TPWW's Official Dirty Sheets News Thread

[Mr. Nerfect]

For her own benefit, I hope Io Shirai does get cleared for the WWE, but I do worry that she's going to be "just another girl."

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Ciampa Waving to the TPWW Universe:

Originally Posted by Observer U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Richardson ruled on Thursday that he was issuing sanctions on attorney Konstantine Kyros, who is representing wrestlers in concussion lawsuits against WWE. He issued a decision that Kyros would have to pay attorney costs of WWE and to inform his clients that the court had found him to have violated protocol. WWE is still attempting to get the cases filed by Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton thrown out, and a decision on that should come before the end of March. Kyros had been admonished for the lawsuit filed on at least one prior occasion.

Assuming the lawsuit gets tossed out, that opens up the possibility of Bryan being cleared by the WWE considering the real reason they were worried would be gone.

Originally Posted by Observer Bianca Belair was injured last night taking the eclipse from Ember Moon in Mississauga, ONT. We're not sure how severe or if she'll be working tonight in St. Catharines.

Originally Posted by Observer The Melbourne Herald-Sun said WWE was looking to run the MCG, a giant stadium, in the first week of October. They said that Victoria officials met with WWE last week to put the show together. The story pushed Ronda Rousey, who drew 56,000 plus when she fought Holly Holm in Melbourne in 2015.

Originally Posted by Observer It was noted that at yesterday's NXT show in St. Petersburg that there were fans chanting "Happy Ending" and "Pearl Harbor" at Kairi Sane. It was not many and others shouted them down, but people were not happy about it.

Originally Posted by Observer Trent Baretta apparently suffered a torn triceps. The injury took place last week at the PWG show, but he did wrestle earlier today in Tokyo anyway and is wrestling tomorrow as well. MLW announced The Dirty Blondes, managed by Col. Rob Parker (Robert Fuller) vs. Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta has been added to its 3/8 show in Orlando at Gilt Nightclub. MVP has pulled out of a 4/13 Defy Wrestling show in Seattle at Washington Hall. Tommy Dreamer will be the replacement. Also on that show will be Shane Strickland vs. Austin Aries, plus Matt Cross, Tom Lawlor and Body King.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE has confirmed the Raw Tag Team Championship match and announced the pre-show bout for Sunday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. As expected, Cesaro & Sheamus will defend their titles against Titus O'Neil & Apollo. The Titus Worldwide team defeated the champions in a non-title match on Raw this past Monday and then challenged them in a post-show video, but WWE didn't officially announce the match until today ... The pre-show will also feature Raw's tag team division, with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson set to face Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas. Gallows & Anderson had been feuding with The Revival in recent weeks.

Originally Posted by PWI The 2/22 edition of Impact did 262,000 overnight viewers, down from last week’s 300,000 overnight viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI Former WWE champion Jeff Hardy was in Birmingham, Alabama this past Tuesday to evaluate how his surgically repaired torn Labrum and torn rotator cuff are healing as he prepares for an in-ring return this Spring. Hardy suffered a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum while headlining Raw as part of a Six-Pack match in October 2017, admitting at the time that the timing of the injury was "depressing." With the exception of a cameo during the Raw 25 broadcast in January, Hardy has been completely off TV since that time. Recovery from rotator cuff surgery is usually 4-6 months, so he would right now be in the early range of a potential return. Obviously, Hardy's goal would be to return to WWE storylines in time for Wrestlemania 34 this April in New Orleans, but it remains to be seen if that can happen.

Originally Posted by PWI Metro Sport caught up with Impact President Ed Nordholm, plus Vice Presidents Don Callis and Scott D’Amore to establish whether Impact are still in the fight to succeed, or if they’re in a permanent lockdown. During the interview, Scott D'Amore addressed the early departures of some talents, the idea that Impact isn't signing talents anymore and the importance of the company in terms of grooming talents as stars, commenting, "It’s a false narrative that we don’t have talent under contract. The vast majority of our talents are under long-term contracts. Take a look at the departure of Bobby Lashley. He was under contract to us until almost Summertime this year. When he had other opportunities, we made a decision as a group that we were okay facilitating his release earlier than anticipated. Contracts are going to come up and will need to be renegotiated on an ongoing basis, but there’s only a small number of talent that are going to have deals coming up in the next six months. The talent we’ve been bringing in have been signing one or two year deals. People are always scared of change. EC3 was a great talent, but people are talking as if he’s irreplaceable. What was he before he came to Impact Wrestling? He was a guy who had been in developmental and never really panned out. You look historically at this company and the people who have come here and built a reputation, and when they leave, people think they’re irreplaceable. Well, what was Bobby Roode before he came here? Or Eric Young, or AJ Styles?"

Link: http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/23/bound-...tling-7336185/

Ed, the news that you won’t be keeping the trademarks and characters of your talent is a potential gamechanger. How hard was that to implement? Ed Nordholm: Not that hard. I came in, I’m new to the business, trying to understand the roster and what we do, how we market them and how they work. I start seeing Rosemary, a wonderful talent, wonderful gimmick, great gal, and I find out that she doesn’t market herself as Rosemary when she’s not doing IMPACT. So, how does that work? We’ve got our talent, who don’t have enough confidence in their characters that they feel like they should be developing a safety net. They’re developing the safety net because they don’t want to be starting all over again creating a new identity. It was a pretty tough process of getting guys to buy into the idea, that you know, this is kind of silly to be trying to control people in this way. The fact the Hardy thing was going on in the meantime was sort of creating a whole dynamic within which I was sort of trying to evaluate this.

From the same interview above.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Wrestling Inc. asked Bravo why Reigns was the only WWE name mentioned, and if it was because there is not enough evidence for the other names. "Yes, on every individual that Richard has named I do my due diligence to carefully go thru every piece of evidence as well as verify contact information etc.," Bravo replied (sic). "The Reigns case is unique because of the way orders were placed and delivered. The reason why I have done each client individually was because all 3 have came out and said they did not know of WFN nor Richard Rodriguez. I am giving detailed information for each person to show that the evidence I have is legitimate and they did indeed place orders with WFN. Once this evidence is shown I will not have to show this level of evidence on each individual. Besides WWE and former WWF stars there are UFC, NBA and NFL players as well. It's a really big case and I am coming up with a plan besides the film to provide that information for everyone. The film itself is not a film meant to expose people but portray a message and the big names help deliver that message to the public. Hope that helps. Thanks!"

More details: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...oid-ring-over/


Some other sheet news includes:

• Greg Valentine is currently reported to be dealing with a serious illness at the moment according to his wife. Already had to be pulled from an indie appearance due to his illness.
• Recent episode of the Edge & Christian podcast show had Hacksaw Jim Duggan as the guest. https://art19.com/shows/ecs-pod-of-a...1-1b5e706baa54
• ABC 15 in Phoenix had a recent interview with Mojo Rawley talking about becoming a pro wrestling, being inspired by the Ultimate Warrior, and his football career, and more. https://www.abc15.com/sports/sports-...s-dream-in-wwe
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 16th anniversary of ROH's debut. Their first ever show was held at the Murphy Rec Center in Philly with the main event being a Three Way Dance between Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, and American Dragon.
• The Mirror held a recent interview with Jimmy Uso talking about the Usos reinventing their characters and their feud with the New Day. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...n-of-the-usos/
• Based on current predictions, WWE's new tv deal is expected to be around 1.7 times higher than their current deal and very likely are staying on USA Network. Ronda isn't expected to make the overall amount jump higher but her real value is in the amount of new sponsors she can bring to the WWE. Same for her not having a major long term impact for their India market or WWE Network. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-wwe-business/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Impact Wrestlers Complain About Pay Issues, Ed Nordholm Responds
• Ronda Rousey Finishes Movie, Returns to WWE Performance Center
• Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Brackets Revealed

[slik]

Billi Bhatti of the dirty sheets is reporting the following for WM was decided Friday at the creative meeting for EC:

* Roman vs. Brock - but it won't be treated as the main-event, especially if the steroid scandal breaks. If that happens, Roman won't win and Brock will drop the title Monday on RAW after WM * Cena vs Taker * AJ vs Naka * Sasha vs Bayley - Triple H is pushing for this to be for the RAW Women's Title * Asuka vs Charlotte - SD women's title * Nia vs Alexa - Nia is one of Vince's pet projects * Rusev winning the Andre Battle Royal, as he's projected to be a top-five selller going into WM weekend with fans in attendance. * Ronda/____ vs. Steph/HHH * They are still deciding what they want to do with Rollins, Braun, Balor and Miz on the RAW side. * Lashley has signed but his WWE deal will allow him to still fight in Bellator as well periodically * Vince does not expect Brock Lesnar to re-sign * The Undertaker changed his diet post hip-surgery and has begun doing Yoga. He's said to feel the best he has in years and he might wrestle for another 2-3 WM's before retiring.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Wouldn't the WWE already know whether or not there is anything to this steroid story?

[Emperor Smeat]

Probably can only assume things since I doubt they got access to the evidence due to them not being involved in the trial nor has this stuff been made public yet.

[slik]

Braun being made to look so strong and destroying Roman post-match could be a reason to add him to the main-event -- in that case if Roman is in trouble for anything, they are still covered.

[slik]

Bill Bhatti of dirtysheets reporting on patreon that

* Paige's new 'Eat Shit Get Bit' tats made Vince very unhappy via being very non-tv pg. Mark Carano scolded Paige backstage and said she was being 'moronic'. * Vince was livid with Bray Wyatt tonight at Elimination Chamber. Vince felt Bray looked out of shape, "like shit" and wasn't in character during the match.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Kurt Angle channeling his inner Homer Simpson:

Originally Posted by Observer Even with the debut of Ronda Rousey and coming a day after a pay-per-view, Raw was down three percent last night to 3.16 million viewers ... Rousey, whose segment (which included Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Kurt Angle) was saved for last, didn't change the usual pattern of a big third hour drop. The third hour drop was biggest in males 18-49 and those over 50. The latter is the usual pattern but the former is unusual and most weeks the third hour drop is female skewed. Male teens also dropped in the third hour, and they usually stay with the show until its completion better than any other demo ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.41 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.25 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.88 million viewers

Found it interesting both Ronda's first RAW appearance and being a post-PPV show resulted in a lower number for this week.

Originally Posted by Observer The company announced via the New Orleans Times-Picayune this morning that Jarrius "JJ" Robertson will be the 2018 Warrior Award recipient. Robertson is a 15-year-old fan who has battled biliary atresia, a rare liver disease, for his entire life and has undergone 36 surgeries, including two liver transplants. Robertson underwent his first transplant when he was a year old and had the second transplant last year. He's also the face of "It Takes Lives to Save Lives," which is a charity that promotes organ donation. “I can’t believe I have been chosen to be the 2018 Warrior Award recipient,” Robertson said. “Being honored by WWE means the world to me. I feel very blessed.”

