TPWW's Official Dirty Sheets News Thread

[Emperor Smeat]

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan What was TNA's highest rating ever?

Somewhere around a 1.4 to 1.5 for ratings overall from the first live Monday episode with Hogan's debut.

Also the highest they ever had for viewers at around 2.2 million for the average.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

The 1.1 is the rating for the "Key Demographics." It's not the actual ratings.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon The 1.1 is the rating for the "Key Demographics." It's not the actual ratings.

Key word being "key."

[#1-norm-fan]

... JEEEEEEEEEEEESUSSSSSSS

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

It's still number one in viewers and demo. People just aren't watching cable or tv in traditional form as much as they once were.

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon It's still number one in viewers and demo.

No it's not. You do realize that "1.1" is a rounded number, right?

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Braun's Road to Motherhood:

Originally Posted by Observer WWE announced today that the WWE Network would be available for the first time in mainland China. WWE and PPTV, a Chinese sports media streaming service that carries the company's programming, will be partners in getting the Network into the final major country in the world it isn't already in. The Network will be debuting on August 18th, in time for SummerSlam weekend ... Regarding the WWE Network in China, the price in that country will be 30 yuan monthly ($4.50) or a one year package for 198 yuan (just under $30). WWE and PPTV will split the revenue. WWE noted that the NBA has had some success with a subscription model in China.

Originally Posted by Observer The company is pushing that tomorrow will be the 20th anniversary of the formation of DX, which debuted on the August 11, 1997 TV show. In honor of this, the WWE Network will be doing a weekly series called Flashback Fridays, starting at 3 p.m. Eastern, which this week being a marathon of DX material.

Link to the new show announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7g0Ori8DGs

Originally Posted by Pro Wrestling Sheet Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Darren Young will soon be making his return to the ring … because he’s been cleared for action by WWE‘s medical staff. Sources tell us Young had his evaluation this week and passed as expected, therefore he’ll be able to make his return to WWE as soon as next week. Darren underwent surgery back in early February to repair his injured elbow. No word on when he’ll be back on TV, or if his relationship with Bob Backlund will continue, but our sources say he’s still scheduled to appear on the Raw brand.

Originally Posted by Observer Freemantle International, which is WWE's European DVD distributor, noted about the decision originally made not to release SummerSlam on Blu-Ray and that over the last two years, sales of WWE Blu-Rays have declined and there hasn't been enough demand to continue. However, the decision was made to release SummerSlam on Blue-Ray as a test. "We will closely monitor the performance of this release and it will directly affect our future Blu-Ray plans."

Originally Posted by Observer All Japan Pro Wrestling will be available on The Fite App starting Saturday. There are six shows available on VOD. They also have an Impact One Night Only show from the GFW tapings in Las Vegas on Friday night.

Originally Posted by Observer This year's Lucha Libre World Cup, which will feature talent from Lucha Underground and AAA, will take place on 10/9 and 10/10 in Tokyo.

Link to the announcement: https://twitter.com/luchalibreaaaJP/...87556384833537

Originally Posted by Observer Lio Rush's final match before he goes to WWE will be Saturday at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD for Fan Appreciation night. Rush vs. his trainer, the Bruiser, will headline.

Originally Posted by PWI Alexa Bliss tweeted that she will be spending all day at ESPN tomorrow in promotion for next Sunday's SummerSlam: excited to spend the day @espn tomorrow stay tuned for more details #Summerslam #fixedit hahah — Alexa Bliss (@AlexaBliss_WWE) August 10, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI Deadline has officially announced Netflix has renewed "GLOW" for season two. GLOW tweeted the following: Here we #GLOW again... Season 2 is coming. pic.twitter.com/LXF8OIxcNG — GLOW (@GlowNetflix) August 10, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI Recently, you left Global Force Wrestling. There was a report that the company wanted a cut of your revenue from a non-wrestling-related television show. What’s the story there? Unfortunately, that story is kind of a mess. There are some valid statements that I’ve seen, but it’s really not as dramatic as people want it to be. Basically, Cody and I were very candid with what we were doing after WWE as far as contracts go. People are confused. I never signed the contract that people think I signed with Global Force stating that they got percentages. What I did sign was a tentative contract with Impact Wrestling when they were still Impact. That contract had a clause for me, because I was already working on some stuff in other areas of television. That clause basically said that if something else in television were to happen for me, they can’t be uncooperative. And if they were uncooperative, we would be able to part ways. And that is honestly what happened. So, I am filming something awesome in Atlanta, but I can’t say what it is.

From a recent interview Brandi Rhodes had with CBS Radio. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/111...t-gfw.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI WWE NXT will return to Brooklyn, NY at the Barclays Center on Saturday 8/19 for Takeover: Brooklyn III, featuring: *WWE NXT champion Bobby Roode vs. Drew McIntyre *WWE NXT Women's champion Asuka vs. Ember Moon *WWE NXT Tag Team champions The Authors of Pain with Paul Ellering vs. SanitY *Aleister Black vs Hideo Itami *Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas with Zelina Vega

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As seen below, Boom! Studios has released a new WWE SummerSlam 2017 Special comic with cover artwork from Rob Schamberger. You can use the link in the tweet to find the special in-stock at a comic shop near you. New @SummerSlam comic is the cure for the summertime blues-w/ tales spanning 30 years of history! Find comic shops: https://t.co/i2T8p4bLmw pic.twitter.com/xM392xoY3h — WWE Publishing (@WWEpublishing) August 10, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Regarding rumors on Dolph Ziggler's WWE status, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Ziggler has been off TV and pay-per-view because the company just has nothing for him creatively. The former World Heavyweight Champion is currently in the same blue brand boat as guys like Erick Rowan, Luke Harper and Tye Dillinger, where officials have nothing significant for them to do. Ziggler worked several live event matches in July, usually losing to Shinsuke Nakamura, but his last TV match came on July 4th - the Independence Day Battle Royal that was won by AJ Styles. Before the battle royal, Ziggler's last singles TV match came on the June 20th SmackDown episode, another loss to Nakamura.

Also likely very busy dealing with the murder trial involving one of his brothers.

Originally Posted by Observer Everyone is hurt. Nobody has missed one match. Many are keeping their injuries secret. Tanahashi is working through a right biceps tear. Naito has a right shoulder problem, that got bad with matches with Zack Sabre Jr. and Togi Makabe, the latter where, in it playing no part of the match, he was clearly in a lot of pain. He’s said to be a little better going into the Tanahashi match, and potential final match with Okada or Omega. But he’s likely got his two hardest bouts to come. Yuji Nagata, at 49, the oldest wrestler in the tournament and perhaps the best, was physically wearing down and has back issues. Tomohiro Ishii has a knee issue. Okada may or may not have a neck issue, but in his match with Suzuki, worked like a guy completely banged up and his neck was taped, although it also played into the match. Omega’s neck had stiffened up, and there was a scary moment in his match with Seiya Sanada where he landed almost on the top of his head on the floor when Sanada was out of a position to catch him on a moonsault block on the guard rail. But while it clearly banged him up at the time, apparently he was fine from it after. Evil was knocked silly at least once, if not twice.

Health status regarding all the competitors in this year's G1 Climax tournament.

Originally Posted by Observer The medical report on Hiroshi Tanahashi torn right biceps is essentially what was reported. It was noted that in most cases with a distal biceps tendon rupture that one would opt for surgery to repair the arm. Tanahashi said that he couldn’t be out of action for the six months after surgery. The belief was that his brachialis muscle can compensate for the function of the torn biceps so the decision wasn’t that bad Katsuyori Shibata wrote that his doctor is very surprised about how well his recovery has gone. He also talked about being very depressed because it doesn’t feel like summer to him without being in the G-1 tournament

Originally Posted by Observer WWE has announced what will be a six-hour plus presentation for SummerSlam, a two-hour pre-show that starts at 5 p.m. and a main show from 7 p.m. until probably around 11:30 p.m. It’s almost a lock that a lot of the post-show talk will be regarding how the show went too long.

Originally Posted by Observer Lawler and Bill Dundee filmed a pilot for a proposed new television show called “Jerry Lawler’s Classic Memphis Wrestling.” The attempt to is sell it to a local station as a nostalgia show, since Memphis Wrestling was a television institution there from the 60s through the 90s, and particularly big from 1969 to 1987. Lawler talked about how he’d like the show to air on the WWE Network after it first has its run on Memphis television. He said he’s got a lot of the footage and claims that he owns it, although the ownership of the tape library has been in question for decades since Lawler sold the promotion and its IP, but the owners went bankrupt and nobody bought its IP in bankruptcy court

Originally Posted by Observer The reason the Hardys were off all the shows this weekend was because they couldn’t fully clear up whether Jeff Hardy would be able to cross the border given his felony drug conviction from years ago. They were working on it and time ran out, and he had to be pulled from the shows. Originally Matt Hardy was going to be in Toronto for Raw to shoot an angle with The Revival for their match, but with Scott Dawson’s injury, that was pulled from the show. The expectation right now, while not a certainty, is they’ll be able to clear it up in time for the next Raw Canada swing

Originally Posted by Observer Sports Illustrated reported that WWE had passed on Rey Mysterio because of issues with his management team, citing Konnan in particular. While they had talked, we’d heard the Mysterio talking with WWE was overblown in the first place and that he was looking at GFW because it would allow him more freedom to do side projects and Mysterio at this stage of his career isn’t going to be able to work the WWE schedule ... Another aspect is Mysterio had a very good contract with Lucha Underground, and the fact he’s looking elsewhere when he was the biggest name in that company, is not a strong sign for Lucha Underground as you’d think they’d want to keep their biggest name and not have him sign with GFW. Mysterio had a great deal with LU, working a minimal number of matches and a deal that would have made him one of the higher paid wrestlers in the world, although the offer he signed was less then the numbers offered when he was first told about their interest, but was far more than he could get anywhere else and he could still work indies and such with that deal. But after a couple of years with no movie (never promised but it was part of the pitch), no house show touring, long delays between tapings, no merchandise to speak of and money issues in getting what he signed for, it looks like the money isn’t there for him to be able to be offered what his prior deal was. It looks like both sides are parting ways and that’s where the GFW talks came from Regarding the Sports Illustrated story, Konnan said he had not negotiated for Mysterio when it comes to WWE. The way the story was reported was that WWE had rebuffed Mysterio stating they had problems with his management team, specifically Konnan, although that story stated it was for Konnan not coming to WWE to do Max Moon after they spent all that money on the gimmick. That was 25 years ago and almost nobody except Vince who was in the company then is even in the company now. Konnan said that if Mysterio was wanting to go to WWE, and anyone in WWE saw his involvement as a negative, that he’d stay out of it and Mysterio would negotiate for himself

Originally Posted by Observer WWE officially announced Kyle O’Reilly as having signed, even though his appearing at the last TV tapings confirmed it. They didn’t make the announcement until his first match with Aleister Black aired. As for Adam Cole, even though Cole & Britt Baker won the Wrestle Circus tag titles from Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta on 8/5 in Austin, TX, Cole is headed here. It’s just a question as to how and when they introduce him. I don’t know that it’s happening at Takeover Brooklyn, but that’s certainly possible

"How Kurgan turned into an Oddity, after WrestleMania where [Austin] took the [world title] belt from Shawn [Michaels], I'm at the afterparty and Kurrgan's there with his wife and Kurrgan says, 'my wife is going to have me dancing. I'm going to get up and dance and I'm sure you're going to have a laugh.' And I go, 'dude, don't do it.' He's like, 'why?' I go, 'don't let Vince see you up dancing.' And he's like, 'well, my wife wants me to dance, blah, blah, blah.' I'm like, 'don't do it.' He got up, he's dancing, disco dancing, he's pretty good, but I'm not watching him. I'm watching Vince and I saw [him] catch [Vince's] eye and I'm like, 'he's not a giant anymore.' And within a month, he was in a tuxedo dancing and that's the night I learned 'don't do anything in front of Vince that you don't want to do in front of millions of people."

From a recent episode of The Steve Austin show with Don Callis as the guest. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...o-give-kurgan/


Some other sheet news includes:

• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Matt Bloom (Prince Albert/A-Train/Tensai) talking about the training process at NXT. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...finn-balor-nxt
• Newest article by Jim Ross on his official blog talked about the Bayley and Dawson injuries, WWE title match at SummerSlam, and WWE's UK show. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...wson-injuries/
• According to the Observer, WWE is still interested in doing a 4 Horsewomen (WWE) vs 4 Horsewomen (MMA) feud and could start planting the seeds as early as next month.
• Also according to the Observer, WWE is about to suffer a severe drop in their 3rd largest tv market in terms of viewers due to a new TV deal made. The new deal for South Africa will move WWE shows from its regular channel to a pay channel. WWE is expected to suffer a drop as high as 80% in viewers as a result.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Powerbomb Appreciation Day:

SPOILER: show

Originally Posted by Observer Tetsuya Naito beat Hiroshi Tanahashi earlier today to win the A block in the G-1 Climax tournament. Naito will face the winner of tomorrow's Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega match. If Okada vs. Omega goes to a 30:00 draw or double DQ or double count out, Okada will advance to the finals. Omega needs a win in less than 30:00 to meet Naito in the finals. Since I've been flooded with questions on this, Okada vs. Omega 3 should start at 7:45 a.m.to 8 a.m. Eastern time, as far as the match itself goes. The show will start at 5:30 a.m.

Spoiler tags used since its related to the G1 Climax A Block finals from earlier today for those who haven't watched it yet.

Originally Posted by Observer Scott Dawson had the surgery for his torn right biceps this week and the current timetable for a return is early December. Pro Wrestling Sheet reported this earlier today and WWE has confirmed it.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding rumors of Gabe Sapolsky working for WWE as a producer in NXT, the story is that he was at the last set of tapings and they were talking regarding different ideas but he said he is not with WWE, has no official role there and there's no talk of him getting an official role there, and he's still with the WWN group.

Debunked an earlier report from PWInsider stating he was in talks to become a possible member of NXT's Creative.

Originally Posted by PWI Paul "Triple H" Levesque was interviewed by CBS Sports concerning online rumors that former UFC Champion Ronda Rousey was training for a WWE debut. About Rousey attenting the Mae Young Tournament taping Levesque said, "I don't know that I ever once looked out at the crowd and saw her without this ear-to-ear grin on her face. She was like a little kid after every break there would be when I would talk to her -- like a little kid. What that means? Unsure. What that means down the line? I think she's unsure." But as to whether she is training to appear for WWE, Levesque said, "I think [Rousey] is in a transition period in her life and is in a great place. I think she's getting married soon or something. Look, she has got a lot going on, but I'm all about creating opportunities. That's what the Mae Young Classic is all about -- creating opportunities for these women that they never had before. If Ronda Rousey wants that opportunity, I'd be happy to talk to her about it."

Link to the interview: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-ronda-rousey/

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Network has added the July 15, 1988 LA Sports Arena house show and the November 24, 1983 Philadelphia Spectrum house show to the Old-School section in The Vault section. WWE Network continues to upload 1982-1984 WCCW TV episodes. 1984 is now complete.

Originally Posted by PWI The 8/10 edition of Impact did 277,000 overnight viewers, up slightly from last week's 276,000 viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI As noted early, PROGRESS Wrestling will run shows tomorrow in Queens, NY and Sunday in Boston, MA (that event is sold out) with a number of WWE contracted talents appearing, including UK champion Pete Dunne. PWInsider.com has learned that after this weekend's events, the UK talents working the loop as well as PROGRESS promoter Jim Smallman are all being sent by WWE to Florida, where they will be at the WWE Performance Center. Some will be there for several weeks.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Jericho revealed on his latest Talk Is Jericho podcast that he was in Richmond, Virginia to film his role in an episode of Southpaw Regional Wrestling and to interview Tyler Breeze and Fandango for his podcast. But he got talked into doing a match. "That's actually why I'm here today, to film that show Southpaw and talk to you guys," said Jericho. "And now I got roped into having a match."

Pretty much confirms the rumors of Jericho's appearance being a one night only deal.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, former WWE Champion The Rock revealed his updated Brahma Bull tattoo earlier today. You can see the evolution of the trademark ink at this link. RAW announcer Corey Graves took advantage of the moment and invited Rock to appear on his "Superstar Ink" series for the WWE website. Graves tweeted the following to The Great One: Hey @TheRock, badass new tattoo! I have this show, @wwe #SuperstarInk...it could totally use some #electrifying! You busy? Haha — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) August 11, 2017

Link to the Instagram photo of the new tattoo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXqJMxXFsui/


Some other sheet news includes:

• Website Popsugar had a recent interview with John Cena talking about proposing to Nikki Bella, the mixed gender tag match at Mania 33, and if the wedding will be taped for Total Bellas. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ella-at-mania/
• Orlando Sentinel had a recent interview with Finn Balor talking about missing this year's Rumble and Mania, Bray Wyatt, and evolving his goals in wrestling. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...estlemania-33/
• Several clips from Alexa Bliss' appearance on ESPN to promote SummerSlam today was released. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-banks-at-wwe/
• 2K Games recently released a new trailer for WWE 2k18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbcSJ7FEPfw
• Update to Sami Zayn's Syrian mobile hospital charity news as the fundraiser hit its goal of $48k earlier today.
• For those interested in watching a funny wrestling-related gaming stream, NewlegacyInc is currently holding a 2-day Rumble marathon for charity. 30 games from a variety of platforms are being streamed and Canadian Cancer Society as the charity being supported. Link to the stream - https://www.twitch.tv/newlegacyinc , Link to donate - https://twitch.streamlabs.com/newlegacyinc

[Cool King]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, former WWE Champion The Rock revealed his updated Brahma Bull tattoo earlier today. You can see the evolution of the trademark ink at this link. RAW announcer Corey Graves took advantage of the moment and invited Rock to appear on his "Superstar Ink" series for the WWE website. Graves tweeted the following to The Great One: Hey @TheRock, badass new tattoo! I have this show, @wwe #SuperstarInk...it could totally use some #electrifying! You busy? Haha — Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) August 11, 2017 Link to the Instagram photo of the new tattoo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXqJMxXFsui/

Damn, that's an ugly-ass tattoo.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Fists That Reunited Shield Bros:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw started higher and fell more last night than in previous weeks, ending up at 3.22 million viewers, which was a one percent drop from last week's number. Last week's rating was the best for the show since April 17th ... My feeling on this is the huge first hour was curiosity regarding what would be said about Ric Flair, which was covered early and it was clear it wouldn't be talked about again. Even in males 18-49, which usually has its best hour in number three, it dropped 11 percent from one to three ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.42 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.29 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.99 million viewers

Managed to do the impossible and break Love & Hip Hop's grip on the #1 ranked demo spot for the week.

