[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter Edition):

The spreading of the coronavirus has the entire sports, entertainment, travel and tourism economies in at least short-term jeopardy, along with the far more serious aspects of a rapidly-spreading disease that will seemingly greatly affect all of our lives in some form ... At press time, no decision has been made regarding WrestleMania and the activities of that week, which affects not only WWE but is a key part of the annual income for companies that piggy-back off WWE’s biggest show, whether it be for live events or fan gatherings. Tampa, the home of WrestleMania, had as of 3/11, three cases of the virus diagnosed. WrestleMania, like all major events of this type around the country, is clearly in some jeopardy although one WWE official told us that there will be a WrestleMania in some form ... While companies in almost all industries in some form will feel a major effect from this, in the sports industries, the major leagues that have great television deals and don’t have to rely on the live gate will survive with less pain. In particular, both WWE and UFC, with their large profit margins will be able to ride this out far better than almost anyone else. New Japan, which relies on live gates and merchandise for the majority of its annual income, and has canceled all its events since 2/26, will take a much harder hit. For smaller companies with far less cushion, it could be disastrous, and that is not just entertainment companies but regular businesses as well ... There are no official returns but New Japan canceled the rest of the New Japan Cup tournament events, through 3/21. The Japanese government had told all major sports and entertainment companies not to run shows with spectators at least through 3/25. With the exception of Big Japan, which ignored the directive, no major company is running spectator events, although Stardom and DDT have run empty arena shows ... While not talked about, the promotion that may face the most danger from this is CMLL, because a huge percentage of its audience are tourists. If people stop going to Mexico City, that will severely cut back their live business and their business is largely based on big Friday night crowds and Sunday and Tuesday events at Arena Mexico. Its wrestlers, who are mostly still paid on the house, will also be affected greatly if that happens ... Lots of independent promotions don’t have insurance so this could hurt that business greatly. Plus there will be a huge amount of damage to the insurance business.

For WWE, it looks like he Walter vs. Finn Balor match at the planned NXT Takeover show on 4/4 is off, if the show even happens. One of the travel ramifications is that if a non-U.S. citizen or resident has been to EU’s Schengen area (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) in the past 14 days, they can’t come to the U.S. regardless of the airport they are flying into. So anyone who was in Germany last week, which includes Walter and Alexander Wolfe, wouldn’t be allowed in, unless somehow they find a way around those regulations. Black Taurus and Daniel Makabe, who are still in Europe, could also have issues getting into the U.S. Bandido and Puma King, who I believe are not U.S. citizens, returned from Germany before the travel ban. All fans who attended the 16 Carat Gold tournament this past weekend would not be allowed to attend WrestleMania week if it goes on as scheduled. Because of this, it is impossible for wXw to get talent into the U.S. right now and its show over WrestleMania week has been canceled.

Due to pressure from WWE, David Starr (Max Barsky, 29), who was in many people’s eyes the most valuable wrestler on the European scene this past year, is now out of both Progress and wXw, companies where he was one of the most pushed stars. According to those close to the situation, the WWE pressure will not affect his standing with OTT out of Ireland, where he is the current world champion. Starr had quietly not been booked by Progress since the end of last year, and his name also stopped being mentioned in any commentary of the shows on their streaming service. But the situation became public on 3/7 when Starr lost a match to wXw champion Bobby Gunns in a career in wXw vs. title match that he was assumed to be winning ... Starr and wXw management made the decision, which from all accounts neither wanted to make, due to pressure from WWE. Neither side wanted to publicly discuss the situation with Starr saying he didn’t want to talk about it because he really loves wXw so much ... This is the first time we’re aware of that WWE has pressured companies not to use talent that wasn’t with a rival promotion like AEW. While the reasons were the same, the belief from Progress is that they were not that unhappy regarding the pressure to no longer use him, and with that, he wasn’t that unhappy about no longer working there. But Starr and wXw did not want to stop working together. The belief is that WWE pressured the companies that they have working agreements with to no longer use Starr was because of his pro-union voice and attempts in the U.K. to get wrestlers to join the Equity union, the trade union for performers, similar to SAG in the U.S. Thus far, two promotions, Eve and Riot Cabaret, have agreed to adopt the Equity union’s negotiated code of conduct policy ... He’s been critical of WWE calling its employees independent contractors and of Sinclair Broadcasting politics ... The belief is that WWE made the calls in December, at which point Progress had him lose to Eddie Dennis and Jimmy Havoc on the way out. This came after Progress had put him over in their Strong Style 16 tournament. The key is that WWE did not pressure Progress to no longer use Havoc, even though he’s an AEW wrestler. The December date would be before Starr and Gabe Sapolsky went back-and-forth on Twitter, with Starr talking about Evolve using some wrestlers who work for free based on getting exposure or that Evolve doesn’t pay wrestlers well that it has under contract. Those close to the situation also discount Starr stomping on Walter’s NXT UK championship belt while doing an angle, although the belief is that it added fuel to the fire of WWE encouraging people not to book him and push him any longer. This happened on an OTT show last summer, and OTT had claimed the spot was something Starr did on his own and not something planned. Clearly WWE and wXw reached an agreement to allow them to write Starr out in a career vs. title program rather than just stop using him.