Link: https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/w...cipient-252426

Originally Posted by Observer NJPW has announced the lineup for the 2018 New Japan Cup tournament, which will set up a title match for Sakura Genesis in April. The left side of the bracket has Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi, and Bad Luck Fale vs. Lance Archer. The tour will be the first time Tanahashi has wrestled since January after being written out for a bit when he lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Minoru Suzuki. On the right side of the bracket, YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Toru Yano vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr., and Chuck Taylor vs. SANADA are set. Taylor tweeted that he's a replacement for Trent Barreta, who was injured in a match with Taylor for PWG on February 16th. The winner of the New Japan Cup will challenge for either the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. IWGP Intercontinental Championship, or NEVER Openweight title at Sakura Genesis on April 1st, with the storyline being that they get to choose which belt to go after.

Link with show dates: https://www.f4wonline.com/japan/njpw...pan-cup-252421

Originally Posted by Observer A match between Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi and The Young Bucks appeared to be inevitable coming out of the NJPW/ROH Honor Rising tour, and now a date and location for it has been set. Omega & Ibushi will face Matt & Nick Jackson at NJPW's Strong Style Evolved show at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on March 25th. The announcement comes after The Young Bucks confronted Omega & Ibushi at Honor Rising night two, with the Bucks taking exception to Omega calling himself and Ibushi the best tag team in the world. While confronting them, The Young Bucks also announced their move up to NJPW's heavyweight tag team division ... Jay White defending his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Hangman Page has also been confirmed for Strong Style Evolved. That match became apparent at Honor Rising night two as well, with Page pinning White in a six-man tag. With the two additions to the card, there are now three matches official for Strong Style Evolved. Rey Mysterio vs. Jushin Thunder Liger was confirmed earlier this month when Mysterio appeared in a video at the New Beginning in Osaka and challenged Liger. The show will air live on AXS TV.

Originally Posted by Observer The WWE Network will be uploading episodes of All-Star Wrestling, which was the WWWF’s television show in the 1970s and early 1980s, on March 5th. The shows are expected to be from 1976-1979, though WWE Network News notes that they’ll likely be scattered episodes and not the complete years. Charlotte Flair wrote a tribute to Reid Flair yesterday on what would have been his 30th birthday. Before the angle where she refused to accept Sasha Banks’ tag on Raw, Bayley spoke to The Mirror about her in-ring rivalry with Banks: “I really do think that we have such a great chemistry and it's just a natural bond, that it doesn't matter when it happens, we can pick it up anywhere. Not to sound cocky or anything, but I just think we have a really good connection. Whenever we have the time to tell that story, we would be able to. And last night after what she did, I think now is a good time! So I would love to start that up and get some payback.”

Network: http://www.wwenetworknews.com/2018/0...date-included/ , Charlotte: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfrGaP0F...y=charlottewwe , Bayley:https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other...amber-12094015

Originally Posted by PWI As previously reported on PWInsider.com, the WWE Network's Vault section will be adding WWWF All-Star Wrestling next month, the first time that weekly series has been seen in decades. We are told 92 episodes total are planned to be uploaded the first week of March. Collections for March are planned to be based around Chris Jericho and Becky Lynch. PWInsider.com has also confirmed that the Network's current plan for additional vintage material is to add WCW Saturday Night episodes in April and in May, to upload all remaining episodes of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling TV. Current plans for April Collections call for for them to be built around Ted DiBiase Sr. and Finn Balor.

Originally Posted by Observer TV Asahi announced that New Japan World subscribers were up 40 percent ahead of the Tokyo Dome show in January, with the service up 80 percent internationally and 60 percent in the United States. Flip Gordon teased that he’ll be in this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament. EVOLVE announced the full card for EVOLVE 103, which will take place in New Orleans on April 6th: * Matt Riddle vs. Daisuke Sekimoto * Chris Dickinson vs. Travis Banks * Jaka vs. Munenori Sawa * Darby Allin vs. WALTER * Keith Lee vs. Austin Theory * AR Fox vs. DJZ vs. Jason Kincaid vs. Tracy Williams * Timothy Thatcher vs. Dominic Garrini There will be a “clusterf*ck match” at Joey Janela’s Spring Break for the second straight year. Session Moth Martina is the first announced participant. Impact announced a partnership with the women’s promotion Rise Wrestling. James Ellsworth is set to face Gillberg for IWC Pro Wrestling on March 17th in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania.

New Japan World: https://twitter.com/reasonjp/status/968374901282344961 , Gordon: https://twitter.com/TheFlipGordon/st...76786459217921 , Janela: https://twitter.com/JANELABABY/statu...40335331106816 , Impact: https://twitter.com/RISEdtwa/status/968307463748571136 , Ellsworth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bx8xo-SFpU

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Network continues to fill in the gap with World-Class Championship Wrestling episodes in the library. They've also added more videos to the WWE Shorts Collection including the old WWF "Slam Jam" music video from 1993.

Originally Posted by PWI Twola Heads Entertainment, a company based in Southern California that has run several events, applied to trademark "Heroes of Lucha Libre" on 2/21. They claim they began using the name in October 2017. They applied to trademark the name for wrestling, movie and television purposes. They also applied to trademark Mistico, Dragon Lee and Ocelot, which is extremely interesting given that those talents work internationally and are from CMLL in Mexico.

Originally Posted by PWI GCW is proud to host THE GREAT SASUKE at WRESTLECON! Take advantage of this rare opportunity to meet the legend in person! Sasuke will be available for autos & photo-ops. Exact times TBA. Can't make it to NOLA? Mail Order is available. Email us now to make arrangements. pic.twitter.com/iyW67qaYTz — GameChangerWrestling (@GCWrestling_) February 22, 2018 Japanese legend The Great Sasuke will be appearing at Wrestlecon over the course of Wrestlemania weekend in New Orleans, being brought in by Gamechanger Wrestling.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Besides Lesnar, Kane was also reported to have been originally planned to appear during last night's RAW according to PWI. Instead those plans were changed and he just visited people backstage during the show.
• Recent episode the Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast show had Stephanie McMahon as the guest talking about Ronda Rousey's signing and past issues of bullying in her life. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...usey-more.html
• According to PWI, WWE is still uncommitted to which title Asuka will go after for Mania even though they currently leaning towards Asuka-Bliss. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...ka-update.html
• Recent episode of Inside the Ropes podcast show had Rey Mysterio as the guest talking about his wrestling status, participating in this year's Rumble, and things he would have changed for his 2014 Rumble appearance. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...014-wwe-royal/
• Observer recently speculated Braun Strowman's lack of a path for Mania might be due to WWE wanting him as an emergency plan in case Lesnar-Reigns can't happen at Mania for various reasons. Strowman replaces Lesnar if his issues with the WWE deepen to the point it affects Mania and replaces Reigns if the roids situation becomes a bad PR issue for the company.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Various: Main Event, Sheamus’s Chest, CM Punk & Barrett Host Netflix Show
• Brock Lesnar’s Raw “No-Show” Still Unclear + Original Raw Plan
• WWE Raw Results – Feb. 26, 2018 – Strowman vs. Elias
• WWE: Warrior Award Recipient, Miraculous Superstar Landings

[Bad News Gertner]

I've been waiting for the Network to add old All Star Wrestling Episodes for years. I may not leave my house for 5 days.

[BigCrippyZ]

I wonder if Vince is going to actually realize that Rousey is certainly not the draw or the star that she was 2.5-3 years ago and that WWE is (once again) behind the curve and late to the game.

[slik]

Just you wait until Vince hears about the 3D craze in a few more years

"EVERY SHOW ON THE NETWORK IN 3D"

[slik]

Former headwriter says Kevin Dunn sucks:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...vin_dunn_is_a/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Asuka's Approval:

Originally Posted by Observer Hiromu Takahashi is coming to Las Vegas for Ring of Honor's 16th Anniversary pay-per-view. After Dave Meltzer reported earlier this month that Flip Gordon would be facing a wrestler from New Japan Pro Wrestling at the PPV, ROH confirmed today that it will be Gordon vs. Takahashi. Gordon faced Takahashi and KUSHIDA in a triple threat match on the first night of the Honor Rising tour in Tokyo last weekend and got the pin on his Anniversary show opponent. On the second night, Gordon teamed with Ryusuke Taguchi against Takahashi & BUSHI and took the fall.

Link to the announcement and more details for the show: https://www.f4wonline.com/ring-honor...ary-ppv-252596

Originally Posted by Observer With John Cena returning to the brand after a six-month absence, SmackDown saw a ratings increase for the second straight week. Last night's episode averaged 2.692 million viewers, which was up from 2.613 million the previous week ... It was also the second straight week that SmackDown was up year-over-year. The last episode of February in 2017 did 2.566 million viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch reported today that a number of FOX Sports executives, including FOX Sports President Eric Shanks, FOX Sports Producer Jacob Ullman and even broadcast personality Colin Cowherd, who has always knocked professional wrestling fans (but also admits he grew up watching Don Owens' Pacific Northwest promotion) were all at last night's Smackdown Live taping at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Obviously, as WWE continues to map out future plans and work on securing its next major partnership with a broadcaster, FOX has been speculated as one of those in the race for WWE's rights. FOX is still attempting to negotiate a new deal with UFC, but should the MMA company move on, FOX will be in a position to need a replacement franchise, as UFC makes up a good portion of its programming on FOX Sports 1. Obviously, WWE would certainly fill the loss of the MMA flagship if it comes to that. It should also be noted that UFC owner IMG-WME also represents WWE, so it's not out of the question that they could offer a package deal for both entities to FOX or another broadcaster. There is a great history of the two genres pairing up well from their time on SpikeTV.

SI Link: https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/s...64415281025026

Originally Posted by PWI Billy Corgan's Lightning One, Inc. company, which is the production company attached to the National Wrestling Alliance, applied to trademark 'The Dumont Network' for wrestling purposes. The Dumont Network was the name of the first television network that broadcast professional wrestling, operating from 1946 through 1956, a rival at the time to CBS and ABC. Last month, they had applied to trademark 'The Dupont Network," which appears to have been an error.

Originally Posted by PWI The WWE Network has added a new Collection, "The NXT Takeover Collection" featuring all 19 Takeover specials to date

Originally Posted by 411mania WWE is planning on doing at least one more match between Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy soon and the speculation is that they may do a Wyatt vs. Hardy match from Hardy’s compound in North Carolina, similar to what TNA did with Total Nonstop Deletion and The Final Deletion. Matt has also been teasing it on Twitter

Link: https://411mania.com/wrestling/wwe-n...-upupdowndown/

Originally Posted by PWI Matt Hardy is promising the Ultimate Deletion is coming, perhaps teasing something being filmed at the Hardy Compound as part of his feud with Bray Wyatt: By ABSORBING part of Bray Wyatt's ESSENCE, it has allowed my #BROKENBrilliance PASSAGE into both the LIGHT and the DARK.. It shall be needed to obtain VICTORY in #TheGreatWar. THE ULTIMATE DELETION is coming. pic.twitter.com/2QkFc7Vspy — #WOKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) February 28, 2018

Link: https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/s...24006047555586

Originally Posted by PWI Wrestlecon announced this afternoon that WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin will be signing for the first time ever at their Wrestlemania weekend gathering. Austin will be appearing on Wrestlemania Sunday 4/8. He's been at the very top of our most wanted list since we started @wrestlecon and today we announce that @steveaustinBSR will be doing an appearance on Sunday April 8th, just hours prior to WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/uE0b5ZzCsY — WrestleCon (@wrestlecon) February 28, 2018 Austin will be signing and taking photos with fans.

