[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw on Monday night averaged 1.62 million viewers and did an 0.45 rating in 18-49, among the lowest numbers in show history in each category. The numbers were down due to the NBA playoffs. The 18-49 number was the second lowest in the history of the show, with only an 0.41 for the December 14, 2020 show being lower. For total viewers, it was the fourth lowest in history. The record low is the same December 14, 2020 show, that did 1.53 million viewers going against a massive NFL game. Viewers for all wrestling shows should be down from now until they are no longer going against NBA playoff games. Viewers were down 10.9 percent from last week and 18-49 was down 6.3 percent. As compared to the same week last year, viewers were down 6.4 percent and 18-49 was down 11.8 percent. The first-to-third hour drop of 7.2 percent was on the low end, so it was more people not tuning in from the start than people tuning out in larger than usual numbers based on the quality of the show. It was a combination of the NBA, primarily, and secondarily, not announcing anything besides a Women's Tag Team title match and Xavier Woods vs. Riddle in advance. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 1.66 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.67 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.54 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer This past Friday's SmackDown averaged 1.93 million viewers, up 0.9 percent from the previous week. Aside from the previous week, it's the only time SmackDown has dropped below two million viewers since moving to the ThunderDome. SmackDown's 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demo was up 27 percent from the previous week. Year-over-year, SmackDown was down 5.6 percent in viewership and even in the 18-49 demo.

Originally Posted by PWI The 5/26 edition of NXT did 698,000 overnight viewers, down slightly from from the 700,000 that they did last week.

Originally Posted by Observer Kazuchika Okada appeared in person for the first time since testing positive for COVID-19 tonight at Korakuen Hall. He appeared at the start of tonight’s Road to Wrestle Grand Slam event. He said he was doing great. He spent most of the promo talking about still wanting his match for the IWGP World Heavyweight title at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome. He closed the promo by saying that next time people see him, he will be in his ring gear. Okada was pulled from the second night of Wrestling Dontaku and was later confirmed to have COVID-19. Taichi and El Desperado have also since confirmed that they too have tested positive. NJPW has confirmed that nine wrestlers overall tested positive following their May 4 event.

Originally Posted by Observer Edge and Sasha Banks are featured on advertising for the Friday, July 16 episode of SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, which is the first show in WWE’s return to touring. Banks is also advertised for WWE’s Money in the Bank PPV at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on Sunday, July 18. Edge hasn’t appeared on WWE television since WrestleMania 37. Banks hasn’t appeared since the post-WrestleMania episode of SmackDown.

Links: https://www.wwe.com/friday-night-smackdown-houston-tx , https://dickiesarena.com/event/wwe-money-in-the-bank/

Originally Posted by Observer PWInsider reported that it was announced during an “all hands on deck” meeting today that WWE employees will be returning to their offices in Stamford, Connecticut starting this July. The report noted that some departments will be back doing in-person work full-time, while others may rotate from home to office. The meeting was led by WWE president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan and chief financial officer Kristina Salen.

Originally Posted by Observer Will Ospreay posted a tweet today giving an update on his neck injury: “Had my physio pop over the house today & after further digging I’m now being referred for another MRI on my lower back as well for fears I may have the same issue in my neck. Things ain’t looking good, but I’m determined to comeback this year. Thanks for all the support.”

Originally Posted by Observer In an interview with Comicbook.com, Cody Rhodes spoke about why AEW isn’t planning to change the name of the TNT Championship despite Dynamite and Rampage moving to TBS in 2022: “I don't want to drop any spoilers, but I mean, I'll drop a spoiler. I don't think we're going to change the title's name one bit. TNT is the place that the first alternative challenger brand in two decades appeared on. Their excitement, our partners at WarnerMedia, and the TNT title, as I've stated, I think it is, if not the most important title in wrestling, the second most important title in wrestling. I don't see us changing that name, and I think that's kind of across the board. I don't think you'll find anybody in management or Tony himself who wants to change that name. We'll always roll with the punches and we'll always pivot, but I'm 99 percent sure the TNT title stays the TNT title.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Brandon Thurston at Wrestlenomics reports that the total number of employees cut by WWE this week is approximately 60. Thurston adds that Susan Levison, the head of WWE Studios (who was named the head of the division in March 2019) was among the cut that included executives Jayar Donlan, James Rosenstock, Markham Nolan, and Brian Pellegatto.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The AEW Ticket Information account (which is not an official AEW account) that takes information straight from Ticketmaster to gauge tickets sold lists this Sunday’s Double or Nothing at just under 4,000 at Daily’s Place.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Stephanie McMahon was interviewed as part of the Leaders Business Conference and discussed the licensing deal of the WWE Network’s domestic rights to Peacock. One interesting note she shared was that the company is receiving less data than the prior in-house version of the network: "From a benefits perspective, it allows us to focus on what we do best, which is really the content production and storytelling. It’s consistent with that, we’re still getting our data – not as much data, so maybe that’s a little bit of a downside there. But when you think about the economics, scale, and reach and of course, the added value for our fans. Our fans were paying $9.99 per month for all of WWE Network and now on Peacock they have the opportunity – if they want to continue to pay $9.99 they certainly can for the ad-free model, they also then get all the additional content across Peacock including the Olympics, The Office, really premier content and in addition that, they can also do the $4.99 model which is the ad-supported model, or there’s even the free model as well. So, it’s added value for our fans, economic, scale & reach for WWE and really reaching more people and bringing them into the fold."

Originally Posted by Fightful AEW has new shirts for Wardlow and Adam Page. There's currently a 20% off sale at Shop AEW running from today until Monday evening at 11 p.m. eastern time.

Originally Posted by Fightful Tama Tonga says there is unrest all over the world. Following the news of Will Ospreay vacating the IWGP World Heavyweight Title due to a neck injury, it was reported by Voices of Wrestling that there was "gaijin unrest" in NJPW over how the company has handled the COVID situation ... Speaking on his Tama's Island podcast, Tama Tonga addressed the report of unrest. "There is no 'unrest' here. If anybody is unrest, they are keeping it quiet and to themselves and talking shit to dirtsheets. Maybe one or two, but that's anybody. There is unrest in WWE, unrest in AEW. Guys at McDonald's are unrest. There are Japanese wrestlers that are unrest. That's dumb shit. Gaijin mass exodus? What the hell," he said. "If anything, their contract might be up and now that wrestling is flourishing in America, there are better opportunities that people may want to leave. I say, to all the foreigners, I'm super happy where I'm at. As long as [money] keeps coming through, I'm fine. I think some foreigners, their contract is up, they might decide to move elsewhere to grow as a performer. AEW is hot. IMPACT is IMPACT. NXT, NXT UK, WWE. When it's time and people want to leave, they can do. The situation in Japan is a little iffy because of COVID, but we're dealing with it and I think we're fine. We're trying to maneuver and navigate ourselves throughout it. Unrest. When you say 'gaijin' it separates us from the Japanese wrestlers like we aren't on the same boat. Everybody is unrest and trying to figure it out. Whoever is creating these rumors is not understanding the situation. We're all on the same boat and dealing with this. How you handle it mentally is up to you. If the foreigners are not handling it well, then, fuck you. We're all dealing with it. Any foreigners bitching, fuck you." Tama continued, unhappy that everyone was grouped together. "When you group the foreigners and the term 'gaijin unrest' is used, you're grouping all of us that don't want to be on that boat. For us that are happy and love what we're doing, we're here. To group us together, you're being a coward," he stated.

TPWW Frontpage:

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