[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Jeremy Borash tweeted that Vic Joseph and Shawn Michaels will be calling Halftime Heat, which is taking place from the Performance Center during halftime of Sunday’s Super Bowl and airing live on the WWE Network, WWE.com and the WWE app, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black & Ricochet are facing Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole.

Originally Posted by Observer Lawyers hired by the Lawler family have issued subpoenas to the Hardeman County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as part of their investigation into the death of Brian Christopher Lawler. The subpoenas are part of a civil action “to pursue a civil rights claim against Hardeman County, and the deputies that were supposed to protect Brian Christopher Lawler."

Link: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/12...wers-.html?p=1

Originally Posted by Observer Killian Dain posted a tweet asking “#WHEREISSANITY ?!?”, with Alexander Wolfe quote tweeting “Sick of this” in response. The group, which includes Eric Young, haven’t been on television since December 18.

Originally Posted by Observer All Elite Wrestling issued a press release today hyping next week's Double or Nothing ticket announcement party. The ticket announcement party will take place at the Splash Pool at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada at 9 p.m. Eastern time (6 p.m. Pacific) on Thursday, February 7. AEW is promoting that Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Brandi Rhodes will "reveal spectacular new signings, exciting new partnerships, ticket on-sale information, and a surprise special guest" at the party.

Originally Posted by PWI TheWrap is reporting that Charlie Ebersol's Alliance Of American Football has signed a multiyear cross-platform agreement with Turner Sports with the first season starting February 9. So when the XFL starts February 2020, Vince McMahon will find himself in a very familiar situation with Turner Sports.

