[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter Edition):

Turner Broadcasting and the NHL announced a deal on 4/27, which had been rumored the day before, for a seven-year contract that would include games on TBS, TNT, Bleacher Report and HBO Max. NBC, which held the rights, officially pulled out of the bidding days earlier ... Turner bid $225 million per year for a deal that would start in the 2021-2022 season and last until the 2027-2028 season. In Canada a few days earlier it was being reported that FOX and FS 1 were the favorites to get the second half of the NHL package. There were multiple suitors for the weaker second half of the package after ESPN and ABC had bid $400 million for the primary package. The deal is very important when it comes to pro wrestling as the shift of NXT to Tuesday was if NBC got the deal, USA was expected to start airing NHL games on Wednesday toward the end of this season and going forward. The move to Turner, which will air 72 games per season on TNT and TBS, which means multiple games per week, will in some form affect the AEW schedule, at the least during the playoffs and time slots available for the scheduled second show. Turner has not said what days and what stations the games will air on. TNT already has the NBA on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is the company’s highest priority. The possibility of a Wednesday game on TNT has been talked about in the sports world as a story because it would force a move of AEW. But a Wednesday game could also air on TBS, or there could be no Wednesday game. The impression from AEW was that they believed they were solid on Wednesday because of their established ratings and the contract they have ... However, this could affect the proposed second weekly AEW show, which was scheduled to begin in the fall. It also could affect AEW during the playoffs, as the NBA playoffs do, and force it to move time slots a few weeks a year and the NHL playoffs, at the same time, could also do the same. Because of the NBA, really, a second show would either have to be on a different station, TBS or another station, which was not the original deal which was for it to air on TNT, or the second show would have to air on Friday or Saturday nights basically by process of elimination because Tony Khan has said he won’t run on Sunday, Monday or Thursday against the NFL. Either of those nights, if we go with the idea Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are taken on TNT, would be potential NHL nights. It’s notable because when NBC Sports Network was dropped, the key aspect was that it would move its key sports properties, the NHL and NASCAR, to USA, making USA a higher prestige station and to bolster transmission fees. Even though NHL ratings are way below the USA Network prime time average, and will be below the TNT or TBS averages as well, it is valuable to both advertising and transmission fees which are the key revenue streams. The NASCAR move to USA largely represents weekend dates so would have no real effect on wrestling. The NHL deal would have forced the NXT move that was just made starting on 4/13 ... Dynamite ratings on Wednesday would beat NHL ratings during the season and playoffs. Now with no NXT, Dynamite would probably be close to even or even beat the numbers of the Stanley Cup finals, depending on the teams. Last year AEW and the Stanley Cup finals went head-to-head once, with the 18-49 numbers almost identical (the NHL had a small lead but this was with AEW having competition from NXT). Still, no matter the ratings, the NHL will be a higher priority, especially during the playoffs ... AEW’s current deal ends at the end of 2024, and so much will change between now and then. When you talk about WWE getting an increase with falling numbers, the NHL was down 25 percent in ratings this year and the rights fees of $625 million per year is more than triple the $200 million NBC paid for national exclusivity of the entire package in the last deal. If you look at pure TV deals in the U.S., WWE would be about $495 million and UFC would be $300 million in comparison, although WWE and UFC each have $200 million for premium rights (WWE to the full network and UFC for the PPV package). AEW is closer to $45 million. But generally weak rated hockey, which usually does between 0.10 and 0.15, is getting more than far better rated WWE and UFC and more than ten times the higher rated AEW. But it’s higher prestige and more than that, the key was the NHL had multiple suitors bidding it up. ESPN/ABC, CBS/CBS Sports Network, Turner Broadcasting, FOX and NBC all wanted the NHL in this round. The key to WWE and AEW’s next deals are not primarily ratings, although for AEW the ratings are more important because it’s a less “proven” commodity, but the ability to attract multiple suitors.. A key question is would FOX be happy with a show that does usually finish highly in 18-49 on Friday (usually dead last in viewers, but viewers is a metric that is no longer considered that significant) but also promotes Peacock heavily, including using FOX to promote the biggest events on NBC’s streaming service. Raw is safe and even with declines, Raw and WWE (with the reality shows) are more valuable to USA and NBCU than ever because USA doesn’t have any other shows that do close to those numbers and the monthly PPV shows will be some of the biggest live broadcasts on Peacock. I doubt FOX will have interest in Raw at this point with the Peacock deal in place, and who knows about Smackdown when the current deal is up. So the key to a WWE increase would be to get ESPN or Turner interested. Would Turner be interested when they already have a wrestling property they created? Turner has never in the past shown any interest in WWE, but it’s clearly no longer averse to pro wrestling as it had been since canceling the programming in 2001 ... And by 2023 and 2024, AEW and WWE’s contract years, you also may have more streaming services wanting content. The problem is a streaming deal vs. television deal may be more lucrative, but in 2021, it cuts way back on exposure and total viewers. And a huge part of the NHL story is that even though the NHL is a major property, the pure streaming bigwigs did not even make bids on the package. Things could change in two years, but if they didn’t bid for the NHL package (which was a TV and streaming package) it would look like at least this year they would not bid for pro wrestling packages if they were available. In time that could change and by 2023 this year’s proof (the Takeover still doing the vast majority of its viewers on USA instead of Peacock being the key) in wrestling may not be relevant.

