[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by PWI CM Punk's return on WWE Backstage tonight was kept a secret from everyone on camera with the exception of Renee Young as a way to prevent the return from leaking. Obviously, FOX was successful. PWInsider.com has confirmed that Punk signed a deal with FOX but has not signed anything with World Wrestling Entertainment as of this writing. The decision to bring Punk on was 100% a FOX call, but we are told that WWE gave the return their personal blessing. The two sides had circled on a deal but it was finally completed within the last few days. Punk will be appearing regularly on WWE Backstage going forward, but will not be on every week we are told. The return led to CM Punk's name and WWE Backstage trending on social media.

Originally Posted by PWI When CM Punk returned on WWE Backstage last night, it was the first time since 2005 in Ring of Honor that he and Samoa Joe appeared on the same show for the same promotion. Joe noted on WWE Backstage that he would be out of action for a few more weeks due to his broken thumb.

Originally Posted by Observer On WWE Backstage last night, it was announced that Gargano will not be medically cleared to wrestle at NXT TakeOver: WarGames due to a neck injury. WWE is claiming that the injury happened when Finn Balor turned heel and attacked Gargano on NXT three weeks ago. Bryan Alvarez said on today's Wrestling Observer Live that the injury to Gargano is legitimate, though he didn't know if that's when the injury happened.

Originally Posted by Observer MLW has announced their first matchup for next month's Opera Cup tournament. TJP vs. Brian Pillman Jr. is set for the first round of the tournament. It's being held at MLW's television tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York on Thursday, December 5. There will be four opening round matches in the Opera Cup, with MLW hyping that they've "invited some of the best wrestlers from around the world to compete in this one-night single-elimination tournament."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling In his piece for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling website, NJPW President Harold Meij commented on the report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Kenny Omega was stopped from entering Japan for his recent match for DDT Pro Wrestling. It was noted in the report that this incident was the third time Omega had trouble entering Japan since departing from NJPW in January of 2019. Here’s how Meij responded to the report: “By the way, a few days ago, there were some unbelievable rumors that New Japan Pro-Wrestling tried to prevent Kenny Omega from entering Japan, but there was no reason why a company could not do that. I don’t want to do that. I thought it would be through because it was rumors spread from somebody’s speculation, but I mentioned that it was important to tell the fact by denying it once. Kenny Omega has made a great contribution to New Japan Pro Wrestling, and I wish him success.”

Originally Posted by PWI Deadline reported that due to the cancellation of the computer-animated feature film adaptation of "Rugrats", the WWE Paramount Animation project "Rumble" has been moved back six months to January 21, 2021 to fill the void.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed Jim Ross and Ross talked about how proud he is of Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega for their match at AEW Full Gear. Ross said their match challenged him as a broadcaster: “Its been years since I was this proud of two guys in a match like I am with Moxley and Kenny. I’ve never seen a main event like that. They should be congratulated. The effort they put forth was absolutely amazing. This match was a great indication of the in-ring spirit of AEW. We want to be about innovation and delivering a great effort. The match gave us stunts, it gave us wrestling, it gave us drama, it gave us uniqueness. This was about two guys that were given a chance to lay out their own game plan and execute their match, and that’s what they did. I loved that the Mox-Kenny match challenged me as a broadcaster. People kept telling me, ‘JR, this match isn’t for you.’ How do you know that? I wasn’t with ECW; that was Joey Styles’ gig. I never got to call a lot of the hardcore stuff. I don’t find it distasteful, I don’t find it bad. We’re supposed to have something for everybody, and AEW offers a variety of styles and presentations that fans are going to like. This is not a one-dimensional company.”

Originally Posted by Fightful NWA Into The Fire PPV and subsequent television tapings in Atlanta have all sold out.

Originally Posted by Fightful During the post-Full Gear media scrum, Chris Jericho was asked about AEW's unblemished record over WWE NXT in the Wednesday night TV ratings competition ... Chris would go on to say NXT lost its uniqueness and is now just another WWE show. He would even go so far as to say he sees it in the same light of the ECW brand a decade ago. He also said the NXT Arena should prepare to feel the power of Hulkamania soon with the way the show is going. "So, am I surprised that we're winning? Of course not. I knew we'd win," he continued. "Our star power crushes NXT's star power and exactly what I knew was going to happen. NXT, what made it cool before, it was a standalone thing. Now it's just another WWE show. It's like, you know, 2009 ECW, so good for them. God bless them. I'm sure at some point Roman Reigns will be on NXT now, and Hulk Hogan will return to a TV studio for the first time since 1981 in Memphis. That's fine. All we're going to do is continue to worry about ourselves, concentrate on our storylines, our matches, and our characters, building stars."

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc Rusev recently spoke with Digital Spy and once again defended his current WWE RAW storyline with wife Lana and Bobby Lashley ... "How can I not be happy?" he said. "It's the hottest storyline in the whole WWE, it's been the hottest storyline for years. So of course, I'm happy with it." Rusev also addressed criticism on the storyline potentially doing damage to his marriage, saying this is no different than what any other actor would do. "Not many people are willing to do something like this, but we're professionals so, of course, we're used to it," he said. "(Being professional) is what any other actor does, you know, when you're going to step on stage or whatever. This is no different than that." Corey Graves recently called the storyline ridiculous on WWE's "After The Bell" podcast and called on the company to "let it end." Rusev responded and incorrectly claimed that they are drawing the highest views on YouTube ... "Just because Corey Graves doesn't like it or somebody else it doesn't mean anything. Obviously, the numbers speak for itself, we're the highest viewed YouTube video in a long, long time. I'm stoked about it," Rusev said. Rusev continued and said when he meets fans, he receives positive reactions, and that the naysayers are just "internet warriors" who like to complain about WWE. "We have fans that are not even fans of WWE that tune in because they like the drama," Rusev said. "That's what I don't understand, when you watch Game of Thrones or any of your favourite shows there's always a scandal, there's always things like that. That's why I don't understand why some people are trying to reject that. It's just those super ultra fans in their basement that are trying to reject it, which it is what it is, you know, if you don't like it, you don't have to watch it."

Originally Posted by WWE Network News With Survivor Series a little over a week away, it makes sense that the WWE Network’s Hidden Gems spotlight would finally begin to focus in on the last “big 4” pay-per-view of the year. And with that in mind, it makes sense for what is steadily becoming a modern tradition to continue as well; the release of corresponding TV hype specials to the streaming service. After being graced by a Sunday Night Slam special for SummerSlam 1994 earlier this year, we’re now set to receive the followup of the same name for Survivor Series 1994, which taped on November 8, 1994 at the Fernwood Resort & Country Club in Pennsylvania but didn’t air until the 20th, just 3 days before the PPV. While the August show was 2-hours long, the runtime was cut in November as the era of standalone TV “spectaculars” began to run its course ... Also of note for the purists out there is that the video has a perfectly healthy runtime of 44:58 and zero significant edits have been made to the presentation. Meaning that both a Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart recap and a Survivor Series Report segment with Todd Pettingill are completely intact ... As always, we wrap up with WWE’s official description: Sunday Night Slam: November 1994 [Duration: 00:44:58] Yokozuna, The British Bulldog, The Smoking Gunns and more compete in exciting matches just days before Survivor Series 1994.

Originally Posted by PWI The Boys, formerly of ROH and Dalton Castle proteges, are backstage at AEW Dynamite in Nashville. Dustin Rhodes worked as a commentator for AEW Dark.

TPWW Frontpage:
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