[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Despite competition from both NASCAR on FS1 and UFC on ESPN, AEW Dynamite had its highest viewership since May and scored a big win over NXT on USA Network last night. Last night's Fight for the Fallen edition of Dynamite, which was headlined by Jon Moxley retaining his AEW World Championship against Brian Cage, averaged 788,000 viewers as compared to NXT's 631,000. It's the first time Dynamite has won the viewership battle in four weeks. The viewership for Dynamite was up 10.2 percent over last week's Fyter Fest night two show. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite averaged a 0.29 rating, up 3.6 percent from last week. That was also the best number for the show since May and it ranked fifth for the night on cable. NXT's viewership total was down 16.9 percent from last week. The last time NASCAR ran on a Wednesday night, it also affected NXT more than Dynamite. Dynamite and NXT both likely affected the UFC number as the main card had the lowest viewership total to date on ESPN with just 536,000 viewers. The UFC prelims averaged 434,000 viewers. The prelims aired opposite wrestling on the East Coast, with the main card going against it on the West Coast. The NASCAR All-Star race averaged 2.036 million viewers and finished third in the 18-49 demo with a 0.35 rating. NXT fell to 49th on cable in the 18-49 demo rankings with a 0.14, down 30 percent from last week. It's the second lowest number in that demo the show has done on the USA Network since debuting last October. AEW won every demo but people over 50, which is usually the case, but it was much closer this week with NXT averaging a 0.36 rating in that category to AEW's 0.30. AEW's biggest category was men 18-49, where they nearly tripled NXT with a 0.40 rating as opposed to 0.14.

Originally Posted by Observer Though the series finale aired last month, more "Undertaker: The Last Ride" content is coming to the WWE Network this weekend. WWE has announced that a bonus episode titled "Undertaker: The Last Ride: Tales from the Deadman" will premiere on the WWE Network on Sunday: You thought you’d seen the last Last Ride? Think again. The critically-acclaimed WWE Network series returns this Sunday as Undertaker shares even more stories from his legendary career on Undertaker: The Last Ride: Tales from the Deadman, narrated by Emmy-nominated actor and producer Timothy Olyphant. Get ready for some incredible behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the man himself, as Undertaker recalls stories about the origins of his character, his experience on an infamous plane ride, and even that time he fought The Godfather over a hat, all accompanied by never-before-seen animation. Don’t miss the return of Undertaker: The Last Ride, as 'Tales from The Deadman' premieres this Sunday, streaming immediately following The Horror Show at WWE Extreme Rules, only on WWE Network. In addition to airing on the live stream after Extreme Rules, "Tales from the Deadman" will be made available on demand on the WWE Network at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday.

Originally Posted by PWI NWA President Billy Corgan posted the following on his Instagram account, shooting down rumors of the demise of the National Wrestling Alliance: "A quick note about the National Wrestling Alliance, which I fought for, and won ownership of a few years back. We are NOT shutting down. So please disregard any and all rumor to effect. The @NWA is not and will not be for sale, and those talent who are under contract remain under contract for a reason: which is that we at the NWA are trying to figure out a way to provide our great fans with wrestling content in a very, very tough environment. And, most importantly, keep our talent safe and the standard of production you’ve come to expect from us at a high level. Anything less, in my opinion, is unacceptable. So yes, appreciate the interest, appreciate the chatter, but don’t appreciate the unsourced rumors and speculation" The promotion shut down production in the wake of the resignation of Vice President Dave Lagana several weeks ago.

The rumor originated from some comments Raven made in a recent interview with Hannibal TV.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE star Jeff Hardy's scheduled court appearance in Moore County Court in North Carolina today regarding his October 2019 arrest for Driving While Impaired has been pushed back to Monday 9/28 as all court cases have been pushed back due to court closures stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Hardy was arrested the evening of Thursday 10/3/19 in Moore County, North Carolina. The police report for the arrest notes that authorities received a tip about a careless driver around 8:40 PM that evening. Authorities located Hardy's car in front of a liquor store and he emerged carrying a case of beer. Authorities followed the car and pulled him over after they "observed him weaving badly in his lane." Hardy had "what seemed to be dried blood on his nose", according to the police report and told officers that he and his wife "got into a fight." The police report stated that Hardy admitted to having two shots of vodka and admitted to being impaired. Hardy failed a field sobriety test and according to the report, he was "was uncooperative when asked for a breathalyzer or blood sample." A judge signed off on a search warrant, allowing officers to extract a blood sample from Hardy. Hardy's driver's license has been revoked pending the resolution of the case..