Originally Posted by Observer Ric Flair remains in critical condition as of last word in a hospital in Atlanta. Flair underwent colon surgery yesterday to remove a blockage that was the catalyst for a number of different health issues that followed including kidney failure. Those in WWE were made aware that Flair is on kidney dialysis as well. A key is being able to get the kidneys back functioning. The surgery was considered a success, but as noted there are more issues involved. With fans and people within the pro wrestling industry sending well wishes for her father, Charlotte Flair posted a message thanking people for their support this morning. She wrote on Instagram: "Hi guys, On behalf of my family and I, we want to THANK everyone for the prayers, texts, calls and support. Our Dad is a FIGHTER and your continued thoughts and prayers MEAN THE WORLD to us. We will update everyone when we have more information."

Originally Posted by Observer PWInsider reported today and a WWE source confirmed to us that Adam Cole has officially signed with WWE. The fact this was confirmed before NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn means there is a good chance that will be his debut. Cole signing with WWE has been expected for at least one year and would have happened sooner had the WWE and Ring of Honor legal issues not taken place. Once WWE started signing guys like Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, Cole, who the company has had eyes on for years, was imminent as far as coming in. Cole's debuting has been a foregone conclusion since he finished up with ROH and New Japan. Fish and O'Reilly both debuted on NXT TV recently. Cole said goodbye to ROH at their War of the Worlds pay-per-view in New York and post-PPV television tapings in Philadelphia in May and has since worked some indie matches.

Originally Posted by Observer Mike Kanellis posted a message on Instagram about overcoming an addiction to prescription drugs. He wrote that he kept the problem from everyone and it has haunted him for three years after dislocating his kneecap. Kanellis noted that the addiction started to spiral out of control over the last year and a half until he decided that he couldn’t keep hurting his wife and himself in this way. He said that he was sharing the message as a symbol of hope to anyone else battling addiction issues.

Link to the posting: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXzYcdpldcz/

Originally Posted by Observer Paige said that she hopes to return to TV within the next couple of months and that she still needs to be cleared by WWE doctors.

Link to the posting: https://twitter.com/ChelseyKENS5/sta...79091153489920

Originally Posted by Observer GFW announced its decision this morning to strip Alberto El Patron of his Unified World Championship which would seem to indicate he will not be appearing at the television tapings this week. Sources in the promotion had told us that the decision had not been made over the weekend. Because they are taping television through the end of October, everything leading to Bound for Glory, if Alberto is not at television, and it appears he won't be, all the main event plans would have to be changed and a new champion would have to be crowned. Ed Nordholm would have been the person with the final say on this matter and we had heard that even though Alberto was cleared of all charges regarding the Orlando Airport incident, that his long-term behavior had been a concern.

Official reason related to GFW being upset at Alberto's attitude and actions while suspended. http://impactwrestling.com/alberto-e...sion-update-2/

Originally Posted by Observer After being stripped of the GFW Unified World Championship yesterday, Alberto El Patron released a statement on Instagram. He claimed that being stripped of the title was his idea and that the sides came to an agreement that works best for both parties.

Link to the posting: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXyrTz1A...=prideofmexico

Originally Posted by Observer Brandon Howard has an article for Fightful.com analyzing this year’s G1 Climax from a business perspective. Total attendance for the 19 shows was 80,639 people, up from 74,383 in 2016. The estimated gate for the final night at Sumo Hall was $1.3 million, also up from an estimated $850,000 the last two years.

Link to the article: http://www.fightful.com/analysis-njp...te-final-night

Originally Posted by Observer SummerSlam is returning to Brooklyn, New York for a fourth straight year. WWE announced last night that the Barclays Center would be hosting SummerSlam weekend again in 2018, with four shows in four nights. There will be an NXT TakeOver special on August 18th, SummerSlam on the 19th, Raw on the 20th, and SmackDown on the 21st. WWE released the official word to the New York Post before also posting an article on their website. The announcement comes ahead of the company's upcoming trip to the Barclays Center for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, SummerSlam, Raw, and SmackDown starting this weekend. SummerSlam first took place at the Barclays Center in 2015 and tickets have either sold out or mostly sold out right when they're put on sale every year that the venue has hosted the pay-per-view. Prior to that, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California was home to the show for six straight years from 2009 to 2014.

Link to the announcement: http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/...center-in-2018

Originally Posted by Observer The G-1 tournament ended up being amazing. Tetsuya Naito beat Kenny Omega in the finals although the highlight was the return of Katsuyori Shibata ... Both Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito are said to be fine after all the chances they took in their match this afternoon in Tokyo. There were tons of scary spots, but the worst two were a piledriver off a table to the floor, which was not supposed to happen, and a superplex spot that ended up with Naito being DDT'd on the top of his head on the top of the ring post. On a lighter note, the stuffed cat, Darryl Takahashi returned and gave Naito a paw bump after he won the tournament. Darryl had a bandage on his hind paw after he was torn limb from limb by Bad Luck Fale, until he was put back together again.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Kevin Owens celebrated 3 years with WWE this past weekend. He is now a one-time WWE NXT Champion, a three-time WWE United States Champion, a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and a one-time WWE Universal Champion. Owens tweeted the following on Saturday while preparing to face United States Champion AJ Styles at SummerSlam in Brooklyn this coming Sunday: 3 years ago today, it was announced that I had signed with @WWE. Worked out pretty great for everyone... You're welcome! #ThankYou — Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) August 12, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The "Table For 3" episode with WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair, Sting and Ricky Steamboat that was scheduled to premiere after last night's RAW did not air, apparently due to Flair's weekend hospitalization and the surgery that he underwent on Monday. A one-hour "Ric Flair: Forever The Man" special aired instead. That special can currently be found in the "Originals" section of the WWE Network. No word yet on when the "Table For 3" episode will air.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE has a special John Cena collectible at ToysRUs to help benefit Special Olympics. You can buy it by clicking here.

Link to the special collectable toy for those interested: https://www.toysrus.com/product?prod...127564646:TRUS

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Finn Balor tweeted that there will be an exclusive Brooklyn edition of the Balor Club T-shirt at the Barclays Center and available soon at WWE Shop. Spread love it's the Brooklyn way Exclusive Bálor Club Brooklyn Shirt @wweshop & Barclays Center pic.twitter.com/DWdZAKJkYI — Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) August 15, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• During a recent interview with E!, Brie Bella revealed she's currently targeting a return to wrestling at some point in 2018. http://www.eonline.com/ca/shows/tota...on-these-boobs
• PROGRESS announced they will be running shows in New Orleans on April 6 & 7 as part of next year's Mania week. https://twitter.com/ThisIs_Progress/...85931626762240
• WWE announced the reason for JoJo not attending RAW last night was due to her sister's recent passing and being given time off for grieving.
• Miami Herald had a recent interview with MVP talking about indies, evolution of wrestling, and both Lesnar and Lashley's MMA careers. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...bobby-lashley/
• Website Uproxx had a recent interview with X-Pac talking about embarrassing moments in DX, Chyna's importance for the group, and why the Outlaws were added. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...e-did-with-dx/
• 2K Games announced the roster reveal for WWE 2k18 will start tomorrow. https://twitter.com/WWEgames/status/897618650403831809
• According to reports, PROGRESS' first ever event in NYC ended up having several serious and potentially illegal problems occur. http://www.tpww.net/2017/08/progress...s-of-problems/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Fashion Peaks Appreciation Day:

Originally Posted by Observer Tuesday night's SmackDown averaged 2.53 million viewers for the SummerSlam go-home show, down two percent from last week. It was the lowest number for the show since July 11th.

SPOILER: show

Originally Posted by Observer The Barclays Center sent out a tweet today advertising Universal Champion Brock Lesnar for the post-SummerSlam episode of Raw. The tweet was taken down after complaints about spoiling the SummerSlam main event, though Lesnar is advertised for more dates after the pay-per-view as well.

Spoiler tag used since it could be related to the results of the Universal title match at SummerSlam.

Originally Posted by Observer Paul “Triple H” Levesque conducted a conference call with the pro wrestling media earlier this afternoon ahead of TakeOver. When it comes to working with other promoters, such as Gabe Sapolsky, Levesque noted that these promoters aren’t officially employed by WWE, but there’s an opportunity to be around each other and learn. He also talked about the Mae Young Classic, saying that some people who worked on the crew said it may even be better than the Cruiserweight Classic. When asked about 205 Live’s scheduling conflicting with the Mae Young Classic final on September 12th, Levesque noted that the logistics haven’t been finalized yet.

Link to the media call: http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/nx...and-myc-241101

Originally Posted by Observer Ric Flair’s fiancee Wendy Barlow has given an update on the condition of Ric Flair, stating that he is still in critical condition. She said that she took Flair to the hospital on Friday with severe abdominal pain. From there, it progressed to multiple organ problems. She said that it was not colon surgery he went under, but a different surgery.

Originally Posted by Observer PWInsider posted quotes from an interview with Bayley earlier today regarding her injury. She noted that the injury was a grade two separation and that she would be out for a few months.

Originally Posted by Observer The New Day defending their tag titles against The Usos at SummerSlam has been moved to the pre-show. Big E and Xavier Woods will be the New Day team in that match.

Updated card for SummerSlam: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...slam-pre-show/

Originally Posted by PWI On this week’s Dinner With The King co-hosts Jerry “The King” Lawler and Glenn Moore dedicate the episode to “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. They two talk about Flair’s condition, his career and time in Memphis. The King also shares some classic audio and stories from their handful of matches over the years ... Also, Lawler shares that his pilot episode of Jerry Lawler Classic Memphis Wrestling has been picked up and they will begin shooting episodes soon. "We did a pilot episode of our classic wrestling show here in Memphis. And it got picked up! September 9, we are going to get Bill Dundee back in the studio and we are going to shoot the first episode of Jerry Lawler’s Classic Memphis Wrestling. The Memphis wrestling that everybody grew up here in Memphis watching Saturday mornings. That’s going to be a weekly show coming up in Memphis on Channel 30, CW 30 here in Memphis.”

Link with more highlights and episode of the podcast: http://www.pwinsider.com/article/111...-more.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI Tyrus announced on his social media accounts this afternoon that he would not be working this week's GFW Impact Wrestling tapings in Orlando Florida. In his video posting, Tyrus claimed that he was being treated like a "second-class citizen" and not being used the way that he should be. He said he had been playing phone tag with GFW officials all day and if they wanted to treat him that way, he would not be working the tapings. You can see the posting below: Full version on @tyrussmash ig @IMPACTWRESTLING pic.twitter.com/ejQ5URAFTl — Tyrus (@PlanetTyrus) August 16, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI In regard to Ric Flair's condition, he is still currently in critical condition in Atlanta, GA. A source close to the situation told PWInsider.com that while reports are out there that Flair had surgery on his colon, those are incorrect. It appears those stories began because Gene Okerlund mistakenly said colon on social media. The surgery was actually on Flair's bowels due to a massive obstruction caused by a health issue that was complicated by other health issues that Flair had been dealing with, including heart issues that he was already aware of. The situation turned dire when Flair's kidneys shut down due to the obstruction and he is currently undergoing dialysis that will hopefully fix the situation and allow them to return to normal. Flair was in extremely bad shape several days ago but the outlook, we are told, is better. However, we were cautioned that he is still in critical condition and anything can happen, so he's not out of the woods yet and is expected to need at least one more surgery in the weeks to come. This is NOT a case where Flair will wake up tomorrow and leave the hospital the next day.

Originally Posted by PWI While it was known that Nikki Bella was expected to sit ringside for the John Cena vs. Baron Corbin match this Sunday at Summerslam, she may have someone to keep her company. Brie Bella will be in New York City this weekend, PWInsider.com has confirmed. Brie will be in town to take part in filming of material for Total Divas over Summerslam weekend.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc While GFW announced this week that Alberto El Patron has been stripped of the Unified World Heavyweight Title due to the recent domestic incident with Paige at an Orlando airport, it looks like Patron vs. Low Ki is still scheduled for this week's GFW Destination X episode on POP. As noted, GFW Executive Bruce Prichard will be at Destination X to make an announcement on the title that "will rock GFW and IMPACT to it's very core." GFW's announcement on Alberto mentioned that no decision had been made on when he will be brought back from suspension but we've noted that the plan has been for the suspension to end with Destination X.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Daniel Bryan was revealed to be this Friday's guest for the Edge & Christian podcast show. https://twitter.com/EandCPod/status/897885937186820106
• 2K Games revealed the first batch of wrestlers totaling 47 people for WWE 2k18's roster. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/ww...nounced-241091
• AXS TV announced they will be showcasing this year's G1 Climax tournament for the next set of NJPW episodes starting on August 18th. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/111...otage.html?p=1
• NBC Elmira had a recent interview with Sting talking about the nWo, Ric Flair, and his match at Night of Champions 2015. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-seth-rollins/
• WWE's online store is currently holding a 2-Day Sale on select merch with discounts in the $5, $10, and $15 off range. No discount code is needed for the sale. http://shop.wwe.com/wwe-51015-deals/
• John Cena recently released a teaser image on his Instagram page hyping up Season 2 of Southpaw Regional Wrestling. https://www.instagram.com/p/BX3t2Xqj...en-by=johncena

[Simple Fan]

Tyrus has been under used by GFW. Been the lackey for a few main eventers that could have turned into big fueds for him but they haven't pulled the trigger on him. Guess he wasn't a big enough star in WWE.

[#1-norm-fan]

He should have been a bigger deal in WWE and a MUCH bigger deal in TNA. The guy was getting over as The Funkasaurus until they made him into a jobber. Crazy charismatic and likable.

[Evil Vito]

Supposedly he had a really pissy attitude when he was given the Funkasaurus gimmick. Despite the fact that it was getting over he felt he should've been booked as a monster and he was just bitching about it the whole time.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Originally Posted by #BrotherVito DELETED Supposedly he had a really pissy attitude when he was given the Funkasaurus gimmick. Despite the fact that it was getting over he felt he should've been booked as a monster and he was just bitching about it the whole time.

He refused to be on Total Divas.

[erickman]

I wonder if the tyrus vid is a work it kind of looks like a work to me how much time does he have on his contract

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Tony Nese's Abs:

Originally Posted by Observer We have an update Ric Flair. Flair is doing significantly better than he was earlier in the week, but he is still in critical condition. He was given an external pacemaker and his heart is beating at normal levels and getting stronger. He is still battling an infection and on kidney dialysis. This is going to be a very slow process.

Originally Posted by Sports Illustrated Per a source close to the family, Flair did not undergo heart surgery nor did he suffer a heart attack. Upon medical attention, what was thought to be an intestinal blockage wound up requiring part of his bowel be removed.

Some more details regarding Flair's current condition from Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...r-heath-update

Originally Posted by Observer Immediately after SummerSlam, the WWE Network will air a preview special for the Mae Young tournament, which starts on 8/28.

Originally Posted by PWI Former WWE Intercontinental and Tag Team champion Shelton Benjamin has signed a deal to officially return to WWE, PWInsider.com has learned. WWE planned to sign Benjamin last summer as part of their brand split and even ran videos promoting his return to the company, only to learn the 42-year old had a torn rotator cuff during the standard pre-signing medical testing. Benjamin underwent surgery to repair the injury while WWE quietly stopped running the videos ... There is no word when Benjamin will return to TV or what brand he will be assigned to as of this writing, but one WWE source stated it would be "soon."

Originally Posted by Observer Topps and WWE are partnering for Connor's Cure. They are making a special autographed card with Stephanie McMahon and HHH offered on Topps.com exclusively along with some Great Moments in SummerSlam history cards with proceeds going to Connor's Cure. The card will be available Monday.

Originally Posted by Observer GFW announced Latin Night on Tuesday at Universal on the final day of this week's TV tapings, which started today. It will be a joint promotion between GFW and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando. They are pushing that GFW features a number of Latin stars including LAX, Garza Jr., Laredo Kid, El Hijo del Fantasma and Drago.

Originally Posted by Observer Another match has been added to the SummerSlam pre-show. It was announced in a video today that The Hardys would again team up with Jason Jordan against The Miz, Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas on Sunday. The New Day defending their SmackDown tag titles against The Usos is currently listed for the pre-show as well, along with Neville getting his rematch against Akira Tozawa for the Cruiserweight Championship. The Hardys & Jordan vs. The Miztourage is also a rematch from this week's episode of Raw. The faces won that first meeting after it was turned into a six-man tag when The Miz got disqualified in a singles match against Jordan due to Axel and Dallas' interference. The addition of the six-man tag brings the SummerSlam lineup up to 13 matches.

Link to the announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcxP_KZM1X4

Originally Posted by Observer While appearing on the "From the Top Rope" podcast alongside her sister, Brie Bella gave one of the strongest indications yet that Daniel Bryan will eventually end up wrestling again -- whether it's in a WWE ring or somewhere else. Brie said about Bryan possibly coming back: "I told Bryan, ‘You do have a daughter, so always remember that. But if the doctors finally give you the green light,’ I say, ‘Go. Like this is your dream and passion. You have one life to live and I will never hold you back -- because I love to wrestle, and I would hate if someone told me you can’t do it." "And if WWE doesn’t allow it, then I said, ‘Go somewhere else. It’s all on you,'" She added. "Obviously he would love to be able to get back in that WWE ring, but I know for a fact my husband is going to find his way back to the ring. Like, he honestly is.” Brie also noted that Bryan has been going to doctors and undergoing testing since retiring. She said that he found Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and has undergone about 40 treatments across the country. Dave Meltzer wrote in this week's edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Bryan would have likely first looked into those around WrestleMania week. Regardless of being cleared by outside doctors, Bryan would need WWE's Dr. Joseph Maroon to reverse his decision if he is to wrestle for the company again.

Originally Posted by PWI Jim Cornette returned to Global Force Wrestling at tonight's TV taping for Destination X, which will air later tonight on Pop. Cornette had worked for the company as an on screen authority figure and as a producer behind the scenes before being let go by Dixie Carter during a time period where she was purging anyone close to Jeff Jarrett.

Originally Posted by PWI As of midnight this morning, Asuka surpassed Rockin' Robin's long-standing record of 502 days as WWF Women's Champion. This means that Asuka is now not only the longest-reigning women's champion of any of that title's incarnations, but she has also now become the longest-reigning champion in WWE history period, other than the years-long title reigns achieved by Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Pedro Morales, and Hulk Hogan in the pre-national expansion days, none of which are likely to ever be surpassed.