CMLL out of nowhere announced it has terminated its partnership with ROH, amidst a series of things going on behind-the-scenes. This comes after ROH contracted wrestlers Rush, Dragon Lee, Bandido, Matt Taven (who less than two weeks ago was talking about returning to CMLL), Bestia del Ring, Rey Horus and Kenny King were announced as working the debut show of Federacion Wrestling, on PPV in June from Mexico. It is not believed that ROH had anything to do with these bookings and that the talent was all recruited by Rush for the show. There were rumors ROH officials found out about CMLL’s announcement from reading about it on social media and were caught off guard. ROH head Joe Koff said that wasn’t true and they had conversations ahead of time. Federacion Wrestling is the new promotion Rush is doing. AEW wrestlers Penta and Fenix, who command a high price tag in Mexico are also both scheduled for that show. Andrade El Idolo, who is asking for significant money for matches, is expected as well. Federacion is holding a press conference on 4/30 and more will likely be said. CMLL, ROH and New Japan had been an alliance together that was strong at one point, but things have changed with ROH losing its best talent that New Japan wanted, and New Japan allowing talent to work for Impact and AEW, and CMLL losing much of its top young talent ... While not announced at press time, Diamante Azul, the Mexican national heavyweight champion for CMLL is also believed to be with the new promotion. Azul removed mentions of CMLL on his Instagram account and listed himself as an independent wrestler, although then erased independent. The key is that this promotion is looking to sign up key talent from both CMLL and AAA, offering more money, but wants exclusivity with the talent. With CMLL and AAA both weakened significantly due to the pandemic, this is the time to make a move for talent, but maybe not for business since most looking from the outside can’t see how a company like this paying what it is offering can economically make sense, particularly because there is not big money in Mexican television rights. Plus WWE has made it clear they are coming back into the market. Azul is a good friend of Rush, but he also posted that he would be wrestling for CMLL on 4/30 in Guadalajara. While Diamante Azul is a CMLL name, it was trademarked by Paco Alonso, not the CMLL company. Basically the name is owned now by Sofia Alonso, who was moved out of power in CMLL and it is believed she will allow Azul to use the name outside CMLL ... A lot of key CMLL talent has been contacted and offered far bigger money than has been available for Mexican wrestlers working in their home country. Given that some talent was offered $7,000 U.S. per show and one supposedly offered $10,000 U.S., and that PPV has never worked in Mexico, the first thing is that the numbers don’t make sense. Talent has been told they would be doing shows monthly. It is believed that CMLL contacted ROH and told them to block their contracted talent from appearing, but ROH didn’t have the legal right to do so, since its contracted talent can only be blocked from appearing from other companies that run within the U.S. and the province of Ontario in Canada. CMLL has always seen Taven as a huge star and were very upset to see him working for a new promoter and publicly pulled out of a relationship with ROH. CMLL also upped the pay of some of its key talent that had been considering leaving for Federacion or AAA. The basic issue with talent is this. The belief is that CMLL will always be around. The company is more than 87 years old and has always been in operation since the fall of 1933. It is the longest-lasting pro wrestling company in history. They own their key buildings so even when crowds are down, their expenses are under control and they never lose money. The regular CMLL talent when they are running regularly, which is expected to be soon, make a livable salary. Nobody gets rich. But if you are good to them, you can work there for decades. However, if you leave, especially in this situation, they are different from almost every other company, and that you can never come back. Caristico was an exception, leaving as the top guy and going to WWE, but he remained on good terms and they did bring him back, even after he went to AAA after WWE. The feeling of the talent is if they leave, they will never be allowed back. But the offered paydays from the new company are so much higher that it’s hard to turn down. But the knowledge is that these paydays don’t seem to make economic sense, so it may not last long. But in wrestling, and in Mexico, there is always the mentality of make your money when you can.