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Former TMZ reporter Adam Glyn caught up with former UFC Flyweight and Bantamweight Champion Henry Cejudo. Cejudo was asked about the possibility of him appearing on All Elite Wrestling programming again, following his appearance at Double Or Nothing in May and Cejudo said there have been more conversations held between his team and AEW. “Probably the wrestling, probably the Boxing. But I meant it when I said I’m retired. There’s a boatload of money that could bring me back, but I think more importantly than money for me is legacy. Yeah we’ve been in contact with AEW. There’s a potential big pay-per-view event that they may want to hold but, there’s a lot. Even amateur wrestling man. I mean there’s so many options that I don’t really know which one to pick because they all seem a little appetizing to me, you know?”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Josh Matthews joined Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net on the Pro Wrestling Boom podcast. Matthews talked about the changes that have had to be made to IMPACT’s weekly programming on the lead-up to Slammiversary after the exits of Tessa Blanchard, Michael Elgin and Joey Ryan from IMPACT Wrestling. “Yeah, I would say everybody. Everybody involved. The guys in Nashville had to do more work. We had to do more V.O.’s, graphics had to be changed. All the little things that we try to do. The go-home week for a pay-per-view to me has always been a very easy week. It’s interviews like this for me. Everything’s done and that really wasn’t the case with this particular show. There was a lot of last minute scrambling and changing of things but it was one of those — we want to put the best product that we can out there publicly and we want to make sure that everyone’s happy with the faces that they’re seeing. So while the work needed to be done, it was done with a smile on our faces because we knew that we were doing everything that we could to give the best content that we possibly could provide.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Bleacher Report Live conducted an interview with Tony Khan to promote Fight For The Fallen. Khan spoke about the six-man tag team match between Jurassic Express (Marko Stunt, Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy) and The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks). Khan stated that with all the trios in AEW, there may be a trios tournament in the company some day. “These are two of the top trios units in our company [The Elite & Jurassic Express]. Six-man tags have been a huge part of AEW. Since the beginning, we featured S.C.U. against Strong Hearts at Double Or Nothing and we’ve done so many six-man tags. The aforementioned Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends, the Jurassic Express obviously and The Elite are two of the top units and we’ve got a bunch of dream units and I think we could some day have a great trios tournament of some kind. I also think that this could be one of the biggest matches in that tournament and we’re seeing it right now. If it were to happen, I think The Elite and the Jurassic Express could be the odds on favorites and they’re two of the most popular teams in AEW so I think it’s gonna be a really fun match and I’m really excited about it.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Charlotte Flair was a guest on Nikki and Brie Bella’s podcast ... During Charlotte’s segment of the podcast, she said that she hoped that while she was in NXT, a storyline involving herself, Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Stephanie McMahon came about. “Because I spent some time in NXT recently, I was really hoping that I could get into that with Triple H, being like the brat and then him being like, ‘I made you’ because of the whole NXT, but, maybe later down the road.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Newsweek chatted with Tegan Nox ahead of her NXT Women’s Title match on 7/15. Tegan was asked to speak about coming out as a lesbian. Nox said the reception was mostly positive and she received many messages from colleagues and friends of hers. “My life has always been a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ situation, but I felt like it was the right time, especially when you’ve found the right one you’re in love with. It was the right time to do that. The reaction has been great. There are a few people who obviously don’t agree with that, but 99 percent of the reactions have been positive. I’ve got texts coming through from so many colleagues and friends. It was nice. It’s great to see that there are so many nice people in the world.” One individual who Tegan Nox spoke with was Sonya Deville. Tegan shared that she spoke with Sonya before the picture went up and added that Deville has been a massive help. “I actually talked to Sonya before I even did this. She was a big, big help. She gave me her phone number and told me to text her if I needed anything. So we keep in contact quite a lot about it. She’s a massive help with the fans, because my family knew but my fans didn’t. So she helped me bring it out to the public.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling WrestleZone spoke with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR. While speaking about if heels and babyfaces still exist in pro wrestling, Harwood shared his thoughts about how to get people emotionally invested in pro wrestling and he doesn’t think “great matches every week” is the key to drawing money in the sport. “I don’t know if I believe in ‘babyfaces and heels’. I don’t know. Before anybody is a babyface and before anybody is a heel—at least for myself and Cash—we’re men. We’re men and you’re either going to like us or you’re not going to like us and I think that attributes to your personality and your traits. You’ve got to build on those character traits. Ultimately I think getting emotionally invested is the way you make the most money, the way you draw the most fans, the most viewers. To have someone, one set of guys or one individual fighting another set of guys or an individual, and there’s a conflict of interest and the fans choose what side they believe in, what side they want to be on, I think that’s where we’re at in the world right now. I don’t think ‘great matches’ every week are the answer to pro wrestling and how to make money. There’s a conflict of interest and the fans are going to decide in their mind who is the good guy and who is the ‘bad guy.’”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Shane “Hurricane” Helms joined Chris Featherstone for a Facebook Live Q&A and the full video is up on the Sportskeeda YouTube channel. Helms was asked why he believes WWE’s television ratings have continued to drop for RAW and SmackDown and Helms accredited it to the lack of star power and fans. “Why are they falling? Because less people are watching. I just think, without an audience, you’re losing a big part of the magic of pro wrestling. I mean it’s hard to watch for me and I love it as much as anybody has ever loved pro wrestling in the history of the world, and it’s hard for me to watch, and they lost a lot of star power. It’s really an odd time. Not like I have my finger on the pulse by saying it’s an odd time. Obviously, everybody knows that but, it’s an odd time.”

Originally Posted by RingSideNews.com AEW Fight For The Fallen started off this week by announcing that Tony Schiavone wouldn’t be on the show. It was stated that his COVID-19 test didn’t come back in time so he was replaced by Taz. This was apparently a bigger issue than just one individual case. AEW has conducted blood tests to check for COVID-19. This is different from the swab tests in many ways. This week it caused an issue for the company. During Wrestling Observer Radio (transcription by Ringside News), Dave Meltzer revealed that Tony Schiavone wasn’t the only person who had issues with their COVID-19 test. He stated that some people had to take their test “multiple times.” Schiavone didn’t receive his test back in time so he couldn’t work the show. “There’s something that happened that I was told that people were tested multiple times. I don’t know the whole story, but Tony’s test didn’t come back so he was off the show. There were a couple other people who were missing. I don’t know the reasons why, but they were missing.”

TPWW Frontpage:

• Several Matches Announced for Next Week’s AEW Dynamite and NXT
• WWE Planning Mid-December Deadline for WrestleMania 37’s Status in California
• Various: Tony Khan on Idea to Revive FTW Title in AEW, Details on Several NWA Contracts, Indies