Link: https://twitter.com/wrestlecon/statu...42969981194240

Originally Posted by Observer Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who the WWE has been interested in, is expected to return to the NFL next season and leave his pursuit of acting/pro wrestling until after his football career. After that news was reported, Gronkowski wrote “#clueless” with the shrugging emoji on Twitter. Gronkowski's website ran an article earlier this week about his friendship with Mojo Rawley and Gronkowski's father helping Rawley get into wrestling.

Originally Posted by Observer Bayley visited Big Time Wrestling, where she got her start in pro wrestling, to film material for an “upcoming WWE documentary.”

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfumlGaj...gtimewrestling

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb is set for the WrestleCon SuperShow on April 5th. Tenille Dashwood will appear at ROH’s Manhattan Mayhem on March 3rd and team with Deonna Purrazzo against Sumie Sakai & Jenny Rose. ACH is replacing Tom Lawlor in MLW’s World Heavyweight title tournament and will face Matt Riddle in a semifinal match on April 8th. CZW announced Juice Robinson vs. David Starr for their show in New Orleans on April 7th. Rich Swann will also face Joe Gacy for CZW in Voorhees, New Jersey on March 10th and wrestle at the WrestleMania weekend show.

WrestleCon: https://twitter.com/wrestlecon/statu...34940303855616 , ROH: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/wo...nhattan-mayhem , MLW: https://mlw.com/2018/02/28/ach-vs-ma...ls-on-march-8/ , CZW: https://twitter.com/combatzone/statu...55774540017664

Originally Posted by WrestleInc TV By The Numbers has an article on how NBCUniversal will be cutting back on the number of commercials that viewers see in primetime in 2018-2019. The change is scheduled to begin in the fall of this year. Shows across NBCU's various channels, including the USA Network, will feature around 20% fewer ads along with a 10% reduction in commercial time. It was noted that viewers might see 2 or 3 longer commercials instead of 5 thirty second ads during a break. NBCU is also promoting a "Prime Pod" for advertisers - a 60 second ad break in the first or last commercial of a show, which will be sold to one or two advertisers. It was also noted that a 10% reduction in commercial time could mean an increase of 2-4 minutes in episode length.

Link: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/mor...r-commercials/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE has a new poll asking fans who is the favorite heading into the Six-Pack Challenge at WWE Fastlane. As of this writing, 55% voted for WWE Champion AJ Styles while 34% voted for John Cena, 7% for Dolph Ziggler, 2% for Baron Corbin, 1% for Kevin Owens and 1% for Sami Zayn.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Sportskeeda had a recent interview with Rosemary talking about Impact's recent change in management, Laurel Van Ness' departure, and having creative freedom for her character. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...er-own-promos/
• X-Pac revealed he was at backstage during last night's Smackdown and took several photos with WWE talent and others. https://www.instagram.com/p/BfwaEXNnBb-/
• Suppossedly WWE management got pissed at Lana again in regards to recent tweets she made. The tweets made it seem like she was upset at Rusev's lack of tv time in recent weeks but turned out it was just Rusev playing a practical joke. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...top-wwe-stars/
• According to Sports Illustrated, the IC match at Mania is currently rumored to be a Fatal 5 Way match. https://www.si.com/wrestling/2018/02...s-brock-lesnar

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• FloSports and WWN Resolve Dispute, Lawsuit Dismissed
• Rey Mysterio WWE Update + WrestleMania Rumors
• Dana White Says Chances “Very Good” That Brock Lesnar Returns to UFC

[slik]

More on FOX / WWE's potential deal after their current one w/ NBCUniversal (the parent company of the USA Network) expires:

Fox wants Raw reduced to two hours and wants it airing on the main Fox channel, not FS1 or FS2. Fox also wants Smackdown to be eliminated. In addition to two hours on Mondays on Fox, there would be a one hour weekly show on FS1 and a one hour weekly show on FS2. It hasn't been determined yet what those shows would be. Also, and this may be the biggest change of all, but there would be a live three hour show on FS1 once a month on either Saturday or Sunday night depending on FS1's other sports commitments. - WrestlingNewsWorld Premium, which I've been testing as a source lately, and so far so good

[Sepholio]

Never going to happen.

[Emperor Smeat]

Unless they gave WWE a massive deal, don't see the WWE taking Fox's offer.

Fox would need to make up the $40-$50 million WWE gets per year because of RAW's 3rd hour plus whatever they get from Smackdown. The extra weekly hour shows is only going to segment WWE's audience considering not everyone who gets FS1 also gets FS2. Same for segmenting WWE's audience by having shows on both FOX and FS1 since not everyone who gets FOX also gets FS1.

[James Steele]

Does being on a major broadcast tv network as opposed to cable make up that difference in money?

[Emperor Smeat]

Originally Posted by James Steele Does being on a major broadcast tv network as opposed to cable make up that difference in money?

I'd assume it all depends on advertisers. FOX has a bigger reach than USA Network but I assume USA Network has a bigger reach than FS1 & FS2. RAW potentially will get a larger viewer base but doesn't mater if they can't bring in really good advertisers or keep the audience gains over time.

Biggest concern is WWE leaving a historically very friendly network (USA Network) in favor of FOX who might not be as tolerant of RAW's struggles once the big declines starts again after the honeymoon period.

Another big worry is RAW would be competing against network shows and not cable which is a lot stronger for competition than Hip Hop & Love. For example this was Wednesday's results for network shows:

[Sepholio]

Not when they kill a major show and force you to replace it with smaller shows on networks that are only available in smaller markets.

[slik]

It's rumored FOX is willing to offer WWE much larger $$$ than they currently receive from NBCUniversal. RAW's ratings will go up by being available to more eyes. It won't be something 20 million people or watch anything, but it could add another million eyeballs to the show each week, and 4 1/2 million is likely more than FOX usually gets Monday nights in that timeslot.

You have to remember, FOX is going to be cash-heavy after selling it's Film and Studio divisions and library to Disney and that FOX isn't going to want to pay Disney to produce/air shows they used to produce/air in-house. That's likely the reason FOX is said to be pursuing both UFC and WWE (UFC to re-sign and WWE to add) as it would likely be more affordable for them than 'buying' programming from Disney to air. Disney bought everything except the Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News, Fox Business Channel and Fox Sports channels. So any tv series made at or for Fox Studios is now a Disney product (I'm still trying to process Disney owning American Horror Story and virtually every series that airs on FX, all of which are very non-Disney, non TV-PG).


WWE also expects the Hispanic market for their product to surge if they are on a major Broadcast network. When SmackDown was on UPN/CW the demographic that grew the largest over time was the Hispanic market. Meltzer, recently pointed out that a large number of homes within that market (something like 30% iirc) do not have cable, and WWE has been wanting to tap into the Hispanic market more for ages.

[slik]

The other option is FOX buying WWE. Stephanie recently stated if someone offered to buy the E and it was a good deal they'd be foolish not to look at it. That might be better for FOX as they try to fill up their Broadcast Network with solidified brands that they would own outright. I could see them buying a majority stake in WWE w/ a deal to keep most current management in place for a period of time.

If that happens, it wouldn't surprise me to see Vince stay on as more of advisory type role while focusing almost entirely on the XFL reboot. I could see HHH/Steph basically running RAW and the other two one-hour programs. My guess for those two programs would be the one airing on FS2 would be the equivalent of 'Main-Event' but the one airing on FS1 they might throw some decent matches on.



The biggest questions, IF, this happens (imo) are:


* Do you keep monthly ppvs with a monthly 3 hour special on a Saturday/Sunday night also happening

* Will the monthly specials feel more like a ppv or just a longer version of RAW (RAW going down to 2 hours would be because many FOX affiliates air a local news broadcast at the 9/10 pm hour)

* If monthly ppvs go away, how do you re-structure the WWE Network? For older programming, NXT and TakeOver events and the big five only (WM, RR, SSlam, SSeries and MTIB)?

* What do you with the largest roster you have ever had with four hours of programming a week and single roster?

[Simple Fan]

I hope it happens. I'd say instead of dropping Smackdown just make that 3 hour show once a month Smackdown. I get all three channels so I'm fine with it.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Why do people think it won't just be on FoxSports1? it'll be a lateral move at best. More eyeballs? They actually think they will put rassling on Fox? Rumors don't make any sense. USANetwork is the most established Cable station there is (alot to do with WWE)

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random NWA era WCW Gif:

SPOILER: show

The only real known change in the WrestleMania card is the original Miz vs. Strowman IC title match is out. Strowman’s role isn’t determined because right now he is the fallback position in case something happens with either Reigns or Brock Lesnar. It was a lock Lesnar would leave if Jon Jones could have found himself a tainted supplement with Turinabol and gotten a minimum suspension. Right now, given Jones’ lack of an explanation for his positive test, things don’t look good for him in his upcoming testimony before USADA as far as being able to fight any time soon. Lesnar vs. Jones was a huge money fight, and while Lesnar could get fights and make money with Cain Velasquez, Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou, he couldn’t make nearly the money as he could have with Jones. In addition, he would be the underdog in all of those fights and his market value would drop with a loss. Plus, Ngannou is the one that also offers the most serious physical danger for him and one he should probably avoid, even if of the four opponents, it’s the one there is at least a possible path of victory using his wrestling. Reigns winning the title from Lesnar is still the direction, as it has been for a year, for the show. The big issue is the claims about Reigns by Jon Bravo, the film maker with access to the Wellness Fitness Nutrition, Inc., files who has claimed for the past few weeks that he would be revealing information regarding Reigns’ alleged purchases from the company that distributed steroids and other PEDs.

Originally Posted by Observer Cena vs. Undertaker is still the Mania plan, or at least was at the time Cena did the interview and we’ve heard nothing different. Based on the crowd reaction, it has more anticipation than almost anything on the show. The only way that would change would be if Undertaker gets hurt in training or for some reason pulls out of the show. As for Mysterio Jr., he has no deal with WWE at this moment. He does have a meeting scheduled with Paul Levesque to discuss a deal very soon, and it’s basically dependent upon Levesque clearing his schedule and set up when this will take place. Mysterio is looking for a very different type of deal as he’s not willing to wrestle full-time at this point, nor should he. There are also questions about opportunities outside of wrestling. Mysterio was at the 2/26 house show in San Diego but all of the key people would have been at Raw in Anaheim that night. He is also still scheduled for the New Japan show on 3/25 in Long Beach.

Originally Posted by Observer There had been speculation of Travis Browne, Rousey’s husband, who has been training at the Performance Center, being in the match where it would be the husband and wives against each other. But this is a better bet since using Browne would mean the match at Mania would have HHH and three wrestlers with almost no experience, two of which would be in the first match. Angle is the safer choice since the guys who likely work most of the way and carry the match, and build for the peak spots with Rousey and Stephanie. The entire match will likely be mapped out spot-for-spot, or at least the limited action of the women would have to be.

Originally Posted by Observer The most recent WrestleMania plans were the women’s title matches to be Bliss vs. Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair vs,. Asuka. Jax was protected as much as could be possible in losing to Asuka on the Chamber show, and continued getting the monster push. Bliss, in her television interview, kept saying that Jax deserves the title shot as a way to avoid Asuka. The idea is she kept saying it because she knew it had no chance of happening, and makes sense that it ends up happening. But it’s unclear where all that stands right now.

