[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer More episodes of WCW Thunder are set to be made available on the WWE Network next week. WWE Network News reported today that more Thunder episodes will be uploaded to the Network next Monday (March 18). The report stated that 20 episodes will be added on that date. The first set of Thunder uploads were added to the Network in March 2018. The first 77 episodes of Thunder are currently available on the Network, with them ranging from the show's premiere in January 1998 to the end of August 1999.

Originally Posted by Fightful Battle of the Sexy is coming to WrestleMania Weekend. Joey Ryan announced a huge six person intergender tag team bout for his upcoming Penis Party event on Apr. 5. Ryan will team with Val Venis & SeXxXy Eddy to take on Session Moth Martina, Scarlett Bordeaux & Priscilla Kelly ... Joey Ryan's Penis Party is scheduled for Apr. 5 in New York. Also announced for the show is John Morrison & Taya Valkyrie vs. Lucha Brothers and David Arquette vs. Timothy Thatcher.

Originally Posted by Fightful We would have had KofiMania a decade ago if Freddie Prinze Jr. got his way. In July of 2008, WWE hired actor Freddie Prinze Jr. to join their creative team. Prinze Jr. best known for classics such as "Summer Catch," "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and marrying Sarah Michelle Gellar is a longtime wrestling fan who had his own blog on WWE Universe community at the time. Prinze Jr. didn't last long in WWE, leaving the company in February 2009. However, before he left, he claims to have pitched a storyline that we're currently seeing on SmackDown Live. Kingston was Intercontinental Champion when Prinze Jr. was hired in 2018. After losing the title at SummerSlam, he was involved in storylines featuring World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. Kingston and Punk won the World Tag Team Titles in October 2018. So, it's not entirely out of the question that Prinze Jr. wanted to elevate Kofi even further as Kofi was a featured player in the company during Prinze Jr's short stint.

Originally Posted by Fightful Braun Strowman is set to be an "Honorary Shield" member during the upcoming UK Tour.

Link: https://twitter.com/Slaythe_Beast/st...53014557949953

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The WWE Fastlane event drew just under 10,000 fans, which has to be a disappointment for a PPV event. We had listed the show as sold out last week, but that’s because checking to see if tickets were on sale, they weren’t. But at the time they had blocked off most of the upper deck. The 3/18 Raw in Chicago with Lesnar is expected to sellout with more than 11,000 paid. Neither Boston nor Washington, DC look to be selling out. This would probably be the fewest Raw sellouts in Mania season that I can recall, but certainly dating back more than a decade. The one thing about today is there may be less fans, but more are willing to spend huge money. WWE is taking advantage of that as ticket prices for SummerSlam in Toronto are ranging from $153 (upper deck) to $2,305 (front row). And all the less expensive tickets went instantly

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The 8/31 NJPW show at the Cooper Box Arena in London sold 4,500 tickets for the pre-sale (the place will be set up for about 7,500) and they were holding a lot of tickets back for the public sale which starts on 3/14. Ospreay was the first name announced and Ibushi should be announced imminently. It’s going to be a major show with most of the top stars, including a major star who has been out of action for a long time is expected back. I don’t know the identity but it’s been expected for a long time that Hiromu Takahashi would be back at some point around mid-year. The hoped for plan is with a good showing here, it will lead to a several city tour of the U.K. in 2020. Tickets for the 7/6 NJPW G-1 opening day in Dallas, TX went on sale on 3/13. They didn’t do a presale and first day sales were just over 1,600 tickets, which is a real momentum killer in this country. Since it’s a new market rather than a fourth time in the Los Angeles market, basically it is a sign that the American/Canadian talent losses have hurt the company’s marketability in this country.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Longtime Virginia independent promoter Marvin Ward and his Awesome Wrestling Entertainment group have gotten negative publicity in the Waynesboro, VA market due to a canceled show and tickets reportedly not being refunded. Ward had announced an April show in the city, with meet and greets with Undertaker & Kane as the main attraction, to benefit a local girl who was fighting cancer. Ward said that the cost of getting Undertaker & Kane, and doing the show, ended up more than $100,000. To do that, he needed to sell 600 tickets and with the top price of $250, it just didn’t work. He was only able to sell 118 tickets. In late January, they quietly took Undertaker & Kane’s names off the web site and the site ended up taken down. Ward said he was changing web site providers and took the web site down when he realized he needed to cancel the event due to lack of ticket sales. There was one web site that reported Undertaker being off the show claiming it was due to miscommunication with AWE on 1/11, and Ward the next day said refunds would be send to those buying tickets. Ward said on 2/5 he started sending money back on 1/16, but was still waiting for other money to be returned on deposits he had made for the show to refund the rest, and claimed all money would be refunded within 30 to 45 days. That time period isn’t over yet but the story was written noting some people have not had their money refunded.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Conrad Thompson and Jim Ross are in negotiations with Westwood One to do a new podcast, where Ross will talk more about his career and history and less about the present. This is not a replacement for Bruce Prichard as according to Thompson, they are going to continue that podcast even with Prichard working full-time with WWE