Originally Posted by PWI Goldberg tweeted the following to Asuka on her 500 day title reign as NXT Women's Champion: "Congratulations and good luck to @WWEAsuka on her incredible streak as @WWENXT Women's Champion. We'll be watching. #WhosNext #NXTTakeOver #shesnext"

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The WWE NXT "From Secret to Sensation" DVD and Blu-ray will be released on November 14th, according to WrestlingDVDNetwork.com. Below is the synopsis: WWE: NXT – From Secret to Sensation on DVD, Blu-ray & Giftset 11/14/17! In recent years, NXT has emerged as an incredible box office draw for WWE with sold out live network specials from Brooklyn to Dallas to the United Kingdom! But things weren't always this way: watch WWE's "developmental" system churn out future Hall of Fame superstars and grow from its underwhelming infancy in Louisville through 2017! A countdown of the greatest NXT superstars of all-time, featuring brand new exclusive interviews with all the major stars (current & former) that helped make NXT into a unique and popular brand.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero announced on social media that he is leaving GFW. Dinero worked for TNA as a wrestler from 2009-2013. He returned to the company in 2015 as a color commentator using the name, Da Pope. He returned to action on the April 5th episode of Impact Wrestling, losing to Lashley in a street fight

Originally Posted by Observer Another thing we’ve heard is that they were at least looking into, if not doing, a live music-accompanied entrance for Aleister Black for his match with Hideo Itami, like they’ve done in the past for Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura. Code Orange, the band that does the events theme song and Brendan Garrone, of the group Incendiary, playing him to the ring. Incendiary is big on the New York scene so this should be great if it does happen..

Originally Posted by Observer HHH did a media call and talked about the Mae Young tournament. He said that the binge release, where four or five episodes will be released on 8/28 and the rest on 9/4 was an experiment. He said that the viewership for the Cruiserweight tournament faded in the later weeks of the tournament so this was an experiment to see what would happen if everything was released over a two week period instead of a ten week period. He also said it hadn’t been determined exactly what the situation would be on 9/12 regarding whether it would just be one match, or a one-hour show with other matches leading to the championship match, or what the situation would be regarding 205 Live that week

Link with more highlights: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...eing-released/

Originally Posted by Observer Zayn is raising money for Syria, a cause called “Sami for Syria” to raise money for a mobile clinic. They’ve hit their original goal of raising $48,000. He said that from 8/14 through 8/20, he will match every dollar donated up to $10,000

Originally Posted by Observer As far as the U.K. ratings are concerned, the most up-to-date numbers we have are for 7/31 and 8/1, where Raw did 29,000 viewers and Smackdown the next night did 19,000 viewers. This is for the live showings which start at 1 a.m

Some perspective on how RAW and Smackdown have been doing in the UK. They were in the 100k weekly range only a few years ago.

It has returned.
Friday. 10am. #SRW pic.twitter.com/pNgbynwfkz

— John Cena (@JohnCena) August 17, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• GFW recently posted pictures of the designs for the set of new championship belts debuting during tonight's show. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/111...belts.html?p=1
• Sporting News had a recent interview with Drew McIntyre talking about Brooklyn III, origins of his "Chosen One" gimmick, and getting contacted by Triple H to return to the WWE. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...n-one-moniker/
• During this week's pre-Takeover media call, Triple H revealed how he handles issues with Vince when it comes to calling up people too early from NXT. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-talent-early/
• PWI had a recent interview with Bayley discussing her current shoulder injury and rehab. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...rehabiliation/
• ESPN had a recent interview with Alexa Bliss talking about her call up to RAW, future career plans, and being on Total Divas. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-to-leave-nxt/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the Return of Southpaw Regional Wrestling:

Originally Posted by Observer Daniel Bryan was the guest on Edge and Christian’s podcast this week. One of the highlights from the interview was him discussing his forced retirement due to his concussions, primarily the lesion that was found in his brain. He says that he was originally cleared by three different doctors, two of which WWE recommended. WWE still would not clear him, and instead they sent him to do some experimental testing, which is where the lesion was found. When he told this to one of the doctors that originally cleared him, that doctor told him that a lesion was a vague term when it came to brain injuries, that something may be there, but not necessarily a lesion. When talking about his brain and reflexes, Bryan noted that he found out the testing they did on him, and the results thereafter, noted that while his reflexes were slower than that of NFL or other athletes that have taken the test, they were not slower than a normal person, which he considers himself to be.

Link to the podcast episode: https://art19.com/shows/ecs-pod-of-awesomeness

Originally Posted by PWI Former WWE Intercontinental and Tag Team champion Shelton Benjamin has signed a deal to officially return to WWE, PWInsider.com has learned. WWE planned to sign Benjamin last summer as part of their brand split and even ran videos promoting his return to the company, only to learn the 42-year old had a torn rotator cuff during the standard pre-signing medical testing. Benjamin underwent surgery to repair the injury while WWE quietly stopped running the videos ... There is no word when Benjamin will return to TV or what brand he will be assigned to as of this writing, but one WWE source stated it would be "soon."

Originally Posted by Observer Triple H appeared on CBS Sports’ “In This Corner” podcast ahead of SummerSlam. When asked which promotion is WWE’s biggest competition, he said: “When you say, 'What's the No. 2 promotion?' and 'WWE doesn't have a promotion knocking on its door and pushing them,' Raw and SmackDown do. Raw and SmackDown have a promotion right on their tail pushing them to do more. That promotion is going to run a show on Saturday night at the Barclays Center, and it's called NXT."

Link to the interview: https://www.cbssports.com/wwe/news/t...-an-evolution/

Originally Posted by Observer Impact ratings got a boost from last night’s Destination X special, with the show doing 320,000 viewers as compared to last week’s 277,000.

Originally Posted by Observer Jim Cornette as an authority figure and Taryn Terrell were surprise debuts at last night's first night of the Impact TV tapings. Impact will be taping constantly over the next several days, finishing up on Tuesday. There will be 12 weeks of tapings done this week, taking the company through the end of October and everything leading to Bound for Glory is being taped.

Originally Posted by Observer John Hennigan, using the name Johnny Impact, a spoof on his old Johnny Nitro name in WWE, will debut on Impact next week.

A fan jokingly asked Meltzer on twitter if the heated verbal exchange between him and Corbin was the reason why Baron lost his Championship match, replying to which he revealed that John Cena and Mojo Rawley are the reason behind it: While Dave didn’t open up much about the issue, another report from Cage Side Seats shed some more light on how the two mentioned stars were responsible for it. According to it, Officials lost faith in the Money In The Bank winner because he couldn’t stand in the verbal battle against John Cena. His twitter rant with fellow SmackDown roster member Mojo Rawley only contributed to Official’s distress. While it’s widely believed that Corbin wasn’t ready to hold the WWE title, it’s also true that there were many other ways to take the contract away from him and the quick defeat which added nothing to any of the involving star’s profile could have been avoided. We expect to receive some more updates on Baron Corbin’s failed cash in, in the next few days and we’ll keep you posted as new details come to light.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As seen below, WWE and PUMA have released a new SummerSlam collection of gear for Foot Locker stores. The @PUMA x @WWE Summer Slam Collection Tsugi Shinsei is available online now. | https://t.co/p4hNailZbR pic.twitter.com/FTvZfwtkRe — Foot Locker (@footlocker) August 18, 2017 Salute To The Legends.@PUMA x @WWE Summer Slam Collection is in stores & online now. ?? https://t.co/MeC16X6agI ?? https://t.co/USQQSG6D5N pic.twitter.com/aYyavCPBIe — Foot Locker (@footlocker) August 18, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg is scheduled to appear at the WWE 2K18 media event in New York City tonight, according to PWInsider. No word yet on if Snoop might appear with cousin Sasha Banks this weekend as she challenges Bliss for the title.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Sunday's WWE Summerslam is not yet sold out, according to TiqIQ. They sent work that as of Friday morning, both lower level and floor seating was still available through Ticketmaster from $400. There's over 1,000 tickets listed on the secondary market with cheapest seats listed for $99. Lower level seating is available from $269 with ringside from $450. The $99 starting price marks the cheapest secondary market "Get-In" of the past 3 Summerslams at Barclays Center. Of the surrounding events, Tuesday's Smackdown Live is the hottest on the resale ticket, with tickets starting at $42. Saturday's NXT Takeover starts at $38 on the resale market, and Monday's WWE Raw is the cheapest of the lot, with tickets listed for as low as $19.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Dolph Ziggler appeared on The Tom Shillue Show with Fox News' Kennedy and Jimmy Failla this week. During the show they discussed the terror attack in Barcelona and President Donald Trump's controversial response to the attack in Charlottesville, VA last weekend. All the panelists agreed that Trump didn't handle the situation ideally, however Ziggler felt that Trump would have been criticized if he denounced white supremacists immediately anyway. Ziggler felt that people would have said that if he mentioned those hate groups by name, people would have seen it as Trump giving them a nod. You can watch the segment below, Ziggler's comments about Trump's response in Charlottesville start at the 10:30 mark.

Link to the video interview: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...arlottesville/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE announced in celebration of SummerSlam they have opened own GIPHY channel to celebrate some of the PPV's biggest moments over the years. In the announcement, WWE wrote: "GIPHY is the largest search engine for GIFs online, and powers popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, Slack, WhatsApp, Tinder, Gmail and more!" WWE has already posted over 600 gifs on the channel

Link to the official channel: https://giphy.com/wwe

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWEShop.com has a SummerSlam sale starting through today and ending Sunday night, August 20th at 11:59pm PT. You can take 20% off orders $25+, 25% off $50+ and 30% off orders $75+ by clicking here and using code SLAM at checkout.WWEShop.com has a SummerSlam sale starting through today and ending Sunday night, August 20th at 11:59pm PT. You can take 20% off orders $25+, 25% off $50+ and 30% off orders $75+ by clicking here and using code SLAM at checkout.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc In an interview with USA Today's "For the Win" section, Samoa Joe talked about why he wears a towel to the ring: "I think partially it was the grapplers that I enjoyed wore a towel to the ring and they looked like they were ready to rock and roll. Mike Tyson used to come out with the towel poncho. I didn't get the towel poncho. Just the towel. It's something I just started to do and never stopped."

Link to the interview: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/08/samo...s-dean-ambrose

Kurt Angle: "AJ is the best today. He's the standard. He sets the bar very high. I had some of my best matches with AJ. Maybe one more?"

From a recent Q&A session Angle held on his official Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/realkurtang...%3A%22R9%22%7D


Some other sheet news includes:

• Adam Cole was recently seen with NXT crew heading to New York fueling more speculation of him making a debut at tomorrow's Takeover: Brooklyn III. http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/ada...xt-crew-photo/
• WWE recently uploaded Season 2 of Southpaw Regional Wrestling totaling 6 episodes overall. http://www.wwe.com/playlist/southpaw...n-at-the-swamp
• 2K Games revealed The Rock curated the soundtrack for WWE 2k18.
• WrestlingDVDNetwork recently revealed the content listing for November's NXT: From Secret to Sensation DVD set. http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/f...on-dvd/140591/
• WWE recently released a new set of Southpaw Regional Wrestling merch in honor of Season 2's debut. https://shop.wwe.com/southpaw-regional-wrestling/
• USA Today's "For The Win" section had a recent interview with Triple H talking about Asuka in NXT and her importance for the brand. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...vince-mcmahon/
• that's Magazine had a recent interview with Charlotte talking about Ric Flair, pressure following his footsteps, and how much of her character is based on her real life personality. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...n-is-a-burden/
• Update to WWE's lawsuit against CM Punk in regards to medical claims as website Fightful reports the WWE is currently asking for CM Punk to pay around $120k in legal fees as part of a subpoena request demanding more information and documentation. Punk is arguing WWE papered the numbers ($240k) to squeeze him out of more money. Punk is also arguing his agreed share should be around $40k instead. http://www.fightful.com/exclusive-cm...ost-him-120000

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by A Blissful No Mercy:

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpaige via Triple A Monday’s post-SummerSlam Raw brought in an average of 3,404,000 viewers, up from last week’s 3,233,000 viewers. That’s Raw’s highest number since the Superstar Shake-up episode on April 10, 2017, which did 3,429,000 viewers. This time last year, the August 22, 2016 post-SummerSlam Raw did 3,315,000 viewers. Raw was #1, 3, and 4 on cable in the 18-49 demographic for the night. A pre-season NFL game between the Giants and Browns on ESPN was #2 with 3,574,000 viewers. Hourly breakdown: 8PM: 3,416,000 9PM: 3,581,000 10PM: 3,216,000

Originally Posted by Observer When Bobby Roode lost his NXT Championship last Saturday, the only question was how soon it would take for him to arrive on the main roster. It turns out that we didn't have to wait very long. Roode made his debut on SmackDown tonight by defeating Aiden English, with Roode hitting his Glorious DDT to finish the match ... Shelton Benjamin is the newest addition to the SmackDown roster, nearly a year after being set to return to WWE. In a backstage segment on SmackDown, General Manager Daniel Bryan was talking to Chad Gable, who was growing tired of hearing about Jason Jordan’s new singles career -- he was worried about his own. Bryan said he understood that, and that is why he made a deal with Kurt Angle: in exchange for Jordan, Angle would help Bryan sign one of his friends.

Originally Posted by Observer The domestic violence charges against Paige have been dropped. A representative for the 9th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s office told TMZ that the case is closed because the the victim, which would be Alberto El Patron, did not want to press charges.

Link to the TMZ article: http://www.tmz.com/2017/08/22/paige-...berto-del-rio/

Originally Posted by Observer Bodybuilder Dallas McCarver, boyfriend of Dana Brooke, passed away early this morning, TMZ reported. He was just 26. It appears he choked on food and was found unconscious shortly after midnight. He was then transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police say there’s no sign of foul play. Brooke, who spoke to TMZ, told McCarver’s fans to stay strong.

Originally Posted by Observer It was announced today that Tony Schiavone will return to pro wrestling announcing by calling the action at MLW: One-Shot on October 5th. He’s done virtually no pro wrestling broadcasting since the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro in 2001. He will be joined by Rich Bocchini, formerly Rich Brennan of NXT.

Link to the announcement: https://mlw.com/2017/08/22/tony-schi...-mlw-one-shot/

Originally Posted by Observer NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki will have his first United States match in 25 years next month as he is scheduled for the Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view and subsequent TV tapings on September 22nd and 23rd in Las Vegas. New Japan Pro Wrestling announced Suzuki and KUSHIDA as appearing for ROH on those dates, noting that they will leave the September New Japan tour after the September 16th show in Hiroshima to head to the US. Suzuki, who was an MMA pioneer that UFC attempted to book on its early shows but at the time Pancrase didn't want its top stars doing UFC, has never been among the talent sent previously to ROH, and he was not at the Long Beach New Japan shows.

Originally Posted by Observer On a week where the eyes of the fight world are on the UFC lightweight champion making his debut in a boxing ring, a budding megastar with a troubled past has once again given the UFC a black eye. TMZ is reporting Tuesday night that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol and has been stripped of the title he won by knocking out Daniel Cormier last month at UFC 214 -- his first fight back since coming off a one-year ban for his first USADA violation. A second positive failure could mean up to a four year ban from the sport. UFC confirmed the news, saying the positive test was taken on July 28th after Jones weighed in.

Pretty much puts an end to the Lesnar-Jones and Lesnar MMA rumors. Link to the TMZ report: http://www.tmz.com/2017/08/22/jon-jo...itle-stripped/

Global Force Wrestling taped again last night[Saturday] for an episode of Impact that will air on September 7th. The show featured the debuts of AAA talent Pagano, El Texano Jr. and Taya Valkyrie. The show ended with an angle where Jeremy Borash announced that Bobby Lashley was quitting GFW. Lashley came out and said he wanted one final match in the promotion, and he wants it to be against Moose.

Originally Posted by PWI There are plans to air a special on Madusa aka Alundra Blayze in September, timed with the finals of the Mae Young Classic. We are told that the week the Classic airs live from Las Vegas on 9/12, 205 Live will indeed air following the finals. It's a good thing they are broadcasting from Vegas. September will also feature the second season of WWE's animated series Storytime. The September Collections for the Network's VOD are said to be dedicated to Sting and The Undertaker. For those of who you have asked about these two series, I was told that WCW Thunder and Sunday Night Heat are both in line to be added to the Vault section later this year. I am hoping personally they keep adding some more World Class and old school WWE house shows. There are no plans to add the Table for 3 episode with Ric Flair, Sting and Ricky Steamboat until Flair's health situation improves to the point he is out of the woods.

Originally Posted by PWI Several fans were ejected from the Barclays Center during the Finn Balor vs. Jason Jordan match on Raw when beach balls they were bouncing around ended up over the barricade and in the ringside area. There had been a ton bouncing around during the taping after the incident at Summerslam. My guess is those items will soon be added to the list of prohibited items at WWE events.

Originally Posted by PWI John Cena is currently filming Transformers: Bumblebee but is already being eyed for another potential Hollywood franchise film that is being adapted from a classic '80s TV property - Knight Rider. ScreenRant.com is reporting that a comedic reboot of the property from The Weinstein Company has been eyeing both Cena and comedian Kevin Hart for leading roles. Cena is envisioned as playing Michael Knight, the role that made David Hasselhoff a massive international star while Hart was pitched as the voice of KITT, the futuristic super-car that Knight drives. The idea is to do a take on the series similar to the feature film version of 21 Jump Street, turning the original concept into an action comedy. The original series aired for several years on NBC in the early 1980s and has seen subsequent made for TV sequel series and films in the past, most recently a 2008 series (which was quite good) but only lasted one season.

Link to the report from ScreenRant.com: http://screenrant.com/knight-rider-m...na-kevin-hart/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The Wrap has an interview here with WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who was promoting the new season of Broken Skull Challenge on CMT. During the interview, Austin was asked about wrestlers using someone else's finisher and the right way to go about it. "There's different ways to go about it," Austin said. "Sometimes people will check with other guys. I'm down with anybody using the Stunner. I would prefer that it be used as a used a finisher, and not as the current routine with the DDT, where it's basically one of the lamest false-finishes in the business after being one of the most devastating finishers in the history of the business."