Spoiler tag used since its related to Mania plans and Lesnar's future status in the WWE.

Originally Posted by Observer The WWE to FOX stories have grown stronger including this noting a Monday night slot on FOX for Raw is possible. This is actually something first talked about more than a year ago and we had reported it months ago. But this story said FOX would rather have WWE and would let UFC go if they can make the WWE deal and is willing to pay more for WWE. The moral of this story is that it's very important to have a good year in your contract year. One year ago, nobody would have ever made that call. This year, the perception is very different, and the signing of Ronda Rousey is a big part of this.

Link: http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/news...t1fglfp1m7xr2w

Originally Posted by Observer On FS 1's Speak for Yourself show, Jason Whitlock and Colin Cowherd talked about Cowherd going with FOX Sports execs to the Smackdown tapings Tuesday night at the Staples Center. Cowherd talked about meeting Stephanie McMahon and said that he had a blast at the show. He'd spent years burying wrestling and its fans. Cowherd now said it was a very good sport "coming to a network near you" which was meant as a tease as FOX is looking to get WWE's TV rights in 2019.

Originally Posted by Observer Ring of Honor is set to return to the United Kingdom for a three-show tour in May. The tour will be called "Honor United" and will begin in Edinburgh, Scotland with a show at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange on May 24th. After that, there will be stops at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre in London, England on the 26th and The Doncaster Dome in Doncaster, England on the 27th. This will be ROH's first trip to the UK since last summer's War of the Worlds events, which included an iPPV from Liverpool and featured wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling and CMLL. Though few details have been announced for the three shows in May, ROH confirmed that there will be wrestlers from NJPW on the tour.

Link: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ro...80%99-tour-may

Originally Posted by Observer All Star Wrestling on 3/2 and 4/14 in Surrey BC at the Alice McKay Building at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Due to Tom Lawlor's injury, tomorow night's main event will be Davey Boy Smith Jr. defending the Stu Hart Heritage title against Artemis Spencer, who replaces Lawlor. MCW on 3/24 in Joppa, MD with Bruiser vs. Joey Mercury in a cage match. CZW on 3/10 in Voorhees, NJ at the Colossal Sports Academy has Rich Swann vs. Joe Gacy added to the show. Wrestle Circus announced Penta 0M vs. Shane Strickland, Tessa Blanchard vs Chelsea Green and Extra Talented vs. Andy Dalton & Gregory James for their 3/24 show in Austin TX. Another NWA video produced by Dave Lagana covering Nick Aldis returning home as NWA champion.

NWA link: https://youtu.be/dgBLSaHUkaE

Originally Posted by PWI Let’s imagine something happens to Vince McMahon tonight and he is no longer able run WWE. What happens next? who takes over the business, creative etc. Vince is known to pretty much do everything in his company, so i’m interested as to you believe the plan would be should he not be there? And what would be the immediate reaction? Remember there have been lots of shows that Vince McMahon wasn’t involved in and WWE got through them fine. The plan would be for Michelle Wilson and George Barrios to run the day to day of the business while Triple H and Stephanie McMahon would handle the creative and branding of the company. I think a lot of people will be shocked to hear this, but should and when something happens to Vince McMahon, the WWE machine will continue without a beat. It’s too massive a company at this point that it wouldn’t. I think people outside the company will be shocked and wonder how WWE will carry on, but Disney still moved on and grew even after the deaths of Walt and Roy Disney.

From PWI's weekly Q&A article about WWE's current plans for Vince's departure.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE announced that they will returning to Tokyo, Japan on June 29th and 30th with shows at the Ry?goku Kokugikan Sumo Arena featuring the Smackdown Live brand. No talent has been confirmed yet for the events.

Originally Posted by PWI The official Twitter account for the 9/1 "All In" event being promoted in Chicago, IL, headed by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, announced that the location of the event, a 10,000 seat venue in that market that Ring of Honor has never run, will be announced on the next edition of their YouTube series Being the Elite: The next #BeingTheElite will feature the location for the event! — All In (@ALL_IN_2018) March 1, 2018

Link: https://twitter.com/ALL_IN_2018/stat...29707260887040

Originally Posted by Observer There was a much bigger walk-up than usual both nights. Las Vegas had 8,000 tickets a few weeks out and ended up with 11,000 in the T Mobile Arena for Fast Lane. Whether that was a late two-for-one, or the announcement of Rousey is impossible to say, probably some of both. In Anaheim, there was another huge walk-up as we were told the afternoon of the show that it was looking like 8,500, and ended up at 10,000. That was very much attributed to Rousey, since WWE didn’t even announce she would be there until after the PPV.

Originally Posted by Observer The weekly saga of Roman Reigns and his connection with Richard Rodriguez had a few new stories from an interview with Jon Bravo. Bravo did an interview with pro wrestler Devon Nicholson’s Hannibal TV channel. He said that he hasn’t gone over the 2017 records, but he claimed that he of yet hasn’t found anything from 2016 that Reigns ordered that came after his June suspension. He said he also found things being used prior to the June suspension which is why he said he was certain that what got Reigns suspended were drugs he purchased from Rodriguez ... Bravo said the information would be released in a lengthy video with Rodriguez where he will go into detail on Reigns and every other wrestler involved. He also said he uncovered a connection between Rodriguez and all of the wrestlers and indicated it would be out shortly ... The key is that if this is accurate, WWE can argue if there is no evidence of him using anything after June, that he was already suspended. With Reigns scheduled to win the Universal title from Brock Lesnar, and a second suspension would be 60 days, it would put the company in a very bad position if evidence is brought out implicating him with purchasing anything after that point. WWE would not be forced to do anything, and because they aren’t really covered in depth by many mainstream places, there’s not going to be the media pressure on the policy. That was shown by the revelation that Lesnar wasn’t subject to the policy after he failed a UFC test and wasn’t suspended, which got virtually no mainstream coverage, like it would if there was a bust and one of UFC’s or the NFL’s biggest stars was named ... He said the reason he and Rodriguez they talked about Reigns, Josh Duhamel (who, coincidentally, appeared on Smackdown this week to plug the debut of the USA Network TV show “Unsolved,” that he is starring in) and Mark Wahlberg is because he claimed those names had already come out in testimony related to the case. He said because of that, all three of the men would have been contacted and been aware of this all along ... But if the records come out and there is substance to them, there is great onus on WWE on a lot of different fronts ... The other is that if you’ve got 15 guys tied to just this one case, that likely tells you use the issue is far more prevalent than just from this one guy as a dealer. If it is, that tells you the mentality among the wrestlers, or at least a good percentage of them, is that when WWE tests and tells you they want you clean, what they really mean is they want you to not fail tests that may be easy to pass. Part of the issue is when you have traditionally awarded physiques with better spots and more opportunities, the natural incentive in a very competitive sport is to do what you can to maximize what you are given. This is not limited to WWE ... It doesn’t help when the CEO and the head of developmental are both bodybuilders themselves and whether they are or aren’t clean, I don’t believe there’s one person on the roster who believes they don’t have a history with the stuff. So there’s a lead by example thing going. I don’t really care if they suspend a bunch of guys. The reality is the guys who are using the stuff have the mentality that the real rules, as opposed to what the public is told, is look how you need to look and don’t get caught. And if those are the rules, WWE should do nothing here. If those aren’t the rules, and this is meant to be more than a smoke-screen, the WWE should be aggressively trying to find out what the information is, and what is being used, and what type of testing can be done to lessen that use ... There’s also the Lesnar loophole, where WWE has allowed the older part-timers an essential drug exemption free pass, while the guys on the harder schedule who are taking the bumps and traveling hard, don’t get that benefit. Another issue that came up this past week regards NXT. Talent there is tested, and are suspended with the same rules, but their suspensions are kept hidden. Unfortunately, with the revelation last week here of that fact, it was created an environment where anyone who disappears for more than 30 days is now getting the rumors of a drug test failure their way. In some cases, that may be true and others it wouldn’t. NXT is a touring brand with guys being pushed as stars, so I’m not sure why he rules would be different. They have their reasons. But the problem now is by not announcing the failures, anyone who misses 30 days for a minor injury, a personal leave, a legit health issue or cosmetic surgery will now be rumored that they have failed test. Sometimes you reveal names to punish the people and as a public deterrent to everyone that your name will get out. Sometimes you do it because every real sport would. But another reason to announce all failures is to protect the innocent.

Originally Posted by Observer Mike Tenay has said that while he is not actively pursuing any jobs in wrestling, and has had offers that he hasn’t accepted, he does not consider himself retired from wrestling. He said that he might consider a return to announcing at some point in the future and is open to listening to offers

Originally Posted by Observer John Pollock noted that the ban on piledrivers was due to a significant injury to a wrestler in Louisiana from a piledriver. This injury and ban was enacted in recent years, so the fact there were piledrivers at both the last WrestleMania in New Orleans and on shows that week doesn’t matter. Still, my gut tells me the commission will rule tombstones as not being piledrivers since WWE doesn’t allow their wrestlers to do regular piledrivers under normal circumstances (they may be approved for top stars in a major match, but even that is rare). All wrestlers who appear on the shows have to have blood test results sent to the promotion for review by the commission regarding testing for HIV along with Hepatitis B and C. In addition, the commission will be doing physicals at the shows before the matches and the commission is saying there are no exceptions to the rule. What’s notable here is that most commissions are small and there are so many events going on at the same time so I don’t see how they’ll be able to oversee them all

Originally Posted by Observer Both Keith Lee and Walter have been offered WWE spots starting in Orlando in May. The two are the two best big men on the independent scene right now. The belief within the indie world is Lee is taking it since he’s turned down dates after that point in time but this is one of those things that neither side are even allowed to confirm. Lee is 32 or 33 (he told me he was 32 months back) , and he’s got charisma to go along with being so strong and agile. He reminds me of a more agile but not quite as heavy version of Bam Bam Bigelow. Lee, while not announced yet because it requires the approval of Gabe Sapolsky, since he has a contract with WWN, was tentatively on the card for New Japan on the 3/25 show in Long Beach. If that happens, that doesn’t mean he won’t do that date and still go to WWE in May although New Japan believes he’s not. He also has shown he can work with lots of different styles and have good matches and had a tear down the house psychology match with Tomohiro Ishii in London that was beautiful in its simplicity. Walter is less clear. I know that in the past he’s told us he’s not interested because he’s got employee status with the wXw promotion in Europe and runs their school and in the past told us he likes his life and wasn’t interested in moving. He wasn’t even interested in long periods out of Europe as he noted New Japan isn’t something he was interested in either. But there is an opportunity if you become a WWE star to make far more money and garner far more fame in this business than anywhere else. Walter would have been a main event heel in the old WWWF days against Bruno Sammartino or Pedro Morales in the 70s as a big German who can really go standing behind a heel manager. He’s got a great foreign heel face, similar to Vladimir Kozlov, just as big, not quite as good a body as Kozlov had but world’s better in the ring. Walter’s chops are incredible, but I’m not sure WWE will want their guys taking those chops as much as indie guys are willing to do to make a match, but he can do more than that. Both have different styles than WWE but if I was WWE, they are two of the top guys possible to get that aren’t under contract with a major promotion already

