[Emperor Smeat]

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Meltzer said that Vince was mad that the Rusev/Lana engagement story broke on TMZ and it ruined the kayfabe angle on RAW with Summer/Lana/Ziggler/Rusev. He says WWE does work with TMZ about breaking stories but Vince was not happy about this one. He talked about Lana going on social media and showing the engagement ring that Rusev bought her weeks ago, but more often then not Lana/Rusev stayed in Kayfabe most of the time but then went ahead and broke kayfabe by doing that. He could see why Vince would have a problem because he doesn't understand why you would blow your own angle the entire world can see it. Dave goes on to say he doesn't think the angle is dead but they could retool it who knows.

Originally Posted by Observer Blue Pants (Leva Bates) is not expected to be used going forward. She was never under contract. It ruffled a lot of feathers that she had gotten over in a quirky way and there was heat with her. They had continued to use her because she got over in that cult way, in the sense fans were chanting for her at the road shows and they knew she’d get a big pop in Brooklyn. But once Alexa Bliss beat her, that was pretty much supposed to be the end of her.

Supposedly the female lockeroom resented the very favorable part-time deal she had and NXT management didn't like how she rubbed people the wrong way backstage.

Originally Posted by Observer Lucha Underground announcing a second season was of interest to WWE because we’re told there were three wrestlers under contract to Lucha Underground that they were interested in. Angelico are Ricochet are two of the names. Ricochet lives in Orlando already, as he’s the roommate of Apollo Crews. If they can sign him, it’s already been talked about fast tracking him to matches with Finn Balor, but he’s got a seven-year contract with Lucha Underground and New Japan was looking at doing a lot with him as well.

In regards to Season Two, Alberto Del Rio/Patron might not be available for tapings mostly due to commitments in Mexico and being upset with LU management over supposed broken promises.

Originally Posted by Observer The reason they did another injury angle with Kurt Angle, even though he beat Eric Young on Bound for Glory, is that with the next few months of television already taped in July, while he was recovering from his latest surgery, they had to do another injury to take him out again.

Very similar to the Matt Hardy situation with TNA being really short sighted with plans. Knew full well that if they went in a certain direction, it would cause a lot of problems with the taped stuff and yet still did it.

Originally Posted by Observer The final TNA U.S. house show tour of the year, from 10/29 to 11/1, was cancelled due to poor advances. TNA evidently claimed it was due to logistical problems, and advances were fine. If the advances were fine, the shows would have been run. Talent was notified on 10/9, making it pretty difficult to get new bookings three weeks out. According to people on the show, when talent was told about the cancellations, they were told they were getting partial pay for the dates, “although not a lot.” That tells you something when the advances are so bad that the company makes out better with partial pay, but saving the costs of actually doing the show and the trans. This was a major loss of confidence, because sources at WWE, Lucha Underground, New Japan and AAA all confirmed getting phone calls from talent inquiring about the possibility of coming in. WWE is very much in the idea they can pick and choose. Unless it’s a real big star, we’re told Lucha Underground and AAA want talent that already has experience in the Lucha style.

Originally Posted by PWI The 9 p.m. airing of Impact on 10/14 garnered 247,000 viewers, down from last week's 335,000 viewers. This ended the several week run of the audience rising. Impact's replay did 82,000, down from last week's 112,000 viewers. Impact's total viewers - 327,000, down from last week's 447,000 viewers. The 10/8 edition of Ring Of Honor brought in 174,000 viewers, down just slightly from last week's 175,000 viewers. This was the second highest audience ever for the 11 PM timeslot for the series.

Originally Posted by Observer Lots of talk regarding The Freebirds to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year in Dallas. For one, Michael Hayes is still with the company and they like to have at least one inductee with ties to the history of wrestling in the area. The Von Erichs are already in, and I don’t see them putting in area legends like Gary Hart, Bruiser Brody, Johnny Valentine, or Gene Kiniski. For one, none are alive. Last year they didn’t induct any Bay Area legends. Ray Stevens was on the list, they were even collecting his memorabilia for doing so, but then made the call against him, likely because Vince doesn’t like to remind people that so many wrestlers passed away young.

Originally Posted by Observer Here are some notes on the difference between the audience that watches Raw on Monday and Smackdown on Thursday. Essentially, Raw averages 40 years old and Smackdown is quite a big older when it comes to viewership. Only 47 percent of the people 18-34 that watch Raw watch Smackdown. In 35-49, that increases to 55 percent. Over the age of 50, it’s 78 percent so it’s those over the age of 50 that are most likely to be watching both shows.

With John Cena about to take a hiatus from the road, McMahon is in panic mode about preventing the ratings for Raw from sliding even further. However, his solution to the problem doesn’t involve making any significant creative changes or altering the presentation of the show. Rather, he’s looking to have WWE’s biggest part-time Superstars appear on television more often. There have been talks with Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker about appearing more. Both have been agreeable to making more appearances since they’re being paid head and shoulders above what anybody else makes per date, including Cena. McMahon has also reached out to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson about returning to WWE, even if just for a small handful of appearances to spark interest. The WWE Chairman and CEO wants Johnson to return as soon as possible. Furthermore, the USA Network is paying WWE $15 million per year for that third hour of Raw, which is significant. A loss of that revenue would cause a major negative effect on the price of WWE stock.

Rumors going around the net at the moment regarding Vince/WWE panicking over ratings and a big rift developing between those that know something needs changing and those that don't want to. Doesn't come from the usual sheet sources which is why its best to take this with a huge grain of salt.


Some other sheet news includes:

• Recent article on WWE.com focused on indie promotion Evole and the 5 stars they'd like to show up or be more active in NXT. http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/evol...e-nxt-28054230
• Evolve recently addressed rumors of them having a deal with the WWE by basically giving a vague non-answer. Implied the answer to be "yes" without actually saying it.
• During a recent interview, Jerry Lawler teased Smackdown might become a weekly live show at some point next year. http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe-sma...6-jerry-lawler
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Seth Rollins currently has the 12th longest WWE title reign for 1st time champs and needs another 3 months to beat Billy Graham as the longest non-turn heel run as champ. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...eigning_first/
• Indie promotion 2CW announced they are shutting down on December 20th. https://www.facebook.com/2CWWrestling
• RAW's Canadian rating is expected to tank really bad next week due to the Blue Jays playoffs game and Canadian Elections taking place that day.