[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer After the weak draft special on Friday night, combined with a monster NFL game, Raw fell to 2.28 million viewers for the second part of the draft This compares 2.67 million viewers the last time Raw had a draft-type special in April, and 3.62 million viewers for the 2018 version of the shake-up. One can clearly say that Friday ruined whatever drawing power the draft gimmick had left. On the flip side, if the draft meant nothing and SmackDown can maintain next week the number it got on Friday, that would be a great sign going forward ... As far as where the audience fell off, women 18-49 fell 21 percent from the first to third hour, men 18-49 fell 24 percent, which is almost unheard of, teenage girls fell 35 percent and teenage boys fell 34 percent. The teenage boy drop is also pretty much unheard of. Over 50 dropped 11 percent, which is a normal figure, so the turnoff of this show was with the 49 and under crowd. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.52 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.32 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.00 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer The firing of Eric Bischoff, which was not a shock to those close to the situation, happened this morning. Both Bruce Prichard and brand head writer Ed Koskey will be the main people in charge of the show going forward. What was interesting is that Bischoff was brought in partially on the recommendation of Prichard and the two had been working together on the show.

Originally Posted by PWI We are also told that since he was an executive, not a talent, Bischoff likely does not have the usual 90 day no compete and could pop up somewhere else if he desired. It should be interesting to see if someone decides to tap him for an on-air talent role as he's always been excellent in that regard.

Originally Posted by Observer In other WWE news, regarding the Crown Jewel show, Seth Rollins at this point is only scheduled to work one match on the event, his falls count anywhere Universal Championship match with Bray Wyatt. Rollins was originally set to be the captain of Team Hogan in the five vs. five Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match. As of right now, he is no longer scheduled for the match and his removal will likely be addressed on television over the next week.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding The Usos, after Jimmy's most recent arrest for a DUI in late July, The Usos and Naomi were all taken off the road. While they were at a recent television taping backstage, there is right now no creative for them nor return date, nor a decision regarding which brand they will be with. Because of that, they weren't involved in the draft.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling There was a screw-up with the list of talent available for Friday’s draft. It was told to us at POST Wrestling that the WWE.com side was supposed to list the available talent in alphabetical order but instead, the list went according to the actual picks for the first half of the draft. It was also said to us that the WWE.com site didn’t use the final version.

Originally Posted by Observer The reason Jon Moxley wasn't on the New Japan show and travel issues was legit. Zack Sabre Jr. also missed the show, and Kevin Kelly barely made it in time for the show. We'd heard some concern about the guys coming from Australia, Will Ospreay, Robbie Eagles and Gino Gambino, but they all made it. The worst of the typhoon is over although it did a lot of damage to the bottom floor of the New Japan Tokyo dojo.

Originally Posted by Observer Coming out of King of Pro Wrestling, the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 night one is set. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will defend his title against G1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2020. Night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 will then take place at the Tokyo Dome on January 5.

Originally Posted by Fightful Also announced for Wrestle Kingdom 14 is Jushin Liger's retirement bout. Liger will team with Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask to take on Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Ootani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi in eight-man tag team action. El Samurai will corner Team Liger while Kuniaki Kobayashi will be in the corner of Team Sano. Norio Honaga will be the special guest referee for the match. Liger will compete in a second retirement match on Jan. 5 at night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14. His opponent has not been announced. A retirement ceremony for Liger will be held on Jan. 6 at New Year Dash.

Originally Posted by Fightful If there's one thing Eric Bischoff understands it's how to sell a wrestling product in the best way possible with the assistance of the TNT Network. On the latest episode of the 83 Weeks podcast, see above, Eric Bischoff talks about AEW on TNT and The major positive they have working in their favor, their passionate audience. "I think the takeaway for me the biggest thing that I saw that I liked was the crowd," said the former WCW President after admitting he watched the weekly program twice. "I've always believed that the crowd, you know, if there's two women or two guys in a match with a referee as the third person in the ring, the fourth person in the ring is the audience. They're as much a part of the show as anything in my opinion. And I think what I saw Wednesday night from AEW was a crowd that was just intensely engaged in the product in the ring and in the show. And from a production value point of view, you could see it the lighting made the audience a part of the show and that to me was that was my biggest positive of that show."

Originally Posted by Observer Cain Velasquez on Ariel Helwani’s show mentioned that WWE is allowing him to work one more AAA date.

Originally Posted by Observer Roman Reigns spoke to Forbes about how fans reacted to the finish of Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend at Hell in a Cell: “I think you should express your opinions, but it doesn’t hurt anybody if you have a shred of respect. Have a little respect for the performers who were out there killing themselves for you. I didn’t like the Hell in a Cell finish either, but I wasn’t about to cuss some guys out who got hit in the head over and over. Bray Wyatt put his health on the line to entertain some fans to the best of his ability. I didn’t like it, but I respect Bray’s effort and willingness to go out there and do what you have to do. So, if you can, just a little bit of respect.

Originally Posted by PWI California-centric pro wrestling website SoCalUncensored are reporting Tyler Bateman has signed an exclusive deal with Ring of Honor and will officially start there next month. Bateman debuted at last month's TV Taping in Las Vegas, being put over strong with wins and an angle where he attacked and laid out Lifeblood's Tracy Williams. Bateman, who has been wrestling since 2001, has been a long-time California mainstay, holding the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood TV title several times as well as the AWS title. Bateman had WWE and Impact Wrestling tryouts last year.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling MLW has released producer Alex Greenfield, who was notified of their decision on Monday. There was no comment from MLW regarding the decision, but it was confirmed that he was let go on Monday. Greenfield had been associated with MLW prior to the re-launch of the wrestling promotion being a figure within their podcast space and then brought on as a producer for the weekly Fusion series. Greenfield had recently traveled to Tijuana for the MLW show with The Crash earlier this month. The departure comes several weeks before MLW’s first pay-per-view on November 2nd at Cicero Stadium in Illinois.

Originally Posted by Observer Jim Crockett will be appearing at Starrcast IV this November.

Originally Posted by PWI Q - Does WWE have same contract as other shows on fox? Can they be cancelled or not brought back due to low ratings or are they guaranteed 5 yrs on fox regardless of ratings? A - Their deal is like when sports leagues sign with networks, in that they sell rights fees. They are not like entertainment programs.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

Originally Posted by Fightful On Tuesday's episode of NWA Powerrr, the promotion announced they will return to pay-per-view on Dec. 14 with an event entitled Into The Fire. The event, named after the NWA Powerrr theme song performed by Dokken, will emanate from Atlanta, GA. No venue was announced ... The last NWA pay-per-view was held on Apr. 27. On that night, the promotion brought back The Crockett Cup and crowned new NWA Tag Team Champions. The event, held in Concord, NC, was headlined by Nick Aldis defending the NWA World Heavyweight Title against Marty Scurll.

TPWW Frontpage:

• Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross Traded to SmackDown
• Maria Kanellis Comments on Mike’s Release Request
• Eric Bischoff Gone From WWE, Replaced by Bruce Prichard (U: Bischoff Comments)
• WWE: Rollins vs. Wyatt Dark Match After Raw, RIP Ramblin’ Rabbit, Main Event Results