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter PW Insider reported that Gallows & Anderson have turned down multi-million dollar offers ... and they are expected to exit in September. So here’s the basic situation. Everyone whose contract expires anytime this year is being given big money offers to sign for obvious reasons. Many have not signed because they are waiting to see the lay of the land when their deals are up. For Gallows & Anderson, they’ll have a far better idea in September about their next five years than now ... With Gallows & Anderson, here is the situation. Anderson loved his time in New Japan, he’s 39 and has a family and has said publicly that he doesn’t want to be away from them for weeks at a time. Gallows is 35, so both have to look at five years as possibly being their last big deal. There’s also the thought of life after being an active wrestler. If AEW is a solid stable group, the AEW schedule will be less days which means more days home which is a real big deal because your kids only grow up once, but last five years as an active wrestler are a big deal in two ways. The first is the idea of making the most money for your family but the second is making yourself into a marketable star in some form for later life. Today WWE seems the better option but having the great career run in the U.S. that can make a legacy and money on the next end may be better outside, and openings post-career which are impossible to predict past if AEW doesn’t get traction than inherently WWE is better. If AEW gets traction, being a featured player will be better for long-term legacy than five years on the bench in WWE would be ... WWE has basically unlimited money now and doesn’t want talent to leave. But, unless AEW loses all momentum, the marketplace will be even more competitive at the end of the year than it is now, meaning it probably is better not to rush to sign anything.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Ricochet & Black are coming to the main roster. Gargano’s situation is uncertain. Dunne and Baszler both should be brought up just because it’s time, and Sane was on the list. They could keep Dunne down since he could be the strongest building block of a full-time U.K. promotion and there is a very good chance Vince will see him as not worth pushing based on size and look, plus he’s not a great promo and right now they are looking for people who can cut a 15 minute promo. Now, I know what you’re saying, given nobody should almost ever do that. And EC 3 is one of the best talkers in the company and they gave up on him without any promo time. Baszler right now would be one of the top women on the main roster at playing a character and Sane would be as good a worker as anyone. Sane’s size will work against her, but she’s the type of worker who can both go and play a babyface character that always gets over. Baszler will have to overcome the stigma of wanting people who look like their version of TV stars on top, even though Baszler looks perfect for her character, and the idea of introducing and pushing and investing in a woman who starts out on the main roster at 38.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Two guys who are getting rave reviews internally are Eric Bugenhangen and Stacey Ervin Jr.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Jerry Lawler, 69, said that he needs double knee replacement surgery but that he’s not going to get it and he’s going to continue wrestling.

Originally Posted by Lucha Central While AAA and CMLL have always been competitors, things have heated up between the two sides recently after both promotions found themselves on rival TV networks, with AAA leaving Televisa to join TV Azteca and CMLL replacing AAA on Televisa. This past weekend was the first time both AAA and CMLL have been on TV and through one week, the advantage belongs to AAA. Lucha Central has learned that AAA’s Friday broadcast on TV Azteca’s Azteca (which showed matches from their highly acclaimed Tepic taping) drew a 4.4 rating, with 2.4 million total viewers. A replay of the show shown on TV Azteca’s A+ network on Sunday drew a 1.3 rating, giving AAA a 5.7 rating total between the two shows on two different stations. In contrast, Lucha Centrla has learned that CMLL’s first show on Televisa’s Gala TV, which aired on Saturday and replayed the 3rd, 4th and 6th matches from Friday’s Super Viernes show, only drew a 1.3 rating (good for 1.2 million viewers), the same number AAA did on its replay show Sunday. The numbers aren’t altogether surprising; AAA has been on TV for years now between Televisa and TV Azteca while CMLL is only recently returning to network TV. It could also be argued that AAA’s airing time, in the afternoon on Friday for two hours, is a much more favorable position than CMLL’s time slot on Saturday. Regardless, this is tremendous news for AAA, whose Friday rating (and overall combined rating including the Sunday replay) is higher than what WWE draws in the US most weeks. It will be interesting to see if they can continue to build on the momentum, as well as if CMLL can build on their number with some stronger shows in the upcoming weeks.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Chelsea Green wrestled at last night’s NXT TV tapings (likely a dark match) at Full Sail University for the first time, but said on Twitter that she suffered a broken wrist during her match and would have to undergo surgery this morning.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Kevin Smith said on Instagram that Chris Jericho will have a small role in the upcoming “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” movie, which will be released some time this year ... Jericho also has a role in another upcoming Kevin Smith-directed horror movie called “Killroy Was Here.”

Originally Posted by Fightful Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, and Dean Ambrose are missing from promotional posters advertising upcoming August events in Toronto, including SummerSlam.