[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer The Raw Reunion show, as expected did Raw's biggest audience of the year, with 3.09 million viewers. The previous high of 2.92 million came on the Raw after WrestleMania. Last night's Raw was the most-watched episode of the show since April 23, 2018 ... It was up 26 percent from last week and 11 percent from the same week last year ... The rating is still an aberration in the sense that the best comparison number, the Raw 25th anniversary show, also bringing back all the stars from the past with a similar format, did 4.53 million viewers 18 months ago, so in a sense it tells you over 18 months they've lost 32 percent of viewers who would come back once for nostalgia purposes, and this show also had Hogan on it ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.02 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.18 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.08 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer Variety, of all places, had a major story on the decline in WWE television ratings. The story was titled that basically Vince McMahon has run out of excuses as they lead into Thursday's investors conference where the second quarter numbers will be released. With WrestleMania and the Saudi Arabia show in the quarter, the theory is it should be tremendously profitable. But WWE did indicate there won't be big profits this year until quarter three, when the new TV money kicks in. They noted Raw down 20 percent and Smackdown down 17 percent year-over-year. AEW was also mentioned. (thanks to Christopher Cruise and many others)

Link: https://variety.com/2019/tv/opinion/...es-1203273548/

Originally Posted by PWI The WWE stock, which was trading near $100 before they announced the first quarter numbers and then dropped signficantly, is currently trading at $69.90 as I write this. It will be very interesting to see what happens when the company reports on Thursday. The stock run up was largely based off of the new TV deals so if WWE has a bad quarter, it's very possible that the stock will drop even lower. I fully expect them to announce on Thursday that they have brought Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff in to fix the problems. I hope that the callers that get through will really press Vince on whether he will give them a legitimate chance to do so or whether he will keep overseeing things.

Dropped down by another dollar today. Took just 2 months for WWE's stocks to decline over 30% in value.

Originally Posted by PWI 7/22 THIS DAY IN HISTORY: VINCE MCMAHON BEATS THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN COURT 1994 - After 16 hours of deliberation, a jury finds WWF owner Vince McMahon not guilty of conspiracy to distribute steroids to wrestlers.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling It was seven-year ago today that WWE presented Raw 1000, which marked the beginning of the weekly three-hour format for the show. That show in July 2012 was promoted much more than this year’s Raw Reunion but to compare to seven years ago, the three-hour episode averaged 6,040,000 viewers and the 25th Anniversary of Raw in January 2018 averaged 4,500,000.

Originally Posted by PWI Earllier today, Chief Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. of the U.S. District Court Middle District of Tennessee today shot down Global Force Entertainment and Jeff Jarrett's attempt at an interlocutory appeal regarding the court's decision to to dismiss their copyright infringement claim against Anthem, the parent company of Impact Wrestling.

Originally Posted by Observer AAA’s show at Madison Square Garden on September 15 and their event at The Forum in Inglewood, California on October 13 will be available to purchase as live iPPVs on Fite TV.

Originally Posted by Observer Jushin Thunder Liger will be in action at NJPW's Super J-Cup shows, but he won't be one of the entrants in the tournament. NJPW has announced that Liger will be wrestling in non-tournament action at all three of next month's Super J-Cup events. Liger is also being billed as the "producer" of the Super J-Cup. Liger's matches for the shows have yet to be revealed. Liger wrestling at the events comes in advance of him retiring at the Tokyo Dome in January. The list of participants for the Super J-Cup has also yet to be announced. The tournament will feature 16 entrants. Will Ospreay, Dragon Lee, Caristico, El Phantasmo, SHO, and YOH have been included on advertising for the tournament.

Originally Posted by PWI The Hashtag #GiveWWEWomenAChance has been trending on Twitter since Monday Night Raw presented last night’s Raw Reunion event, mostly centered around complaints about how little time female stars were given on last night’s USA Network special. Last night’s Raw Reunion broadcast featured several segments devoted to promoting Becky Lynch vs. Natalya for Summerslam next month as well as Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle and Alundra Blayze (Madusa) all winning the WWE 24/7 Championship, but in short segments. The fact the women were featured in short segments, that there were no women’s wrestling bouts last night and that Melina (in her first WWE appearance in 2011) and Jillian Hall (her first appearance since 2010) were relegated to supporting, cameo roles all factored into complaints featured under the hashtag, which began showing up last night and were trending highly in different areas as late as this morning ... The hashtag comes on the anniversary of the week that WWE announced the first-ever all women’s WWE Evolution PPV, a follow-up to which has not been announced. This summer has been the first in several years that a Mae Young Classic Tournament has not been announced, either. This led to some complaints that the women's roster is back to where they started several years ago, which isn't exactly true. The hashtag brings forth memories of the #GiveDivasAChance hashtag that hit the Internet in 2015 after a short women’s tag match on Raw led to droves of fans complaining about the lack of opportunities WWE’s female cast were receiving ... WWE has not, as of yet, publicly acknowledged the response to how women were utilized on Raw.