Kenny Omega became only the second wrestler of the modern era to hold world championships in three significant promotions at the same time after beating Rich Swann in the main event of the Impact Rebellion PPV on 4/25 in Nashville ... The show appeared to have been the most successful PPV show for the promotion in many years. We don’t have numbers past that the streaming numbers as of the start of the show were ahead of total numbers of buys for any show since Anthem purchased the company from Dixie Carter and was the largest streaming number in the company’s history. On television PPV, based on numbers from one major company, this did almost exactly double of what Hard to Kill did and seven times the total buys and right now nine times the paid buys of Bound for Glory. And keep in mind that the television number with late buys for this show should increase another 10 percent from a figure this early. It’s way ahead of the numbers they were doing the last several years on Spike, but is nowhere near the company’s peak for Kurt Angle’s matches with Samoa Joe and Sting. I don’t have the actual streaming number so can’t estimate the total just yet but should have a better idea next week, but television looks to have been 9,300 as of early in the week and streaming numbers were believed to have been a far larger number than that ... Of the last round of WWE releases, they will become available for the most part on 7/14. Impact had done its previous best number in years for Slammiversary last year (beating the January Hard to Kill show with Omega’s in-ring debut). The big draw was believed to have been the tease of what ex-WWE talent would debut, so this year they can have both an Omega title match and the tease. In a video package for the show, they showed Samoa Joe and Keiji Muto, which was to get people talking. Muto is the GHC champion for Pro Wrestling NOAH. The only time a wrestler in the modern era has held three world titles in three different companies of significance was Big Van Vader, when he held the IWGP, CWA (Germany-Austria) and UWA (Mexico) titles from November 22, 1989 to December 22, 1989. His first title loss was December 22, 1989, the CWA title back to Wanz, in Bremen. That’s notable because New Japan’s world champion would have lost a clean singles match elsewhere, something that theoretically would not be allowed to happen today. He lost the IWGP title on August 19, 1990, to Choshu, in Tokyo. And he finally lost the UWA title on December 9, 1990, to Canek at El Toreo. Vader did it on three different continents. Omega did it in three different companies, but on the same continent. When Lou Thesz was unifying titles in the 50s and 60s as NWA champion, he would win local versions and they would merge into the NWA. He never defended different versions nor would have held three at the same time.

We got complete PPV figures dating back several months from one of the leading PPV providers. These are not definitive numbers but do represent millions of homes with PPV. The key is that most PPV shows these days are doing very small numbers, with really AEW and boxing carrying things. The biggest note is that based on the percentage from this company, AEW looks to have done 71,600 buys on television PPV for the Revolution show on 3/7, a number that blows away any prior expectations. This isn’t to say that was the number they did, but it is based on a sample of several million homes. The show was believed to have done 87,000 viewers based on streaming in the U.S. and international, and given how previous big shows have done, the belief was television PPV would come in at 35,000 to 50,000, hence estimates of 122,000 to 137,000 total buys for the show, which would be the largest for any pro wrestling show other than WWE since 1999. But with this estimate, the number looks closer to 159,000 total buys, or the total show gross of about $7 million, far above previous reports. Based on these numbers, All Out looks to have done 45,000 and Full Gear would have been 30,000. The only PPVs (we don’t have Triller numbers) in the same range would be the 12/5 Errol Spence Jr. vs. Danny Garcia on 12/5 at 116,000, Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz on 10/31 at 78,000 and the Charlo Brothers show on 9/26 at 26,000. The 2/5 Bare Knuckle show would have been about 5,000. WWE numbers are way down from prior years, although the company we got figures from based on its clientele would be based much less by percentage in rural areas with weak Internet, which would be where most of WWE’s television PPV buys would come from, places where streaming isn’t a viable option. So WWE numbers should be very weak. The only reason we’re even noting is just for a comparison of numbers within the promotion. But based on the numbers we have, WWE estimates would be 7,300 for Royal Rumble, 6,800 for SummerSlam, 6,800 for WrestleMania (down because so many could get it free off Peacock as well as for just $2.50 per month for the first four months), 5,300 for the 10/4 Takeover, 5,100 for Survivor Series, 4,600 for Fast Lane, 4,300 for Hell in a Cell, 3,000 for Elimination Chamber and 3,000 for TLC. The 4/8 NXT Takeover is tracking at under 2,000, slightly behind ROH Winner Take All. NXT War Games was under 1,200 and the Valentine’s Day Takeover was tracking at under 500. The biggest NWA UWN show listed was 11/3 at about 3,700 but all the other shows were much lower than that, ranging from an estimated 700 to 1,800. NWA Back to the Attack would be around 1,800. ROH Final Battle was 3,100, but once again, most ROH buys would be streaming on its Honor Club service or FITE.

