TPWW's Official Dirty Sheets News Thread

[Big Vic]

To early for Jinder, make it close with run ins from the bollywood bros but end it with an RKO 1-2-3

[slik]

http://www.tpww.net/2017/04/another-...uced-to-tears/ Another JBL bullying story was brought to light in this week's Wrestling Observer newsletter. Dave Meltzer revealed a incident where JBL went after a person with a dying family member, who took some time off from WWE. The individual, who was a non-wrestler, took some additional time off to have a minor surgery done and when they returned JBL began berating them backstage about missing shows and how even a hernia surgery could not stop him. The person let JBL know this was not the right time for this behavior as they were dealing with some private matters. JBL ignored this and continued until the person broke down and began crying. The person is speculated to be former ring announcer Lilian Garcia, who took a leave of absence from WWE to care for her dying father.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Meng Appreciation Day:

Originally Posted by Observer It's a well-known story that the song “Glorious” was not written for Roode, and that it was written for another wrestler, who turned it down. So it was sitting there and Roode was given it and it’s really made his career. The identity of the wrestler who turned it down hadn’t come out, but it was Nakamura. Nakamura was hands on when it came to his music, felt the song didn’t fit him, and was a big part of putting together the song “The Rising Son” which is the most played of all the current WWE themes. As it turned out, fate was good because, and maybe this is because we’ve seen it, but the song fits Roode better and Nakamura may not fit the song. In both cases, the music they ended up with have helped both tremendously, making them both superstars and allowing them to get over toning down their in-ring work with both nearing 40.

Someone on r/SquaredCircle swapped the music for Roode and Nakamura and at least for the debut entrances, Glorious fit with Nakamura's entrance but Rising Sun didn't for Roode because of timing issues. Roode would need to tweak his whole entrance routine to make it fit.

Originally Posted by Observer In looking at the six guys, Mahal would have probably been the least likely, but none were strong since Smackdown really only had Orton, A.J. Styles, Owens, Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura as top singles stars. Any questions regarding who they saw as the key star on the brand is has been answered since Nakamura has been the key babyface in the dark match every week at the tapings, the old position of John Cena. The guy in that spot is the one who the company believes would be the best at keeping the crowd from leaving during 205 Live.

At least in regards to Smackdown, WWE currently sees Nakamura as Cena's successor for the brand.

Originally Posted by Observer The situation with Mauro Ranallo and WWE hasn’t changed as representatives from both sides were working out a settlement regarding the remainder of his contract. It is expected that a non-disclosure agreement regarding everything that happened would be part of the settlement. The story is tough because many people will openly talk about it, but few will go on the record because most are either in the company and aren’t allowed nor would want to publicly talk about it, and those who will mostly talk about the period of a decade or longer ago, where there is no debate about what was going on, since person-after-person has gone on record about it and enough stories have been told confirming things.

Originally Posted by Observer Mauro was told at the time they brought him in that they wanted him to be himself, because they wanted Smackdown to have a different feel from Raw and come across more like a sport. Of course, there was the usual stuff of banned words and phrases. For a few months, everything seemed fine, until Vince McMahon wanted him to be more like Michael Cole, essentially the exact opposite thing he was hired to be.

Originally Posted by Observer There was a very bad scare earlier today as Leon White (Vader) fainted right after his match at Korakuen Hall in Japan. It was the 45th anniversary of the debut of Tatsumi Fujinami (one of the greatest workers of all-time) in a six-man tag with Fujinami, Riki Choshu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Vader, Keiji Muto & AKIRA. Vader passed out right after the match ended when Antonio Inoki was coming to the ring for a ceremony honoring Fujinami. He was okay after a while and left the ring on his own, and was at a party put on by Fujinami and his family after the show several hours ago ... It was believed he was suffering from dehydration, though Vader posted on Twitter that it was caused by being dropped on his head at the beginning of the match and claimed that it had nothing to do with the heart problems that he's been dealing with.

Originally Posted by Observer A remake of GLOW called Women of Wrestling was announced today by MGM Television partners and Mark Burnett, who were behind Lucha Underground. Burnett will work with Jeanie Buss of Los Angeles Lakers fame, as well as David McLane, who put together GLOW, for the new TV series.

Originally Posted by PWI The former Simon Gotch, who will be now be going by Simon Grimm, did an interview with USA Today to talk about his WWE release and other things. His WWE release being a "mutual agreement": “They brought it to me and I agreed. It was one of those things where I was unhappy, and they basically felt like the character had run its course. I said I agreed, and they said they wanted to exercise the termination clause in my contract. I agreed with that as well and we went from there. This wasn’t exactly an unwanted thing on my part. I wasn’t happy, and I actually felt that was the best move. In any situation, sometimes if you see the opportunity, you take it.” Root of his unhappiness: “In any job, sometimes you do things for artistic fulfillment or sometimes you do things for financial fulfillment or because it’s part of your job. For some people, money is absolutely the answer … it’s the financial security they want. I’ve always felt wrestling was more of an art form. I felt at that point I was not wrestling because I loved it. I was wrestling because it was my job and that didn’t sit well with me or make me happy. I can be miserable doing anything and not abusing my body. I wrestle because it makes me happy, because I enjoy it, because I’m passionate about it, because I enjoy the game of mental chess. I enjoy trying to create something out of nothing. It’s an art form where they give us the ring as a canvas and we have to paint the audience a picture that will affect them emotionally. It’s great feeling when you do it well. Looking at the bank account and the checkbook were not the things that were driving me in the first place so I couldn’t really justify that as a reason to keep doing it when I wasn’t expressing myself as I felt like I could.” Online reports that the night before he was released, he was involved in a incident at catering at Smackdown Live: “The actual story is that it happened at WrestleMania. I was sitting in catering and the chair I was in was kinda flimsy. I go to shift in it and it just collapses underneath me. Being a ham, my immediate reaction was to demand someone pin me. ‘Someone pin me quick.’ The guy who comes over, I think he works for us. I didn’t realize he was a local technician and was not a WWE technician. He was someone who worked on the set at ‘Mania. He came to help me up and I’m like, ‘Nope, you gotta pin me. C’mon, man.’ And he’s not going along with the bit. He thinks I just fell and he’s trying to help me. I see the bit’s going nowhere so I take the chair and I just kick it off to the side, drop it like a little punt and let it lay where it lands. That was it. I saw the story online, saying that I fell in the chair and made this big scene and was yelling and screaming. No part of that is accurate.”

Link to the article: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/simo...se-simon-grimm

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley announced that he underwent a successful hip replacement surgery yesterday with the following Tweet: Thanks for all the well-wishes, kind words and prayers for my hip surgery. Spirits are high after a visit from Buddy the Elf in recovery! ???? pic.twitter.com/xHeiUZs5Th — Mick Foley (@RealMickFoley) April 20, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Damien Sandow was the latest guest on X-Pac 12360, which you can watch in the video above or download on iTunes. They sent us these highlights: Who Sandow credits for the Damien Sandow character: "There is no one I respect more than Rip Rogers. You know and in terms of the mind, that man has for the business. In terms of like just how he lays it out in just a simplistic way. And had it not been for Rip Rogers, I would have never been the intellectual savior because he, he just taught me how to simplify everything." The backstage reaction to his first Miz stunt double impersonation: "I remember Tyson Kidd of all people, who is a good buddy of mine and an awesome guy, goes, 'did you just put the figure four on the invisible man when Miz did?' I go, 'Yup.' He goes, 'that was the greatest thing I've seen on the show (Monday Night RAW) in a long time.' I just said, 'Well you know what, watch next week.' "After a couple weeks, Vince( McMahon) was like, 'Well, I noticed you are mimicking Miz?' 'Yup.' 'Do whatever you want, if it gets too overboard, I'll pull you back. And I just went, 'Okay.'"

