[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter We’ll have a more detailed look next week, but the WWE financial numbers, while beating profit estimates, indicated far more core business declines ... The decline in ratings since the FOX deal started and with NXT was not brought up, nor AEW’s success against NXT, either by the company or those asking questions, who were more concerned with overseas television contracts as opposed to consumer engagement in the product. The other key is that WWE lost $3.5 million during the quarter on their house show business. They have never lost $3.5 million on house shows over the course of a year, let alone a quarter. The losses were such even with canceling a number of shows, as well as doing a number of Supershows with stars from both brands, which in theory, although this didn’t happen, should have led to increased attendance. House show business doesn’t look bad on the surface, falling from a 4,500 average to 4,400. But that’s misleading because they produced 86 shows in North America, which were 29 television shoots and 57 house shows. The house shows draw significantly lower so that will weigh more heavily downward on the average. This year they were down to 67 shows, again with 29 television shots but only 38 house shows. They did increase overseas shows from four to seven, but that average dropped from 5,600 to 4,500. Ticket sales declined from $22.4 million in North America and $2.3 million outside North America to $18.3 million in North America and $2.3 million outside, but that’s also a misleading stat with 74 shows instead of 90. The gist is house shows are losing significant money for the first time, which doesn’t bode well for the industry as a whole. If the market leader can’t make money touring, what does that say for the prospects of doing so with the No. two, three or four group. Luckily house shows for WWE are a small part of their overall business, but they are still the constant to determine how many true customers the company is making and the strength of the brand to consumers. NXT averaged 817 paid and $32,287 per show in the third quarter of 2018. This past quarter attendance dropped to 693 paid on average and $26,467 gross per show.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter [Tyson] Fury said that the original idea talked with him about was a Crown Jewel match with Lesnar, but the idea changed when they were able to sign Velasquez. According to those internally, Lesnar vs. Fury was discussed but never got past early discussions, likely due to Velasquez having the storyline from the past and being the bigger star in the U.S. market, which is WWE’s primary market, and for Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t the matchups that were important as much as delivering matches with Fury and Velasquez

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Balor is being advertised on Smackdown brand shows on the U.K. tour but we’re told the decision has changed and because of his being with NXT, he won’t be on the tour. Before they made the move to put him on NXT, the plan was for him to be on the Smackdown crew. When he lost to Wyatt badly, the idea was he’d go on his sabbatical and switch to Smackdown on his return, but then when the ratings ended up going the way they did, he was moved to NXT with the idea that his star power could make more of a difference there

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The WWE Backstage show, which has had two introduction shows, one right after baseball playoffs and the other right after Smackdown this past week on FS 1, starts in its new regular Tuesday at 11 p.m. time slot on 11/5. Cena and Rob Gronkowski will be the guests. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet will have a regular role on the show, likely as the reporter to break news in the role Ariel Helwani had on the UFC version of the show. I didn’t hear of any other names up for that spot

Satin has been very public the past few months about trying to get a job in WWE and why he's been slanting a lot more pro-WWE online. He was also the one intitally trying to downplay last night's Saudi issues as being nothing more than just plane-related problems.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter In the segment-by-segment, the high point for AEW was 880,000 in the first segment. The low point was 701,000 for the Cody and Tony Schiavone car ride and Best Friends & Orange Cassidy vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver & QT Marshall. Hikaru Shida vs. Shanna lost 85,000 viewers. The end of Shida vs. Shanna and the angle with Ortiz & Santana and the Rock & Roll Express lost 60,000 viewers. The Cody car ride and Best Friend s match lost 34,000 viewers,. The Cody/Chris Jericho contract signing and beating of Dustin Rhodes by Jake Hager gained 51,000 viewers. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Jack Evans & Angelico & Kip Sabian lost 45,000 viewers. The end of that match plus the Jon Moxley/Peter Avalon angle and Moxley promo gained 9,000 viewers. And the Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian tag title win over Pentagon Jr. & Fenix gained 55,000 viewers to 781,000. NXT did very close to AEW from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox, going against the Jericho contract signing and Young Bucks & Omega match. The AEW edge was 730,000 to 679,000 during that half hour, the closest it has come. But NXT collapsed in the last half hour of the show with the Tyler Bate vs. Cameron Grimes match and tag title match, with the head-to-head tag title matches doing 781,000 to 467,000. For NXT, the Finn Balor promo grew 30,000 viewers. I had expected Balor promo vs. Hikaru Shida to be close, but AEW had a 795,000 to 607,000 edge. Bronson Reed vs. Shane Thorne lost 62,000 viewers. The women’s tag title match gained 143,000 viewers, so they ended up meaning far more than Balor. The War Games angle after the match lost 39,000 viewers. Grimes vs. Bate lost 163,000 viewers. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Matt Riddle & Keith Lee lost 27,000 viewers in the head-to-head, but when AEW ended, they gained 145,000 viewers in the overrun so that’s probably a lot of AEW viewers. It probably also kills them in the last quarter because fans watch the NXT main events in fewer numbers knowing they can watch the AEW closing angle and miss nothing on NXT and still see its closing angle.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter A video patterned after the character Sans has led to a lot of talk regarding a relationship between New Japan Pro Wrestling and AEW. The video, which played for Kenny Omega’s ring entrance on the 10/30 Dynamite show from Charleston, WV, had a message and gave a very cryptic message regarding Kota Ibushi and Omega. The video included a character of Ibushi holding his G-1 trophy. The rule of thumb with these guys is never do a tease that isn’t going to pay off. But we’re told emphatically there is nothing going on in the direction of Ibushi in AEW or AEW working with New Japan from people on both sides who would know. In fact, the video was closer to Cody sledge hammering the throne in meaning than signaling a working relationship and the return of the Golden Lovers ... The story behind the video does have its deep personal meaning and it plays off a similar video that Omega used at the 1/4 show at the Tokyo Dome. The story is that the universe of “Kenny’s Quest” is very similar to one featured in a hit, award winning video game, Undertale. Omega felt there were parallels in that game to his relationship right now with New Japan and he was behind it ... The video on Dynamite was meant as the continuation of the Tokyo Dome story. The ominous, evil being could be seen as New Japan, or whatever ominous evil the viewer wants to see.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Regarding La Parka and his condition, the only news of the past week is El Hijo del Santo said he talked with Parka’s daughter who said he underwent a second neck surgery. Parka’s son, who wrestles as Karis La Momia Jr. (Parka was Karis La Momia prior to becoming La Parka Jr., and then just La Parka after AAA had its falling out with the original La Parka, who is now L.A. Park), denied the story only saying his father is in stable condition and sedated