Link to the interview: http://www.thewrap.com/stone-cold-st...ull-challenge/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As seen on RAW last night, WWE started planting seeds for a Roman Reigns vs. John Cena feud, which would suggest that the match will be taking place soon and not at WrestleMania. Dave Meltzer reported on last night's Wrestling Observer Radio that the current plan is once again for Brock Lesnar to face Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 34. At one point Cena vs. Reigns had been rumored for WrestleMania after WWE briefly changed the SummerSlam main event from being Brock Lesnar defending the WWE Universal Championship against Braun Strowman to Lesnar vs. Reigns. WWE later changed the SummerSlam main event to a Fatal 4-Way featuring Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Strowman vs. Samoa Joe, and the scheduled WrestleMania main event was back to Reigns vs. Lesnar.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Emma recently spoke with NewsHub to promote the September 13th WWE live event in New Zealand and commented on her recent "#GiveEmmaAChance" social media campaign: "There are so many talented females on our roster, so yes it can be hard to stand out, but in saying that I have one of the biggest social media following on the entire WWE roster. It has really worked for me recently because of my fans, the comments I had been getting from them made me react to it and you can see it's really paid off in the last few weeks. It's about time too, the whole #GiveEmmaAChance thing is real. I mean when do I get my chance at the championship, I have never had that and it just goes to show how social media can help."

Link to the interview: http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entert...ll-circle.html


Some other sheet news includes:

1. Cody Rhodes was revealed to be this week's guest for Jerry Lawler's Dinner With the King podcast show. https://twitter.com/DinnerWithKing/s...33138129580033
2. WWE confirmed both Asuka (collarbone) and Big Cass (left knee) suffered legit injuries the past couple of days. Asuka broke her collarbone at Brooklyn III while Cass suffered a potential ACL injury during last night's RAW.
3. In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Cena's win over Baron Corbin at SummerSlam was his first singles win at the event since 2010.
4. In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the two year anniversary of Bayley-Sasha NXT Women's championship match at Takeover Brooklyn I.
5. WWE officially confirmed reports of them signing Lio Rush to a contract. http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/arti...signs-lio-rush
6. Observer stated former ROH star Donovan Dijak is expected to be the next big name officially announced by the WWE soon.
7. Recent blog by Jim Ross on official blog talked about Black-Itami match at Brooklyn III, Universal title match at SummerSlam, and Jim Cornette. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...mauro-ranallo/
8. WSVN-TV held a recent interview with Sami Callihan talking about his time in the WWE, Triple H in NXT, and his current time in the indies. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...w-triple-h-is/

[Simple Fan]

Dijak has a killer Finisher, hope he brings it with him.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Triple H Doing a Magic Trick:

Originally Posted by Observer Coming on the heels of SummerSlam, SmackDown had its biggest audience since April's roster shakeup episode, coming in at 2.685 million viewers. That was up six percent from last week. It was a stronger than usual night for cable TV viewership as, despite that high number, SmackDown was only sixth on cable, trailing news shows on CNN and Fox News. It was first in the 18-49 demo with a very strong 0.87 rating. SmackDown was actually slightly down from last year as the post-SummerSlam episode in 2016 had an audience of 2.714 million viewers.

Originally Posted by Observer It appears that the severity of Big Cass' knee injury is as bad as was initially feared. WWE posted an update on Cass last night, with it saying that he will have to undergo surgery. Dr. Chris Robinson noted that it looks like Cass suffered a torn ACL and possibly a medial meniscus tear. Robinson said that they would have to wait for a radiologist to evaluate Cass' MRI before making any final determinations. If Cass did tear his ACL, the injury would keep him out of action for several months. Robinson said that the typical recovery time from the injury is nine months.

Originally Posted by Observer Along with recap and fallout from TakeOver: Brooklyn, tonight’s episode of NXT includes matches that were taped before the special at the Barclays Center on Saturday night. Those matches are Pete Dunne & Wolfgang vs. Tyler Bate & Trent Seven (which was Dunne’s first match back since being busted open in a match and missing PROGRESS’ weekend in the US earlier this month), Peyton Royce vs. Sarah Logan, and Lars Sullivan attacking No Way Jose.

Originally Posted by PWI Anthem's Ed Nordholm has said on the record that he feels GFW has ownership of the Broken Hardys gimmick. Matt Hardy tweeted the following, which certainly seems to make that claim a bit tenuous. FUN FACT-Benjamin, Maxel & Scribe weren't paid & DID NOT sign releases from TNA/GFW to allow their images to be aired on ANY media, esp TV. pic.twitter.com/W8fVhpKehk — REBORN by FATE (@MATTHARDYBRAND) August 23, 2017

Link to the tweet: https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/s...56503521554432

Originally Posted by Observer Twitch announced a partnership with AAA that will feature the platform streaming Triplemania XXV in both English and Spanish for free on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There will be a “best of” Triplemania marathon leading up to the event.

Link to the Twitch channels: http://twitch.tv/Luchalibreaaa_En , https://www.twitch.tv/luchalibreaaa

Originally Posted by PWI Numerous sources have confirmed to PWInsider.com that former X-Division champion Low Ki is gone from Global Force Wrestling, having departed over the course of this week's TV tapings. There are several different accounts making the rounds. One version is that there it was a financial dispute that led to the departure. Another version (from sources within GFW) states that Ki was not happy with the creative for him going forward as the original plan for him leading into Bound for Glory was to be part of an Ultimate X match while he wanted to be in the GFW championship mix. I can understand that mindset as Ki was built to being a title challenger for Patron and being added to LAX, so him being slotted back into to the X-Division, logically, makes little sense. The one thing all accounts are in agreement with is that Ki made the decision to leave the company. He was not let go. A GFW source stated the departure was "amicable."

Originally Posted by PWI Following a number of incidents involving beach balls at Summerslam and Monday Night Raw this week, WWE officially banned not just beach balls but all pool-related paraphenalia from last night's Smackdown. We are told an edict from WWE was issued to all security staff at the Barclays Center informing them that beach balls, pool noodles or any other inflatable items that could be bounced around were banned from the event. There were several moments where fans sent beach balls out to be bounced around during Smackdown's broadcast, but the balls were quickly confiscated by Barclays Center staff and removed from the arena. One would think the ban will be permanent going forward.

Originally Posted by PWI Former ECW World champion Taz is undergoing surgery on his hand today in an attempt to repair nerve damage that has led to a loss of feeling, muscle atrophy and an inability to grip with right hand. Taz has nerve damage in his neck from his pro wrestling career has trickled down to his hand. Surgeons will be going through his wrist in an attempt to bring some of the nerves "back to life", similar to a carpal tunnel surgery but on a much grander scale. The surgery and recovery means Taz will have to miss a few episodes of his radio show, which airs Monday to Friday from 7-9 AM EST, streaming from NYC at www.TazShow.com.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc John Cena's move to Monday Night Raw reportedly has WWE officials salivating over potential marquee matches against the new era. This week "The Franchise" made his first appearance on Raw in over a year, and many viewed the move as a business decision to draw bigger ratings for WWE's flagship show. But Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso reports that the move was made with an eye to the future as Cena will be counted on to elevate the up-and-coming superstars, namely Roman Reigns. "Vince McMahon wants Cena to elevate and give the rub to Roman Reigns," Barasso wrote. "The prevailing factor behind Cena's move to Raw is all about his opponents. The decision was not made solely because Cena is going to draw ratings, but rather because of who Cena is going to draw ratings with."

Link to the article: https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...er-cody-rhodes

Originally Posted by WrestleInc "I did not see or hear him mentioned at all [backstage at SummerSlam]. I dress in the talent relations room where at one point or another everybody on the card came through that room and I never saw him. But you know what? Here’s something that I just realized. He may have been there because they were doing scans for a new game. Everybody that was on the show that night, myself included, had to be scanned. This company, it’s not the 2K people, it’s a different game that’s gonna be coming out next year. So everybody had to have their face scans and their body scans.”

From the recent Dinner With the King podcast episode where Lawler debunks the Undertaker rumors and also starts a new rumor of a new WWE game in development not by 2K Games.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc This week's "Flashback Friday" series of programming on the WWE Network will focus on SmackDown turning 18. The content begins at 3pm EST on the live stream with the following classic blue brand episodes airing: 3pm EST, SmackDown 12/2/1999: Six-man main event featuring the Hardy Boyz and Big Show vs. D-Generation X. Mick Foley vs. Chris Jericho. A message from Stephanie McMahon. 4:30pm EST, SmackDown 7/12/2001: As WWE continues to battle the alliance going into Invasion, Mr. McMahon asks Stone Cold Steve Austin to change his leadership strategy. 6pm EST, SmackDown 7/15/2004: Eddie Guerrero battles John 'Bradshaw' Layfield for the WWE Championship inside a steel cage. John Cena looks to regain his U.S. Title. 7:30pm EST, SmackDown 4/21/2005: WWE Champion John Cena faces United States Champion Orlando Jordan in the main event. JBL and Kurt Angle take matters into their own hands. (NEW) 9pm EST, SmackDown 10/12/2007: Rey Mysterio and Finlay battle for a shot at the World Heavyweight Title. The Brothers of Destruction take on Matt Hardy and MVP. (NEW) 10:30pm EST, SmackDown 6/14/2013: Dolph Ziggler and cohort Big E Langston face Alberto Del Rio and Chris Jericho. Team Hell No and The Viper Randy Orton face The Shield. (NEW)

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The man who played the clown in the Gentleman's Duel between Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick on last night's WWE 205 Live episode was indie wrestler Rory Gulak, younger brother of WWE cruiserweight Drew Gulak. As noted, the Duel ended with Kendrick putting Gallagher through a table to set up a No DQ match between the two on next week's 205 Live show.

They think it'll make people like him more. https://t.co/roWNQz9e0V

— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) August 23, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• 2K Games released the next batch of wrestlers for the roster of WWE 2k18. http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/08/...stars-revealed
• For those who missed the original airings, WWE posted the entire bracketology special for the Mae Young Classic on their official Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqt7KuIvhqA&t
• Besides the bracketology special, WWE also released a video showcasing their first ever female ref, Jessika Carr (Kennadi Brink in the indies). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sT5GTw0d78
• Dana Brooke is currently holding a Go Fund Me fundraiser in honor of her late boyfriend with money raised going towards helping underprivileged children. https://www.gofundme.com/dallas-mccarver
• Recent episode of Dinner With The King had Cody Rhodes as the guest talking about his ROH career, indies career, and status of the Rhodes naming dispute with the WWE. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...e-if-he-asked/
• Recent episode of the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast show had Sami Zayn as the guest talking about WWE evolving beyond stereotypes, Jinder Mahal's gimmick, and if his character is meant to be an annoying babyface. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ical-gimmicks/
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, singer Bruno Mars got the inspiration for his stage name because of Bruno Sammartino. It was also his nickname as a child. https://www.instagram.com/p/BYIEmcoB...n-by=brunomars
• During a recent episode of The Ross Report podcast, Jim Ross revealed he and Lita had to redo commentary for the Mae Young Classic due to WWE suddenly changing their minds on how they wanted it to be presented. Also rumors of one of the participants having heat backstage causing some plans to be changed. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc..._and_lita_had/

[Simple Fan]

A beach ball can fold up to the size of a wallet even smaller, if they think they'll be able to keep those out their crazy.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Neville's Death Stare:

Originally Posted by Observer Due to an ankle injury that he suffered earlier this month, TK Cooper won't be able to compete in this year's Battle of Los Angeles. PWG officially announced the news last night, with Joey Janela being confirmed as Cooper's replacement in the tournament. Janela will be taking on Sammy Guevara in place of Cooper on night two. Cooper and Travis Banks (as the South Pacific Power Trip) were scheduled to face The Young Bucks in non-tournament action on night one, but that match is now off and The Young Bucks won't be appearing on the first night. They'll still be teaming with Kenny Omega against Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix & Flamita on night two.

Originally Posted by Observer It looks like WWE will be doing a Rock clothing line in some form since they've applied for a trademark for The Rock for clothing purposes.

Originally Posted by PWI Former ECW champion Taz underwent surgery on his hand yesterday in an attempt to repair nerve damage that has led to a loss of feeling, muscle atrophy and an inability to grip with hisright hand. Taz took to Instagram last night, noting that the surgery took longer than was originally intended because surgeons needed to do more intricate work than they originally believed they would need to. They also did work on Taz's left thumb due to the beginnings of issues with that extremity as well. The surgery and recovery means Taz will have to miss a few episodes of his radio show, which airs Monday to Friday from 7-9 AM EST, streaming from NYC at www.TazShow.com. The plan is for Taz to return tomorrow with a video and audio feed from his home as he is currently unable to drive from Long Island to CBS' studio in Manhattan.

Originally Posted by PWI An update on the Low Ki departure. The financial story that was making the rounds that we mentioned yesterday has continued to be shot down by multiple sources, who all state that it was more a difference of opinion on where he was going to be slotted going forward. The company wanted him back in the X-Division for Bound for Glory and going forward after that. Ki, who had been positioned as a title contender for Alberto el Patron, wanted to remain in that realm. We are told Ki has not been issued a release and remains under contract through October. He had been a great part of revitalizing the X-Division in recent months.

Originally Posted by PWI Ricky Steamboat is in the process of trademarking his name. He did have a previous trademark that was filed in 1987 that was cancelled in 2009. He applied for another trademark also in 2009 that was abandoned later that year. His ex-wife Bonnie applied to trademark his name in 2013 but that was abandoned the following year. For some reason, The Honky Tonk Man tried to trademark his name in 2010 but was unsuccessful too.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc The MLB Network will air a special SummerSlam edition of Play Ball this weekend, featuring The Hardys and other WWE Superstars. The WWE footage was filmed during SummerSlam weekend in Brooklyn, as seen below: A special #SummerSlam edition of #PlayBall coming Saturday - starring @cgrand3, @theajramos, @TheMayorsOffice, @RoFlo and @WWE superstars! pic.twitter.com/2mnf1XzHoW — MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 24, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Homicide did not appear at the recent GFW TV tapings but he is not injured, according to PWInsider. Word is that the company opted to not bring the LAX member in as he wasn't needed to help further the current LAX storyline. PWInsider adds that GFW officials were much more judicious with how many talents they brought in for these tapings. There were a number of talents based out of the Northeast that were not brought in.

Originally Posted by 411Mania According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rusev reportedly lost to Randy Orton at WWE Summerslam in seconds because it was WWE’s way of starting a program between the two. The idea behind it is that it was a “fluke loss” for Rusev. It was also done to give Orton a PPV win after his poor run of PPV matches with Bray Wyatt & Jinder Mahal, and not to punish Rusev.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE posted "5 things you need to know about NXT's newest Superstar, Adam Cole," including the number of current WWE Superstars he's wrestled in the past, being inspired by Bruce Lee and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and his catchphrase, "Bay Bay!" WWE also posted a gallery showing him working for ROH and other promotions. Cole made his NXT debut over the weekend at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, when he (along with Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) took out the newly crowed NXT Champion, Drew McIntyre. You need to get educated on @WWENXT's newest Superstar @AdamColePro, and we can help with that...BAY-BAY! https://t.co/gIogjDaeTV — WWE (@WWE) August 24, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, there is apparently backstage heat on Baron Corbin, which resulted in him cashing in the Money In The Bank contract and losing. That was followed by Corbin losing a basic match to John Cena at SummerSlam on Sunday night. When WWE uploaded a clip from the match on their YouTube channel, they only showed Cena's entrance. It was rumored that Corbin may have had heat over some of the comments he's made on Twitter, including to a military veteran, which he apologized for. However, Justin Barraso of Sports Illustrated appeared on Wednesday's edition of the Wrestling Inc. podcast, as seen above, and said there was another reason for his heat. "I heard the kiss of death was Cena," Barasso said, which you can watch at the 4:30 mark of the video. "[Cena said] that Corbin wasn't ready. I can't say anymore right now, that's kind of what I'm trying to work on as we speak. "I haven't heard about the social media," Barasso continued. "I mean, he's a heel right? So he should play one on social media. I don't think that was the issue, but then again they kind of pick and choose who they defend in those cases, Raj. I don't know, but right now, I don't think that's [social media] the reason."

Link to the podcast episode: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...sing-his-push/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc There were apparently some rumors floating that Rusev and Lana requested their WWE release. The rumor was never posted here at Wrestling Inc. Lana swiftly shot down the rumor, as seen below. @LanaWWE did you ask for your release from @WWE??? — Bryan Hopkins (@dh_bryan) August 23, 2017 That's called don't believe the pathetic villagers that pretend that they are "journalist" with real facts... hahahahah!!!! https://t.co/EfaoxRsdhJ — CJ (Lana) Perry (@LanaWWE) August 23, 2017

Source of the rumor was the Dirty Sheets podcast show which has a habit of making BS sheet news.

Prior to SummerSlam, it appeared that The Miz was going to be involved in a feud with Jason Jordan for a while and the son of Kurt Angle will get a shot at the Intercontinental Championship sooner or later. However, the only match these two had was a 6 men tag team match at SummerSlam in which Jordan teamed with the Hardy Boys and was defeated by the Miz and the Miztourage. After this, the two stars didn’t interact on this week’s episode of Raw. Now it appears that this feud is over and WWE is planning something else for both the IC title and the Miz. During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talked about the main event of this week’s episode of Raw and speculated that Samoa Joe could be next in line for a shot at the title. Meltzer noted that their tag team match on Raw was possibly the start of a new rivalry and it could culminate in form of an Intercontinental Championship match at the upcoming No Mercy PPV. It was also noted that if The Miz does gets involved in a programme with Samoa Joe the later may turn face for the feud and it shouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up snatching the belt from the former WWE Champion.

Originally Posted by Observer The four days in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center saw NXT draw 10,300 fans on 8/19, SummerSlam on 8/20 was the lone sellout, with about 13,200 fans, Raw did 12,100 on 8/21 and Smackdown did 11,500 on 8/22. The Smackdown crowd was well up from what they would have gotten anywhere else. But it was different from the previous two years when they did three nights, and all three nights sold out in advance. Part of the difference is that scalpers took a bath on last year’s NXT show, so the only show they heavily bought was SummerSlam, which was the one that had the most interest.

Originally Posted by Observer GFW has announced its own streaming service called The Global Wrestling Network. The one thing they should try and do with it is include shows from The Crash, NOAH and AAA, their partner organizations. The Impact shows will go up on the network and they will be available free. They also announced they will be coming to Germany, Switzerland and Austria “sooner rather than later.”.

Originally Posted by Observer A new idea for New Day, and this may explain their quickie title win and loss this past week, is to not only make them the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history, which they are, but to establish them as the so-called greatest tag team of all-time down the line by holding the titles more times than any team in history. Right now they have three title reigns. The record would be the Hardys and Edge & Christian, who each have seven title reigns..