Link to the podcast show: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/...=2&i=374822005

Originally Posted by Observer The other key is with the network and the current business model with the lack of true superstars and the brand being the draw, with John Cena as the only proven exception and he’s not around, then it really doesn’t matter about things like booking and talent selection. The entire Roman Reigns controversy, since the fans who boo Reigns the most are believed to be the first people who buy tickets to see WWE, pretty much exemplifies the change. It means the company has little to no economic incentive to play to its audience, or listen to its audience. If its audience makes it clear they like or dislike someone, the company can look at its business numbers, see no declines, or rationalize the declines that do occur (like in TV ratings) as metrics that don’t mean anything anymore, then exactly what is the incentive of listening to the fans who buy tickets first if they keep buying tickets no matter what?

From the recent Oberser Newsletter on why the WWE is stubborn at listening to their fans.

Originally Posted by Observer Katsuyori Shibata, 37, who remains hospitalized after his 4/9 IWGP title match with Kazuchika Okada at Tokyo Sumo Hall, is said by friends of his to be unlikely to ever be cleared to wrestle again after surgery due to a subdural hematoma from a sick skull-on-skull head-butt spot as a counter to being hit with the rainmaker. The combination of the length of the match, dehydration and the trauma from the head-butt led to doctors advising New Japan that they would likely never be able to clear him to wrestle in good conscience. New Japan has not announced this publicly, nor has anything been said publicly about Shibata’s situation after some brief statements in the days after the match. Dr. Shunji Asamoto, who performed the surgery, noted that he would need a strict examination before being cleared to wrestle and that he’s not optimistic at all.

Originally Posted by Observer Goldberg’s contract has expired but they have a longer period of agreement allowing them to sell merchandise. Since there is nowhere else he’s going to wrestle at, because nobody else can pay him anywhere close to what he made on his WWE run, and WWE has no immediate plans for him, there’s no rush to make a new deal. The one thing is that in his last program, Lesnar was his angel in the sense that Lesnar always went to bat for him to have things done to make him strong because in the end Lesnar was winning the Mania match and wanted Goldberg as strong as possible for the match. The navigation may not be as easy with another opponent, because then the writing crew and creative could get involved in the ideas and direction. Because Goldberg trusted the long-term and Lesnar, there wasn’t the issues in worrying about creative. But in another program , you’re not going to have the power of Lesnar, who pretty much is going to get what he wants because he’s Lesnar and has options to make millions elsewhere in one night should he want to, which ended up making sure Goldberg came across like the old Goldberg.

Originally Posted by Observer Paige is not figured into any plans going forward after her neck recovers from surgery unless things change. Everything that’s happened is the reason. The only thing that could save her is the Dwayne Johnson movie. And nobody knows if she wants to come back anyway, since it’ll be tough on her relationship being constantly back on the road.

Originally Posted by Observer The Ambrose/Renee Young move to different brands came right after it came out about them being married. I don’t know that it’s like Del Rio/Paige when you know what the situation is. The rule of thumb is to try and keep the married couples on the same brand. It’s not as much a deal since Young doesn’t go on the road except for PPV Sundays and every Tuesday. But it is still going to be tough on their relationship. The last I heard they were living in Las Vegas. That means he’ll have to leave on a lot of Thursdays to get to the Friday house show on time, and then goes home on Tuesday mornings from the tour. She doesn’t get home until Wednesday, and he’s leaving a day later.

Some other sheet news includes:

• A trailer for an upcoming documentary on the life of Chyna was recently released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UzpzENZ5nk
• Recent episode of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast show had Jim Cornette as the guest with topics including his thoughts on the idea he hates Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/t...21_00_00-07_00
• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with the Young Bucks with topics including ROH Supercard of Honor ppv and the Bucks being upset at Impact Wrestling for wrecking plans they had in place with the Hardys for ROH. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...att-jeff-hardy
• Observer's Dave Meltzer recently speculated Jinder Mahal's current push might have been originally meant for Rusev prior to him getting injured. Also as a possible reason why Jinder went all in with an anti-American gimmick for his post-match promo.

[Sepholio]

Please don't have Jeff Hardy wrestle Brock Lesnar ever again.

Some of us remember when Lesnar squashed both Hardys in handicap matches and threw them both around at the same time.

[#1-norm-fan]

... Why is Vader still wrestling if he has serious heart problems?

[Emperor Smeat]

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan ... Why is Vader still wrestling if he has serious heart problems?

Either he thinks the matches won't put that much stress on his body or because the last set of medical tests were good, he didn't feel the need to retire.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Pesos Inc.:

Originally Posted by Observer Kenny Omega is only working the Toronto show on the May New Japan/ROH joint shows.

Originally Posted by Observer Sonjay Dutt got a swollen eye in the X division title match last night during a dropkick spot where Low Ki dropkicked Trevor Lee and in landing, the knee accidentally caught Dutt in the eye.

Originally Posted by Observer The FCC relaxed broadcast ownership rules yesterday that will pave the way for the deal for Sinclair Broadcasting to acquire Tribune Media. Sinclair owns 173 stations that this would add 40 more stations to Sinclair, including stations in New York, Chicago and Miami. Whether this would lead to New York and Chicago clearances for ROH, which would be significant, is unclear. The change in regulation is expected to lead to more consolidation in the TV industry.

Originally Posted by PWI The 4/20 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 320,000 viewers, up from last week's 302,000 viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI Matt Sydal aka the former Evan Bourne is slated to return to Impact Wrestling at this week's tapings in Orlando, Florida.

Originally Posted by PWI The WWE Network has almost completed 1987 Prime Time Wrestling episodes and has begun uploading 1988. The newest Beyond the Ring documentary on WWE Network, "Straight Outta Dudleyville :The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz " is now available.

Originally Posted by PWI Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Mike Bennett joined Ryan Rider on Main Event Radio to talk about how they met and their time in Impact Wrestling. Audio can be downloaded here: http://www.maineventradio.com/audio/MER-04-19-17.mp3 How they met: Maria: It was actually at an independent wrestling show, Northeast Wrestling. I saw him across the room and he was wearing a Ring of Honor hat. I loved ROH at the time. So I went over to him, and this was my pick up line, 'hey so you work at Ring of Honor?' I wasn't actually trying to pick him up but I thought he was really cute. Mike: She could've been like hey, nice face. And I'd be like yeah. Maria: So we met there and ended up communicating through Twitter and that was our correspondence for a while. Mike: I direct messaged her, I slid into her DM's. It was love at first sight for me. Maria: Hey! That's gross. That's filthy. It was love at first sight for him, for me it was something. Might have taken a little bit. We were both dating other people so it couldn't be more than that. I knew after our first date, we went to Cheesecake Factory, then I knew for sure. [Editor's note: We last interviewed Maria as she was getting photographed by Playboy in March 2008] Wanna know something funny? That wasn't a few years ago...that was nine years ago!! I'm very very ancient now. I love it on Instagram when people say I'm so old. Yeah, I'm 35 and I'm proud of all those years. Mike: I think she gets better with age. She's like a fine wine. Maria: It's crazy. You know I haven't been in the WWE for seven years. A lot has changed since then. I'm a married woman now. I've worked for every organization known to man. Ring of Honor, New Japan, TNA, worked for them all. It's been a good run. I took a break for one year after leaving WWE and I really thought I was done. Then I met this guy and he made it okay for me again. I was nervous; I've never been the greatest wrestler. I've always wanted to manage. And I am a real manager...I manage his bookings, rental cars, etc. Leaving Impact: Maria: It was wonderful there. We had a great time. We worked with the best talent in the world. They were fantastic and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was just time to go. We're excited to see where the road leads us next. Maybe the moon. Maybe I'll go back and be at manager at Jimmy John's. Mike: It was time for a change. Leaving all the talent was the hardest part. We'll go somewhere; if not we'll be living on the street in a box.

