[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw last night did 2.17 million viewers, which would be among the lowest non-holiday and non-football numbers in the history of the show. The only non-holiday Raw shows that weren't against major football competition in modern history that were lower were two episodes last year against major NBA playoff games. For a non-holiday show without major sports competition, it was the lowest in the last 23 years. It was down 10 percent from last week's post-Royal Rumble episode and down 14 percent from the same week last year. WWE did have the top three spots in the 18-49 demo on cable, but were down 12 percent to 0.67 in that demo from last week ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.32 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.16 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.02 million viewers

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling This was Raw’s second-lowest mark of 2020 with their lowest number of January 13th going against the LSU vs. Clemson football game that did over 25 million viewers.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE stock continued to fall today, closing at $46.08 per share, the lowest close since before the FOX deal was signed. A big part of the drop was Benjamin Swinburne of Morgan Stanley downgrading the price target from $80 to $54, based on the firing of George Barrios and Michelle Wilson. He said the three things of concern are losing Barrios & Wilson leaves the company without senior leadership at the same time Vince McMahon is starting the XFL, concern about WWE's capital allocation plans which was part of the dispute, and fear the loss of Wilson and Barrios will affect WWE's relationships with Fox, Progressive Insurance (a key sponsor) and key talent. He felt the company will be pressured by Wall Street until they hire at least one well-known new executive with a strong track record.

WWE stocks are currently at $47.36 for Tuesday's after-hours trading.

Originally Posted by PWI Bill Goldberg's appearance on Friday Night Smackdown this week is to set the stage for Goldberg's involvement in the 2/27 Super Showdown event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, PWInsider.com has confirmed. As noted several weeks ago in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, there had been a push for Sting to be used at the 2/27 event, but as of last night, we are told those talks have died down. Hulk Hogan is slated to appear at that event on 2/27 as well.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling SI.com spoke with Dave Meltzer about the departures of George Barrios and Michelle Wilson and the health of the company going into Thursday’s investor’s call. Meltzer’s analysis includes the stats that the average age of a Raw and SmackDown viewer is 50 while NXT is 55. That compares to the average WWE viewer in 2000 being 23 ... The subject of AEW must be one that is increasing among the business community that is catching up to its impact. Once TNT renewed Dynamite, it was clear to see it isn’t a flash in the pan but here for the long haul. The impact on WWE’s business has been a big increase in talent expenses with those with deals coming making significantly more to stay, NXT going to USA has to be grouped with AEW’s influence and while it’s created more television revenue it’s also removed the WWE Network’s most consistent live weekly programming for those within the U.S. Conversely, those outside the U.S. must wait 24 hours to watch NXT so it does influence the worldwide and domestic subscriber base.

NXT's audience being even older than WWE's main tv audience is pretty telling since its both been growing older since moving to USA Network and doing all the heavy lifting for NXT's viewership. The over-run breakdowns has shown that to be the case for a long while. NXT pretty much has been failing to develop a new young core tv audience for WWE's future despite Triple H's claims.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) are now the longest reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. The duo has held the titles for 121 days, surpassing the reign of The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce).

Originally Posted by Fightful The Revival reportedly once again requested their release from WWE in late January, though Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder remain under contract at this time ... Speaking on his Hall of Fame radio show, Booker T offered up the following advice for The Revival. "If I could give them any advice, 'Take the money. Take what's behind door number one.' If they came to me and said, 'Hey Book, we're going to give you a million dollars a year. You're not going to win any titles. We'll give you TV time. A 15-year contract.' I'm gonna shut the hell up. I don't give a damn about no titles. Legacy and all that is okay. But if I had the choice of getting the money, and not working, I'm taking the money and I'm not gonna care about the legacy. I'm gonna take that $15 million and parlay that into 45 or 50. For me, it was about getting paid and parlaying professional wrestling into what I'm doing right now."

Originally Posted by Fightful WWE is making an attempt to crack down on backstage news, at least at the PC. Last week, Wrestling Observer Newsletter ran a story noting that at a WWE Performance Center meeting, talent were told not to call out main roster talent. The report upset some involved at the WWE PC, and was addressed later in the week. As it turns out the original meeting in question where the recommendation was handed out was at an orientation for new Performance Center recruits. The information was leaked shortly after that. Wednesday ahead of the NXT television tapings, another meeting was held to instruct NXT talent to not talk to "dirt sheets." The talent we spoke to (naturally, since they're effectively talking to one) weren't keen on the message. They were also reminded that they need proof of health coverage, which may have motivated talent to contact us. One source previously unfamiliar to Fightful in NXT said "they reminded me that I'm a contractor, then tried to tell me who I couldn't talk to, so here I am," before reiterating issues with crowding at the PC.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The new theme for [NWA] Power is ‘I’m Broken’ by Pantera that replaces ‘Into the Fire’ by Dokken

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Disney has released updated figures for its streaming platforms. ESPN+ grew exponentially and was listed at 6.6 million subscribers by the end of 2019 compared to 1.6 million subs at the end of 2018. It is believed the service received a big bump by being bundled alongside the Disney+ and Hulu for U.S. subscribers. Disney+ is currently at 26.5 subscribers after three months since its launch.

Felt that was interesting since it involves UFC and how ESPN's streaming service has grown a lot since their deal. Compare that with WWE who has struggled for years to grow the Network to the level they wanted by now and is rumored to have taken a big hit this past fiscal quarter.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Cryme Tyme is "For The Culture." GCW announced that the longtime tag team consisting of JTG and Shad Gaspard, who have wrestled together for more than a decade, will compete on the "For The Culture" event on April 3.

TPWW Frontpage:

• Various: MLW & Dragon Gate Partnership Update, ROH News, Indies
• Timothy Thatcher Signs With WWE
• WWE Denies Rumor That Samoa Joe Was Suspended
• Kalisto Out With an Injury
• Goldberg to Appear on SmackDown This Friday