Originally Posted by Observer People have been very high on the women’s tournament which will have its first several episodes released together on 8/28. People raved about it live but they did a lot of post-production work which I’m told makes it even better. Levesque was asked this past week regarding the format of the finals on 9/12 and how that night will be done regarding the usual 205 Live show that would take place. There is nothing official right now, but the last working plan was to shoot a one-hour woman’s final, airing live right after Smackdown ends in Las Vegas. As noted before, many, if not all of the 32 women are being brought to Las Vegas, including several being flown in from Japan or the U.K. just for this show. The idea is to have a series of other women’s matches, three being the going number right now, on that show.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Wrestling Observer stated their web host was recent hit with a DDOS attack causing the Observer Forums and paid services to be down for a while.
• The Bellas announced they will be launching their own wine brand called Bella Radici.
• For those interested, ROH is currently holding an End of Summer Sale on their official website with discounts up to 35% off. http://www.rohwrestling.com/catalog/end-summer-sale
• Also for those interested, WWE released a new series of 8-bit wrestlers shirts including Randy Savage, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Dusty Rhodes, Jake Roberts, Iron Sheik, and Shawn Michaels on their official online store. http://shop.wwe.com/search?q=8-bit
• Funko tweeted a limited edition Zack Ryder Funko Pop figurine will be on sale exclusively at the upcoming NY Comic Con event. https://twitter.com/OriginalFunko/st...07987533484032
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the two year anniversary of Braun Strowman's debut on WWE's main roster. Strowman celebrated the occasion on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BYMD9bRnxAE/
• In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Miz recently passed Ultimate Warrior to become 6th all-time in combined days as Intercontinental champion in WWE history. Miz celebrated the occasion on his Instagram page. https://www.instagram.com/p/BYMPV8OjdiF/
• Channel Guide Magazine had a recent interview with AJ Styles talking about his career in the WWE, seeing friends and veterans of his past making it to the WWE, and Wrestlemania goal. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...tlemania-goal/
• Bleacher Report had a recent interview with John Cena talking about helped Roman Reigns, if younger talents come to him for advice, and if he ever felt about turning heel for his career. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...owd-reactions/
• Edge announced Kenny Omega will be tomorrow's guest for the Edge & Christian Podcast show. https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR/statu...22455710867457

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW Sid Gif:

Originally Posted by Observer After over 500 days as NXT Women's Champion, Asuka has vacated the title and could soon be on the WWE main roster. An in-ring segment where she relinquished the championship closed tonight's NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University, with it being noted that William Regal has (in storyline) begun negotiations for her to move up to Raw or SmackDown. The locker room emptied as she departed NXT and Triple H came out to give her a bouquet of flowers and take the title. Asuka capped off her run as NXT Women's Champion by defeating Ember Moon at TakeOver: Brooklyn III last Saturday night. It was reported by WWE that she had suffered a broken collarbone in that match and would be out of action for several weeks.

Originally Posted by Observer The Enzo Amore debut on 205 Live did more than 1 million YouTube views which is better than anything does on that show. The biggest numbers this week were the Lesnar-Strowman angle with 4 million, John Cena's segment with 2 million and Bobby Roode's debut with 1 million.

Originally Posted by PWI Carmella, girlfriend of Big Cass, posted the following update on her Twitter: He's in more agony over the lack of pizza than he is over the surgery ?????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/5RtidhMmDX — MS Money in the BANK (@CarmellaWWE) August 25, 2017Big Cass had his surgery yesterday. Carmella wrote that he's in more agony over not being able to eat pizza than he is over the knee operation.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE is pushing that Jessika Carr will be the first female referee ever with her appearances in the Mae Young Classic this coming week. That's not the slightest bit true, by the way, as half the women's roster has worked as a referee and the first that I know of would be Rita Chatterton in the mid-80s.

Originally Posted by PWI The 8/24 edition of Impact did 296,000 overnight viewers, down from last week's 320,000 overnight viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI Where is Dolph Ziggler? Is he on his way out, or do they just have nothing for him right now? Ziggler returned to WWE TV this past Tuesday. He told PWInsider.com over the weekend that he had requested for time off TV. He had been working live events that entire time.

Reason likely related to the botched burglary murder trial involving one of his brothers.

Originally Posted by PWI Impact announced on social media following: last night's episode that the following Global Force talent will be at AAA Triplemania XXV tomorrow Many are packing for #Triplemania @luchalibreaaa from @GFWWrestling: @_AndrewEverett & @IAmDJZ @fightbobby @TheMooseNation & @WeAreRosemary pic.twitter.com/B2bKIdk6ns — IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) August 25, 2017 The four-way match at TripleMania 25 is for the AAA Tag Team Titles. They announced that Andrew Everett and DJ Z will be a part of a four-way tag team match on the show. The X-Division competitors were revealed as a mystery team facing Scoria and Cuervo, Drago and Aerostar as well as AAA Tag Team Champions Monster Clown and Murder Clown.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Kurt Angle spoke with Myles at the WWE 2K18 Kickoff over the weekend and was asked about a potential in-ring return with WWE. Over the summer, it was hinted that Angle could meet Triple H in the ring, but that has yet to come together. On getting back in the ring, Angle responded it could be sooner than later. "Well, you can talk to Vince McMahon about that," laughed Angle. "No, but I think it will happen, I'm guessing end of this year, early next year. It ultimately is up to Vince McMahon, he's gonna make the decision."

Link to the interview and more highlights: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ter-this-year/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Jimmy's Famous Seafood in Baltimore, which is frequented by WWE talents when the company is in town, ran a social media campaign where they promised to donate $1 to Make-A-Wish for every "like" that a tweet on Roman Reigns received. The campaign ran for 24 hours this week and raised $12,200. As noted, Reigns granted another wish when he met Wish Kid Adam at Monday's RAW in Brooklyn. Donations were at around $3500 before Reigns re-tweeted the campaign to his followers. You can see both tweets from Jimmy's below: For every "like" this tweet receives by noon Thursday (8/24), we will donate $1 to @MakeAWish! #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork pic.twitter.com/U2XkPZnQ6B — Jimmy's Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) August 23, 2017 ???? We did it! Thanks to you, we will be donating $12,200.00 to @MakeAWish on behalf of @WWERomanReigns and the #RomanEmpire! ???? pic.twitter.com/CsnJuvvFTV — Jimmy's Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) August 24, 2017

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Dave Meltzer indicated in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Fish were put with Adam Cole in WWE NXT because of Cole's size as a heel. It was noted that the feud with Cole vs. NXT Champion Drew McIntyre brings an interesting dynamic with a small heel battling a large babyface.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE sent out a survey to fans this week asking to select their 10 favorite WWE Superstars, NXT Superstars or WWE Legends. It should be noted that Hulk Hogan doesn't appear in the list of legends on the survey. Some of the legends on the survey include Bruno Sammartino, Dusty Rhodes, Eddie Guerrero, Goldberg, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Shawn Michaels, Sting, Steve Austin, Randy Savage, The Rock, The Undertaker, Triple H and The Ultimate Warrior.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As seen on SmackDown Live this past Tuesday night, Shelton Benjamin returned to WWE television after seven years. Benjamin was set to return to WWE last year when the company announced their brand extension. Vignettes aired on WWE television hyping his return, however plans were nixed after a shoulder issue was found while taking the company's physical. While rumors of Benjamin returning to WWE have been floating since Benjamin was cleared to return action in March, The Wrestling Observer reports that Benjamin didn't officially sign his WWE contract until last week.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Ric Flair is still hospitalized and in critical condition in Atlanta after undergoing surgery almost two weeks ago for a bowel obstruction, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. However, things are apparently looking up and Flair appears to be getting better each day, though he is not “out of the woods” yet. Flair is now conscious and speaking, but is still on dialysis and his kidneys are still not functioning properly. There is also an infection that needs to be cleared and Flair will likely require surgery for a pacemaker. He is currently using an external pacemaker, which is stabilizing his heart beat. pic.twitter.com/5Xudk4CdYh — Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) August 24, 2017

What a beautiful Friday in Parts Unknown. The sun is shining, the grass is green, and I am the current 2-time @WWENXT Women's Champion.

— Vacant (@WWEVacant) August 25, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• For those interested, spoilers from NXT's next set of tv tapings were recently released. http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/nx...rooklyn-241631
• Recent episode of Sean Waltman's X-Pac 12360 podcast show had Kenny Omega as the guest talking about his favorite matches, comedy vs serious wrestling, Daryl, and hinting at his time as Bullet Club's leader near its end. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...e-bullet-club/
• Recent episode of the Edge & Christian podcast show had Christian discuss why he went to TNA in 2005 and Edge revealing he seriously considered going to TNA in 2008/2009. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...alks-with-tna/
• WWE recently gave well wishes to Mauro Ranallo as he heads to Las Vegas to announce tomorrow's Mayweather-McGregor fight. According to the Observer, fight itself is already on track to become the most betted event ever in sports history. http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/arti...?sf109199923=1
• One of the wrestlers contracted by ITV for their World of Sport project confirmed rumors of GFW and Jeff Jarrett being the main reason why the project is basically dead. Too much bickering between the sides and contracts needing to be changed due to things Jarrett demanded. https://snapmarenecks.com/2017/08/24...h-sha-samuels/
• Current rumors regarding Asuka's main roster status:
  SPOILER: show

  Pro Wresting Sheet reported she will be heading to the RAW brand and her first match to be at the TLC ppv in October.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the Greatest Elbow Drop since Macho Man:

Originally Posted by Observer While down from last week's day after SummerSlam number, which also had tougher competition, Raw did its second best number since April 17th last night with 3.30 million viewers ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.38 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.36 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.16 million viewers

In terms of compasrisons, same week last year had 110k more viewers. In terms of weekly rankings, RAW took the #1, #2, and #4 spots.

Originally Posted by Observer The latest updates on Ric Flair's condition following the health issues that he's been battling continue to be positive. WWE posted an update on Flair's status today, with it noting that he is recovering and set to begin physical therapy shortly. That came after Wendy Barlow, Flair's fiancee and formerly Fifi the Maid as an on-screen character in WCW, announced the news on Facebook. She wrote: "I wanted to update everyone on Ric's progress as So many people have been reaching out and offering their Prayers and Support. He is doing very well for a Man who has been through so much! He will begin Physical Therapy shortly and will be stronger than ever and back out enjoying all the fans sooner than you would think. I can Honestly say I have witnessed a Miracle." A message from Flair's social media accounts was also sent out this morning. It said: "Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been, to stand up taller than you ever were. The Nature Boy will be back better than ever. Keep up the well wishes!"

Originally Posted by Observer WWE officials have confirmed that Xavier Woods will be undergoing a medical evaluation today for an apparent left knee injury that he suffered during Monday's SmackDown brand house show in Texarkana, Arkansas. News of the injury appeared on social media as soon as it happened last night. A video of it was later tweeted out, with it showing Woods immediately grabbing his left knee when being put down by one of the Usos after going for a tornado DDT. Woods rolled to the apron and eventually out of the ring. The match went to its finish, then Big E, Fandango, and Kofi Kingston motioned for medical attention as Woods continued to grab his knee. The video ends with referee Charles Robinson putting up the "X" symbol. Woods had to be carried to the back by Kingston, Big E, and a WWE physician after the match was over and was clearly in great pain.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc While playing WindJammers with Becky Lynch and Renee Young, Woods stated that he had an MCL sprain. Becky Lynch noted that she recently had a similar injury and that it shouldn't take longer than a month to heal. Lynch added that she wrestled the whole time with the injury. Woods didn't specify if he had a grade 1 or a grade 2 tear. A grade 1 tear can take up to a week to heal, while a grade 2 can take 2 - 4 weeks. Regardless, Woods shouldn't be missing much action.

Link to the the UpUpDowDown video of his injury update status: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fukhVzFKsA

Originally Posted by Observer Samoa Joe, who was scheduled to headline Raw tonight against John Cena, missed the show due to a knee injury. The injury was suffered most likely at a Saturday night house show in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where he faced Cena. Joe missed both the Sunday night house show in Tupelo, Mississippi, causing the card to be rearranged, as well as not being able to wrestle on tonight's Raw ... Right now the word is that Joe will be out of action for six weeks or less.

Originally Posted by Observer There was an incident involving Rosemary (Holly Letkeman) and Sexy Star (Dulce Garcia) at last night's Triplemania show that resulted in Rosemary's elbow popping from an armbar finisher. The reports are that Garcia put the move on legitimately to end a four-way match for the Reina de Reinas title that also involved Lady Shani and Ayako Hamada.

Making things worse for Sexy Star was her trying to blame Rosemary for the injury and refusing to apology until forced by Vampiro. Already got blacklisted by at least one company with other wrestlers refusing to work on shows she is booked.

Originally Posted by PWI Cleveland.com reported the brother of Smackdown Live star Dolph Ziggler, Donald Nemeth, was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter, aggravated robbery and kidnapping charges in relation to the January 2016 shooting of 34-year old Joseph Mascol at an area hotel.

Link to the article and more details about the trial: http://www.pwinsider.com/article/111...rison.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI Championship Wrestling from Hollywood announced that former WWE and GFW champion Alberto el Patron would debut for the promotion in advance of their deal this fall where the promotion will air on 110 CW Network affiliated stations across the country. Patron will be working a number of dates for the promotion starting with their 9/10 taping at the Oceanville Pavilion in Port Hueneme, CA, his first appearances on American television since his GFW suspension last month. It is expected, however, that he will be returning to GFW and could even be working the Bound for Glory PPV on 11/5. CWH also announced that Jake "Jack Swagger" Hager wll be working their 8/23 taping.

Originally Posted by PWI Donovan Dijak has relocated to Florida in advance of his start at the WWE Performance Center.

Only a matter of time till he makes his official debut.

Originally Posted by PWI Primo Colon, who has been out with a knee injury, is at the WWE Performance Center this week working out in advance of being cleared to return to the ring.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is not currently scheduled for next Monday's RAW in Omaha. He is slated to appear on RAW the following week on September 11th in Anaheim, which is his last scheduled RAW before the No Mercy pay-per-view on September 24th. His last currently scheduled WWE date is the RAW live event on Saturday, September 30th in Winnipeg.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Also today at WWEShop.com, you can 30% off select t-shirts and 20% off select championship titles by clicking here and using code TITLESANDTEES at checkout.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc John Cena and Roman Reigns took part in a noteworthy verbal confrontation on last night's episode of Monday Night RAW. The war of words got personal at times, with Reigns stating that Cena buries younger talent while Cena called Reigns "a cheap-ass corporately created John Cena bootleg." Dave Meltzer reported at F4WOnline that the segment was "completely" scripted ahead of time. The main verbiage for the promo was mostly from the writing team and was not Reigns or Cena ad-libbing, although Reigns did get lost once and Cena called him out on it. We noted earlier that Samoa Joe was scheduled to face Cena at last night's show, however missed it due to a knee injury. Meltzer noted that while Joe's injury caused changes to the show, the Cena - Reigns confrontation was always the plan for RAW and was not added due to the show being revised.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Today, the first set of episodes for the Mae Young Classic were uploaded to the WWE Network and it was announced during one of the shows that Kacy Catanzaro and Shadia Bseiso have signed with the company. Catanzaro gained attention on NBC's American Ninja when she became the first women to ever complete the show's qualifying course and has made Sports Illustrated's "Fittest 50" list. Back in January, she tried out for the WWE (which you can see in the video above) and talked about making the transition to the WWE. "I think a lot of the things from my background, from gymnastics to obstacle course racing - the physical and the mental, the speed, agility, strength, all of that - [and] being able to mentally prepare for that and go in front of a lot of people and be on point that second that you have to... I think that all of that could be a really big advantage for me coming into the WWE." Shadia Bseiso tried out for WWE in Dubai and is a TV personality with a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Bseiso is also fluent in both English and Arabic.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc We reported last week that Enzo Amore's backstage heat has gotten even worse lately for some unknown reason, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer noted that Amore was backstage sometime in the last couple of weeks bragging about his life in L.A. when he's not on the road. It was noted that Enzo was talking about all the stars he's hanging out with and "he won't shut up." That's likely not going to get any better this week. As noted, Enzo was at the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight last night in Las Vegas, and showed his $10,000 ticket on Instagram, which WWE posted a story on today. Enzo then name dropped and posted several photos with celebrities on his social media,

Some other sheet news includes:

• Seth Rollins announced he is currently selling shirts from BlackAndBrave Apparel with 100% of the proceeds going towards those affected by Hurricane Harvey. https://www.instagram.com/p/BYYv1Q4BR0m/
• CFO$ stated they were not the group who worked on Emma's new theme after receiving criticisms for it online. https://twitter.com/cfosofficial/sta...31062777171969
• After Natty hyped about finally getting some new merch, WWE revealed it to be a shirt based on her cat. http://shop.wwe.com/natalya-paws-out...=en_US&start=2
• Cody Rhodes revealed he recently taped a new interview for a future episode of Talk Is Jericho podcast show. https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/statu...43167282696192
• Chris Jericho's newest book called "No is a Four Letter Word" was released earlier today.
• For those interested, a new batch of NJPW merch was recently added to their official store on ProWrestlingTees website. http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/
• Fox Sports Australia had a recent interview with Emma talking about her previous injury and rehab, current goals in the WWE, and feelings about next month's WWE tour of Australia. https://www.foxsports.com.au/wwe/bui...1fc7c048b80430
• During an interview with The Sun, Kurt Angle revealed original plans for his WWE return didn't include being the new GM of RAW. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-to-be-raw-gm/
• Muscle & Fitness had a recent interview with Triple H talking about the Mae Young Classic. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...could-lead-to/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Happy Bo:

Originally Posted by Observer Tuesday night's SmackDown on the USA Network did just 2.455 million viewers, the lowest number for the show since July 4th. Factoring in that episode falling on a holiday, you'd have to go back to June 13th for a number this low. It was down nine percent from last week's post-SummerSlam episode, and year-over-year the show was down 13 percent from the same week in 2016.

In terms of comparisons, same week last year had 380k more viewers.

Originally Posted by Observer Though she wasn’t on SmackDown last night, WWE uploaded a video of Charlotte Flair from TV giving an update on Ric Flair’s condition and thanking people for the messages they’ve sent to her family. Charlotte said that her father has a long road ahead of him but that things are looking good and she wouldn’t be back if she didn’t think think it was okay to be.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEb-jDRGIcs

Originally Posted by Observer Shelton Benjamin tweeted about his first match back with WWE on SmackDown last night: “The road back tough. Full of physical/mental high/lows. To hear the roar of the @WWEUniverse tonight made it all worth It.”

Link to the tweet: https://twitter.com/Sheltyb803/statu...43749033414658

Originally Posted by Observer Nakamura noted that yesterday was the 15th anniversary of his pro wrestling debut. Kazuchika Okada replied that yesterday also marked 13 years since his debut.