Originally Posted by PWI Eric Bischoff joined Main Event Radio to talk about inducting DDP into the WWE Hall of Fame, WCW's enduring legacy, and the women's wrestling revolution. Audio can be downloaded here: http://www.maineventradio.com/audio/MER-04-19-17.mp3 Coming back to WWE for the Hall of Fame Ceremony: It was a lot of fun. You get to meet so many people who are behind the camera. They have such a hard-working loyal, professional and dedicated staff. I was probably just as excited to see people who work behind the scenes as those in front of the camera. The woman who handles travel who has been there for 31 years. The production team, they all know who they are and they're a great staff of people. On inducting DDP: It was a blast. It was an emotional moment. I knew how much it would mean to him. Thus it meant a lot to me to be able to do it. I felt bad in a way. I was kind of conflicted because in Page's heart he wished and still does wish that Dusty Rhodes would've been able to do that. I felt like such a distant insignificant 2nd choice as a result. I also know that Page has a lot of respect for me and I do for him. I wish Dusty could've done it. Dusty was a mentor to Dallas in more ways than just getting in the ring. He had an influence on his entire life. WCW's enduring legacy: People are finally figuring it out that at the end of the day that WCW created some of the best talent in the history of the world. It was a great run. WCW had its moment and that's what it was; it was a moment. And we created some great stories and changed the industry to a large degree. The fact that we are watching a live Monday Night Raw every week is due to Nitro. The fact that we are watching 205 Live and the cruiserweight division is because of what we did. There are so many things that we changed in the industry that we still enjoy today. Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, myself, and even Bill Goldberg for crying out loud main eventing Wrestlemania. That is WCW's legacy. We are still here today. The nWo is still selling merchandise 20 years later. That's our legacy. Women's wrestling revolution: I was sitting in the front row during Beth [Phoenix]'s speech. I had never met her before and she made me cry 3 times. She was so emotional and she was speaking from her heart. She really crystallized for me the growth we are seeing now in women's wrestling. To see her talk about what it means for her as a girl, as a woman to be able to aspire to reach the level that she did in WWE and to know that same emotion and desire exists in young girls all over the world. It's possible, yes you can do it, and when you do you can now achieve that level of success.

Originally Posted by PWI Former Impact Wrestling Tag Team champion Crazzy Steve posted a farewell message on social media late last night, so it would appear that he has departed the company: Thank you to everyone @IMPACTWRESTLING #prowrestlinglove pic.twitter.com/3xnJKliIZH — Crazzy Steve (@steveofcrazzy) April 21, 2017

Originally Posted by Observer Charlie Haas, 45, who hasn’t been wrestling much in recent years, may have to retire as he was expected to undergo neck surgery this week. Haas was the champion of the Odessa, TX-based Old School Wrestling promotion. The promotion announced this at their 4/15 house show and it was described as possibly career-ending. Haas has had neck problems for many years. He was apparently dropped on his head in a match over the past few weeks, and had inflamed nerves and ended up with numbness in both arms. He had a procedure done on 4/13 but there hasn’t been any word about how he is doing afterwards past he’ll be out of action for a while.

Originally Posted by Observer Ian Riccaboni signed a contract as the new ROH lead announcer. He’d been with the company for a few years and had been doing the Women of Honor shows on YouTube before Kevin Kelly took the full-time gig as New Japan announcer (Kelly still does big shows here when it doesn’t conflict with New Japan, but Riccaboni is the new lead announcer). Riccaboni is a huge baseball fan and even wrote a book about the 100 greatest players in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise.

Originally Posted by Observer A clarification on last week’s WWE lawsuit and BitTorrent. WWE isn’t suing BitTorrent, but suing people who distributed their content on BitTorrent. WWE used forensic software to identify IP addresses of the people who put their content up.

Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com provided some more information on Mauro Ranallo’s falling out with WWE. It appears that the first issue with Mauro Ranallo was back when Ranallo did commentary with Jerry Lawler. Lawler had started calling Ranallo “M.R.” in the same fashion that Lawler would call Jim Ross “J.R.” However, Meltzer noted that it was likely an inside rib since the term “M.R.” was used as an offensive slur that stood for “mental retard” during the period that Vince McMahon and Lawler were growing up. Meltzer also noted that Ranallo was told he could be himself on commentary at first, but as time went on, Vince Mcmahon wanted Ranallo to act more like Michael Cole. McMahon was said to be frustrated with Ranallo’s announcing style and Tom Phillips becoming the 4th member of the announcing team was the first public sign of it. Because Ranallo was different, Meltzer described the situation in WWE as being like high school with Ranallo being seen as the “weird kid” and being made the butt of jokes. Apparently the hazing/ribbing towards Ranallo came from far more people than just JBL. With people having different interpretations of the situation, most feel that JBL has been made a scapegoat for the people that run the company and encourage the behavior such as Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn. One wrestler told Meltzer, “He (Layfield) f***ed with lots of new guys simply because he could. I don’t know if JBL is tough, but all these guys were scared to stand up to him in fear of getting fired.” As previously noted, WWE is in negotiations with Ranallo’s representatives about working out a settlement for the remainder of his contract.

Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 18th anniversary of Rick Rude's passing.
• Fox Sports had a recent interview with Mojo Rawley talking about Mania, Zack Ryder, and Gronk. http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/gallery...k-ryder-042117
• Update to recent JBL-Mauro bullying saga news as JBL's quest to block everyone on Twitter who supported Mauro and/or anti-bullying recently included an indie wrestling promotion hosting a charity stream for mental health funding. Supposedly JBL blocked WhatCulture, hosts of the stream, once he found out Mauro was supporting their event.
• WWE Hall of Famer Beth Pheonix recently teased on Twitter she is currently in the process of writing a book with Edge as the co-writer.
• Observer recently speculated the reason why Lana was given a dancer gimmick was due to WWE wanting a "hot diva" type character for marketing reasons. Want to offset the current focus on athletic skills since the Women's Revolution started. Since Eva Marie is set to leave and Emmalina was a bust, WWE just moved on to the next person for the gimmick which is Lana now.

[Cool King]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball Originally Posted by Observer Charlie Haas, 45, who hasn’t been wrestling much in recent years, may have to retire as he was expected to undergo neck surgery this week. Haas was the champion of the Odessa, TX-based Old School Wrestling promotion. The promotion announced this at their 4/15 house show and it was described as possibly career-ending. Haas has had neck problems for many years. He was apparently dropped on his head in a match over the past few weeks, and had inflamed nerves and ended up with numbness in both arms. He had a procedure done on 4/13 but there hasn’t been any word about how he is doing afterwards past he’ll be out of action for a while.

I thought Haas was already retired.

[#1-norm-fan]

Rick Rude died 18 years ago. Jesus...

[Volare]

I know right? Time isn't kind to anyone!

[Juan]

According to wrestlinginc.com, former TNA Television Champion Gunner (age 34) may be signing with WWE. The site reports that he will be taking his physical soon, and if he passes, will then start with the NXT brand. Gunner worked with TNA from 2010-2015.

