season debut of Monday Night Football which did 13.04 million viewers against Raw and led to a huge decline from what Raw had been doing. But even though this was not against the NFL, the show was down 19 percent overall, 30 percent in 18-49, and 52 percent in 18-34.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 1.76 million viewers
9 p.m. 1.80 million viewers
10 p.m. 1.61 million viewers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Post Wrestling
For the first time in the “Thunderdome Era” of Raw, none of the hours topped two million viewers. The first hour averaged 1,762,000 viewers compared to the last two weeks that saw 2.1 million viewers open the show ...

It was Raw’s lowest-performing show since the August 17th go-home episode for SummerSlam, which was the last Raw to take place at the WWE Performance Center.

The final four episodes of Raw at the Performance Center averaged 1,674,000 and a 0.485 demo rating. So, this week’s number is still ahead of the viewers and right at the same demo rating ...

This week’s show didn’t advertise anything in advance until the day of the show when they revealed three matches late in the afternoon with Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy (that was announced as a Street Fight during Raw), Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee, and a Raw Underground fight between Aleister Black and Kevin Owens.
WWE's inability to announce near full cards well before the day of the show has been hurting them for a long in terms of show interest. Its also been a reason for NXT's struggles against AEW since AEW does a much better job advertising their next week's show by giving a near full card way earlier than WWE and NXT do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Observer
AEW's Countdown to All Out special averaged 357,000 viewers on TNT on Saturday afternoon.

The viewership number is up 3.8 percent from the Countdown special that aired prior to this May's Double or Nothing pay-per-view. That Countdown show aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time on the night before the PPV. Countdown to All Out aired at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday leading into the event.

In the important 18-49 demo, the improvement was more significant. Countdown to Double or Nothing averaged a 0.10 rating and finished 51st for the night n the cable ratings. Saturday's All Out preview special was up 40 percent in the demo, averaging a 0.14 rating and finishing 23rd on cable in that category.

There was competition in the form of the opening day of college football as well as coverage of the Kentucky Derby, which aired directly opposite the Countdown show and averaged nearly 5.5 million viewers on NBC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Observer
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed an appeal by former wrestlers suing WWE for claiming the company didn't protect them from repeated head injuries and concussions that could have resulted in CTE and other physical and mental health ailments.

In doing so, they affirmed the ruling by a Connecticut district court two years ago that the claims were either frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired and that WWE couldn't have known concussions or head injuries caused CTE.

Several cases that began popping up in 2014 and 2015 around the country were eventually consolidated in Connecticut and involved well-known wrestlers both dead and alive including Billy Jack Haynes, Jimmy Snuka, Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Mr. Fuji, Viscera, and more. An issue raised is that the wrestlers in question worked around the world for different organizations and not just WWE so identifying what organization brain injuries might have occurred in would prove difficult.

The Second Circuit also dismissed additional related lawsuits against WWE because they were filed too late as well as dismissed lawyer Konstantine Kyros' appeal of sanctions imposed by U.S. District judge Vanessa Bryant. In 2018, she ruled Kyros must pay WWE's legal fees for the case and said he repeatedly failed to comply with court rules and orders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PWI
The United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live PPV series, the first undertaking for a weekly pro wrestling series on PPV since the early days of NWA: TNA, debuts Tuesday 9/15 on In Demand and FITE.TV. The series will be available for $7.00 per episode or a bundle of $23.99 for the month on FITE. The series will be priced $11.99 weekly on InDemand.

The broadcast team for the Primetime Live series will feature long-time UWN commentator and former Impact Wrestling commentator Todd Keneley handling the play by play for the series. He'll be joined by recent NXT on-air talent Alyssa Marino, who makes her return to the United Wrestling Network, where she had appeared prior to her WWE tenure. The NWA's lead announcer Joe Galli will be on the broadcasts as well from his home in San Antonio and will be appearing to deliver breaking news, interviews and special reports. UWN President Dave Marquez and Mayra Dias Gomes will handle interviews. UWN and NJPW Ring Announcer Adnan Kureishy will be appearing in that role as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PWI
The Wrap is reporting that longtime WWE-NBCUniversal ally Bonnie Hammer has been moved to NBCUniversal Vice-Chair, a corporate advisor to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. Bonnie Hammer is moving away from the chair of NBCUniversal Content Studios, having been in the NBCU corporate hierarchy since 1989
Quote:
Originally Posted by Post Wrestling
AJ Styles spoke on his Twitch stream regarding the recent restrictions WWE has outlined for some third party outlets. Styles confirmed that Twitch and YouTube don’t appear to be affected and said the company wants its talent to stream and interact with its audience:

Let’s talk about the stream. Is it going to continue? And from the contacts that I’ve had, the information I got is WWE does want us to interact with our fans, and that means streaming. They want this to happen, they want you to have a YouTube channel, there are things they want you to do and be able to do and what we knew was a little vague at first.

We did different things and it was borderline whether we knew we could do it or not and so, those will be answered but streaming I don’t think will be one of those that are taken away, um, YouTube is not one of those that will be taken away. There will be changes in other areas I’m sure of it and I don’t know exactly where that is. But let me say this again, they, the WWE want us to be able to stream and interact with our fans and that’s exactly what we’re doing, that’s exactly what I’m doing. From Adam Cole to Breeze and Xavier Woods, Baron Corbin it’s what we do, it’s fun.