As far as WrestleMania goes, there have been only two key changes in the past week, both involving women. The women’s tag title match at press time is now a three-way with the Kabuki Warriors defending against both Beth Phoenix & Natalya and Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss. The Smackdown women’s title match went through different forms and discussions including talk of Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and shooting an angle with them. Eventually that is still the plan, but wasn’t until later in the year. As of two weeks ago it was to be Bayley vs. Naomi, but now it’s a six-way with Bayley, Banks, Naomi, Lacey Evans, Carmella and one more name which wasn’t finalized. Mandy Rose in some form is supposed to be involved in the Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler match. Zayn and Strowman are likely to be in the IC title match, although in what form isn’t known. There are also both Raw and Smackdown tag team titles and the U.S. title in play. Most of the top pushed stars are accounted for other than Sheamus, King Corbin and Daniel Bryan. Although they still need some talent for both the men’s and women’s Battle Royal.

WWE Smackdown on 3/6 did 2,456,000 viewers and a 0.7 in 18-49. It was down 8.6 percent in viewers over the high mark the week before from John Cena’s appearance ... Last year on the same Friday night FOX averaged 3,242,000 viewers and 0.63 in 18-49, so down 24.2 percent in viewers and up 11.1 percent in 18-49.

Due to the news, pro wrestling took a hit on 3/11, although for whatever reason news coverage far more greatly affected AEW than NXT. This probably says something about the divergence in both audiences but I’m not exactly sure what, but it’s very evident ... AEW did 766,000 viewers and a 0.26 in 18-49, a drop of 15.5 percent in viewers and 25.7 percent in 18-49. NXT did 697,000 viewers and a 0.21 in 18-49, drops of just 2.9 percent in viewers and 8.7 percent in 18-49. At press time no rating for Miz & Mrs. was available because it was not in the top 150 for the night. AEW was 25th for the night in the demo, trailing nine entertainment shows and the rest either news or basketball (which was huge in the news) related ... NXT was 42nd in the demo for the night. AEW’s losses were all younger viewers. The show did a 0.11 in 12-17 (down 31.3 percent), 0.18 in 18-34 (down 25.0 percent), 0.34 in 35-49 (down 26.1 percent) and 0.33 in 50+ (down 2.9 percent) ... NXT wasn’t hurt at all in any age group but 18-34. It did a 0.10 in 12-17 (same as last week), 0.12 in 18-34 (down 25.0 percent), 0.30 in 35-49 (same as last week) and 0.34 in 50+ (same as last week).

Some additional ratings notes regarding the 3/4 television shows ... The head-to-head numbers, removing the overrun, were 906,000 to 709,000 ... However, the Roderick Strong vs. Velveteen Dream cage match did grow a record 271,000 new viewers overall and 93,000 in 18-49 as soon as AEW ended. AEW won all eight quarters and only in the second quarter was the gap less than 100,000 viewers and for the last 30 minutes the gap was more than 300,000. The show started with AEW with 902,000 viewers and 435,000 in 18-49 for the Jon Moxley/Inner Circle talk. NXT did 782,000 viewers and 321,000 in 18-49 for the beginning of the Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox cage match. In the second quarter, AEW had Colt Cabana & Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky vs. Stu Grayson & Evil Uno & John Silver & Alex Reynolds and lost 23,000 viewers and 14,000 in 18-49. NXT had the ending of the cage match, a Finn Balor promo and a feature on Rhea Ripley at Raymond James Stadium, and gained 14,000 viewers and gained 20,000 in 18-49. In the third quarter, AEW had the end of the eight-man tag, and a piece of the tag title match from Revolution and lost 37,000 viewers and 17,000 in 18-49. NXT had Shotzi Blackheart vs. Chelsea Green and a Keith Lee-Cameron Grimes promo segment, and lost 40,000 viewers and 11,000 in 18-49. In the fourth quarter, AEW had the Cody-Jake Roberts segment which lost 19,000 viewers and 12,000 in 18-49 ... NXT had Austin Theory vs. Isaiah Scott angle and the beginning of Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, and it lost 99,000 viewers 47,000 in 18-49. In the fifth quarter, AEW had Pac vs. Chuck Taylor and post-match stuff that included Cody, Matt Jackson, Pentagon, Fenix, Orange Cassidy and Adam Page, and gained 100,000 viewers and 45,000 in 18-49. NXT had the rest of Fish & O’Reilly vs. Lorcan & Burch and the attack by the Grizzled Young Vets on Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne, which gained 47,000 viewers and 21,000 in 18-49. In the sixth quarter, AEW had QT Marshall vs. Jake Hager and the post-match angle there and a video package promoting the main event and gained 26,000 viewers and 55,000 in 18-49. NXT with Isaiah Scott vs. Austin Theory lost 4,000 viewers and 29,000 in 18-49. In the seventh quarter, AEW had the beginning of Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin and the rest of the Inner Circle beating down Jon Moxley, and lost 13,000 viewers but gained 2,000 in18-49. NXT had the Mauro Ranallo interview with Johnny Gargano and promotion of the second cage match and lost 77,000 viewers and 18,000 in 18-49. In the final quarter, AEW with the rest of Jericho & Guevara vs. Allin plus another beatdown of Jon Moxley, they gained 56,000 viewers and 30,000 in 18-49. NXT with Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong in a cage gained 30,000 viewers and 27,000 in 18-49. In that quarter, AEW had 992,000 viewers and 524,000 in 18-49, its peak in both categories for th e show. NXT had its second lowest quarter, with 653,000 viewers and 284,000 in 18-49.