[XL]

I thought he just started back with Impact teaming with Crimson.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the Son of Blinky the Jacket:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw last night fell to a near record low mark with 3.00 million viewers. It would have been the lowest number since football season ended, and the fourth lowest number since 1997 for a show that didn't go head-to-head with football. The three shows that did worse were against a blockbuster NBA playoff game and the two weeks against the 2016 Olympics. The audience dropped 10 percent from last week and last week had a stronger NBA game head-to-head ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.00 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.14 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.88 million viewers

This year's RAW on track to become the lowest ever year post-1997 and probably start dipping into New Gen territory. Only 2 weeks have been better than 2016.

Originally Posted by Observer A film chronicling the life of Vince McMahon could be making its way to theaters in the near future. The Hollywood Reporter announced today that a biopic on McMahon is close to landing at Sony's TriStar Pictures. The film is titled "Pandemonium" and will be directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. The two have directed four movies together in the past and are currently involved with the NBC show "This is Us." Perhaps most importantly, WWE is involved with the project in some capacity. President of WWE Studios Michael Luisi is attached as one of the film's producers. The Hollywood Reporter's article notes that there was hesitation among studios when the script first made the rounds last summer because WWE and McMahon hadn't signed off on it, but talks were revived in recent weeks after producer Andrew Lazar secured the rights to McMahon's life story.

Originally Posted by Observer Though it ultimately didn't happen, Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal seemed to be the first match penciled into the WrestleMania 33 card at one point. Both O'Neal and Big Show offered explanations for the match falling through even before it was officially off, with Shaq saying that it wasn't his fault and Big Show blaming his opponent. Triple H also discussed the issue at one point and said that he didn't think either participant was serious about the match. While recording a live episode of his podcast in Atlanta, O'Neal reiterated that WWE was to blame for the match not happening. “Because they kept playing," Shaq explained. "First, they said it was me and Big Show. Then, they said it was going to be three and three. Then, they canceled it, so when they canceled it, I made other arrangements. And then they tried to call back and tried to get it done, and I just said, ‘I’m not going to do it.’ They messed it up.”

Originally Posted by Observer Mike Johnson reported that it was The Young Bucks who were to be the ROH representatives that were going to face Tommy Dreamer & Bully Ray last night at the House of Hardcore show. On the mic Dreamer had thanked Joe Koff of ROH for clearing the way for replacements, without mentioning names, but that something fell through. Nick Jackson got very sick yesterday morning and had to cancel. I was told that Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque agreed to allow the Hardys to wrestle to save the show after first not allowing it, I guess with them figuring Dreamer did everything he could to get a replacement. They were told they were not allowed to do anything physically risky but could do a match. At the show they teased Dreamer & Bully vs. Spirit Squad, the same match as the night before, and then got the pop as The Hardys came out and Matt said that they had been told they couldn't wrestle tonight, but they were going to wrestle even if it means getting fired on Monday. Besides Koff, Dreamer also thanked HHH and Vince, saying that HOH owes both of them one.

Originally Posted by Observer John Cena turned 40 [Sunday]today. Happy Birthday. Vince McMahon sent out a tweet calling him the Babe Ruth of WWE.

Originally Posted by Observer Scott Steiner was revealed at last night's Impact tapings as the mystery partner of Josh Matthews at Slammiversary on 7/2 in his tag match against Joseph Park & Jeremy Borash for the lead announcing position. LAX also won the GFW tag team titles in a tournament final over Wilcox & Mayweather (Jax Dane & former Crimson). Last night was the final night of tapings and covers all of May.

Originally Posted by Observer USA Today has an article on Jinder Mahal getting a shot at the WWE title. Triple H is quoted in the piece, where he says that he doesn't know if Mahal was ready for the experience when he was first with WWE and compared him to Drew McIntyre. He said that he told both Mahal and McIntyre when they were initially released to "go other places, learn more in your career, mature, and think about the business in a different way" and gave them credit for working hard and improving while away from the company.

Link to the article: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/jind...e-championship

Originally Posted by Observer The former Andrea D'Marco confirmed that she's gone from WWE on Twitter today. Pro Wrestling Sheet also reported that NXT's Chris Atkins has been released.

Originally Posted by Observer Mister Saint Laurent said on today's MLW Radio podcast that Cody Rhodes has signed with Ring of Honor. Rhodes told Sports Illustrated last week that he would be making a decision about his future soon.

Link to the announcement: https://twitter.com/MLW/status/856966524090896384

Originally Posted by PWI WrestlingDVDNetwork.com is reporting that the WWE project Sean Mooney was filming with Charly Caruso is meant for home video later this year. "WWE Unreleased & Unseen:1986-1995" has the following synopsis: "WWE unlocks the vault and brings you never-before-seen matches from 1986-1995. Check out these unreleased hidden gems featuring some of the greatest Superstars in WWE history." It is currently slated for August release in the US and September in the UK.

Originally Posted by PWI The talk of the Impact locker room over the last 48 hours has been what was described to PWInsider as a "loud and ugly argument" between Impact executive Bob Ryder and Karen and Jeff Jarrett at the final Impact Wrestling taping this past Sunday 4/23 in Orlando, Florida that at one point, appeared to have been Ryder's exit from the company. Multiple sources stated that Karen Jarrett confronted Ryder (who was timing out the show) and began arguing with him over what we are told was, of all things, the booking of a hotel room. Shortly after Karen "dressed down Ryder", she left the scene. Several minutes later, Jeff Jarrett loudly confronted Ryder and told him to "not wait" and to leave the taping. After his argument with Jeff Jarrett, Ryder packed up and left before completing his duties. We are told that Ryder then had another argument with the Jarretts before getting in his car and leaving. There was a lot of sympathy for Ryder after the incident because his health has not been the best in recent months A number of those we spoke to believed yesterday that Ryder was fired by the Jarretts or that Ryder had quit after his argument with Karen. However, PWInsider.com has confirmed that Ryder was in the Impact offices in Nashville today working per usual. It is believed that whatever sparked the issue was settled once everyone returned to Nashville.

Originally Posted by PWI Former Impact Wrestling star Crazzy Steve announced today he was now accepting independent bookings "for a limited time." He can be booked by emailing bookcrazzysteve@gmail.com. The word making the rounds is that Steve has received WWE interest and opted out of his Impact deal because of it. We are told that Impact had the legal option to renew his contract for an additional year but opted to let him go when he asked for a release. He was well liked and it was an amicable departure. PWInsider.com has heard from multiple sources that WWE officials are telling talents that are leaving contracts with other promotions that they will not enter into discussions with them for at least 90 days. This stems from a widely discussed (but never confirmed) story within the business that Ring of Honor sent WWE a legal letter warning them about discussions with talents who were coming to the end of their contracted deals.

Originally Posted by PWI Former TNA and ROH champion Eddie Edwards was injured over the course of the last Impact Wrestling tapings and will be undergoing surgery on his knee shortly. Pro Wrestling Revolver announced today that Edwards was pulled from their May return to Iowa due to the injury.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Another incident regarding JBL and a non-wrestler whose name was not mentioned was discussed. Apparently the person had a close family member dying and had to miss a couple of weeks of work due to a minor operation. JBL went off on the person for taking time off and harassed the person while noting that he didn't miss shows after he had hernia surgery. He kept going on until the person was in tears, even though the person noted that it wasn't the week to do this.

Was from last week's Observer Newsletter as part of the larger JBL-Mauro bullying saga.


