[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets sponsored by "The Human Pinata" Dominik:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw had split messages this week as viewers increased 7,000 from last week to 1.72 million, but 18-49 was down eight percent to 0.47, the latter being the third lowest number in the history of the show. Raw finished fifth for the night in 18-49 and was 24th overal ... The NBA game head-to-head did a 0.67 in 18-49 and 1.53 million viewers. As compared to the same week last year, Raw was down 37 percent in viewers, 49 percent in 18-49 and 67 percent in 18-34. Raw started well above last week and the second hour didn't drop much, but hour three had the big drop with a normal 12 percent first-to-third hour drop. So the Raw Underground curiosity didn't hold the audience this week, but they did start out with more interest in hour one than they had in a long time. As far as first-to-third hour drops, it was 18 percent in women 18-49, two percent in men 18-49 (so held up better than usual there), two percent in teenage girls (so not the increase of last week, but still held up better than usual), and teenage boys were up eight percent, again better than usual ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 1.81 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.75 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.60 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic halted events, Ring of Honor is returning to producing new television episodes. ROH announced today that they're returning to producing episodes of their Ring of Honor Wrestling TV show in the company's home state of Maryland this month. There will be no fans in attendance at the tapings ... ROH wrote that the new tapings will "pick up right where ROH left off with a focus on the ROH Pure Title Tournament, which had been originally scheduled for April." Matt Sydal revealed on the latest episode of the ROHStrong podcast that he'll be taking part in the Pure title tournament. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ROH hasn't run an event since February. The promotion's 18th Anniversary pay-per-view and Past vs. Present show that were scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in March were the first events affected by ROH's cancellations.

Originally Posted by PWI Ring of Honor announced today they will return to PPV on Friday 9/25 with The Best of Death Before Dishonor 2020: Interesting to note that show is listed as "live" on PPV.

Originally Posted by PWI The documentary You Cannot Kill David Arquette will be released on 8/21 via drive-in theaters and on 8/28 for digital streaming and On Demand via PPV outlets Directed by David Darg and Price James, the plot of the documentary is that Arquette has returned to pro wrestling to clear his name after being hated and blamed by wrestling fans for his short run in WCW. The documentary features interviews with those closest to Arquette, including Courteney Cox, sisters Patricia and Rosanna Arquette, Richmond Arquette and Ric Flair, among others. Promotional material for the film expounds on the plot, noting "Branded as the most hated man in wrestling after winning a highly controversial WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 2000, actor David Arquette attempts a rocky return to the sport that stalled his promising Hollywood career. Dangerously determined to redeem his reputation and reclaim his self-respect, Arquette will stop at nothing to earn his place in professional wrestling." The film was slated to debut earlier this year but was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic

Originally Posted by PWI The next planned WWE NXT Takeover event after Summerslam weekend is slated to be Sunday 10/4, PWInsider.com has confirmed. NXT UK was scheduled to have a Takeover in Dublin, Ireland on 10/25 but given the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, that is looking less and less likely to take place as originally envisioned.