Originally Posted by Observer Rousey was training during the week at the Performance Center in secrecy. Even before, when she would come, she would train if off hours so people wouldn’t see her even though it was not a secret she was there. She also went to Stamford this past week for business meetings. Her training team was Norman Smiley, Sara Amato, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke (so she’s back training for pro wrestling again), Travis Browne (her husband who is 6-foot-6 and was doing training as well and has done some training there for months although we’ve heard mixed reports on whether he’ll be wrestling or not) along with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler

Originally Posted by Observer Talks are back open regarding a Neville return. If it was to happen, the target is April right now. He has been looking at leaving but wasn’t able to get a release, and it’s a bad situation because the company can freeze his contract length if he’s not performing (the same reason they were able to keep both Bryan and Mysterio under contract long after their original deals were to expire)

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding Apollo dropping the Crews last name, it’s been confirmed through people who have seen internal e-mails that it was a decision made by Vince McMahon because of the gunman in the Parkland school mass murder names Nikolas Cruz. That had previously been reported by Daniel Wood and in many other places. WWE never denied the story to us, only said that they had never released that information to any media source. The reason for the dropping of the name wasn’t supposed to get out

Originally Posted by Observer Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that a TV appearance by Eric Arndt (Enzo Amore) on the show Undercover Boss on CBS has been edited off the show. There was an episode that has yet to air with a WWE theme that Arndt had a scene in. They reported it was a small scene that wasn’t integral to the episode itself and it wasn’t difficult to edit him out. Arndt was edited off likely because WWE didn’t want anything associated with them to have him shown as part of their company in the future since he’s being investigated on a sexual assault charge

Some other sheet news includes:

• According to the Observer, WWE is currently struggling selling tickets for Smackdown exclusive Fastlane PPV. WWE currently offering a "2 for the price of 1" for ringside seats.
• The entire content listing for the upcoming Becky Lynch collection set for the WWE Network was recently revealed. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...ction.html?p=1
• According to PWI, Sunny (Tammy Sytch) is dealing with legal problems again and this time related to her failing to appear at two different courts for prior legal issues. Besides being arrested in New Jersey, she is now considered a "fugitive of justice" in Pennsylvania. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...stice.html?p=1
• Radio show Conversations With Maria Menounos had Charlotte as the guest talking about who she wants to face at Mania, her feelings on Ronda Rousey, her father's legacy, and more. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-more.html?p=1
• Karen Jarrett recently commented on Jeff Jarrett's induction into WWE's Hall of Fame and thanked everyone who made it possible and helped Jeff's career. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...ction.html?p=1
• According to the Observer, Paul Heyman will be giving the induction speech for Goldberg during this year's WWE Hall of Fame event.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Various: Lesnar at WWE Show, Taker Campaigns w/ Kane, Edwards Re-Signs
• WWE: Austin at WrestleCon, Birthdays, WWE Camera Work, Paige’s Store
• Impact vs. Lucha Underground Show Planned for WrestleMania Weekend
• PWG to Move to a Bigger Venue for Their Next Show

[owenbrown]

Why couldn't it be Bischoff or DDP giving Goldberg's speech?

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Ronda Rousey embracing her Samoan heritage OUTTA NOWHERE:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw fell four percent last night to 3.03 million viewers and the viewing followed the normal patterns with most viewers watching the first two hours and dropping off after that point ... The second-to-third hour drop was 16.5 percent, which is the fourth biggest single hour drop in the show's history. Ronda Rousey being in the first segment probably hurt the overall number since if people were turning in for her, they would have left 15 minutes in. Still, this was among the lower rated shows since football season ended, and there is no competition that you could point to as a primary reason. The show didn't really promote anything for the third hour past Paul Heyman addressing Roman Reigns' remarks from the previous week. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.30 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.27 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.73 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer Jonathan Coachman was one of several ESPN employees named in a sexual discrimination and harassment lawsuit filed against the company Monday. Former ESPN employee Adrienne Lawrence filed the suit in Connecticut's United States District Court, but damages were not specified. Coachman, now with WWE, was named on page 36 of the lawsuit in the section "Men Preyed on Ms. Lawrence Under the Guise of Being Collegial or Providing Mentorship".

Lawsuit link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OOp...-Xm3t14YI/view

Originally Posted by Observer After being named in a sexual harassment lawsuit against his old employers Monday, Jonathan Coachman fired back Tuesday morning in denying the claims ... On Twitter, Coachman, now a broadcaster with WWE, responded to someone asking a question about Lawrence's claims: I will address this only once because I am seething today. In 21 years of being a PROFESSIONAL I have never been more offended in my life. I my 9 years I can count on one hand the amount of times I interacted with anyone other than a co-anchor. To allow someone to spread vicious https://t.co/4NYsZjK2C6 — Jonathan Coachman (@TheCoachrules) March 6, 2018 Lies and flat out fabrications is not ok and it’s time someone stood up for themselves. @jemelehill addressed her lie last night. I am not a part of this lawsuit because I have never done anything wrong. My reputation speaks for itself and anyone that has ever worked with me https://t.co/4NYsZjK2C6 — Jonathan Coachman (@TheCoachrules) March 6, 2018 Will back that up. I am also offended that someone can dangerously throw peoples names into something for the clear attempt at getting headlines. This the only time I will address this because I am not a part of this lawsuit. My heart goes out to anyone falsely accused of https://t.co/4NYsZjK2C6 — Jonathan Coachman (@TheCoachrules) March 6, 2018 Anything. Trust me it doesn’t feel good. But most of you have been incredible and supportive. Onward and upward. https://t.co/4NYsZjK2C6 — Jonathan Coachman (@TheCoachrules) March 6, 2018 In a statement, WWE said, "We take these matters very seriously and are investigating."

Originally Posted by Observer The stone pitbull Tomohiro Ishii will be a part of Ring of Honor's WrestleMania weekend event. ROH announced today that Ishii will compete at this year's Supercard of Honor XII show, though it hasn't been announced who he will face. Other stars from New Japan coming in are Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenny Omega, who will headline the event against Cody. It will take place Saturday evening, going head to head with NXT Takeover. Something to note about this weekend is that with the exception of Omega, all of the New Japan talent coming in that weekend are also confirmed for that weekend's Rev Pro event, which will take place a day prior. Minoru Suzuki is scheduled for the Rev Pro event as well, so it's possible he may be added to Ring of Honor's card in the not too distant future, though that isn't currently confirmed. Other talents confirmed for Supercard of Honor XII include ROH World champion Dalton Castle and The Young Bucks.

Originally Posted by Observer An NXT TakeOver special is officially set to take place in Chicago over Money in the Bank weekend. The show is scheduled for the Allstate Arena on June 16th, which is one day before the venue hosts Money in the Bank. Though there have been changes to the WWE pay-per-view schedule, TakeOver returning to Chicago has been planned since at least December ... There are now five TakeOver events on the calendar for this year, with this being the only one not happening during a "Big Four" pay-per-view weekend. The next one will be in New Orleans on April 7th, and NXT will finish building to that show at their television tapings at Full Sail University on Wednesday.

Link: https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/970736672848703488

Originally Posted by Observer Katsuyori Shibata has been named head coach of New Japan's Los Angeles dojo. New Japan made the announcement tonight, with New Japan's English site confirming the news shortly thereafter. It was also announced that Scorpio Sky, who currently wrestles for Ring of Honor as a part of SoCal Uncensored, will be the assistant coach.

More details: https://www.f4wonline.com/japan/kats...es-dojo-252831

Originally Posted by Observer WWE confirmed last night that their stadium show in Melbourne, Australia is official and will be happening in October. Renee Young wasn’t on Raw and won’t be on SmackDown tonight due to being sick. She wrote that she’ll be back for Fastlane on Sunday. Ronda Rousey clarified that she used a standing reverse kata guruma to lay out Stephanie McMahon on Raw. Here’s the updated card for WWE’s house show at Madison Square Garden on March 16th: * Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Braun Strowman and Kane in a triple threat match * Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Finn Balor vs. The Miz, Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas * John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. Elias & Bayley * AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn * Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against The New Day and Titus O’Neil & Apollo in a triple threat match * Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, and Asuka are also advertised WWE announced a deal with Snickers to be the presenting partner for WrestleMania. Snickers will be involved in promoting WrestleMania Axxess, and a WWE.com series and YouTube series leading up to Mania.

Renee: https://twitter.com/ReneeYoungWWE/st...70363633561600 , Ronda: https://twitter.com/RondaRousey/stat...23311873753088

Originally Posted by PWI The footage that was used on Raw last night of the Hardy Compound in North Carolina was filmed last week by Matt Hardy's wife, Rebecca. We've had some readers ask if the footage was material licensed from Impact Wrestling. That was not the case. While WWE has licensed content featuring the Broken Universe from Impact, that is not what was utilized last night. No word yet when WWE will be filming what has been termed "The Ultimate Deletion."

Reby link: https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/970894572204118017

Originally Posted by Observer Mike Piellucci wrote an incredible profile piece on Cody Rhodes for The Ringer, with the center of it being Cody’s relationship with his father before and after his death and how that has shaped him. Cody and The Young Bucks announced that ticket information for All In is forthcoming and fans will be given plenty of notice before they go on sale. ROH posted an update about their HonorClub streaming service, saying that they’re in the pre-beta testing period for Apple TV, Roku, and Android TV channels and iOS and Android apps. They mentioned that people have asked about matches from the first few years of the company’s history, noting that they’ll continue rolling out classic content as they move forward. UCW on 4/14 in Owesnboro, KY at the Sports Center features Vader, Tommy Dreamer, Hurricane Helms and Shane Douglas.

Cody: https://www.theringer.com/2018/3/6/1...-rhodes-all-in , "All In": https://twitter.com/ALL_IN_2018/stat...67874306674688 , ROH: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ho...-status-update

Originally Posted by PWI WWE are selling a new Kevin Owens "KOMania III" shirt, playing off of the poster of Wrestlemania III.

Link: https://shop.wwe.com/kevin-owens-ko-...rt/PE7010.html

Originally Posted by Observer It was also very clear, after the excellent backstage segment with Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax, that the storyline for the Raw Women's championship will head in that direction for a Wrestlemania showdown, which explains why Mickie James is suddenly Bliss' second again - to help run interference against Nia. While the Raw storyline has been building towards Asuka challenging Bliss, WWE's online articles continue to mention from time to time that Asuka has not "officially' announced what title belt she will be challenging for at Wrestlemania, certainly leaving the door open to Asuka still challenging Charlotte for the Smackdown championship.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross underwent the first of several eye surgeries yesterday. Ross wrote on his Twitter account that he was told the first surgery was successful, but noted that currently, he could not see out of his right eye. Our best wishes to Jim on a quick and painless recovery. Ross will soon be announcing the new home for his weekly podcast after not coming to terms with Podcast One. Ross' latest "Slobberknocker Sessions" event, an intimate affair featuring a book signing for his excellent autobiography and a question and answer session will take place on Friday 4/6 at 10 AM in New Orleans as part of Wrestlemania 34 weekend. The event will be held at The Hilton Garden Inn New Orleans Airport.