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Rush did an interview with Solo Wrestling. He said he wanted to keep working in CMLL but he couldn’t come to an agreement with the new boss (this was after CMLL cut his guarantee, believed to be in half) ... He said he is open to returning to CMLL with on a per show basis like the other outsiders do, although aside from Gilbert El Boricua, CMLL hasn’t been using the others of late. Rush was critical of CMLL for not bringing in more bigger names from New Japan and ROH. He said he’s not interested in signing a contract with anyone in Mexico. He said he’s had talks with Konnan and Dorian Roldan, but they haven’t reached an agreement. He said he’d working on a per-show deal with NLL (Alberto’s promotion) and would do the same with AAA ... He also complained about CMLL’s treatment of his brother, Dragon Lee, saying they didn’t treat him fairly saying he was fired because Rush left. That and because they told him not to work PWG and he did anyway. Rush said that three of the best promotions in the world (New Japan and WWE are two, I would presume AEW is the other one but he could mean ROH or AAA) want Dragon Lee but he’s not making any decisions until the new year

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter This week was the U.K. tour which did not do well. We didn’t get official numbers from the tour but 10/25 in London did about 400 at York Hall which is terrible, 10/26 in Newport, Wales, did about 150 and 10/27 in Bolton, UK looked to have done a little over 300

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter There are internal debates going regarding running Lakeland, FL over Mania week or not running in Florida that weekend at all, which would be the first time in many years they [ROH] wouldn’t run Mania week

Originally Posted by PWI The WWE wrestlers and staff who ended up stuck in Saudi Arabia yesterday will finally be flying home in about three hours. PWInsider.com has confirmed WWE will be bringing everyone home on one chartered flight together from Riyadh that will land tomorrow in New York City. For Raw talents that were stuck in Saudi Arabia, they can either continue on home and then turn around and travel back to NYC Sunday for Monday's Raw at the Nassau Coliseum or opt to remain on the road in NYC and then go home after Raw.