Originally Posted by PWI In an article on MLW's website, Major League Wrestling head Court Bauer commented on the promotion moving closer to resuming an in-ring product, something the company stopped at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ve been very encouraged by how the UFC, NBA, the NHL, Top Rank Boxing and DAZN Match Room boxing have managed operations as they restart,” said Bauer. “We’re also seeing TV and film start back up in certain regions in a cautious manner and that’s the mindset you need to operate with during this moment in time: caution.” “We are speaking with some of the sharpest minds at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine on a restart and talked with New Japan’s people on how they’ve approached it – and they’ve done an incredible job… we also engaged some of our athletes who have competed outside of MLW during the pandemic to see what worked, what didn’t and what could be improved upon. It’s very important to gather as much information, advice and medical analysis as possible and that’s what we’ve been doing. That analysis gives you the best ability to do your job and navigate the next steps in examining a restart.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Eric Bischoff recently appeared on AEW Dynamite to moderate the debate between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy. Bischoff took to his 83 Weeks podcast and reflected on his experience backstage at Dynamite and what he picked up from his time there. “When I went backstage at AEW two weeks ago, the first thing I noticed was, ‘Wow, these guys are actually having fun laying their sh*t out. These guys are actually having fun trying to figure out how to lay a match out in a way that not only entertains the audience obviously, but advances their story’ and you could tell. I could hear some of the conversations. Not that I was eavesdropping but sometimes you can’t help it. I was walking by and it’s like, ‘These guys are working hard to get each other over. They’re not just working hard to get themselves over’ which you have to do. But when you get to that point and you’re coming at it with a frame of mind that, ‘Okay, how can I make my opponent look better than me’ and your opponent is looking to do the same thing, that’s when the magic happens, and the freedom to do it so, can’t say enough good things about the talent, the energy backstage, the hospitality, the professionalism. It was really a great experience for me. If I never step in front of a camera again, if I never go backstage again anywhere, even to say hi to anybody, it’ll be okay for me. Sure I’d look forward to doing it and all that. I’m not saying I’d never want to do it again but if it were to happen, I’m glad that my last experience kind of in a backstage environment, watching a bunch of young talent, fresh talent, hungry talent that believe they can make a difference, that energy is something that I walked away with and if that’s the last experience I have, it will be a great one.” Eric Bischoff also spoke highly of AEW President Tony Khan. Bischoff stated that on top of Khan being a great businessman, he’s also a good producer. Bischoff mentioned that-that’s a department he went the wrong direction in as far as his tenure with WCW and that was putting people in positions that are for him and expecting them to work the way he would’ve. “That was really interesting. Now I got to meet Tony, because of you [Conrad Thompson]. You put us together to do a thing on Patreon and I enjoyed talking to him, talking to him then, but when I was backstage, it was most noticeable for me and I hope Tony doesn’t mind me saying this — I doubt that he would but, in case you do Tony, I apologize. Okay, I’m just gonna use my best judgement here. But while I was getting ready to go out — we’ll call it a Gorilla Position but, when I was standing backstage ready to be introduced for the segment, I was within an earshot of Tony when he was at the Gorilla Position on monitors and couldn’t help but overhear Tony talking to probably Keith Mitchell in the truck, somebody in the truck. I’m assuming it was Keith. Tony’s into this. Tony’s not just the guy with the checkbook. Tony’s not just the guy with the checkbook that’s also a big fan. Tony’s the guy with the checkbook who’s a big fan, who’s also a good producer, and more importantly, loves producing. Therein lies the magic. His passion in the product, he’s obviously a very intelligent and experienced businessman. Check those boxes but when you have passion and you like producing and you’re willing to grab it by the balls as opposed to putting someone else in that position and hoping that they’re going to do the work that you want them to do, and by the way, that’s what I did to a large degree. That’s a mistake that I made to a large degree as I put other people in positions that I probably should’ve had a much larger control of myself so that’s why I’m pointing this out. Tony is grabbing this thing by the balls. What he lacks in experience, he more than makes up for in passion, intelligence and enjoyment of what he’s doing and taking control over it. He has a lot more control over what’s going on than I assumed. Not knowing him, just assumed that he did so that was a fun thing to watch.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling released a schedule for the participants who’ll be in the 2020 G1 Climax tournament that kicks off next month. Due to Coronavirus concerns, the number of wrestlers at the G1 events will be limited. B block tournament entrants will not compete on A block nights and vice versa throughout the tour.

Link: https://www.njpw1972.com/78801

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Son of Rick Steiner, Bronson Rechsteiner has been waived by the Baltimore Ravens according to ESPN’s Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley.

Originally Posted by WrestleTalk A New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) star has revealed that WWE made contact with him over a potential contract during his period of free agency. Jeff Cobb spoke with Fightful, which on Fightful Select (subscription required and recommended) gave a sneak preview writing that Cobb spoke about his contract negotiations with various companies. Cobb said that WWE made contact with him while he wasn’t signed anywhere, but also said that IMPACT Wrestling didn’t. It had also previously been reported that AEW had made him contract offers after he made a couple of appearances for the promotion as Chris Jericho’s hired hitman during his program with Jon Moxley.

Originally Posted by 411Mania According to a report by Fightful Select, some new details about trainees and developmental talent being able to resume their training again are available. As previously reported, WWE’s developmental talents have not been able to train since the start of the pandemic. Also, the Observer Newsletter reported regular classes are rumored to be resuming on August 10 at a new facility, which is expected to be a warehouse located close to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Based on Fightful’s latest report, starting on July 31, wrestlers were being informed by coaches about the new warehouse facility to conduct their training. The report states that coaches were frustrated that the trainees were still being paid in full when they weren’t training, along with some of the students opting out of the audience tapings. Also, WWE has already apparently resumed tape studies and Skull Sessions. Skull Sessions are when wrestlers watch someone’s most current matches, and everyone provides their feedback. Additionally, Ryan Katz is said to have overseen a “Promolympics,” where the talents submit their own promos and pitches.