Some other sheet news includes:

• Update to Vader collapsing after a match in Japan news as Vader ended up being healthy enough to wrestle in another show over the weekend.
• Jim Ross' autobiography called "Slobberknocker" was announced to be getting released this October.
• Chris Jericho announced Samoa Joe will be this week's guest for Talk Is Jericho podcast show.
• Scott Hall recently had an interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated Podcast talking about bullying in wrestling and how things have changed since he was a wrestler. Pretty much said bullying isn't acceptable in wrestling and there is a very fine line between harmless pranks and bullying. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...all-talks-jbl/
• Update to Shibata suffering a possible career ending injury news as Shibata revealed he still is suffering from some paralyzing effects but also wants to try a possible comeback if he is able to fully recover. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ending-injury/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW Gif:

Originally Posted by PWI The 4/25 edition of Smackdown Live brought in 2,493,000 viewers, down from last week's 2,544,000 viewers.

Lowest episode so far this year and lost around 600k viewers since the Shakeup two weeks ago.

Originally Posted by Observer Wendy Barlow, the longtime girlfriend and fiancee of Ric Flair, was in a serious automobile accident earlier today. "Please pray for my fiance who was just in a serious car wreck. She is at the hospital" wrote Flair as he shared the news on Twitter. UPDATE: Flair tweeted that Barlow is going to be okay and thanked everyone for their messages and prayers. Barlow is now home from the hospital and resting comfortably. Barlow was briefly a character on television and involved in the professional wrestling business in the early '90s, where she was known as "Fifi the Maid" in World Championship Wrestling. When Flair was doing talk show segments called "A Flair for the Gold," she was doing a French maid character.

Originally Posted by Observer Renee Young spoke to E! News about her and Dean Ambrose's wedding, saying that they never got formally engaged (though they knew that they wanted to get married and got a marriage license six months ago) and that their wedding was a spontaneous thing where they called a 24-hour pastor. "We were going to bed and he like busted out the ring and we were like, 'Oh man I guess we should do this now.' So we ended up going on Yelp and we found a 24-hour pastor to come to our backyard," Young said. "It was so handy and his name was Pastor Pete and he lived around the corner from us, so he was there. They were very concerned by the way because it was 1 o'clock in the morning, so technically it was Sunday and they were very concerned about us calling, they were like, 'Is everything OK? Have you guys been drinking? What's happening?' We're like, 'It's fine, you can come down.' So we had to get a witness and we called and woke up a friend of ours and got it done."

Originally Posted by Observer The Bollywood Boyz have officially been renamed on WWE's roster page. Gurv Sihra's new name is Sunil Singh and Harv Sihra's is Samir Singh.

Originally Posted by Observer Though there have been reports that former Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl has been released, Dave Meltzer posted on our Board yesterday that Bredl is still with the company.

PWI also reported from their sources about Bredl still being with the WWE.

Originally Posted by Observer Will Ospreay will face Cody Rhodes at ROH's War of the Worlds show in Toronto on May 7th. Another ROH six-man tag title match is also set for that tour, with Bully Ray & The Briscoes defending against Hirooki Goto & Roppongi Vice at the pay-per-view in New York on May 12th. KUSHIDA vs. Silas Young will take place on May 10th in Dearborn.

Originally Posted by Observer Impact Wrestling star Bram was pulled off the Pro Wrestling NOAH tour, where he had been teaming with Robbie E. Bram posted a photo of himself on Instagram laying atop of a "Family Mart" convenience store freezer ice cream display on social media on 4/24 prior to NOAH's event at Giuroku Plaza. When the photo was posted online, the promotion deemed it inappropriate, leading to NOAH's chairman Masayuki Uchida making a public apology. News of the suspension from the tour was carried by Tokyo Sports in Japan. The image has obviously been deleted. Uchida told Tokyo Sports that Bram "sincerely" apologized and that he took the image of the company very seriously. The promotion announced they would hold a workshop with talents to make it clear what was not appropriate behavior for them when they are representing NOAH.

Image of the incident leading to the suspension: https://pbs-h2.twimg.com/media/C-P7V1sU0AAZGv0.jpg

Originally Posted by PWI Neville and Gentleman Jack Gallagher are advertised for NXT's UK tour in June. Also advertised are UK Championship stars Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Pete Dunne and Tyson T-Bone.

Originally Posted by PWI In one of those bad timing situations, on April 21st, WWE applied to trademark Tajiri. On April 23rd, Tajiri publicly announced he was leaving WWE to go back to Japan. WWE also applied to trademark Jack Gallagher and Big Cass.

Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the DEMON Kane's 50th birthday.
• Randy Orton had an interview with WWE's website mainly talking about this week being the 15th anniversary of his WWE debut and his career in general. http://www.wwe.com/article/randy-ort...w?sf73692526=1
• Cody Rhodes currently denying reports he signed a deal with ROH and is still a free agent. https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/statu...85598746464259
• Edge revealed The Young Bucks will be Friday's guest for the Edge & Christian podcast show. https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR/statu...43943002959872
• ESPN had a recent interview with William Regal with topics including WWE tryouts, WWE's work in the Chineese market, and praising Author of Pain's Rezar's development in NXT. http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/1...-dubai-tryouts
• According to WrestlingDVDNetwork, WWE is currently considering releasing several new DVD sets this year from a list of 15 possible choices.http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/1...ericho/134552/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random NXT Gif:

Originally Posted by Observer Mauro Ranallo at this point remains under contract with WWE until 8/12 and presumably will not be allowed to do any pro wrestling broadcasting until that time, although that has not been made clear. The date is immaterial as the only true full-time announcing job that looks to be opening up would be the World of Sport show, and Ranallo’s name had never been mentioned as being under consideration. The timing of this was because a major news outlet was working on a story on the subject, and WWE needed Ranallo to essentially absolve Layfield to either weaken or kill the story. It is not certain whether the story will or won’t run, because many interviews were already done, but the key to the story was how it related to Ranallo’s situation. While it appears that both sides have parted ways, as Ranallo’s statement would indicate, and there is paperwork in place that they have, the idea of Ranallo coming back is not a dead issue. There has at least been preliminary dialogue on that subject, but at press time, nothing was at the serious level of discussion. Ranallo is currently in England preparing for the broadcast of the Anthony Joshua International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship fight against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in England for Showtime. There is always the idea of him coming back, and WWE taking credit and pushing the company as being behind mental health awareness, and using him as an advocate, and using it for public relations is a possibility. But it is far from a lock he would be returning.

Originally Posted by PWI Over the last 24 hours, the talk in Great Britain has been that the planned May World of Sport TV tapings, which were to film a ten episode season for ITV, bringing the World of Sport brand back to weekly broadcast television in England, have been postponed. Tapings were slated for 5/25 and 5/26 at Preston Guild Hall following a popular WOS special that aired on New Year's Eve last December. Tickets for the tapings went on sale on 4/6 ... Sources speaking under condition of anonymity confirmed that the May World of Sport tapings have indeed been postponed. There are plans to make an official announcement next week regarding the rescheduling of the tapings. The source stated that ticket sales were not the issue and that it was a logistical, scheduling issue that is leading to the delay.