Originally Posted by PWI Ric Flair was holding court at the hotel last night after the show, ordering round after round of drinks for WWE guests in a VIP area of the bar and having a slew of pizzas delivered. Flair's wife, the former Fifi the Maid in WCW, was with him. A number of WWE NXT stars were backstage at the Raw Reunion. Nicholas Cone, the son of referee John Cone, who held the Tag Team titles with Braun Strowman, was backstage visiting. Maryse was backstage ... Katie Forbes aka Chloe Hurtz in WOW was backstage with Rob Van Dam.

Originally Posted by PWI As noted earlier, Viceland officially announced the second season for Dark Side of the Ring today. We are told the current plan is for ten episodes ... There will also be an episode dedicated to 1999's Brawl for All tournament in the WWF. Jim Cornette and Butterbean, among others, have already sat down with producers to discuss the WWF's lone attempt to create a shoot tournament, which resulted in scores of injuries and not much else.

Originally Posted by Fightful The Heartbreak Kid has been part of plenty of memorable moments through the history of WWE Monday Night Raw. But it wasn't a match or a fiery promo in the middle of a heated feud that stands out to Shawn Michaels. “If I had to pick a favorite Raw moment, and that’s very tough to do, it would be Hunter and I with and Chyna when we were wearing the Christmas thongs,” said Michaels in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “That sticks out to me because it had absolutely nothing to do with wrestling and it was so unbelievably silly. But it was our job that day, we actually called that ‘work.’ That’s still funny to me. It’s not something many people could say they do at work.”

Originally Posted by Fightful When Seth Rollins stated WWE has the "Best pro wrestling on the planet. Period," he became the flag bearer for WWE. Since that comment, Rollins has adamantly defended the promotion he works for in the face of criticism from online fans and anyone who questions WWE's place in the wrestling landscape. “It just felt to me nobody was standing up for WWE when we have a lot to be proud of," Rollins told TV Insider. "If taking on a leadership role is what you want to call it, it’s certainly something where I stepped forward and put my foot down...The fact I had people from different departments shoot me texts to let me know they had my back because they felt I had their back. That was cool and validating. I felt really good I was representing many people who felt the way I felt." Rollins continued, "We try to put out the best show possible every single time. And I’m not just talking about Monday Night Raw or PPVs. I’m talking about every live event. I’m talking about every department. So, if you see a t-shirt that comes out that you don’t love, nobody is trying to put out a crappy t-shirt. Every department, everybody who is trying to do their jobs. Everybody that writes stories and gets in the ring, even if it’s two minutes to have a match. Everyone gives one thousand percent effort all the time. The expectations are just so high every single time WWE does anything that I guess there is disappointment at times because expectations are through the roof." The Beastslayer finished by saying, “Fact is everyone loves what they’re doing and wants to be the best. That’s where all the negativity I think stems from. The fact everybody wants to be so good at it and the product to be as great as it possibly can be that it’s easy to point fingers and say, ‘Well, I can do better.’ Or say things like, ‘They’re not trying hard enough.’ Until you put yourself in a talent’s shoes or anyone’s shoes in any department. You can’t throw stones. You just don’t understand the type of work that goes into it. Just having that negative viewpoint sets a bad precedent and a tone for everybody."

Originally Posted by Fightful Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe had to stall for time during their promo to reach the commercial break.

Vince's "no wrestling during commercials" rule seriously needs to be canned.


TPWW Frontpage:

• Possible Name for WWE’s New FS1 Talk Show
• AEW: Announcement Scheduled for Wednesday, TV Viewer Number Expectations
• Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring Officially Renewed for 10-Episode Second Season
• Raw Reunion: Sid Vicious Cancels, Scott Hall, Bella Twins, Bray Wyatt & JoJo
• Raw Reunion: John Cena Left Early, Rikishi & Pat Patterson Not Cleared
• Ricochet Was Not Cleared for Raw Reunion, So Seth Rollins Took His Spot
• Two WWE Lead Writers Were Let Go Last Week