WWE is still in talks with people regarding a PPV deal. They’ve announced WrestleMania as being on the network which would indicate the belief they aren’t close enough on the deal to not make that announcement. The only thing we’ve heard is WWE is seeking a very high number for the deal

After Wilson and Barrios were fired, people in the company continually hinted that something almost as big was being kept quiet that happened in December but said it would have to come out when the company made it clear. The company never made it clear, but a recent SEC filing when giving Levesque’s new title essentially opened the door for questions. Levesque was the head of talent relations, his main job, but also oversaw many other departments in his role as EVP of Talent, Live Events and Creative. So he was moved away from being in charge of talent and his main duties are now NXT, selling NXT TV rights overseas and expanding NXT globally. Brad Blum, Vince McMahon’s Chief of Staff, took over Levesque’s other duties as Executive Vice President of Operations, overseeing the divisions Levesque was formerly overseeing. It’s a change. There are those internally and externally who have called it a quiet demotion. The labeling of his new title gives the impression that he’s the guy negotiating with talent, but that is one of the things he was removed from doing. Mark Carrano no longer reports to Levesque and now reports to Blum. Either way, it is curious that this was kept quiet for nearly four months

There was a photo that surfaced this past week of Ronda Rousey and Cain Velasquez which led to rumors Rousey was going to be back for WrestleMania. What we were told is that, simply by coincidence, both were at the office at the same time, saw each other and got a photo together and then Velasquez tweeted it out for the world to see. Both were in Stamford for meetings with WWE on a number of items. Lots of talent is being brought in for meetings with multiple departments as there has been a lot of corporate shifting around and changes made back in December. That said, that photo caused quite the stir in the office as whatever the plan are for Rousey, her being in the office was supposed to be top secret to the point nobody was supposed to know but a few people, and that includes key people in the company as it was supposed to be that hush-hush. It was said by one person that Vince McMahon was freaking out badly over it knowing he couldn’t fire the “leaker” since it was Velasquez who didn’t know any better, but another said that was overblown and people were more laughing about it than freaking out about it

This has quietly gone without much notice, because nobody pays attention to 205 Live. But after all these years, WWE is now taping 205 Live first, before Smackdown, and starting its East Coast shows at 7:15 p.m. They are taping usually two matches, cutting the time back on 205 Live, and then taping Smackdown, and doing one dark match main event after the show. This always should have been the case, because 205 Live has played to dead crowds for the most part for a long time. The problem is now the show has been so devalued that while people no longer leave during the show like in the past, the matches still aren’t getting much heat

Regarding Matt Hardy, the Freeing the Delete video, according to an interview he did with PW Insider, had in his mind three different possible endings. One would have involved Undertaker, one with Bray Wyatt and the third with the Young Bucks. He said that when he started the series he was expecting to end up in WWE. He said they talked but he knows at 45 that his time in the business isn’t long as an active competitor and he also needs a minimal in-ring schedule. Basically he said he left on good terms but they had him slotted at a certain level and it ended the way it did. He noted that WWE had talked with him about doing more episodes of House Hardy for the WWE Network as late as January but the trigger was never pulled because they didn’t want to film a show and not know where his creative was going so that the character he played would be obsolete before it would air. That also may have been the impetus in the sense they wouldn’t do the show without him signing a new deal. He also talked of an idea he must have pitched to Smackdown where he’d head a stable of some of the more underutilized guys there like Gable and Crews. He said that as of the weekend he was still a free agent. But the reality is it would be quite the swerve on the Young Bucks to have them show up in his video and then him go elsewhere. I do know that this past week everyone expected him to end up in AEW, and really has for some time. He said that it was talked to him about taking the Orton thing further and him coming back for revenge, but again, that would have meant him signing a new deal. And both angles on Raw were meant as him being written off and not written for he and Orton to go forward. The first was the farewell but the decision was then made because the first popped a quarter and was well received, that he still had time on his deal and they could do it again. It was absolutely meant as a burial on the way out and quite frankly, couldn’t have been stronger, but the reality is those things don’t work today in burying like in another era because fans see things much differently