Link: https://twitter.com/JRsBBQ/status/970831966491815942

Originally Posted by PWI WWE announced this afternoon that R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle will open Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, performing America the Beautiful. The duo are signed to Beyonce's Parkwood Entertainment and will release their first album, The Kids are Alright on 3/23.

Originally Posted by PWI ROH returns to PPV this Friday 3/9 for their Anniversary PPV from Sam's Town in Las Vegas, featuring: *ROH champion Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal. *ROH Tag Team champions The Motor City Machineguns vs.The Briscoes. *Matt Taven vs. Cody Rhodes. *Flip Gordon vs. Hiromu Takahashi. *Punishment Martinez vs. Marty Scurll. *The Hung Bucks (The Young Bucks & Hangman Page) defend the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship against SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) in a Vegas Street Fight.

Originally Posted by PWI Rey Mysterio is scheduled to undergo testing today to determine the severity of his arm injury, which is feared to be a bicep tear, later today, PWInsider.com has confirmed. The injury is believed to have occurred during the final minutes of the main event of Northeast Wrestling's Wrestlefest 2018 in Waterbury, CT this past Friday, with Mysterio teaming with Flip Gordon to defeat Joey Mercury and Caleb Konley.

More details: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...pdate.html?p=1

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Jeff Hardy has been cleared by his surgeon to return to action, according to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet. Hardy, who has been out of action since suffering a torn right rotator cuff in September, is now just waiting to be cleared by WWE. Hardy underwent surgery during the first week of October in Birmingham, Alabama and PWInsider reported in late February that Hardy was back in Birmingham being evaluated by his doctors to get cleared. Dave Meltzer reported last week on Wrestling Observer Radio that Hardy was back in training and was hopeful to be back in time for WrestleMania 34.

Pro Wrestling Sheet link: http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/jef...edical-update/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc John Cena's WrestleMania 34 plans don't seem to involve the Smackdown brand. Following this Sunday's Fastlane pay-per-view, Cena is not scheduled for any SmackDown Live tapings. He's not scheduled for tonight's SmackDown Live at the Resch Center in Green Bay, WI, and the only upcoming live events he's currently slated to appear at are for the RAW brand. The last date on Cena's current WWE schedule is the post-WrestleMania episode of Monday Night RAW in New Orleans. Cena was not featured in recent advertising materials for SummerSlam in August or The Survivor Series in November, although he could be appearing at those shows if his schedule opens up during those periods. Cena's next major movie, Blockers, is scheduled to be released on April 6th, days before WrestleMania 34. SPOILER: show He is rumored to be facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania, which would be their first singles match on pay-per-view since Taker defeated Cena at the Vengeance pay-per-view on July 27, 2003.

Spoiler tag used since it teases at potential Mania plans.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Last night's WWE RAW broadcast on the USA Network abruptly ended at 11pm EST as USA's special on the murders of Tupac & Biggie began airing. The show aired for about 1 minute until RAW came back on right as Paul Heyman was walking to the ring doing his promo. We can confirm that the glitch happened for USA Network app viewers and viewers using other streaming services such as Sling.

Some other sheet news includes:

• According to the Observer, rumors of WWE holding a War Games event this year in Los Angeles are false. https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/w...angeles-252976
• Recent episode of Chasing Glory with Lillian Garcia podcast show had AJ Styles as the guest. https://www.podcastone.com/episode/W...enal-AJ-Styles
• According to PWI, WWE is currently considering adding Ronda Rousey to their upcoming MSG RAW brand house show. If it happens, it will be the first time in Ronda's career (UFC & WWE) she will make an appearance for a show at MSG.
• WTMJ-TV Milwaukee had a recent interview with Braun Strowman talking about being a WWE star, when he wanted to become a pro wrestler in the WWE, and how he caught the WWE's attention. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...he-eye-of-wwe/
• According to PWI, the Ultimate Deletion match between Bray and Matt Hardy is currently planned to occur during one of the RAWs leading to Mania and not at Mania itself.
• Apparently ROH's plans to improve the image and prestige of their women's division involves them just being pre-show material for TV and PPVs. Management pretty much lied to their women's division about things improving for them in the future and the Women's of Honor tournament meant to be the start of it.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE: Bar’s Mystery Opponents, Ultimate Deletion on Raw? JR Eye Surgery
• Alberto El Patron Reportedly Met With Vince McMahon Last Week
• Venue + Date Announced for Bullet Club’s 10,000 Seat Event
• WWE Will Debut a Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship Soon
• Ronda Rousey Will Be on Every Raw Leading to WrestleMania

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by WWE's Minister of Wrestling Holidays:

Originally Posted by Observer SmackDown averaged 2.59 million viewers on Tuesday night, down four percent from last week ... For the sixth time in the last seven weeks, SmackDown was down year-over-year in the ratings

Smackdown needs a huge change in direction either after Fastlane or Mania since their current plans haven't worked for months.

Originally Posted by Observer NXT introduced a new secondary singles title at tonight’s television tapings, with the inaugural champion set to be crowned during WrestleMania weekend. William Regal announced that the first NXT North American Champion will be decided at TakeOver: New Orleans on April 7th. SPOILER: show It was at that moment that EC3 came out, making his official NXT return. He said that it was nice that Regal was going to create a title just for him. Regal said that no one is handed anything in NXT, and he will instead square off against five other competitors in a ladder match to crown the first champion. Those five other competitors were later revealed to be Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream Killian Dain, Adam Cole and Ricochet.

Spoiler tag used since its related to stuff for Takeover New Orleans and major announcements.

Originally Posted by Observer Tenille Dashwood vs. Brandi Rhodes and Sumie Sakai vs. Hana Kimura in Women of Honor Championship tournament matches will air on Facebook Live on Friday prior to ROH’s 16th Anniversary PPV. Ahead of it airing on TV, ROH uploaded Dashwood and Stacy Shadows’ first round match on YouTube.

Links: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/te...hip-tournament , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4-Yq5_GL3w

Originally Posted by Observer An official hotel for All In weekend will be announced on Monday.

Link: https://twitter.com/ALL_IN_2018/stat...14121714880519

Originally Posted by PWI With Bobby Fish injured and facing surgery, the current plan is to strip Undisputed Era of the NXT Tag Team championships with the 2018 Dusty Tag Classic being used to determine the new champions. This will be the first time in the Tag Team championships will be on the line in the tournament, which is currently in its third incarnation.

Originally Posted by PWI As part of today's corporate filing announcing their 4/19 Stockholders Meeting in Stamford, CT, the following corporate salaries were released by the company. WWE Chairman of the Board and CEO Vince McMahon - $1.4 million in 2017. That number is expected to remain the same in 2018. WWE Co-President George Barrios - $783,510 in 2017. His salary for 2018 post-promotion will be $870,000. WWE Co-President Michelle D. Wilson - $791,044 in 2017. Her salary for 2018 post-promotion will be $870,000. WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque - $650,000 in 2017. His salary will raise to $684,000 in 2018. WWE Executive Vice President, Production Kevin Dunn - $909,560 in 2017. His salary will rise to $925,000 in 2018. These salaries do not include what those who perform on camera are paid, nor would they include what execs make via WWE stock dividend payouts. In the case of those related to Vince McMahon, their performance salaries were also listed in the filing: Stephanie McMahon was paid $2.2 million total between her role as Chief Brand Ambassador and her on camera role. Triple H was paid an additional $1.5 million for his on camera role, which means he was paid almost double to be "Triple H" vs. what he made as Paul Levesque, WWE Executive. Shane McMahon, who is not an executive for the company, was paid $1.3 million last year for his on camera role as Smackdown Commissioner.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE will be holding its annual meeting of stockholders on Thursday 4/19 at 10 AM at WWE HQ in Stamford, CT. The company will elect its eleven Directors at the meeting. The meeting is only opened to WWE stockholders and has in the past featured Vince McMahon and other executives taking questions from stockholders.

Originally Posted by PWI Major League Wrestling returns to Orlando, Florida for "Spring Break" at the Gilt Nightclub, featuring the continuation of the MLW championship tournament and more. The lineup for Spring Break features: * World Heavyweight Championship Semi-Finals: Matt Riddle vs. ACH. * World Heavyweight Championship Semi-Finals Jimmy Havoc vs. Shane “Swerve” Strickland.

Rest of the card: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...break.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI Impact will be announcing talents and additional details of their 4/6 Impact vs. Lucha Underground event in New Orleans as part of Wrestlecon this afternoon. They will also be holding a media call with Taya. Impact's Twitch special this Friday 3/9 will feature: *Impact champion Austin Aries vs. Kongo Kong vs. Matt Sydal. *Knockouts champion Allie vs. KC Spinelli. *Moose vs. Alberto el Patron. *Eli Drake vs. Marcus Burke. *Trevor Lee vs. Josh Alexander. *Idris Abraham vs. Petey Williams vs. Phil Atlas vs. Brent Banks. *Desi Hitsquad vs. Cody Deaner Jake Something. *Braxton Sutter vs. Tyson Dux.

Originally Posted by PWI The Montgomery Fairgrounds Coliseum, which housed many years of professional wrestling in Dayton, Ohio, will hold its final sporting event, a boxing card this weekend, before being torn down. The current fairgrounds will be razed and replaced with a newer design that will feature eight buildings. Over the course of its lifetime, the venue was home to Les Thatcher's HWA when it was a WWE developmental territory and hosted a number of Ring of Honor events, including, what was at the time, the most important match in ROH history to that point. In 2004, with a great amount of turmoil due to the Rob Feinstein situation having the company in quite the maelstrom, CM Punk challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH championship in the venue ... Historically, one of the most important moments in ROH history took place in that venue.

Link: https://www.daytondailynews.com/even...nFLd08g406hZL/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Armando Alejandro Montalvo, the WWE fan who was shot outside of the WWE Performance Center on August 31st, 2015, appeared outside of tonight's WWE NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University and caused a scene. According to fans waiting outside of the venue before doors were opened, Montalvo was ranting about WWE, DX and about how Vince McMahon will have to shoot him again to stop him. Security was called but Montalvo jumped into a waiting car and drove away before they could catch up to him. Montalvo had been on WWE's radar before the shooting after a history of bizarre behavior outside of the Performance Center. He had also posted several videos to social media, ranting on how he was obsessed with several female WWE Superstars, including AJ Lee and WWE Hall of Famer Lita. Some of Montalvo's videos had him spreading urine and feces on photos of WWE talents and on the outside of WWE buildings. Montalvo was shot by police who responded to a disturbance call at the Performance Center that day. Montalvo reportedly charged at one of the officers with a handful of rocks after a confrontation. He survived the shooting and has been wrapped up in the legal process since then, even as recent as January of this year. He was charged with trespassing, resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer for the incident at the Performance Center. Montalvo has had numerous run-ins with law enforcement since that incident and still makes daily references to WWE on social media, accusing Vince of being out to get him. Montalvo often posts videos of what he calls "wrestling promos" that mention WWE, Vince and numerous wrestlers.