Originally Posted by Fightful.com An update on Cody Rhodes' knee injury. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that Cody Rhodes will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Feb. 12 in Atlanta. He is expected to miss two to three months of action but is not scheduled to wrestle until AEW Double or Nothing on May 25.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter There is a lot of talent expected at the AEW Double of Nothing Ticket Announcement Party. CIMA is likely going to be there. They want some surprises. They're trying to bring in names that were not in Jacksonville. Kenny Omega is not signed, but I believe he is going to AEW and this is a good shot that he may be there. The only name that I've heard among women is STARDOM's Bea Priestley, who WWE was pushing hard for, but AEW looks closer with her. She’s not signed as of yet. All Elite seems like a great choice for newer women to go right now. WWE has a lot of great wrestlers, but there is so many people, that it's easy to get lost in the talent pool, or take forever to make it up the ranks. AEW, if a success, they're going to feature women at a top level, so there is more opportunity to be featured and make an impact quicker. There are arguments for both sides but AEW wants to push women and the roster is thin, just Britt Baker and Brandi Rhodes. They are heavily scouting Japan. A good woman wrestler would be featured on major television far quicker in AEW. When comparing with current ticket sales that WWE is having for RAW, Smackdown, or the Rumble, AEW selling 3,000 tickets on release date would using logic be a good number for modern pro wrestling for a group with no TV. Look at ROH and they have TV or Impact’s history when they had good TV. The only indicator right now are AEW's merchandise sales, that have completely exceeded projections since launch. Furthermore, activities like the pool party, the Young Bucks appearances at DEFY and Bar Wrestling, the rallies, are there to try and keep the buzz going for Double or Nothing, working as the week to week promotion for the show. The rallies are very expensive, described as expensive as an ROH TV taping but with no revenue coming in except some merch money.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter So far, there have been no conversations between NJPW and AEW, and given the situation with the New Beginnings US tour missing all of their Japanese talent, the shows could have benefitted from the return of the talent from AEW, but with so many politics involved, NJPW didn't reach out. Harold Meij made a statement, saying "AEW is a new organization to start from now, and I do not know what kind of relationship we would make, I think it is necessary to figure out what policy they would develop on pro wrestling". The statement seems to imply that NJPW is waiting to see where AEW goes and whether it is successful or not. The style of pro wrestling that AEW wants to have is likely to be very compatible with NJPW, not an exact copy since AEW does have certain ideas that they want to implement. AEW is looking to bring in the sports aspect of wrestling to their promotion for fans to have something to grasp on.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter A.J. Styles contract expires in April. He couldn't be asking for a better time for this to happen. Even though he has friends in AEW he appears to be staying with WWE.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter With WWE releasing the Ambrose contract story to the media, that he was leaving because he turned down a new deal, and his contract expires in April, a lot of people are thinking that this whole thing is a work, that is including people within WWE. When I asked for confirmation on Monday night, wrestlers didn’t know, although some may have, but it definitely hadn’t gotten around. Creative didn’t know, although most believe the key people in company were well aware of it. But most of the creative team had no idea, not even that the last things written for him were in a way write him off ... He turned down a five-year contract with a downside of just over $1 million per year. At this point, we only know he'd be a free agent in April, assuming that WWE doesn't freeze the contract to make up for last year's nine month absence with his surgery for a torn triceps. But the company outright gave April as the date, so it appears they aren’t going to say they froze his contract. Still, Daniel Bryan found out just before his deal was to expire that they claimed he was under contract for yet another year. We know Ambrose is friends with Jericho and Cody. We also know he hasn’t been talking to AEW about coming. However, in April, if he wants to continue wrestling, they would very much be interested in making a deal with him.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter As for Renee Young, there's really no idea what her status would be. ESPN had interest in her in the past but she stayed with WWE. There's no reason to believe that she would leave WWE, many people work with WWE while their spouses don't. But she’s in a spot where she’s not being used effectively right now.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Jericho has not signed with NJPW, but he's been in talks with Gedo. It seems that there are some ideas that both parties want to play out. AEW's contract allows Jericho to do NJPW, so it's now just a matter of them signing a new contract for 2019. Jericho has said that he has interest in wrestling Tanahashi and Okada, and from the NJPW side, there is interest in Jericho against both of them as well as Minoru Suzuki.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter ROH is hurting for losing the Bucks, Cody and Page, and numbers are down, but it wasn't a death blow as a lot of people expected.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc In January 2019, Ring of Honor ran 5 shows. Utilizing numbers from The Wrestling Observer / Wrestling Observer Radio, the company drew a total of 3,900 fans and averaged 780 fans per show. Center Stage hosted the first show of 2019 and was the usual 700 person sellout. Concord, NC was down from shows that drew 1,000-1,100 in 2017-2018 and drew only 750 this month. Dallas was down from 800 in attendance in 2018 to 700 in January. San Antonio was down from last year's 800 in attendance to 750 this year. Houston drew 1,000 in a very large building. There is no comparable number for Houston as the last time ROH hit the market was for WrestleMania weekend many years ago (outdrawing this show by nearly double). In 2017 and 2018, the company only ran one show in the month of January and drew 700 and 1,400, respectively, in Atlanta's Center Stage and the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. In 2016, the company ran 4 shows and drew a total of 3,200 and an average of 800. In 2015, the company drew 3,700 over 4 shows and averaged 925. Many are watching for an All Elite Effect - in that, did the Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, etc. migration influence attendance drops? It is early to say, but during the first half of 2018, the company averaged 1,412 but in the second half of the year, the average for ROH was 964 (a 46% drop in attendance). The first half of the year will be stronger as well with the company's upcoming sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on April 6th.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Lesnar’s sponsorship deal with Jimmy John’s Gourmet sandwiches expired and wasn’t renewed which is why he no longer has that logo on his ring outfit.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc According to Sports Illustrated, sources close to WWE have said the current plan is to have WWE RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch be the main event of WrestleMania 35. WWE's biggest show of the year will go down on April 7 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A There was a “big flurry of activity” backstage at SmackDown on Tuesday, with WWE officials meeting with wrestlers whose contracts are set to expire in the next year or two and seeking to lock them into new longer-term deals, according to PWInsider. PWInsider said that the departure of Ambrose and the possibility of him going to AEW when his deal expires appeared to set things off with a new sense of urgency, though WWE had already been trying to lock wrestlers into longer-term deals since the announcement of AEW and even before that (Kevin Owens and The Miz signed new five year deals before the announcement of AEW).