[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer ROH has announced a big change to their HonorClub streaming service. Live pay-per-views will now be included with all HonorClub subscriptions. PPVs were only included for VIP subscribers previously, and standard subscribers had received discounts on PPV purchases ... ROH also made two more announcements as part of their first wave of HonorClub upgrades: The Archives - HonorClub is beginning to add to its library of historic events. A number of ROH events from 2010 are now available and content will continue to be added over the next couple months after it is finalized for publishing. Match Menus - Another feature of the new and improved HonorClub is the addition of match menus, which will allow users to skip to their favorite matches from the video player. This currently only works when watching via rohhonorclub.com on your computer or mobile device, BUT there are future plans to provide this experience on the apps, as well as to make the matches searchable across the platform . Match menus are currently available for the 2020 ROH Events and will be available for all shows going back to 2016 in the coming weeks. Check out this new functionality now by opening your favorite 2020 show and finding the menu icon in the video player’s function bar.

Originally Posted by Observer AEW has revealed their latest set of top-five roster rankings: Men's division -- Champion: Jon Moxley (8-0 singles record in 2020, 13-2-1 overall record) Chris Jericho (0-1 singles record in 2020, 11-3-1 overall record) Jake Hager (4-0 singles record in 2020, 5-0 overall record) Cody (5-1 singles record in 2020, 12-5-1 overall record) Kenny Omega (2-0 singles record in 2020, 18-6 overall record) Darby Allin (4-2 singles record in 2020, 9-8-1 overall record) Women's division -- Champion: Nyla Rose (4-1 singles record in 2020, 9-4 overall record) Hikaru Shida (5-1 singles record in 2020, 10-5 overall record) Kris Statlander (2-3 singles record in 2020, 6-6 overall record) Yuka Sakazaki (1-1 singles record in 2020, 1-4 overall record) Britt Baker (2-2 singles record in 2020, 10-6 overall record) Riho (3-3 singles record in 2020, 11-6 overall record) Tag team division -- Champions: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (6-0 tag team record in 2020, 18-6 overall record for Omega, 13-9 overall record for Page) The Dark Order (5-0 tag team record in 2020, 9-3 overall record for Evil Uno, 9-4 overall record for Stu Grayson) The Young Bucks (2-2 tag team record in 2020, 12-9 overall record for Nick Jackson, 12-9 overall record for Matt Jackson) SCU (2-3 tag team record in 2020, 16-7 overall record for Scorpio Sky, 16-6 overall record for Frankie Kazarian) The Lucha Bros (1-2 tag team record in 2020, 10-9 overall record for Pentagon Jr., 11-9 overall record for Fenix) Best Friends (3-3 tag team record in 2020, 9-13 overall record for Trent Barreta, 8-11 overall record for Chuck Taylor)

Originally Posted by PWI Ryback did a great job of explaining how WWE's downside contracts worth in the video below. It's worth watching but the gist of it is this. If you, say, have a 250,000 downside on your deal and you hit that figure by say month 8, Ryback said at that point if you are at odds with the company, they don't have to pay you for the next four months, until your deal expires. The downside, according to him, provides for a minimum weekly amount, but only until the total amount for the year has been reached. It's a good listen.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYzoAn7-tic

Originally Posted by Fightful Nowadays, social media is so ever-present that a single hashtag can Trend globally and start a movement. However, that wasn't always the case and perhaps no single entertainment entity has had to adapt more to the modern-age than WWE. On the WrestleMania 11 episode of Bruce Prichard's Something to Wrestle podcast, Prichard explains that the opinion of the “smart fan” was not an overwhelming one back in 1995 and the only times they would use such an opinion would be to get a handle on what that segment of the audience didn't enjoy so they knew what they were doing right. According to Bruce Prichard, if that audience didn't like something, then that means it was extremely successful for what the then-WWF was trying to accomplish. “Even though it is a minority, the online presence, there wasn't that presence at this point in time,” Bruce began. “There wasn't a loud, boisterous group who would bitch and moan about every single thing that you did. You know, we would use as a barometer a lot of times whether or not that vocal minority in the dirt sheet group-- if they liked something, that usually meant we did something wrong. If they hated it, that usually meant it was extremely successful. So they were hating [Diesel as a babyface with Shawn Michaels as a heel] and we thought, 'Okay, well, this should be pretty good.'"