Originally Posted by Fightful While fan engagement is important in 2020, sometimes it can go overboard turn into toxicity. Earlier last week, Brandi Rhodes deactivated her Twitter account after receiving negative criticism over the membership fee for AEW Heels as well as complaints about the recent direction of AEW’s women's division. Back in December, Matt and Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks also made the decision to leave Twitter following negative criticism that stemmed from the direction of the AEW Dynamite television show. In the wake of Brandi leaving Twitter, Matt Jackson took to his Instagram story to further explain why he supports anybody making the decision to leave social media and more surrounding why he and Nick felt the need to get off of Twitter for their own mental health and family well-being. "I applaud anyone who decides to take a break from social media. Especially the toxic world of Twitter specifically. We logged off when threatening messages were sent to us regularly and finally the last straw came when google map images of our homes were being tweeted to us. It's been a nice break for our mental health. If someone decides to sign off, good for them."

Originally Posted by PWI FOX will be airing a two-hour special to promote WWE's 2020 Summerslam PPV on Saturday 8/22, PWInsider.com has confirmed. WWE Summerslam's Hottest Moments will air in the New York City market from 4-6 PM. The special may air in other timeslots depending on the market. The special will feature highlights from the history of WWE's annual August PPV, which debuted in 1988.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Seth Rollins was a guest on The Gorilla Position podcast to discuss the Monday Night Messiah character and the ongoing feud with Rey Mysterio. The subject of long-term storytelling was brought up and Rollins’ belief that the fanbase does not have the patience for long-term storytelling: "Well, man, I think its kind of a lost art across the board in entertainment. And not that it’s a lost art, just the audience, as we get into this age of instant gratification, they don’t have the patience for long-term storytelling. When you can binge-watch your favorite series in two days as opposed to two months, it creates a different precedent for how we intake our entertainment. It’s the difference between watching a full match and just seeing the GIFs of it or the highlights of it. So, I just think people are intaking their entertainment on a different level. It’s the difference between artists releasing singles as opposed to full-length albums because of the way the consumers are taking in their entertainment, so that shift, wrestling is not immune to that shift and so we have to do that as well to keep up with our audience. But I do think, I’m not a twenty-something, I’m a thirty-four-year-old guy, so the storytelling I grew up on had a longer form and that’s what I enjoy, so I think if our younger audience could learn to appreciate it might be something they’re into. But it also might not be how their brains are wired or how we’ve rewired people’s brains to think. It’s a very interesting time in entertainment, in television, and music and movies altogether really, and that shift of how things are going." Of course, he is also working for someone who has shown zero capacity to stick with something long-term with one of the frequent complaints is Vince McMahon’s inability to stick with a plan long enough and often, blow up plans without notice. It’s a cop-out to blame the fanbase that has barely been given an opportunity to respond to a truly long-term and laid out storyline that goes beyond a pay-per-view cycle. There are countless examples from other promotions that have built their stories for months and sometimes years for the finale that audiences have been captivated by. In WWE, there are too many examples of stories that begin and have no payoff or ending with Rollins even noting in the interview that his character and stories are a week-to-week process rather than a carefully laid out plan of where his character will be six months from now. Rollins also shared his satisfaction with the recent Eye-for-an-Eye match at Extreme Rules and who they were trying to appeal to: "If this stipulation had happened in 1999 in the middle of the Attitude Era, I don’t think anyone would have scoffed at it. I think it would have just been a crazy moment of wild stuff happening in WWE and obviously, we are twenty years later and things are different in the way we watch things and the audience sees wrestling differently At the end of the day, it is what it is, that’s what the moment was meant to do was to create interest in the casual viewer. I think the moment you said ‘Eye-for-an-Eye Match’, the hardcore wrestling fan, and if I was a nineteen-year-old kid would probably say the same thing, would be like ‘Oh please, why can’t they just let these two wrestle?’ you know? But, at the end of the day, the wrestling spoke for itself and the end moment ended up on TMZ, so we’re doing a service to both of our audiences. We gave them a great wrestling match on the front end and gave the casual viewer to say, ‘What the hell are they doing over there?’. I loved it, I thought it was great, I was really happy with. I loved sharing the ring with Rey Mysterio and I was pretty overwhelmingly happy with the final product, particularly considering we sort did that last scene with limited time and in one take. So, I was overwhelmingly pleased with the finished product."

Originally Posted by PWI A GoFundMe Campaign has been launched to assist the family of James "Kamala" Harris, who passed away yesterday due to cardiac arrest brought by COVID-19, with funeral expenses. The family had been hit hard financially in recent years due to Harris' medical expenses.

Link for those interested in donating: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kamala-fu...dbd2972ad947f2


TPWW Frontpage:

• NJPW: Full Card for Summer Struggle in Jingu, KOPW Tournament Matches, NJPW Strong, Togi Makabe
• WWE: MVP on RAW Underground, PC Sets New SmackDown Record, Trademarks, Updated SD Ratings
• Two Title Matches Announced for SummerSlam – Updated Card
• Finished TNT Championship to Be Revealed Tomorrow on Dynamite