Styles also clarified several things about his news last week that he had previously had COVID-19 and how he quarantined for ten days:

Another thing I need to clarify is with the COVID. I had that like a month-and-a-half ago, whenever it was to the point where the CDC says you have to be quarantined for ten days. I got tested, I went home for ten days, stayed in the basement, was able to go to work because of the scheduling when they had it (TV tapings) next, it was ten days I was able to go back to work. The reason I let you guys know is that I wanted to let you guys know that for some of us it’s not that bad, for some of them it is. I just wanted you guys to know that I had it and that I’m okay – and had I not been tested I never would have never known I had it and I could have spread it, I guess. So, that’s good on WWE’s part for testing everyone, that’s a good thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PWI
Vince McMahon was one of 25 billionaires mentioned in a Forbes articles listing all the billionaires that dropped off this years Forbes 400 list from last year. His net worth of $1.8b (as of July 24 2020) fell short of the $2.1b required to make the list. The COVID-19 pandemic was blamed for him being cut this year.

Meanwhile, Shahid Khan, father of AEW's Tony Khan, with a net worth of $7.8b was #66 on the list.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PWI
UpUpDownDown announced they have been nominated for an ESports Awards:

Support @XavierWoodsPhD by voting for him in the link below!https://t.co/fEISrahYfh#esportsawards pic.twitter.com/ugUY1LGZB6
— UpUpDownDown (@UpUpDwnDwn) September 9, 2020
Link: https://twitter.com/UpUpDwnDwn/statu...94652973907969

Quote:
Originally Posted by PWI
According to WWE Network News, the following independent shows will be added to WWE Network this weekend:

ICW Fight Club 95.
EVOLVE 126.
wXw Shortcut To The Top 2020.
PROGRESS Chapter 94.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Post Wrestling
Gary Cassidy at Sportskeeda reports that WWE’s European tour that was initially postponed from this past spring to the fall has now been moved to the spring of 2021. The new tour lists six shows beginning April 28th in Cardiff at the Motorpoint Arena, April 29th in Sheffield, April 30th in Newcastle, May 1st in Glasgow at the SSE Hyrdo, May 2nd in Birmingham, and ending with an episode of Raw on Monday, May 3rd in London at the O2 Arena.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Post Wrestling
After NXT, they shot an angle where Robert Stone announced that Mercedes Martinez is out of the Robert Stone Brand. They filed a restraining order against Martinez.
Rumor going around is that Martinez is one of the official members of Retribution which would explain why NXT randomly abrupted Ripley's feud with Dakota and Rachel since they needed Ripley's feud with Martinez to be finished quickly. Also would explain the rushed cage match announcement despite their feud not being worth that feud ending stip yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fightful
Matt Cardona wrestled his first match outside of the WWE umbrella in 14 years, and he said doing it in All Elite Wrestling was an easy decision.

After Cody implied that All Elite Wrestling wouldn't be bringing in his friend Cardona, the opposite happened. Cardona opened up to Fightful how and why all of that went down, even after an EVP indicated it wouldn't.

"I mean, it was one of those things that Cody is one of my good friends, if not one of my best friends, so it was kind of a no-brainer. On our podcast, our producer would always joke, “AEW confirmed” in that nerdy internet troll voice. I was like, “Listen, nothing is confirmed yet, we’re talking.” Of course, I wanted to be and still want to be in AEW because it’s the best. For how many years did we hear, “The next fed’s comin’. The next league’s comin’,” and it never did, right? AEW it comes, it arrives and it exceeds all expectations in my opinion. They’re mainstream, pay-per-views, live on TNT, action figures. This is the real deal. So, who wouldn’t want to be involved in this?," Cardona said.

It was quickly reported that Cardona's deal with All Elite Wrestling was a short term one, but it became clear that Cardona wanted to be with the company on a more permanent basis. The former Zack Ryder tells us some more broad plans and goals for his tenure.

"Listen, I didn’t come to AEW to just get a t-shirt on AEWShop.com. It’s a very nice shirt, but that’s not why I came to AEW. I came to AEW to win Championships, to have great matches, to have fun, right? So, I would love to wrestle Cody for that TNT title or go for the AEW title. Maybe team with Cody for the Tag Team titles. But, just being in the ring for the first time in five months on Dynamite, it was just so much fun. I was very nervous before. I watched it once, I’ll never watch it again. That’s it. But, I loved it. I loved the whole experience. That’s what wrestling should be, I think. I can’t wait to do it again," said Cardona.

Even if All Elite Wrestling doesn't end up happening full time for Cardona, there's plenty of other places he could land. Right now, options are limited, but he's looking forward to navigating uncharted waters, as he has many times before.

"I love to the hustle. Whether it would be on that old YouTube show or the Major Wrestling Figure podcast, I love being creative and hustling and seeing the results to my hard work and now, being free, there’s nobody that’s going to stop me. If I fail I fail. But, I want to at least try. That’s why I was so excited being free. It’s weird right now, there are no independents. There’s a couple going on here and there. But, I want to wait until everything’s safe. I don’t want to take any independent bookings and then have to cancel them. So, that is a weird predicament, not being able to wrestle on these independents. But, hopefully soon we’ll be able to," Cardona said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fightful
On Monday's WWE Raw, Ivar of the Viking Raiders suffered an injury performing a suicide dive to the outside. Ivar immediately knew something was wrong, throwing up the "X" sign for himself as the camera cut away. An audible was called for the finish and the camera did show medical staff attending to Ivar after the eight-man tag.

Following Raw, WWE informed fans Ivar was transported to the hospital and suffered a cervical injury, noting that he is expected to make a full recovery.

On Tuesday, Ivar posted the following update on his condition:

It is unknown how long Ivar will be out of action for.



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