Originally Posted by PWI PWInsider.com has confirmed that WWE NXT talents Theophilus Agbi and Chris Atkins were released by the company this week. Agbi had been training in the Performance Center after signing last year and never made TV. Atkins had a few televised appearances but had not been given a regular role. As we noted earlier this week Andrea Ocampo, who worked on screen as Andrea D'Marco for the NXT brand as a ring announcer and backstage interviewer, also recently departed WWE.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, Chris Jericho's current WWE run is set to end as Jericho will begin touring with Fozzy in May. Jericho's last date on his current WWE run is this Monday's RAW in Sacramento, CA.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Jim Ross posted his latest blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights: WWE pushing Jinder Mahal: "The Jinder Mahal ascension on the SDLive roster including him being the #1 contender for the WWE Title seems to be being overthought to some degree by a handful of pundits. The rapid advancement up the card of Jinder has some concerned, and I get that point, but I see it as worth the chance and, fast track or not, Mahal is somewhat of a calculated risk which is essentially the same thing that most promotions deal with when advancing new talents who suddenly appear on the main event radar. "I like this booking because it involves a deserving, hard working talent who has unique skills, is fundamentally sound and has a unique, TV persona plus he provides Randy Orton with a new opponent. Question...what if Jinder Mahal becomes the next, WWE Champion? Stranger things have happened and it's not the worse idea that I've heard lately. This shocker might be worth a bit of consideration. "I would merely suggest that Jinder doesn't have to yell wall to wall on his promos to make his points because most of us organically/automatically tune people out who scream at us especially if they are an antagonist." Shinsuke Nakamura: "Anxious to see the pending evolution of Shinsuke Nakamura on SD Live especially when the gets into a serious, title oriented storyline. The only missing piece to the game of the King of Strong Style is his ability to communicate effectively to his English speaking audience which is addressable. Love Shin's upside and charisma."

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, Cody Rhodes recently stated on Twitter that he has not signed with any company. Wrestling Inc. has learned from sources close to the situation that Cody has come to terms on a new deal with Ring Of Honor. It's not known how long the length of the deal is.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE announced the following on how Charlotte Flair made history in her main event match against SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi on Tuesday's blue brand episode: Charlotte Flair makes history by becoming the first female Superstar in history to battle one-on-one in Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-view main events Following multiple Raw main events and a Raw Women's Championship victory against Sasha Banks at this past year's WWE Hell in a Cell event — inside the Cell itself, no less — Charlotte Flair made history once again last night on SmackDown LIVE by becoming the first female Superstar to compete in singles matches in the main event of Raw, SmackDown and a WWE pay-per-view

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As seen below, Curtis Axel made another appearance at the elementary school his son attends to read a book to the 3rd grade class and talk about bullying. This would be the 2nd or 3rd time Axel has tweeted about visiting his son at school to hang out with the students. Read a book to my son, Brock's, 3rd grade class today and talked about bullying! These kids have such awesome personalities! Very fun! @WWE pic.twitter.com/lhKhGJPxfM — Curtis Axel (@RealCurtisAxel) April 26, 2017

Originally Posted by Observer Katsuyori Shibata was going to face Zack Sabre Jr., on one of the big shows on the current NJPW tour. In fact, Sabre Jr., was pulled from the tour because everything booked for him had to do with interaction with Shibata and the cards had all been made and he’d have had no spot. Shibata still has weakness on the right side and also will be undergoing another brain surgery in May.

Originally Posted by Observer Had the Hardys stayed with Impact, and done their planned long feud with the Young Bucks in ROH and Impact, they were also going to have a match on one of the Long Beach shows.

Originally Posted by Observer One indie promoter told us that Jack Swagger, who is coming on the market, has been asking for $4,000 per show coming out of the blocks, which they felt was high. That’s a big number for most indie promotions. He is working in May for FULL in Mexico in matches against Alberto El Patron, renewing their old WWE program. He’s working an overseas tour in Australia with Tommy Dreamer in June although given it’s Dreamer and it’s multiple dates, that could be a very different amount.

Originally Posted by Observer Sinclair Broadcasting is purchasing Bonten Media Group, which owns 14 small market stations in eight markets, for $240 million. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. If ROH is put on the new stations, which is normally the case with Sinclair acquisitions, that would be the Tri-Cities in Tennessee/Virginia, Greenville, NC, Chico and Eureka, CA, Missoula and Butte, MT, Abilene, and San Angelo, TX.

Originally Posted by Observer According to those in the company, the push of Jinder Mahal has everything to do with a new strategy earmarking India. The strategy is a likely response to Impact’s deal to have a television show in the market produced in India. The push of Mahal and the former Bollywood Boys, Harv & Gurv Sihra, now named The Singh Brothers, Samir & Sunil Singh, started just before WWE announced the hiring of Sheetesh Srivastava as the new Vice President and General Manager of WWE India, indicating going stronger into the market. WWE has more social media followers in India than anywhere else, including the U.S. It’s been noted that most of the social media followers WWE has comes from countries that they don’t make much money in ... It’s very clearly a last minute decision since they had done nothing to position him as a non-prelim guy, and then snapped their fingers and made him a main event championship contender. Sometimes this stuff works, although usually it only works with actual new characters and not someone who had been around for years. But you never know what will work on top if it isn’t tried, and the luxury of current WWE is that more than any other promotion, they take no hits if they try and fail. It’s been done before, such as the R-Truth heel turn and move into a main eventer role, which didn’t work and R-Truth wasn’t as low on the totem poll as Mahal, but people didn’t see him as a main eventer and he didn’t last in that position. With Mahal, it’s a different issue as if they are doing it for the Indian market, even if it doesn’t click in the U.S. market, it may still be an effective international strategy. The one thing is, if he is pushed as a headliner, whether it takes in the U.S. or not, he will get over to people in India watching and he is like a million times better than Mahabali Shera or Great Khali, although obviously Khali did have the unique size to make him someone that would get over in a new market. Another aspect of this is the company holding tryouts in Dubai 4/26 to 4/29. The key is that they are looking at getting anyone with any potential from Khali’s school. That beats Impact to the punch since Impact and Sony Six were planning a television show for India using locals as the top stars, and looking at getting the best students from Khali’s school

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding PW Torch reports on Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis coming in, while we can’t 100 percent confirm that, it’s been strongly hinted to us that was the case since they left TNA. The impression we have is they are just waiting to start, and the way they’ve been booked in Northeast Wrestling would seem to indicate they aren’t going to be there much longer. Right now Bennett is filming a movie in Rhode Island that stars legendary actor Ed Asner of “Lou Grant” and “Mary Tyler Moore” TV fame. Asner has a pro wrestling connection in that he grew up and was friends from high school football with Bob Orton Sr., Randy’s grandfather and they kept in touch the rest of Bob’s life, as well as he was the star of the original 1974 movie “The Wrestler,” produced by Verne Gagne, and remained friends with Gagne, even visiting Gagne several years ago.

Originally Posted by Observer It used to be that you could figure out who would win on PPV based on the go-home show. In the sense that the guy on top on the go-home show would lose. But they’ve been mixing things up more. So far in 2017 winners on the go-home show went on to win on PPV 53 percent, while losers on the go-home show went on to win 60 percent of the time. In specifics when they are in tags or facing each other both on Raw and the PPV, right now the winners of the TV match and losers of the TV match have this year so far each won 50 percent of the time, so there’s no predicting who wins and loses on PPV on a formula based on the go-home Raw.

Wonder if the rise of wrestling betting played a role. Maybe even as a way for WWE employees to push the odds more into their favor for bigger payouts.

Apparently, WWE has reached an agreement to buy the 'Broken' gimmick from TNA. Which explains Hardy’s increased use of mannerisms on #Raw.

— pwstream (@pwstream) April 27, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• Impact's Dutch Mantel recently tweeted Impact Wrestling will be debuting a new championship belt soon.
• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Sting talking about Sting-Taker never happening at Mania and Seth Rollins being his favorite out of all WWE's younger/newer stars. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...ions-john-cena
• PWI managed to get some early details regarding the Vince film and some of the scenes planned are pretty crazy even by Vince standards. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/109...ilers.html?p=1
• According to the Observer, the main reason Charlotte got traded to Smackdown was due to the WWE wanting to keep her status as the top female star but this time as a face.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Just means that when Hardyz leave they will have to have the same fight with the gimmick with WWE instead of the Owls.