Link to Nakamura's tweet: https://twitter.com/ShinsukeN/status/902744797970083840 , Link to Okada's tweet: https://twitter.com/rainmakerXokada/...50424821846016

Originally Posted by Observer Rosemary tweeted an update on the injury that she suffered from a legitimate armbar from Sexy Star at Triplemania. She wrote that the injury is less severe than anticipated, with it being a strained tricep/bicep with swelling around the area. She wrote that she’ll return to the ring when doctors are happy with her strength and range of motion, but that she’s optimistic that she won’t miss much time. The latter part of the statement was focused on moving on from the situation and focusing on the positives of the weekend.

Originally Posted by Observer GFW posted their own statement on the Rosemary/Sexy Star incident as well. Similarly, it focuses on the positives of Triplemania, the weekend, and their relationship with AAA. It says that AAA has confirmed that appropriate measures are being taken and that both the company and Sexy Star have apologized to Rosemary.

Link to the official statement: http://impactwrestling.com/gfw-updat...a-xxv-weekend/

Destiny Wrestling announced Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Mundo for their show in Toronto on October 15th. Wrestle Circus is offering free tickets to their September 9th show to those displaced by Hurricane Harvey. Keith Lee tweeted that he won’t be selling T-shirts for a while due to donating them to those in need in Houston after the hurricane.

Link to Destiny Wrestling: https://twitter.com/DestinyWrestle/s...88707848916992 , WrestleCircus tweet: https://twitter.com/wrestlecircus/st...35299600384000 , Lee tweet: https://twitter.com/RealKeithLee/sta...41646844825600

Originally Posted by PWI On this week’s ‘Dinner With The King’ episode with WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler and his co-host, Glenn Moore, The King answers questions and voicemails from fans. But before he got to the questions, he talked about returning to Raw this past Monday in Memphis. King on this return to Raw (2:05 mark of show): "Originally, they were going to do something with Pelvis Wesley and wanted me to be there to introduce him. So I knew I was going to be on the show. And it wasn’t basically until 3 p.m. in the afternoon, I got a text message from Michael Cole saying, ‘Get your ass down to the FedEx Forum; you’re going to be doing the commentary tonight.’ But it was great to be back. I wish I would have been able to do more with Corey Graves, as far as going back and forth with. Vince McMahon said, after the show, that I hadn’t missed a beat and gave me a hug.” Lawler was able to share some more insight about how serious Ric Flair’s condition after talking with Ricky Steamboat, who visited Flair in the hospital (29:39 mark of show). "Apparently it was really a touch and go situation, they explained to him [Ricky Steamboat], and when the Nature Boy had that first surgery, the doctors said that Ric had a 20% chance of survival of making it through that surgery. But we all know that he did pull through. And I heard yesterday, he’s already cutting promos on nurses.”

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Ron Simmons spoke with the Jobbing Out podcast (h/t Pressbox) about being the first African-American to win a major world championship 25 years ago, this month. Simmons talked about the victory and how it inspired others. "It's something that you never forget, that you always relive, and I've done that ever since that happened. It's something that you never get over and you are not only proud of yourself, but also it gives you special meaning when people come up to you and say, 'Thank you for giving me that inspiration from when you won that title that night. Not just because of it being the title but because of it giving me inspiration to go on to do other things with my life.' Now you can't ask for a better compliment than that."

Link to the interview: https://www.pressboxonline.com/2017/...n-in-baltimore

I'd like to thank all the @WWE Superstars that honored me last night. This business is all about earning the respect of your peers. #RAW pic.twitter.com/TXmfLeXaJT

— Brian Myers (@TheCurtHawkins) August 30, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• IGN revealed 41 more playable wrestlers for WWE 2k18's roster. http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/08/...stars-revealed
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated revealed Kazuchika Okada took the top spot for their annual Top 500 List. First time in the history of PWI a Japanese wrestler took the #1 spot. https://twitter.com/OfficialPWI/stat...89999787585536
• An indie company in Oklahoma is currently facing a criminal investigation after an untrained person died during a match. The event itself was unsanctioned by the state and the injury occurred as the result of a spine buster taken incorrectly. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...t-in-oklahoma/
• For those interested, Ringside Collectable is currently holding a Labor Day sale on a variety of WWE related merchandise. https://www.ringsidecollectibles.com/
• ProWrestlingTees announced from they will be holding a store-wide 15% off sale this weekend and a portion of the money raised going towards helping those affected by Hurricane Harvey. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/111...riday.html?p=1
• Recent episode of Talk Is Jericho had LU/GFW star Taya Valkyrie as the guest talking about AAA's management problems, Lucha Underground, and more. https://www.podcastone.com/episode/TayaValkyrie
• During a recent episode of the Busted Open Radio podcast show, Jericho confirmed the ending to Styles-Owens at Battlegrounds was a botch and his original plans were to only face Styles for the US title for his one night only return. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-battleground/
• NJPW recently held an interview with Zach Sabre Jr talking about why he didn't sign with the WWE, the G1 Climax, and wrestlers misusing Strong Style wrestling. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ning-with-wwe/
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Kevin Owens has wrestled 456 matches in the WWE with Sami Zayn involved in 25% of them (115 matches). https://twitter.com/BrandonThurston/...99518621310978
• In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Sami Zayn has wrestled in around 476 matches in the WWE with Owens involved in roughly 24% of them. https://twitter.com/BrandonThurston/...01042818834432
• In a third "WWE Did You Know" type fact, 43% of all of Seth Rollins matches in the WWE have involved Dean Ambrose while 25% of all Ambrose matches have involved Rollins in them. https://twitter.com/BrandonThurston/...23520086298624

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Asuka gif:

Originally Posted by Observer I don’t know if this is considered good news or not, but GFW and Pop TV signed a new agreement to continue carrying the show in 2018. It’s good in the sense they have a station that isn’t dropping them and are guaranteed TV for another year. The bad news is the deal is not financially effective and it also means they failed to get a deal that would pay them anything but an ad revenue split which is said to mean little or anything, and also that they are likely spending at least another year at that 300,000 viewer per week mark.

Originally Posted by Observer Whether this happens or not, the current plans are for the U.K. show to begin before the end of this year. Original plans were to start taping in June and now we’re almost in September and a first date for a taping still hasn’t been announced. There are a lot of things to work out, including that the original U.K. championship tournament was apparently a big money loser.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding Corbin and his losing the briefcase and having the lackluster match with Cena, that had nothing to do with Cena, well, the match had to do with Cena as his dance partner, but his fortunes falling temporarily was not Cena related. It also had nothing to do with Twitter, although the Twitter stuff did him no favors, particularly with a lot of the wrestlers because it’s considered bad form to go on a blocking spree of your fellow wrestlers. It was an entirely different situation outside the ring that happened a few weeks ago that happened here.

Originally Posted by Observer Sexy Star was on the reality show Bailadmios, a dancing show she was on but eliminated from and did anything but apologize. She said, translated into English by Fightful.com: "These past days have been very difficult for me. On Saturday, I had a championship match and it was rough. I think everything just got out of hand. I don't know. It's a situation that right now, I'm still a bit confused about. I want to remain silent for the time being and when the time comes, I will touch upon this topic. Men and women want to end me, retire me from the sport. I'm here like I said from the beginning and I won't stop representing all the women that have been mistreated and abused physically and psychologically. I have to be stronger. At one time, I went through depression and I managed to get out of that predicament and I will get out of this one as well. I was doing what I felt needed to be done, what people deserve, and that is to fight tooth and nail to the end. That's what happened and I made her surrender. It seems that (Rosemary) is injured. I just don't know. That's the only thing I can say."

Originally Posted by Observer Brooke Adams, who lives in Houston, and whose home has not been affected by Hurricane Harvey, has started a GoFundMe to help raise money for people who have been displaced.

Link to the fundraiser: http://www.gofundme.com/4ceqxi8

Originally Posted by PWI WWE star Sami Zayn announced this afternoon that the mobile health clinic he led crowdfunding for over the last month officially opened today: Tears of joy on the proudest day of my life. Our mobile clinic in Syria is up & running! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCEhttps://t.co/gvJde51MvN pic.twitter.com/e4SYtiKosZ — Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) August 31, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI Velvet Sky has been selected for Maxim Magazine's "Maxim Finest" contest where the winner will receive a $25,000 modeling contract among other things. Sky has said that if she wins, she will donate a significant portion of the prize money to the animal shelter she volunteers for, Animals for Life. To vote for Velvet Sky to move on to the next round click: https://maximsfinest.com/2017/velvet-sky

Originally Posted by PWI Dave Meltzer is reporting that Dave Bautista's name is being floated around for the headliner of 2018 WWE Hall of Fame in New Orleans. It makes sense that he could be inducted next year as it would be four years removed from his Wrestlemania 30 appearance in the same city. And given his high-profile movie roles in "Guardians of the Galaxy","Blade Runner 2049" and the upcoming "Avengers: Infinity War" it would be a good way to draw mainstream interests and sell tickets. Especially since the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has been very vocal about the company's PG direction and what he feels was botched by his 2014 return. This more than likely will lead to some interesting views on the Network.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Above is the intro for the "WWE Unreleased: 1986-1995" DVD that comes out next week, courtesy of WrestlingDVDNetwork.com. The set features 45 never-before-seen matches and hidden gems, hosted by former WWE announcer Sean Mooney and Charly Caruso.

Link to the intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieJGDIDfKos

Originally Posted by Observer Alberto at this point is scheduled to return to GFW for the November tapings, so even though they had Jim Cornette wish him the best in his future endeavors and gave the impression he was gone and kind of buried him on the way out, the plan right now is to bring him back. The original idea would be he’d come back as a heel against the company to do the idea he was mad about his suspension

Originally Posted by Observer Strowman wasn’t on Raw this week as a creative decision for the Lesnar vs. Strowman program. The feeling was to keep the two of them apart after the physical angle last week. Strowman was taken off this show with the idea you can’t have them both on the show at this point without interacting. On 9/4, Lesnar and Heyman won’t be on Raw in Omaha so Strowman will return. They at this point are scheduled to both be on the 9/11 show in Anaheim

Originally Posted by Observer The company is pushing that Jessicka Carr (real name Jessicka Heiser, 25, formerly known in ROH and indies as Kennadi Brink) debuted on the Mae Young Classic as the first women’s referee in company history. Of course that’s far from the truth as a ton of the women have worked as referees on touring shows when they had an odd number of women on tours, and the first women’s referee in WWE history was Rita Chatterton, known as Rita Marie, in the 80s. She’s erased from history as she had a falling out, to say the least, with Vince McMahon.

Originally Posted by Observer For the top ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network over the past week, it was dominated by the Mae Young Classic. The top four spots were taken, in order, by episodes one through four. From there it was: 5. Summer Slam; 6. Mae Young Classic bracketology; 7. NXT from 8/23; 8. NXT Takeover Brooklyn; 9. WrestleMania 33; 10. 205 Live for 8/22 featuring Enzo’s debut

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding the mention of Mel Phillips and WWE television. We’re told that the attempt is to not show him on the WWE Network. There are plenty of things where he was doing ring announcing or in shots where they’ve edited him out but there are also things that have fallen through the cracks such as the angle in 1985 on a Saturday Night’s Main Event where Terry Funk beat him up and used his branding iron on him. There are some shots of him in the background but all the stuff of him as ring announcer has been edited out. Phillips was a ring announcer at house shows as well as the guy in charge of the ring crew and was fired in 1992 after allegations of his actions with some of the ring boys which included one settlement that was publicized with Tom Cole which included an agreement by WWF that Phillips and Terry Garvin would never work for the company again

Some other sheet news includes:

• WWE released the content for both of Undertaker's and Sting's upcoming collection sets for the WWE Network. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/112...tions.html?p=1
• WWE's online shop is currently holding a sale on Legends related merchandise.
• During a recent interview with The Hannibal TV Youtube show, Sid Vicious revealed the reason he left the WWE in 1992 was due to the backstage antics of Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...hon-backstage/
• Triple H recently made an appearance on ESPN's First Take show talking about Mayweather-McGregor fight, chances on Ronda Rousey wrestling, and more. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...r-vs-mcgregor/
• Recent episode of Sean Waltman's X-Pac 12360 podcast show had Steve Austin as the guest talking Ric Flair's health, Southpaw Regional Wrestling, Roman Reigns, and more. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...hn-cena-promo/
• Uproxx held a recent interview with Batista talking about origins of his WWE name, if being in the WWE helped his acting career, and not beign a fan of his original Deacon Batista gimmick. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ed-him-in-wwe/
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, last Saturday's main event of AAA's TripleMania XXV was the most watched wrestling match in North America in almost 30 years, according to the Observer. Match itself generated a 22.8 for tv ratings and Dr Wagner Jr was paid around $255k for the mask vs mask match (largest ever for a lucha libre match). https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc..._dr_wagner_vs/
• According to recent numbers from Wrestlenomics, NJPW World currently has around 60k subscribers which puts it as the #2 biggest streaming service in Japan. Japan's pro baseball league has the most with around 100k subscribers.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Big Boot Friday:

Former WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield announced Friday night that he is going to be "stepping away" from WWE SmackDown to focus on charitable endeavors instead.

Link to his full statement: http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/jb...ackdown-242111

Originally Posted by Observer A cage match will headline next week's episode of Raw. WWE announced today that Big Show and Braun Strowman would be facing off inside a steel cage on Monday. That's the second match officially confirmed for the episode, with The Miz also set to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Jeff Hardy after Hardy won a battle royal to get the title shot ... Strowman vs. Big Show has main evented two episodes of Raw already this year. Their last meeting ended in a no contest after WWE did a ring-collapsing angle when Strowman hit a superplex on Big Show. Monday's Raw falls on Labor Day, which means that next week's ratings will likely be delayed due to the holiday.

Link to the announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3avrpSSC0Hk

Originally Posted by Observer PWG's Battle of Los Angeles kicks off in Reseda, California tonight. First round matches in the tournament take place tonight and tomorrow, with a few non-tournament matches as well. The schedule is listed below. Though he won't be wrestling on at least the first two nights, Chuck Taylor tweeted that he'll be at the shows to do commentary. PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES SATURDAY NIGHT IN RESEDA, CALIFORNIA Sammy Guevara vs. Joey Janela Trevor Lee vs. Donovan Dijak Sami Callihan vs. Jeff Cobb Michael Elgin vs. Matt Riddle Mark Haskins vs. Travis Banks Keith Lee vs. Walter Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr. Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Penta 0M & Rey Fenix & Flamita

Originally Posted by Observer KUSHIDA will defend his ROH TV title against Kenny King at the Death Before Dishonor PPV in Las Vegas on September 22nd.

Originally Posted by Observer Fox Sports Mexico will be airing a new weekly Spanish-language show called "WWE Saturday Night."

Link to the announcement: http://corporate.wwe.com/investors/n...2017-160016313

Originally Posted by Observer The mobile health clinic in Syria that Sami Zayn raised money for this past month started in operation yesterday.

Originally Posted by PWI The 8/31 edition of Impact did 268,000 overnight viewers, down from last week's 296,000 overnight viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI The upcoming WWE DVD release schedule is as follows: 9/5 - WWE Unreleased: 1986-1995 9/19 - WWE Summerslam 2017. 10/3 - WWE Dawn of Attitude 1997 10/17 - Iconic Matches: Roman Reigns 10/17 - Iconic Matches: John Cena 10/17 - Iconic Matches: Finn Balor 10/24 - 30 Years of Survivor Series 11/14 - WWE NXT From Secret to Sensation. 12/26 - Survivor Series 2017

Originally Posted by PWI WWE's next major book Second Nature by Ric Flair and Charlotte Flair with Brian Shields will be released on 9/18, looking at the intertwined careers of father and daughter.

Originally Posted by PWI PWInsider.com has learned that WWE star Samoa Joe was in Birmingham, Alabama earlier this week to have his knee injury diagnosed and fixed. We are told the updated outlook for Joe being out of the ring is 4-6 weeks.

Originally Posted by PWI Primo Colon is cleared to return to action after rehabbing his knee injury, PWInsider.com has learned. He is slated to be back on the road ASAP for the company. We are hearing the next major addition to the VOD component for the WWE Network looks to be WCW Thunder. Darren Young is also cleared to return to the ring we are told. No word on when he will return. The current plan is to air the Table for 3 episode with Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and Sting on Monday 9/11 following Raw. The second season of Story Time, the WWE Network animated series recreating stories told by WWE performers, is set for 9/18 following Raw. WWE will be timing the WWE Network Collection of Hell in A Cell (which they announced yesterday) for October for a bit of Halloween-theming. I am surprised they haven't opted to do a WCW Halloween Havoc like Collection as well, but perhaps next year.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Hall of Famers Beth Phoenix and Madusa are being brought in for the 9/12 Mae Young Classic Finals, which will air live on the WWE Network from Las Vegas. Interestingly, Madusa had filmed backstage interview at the tournament but thus far, they have not appeared on the broadcast or online. PWInsider.com has also been told a planned WWE Network special on the Hall of Famer has been pulled from airing. It was originally set to air the same week at the finals.

Originally Posted by PWI Alberto el Patron and Paige have been getting local publicity from the local FOX Affiliate in San Antonio for buying out hotels and housing those who have been displaced by flooding from Hurricane Harvey. That is a pretty amazing effort there. The following video clip of Paige speaking to local media popped up on Twitter: @PrideOfMexico @RealPaigeWWE you guys are amazing!! Giving people a safe place to stay.. We should all do the same and donate!! pic.twitter.com/APWZ3w1p3N — Real Del Paige (@RealDelPaige) August 30, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI John Morrison/Mundo/Impact and Joey Mercury/Matthews each announced they would be reuniting as a team for the first time in years on 9/22 for All Pro Wrestling wrestling against Reno Scum, which also means that GFW team is ready to return to action Stoked for our rematch 9/22 at @allprowrestling!!@Thornstowe_Scum & @legendbaby81 vs@WWEMercury & @TheRealMorrison ???????????????????????????? https://t.co/aUMSgxZjm8 — John Morrison (@TheRealMorrison) August 31, 2017 Attn: Promoters-@WWEMercury & @TheRealMorrison are back together starting 9/22 and we've never been this good.......looking. #ItsOkToStare https://t.co/jMw0ahHY51 — Joey, from Wrestling (@WWEMercury) August 31, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI House of Hardcore owner Tommy Dreamer announced this evening that any orders made for House of Hardcore t-shirts through the company or the Pro Wrestling Tees sale that kicks off Friday at 12 PM Noon, Dreamer will match the order by donating shirts and shipping them to Houston to help provide clothing to victims of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Houston and the surrounding areas

HoH link for those interested in buying some shirts: http://www.houseofhardcore.net/

Originally Posted by WrestleInc "So Vince McMahon is sitting wherever Vince McMahon sits on a Monday morning and he's seeing me on the Today Show and I look good in a suit. I'm representing the company. I look good in a suit. And I'm wearing the title and then he sees this package of me stomping another man's head into the ground and it being called The Curbstomp on national television. And he thought to himself, 'well, that's not a good representation of what I want my top guy to do,' so he just had a meeting with some of his people, and they decided, 'well, we don't need it - we can figure out another finish for you' and the rest is history. I get it. I hate it. I think it's silly, but it is what it is and it's not my company. I'm doing the best I can with it."