Link: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...auses-a-scene/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The Young Bucks have responded to the open invitation from RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus for a match at WrestleMania 34 against The Bar. As noted, word going around at RAW was that The Bar will be challenged by two Superstars that are not currently a tag team. Nick Jackson of The Bucks tweeted the following in response to Sheamus' open invite: Who will Step Up To #TheBar at #WrestleMania34? The Greatest Tag Team on Earth has NO worthy opponents on The Grandest Stage of Them All. This is an Open Invitation... #StepUpToTheBar — Sheamus (@WWESheamus) March 6, 2018 We happen to have that date open... https://t.co/YNVAM8xUUa — The Young Bucks (@NickJacksonYB) March 6, 2018

Sheamus tweet: https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/statu...91369904177153 , Young Bucks tweet: https://twitter.com/NickJacksonYB/st...64075660009472


Some other sheet news includes:

• Edge revealed Sheamus and Cesaro will be this week's guest for the Edge & Christian podcast show. https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR/statu...29839931985920
• Recent episode of the Edge & Christian podcast show had Rey Mysterio as the guest talking about his Rumble appearance, wanting to return to the WWE, his list of dream opponents in WWE's current roster, and who he considers to be among the best wrestlers in the world. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...le-wwe-return/
• TMZ Sports held a recent interview with Hillbilly Jim talking about his induction into WWE's Hall of Fame and originally not wanting to be at Wrestlemania weekend due to health issues. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...nia-week-this/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Current NXT TakeOver: New Orleans Card (Spoilers)
• Injury Updates: Rey Mysterio, Bobby Fish, Drew McIntyre
• Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship Design Revealed?
• Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum Meeting With WWE

[Sepholio]

With the news of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt doing The Ultimate Deletion on a RAW before WM....it wouldn't surprise me if they challenged The Bar. Maybe with some interference from Brother Nero involved, too.

[slik]

Other notes from the Observer:

The remaining key WrestleMania matches should be finalized next week. There is the John Cena match (Undertaker at last word), the expected A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match for the WWE title, the U.S. title match which looks to be Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal, whatever Smackdown tag title match there is with the Bludgeon Brothers teased in their first significant match as a team as the challengers, and both women’s title matches, which are expected to be Asuka vs Charlotte and Nia Jax vs Alexa Bliss. Right now the plan is for no match with Sheamus & Cesaro at Mania, but for them to be part of the show in an angle of sorts. The backup plan for Strowman right now if he’s not moved to the Universal title slot would be some type of non-wrestling gimmick thing. The only other thing given a strong push on Raw is the Bayley vs. Sasha Banks storyline. On the Smackdown side, the idea of Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn has been teased, however, the current plans have Owens and Zayn in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. At this point, and this is a surprise, none of the WWE events over WrestleMania week are sold out on the primary market.

The most intriguing things are that if Raw moves to FOX, it would have to be cut to two hours, but it’s audience would like rise. On the flip side, if Smackdown is on FS 1 instead of USA, the drop in homes should decrease the audience 8.4 percent. If FOX wants both for FS 1, that becomes a problem because you’re looking at double-digit audience drops for both shows. Plus, FS 1, being a sports channel, will have issues if there are major sports events on Monday or Tuesday, such as key playoff games, in leagues far bigger than WWE. Another plus for FS 1 is that NXT could not draw a number strong enough for USA most likely, but as a weekly show, it definitely could draw a number strong enough for FS 1. So that could add to FS 1's overall rating, something that is key to the value of having WWE.

There are plans now to strengthen 205 Live and once again try touring with it. I keep hearing people say Ricochet and Lio Rush are being groomed for 205 Live sooner than later.

[Big Vic]

Braun is the most over guy on Raw and he might not have a match, lol.

[Big Vic]

John Cena vs Braun. There's your mania match.

[slik]

I feel like Big Dave has to be wrong about that, not giving Braun a match at WM seems like the dumbest option available from a booking standpoint.

[Simple Fan]

Originally Posted by Slik I feel like Big Dave has to be wrong about that, not giving Braun a match at WM seems like the dumbest option available from a booking standpoint.

I have a feeling it's going to come to a WM20 type deal with Braun in Stone Colds role if the steroid story is bad and Brock is leaving.

[Emperor Smeat]

Originally Posted by Slik I feel like Big Dave has to be wrong about that, not giving Braun a match at WM seems like the dumbest option available from a booking standpoint.

WWE's problem was not giving Braun an actual direction and having him as the backup plan for too many matches.

Universal, Ronda tag match, IC, and Battle Royale all had him as either a backup plan or solely dependent on the actual plans for a match. Even a potential Mania feud with the Drifter is just being rushed on RAW instead.

[DaveWadding]

and when it comes down to it, WWE usually takes the dumbest booking option available...

[slik]

DirtySheets is reporting on Patreon a program will start between Shane McMahon and Dolph Ziggler very soon, possibly this Sunday, to set up Shane vs Ziggler at WrestleMania

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Lmao why do we need a Shane match at Mania? If they cleared Brian wouldn't Shane v Zayne and Owens make way more sense? Or Shane and mystery partner? Or Shane v Owens?

[Corkscrewed]

Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon?

[Corkscrewed]

(Yes, I know that makes zero sense, but the #CuzWrestlemania reason writes itself.)

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by A round of Applause for the Miz:

SPOILER: show

Some updates regarding the NXT tag team titles. Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly will be champions going into the three-way match with Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne at the Takeover show in New Orleans. The idea is that O'Reilly is still champion and is picking a partner to replace Bobby Fish. Right now the idea is that Cole will be in both the ladder match for the North American title and the tag team title match on the Takeover show.

Meltzer previously reported NXT was considering stripping the tag titles off of Undisputed Era and instead the winner of this year's Dusty Tag Classic would become new champs. Now its winner of the 3-way match gets both the tag titles and Dusty Tag trophy.

Originally Posted by Observer They are doing soft promotion for Alexa Bliss vs. Rumble winner Asuka, but from television this week, it sure seems like the original plan of Bliss vs. Nia Jax as the Raw title match is the direction. Charlotte Flair faces Ruby Riott at Fast Lane. Until that match is over, if the direction is Flair vs. Asuka for the Smackdown title, they really couldn’t announce it ... There was a report from PW Insider that more names could be added to the IC title match. If that is accurate, Samoa Joe fits as a name. Strowman, who was originally to face Miz in an IC title , could also be fit in, although the backup plan for Strowman right now if he’s not moved to the Universal title slot would be some type of non-wrestling gimmick thing. The only other thing given a strong push on Raw is the Bayley vs. Sasha Banks storyline. Right now the plan for the Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt Ultimate Deletion type of match on the Hardy Compound is for it to be on Raw rather than WrestleMania. I think it fits better on Raw ... Plus, Jeff is almost ready to return and if he can return in time, Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Hardys makes sense as a Mania match given the storyline is no team in WWE is around that deserves a title match. However, that is not the plan as of this moment. Right now the plan is for no match with Sheamus & Cesaro at Mania, but for them to be part of the show in an angle of sorts, but they are part of a lot of things on the Raw side that are still in flux. On the Smackdown side, the idea of Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn has been teased, and was strongly teased this week, but nothing has been more teased than Shane McMahon vs. Daniel Bryan. Bryan wasn’t even on the Smackdown show this week nor talked about in any meaningful fashion. If there is anything from that, one would think it would be Shane in the ring with a partner against Owens & Zayn, as Bryan’s representatives, given Shane vs. Bryan would need a clearance of Bryan to happen. However, the current plans have Owens and Zayn in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.

Spoiler tag used since its related to plans for NXT New Orleans and some changes made to initial plans. Also for current Mania plans in regards to the undercard.

Originally Posted by Observer Two of New Japan’s young lions have been sidelined with injuries serious enough that they are being kept off of the next tour. New Japan's English website last night reported that Kitamura has been sidelined since March 4 with a concussion. He was originally set to take on Manabu Nakanishi a couple of days ago on the 46th anniversary show, but that match was postponed following the injury. Hikuleo has been out since March 3 with what the website described as ACL damage. Currently, there is no timetable for either's return. Tanga Loa will be taking Hikuelo’s place on the New Japan Cup tour. He will be teaming with various other members of the Bullet Club in multi-man matches.

Link: https://www.njpw1972.com/22890

Originally Posted by Observer New Japan announced a three-match show on 3/24 at its Los Angeles dojo including an autograph session. There will be a contract signing for the Jay White vs. Hangman Page U.S. title match plus a press conference with Katsuyori Shibata, Scorpio Sky, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Jushin Liger. Ryusuke Taguchi, Kushida and all the other names will also be doing autographs. Ultimo Dragon makes his Australian debut of Wrestling Go in Sydney for shows on 5/11 and 5/12. Tenille Dashwood appears for the promotion on 7/12 and she also appears for Southern Pro Wrestling on 7/14 in Invercargill, New Zealand. Zack Sabre Jr comes to Australia for World Series Wrestling International Assault on 6/22 and 6/23 in Melbourne, 6/24 in Adelaide and 6/24 in Sydney.

Originally Posted by PWI Wrestling DVD Network reported yesterday that a new WWE DVD project has been added to the 2018 release schedule. A three disc DVD set entitled "The Evolution of WWE’s Women’s Division” looking at the increased role of women in WWE will be released on June 11 in the UK and June 12 in the US. This project replaces the canceled Shane McMahon DVD on the release schedule. Here is the synopsis: "From Fabulous Moolah to Alundra Blayze, to the rise of Lita & Trish during the Attitude Era, to the Diva Search days and bra & panty matches, all the way to the current revival of the division with Charlotte, Sasha, Becky, Alexa, and Bayley.Witness the greatest matches and most memorable moments in the history of WWE women’s wrestling."

Going to be interesting how they handle Moolah's impact considering her dark history with women's wrestling in the WWE and US in general. Link: http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/w...chedule/151831

Originally Posted by Observer WWE has just announced that its 4/28 Smackdown show in Halifax and 4/29 show in St. John, New Brunswick have been moved to 8/25 and 8/26. All tickets purchased for these shows will be honored. Fans who can't attend either show can also get full refunds at the point of purchase. The dates are moved because the top Smackdown talent will be appearing in Saudi Arabia that week.

Originally Posted by PWI A few quick notes about UItimate Deletion, which WWE is filming today at the Hardy Compound in Cameron, NC: *Referee Shawn Bennett was sent to be the official referee for the bout. *To answer many questions we've received, we are told Jeremy Borash is there working on the shoot. *We have not heard of any other WWE talents being brought in for the filming.

Originally Posted by PWI The National Wrestling Alliance trademark was officially registered to Lightning One Inc., the company Billy Corgan owns that is handling everything related to the NWA since Corgan purchased it last year. Since taking over the NWA, Corgan and NWA Vice President Dave Lagana have set out with building an audience for the brand and returning some credibility to the NWA championship with their Ten Pounds of Gold YouTube series, which has featured current champion Nick Aldis, former champion Tim Storm, Austin Idol, and Josephus, among others, meshing the history of the championship and strong characterizations while building to in-ring action. The current storyline features Aldis going on a "crusade", defending the belt 20 times over the next 60 days. He is slated to defend against Tommy Dreamer at the 3/24 House of Hardcore event in Philadelphia. As previously reported, Lightning One has also filed a copyright on The Dumont Network, the entity that once rivaled ABC and CBS as a national broadcast network and was the first channel to broadcast professional wrestling. It stands to reason that will be used at some point to distribute the NWA online.

