[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Classic WCW Rasslin:

Originally Posted by Observer While airing on the USA Network as part of WWE Week, NXT averaged 841,000 viewers for last night's episode ... Given the value of wrestling programming, that's not a number that would seem to make USA try to add it to the package regularly since Tough Enough did better numbers and wasn't renewed, though the 55-minute episode of NXT did air at 7 p.m. Eastern time instead of what is traditionally considered prime time for television.

Originally Posted by Pro Wrestling Sheet Former WWF manager Yamaguchi-San — who was paired with Kaientai during the Attitude Era — has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke. Shunsuke Yamaguchi, one-half of WWE’s Japanese announce team and the Kaientai manager’s real-life brother, posted an update on Facebook revealing the unfortunate news. He explained, “Some of u might have heard but my brother Yusuke aka Yamaguchi Wally or Yamaguchi San had a stroke. This is a pic from 1 am est. Don’t know how long he has. Some of his friends from school and Gong Magazine have visited him. Love you brother!!!” Funaki tweeted afterward offering his prayers.

For some reference, he was the guy famous for the "choppy off pee pee" line during Kaientai's feud with Val Venis.

Originally Posted by Observer Wally Yamaguchi, a very important figure in the Japanese wrestling business in the 80s and 90s, had a major stroke and as of earlier today was in a coma and his condition is not good. He was a key figure in both the magazine business, as well as the independent wrestling business having helped start FMW which was the first really strong Japanese indie group. He was a major figure helping Giant Baba with All Japan, and a major editor of Gong Magazine in that magazine's heyday. He was also Yamaguchi-san in WWE as the manager of Kaientai, and also worked for WWF for years as its Japanese industry liaison. His brother, Shun Yamaguchi, works for WWE today as a Japanese language television announcer live at the PPV shows.

Originally Posted by Observer ROH will be debuting a new world heavyweight title belt for Cody tomorrow night at the Final Battle PPV. Ric Flair will be appearing for House of Glory Wrestling in Jamaica, NY on Saturday at Club Amazura. The show is headlined by Zack Sabre Jr. vs Amazing Red. Those under contract to Lucha Underground have been forced to cancel indie dates for weekends starting in mid-February. Right now the battle plan is for tapings for the new season to start on 2/16. This could get in the way of some wrestlers working the February New Japan tour. Pro Wrestling Revolution has announced that Rey Fenix and Penta 0M are off the 2/24 show in San Jose due to tapings.

ROH link: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-belt.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI Variety has an exclusive interview with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson about his possible candidacy for President of the United States. In the interview, Johnson says that he will not be eligible for the 2020 election due to his busy schedule for the next few years. However, The Rock says it feels realistic to look towards the 2024 election cycle. The Jumanji star says the whole idea came out of the blue and he never expected to catch fire like it did. He said the following: “It was never something that I trumpeted and beat my chest and ever said publicly, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’ but as that story picked up, Americans picked it up and there was this sentiment of, ‘We’re not joking, and we would really love the idea if you would run,'” Johnson recalls. “In that, I knew I had to listen to the people and really, really think about it,” he continues. “That’s where I’m at right now — I’m well aware politics is not the business I’m in, so the best thing I can do is continuing to listen and learn as much as I can. I’m continuing to watch our presidency and watch how every new development is handled. I continue to watch our leaders in government, and like all Americans, I continue to be hopeful that our leaders exhibit poise, perspective and the ability to bring our country together during these tough times — which I don’t feel our presidency is currently doing — so that’s where I’m at.”

More highlights and link to the interview: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...ident.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI Following the Final Battle PPV tomorrow in New York City, Ring of Honor will return to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA for a TV taping. Announced thus far for the taping is: *The Young Bucks vs. Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor vs. Dragon Lee & Titan. *Flip Gordon vs. Marty Scurll. *War Machine vs. Coast 2 Coast - Coast 2 Coast will disband if they lose. ROH will also feature a number of Women of Honor bouts featuring Deonna Purrazzo,Mandy Leon, Sumie Sakai, Jenny Rose, Brandi Rhodes, and Kelly Klein, among others. ROH has been teasing a special announcement about the WOH division, which may the crowning of its first champion, something that has been talked about for some time.

Originally Posted by PWI It's programming for WWE Week on the Network, nothing more, but if it does a great number, the door opens for USA to be more interested in the brand obviously..What would you think if NXT did well next week and then went to USA as replacement for hour 3 of Raw? Do you think the ratings for hour 3 would go up? Would they stay up if Vince allowed HHH to produce the segment exactly as NXT is being produced now? Let's go backwards on this. One, if the series was being produced for the USA Network, it would have Vince McMahon's fingerprints all over it and like ECW on Syfy or the original incarnation of NXT, it would be a brand that was designed for the average fan in mind and would feature all the usual tropes of a WWE broadcast. Even the NXT episode that aired last night wasn't the same one that aired on the WWE Network - there would be massive changes to how much time they had and whether the product could remain what it is on the Network. It wouldn't be the NXT that everyone has come to at this point.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles on why NXT being a regular tv show would be a big mistake considering past history.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE have applied to trademark "The Most Patriotic Show on Television," obviously referring to their annual Tribute to the Troops show, the latest of which will air tonight on the USA Network. Meanwhile, WWE are opposing Mudder Technology, a company based in Hong Kong, who have applied for a U.S. Trademark for the word "wrestler" for use with cases for smartphones and other smart devices. WWE have requested for an extension to file an opposition.