Rollins on why his curbstomp finisher was banned during an interview with the Sam Roberts podcast show. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...curbstomp-and/

While recently appearing on Sam Roberts' podcast, Sasha Banks talked about how NXT creative was different from the main roster: "We kind of always knew where we were going, so it helped me prepare and think about it ahead of time about how can I make this better. But when I go to RAW, it's legit like I have no clue what I am doing so I don't even know what to prepare for. I get handed something and told something and am like 'okay, I have one hour to get... okay let's just do it.' Honestly, I wish we had the opportunity to know what we are doing in the next three months." Sasha continued, "'Oh, maybe you'll have a tag match maybe you'll have a promo. maybe you'll have this random match that doesn't make any sense,' or who knows, maybe you'll just sit in catering, who knows. None of them [WWE Superstars] know what's going on when you see Monday Night RAW, we're all surprised and sometimes were confused and sometimes they don't even follow through with a storyline." When asked about her short title reigns, here was Sasha's response: "I don't know if it was something with me or they just want to keep on flipping flopping, I don't know!"

Link: http://popculture.com/wwe/2017/08/31...s-wwe-booking/

Yup, like I said before, COSPLAY WHATEVER YOU WANT! @WWE @SashaBanksWWE @itsBayleyWWE @Themikalmosley @DragonCon pic.twitter.com/i4IoCbsK9M

— Find me @ DragonCon (@XavierWoodsPhD) September 1, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• As previously reported, ProWrestlingTees is currently holding a Labor Day Sale with a portion of proceeds going towards the Houston Food Bank to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/112...-bank.html?p=1
• Daniel Bryan held a recent fan Q&A session on the Bellas Official Youtube channel with highlights including his favorite moments in the WWE, favorite rivals, and Team Hell No. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ell-no-moment/
• Argus Leader held a recent interview with Kevin Owens talking about scripted promos, not wanting to be a face anytime soon, and toning down the heelish aspects of his Face of America gimmick. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ce-of-america/
• PWI debunked rumors claimed to have originated from them about Taker currently training for a return to the ring. https://twitter.com/MikePWInsider/st...23723265585153
• Observer also debunked rumors regarding Taker's status during SummerSlam weekend saying he wasn't involved in supposed scanning for an unannounced WWE game.

[Cool King]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball Yup, like I said before, COSPLAY WHATEVER YOU WANT! @WWE @SashaBanksWWE @itsBayleyWWE @Themikalmosley @DragonCon pic.twitter.com/i4IoCbsK9M — Find me @ DragonCon (@XavierWoodsPhD) September 1, 2017

That is terrifying.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The Destroyer of Kisses, Kairi Sane:

Originally Posted by Observer Global Force Wrestling announced today that Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his regular position with the company to focus on personal matters. The company's statement: "Effective immediately, Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Chief Creative Officer to focus on personal matters. Jeff will be available on a consultative basis as needed."

Originally Posted by PWI As noted earlier on PWInsider.com, Global Force Wrestling Chief Creative Officer Jeff Jarrett has taken a "leave of absence" from the company that he initially founded in 2002 and returned to after Anthem Media purchased TNA Impact Wrestling. We are told by several people that the decision was one Ed Nordholm made today and that he met personally with Jarrett in Nashville, TN this afternoon ... The belief among those we have spoken to is that unhappiness with Jarrett involving alleged "erratic behavior" (as one source described it), claiming that was a driving factor in Nordholm's move today, not an unhappiness with the company's creative direction. We are told that the situation had been building for months and the final tipping point appears to have been Triplemania several weeks back, where Jarrett was obviously not in the best of shape, as he had put on weight and seemingly stumbled down the ring steps before wrestling for just a few short minutes before journeying around ringside for an extended period. The Triplemania appearance led to a lot of people talking about whether Jarrett needed time off. It should be noted that Ed Nordholm was in Mexico at the show.

More details from PWI about this situation: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-more.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI If Anthem was really utilizing those letters without having any actual ownership, all they did was help raise the profile of the Global Force Wrestling name internationally, which in hindsight, was a really dumb business decision.

Seems Anthem never bothered to buy or transfer the rights to GFW from Jarrett so he still legally owns the name and all trademarks associated with it. Could result in another name change for the company if Jarrett can't return.

Originally Posted by PWI The status of Alberto el Patron is also in question as sources indicate that Nordholm was willing to cut bait on Patron after the July airport incident while Jarrett had been intimately involved in calming that situation. With Jarrett out of the picture and less than a year believed to be left on Patron's deal, the when for Alberto's return may be back to "if he returns."

Would explain why El Patron is still suspended.

Originally Posted by Observer Officially confirming what has been known about for a while, WWE announced today that Donovan Dijak has signed with the company and has arrived at the Performance Center. WWE touted the signing with a post on their website, focusing on Dijak's pro wrestling career from the New England indies to working for promotions like Ring of Honor, EVOLVE, and PWG. The article also mentions Dijak having been a standout football and basketball player in high school and college. Dave Meltzer reported in July that Dijak would soon be heading to WWE. Dijak has been wrapping up his dates on the independent scene since. His final match on the indies took place at PWG's Battle of Los Angeles on Sunday night

Originally Posted by Observer The fallout from the incident where Sexy Star injured Rosemary at Triplemania took another turn last night as AAA announced that Sexy Star had been stripped of their Reina de Reinas title. AAA posted the news on Twitter during a show on Monday night. In a statement that Global Force Wrestling previously released about the Sexy Star/Rosemary situation, it was noted that AAA executives had confirmed to them that "appropriate measures" were being taken. Similarly to how it began, Sexy Star's women's title reign ends in controversy. She returned to AAA and won the then-vacant championship in July after Taya Valkyrie had been stripped of it, with the explanation then being that Valkyrie used a choke to unfairly win it in a street fight match months earlier. Valkyrie hasn't returned to AAA since.

Sexy Star still refusing to apologize and claiming the whole thing as an attack on her reputation probably did her no favors. Link to her statement: https://twitter.com/Sexydulceg/statu...67985784471552 , Link to English translation: https://pastebin.com/qpVnixL5

Originally Posted by Observer WWE ratings are delayed this week due to Monday’s Labor Day holiday. Raw ratings will be out tomorrow, with SmackDown's likely pushed back a day as well.

Originally Posted by Observer With both Christmas and New Year's Day set to fall on Mondays in the upcoming months, WWE has already announced their broadcast plans for those holiday-themed episodes of Raw. The company revealed today that Raw will air live on both Mondays. WWE.com's announcement said: "This marks the first time that WWE will present Monday night’s hottest show live on the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. These unprecedented broadcasts aim to best serve you, the WWE Universe, during the holiday season." It would appear that this is actually the second time that the show will air live on New Year's Day, with the January 1st, 2007 episode having been a live broadcast. Both December 25th and January 1st are fairly significant days for sports on television in the United States. The NBA has a few marquee matchups on Christmas, with New Year's Day having historically been a big spot on the college football bowl game calendar.

According to Jeff Hardy's wife, this was USA Network's decision and not WWE's decision to do a live show. https://twitter.com/BethBrittHardy_/...46202038083585

Originally Posted by PWI All signs are that the 12/25 Raw and 12/26 Smackdown tapings will be in Rosemont, IL right outside Chicago at the Allstate Arena. The Christmas Raw will be the first live event held on Christmas Day by the company since 1986.

Originally Posted by Observer Pro Wrestling Sheet’s James McKenna wrote that he’s hearing Big Show is getting surgery for a slight hip issue very soon.

Link to the tweet: https://twitter.com/chillhartman/sta...63701156601856

Originally Posted by Observer Ring of Honor announced that Kenny Omega will be appearing at two of their shows in Florida in November. He is set to compete at their live event in Fort Lauderdale on November 11th and their TV tapings in Lakeland on the 12th. Kazuchika Okada is now the second longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion in NJPW history after surpassing the Great Muta today. Okada has 1,239 total days as champion in his four reigns. Hiroshi Tanahashi has had seven title reigns and has been champion for 1,358 total days.

Originally Posted by Observer Rumor in Hollywood right now is that John Cena may be up for the role of Captain Marvel in Warner Bros.’ upcoming movie adaptation of the comic book superhero.

Originally Posted by Observer PROGRESS Wrestling announced that Zack Sabre Jr. will be wrestling at their show at Alexandra Palace on Sunday with the storyline of him issuing an open challenge.

Link to the announcement: https://twitter.com/ThisIs_Progress/...00038454521857

Originally Posted by Observer In an interesting title stat, The Miz is approaching a combined 444 days as WWE Intercontinental Champion through his seven reigns with the title. He surpassed Tito Santana’s 443 days and will surpass Honky Tonk Man’s record of 454 this week. Pedro Morales currently holds the record with 619 days.

Originally Posted by Observer Dave Meltzer on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio mentioned that both Matt Riddle and Jeff Cobb are heading to New Japan for an upcoming tour. There doesn’t seem to be any specifics as to how they will be used or when they will arrive, but it is possible that they could be one of many teams participating in the World Tag League this December. Riddle and Cobb have teamed on the indies as The Chosen Bros.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE has announced that a documentary on WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze will premiere on the WWE Network later this month. No word yet on when "Trailblayzer: The Alundra Blayze Story" will debut but we will keep you updated. The former Madusa recently did backstage interviews for The Mae Young Classic and teased on Twitter that she could be doing more backstage TV work for WWE in the future.

Chris Jericho recently appeared as a guest on The Other Guys Podcast for an interview. During the discussion, Jericho spoke about how he found a clever way to convince Vince McMahon to unban A.J. Styles' longtime finishing move, "The Styles Clash." "I knew it was a great move, I knew it was an easy move to take, and I knew it was something that could help A.J. and give him extra colors to paint his pictures with," Jericho said. "I basically went to Vince and started using it during matches just so Vince could see it, so I figured if he saw it and didn't want me doing it he would know." Jericho continued, "Eventually I went to Vince and I said, 'Did you see that move AJ did?' Never using the words 'Styles Clash' because I knew Vince might not even know what the move is, but that name is taboo. I said he should use it as a finish. [Vince said], 'Yes absolutely, use it as a finish.' So I was able to kind of indirectly get the move unbanned by just doing it and not asking for permission and never using the name 'Styles Clash' while taking about it with Vince. Now it's one of AJ's biggest moves."

Link to the podcast episode: https://audioboom.com/posts/6248816-...w-08-29-17?t=0


Some other sheet news includes:

• WWE currently rumored to be considering signing another batch of big name indie stars after Pro Wrestling Sheet reported William Regal was at PWG's Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Last time it happened, WWE eventually signed several competitors from the tournament.
• WWE currently rumored again to be considering a Four Horsewomen (WWE) vs Four Horsewomen (MMA) match within the near future. Another tease by the company happened during Round 2 of the Mae Young Classic. http://www.tmz.com/2017/09/05/ronda-...mo-career-ufc/
• Newest trailer for WWE 2k18 focused on the game's new carrying system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiiE...ature=youtu.be
• Bret Hart was revealed to be this week's guest for Dinner With The King podcast show. https://twitter.com/DinnerWithKing/s...91461854765057
• WWE announced Corey Graves will be replacing JBL for Smackdown's announce team going forward. Nigel McGuiness was announced to take over Graves spot on 205 Live and Main Event. http://www.wwe.com/article/corey-gra...ve-commentator
• PWG's Battle of Los Angeles tournament ended with Ricochet defeating both Keith Lee and Jeff Cobb (Mantanza in LU) in the finals. http://www.f4wonline.com/indies/pwg-...crowned-242236
• Kenny Omega made a special taped appearance at the PAX Rumble from last weekend's PAX West expo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjxzwgpJXv4
• CM Punk recently posted on Instagram of his next MMA fight is tentatively schedule to happen before the end of this year. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-year.html?p=1
• Recent episode of The Other Guys podcast show had Chris Jericho as the guest talking about him not being in a rush for another WWE run, will return if WWE comes up with a good storyline for him, and him not caring who he works with as long as the story is good. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...return-to-wwe/
• PWI had some details regarding what caused Corbin's heat with the company and it was due to a CTE meeting with WWE's main doctor resulting in Corbin blasted attempts by him at downplaying the seriousness of CTE. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-meeting-with/

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Tower of 205 Live Doom:

Originally Posted by Observer Monday night's Labor Day edition of Raw on the USA Network did just 2.916 million viewers, down 12 percent from the previous week. In addition to the holiday, Monday marked the first week of the season against big competition from football ... Hour one opened with 3.069 million viewers and both hours fell from there, which buckles the recent trend of hour two usually being the highest rated. Raw fell to 2.975 million viewers for the second hour and hour three, with an 18-minute overrun, fell all the way to 2.75 million.

For some comparisons, last year's Labor Day week show had 3.063 million viewers for the average.

Originally Posted by Observer Kenny Omega will miss most of the upcoming Destruction tour with a left meniscus injury, but he won’t miss the tour entirely. New Japan made the announcement early this morning that he would be out for a majority of the tour. They didn’t mention any further details regarding the injury, but did mention that his IWGP United States title defense against Juice Robinson is still scheduled for September 24th in Kobe. Leo Tonga is set to take his place in the upcoming tour. He is the brother of both Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa, as well as the son of Haku.

Originally Posted by Observer Yesterday, Global Force Wrestling announced that Jeff Jarrett, who was running the wrestling end of GFW and is part owner of the company, was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the company to deal with personal issues. According to those close to the situation, the personal issues aspect of the story is legitimate and the public story is accurate. It was clear that the decision was not something he knew about in advance because he sent out a tweet that morning talking about going back into the office to start a day of work. He was scheduled to host a party for the company staff at his home that day, which ended up being canceled. However, others in the company were aware of the decision for at least a week.

Confirmed the reports from PWI about what caused Jarrett to step down from the company at least for the near future.

Originally Posted by Observer Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported Wednesday that with Anthem losing significant money, sources close to the situation say Anthem is ready to pull out of running a wrestling company and is ready to sell. Sources in the company denied that, but that type of story is also always going to be denied until it happens for the obvious morale reasons, and also because even those at the top would not be in the loop on a sale. As noted in the Observer Newsletter last week, the company's inability to get a new U.S. television deal is hurting them because it’s clear the company can’t grow financially while on Pop TV and their current situation doesn’t appear to have any other way to make money. After testing the waters with three house shows in the Northeast (one of which was canceled and neither of the others drew well), no future house shows are on the schedule, nor is anything past the television tapings in November after Bound for Glory.

Link to the Sports Illustrated report: https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...orce-wrestling

Originally Posted by Observer On the same day as the Sports Illustrated report about Anthem being ready to exit the wrestling business, GFW sent out a press release today touting a few broadcast initiatives, including their plans to launch the Global Wrestling Network (an on-demand service), plans to launch a channel on Pluto TV, a deal with 7Sports to bring Impact back to screens in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland via ran FIGHTING, and the announcement that they’ve extended their deal with Pop TV to carry Impact.

Link to the GFW announcement: http://impactwrestling.com/global-fo...n-initiatives/

Originally Posted by Observer Booker T is doing a live show in Los Angeles prior to No Mercy with all proceeds benefiting victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Link to the announcement: https://twitter.com/BookerT5x/status/905559613596200961

Originally Posted by Observer On his podcast this week (which also included an appearance by Bret Hart), Jerry Lawler said that WWE didn’t contact him about joining the SmackDown commentary team on a full-time basis when JBL left. Lawler noted that it would have been a difficult decision to make if they did.

Originally Posted by Observer The Kingdom will be facing The Briscoes & Bully Ray in a match at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, with the winners going on to challenge The Young Bucks & Hangman Page for the six-man tag titles later in the night. Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young in a last man standing match is also set for the PPV. PROGRESS Wrestling revealed that there will be an eight-man scramble match at their Alexandra Palace show on Sunday. Mark Andrews, Eddie Dennis, Zack Gibson, James Drake, Jack Sexsmith, Chief Deputy Dunne, Strangler Davis, and Flash Morgan Webster will be involved in it.

Originally Posted by PWI 73-year old former NWA and ECW World champion Terry Funk is returning to the ring later this month. Funk is being advertised for the 9/23 and 9/24 events being run by Big Time Wrestling in Raleigh, NC and Charleston, SC. Funk will team with former NWA World Tag Team champions The Rock N' Roll Express for the first time ever to face the Memphis-themed trio of Jerry Lawler, Doug Gilbert and Brian Christopher. Funk has not made any appearances in months after a health issue led to him leaving a House of Hardcore event in Philadelphia, PA earlier this year.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc GFW has announced that footage from AAA's TripleMania event from late August will air on this week's GFW Impact episode. As noted, Thursday's show will also feature Allie & Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell & GFW Knockouts Champion Sienna plus DJZ's return and Matt Sydal vs. GFW Global Champion Eli Drake in the main event.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Emma and Nia Jax teamed up on this week's Raw to defeat Sasha Banks and Raw Women's Champion, Alexa Bliss. Along with the win, Nia and Emma were added to the No Mercy Women's Title match between Sasha and Alexa. On Twitter, Emma let it be known Nia should be thanking her for a title opportunity that she doesn't deserve. Nia shot back, reminding Emma about her never-ending Emmalina vignettes that she never capitalized on. .@NiaJaxWWE should be thanking ME for getting her a match she doesn't deserve. This is about me. @ #WWENoMercy it'll be #EmmaNewWomensChamp — EMMA (@EmmaWWE) September 5, 2017 ?? did you thank Vince for the 6 month vignette push you had but never capitalized on? How much MORE do you deserve ?? https://t.co/JbPQXx3PPC — Nia Jax (@NiaJaxWWE) September 6, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• IGN revealed the final batch of wrestlers for WWE 2k18's roster. 47 wrestlers were revealed in the fourth roster announcement. http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/09/...stars-revealed
• For those interested, PWI released a list of current stars in the WWE (and NXT) not in the roster for WWE 2k18. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...8-yet.html?p=1
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Braun Strowman celebrated his 34th birthday today.
• During the recent episode of The Other Guys Podcast show, Chris Jericho revealed his favorite moment in the WWE was the "Festival of Friendship" skit. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-jewel-in-wwe/
• Al Arabiya English held a recent interview with Finn Balor talking about changes made in the WWE, Karl Anderson trying to persuade him to not use face paint for the DEMON Balor, and the process for his paint designs. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...se-face-paint/
• During a recent episode of the Bruce Prichard podcast show, Prichard credits the backstage work and influence of Paul Heyman to why Brock Lesnar became a huge star for the WWE. Also confirmed stories of Vince hating the idea of managers and how they found a way around it by calling Heyman an "agent" instead for Lesnar. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...t-want-wwe-to/

[Big Vic]

Is Otunga just not coming back?