Originally Posted by PWI UFC star Fabricio Werdum has backed off his claims that he would be meeting with WWE today in San Diego, a day after he told MMA Fighting that he would be meeting with WWE. On his Twitter account, Werdum commented, "Hey guys to make it clear I spoke about maybe doing Lucha libre in México. Not WWE. I meant wwe style(pro wrestling) but I am a @ufc fighter and my focus 100% is fighting in the ufc and whatever decision I make after my fighting career @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 will be involved." Yesterday, Werdum had spoken of wanting to be active in UFC and WWE at the same time, which other than Brock Lesnar, has never happened. The MMAFighting article has removed all references to WWE, replacing it with the term "pro wrestling" and a note that Werdum had originally mentioned a meeting with WWE, mistakenly cited WWE instead of a Mexican lucha libre company.

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/FabricioWerdum/s...97835613978624

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The MLW promotion held their “Spring Break ‘18” card on Thursday night from the Gilt Nightclub in Orlando, Florida with a television truck on site and several new members working on the production end. Thursday night’s show was being produced for a future broadcast and POST Wrestling has been told that a deal with a broadcaster is done and should be announced over the next few weeks. As reported earlier in the day at SI.com, Bruce Prichard has been hired by MLW as a senior producer and POST Wrestling has confirmed that Prichard began on Thursday night in Orlando. Prichard will also handle the role of being a senior agent in addition to his duties as senior producer.

SI link: https://www.si.com/wrestling/2018/03...ague-wrestling

Originally Posted by Observer The idea is to very much portray Lesnar as someone who doesn’t care about WWE, or its fans, and isn’t dedicated to WWE, both to lessen his loss and also, just as importantly, to try and get a babyface reaction for Reigns as the guy who beats him and sends him packing. Three years ago they did everything in their power in the closing weeks to do that, and the result at Mania was that Reigns ended up being, by far, the most hated wrestler on the show, and Lesnar the most popular. The funny part of that is Lesnar going on ESPN and saying he was staying with WWE and not going to UFC shortly before Mania made him a huge babyface at Mania, not that he wouldn’t have been even if that didn’t happen. McMahon realized it and several days before called the audible of Seth Rollins ending up as champion rather than Reigns, to build for the coronation of Reigns at a more opportune date. After waiting three years, here we are, ready to do what has been planned since 2015. And now there are other concerns. Nobody still knows the fan reaction for Lesnar after the last two weeks, although the 3/12 Raw in Detroit will be the first indicator. And there are still enough questions of whether the match will take place that the hottest wrestler in the company, Braun Strowman, is not in a program nor at this point even scheduled in a match because he’s the designated backup if Lesnar blows up or Reigns becomes a P.R. issue if Johnny Bravo releases his long-teased tape and depending on the media legs of the story, if there is a legitimate story. The concern is enough that rather than put him in a match and change the card if something bad happens, they are not scheduling a few key players until they are sure the issues with the main event is settled.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The Wrestling Observer Newsletter adds that publicly WWE officials are still moving forward with the idea that Lesnar is leaving and part of the mentality right now is to downplay Lesnar on his way out so it won't look like such a big loss if he does leave. The idea is to create an environment where fans celebrate Lesnar's departure instead of having them feel that UFC just landed one of WWE's biggest Superstars. WWE has had each creative step laid out for the WrestleMania 34 main event between Lesnar and Roman Reigns but Vince McMahon changed things last week based on his reaction to the photo of Lesnar in Las Vegas with UFC President Dana White on Elimination Chamber Sunday getting so much attention from the fans and the press. This is why Lesnar was not on RAW for the face off with Reigns. As noted, one of WWE's goals for the Reigns vs. Lesnar build is to get Reigns cheered by the crowd, which is something that isn't always guaranteed, leading to a positive reaction when he wins the title at WrestleMania. WWE also wants the build to come across like a shoot as much as possible.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE has done a great job with manipulations when it comes to Ronda Rousey. When she comes out, they are looking for members of the audience who react huge like she’s this giant superstar, and do close-ups of them, to make it appear everyone is reacting to her like that. Long shots tell that isn’t the case. But she is popular enough and they were chanting her name and reacting to her at the level of a major star babyface. She’ll be on Raw every week through Mania. After Mania, it will definitely be tricky to keep her as something special if she’s there all the time. She was fine on her promo work. She’s very good with her facial expressions, but it’s only been two needed, the smiling babyface who is nearly moved by the reaction and loves being there, and the intense scowl, which she popularized in UFC, and is getting over already.

Originally Posted by Observer At this point, and this is a surprise, none of the WWE events over WrestleMania week are sold out on the primary market, even the Raw after Mania (although that was only 100 tickets shy). WrestleMania and NXT are both close to sold out, close enough that one would think both will end up being sold out. The price of entry for both WrestleMania and NXT on the secondary market has fallen to $30, while Smackdown is $35, Raw is $48 and the Hall of Fame is $50. ROH on the secondary market is $50 for the lowest priced ticket. New Japan in Long Beach at $125 remains the most expensive price of entry for a ticket on the market right now.

Originally Posted by Observer NXT used the TNA old gimmick where they announced that the loudest fans at the tapings will get free merchandise. That could be coming from Jeremy Borash, who worked for TNA and used to pump up the crowd similarly and now works out of Orlando for NXT.

Originally Posted by Observer Tentatively, the plan is for All In tickets to go on sale in May. There are ideas regarding streaming the show, but nothing is official on that yet.

Originally Posted by Observer At this time, unless something changes, the Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi is the main event for 3/25 in Long Beach, which means no Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho. It would be overkill to put them on the same show in a 4,700-seat arena that sold out instantly. The Jericho situation is interesting because when asked about New Japan on Twitter, Jericho responded when asked if he was done with New Japan, wrote “Unfortunately yes.” But he hasn’t answered any questions about it past that statement. I do know that New Japan was interested in Jericho for Long Beach and at one point the Tetsuya Naito match was supposed to be there. If Mysterio can’t make the Liger match in Long Beach, Jericho was also talked about in recent days as a potential replacement, but that would be a short notice deal and honestly I don’t think that’s the best use of him to work a match with Liger with no storyline unless he wants to get a big surprise pop that night, do it unannounced, and be there mostly to set up an angle for Dominion or a future U.S. show. Jericho is on tour with Fozzy now, through 3/16, and then goes back for another tour 3/27 through 4/8 and will be back touring later in April for a few shows, then back touring again on 7/12 through August). At one point he was at least considering working the 6/9 Dominion show in Osaka Jo Hall

Originally Posted by Observer Former WWE wrestler Pete Gas (Peter Gasparino), 47, who grew up as one of Shane McMahon’s best friends and a high school football teammate, is now a Senior Sales Representative for WB Mason out of Jacksonville, FL.

Originally Posted by Observer In what sounds like a desperation scare tactic, Lucha Underground sent out cease and desist letters to at least two reporters (Steve Bryant and Ryan Satin) who wrote stories on things that took place at their TV tapings over the past two weeks. LU makes all fans and performers sign non-disclosure agreements because they don’t want their news getting out, but the idea of threatening reporters with legal action for covering news when it happens is ridiculous and will never hold up. But obviously it’s meant as a threat to see if they can scare them away from not reporting on the news

Originally Posted by Observer Dorian Roldan, who runs AAA, has told several people that he’s looking at buying Impact. We don’t know if that’s just talk or something serious

Originally Posted by Observer The most intriguing things are that if Raw moves to FOX, it would have to be cut to two hours, but it’s audience would like rise. Right now USA Network is in 91,465,000 homes. FOX is probably in closer to 115 million, so in theory, if Raw were to average three million viewers on USA, it would increase to 3.77 million just for the added penetration, but there would also be a second increase because far more people watch FOX than USA. So it should get numbers well over 4 million, perhaps significantly more. On the flip side, if Smackdown is on FS 1 instead of USA, the drop in homes should decrease the audience 8.4 percent, plus there would be the added drop of moving to a station with a lower usual viewership, a 2.5 million would probably drop to closer to 2 million. Still, if, and that’s a big if, Raw does end up on FOX, that increase is far bigger than whatever decrease Smackdown should end up with. But if FOX wants both for FS 1, that becomes a problem because you’re looking at double-digit audience drops for both shows. Plus, FS 1, being a sports channel, will have issues if there are major sports events on Monday or Tuesday, such as key playoff games, in leagues far bigger than WWE. Another plus for FS 1 is that NXT could not draw a number strong enough for USA most likely, but as a weekly show, it definitely could draw a number strong enough for FS 1. So that could add to FS 1's overall rating, something that is key to the value of having WWE and meaning they could pay more for that type of programming or other shoulder programming like they do with UFC

Meltzer on potential issues for the WWE if they take FOX's offer for a new television deal. WWE also loses out on an overrun for RAW due to news commitments. Besides that, FOX is also reported to be considering the idea of drastically cutting down the amount of ad time for their shows in the future.

Originally Posted by Observer There are plans now to strengthen 205 Live and once again try touring with it, perhaps around May or June for another set of experimental tapings. Actually the time frame was listed as sometime between May and September. I keep hearing people say Ricochet and Lio Rush are being groomed for 205 Live sooner than later. Even through Rush isn’t getting any kind of a push in NXT, there are people there who are very high on his ability to be a star, well, as much as they’ll let someone that size be. I think Ricochet in 205 Live, even though he could be the face and top star of the brand, is a bad idea because that’s a limiting stigma. Before the big star was Enzo, but now they with augmentation from outside 205 Live talent similar to how the first two shows ended up. They are also planning on doing a cruiserweight tag team championship to be introduced in the spring or summer. Right now there’s more value in a women’s tag title, but the problem is, you’d have to have two of them

Originally Posted by Observer Don’t expect anything with Walter right now. While interest is definitely there, the description from the WWE side is it wasn’t a direct offer made for right now and that the timing for him to come in has to be right. They feel that there will come a time when they will be needing a big man of his ability, but unless they have direct plans for him, there’s no point in him coming in and getting lost in the system, plus, he’s made it clear that he’s set on continuing what he’s doing

Some other sheet news includes:

• NWA released a new video for their Ten Pounds of Gold series focusing on the upcoming Crimson vs Nick Aldis championship match. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGFyChx4-w
• According to PWI, Sunny/Tammy Sytch is currently in the process of being transported to Pennsylvania to deal with current legal issues there and is expected to have her parole for prior legal issues be officially revoked. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...date-.html?p=1
• According to the Observer, the main reason why WWE picked a 100k stadium for their upcoming Australia tour is due to them wanting to break the all-time record for crowd size which is currently 56k (Ronda vs Holly Holm in UFC) and their own record from 2002 at 55k. Also currently reported to be officially announced as a PPV event during Mania week.
• In regards to the upcoming Saudi Arabia 50-man Rumble show, Observer reports it will be a WWE Network special event.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Bobby Fish Undergoes Surgery, Will Miss Six Months
• Rey Mysterio Injury Reportedly Not That Serious
• WWE Releases Two More NXT Signees
• WWE Releases Abbey Laith