Originally Posted by PWI Atlas Air, the charter jet company that was traveling WWE talents from Saudi Arabia to The United States, issued the following statement: “A chartered WWE passenger flight operated by Atlas Air is currently delayed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia due to a mechanical issue. The flight was scheduled to depart at 0300 local time on November 1. Our top priority is always to ensure our passengers arrive safely and on time at their destination. The aircraft is being repaired and will be inspected and certified before returning to service to transport our passengers to their final destination. We regret that operational disruptions delayed the flight and apologize to our passengers who were inconvenienced.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The Young Bucks appeared on 98 ROCK Baltimore to chat about AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view. During the conversation, Nick Jackson was asked what talents have impressed him the most thus far in AEW and Nick shared high praise for Luchasaurus and added that AEW is going “full blast” on him when he returns from his hamstring injury: “I’ll tell you right away, the first one who popped in my mind is Luchasuarus. He’s probably getting the strongest reaction live than anyone on the roster which blows my mind because man, maybe just a year ago, not many people knew who he was. So when he comes back from this injury, we’re gonna go full blast on him because he’s a star in the making and he already is a star.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling According to PWInsider, Joey Mercury is no longer working with Ring of Honor. Mercury had been working on the creative team, worked as producer and oversaw the ROH dojo. The site added that Joey Mercury was removed from his positions this week and it was a mutual decision. Mercury is still with Ring of Honor until the non-compete period in his contract expires. Joey Mercury took to Twitter and opened up about his departure from Ring of Honor. He shared text messages between himself and ROH GM Greg Gilleland. Mercury noted that he doesn’t want Gilleland out of a job but wants him out of the role he’s in now. There were transportation issues that Gilleland was set to take care of but did not and Joey Mercury released that information. Greg confronted Joey through text message about him coming to shows high, skipping shows and Joey telling wrestlers he can get them work elsewhere. Joey Mercury also recalled the incident that occurred with a fan in Portland at an ROH show this past June. Mercury said there was no security on-site and was disappointed that a “respected veteran” being Bully Ray, had to make a judgement call in that situation. He revealed that Shane Taylor’s contract with the company is up on January 1st, Bandido’s contract is up January 2nd and PJ Black’s contract expires February 2nd. BJ Whitmer added that everything Joey Mercury noted on Twitter is true.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Stone Cold Steve Austin joined ‘The Taz Show’ and during the conversation, Taz and Steve Austin began to talk about All Elite Wrestling. Austin praised the AEW World Title match between Chris Jericho and Darby Allin and said the young talents of today are more polished than he was when he was their age. “They [AEW] are pushing more athleticism and the business has changed. Its sped up and it’s a different landscape, and man… for that kid [Darby Allin] to be as young as he is — what is he? 22? 23 tops? Hell, when I started — I think I went to school when I was 23 and I had my first match when I was 24. But that kid, however long he’s been in the business, way more polished than I was at that time. Hell, half that roster is more polished than what I was at that age and so, hey man, they’re learning things at rapid fire fashion. It’s interesting to see just the creativity and what lengths — not lengths as far as risks, but just ways to push the creative envelope with respect to staying somewhat safe and you saw that kid get his hands taped up behind him and do all that stuff. It was great. I ain’t never seen nothing like that and I enjoyed seeing it. Wasn’t nothing like it.” Austin shared high praise for MJF. He talked about MJF looking the part and having everything it takes to be successful in wrestling but feels MJF needs a few more years under his belt to further develop his talents. “Oh absolutely. The whole way,” Austin said when asked if MJF stayed in character on the Steve Austin Show podcast. “You know, we shot an angle at the end of the thing. We shot a wrestling audio angle. It was tremendous. Nah, I like that kid. I like what I see in him. In his core, we say when we hit the mute button and go off air, hey man, he’s a good f*cking kid. Good looking kid, talk his ass off and you [Taz] love promo just as much as I do. Cutting them and listening to them so, this kid can talk a blue streak. He’s just full of sh*t. I mean that in a compliment, and full of himself and a hundred percent confident. He’s still young in the business and everybody would like to heap praise on him and say, ‘Hey man, he’s the next…’ Well, let’s see how the work keeps developing. So he’s a good worker right now. I’m not saying that he isn’t, but his promo — I think his appearance, everything, he looks the part, he talks the part and he works the part. But the work is gonna progress as he gets some more experience under his belt and I think that’ll be the telling factor, but as far as checking the boxes on being a star, he checks a lot of those boxes right now.”

Originally Posted by Fightful The NWA has released a statement regarding Jim Cornette and his recent controversial remarks on Twitter regarding suicide. In 2019, Jim Cornette is often regarded as a source of controversy and recently on Twitter, he made some off-color remarks about suicide on Twitter, that picked up a heavy negative response ... The National Wrestling Alliance, through Vice President Dave Lagana, released the following statement regarding Cornette: "STATEMENT BY NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE ON JIM CORNETTE Over the last few days, a situation was brought to our attention in regard to comments made by Jim Cornette that have been taken as making light on the subject of suicide. We’ve addressed the situation internally with Mr. Cornette and made it clear that any comments in regards to this subject, joking or serious, are not endorsed by Lightning One and the National Wrestling Alliance. Mr. Cornette understands the seriousness of this situation and with that he will remain the color commentator for NWA Powerrr."

Link with the tweets in question: https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/n...l-call-powerrr

Originally Posted by Fightful On Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite, fans were treated to the AEW debut of Shanna. Despite losing to Hikaru Shida, Shanna was able to win over the crowd with her performance. In an interview with the Portuguese media (translation via @ucancallme), Shanna confirmed she has signed a three-year deal with All Elite Wrestling.

Originally Posted by Fightful Pro Wrestling Illustrated released its 2019 Top 100 Women list and perhaps to the surprise of no one, Becky Lynch took the top spot. Lynch has had a banner year, ascending to the top of the WWE mountain by headlining WrestleMania 35 and winning both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships at the event. "The Man" placed 11th on the 2018 list, which was topped by Ronda Rousey. Though Lynch didn't place in the top ten last year, she was named 2018 PWI Woman of the Year, which was based on fan voting.

TPWW Frontpage:

• Interview: Seth Rollins on AEW, Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay Comments, and Today’s Wrestling
• WWE Confirms That Wrestlers Will Miss SmackDown, NXT Wrestlers Being Flown In
• WWE Wrestlers in Danger of Missing SmackDown Because of Flight Delay in Saudi Arabia