Originally Posted by PWI Konnan, who is working as the head writer for Aro Lucha, announced the promotion would hold its first live event on 1/20/18 in Lubbock, Texas at the Fair Park Coliseum On The Fairgrounds.

Originally Posted by Observer This Mixed Match Challenge experiment is two-sided. Facebook will get to see what type of response and value WWE programming would have. For WWE, if Facebook sees the value as being worth a ton of money, it can use Facebook to either leverage up the television rights fees for programming for its next contract, or even move Raw, Smackdown or both, to Facebook if they make the best offer and the feeling is they won’t lose audience in such a move. Another key is with Facebook being worldwide and not just U.S., moving the key shows to a streaming service like that in late 2019 or early 2020, which would be the earliest a move could be made, would mean the payment would have to cover not just U.S. rights fees but the combined worldwide rights fees as if that move is made, it would affect every television partner worldwide. Between Facebook being clearly interested in WWE programming, and the positive news about UFC being virtually a lock to get an increase in revenue from its new contract, meaning WWE would be expected to get the same next year, the stock price has increased to $31.88 at press time, giving the company at $2.458 billion market value. There are analysts throwing out $400 million annual numbers, which has also led to the stock increasing and could lead to the similar big fall that took place the last time out when the rights were sold for far less than the stock market was led to believe they would be.

According to the Observer, WWE's stocks are way over-valued right now due to them being around 3x more than the average and only because everyone once again is expecting a massive boost to their next tv contract.

Originally Posted by Observer An interesting note on the situation with Chris Jericho at the Dome. We’re told that New Japan officials, while seeing that ticket sales for the Tokyo Dome show are strong, have found out in recent weeks just how little their audience knows about Jericho’s past in Japan. The fans all know that he’s a major WWE star, but that’s really all they know and it was surprising how few fans knew that he grew up to an extent in the Japanese business in the 90s with WAR. The current New Japan fan base, that came in when the company has gotten hot in the past few years, is similar to the WWF fan base that came in during the Steve Austin era that had no idea of any WWE history prior to that point and Jericho’s career in Japan was mostly the early-and-mid 90s, aside from working WWE shows when they came to the country, and he’s noted he’s had 60 Japanese tours which would be on the high end historically. The response has had of late has been to heavily promote Jericho’s history in Japan

Originally Posted by Observer Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae World’s Cutest Tag Team T-shirts are being test marketed at some Hot Topic locations to see if there is enough interest to distribute them nationally

It also appears that Impact and AAA will be working more closely together going forward and with Callis in a power position and seeing New Japan up close, one has to think he’d be looking at ways to bring in their key foreign stars, although in some cases that would also make it necessary to start a working agreement with ROH Brian Cage has been talked with about coming into Impact. He’s also been talked with about New Japan, after how well he did with NOAH in that incredible match with Katsuhiko Nakajima over the GHC title The expectation is that Bobby Lashley and Ethan Carter III will leave when their contracts are up, and one or both will end up with WWE

Some other sheet news includes:

• WWE is currently reported to have signed German MMA fighter Nicoli Salchow to a developmental deal and will start next month at the Performance Center.
• ROH recently released the updated card for tomorrow's Final Battle PPV event. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...ineup.html?p=1
• WWE recently canceled a scheduled show for early next year in Edmonton, Alberta Canada due to a new ban on combat sports in the city. The ban was passed as part of the fallout from the June death of a boxer in the city. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...orts-.html?p=1
• Edge revealed Curt Hawkins will be tomorrow's guest for the E&C podcast show as part of a 10th year anniversary reunion of the Edgeheads. https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR/statu...33789791412224
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 9 year anniversary of Jeff Hardy winning the WWE championship. https://twitter.com/ProWrestlingMag/...871872/video/1
• One of Booker T's former students and wrestler at his Reality of Wrestling promotion was recently charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Only reason he got busted was due to his car getting stuck in a creek where he dumped the body and a friend being called for help but instead called the police when he saw the real reason why he was needed.
• According to the Observer, Elgin might be filing a lawsuit against the woman who released chats between the two implying at the sexual harassment by Elgin and his wrestling school.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Jim Ross Says He’d Be “Shocked” if Hulk Hogan Isn’t Back in WWE in 2018
• The Rock Gets a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Video)
• Triple H Says We’ll Probably See Main Roster Wrestlers Move “Down” to NXT