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems he might just be busy with side stuff like his acting career and maybe still as part of WWE's legal team.

He was on the pre-show panel for SummerSlam.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Daniel Bryan and his Balls:

Originally Posted by Observer Tuesday night's episode of SmackDown rebounded to 2.582 million viewers, up five percent from the previous week. The show was fifth for the night in total viewers on cable and was second in the 18-49 demo with a 0.8 rating. SmackDown was crushed by the season seven premiere of American Horror Story, which averaged 3.933 million viewers and a 2.02 rating in the 18-49 demo. A first-time ever number one contender's main event between Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton headlined SmackDown this week. The show was also up five percent in the year-over-year ratings as the September 6th, 2016 episode did 2.455 million viewers.

Smackdown has a big chance next week at topping RAW due to the start of Monday Night Football and Smackdown having a loaded show.

Originally Posted by Observer As Florida prepares for Hurricane Irma, WWE has announced the postponement of four previously scheduled NXT house shows. The shows that were set to take place in Daytona Beach on Friday night and Crystal River on Saturday have been postponed, along with events that were planned for Lakeland on September 14th and Dade City on the 15th. The Dade City show has been rescheduled to October 5th, with WWE noting that tickets that have already been purchased will be honored on that date. WWE has yet to indicate whether the next set of NXT television tapings, which are supposed to take place at Full Sail University next Wednesday, will go on as scheduled.

Originally Posted by Observer After Asuka vacated the NXT Women’s Championship last night, WWE uploaded a video where William Regal said he’d be letting people know about the future of the title in the next few weeks.

Rumor going around the net is WWE is considering the idea of giving the belt to whoever wins the Mae Young Classic.

Originally Posted by Observer Minoru Suzuki vs. Michael Elgin for the NEVER Openweight Championship at Destruction in Fukushima on Sunday will be a lumberjack match after the stipulation was set up on NJPW’s show this morning.

Originally Posted by Observer FreeSports, a new freeview channel in the UK, announced today that Five Star Wrestling will be airing weekly live shows on the station starting in 2018. The announcement came after PCW had already indicated that they’d be working with FreeSports, with PCW posting today that the deal is off after months of FreeSports pursuing them. The promotion wrote that they could only promise what they can deliver. Amid controversy and backlash from some wrestlers, Five Star Wrestling announced earlier this year that their 128-man tournament and arena tour had been postponed until next February.

Originally Posted by PWI CBS Radio's The Taz Show, hosted by former WWE and ECW star Taz, announced this evening that starting this Monday 9/11, the show will start in a new timeslot, airing Monday to Fridays from 8 AM - 10 AM Eastern: BREAKING: #Monday #TheTazShow #WeOver - pls RT. pic.twitter.com/SZ8XIc0xqh — TAZ (@OfficialTAZ) September 7, 2017

Originally Posted by PWI In regard to the Justin Barrasso report on Sports Illustrated's website that Anthem is seeking to sell off GFW, we are told that in meetings this week, all discussion was about plans going forward and there was no inkling of plans to shut down or sell off the video library. We've heard nothing from the WWE end that such discussions are underway and they would be the most likely buyer. Although any discussions would be attempted to be kept under wraps as long as possible, my personal belief is that with WWE in cost-cutting mode and having slowed down other aspects, such as original WWE Network programming, they likely aren't looking to rush into a major acquisition,

PWI's report with more details surrounding the current status of GFW: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-news.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI The updated lineup for the 9/23 Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor 2017 PPV features: *ROH champion Cody Rhodes vs. Minoru Suzuki in Suzuki's first match in the United States in 25 years. *ROH TV champion KUSHIDA vs. Kenny King. *The Kingdom vs. Bully Ray & The Briscoes. *Winners challenge ROH Six Man Tag Team champions The Young Bucks and Adam "Hangman" Page. *Las Vegas Street Fight: Jay White vs. Punishment Martinez. *Jay Lethal vs, Silas Young. Death Before Dishonor will air via all traditional PPV carriers as well as the Fite app. The App is currently offering a $10 credit with ROH PPV pre-orders.

Originally Posted by PWI Ric Flair posted the following on his Facebook page: "As of Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, I have parted ways with Melinda Morris Zanoni and Legacy Talent Entertainment, LLC. I Will Announce New Representation Tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the new beginning and the great opportunities that await me. WOOOOO!"

Originally Posted by PWI Did Billy Corgan ever buy the NWA? Yes, he did. We are hearing he is waiting until after the current licensing agreements with partner promotions expire this October to begin working on that project as he had a musical tour coming up.

Current status of Corgan's ownership of NWA from PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

Originally Posted by PWI On the latest edition of his Jim Cornette Experience podcast on MLW.com, Jim Cornette stated that he is booked for the 11/5 Bound for Glory PPV but is not currently slated for the TV tapings that follow. In regard to some reader questions about whether Cornette was or is on the GFW creative team, he is not and has not been. He was brought in as a performer and has offered his insight backstage when necessary but is not on of the creative team.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc It was announced after the recent WWE NXT TV tapings that undefeated NXT Women's Champion Asuka relinquished her title due to the collarbone injury that she suffered at "Takeover: Brooklyn III" in the win over Ember Moon. That segment aired on tonight's NXT episode and partial video is above. WWE is recognizing Asuka's reign at 523 days - from April 1st, 2016 when she won the title at "Takeover: Dallas" by defeating Bayley to tonight's episode when she was forced to relinquish. The storyline is that she is forfeiting the title to pursue new challenges in WWE. During tonight's segment with Asuka and NXT General Manager William Regal, it was noted that Regal has started negotiations with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle and SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan for The Empress of Tomorrow's call-up to the main roster.

Some other sheet news includes:

• NJPW recently revealed the logo for next year's Wrestle Kingdom show. https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/statu...06494657609729
• Recent episode of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's podcast show had Kazuchika Okada as the guest talking about him being #1 in this year's Top 500 List. https://pwi.podbean.com/e/pro-wrestl...st-episode-77/
• WWE announces they will be launching a new 1 hour replay of RAW with French commentary for Canada starting on October 18th. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...anada.html?p=1
• GFW announced they have signed a new tv deal for Impact Wrestling in Germany. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-deal.html?p=1
• John Cena currently dealing with some online backlash after an insult he sent to Roman Reigns on Twitter as part of their online feud made light of recent white supremacists issues in the US. Cena quickly deleted the tweet afterwards.
• During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Alberto El Patron stated he expects to return to GFW soon. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...urning-to-gfw/
• Recent episode of Sean Waltman's X-Pac 12360 podcast show had Steve Austin on the guest talking about Superstar Billy Graham, a couple of wrestling stories from his career, and being involved in the acting industry. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-on-the-phone/
• This week's "Flashback Friday" episode for the WWE Network was revealed to be focused on the history of WCW Nitro. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...s-bonus-clips/
• During a recent episode of the MLW podcast show, Austin Aries revealed he left the WWE due to needing a lot of time off to deal with injuries and neck issues. Currently unsure when (or if) he can make an in-ring return to wrestling.
• For those subscribed or read the Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer had to delay this week's Newsletter due to recent hard drive problems.

[#1-norm-fan]

Still really curious what Billy Corgan could possibly be planning to do with the NWA.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random "Ciem" Almas gif:

Originally Posted by Observer Before the Mae Young Classic finals take place next Tuesday, WWE will be broadcasting a red carpet special earlier in the afternoon on Facebook Live. Ronda Rousey will be making an appearance and participating in interviews ahead of possibly taking part in the follow-up to the Four Horsewomen vs. Four Horsewomen angle. WWE's Four Horsewomen will be represented on the red carpet too, with Charlotte Flair and Bayley advertised to be there. Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Nikki and Brie Bella, and soccer star Hope Solo will also be appearing on the red carpet show, with WWE hyping that cast members from Netflix's "GLOW" series will be present on Tuesday as well. The show will be hosted by Cathy Kelley at 6 p.m. Eastern time, then the tournament finals will stream live on the WWE Network at 10 p.m. ET. The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada will host SmackDown, Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler in the MYC finals, and 205 Live next Tuesday. Dave Meltzer noted in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the tentative plan is for 205 Live to air at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Link to the announcement: http://www.wwe.com/shows/maeyoungcla...sic-red-carpet

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding Tuesday, because the Raw crew leaves after the show for Australia, unless they make special arrangements and Sasha Banks misses the first night of the Australia tour, she won't be able to be in Las Vegas on Tuesday for the expected Horsewoman vs. Horsewoman angle.

Originally Posted by Observer One would expect an angle on the 9/12 live show in Las Vegas. The rumors have been that Rousey would do a Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen match at Survivor Series and that would lead to another match at WrestleMania, singles match with Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte being the names most talked about

Originally Posted by Observer Impact Wrestling's Global Wrestling Network, an attempt to be positioned as the alternate brand to the WWE Network, will be launched next week with 850 to 900 hours of content and a $7.99 monthly price point, according to Ed Nordholm, the Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports and Entertainment. Nordholm appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio Friday and spoke of the company's future, saying the goal is to break even and eventually make money, but they knew full well when they purchased the company that wasn't going to happen overnight. "We're invested in this company. We're growing it. We know it's not going to turn around tomorrow." The key news revolved around the announcement of the streaming service. The service will have both a free and a pay tier. There will be a one-month free trial period for everyone who signs up. For those in North America, the free tier would include episodes of Impact Wrestling released ten days after they air on Pop TV. Of the company's approximately 3,000 hours of tape in its library, about 850 to 900 of those hours will be part of the archives in the pay tier.

Originally Posted by Observer As far as selling the library to WWE, that makes no economic sense at this point. "I know full well how the WWE Network would monetize the content and what they could pay for the library," he said. "It makes no sense for me to sell it for that kind of price. I'd rather keep it, put it up on the app, and monetize it myself."

More details from Nordholm's recent appearance on the Observer Radio show: http://www.f4wonline.com/tna-news/an...ent-gfw-242536

Originally Posted by PWI The 9/7 edition of Impact, which partially went against the NFL opener, did 227,000 overnight viewers, way down from the 268,000 overnight viewers that they did last week. They did 320,000 viewers less than a month ago.

Originally Posted by PWI The woman who played Miss Elizabeth to Dolph Ziggler's Randy Savage on Smackdown Live this past Tuesday was Stephanie Dinsmore, a former Miss South Dakota who is married to former WWE star Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Above, Daniel Bryan continued his fan Q&A (first part here) and answered questions about if he'll grow his beard long ago like before (Bryan said he won't), his closest friend on the WWE roster (Brian Kendrick was named first, followed by Kane, John Cena, Cesaro, Seth Rollins, and others). Bryan also talked about who in wrestling he looked up to when he was younger. "I have to say Dean Malenko was my absolute favorite," Bryan said. "He was the guy I watched and was like 'wow.' Because I wasn't the most athletic guy in high school, so I saw Rey Mysterio and he was 5'3" and he was doing all of these crazy things. And I would say "Wow! That's amazing!" but I could never do any of those things. I saw Dean, and he was like 5'7" and I saw the style he worked, I loved the submission stuff and he was so good at it."

Link to the Q&A video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdpLqy7u4F8

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Triple H stated on the second episode of The World According To Wrestling podcast this week that the World of Sport revival in the U.K. late last year slightly affected their plans for a U.K. division. A World of Sport special aired last December on ITV, which is the #2 network in the U.K. WWE followed by holding the United Kingdom Championship Tournament this past January. "Did it change our timing a little bit because of when they positioned their show? Yeah, but we are talking by maybe months or something not speeding up the process in terms of getting it done," Triple H said. "We've been working on this for a long time. Any other show aside, if they are successful I'm happy for them. And, at the end of the day, it all helps the industry so we just do what we do. And I think we do it better than anyone else on the planet."

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Samoa Joe is slated to return to action at the end of October, according to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Joe has been out of action since late August after suffering a knee injury during a match with John Cena at a WWE live event. Joe was scheduled to wrestle Cena on RAW on August 28th, however the match was dropped.

Originally Posted by Observer Ranallo’s primary issues were not with Layfield, but with the culture in place at the time headed by Vince McMahon. Layfield was part of it, but not the key part of it. Layfield’s actions were the straw that broke the camel’s back in a situation that has been resolved enough to where Ranallo returned with the proviso he’s working and reporting to Michael Cole and Paul Levesque, neither of which he ever had any problems with and they were the two people who recruited him into the company in the first place.

Originally Posted by Observer The Mae Young Classic is clearly a huge hit on the WWE Network. For this past week, the top eight most-watched shows on the network were all eight episodes, which means that the four episodes released a week ago were all still head of both NXT and 205 Live both last week and this week. In fact, episodes one through four, even a week later, were ahead of the new 205 Live released on 9/5, even though they were released on 8/27. The top ten rankings for the week were: 1. Mae Young Classic episode five; 2. MYC episode six; 3. MYC episode seven; 4. MYC episode eight; 5. MYC episode four; 6. MYC episode three; 7. MYC episode one; 8. MYC episode two; 9. 205 Live from 9/5; 10. SummerSlam 2017. The NXT episode on 8/30 was in 11th place

Originally Posted by Oberver Regarding the weekly U.K. show, there are two stories going around. One said that it was still in the plans but the hold-up is the expense of doing the tapings because the original U.K. tournament that was supposed to be the kickoff show lost so much money. But the company was also looking to get the show on television in the U.K. and thus far hasn’t been able to make a deal

Originally Posted by Observer Lucha Underground is heavily talking about Ultima Lucha on television so the season is winding to a close. None of the talent knows anything. The basic word we’ve heard is that El Rey would like a new season, but nobody has yet come through to fund the season. After season one lost so much money, they were able to get one of the owners to put up money for two more seasons so they could reach 100 episodes, a milestone they reached. They never tried touring and at WrestleMania in Dallas it was clear there was a huge buzz on Lucha Underground that isn’t there anymore and missed it. This stuff was taped 15 months ago and nobody has gotten paid since then but are under contract, so this has really screwed with the guys because ROH and WWE won’t touch anyone here. GFW has a relationship so have been able to get a few people. But there are a lot of talented guys who will be on the free agent market soon unless a new season is announced

Originally Posted by Observer Due to their success is moving merchandise at Hot Topic, there will be a full line of Young Bucks, Bullet Club (with the different characters) and Elite merchandise not only in Hot Topic but several other chains are expected to pick it up around the second quarter of 2018

Originally Posted by Observer Heyman is always controversial as there are people in management and creative who don’t like that he comes in and gets Lesnar segments changed so often. Heyman does have a lot of pull with Vince and the reality is most of the unique Lesnar creative, whether it’s the angles or match strictures and finishes, are out of the box and for the better such and my belief is the Joe program helped spark a business turnaround that led to the even stronger momentum the great four-way and the Strowman program. The belief is that if Heyman wasn’t around, than Lesnar would be more apt to do things the way they are originally written instead of the changes

Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 21st anniversary of Glacier's debut in WCW. https://twitter.com/Monsoon_Classic/...81802204393475
• UK's The Mirror had a recent interview with DDP talking about the failed feud with Taker and the Invasion storyline. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...taker-quickly/
• The Whig had a recent interview with Drew McIntyre talking about his friendship with Jinder, his NXT title win, and his career in the indies. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...the-negatives/
• Pro Wrestling 24/7 held a recent interview with Sexy Star and once again Sexy Star refused to even offer an apology for injuring Rosemary at TripleMania XXV. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...fore-rosemary/
• According to the Observer, Sami Callihan recently accepted an offer from NJPW and will be making his debut for the company later this year.
• According to website Fightful, talks between Rey Mysterio and GFW over a possible deal have fallen apart. https://www.fightful.com/mysterio-ne...ch-bound-glory

[DaveWadding]

Lucha Underground is heavily talking about Ultima Lucha on television so the season is winding to a close. None of the talent knows anything. The basic word we’ve heard is that El Rey would like a new season, but nobody has yet come through to fund the season. After season one lost so much money, they were able to get one of the owners to put up money for two more seasons so they could reach 100 episodes, a milestone they reached. They never tried touring and at WrestleMania in Dallas it was clear there was a huge buzz on Lucha Underground that isn’t there anymore and missed it. This stuff was taped 15 months ago and nobody has gotten paid since then but are under contract, so this has really screwed with the guys because ROH and WWE won’t touch anyone here. GFW has a relationship so have been able to get a few people. But there are a lot of talented guys who will be on the free agent market soon unless a new season is announced

Everything I've heard points to them taping mid-October or mid-November. Ivelisse posted a thing on Instagram about booking dates and had one of those specifically blocked off with no comment (others were like 8/26 - SHINE or something).

I haven't heard anything from a direct, reliable source about them having money problems. I expect season 4 to be announced shortly and taped on schedule.

[Emperor Smeat]

Most of their financial problems is related to plans meant to secure a long term future that never really happened after Season 1.

They spent a ton of money on Season 1 under the assumption networks and companies would line right up for the company and it didn't happen. Touring was also meant to be a big plan to generate funds but they only held a few shows at most. El Rey was only meant to be a temporary home till they found a better network but good money in the TV wrestling market has dried up a lot.

They should get a Season 4 but then they'd be right back with the same uncertain future for Season 5.

[DaveWadding]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball Most of their financial problems is related to plans meant to secure a long term future that never really happened after Season 1. They spent a ton of money on Season 1 under the assumption networks and companies would line right up for the company and it didn't happen. Touring was also meant to be a big plan to generate funds but they only held a few shows at most. El Rey was only meant to be a temporary home till they found a better network but good money in the TV wrestling market has dried up a lot. They should get a Season 4 but then they'd be right back with the same uncertain future for Season 5.

I don't think that the future is as uncertain as it is being reported. They are being dumb about announcing the seasons and scheduling, but I think the money is there and the interest will only be going up at the beginning of the 4th season, after a whole cycle of advertising because the 3rd season will probably head to Netflix...

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, people should trying to use Heyman changing Lesnar's stuff as a reason to try and change other things instead of just complaining about it.