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Sports Illustrated spoke with Seth Rollins to promote WrestleMania 36. While talking about the empty building shows at the Performance Center that WWE has been doing, Rollins was asked is it harder to cut promos without a crowd or wrestle without a crowd and here’s Rollins’ response: “I would say cut a promo. You don’t have crowd reaction to play off of. A promo, when you’re having a conversation with the crowd, it really feels like you are talking to somebody. It feels as though they are part of the conversation. If you don’t have that, there’s a lot of pressure, and also not having the ability to do multiple takes. Monday Night RAW is live, so that’s a one-take promo. That’s a one-take monologue. I don’t get the opportunity to cut-and-paste that thing together. It’s not like a movie. Wrestling, on the other hand, is fluid. It’s in the ring and it’s moving around. There’s a lot you can do. There are a lot of changes you can make. A promo is nerve-wracking. You can hear everything. There’s no audience to drown anything out. You can hear cameramen shuffling. You hear everybody whispering in the back. It’s really eerie in a way.” Rollins was also asked for his thoughts about WWE continuing to run shows when there have been multiple leagues and major businesses around the world that have ceased operation for the time being. Rollins stated that he doesn’t know what to think about it but he’s taking the proper precautions to make sure that he stays safe throughout this time. “I don’t know. I’m not a medical expert. Obviously the airports are still open. Should they close? I don’t know. I wish I had answers. I’m sure a lot of people do. Right now, I’m just trying to stay as hygienic as possible, keep my distance from as many people as I can. As of now, I feel great. Knock on wood, I’ve been able to avoid this thing. I know a lot of families and people who have been affected by it. It’s extremely contagious and it’s very dangerous. I wish I had more answers. I wish I knew what was the right thing to do. After WrestleMania, we’re gonna recollect and see where we’re gonna go from here. Right now, I’m very humble and grateful that I have a job that still needs me. A lot of Americans are not in that boat and their futures are uncertain. So if providing them with some entertainment can help them out, then I feel like, we’re being productive in doing something right.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed IMPACT Wrestling Co-Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore. Scott said that IMPACT has three weeks of new content left to put out on AXS TV which was to build to their Rebellion pay-per-view on April 19th. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, that pay-per-view has been postponed to a later date. Scott said the company is brainstorming ideas of what to do in place of the event that they will not be able to hold another set of television tapings after April 19th. “We’ve got a hell of a group that is hardworking, love what they do, and will give you everything they’ve got. There are three more weeks of new content, and we’re examining all aspects of possible ways to continue doing what we love to do. We’ll keep monitoring it, and we’ll do what’s best and safest for everyone involved.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald spoke with NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley about her match at WrestleMania 36 against Charlotte Flair. Rhea was asked was her match with Charlotte similar to some of the independent shows she worked in Australia and Rhea said that her match with Charlotte was more like a training match because no fans were in attendance. “To be honest, it reminds me more of a training match, but, with a lot more on the line, because even in Australia and the indies, there was still at least like a few people in the crowd where here, there’s legitimately zero fans in the crowd. There’s only the essential people there that make sure that it’s filmed and put out but that’s it, that’s all we have so to be able to go out there and not have anyone cheer for me and make any noise, it’s gonna be super weird, but I just gotta remember that there’s people at home that are making noise and making raucous and that’s definitely gonna be going through my mind.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Per Fightful’s ‘Fightful Wrestling Weekly’, Conrad Thompson helped the producers of Dark Side of the Ring get in touch with several people involved with the show and Jim Cornette had a “meltdown” during the ‘Brawl For All’ episode that will air next week.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The latest edition of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast was a Q&A based show. Austin was asked about a rumor that he turned down a series of matches of with Hulk Hogan in the early 2000s and Austin confirmed that and said it came down to him thinking that a match between himself and Hogan at that time, would not deliver the way most thought/think it would’ve. “Yeah I believe I did turn ‘em all down that time, because I just never figured it was gonna be that great of a match-up. I thought our styles were so contrasting. I could’ve done it for the money and that would’ve been fine. I could’ve put the money in the bank and paid Uncle Sam his percentage, but my head wasn’t in the space that I thought we could execute what I thought we needed to execute so, I’d rather not do something that I’m not 100% about and I wasn’t 100% about that match-up. No disrespect to Hulk Hogan, one of the greatest superstars that ever got in the squared circle. No ifs, ands, buts about it.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Robert Karpeles, who is a former WWE creative team writer and the individual behind the ‘WWE Creative Humor’ Twitter account was interviewed by Sports Illustrated. Karpeles spoke about his time in WWE and his experience[s] with Vince McMahon. “I was on the creative team, and I was also a producer for WWE 24/7, which was the precursor to the WWE Network. Working for WWE, you have ideas and thoughts and opinions about what you see being presented, how characters are being used, how story lines are playing out, how matches are being perceived. Sometimes you can feel voiceless. I was young when I started at WWE, and it can be intimidating to speak up. It’s Vince McMahon’s sandbox. No matter who you are — going all the way up to some of the most creative names in the history of the business, like Paul Heyman, Dusty Rhodes, Jim Cornette, or Bruce Prichard—it’s Vince’s decision and it’s Vince’s show. That even seems to be an undercurrent now with Triple H too.” He also talked about how his first two Twitter accounts got shut down by WWE and there was a bit of a legal research that Karpeles did to ensure the protection of his new accounts. “I started this completely anonymously. I didn’t put it out there that it was being done by someone who had worked for WWE, and I didn’t leverage any of my relationships to build a following. When I started, my handle was @WWE_Creative, which I couldn’t believe was available, but WWE didn’t have the full social media presence that it does now. One day, I went to log in but my account had been shut down. My account, along with the ‘Cranky Vince’ account, which was a little more crass, was shut down. WWE said people were mistaking the accounts as a real account. If you read more than two or three of my texts and think this is a WWE account, then something is not processing. It’s a humor account. So I put on my lawyer hat and contacted Twitter. That is why it is now WWECreative_ish on the handle and why it is WWE Creative Humor, which clearly indicates that I am not a group of people sitting in an office in Stamford, Connecticut, taking valuable time away from reformatting the show to make snide comments on Twitter.”

Originally Posted by PWI DARK SIDE OF THE RING Season 2, lifts the veil on wrestling’s most controversial stories, and premiered on Tuesday, March 24th with a two-hour special episode on the tragic story of wrestling icon Chris Benoit. The third episode will tackle Brawl For All on April 7 at 10:00pm ET/PT. The series, produced by VICE Studios, will air weekly on Tuesdays at 10:00pm ET/PT.

TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE Backstage Ratings – Mar. 31, 2020 – Charlotte Flair
• Dark Side of the Ring Ratings: New Jack Episode
• Florida Issues 30-Day Statewide Stay-at-Home Order, Affecting WWE and AEW