[Sepholio]

Hope WWE doesn't fuck up the broken gimmick. Let Matt do his thing....

[Cool King]

I hope they do.

The last thing I want to hear on a weekly basis for the next eight years is "DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!"

[Simple Fan]

Impact needs all new belts really, except Impact Grand Championship which just needs the updated logo on it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by WWE's newest ppv name:

It’s being reported by Sportskeeda that Kevin Owens wearing suits and calling himself, “The New Face of America” may not just be part of his character on SmackDown Live. Apparently, the suits are WWE owner Vince McMahon’s way of hiding Owens’ physique and presenting him differently. There is a possibility of him wrestling his matches in a suit going forward. Vince McMahon is said to be “fed up” with Owens being overweight and not lifting weights the way he’d prefer which is why he felt that the suit was necessary. Owens shaving his beard was another request from McMahon.

Sportskeeda been pretty dubious overall as a source but link to the article: http://www.gerweck.net/2017/04/28/ww...-kos-physique/

Originally Posted by Observer WWE is debuting a new name for Raw's July pay-per-view, and Brock Lesnar is set to defend the Universal Championship for the first time on the show. A video released by the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Twitter and Facebook today brought the announcement that the building will be hosting a Raw-exclusive PPV named "Great Balls of Fire" on July 9th. It was previously rumored that the show would be called "Bad Blood." The announcement also confirmed that Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal title on the PPV. Lesnar has yet to defend the title since winning it from Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, though a program with Braun Strowman was established on the post-Mania episode of Raw.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted previously, the July 9 WWE PPV, Bad Blood, was changed to Great Balls of Fire and will now take place in Dallas, Texas. The phrase not only managed to trend on Twitter, but WWE Superstars, Becky Lynch and Big E, commented on the new name: Great balls of Fire?! What the..... — Becky Lynch (@BeckyLynchWWE) April 28, 2017 Clearly, the most disappointing aspect of no longer being on Raw is knowing I won't be a part of the 1st annual Great Balls of Fire. — ShinigamE (@WWEBigE) April 28, 2017

Originally Posted by Observer Reby Hardy on Twitter denied any stories that WWE has purchased the rights to the broken gimmick from Anthem.

Originally Posted by Observer Tama Tonga was injured at yesterday's New Japan show. There was fear it was a ruptured biceps which is a serious injury but that wasn't definite. So there is a chance he'll be out of action, but no announcement has been made and in Japan guys work through a lot of injuries just to get through the rest of the tour.

Originally Posted by Observer Ember Moon must have an injury because Natalya posted a group photo taken of a lot of the NXT talent and Moon had her arm in a sling. She was believed to have been injured on a dive at last week's TV tapings and she isn't on the main NXT tour this week.

Link to Natty's group photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-hre61UIAA9bfz.jpg:large

Originally Posted by Observer One of the biggest territorial angles of the 80s took place 30 years ago today. It was the night Jerry Lawler got his head shaved in Memphis. Lawler had won every hair vs. hair match in his career. It was comparable to Undertaker's streak. He wrestled Austin Idol, and Idol announced he would pay people back all of their ticket money if he didn't beat Lawler in the cage match. As it turned out, Lawler didn't get shaved completely bald, but Tommy Rich hid under the ring (this was one of the first times this happened) and Rich, Lawler and manager Paul Heyman (then using the name Paul Dangerly, not Dangerously) conspired to win the match and then crotch Lawler's groin against the post over and over (Lawler was actually taking time off to get either a vasectomy or a vasectomy reversed) to do an injury angle. It was one of the last huge drawing angles in that territory's history.

Originally Posted by PWI The 4/27 edition of Impact on Pop brought in 255,000 viewers, down significantly from last week's 320,000 viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI There is a "story" making the rounds that nude photos of Alexa Bliss have been leaked somewhere on the internet. We ignore these stories unless the person involved comments. Alexa tweeted the following: Once again, the risqué photos on the Internet supposedly of me are bogus. — Alexa Bliss (@AlexaBliss_WWE) April 28, 2017 I am offended and demand these altered photos be removed immediately — Alexa Bliss (@AlexaBliss_WWE) April 28, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc TMZ Sports reported that the official cause of death for Jan Ross, the wife of Jim Ross, is traumatic brain injury. Jan was driving to a local gym when her Vespa was hit by a car in Norman, OK on Monday night, March 20th. Jan was not wearing her helmet and suffered multiple skull fractures. She passed away days later on March 22nd. While the cause of death has been determined, the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told TMZ Sports that a toxicology report is still pending. It was also noted that the death has been ruled an accident, although the case still remains under investigation.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Zack Ryder noted on Twitter that he ran the ropes this week. Ryder, who has been out of action since injuring his knee last December, wrote, "I ran the ropes today...I blew up...I loved it."

Some other sheet news includes:

• USA Today had a recent interview with Karl Anderson talking about WWE, tag team wrestling, and the Hardys return. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/karl...k-full-card-tv
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, this Sunday will be the 40th anniversary of the end of Bruno Sammartino's 2nd WWWF title reign. His 2nd reign lasted for around 4 years before ending at the hands of Billy Graham who owns the record for longest reign by a heel (no turns included).
• For those interested, r/SquaredCircle had a recent article summing up the careers of everyone involved in the Seasonal Era of NXT with the breakdown being only half are still in the WWE, half quit wrestling, and Michael Tarver being the only Season 1 contestant to never win a title in the WWE. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...p_as_of_today/

[Cool King]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball It’s being reported by Sportskeeda that Kevin Owens wearing suits and calling himself, “The New Face of America” may not just be part of his character on SmackDown Live. Apparently, the suits are WWE owner Vince McMahon’s way of hiding Owens’ physique and presenting him differently. There is a possibility of him wrestling his matches in a suit going forward. Vince McMahon is said to be “fed up” with Owens being overweight and not lifting weights the way he’d prefer which is why he felt that the suit was necessary. Owens shaving his beard was another request from McMahon.

It doesn't really make a difference if he shaves or wears a suit, he still looks like a fat bastard.

[Cool King]

I guess one positive of this "change" in appearance is that he will no longer look like some fat backyard wrestling kid.

[KIRA]

Originally Posted by Cool King It doesn't really make a difference if he shaves or wears a suit, he still looks like a fat bastard.

There are way too many guys walking around with shaved/bald heads as it is

It'll probably snow it hell before Owens wrestles in a suit but its good to know Vince still likes him some muscular oily, men.

[Simple Fan]

Now Creature of the Night could use the NFL Draft excuse for the low Impact rating but any of his adversaries claiming that the NFL Draft had anything to do with low ratings this week are just looking for excuses. I watch Impact every week and even chose the draft over it but I have a DVR.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I could never see Owens agreeing to wear a suit to wrestle in.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

They should have an injury angle with him, get him off tv but let him still work house shows, and put him thru a few months of training too tone up.

I have to agree with Vince here. I like Owens a lot. Good talker, good heel, good in the ring. But his look is awful. It's not even the t shirt and basketball shorts. That's fine. It's the bowling ball gut and not muscular arms.

He doesn't need to be ripped. But adding some muscle and leaning out a bit would go a long way.

[#1-norm-fan]

Meh. I like that he doesn't look like everyone else. Gotta have variety. Look at Vader. He looked like a fat slob but he was presented right so it worked.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

His gear hid it well enough but his run in WWE was pretty shit.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I like him, but if the boss is putting the heat on him, he needs to drop the weight. I agree with Damo in that he doesn't need to be a body builder, but putting on a good 15-20 pounds of muscle and dropping some fat would do him good. I'd prefer he remained "stocky" kind of like The Anvil. It'd make him look more like a bruiser.

I mean if he worked for me I don't know if I cared, though it depended on what kind of feedback my audience was giving me.

[Stocky]

Originally Posted by Dastardly Dale Newstead I'd prefer he remained "stocky" kind of like The Anvil.

[mike adamle]

I agree with everyone here, STD needs to lose some weight

[KIRA]

That part about heel R-Truth not being main event material is a sack of LIES.
Hope Jinder pulls off this push though.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Vader didn't look like a fat slob. Not to me. Maybe it was the gear. But he looked intimidating as fuck.

[Ezra]

As long as KO is putting on good matches I don't care about his huskiness. Gives him a different look which is good overall. I mean hell, look at Goldberg. Guy blows up in 2 minute's and he is in amazing shape.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Seth Rollins channeling his inner Peter Griffin:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw numbers hit a shocking low last night, even coming the day after the Payback PPV. The three hour show averaged 2.86 million viewers, setting a new 20-year low for the show on a non-holiday and non-football time frame. The number barely beat what a lot of the SmackDown shows had been doing prior to WrestleMania. It was a five percent decline from last week's 3.00 million viewers. Traditionally the Raw after a Raw-brand PPV should show an increase ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.92 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.04 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.65 million viewers

Likely won't get better till after the NBA Playoffs are over.

Originally Posted by Observer TJ Perkins is now listed on the WWE roster page as only "TJP." That's what he was referred to on Raw last night as well. He'll face Lince Dorado on this week's 205 Live, with Rich Swann vs. Noam Dar also advertised for the show.

Originally Posted by Observer Fozzy's new song "Judas" will be one of the official themes for NXT TakeOver: Chicago.

Originally Posted by Observer NWA president Bruce Tharpe confirmed in a post on his Facebook page that Billy Corgan has agreed in principle to acquire the NWA brand. Tharpe said that he's excited for the NWA's future and that Corgan is putting together a strong team.

Originally Posted by PWInsider As PWInsider.com first reported last week, the scheduled World of Sport Wrestling TV tapings set for the weekend of 5/25 in Great Britain have been canceled. An announcement on Twitter stated the tapings were postponed due to "contract negotiations" and that fans who purchased tickets would receive a refund. No nee taping dates have been announced but one source last week stated they believed they would be rescheduled for July.

Link to the announcement: https://twitter.com/WOSWrestlingITV/...37495217516544

Originally Posted by Observer Sean Waltman (who is best known as X-Pac) missed a booking for IPW:UK last weekend because he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while attempting to fly out to the show. TMZ reported today that Waltman was arrested after being stopped at customs, where it was found that he was carrying "three cannabis chocolate bars, two THC liquid cigarettes, and 38 methamphetamine capsules." Waltman was on a Customs and Border Protection watch list for narcotics, which was likely due to drug-related issues he's had in the past. Because of the large amount of pills that he was carrying and $736.10 in cash that he had on him, Waltman was arrested on felony charges of possession of narcotics with the intent to sell. An existing warrant was also found that stemmed from a prior DUI arrest. Waltman was released on bail after it was set at $35,000.

Waltman originally was denying his arrest was related to drugs while those in the UK were worried for his safety at the time since he wasn't answering calls checking on his well-being.

Originally Posted by Observer There is horrible news regarding Wayne VanDyke, a Florida wrestler known as Richard Delicious. He did a match last night for Ronin Pro and out of nowhere, just collapsed. His body was frozen (it has since been unfrozen) and he was put in a medically induced coma. According to his trainer, Chasyn Rance, he suffered three heart attacks and is in critical condition. According to his trainer, the situation sounds very serious. According to Lori VanDyke, his sister, on Facebook, they put him in a medically induced coma to give his heart and brain a rest. During the match he told his partner that he was sick and needed to tag out. When he tried to go through the ropes, he had his first heart attack. They started CPR and got him into an ambulance. His second hart attack was in the ambulance and the third heart attack was at the hospital. He also has broken ribs from the CPR, which punctured his lung and he's taking on fluid in the lungs. We won't have a good idea of his brain functions until they take him out of the coma which would be expected to be late Wednesday afternoon.

Originally Posted by Observer After being out of action since last November, Sawyer Fulton returned from injury at Saturday's NXT house show in Venice, Florida. He didn't wrestle in a match, though he did lay out Yanbo Wang in a segment.

Originally Posted by Observer Tokyo Sports has an update on Tomoaki Honma's recovery. In the story, Honma says that he is able to walk on his own again.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The storyline update on Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns coming out of WWE Payback is that Braun tore his rotator cuff while Reigns re-injured his ribs and suffered other internal injuries. The storyline announcement was made by RAW General Manager Kurt Angle on tonight's RAW from Sacramento. Regarding the Braun storyline announcement, Erick Rowan just returned from a torn rotator cuff after being out of action for around 7 months. Shelton Benjamin was recently cleared for the same injury and he also was out for around 7 months. There's been speculation on Strowman vs. Reigns in an Ambulance Match taking place at the June 4th WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, WWE announced that their July 9th pay-per-view at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, now titled Great Balls of Fire, will feature Brock Lesnar's first WWE Universal Championship title defense since Lesnar won the strap at WrestleMania 33 last month. Dave Meltzer noted on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that while Lesnar is scheduled for the July pay-per-view and SummerSlam, his other dates aren't solidified yet ... Meltzer noted that Lesnar will be around a lot more for this championship reign than his seven month 2014-2015 run.

Originally Posted by PWI According to PWInsider, as of today, Adam Cole is now a free agent and is free to sign anywhere. In recent interviews, Cole has stated this will be the first time in awhile he's been able to look outside of Ring of Honor and if he did come to WWE, he would want to start in NXT. No word yet on where he plans on signing.

Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is The Rock's 45th birthday.
• Drew McIntyre announced he recently got added to the lineup for NXT's UK tour next month. https://twitter.com/DMcIntyreWWE/sta...55114742091776
• Recent episode of Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast had Arn Anderson as the guest talking about his career, the Four Horsemen and Ric Flair. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...four-horseman/

[The CyNick]

I wonder why Dave hasn't posted the SummerSlam lineup yet.

[Simple Fan]

Originally Posted by The CyNick I wonder why Dave hasn't posted the SummerSlam lineup yet.

Vince doesn't want him to yet. They talked about it ovwr tea though so Dave knows.

[The CyNick]

Originally Posted by Simple Fan Vince doesn't want him to yet. They talked about it ovwr tea though so Dave knows.

Seems legit.

I guess same for the other upcoming PPVs though?

Funny how his sources seem to go dark every few months. Ah well, I'm sure there's a logical explanation.

[Simple Fan]

Originally Posted by The CyNick Seems legit. I guess same for the other upcoming PPVs though? Funny how his sources seem to go dark every few months. Ah well, I'm sure there's a logical explanation.

Yeah there is, ratings are low at the moment so there's no reason to really report anything if people are not watching. Things will pick up around Summer Slam and Dave will be back at it, dont worry.

[Emperor Smeat]

Originally Posted by The CyNick Seems legit. I guess same for the other upcoming PPVs though? Funny how his sources seem to go dark every few months. Ah well, I'm sure there's a logical explanation.

Meltzer only does months worth of coverage for Mania's card since its meant to be WWE's biggest event of the year. Doesn't really bother doing the same for other WWE ppvs outside of possible main events and major matches.

Only major match that's been reported since Mania was Lesnar vs Strowman as the possible main event for SummerSlam.