AAA: Daga was officially announced as relinquishing the Latin American title, which will be decided on the 5/1 show. Daga is said to be close to a deal with a U.S. group and AAA believes he will continue to work with them, but not for a while. He is getting residency in the U.S. and part of the process is living in the U.S. for six months without traveling to Mexico. It’s the same thing Rey Fenix had to do and Australian Suicide is doing. Once everything is established the belief is he will return, which they hope is in the summer which would be when the six months is up. They had to vacate the title because they had no firm date on when all the paperwork would be done. The fact that they do expect him to return would indicate no WWE ... Regarding where Daga shows up, it will lead to speculation that’s where his wife, Tessa Blanchard, may show up. It is notable that you have the woman who, if she’s not the best U.S. born woman wrestler she’s on the short list, at a time when there is a greater demand than any time for good women wrestlers, is still not working anywhere due to fear of a social media backlash against hiring her.

Tessa not showing up anywhere despite her talent level is way more due to how she's burned bridges with almost every place she's worked for and has the bad rep of not getting along with others and being a headache to deal with.

With the state of emergency, New Japan canceled 5/8, 5/10 and 5/11 dates at Korakuen Hall. They could have run them as empty arena shows but not with spectators. Yokohama, which is a Tokyo suburb, at this point is okay so the 5/15 show at Yokohama Stadium is still on the books as is the 5/29 Tokyo Dome but both have to be capped at 5,000 fans. If it is extended and there is a good chance it will be, it could put those stadium shows in jeopardy. Jeff Cobb vs. Kota Ibushi will take place at Yokohama Stadium

Chelsea Green said that because she’s Canadian and doesn’t have a working Visa, that her WWE release may speed up her getting married. She’s engaged to Impact’s Matt Cardona. “When I was released, a lot of people were like, `Hey you’re ok, you’re a good hustler.’ But I’m like, yeah but I’m Canadian. I have to get a Visa and a Green Card. I have to figure out a way to live here. I was released on Thursday night, and on Friday morning, Matt is on his way to Wisconsin. I texted him saying, `We need to get married, so you need to think about when that’s happening.’” She has also in interviews talked about wanting to land in AEW, Impact or ROH

In the whacked out stories department, the wrestler Kung Fu Jr., who wrestled in AAA in the late 90s claimed on Tik Tok that Antonio Pena had a secret black book (this isn’t going where you think it is) of witch spells that through a pact he made with the devil allowed him to sell out arenas with fans

AEW: Due to the NBA playoffs, the normally scheduled 5/26 show is being moved to Friday, 5/28, at 10 p.m. The plan right now is to go live from 8 p.m. to midnight at Daily’s Place with two hours of Dark being taped before Dynamite with a live crowd followed by two hours of Dynamite going live. They will also be pre-empted on 6/2 and instead go live on either Friday, 6/4 or Saturday 6/5 (most likely 6/4 but this depends on the NBA playoff game TNT gets), which is why Brian Cage and Brian Pillman Jr., had to pull out of the Warrior Wrestling show on 6/5 in Chicago. They’d be taping on 6/5 if they go live 6/4, doing the 6/9 show and for Dark and Dark Elevation on 6/14 and 6/15 Because that would screw up with ITV in the U.K., since the show airs there before Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern, it looks like they will be getting other programming. The show in edited form would still air on ITV on 5/31, but what would be after the PPV show has already taken place AEW will also be producing a Countdown show for that week that will air on Saturday night 5/29. The start time will be dependent on the start time of the NBA playoff game that night The 5/5 Blood and Guts show, if ticket sales are an indication, should do well, but attendance and ratings very often don’t correlate. They are building for a peak show for ratings. As of 4/29, there were about 1,740 tickets put on sale and 289 left unsold, so it will be the largest attendance for an AEW show since the pandemic started ... The TV show will be a combination of live and taped content ... Right now Daily’s Place is scheduled for regular shows through 6/30 and perhaps longer. Everything about schedules that far in advance is up in the air based on the world

It’s being reported that the site fee being paid by Saudi Arabia for the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury unification match is $150 million. At this point it’s looking like August in Riyadh. The fact they are doing a show in August tells you WWE will be back almost for certain shortly after that point

NBCU reported that Peacock total subscribers (this is both paid or those who get it free which is a significant percentage) went from 35 million to 44 million during the first quarter. The company did not provide paid subscription numbers which is never what I’d call a good thing. NBCU reported that the keys to the growth were “The Office” and adding the WWE network. This gain would not include day of WrestleMania which came early in the second quarter, but would include Fast Lane. While this number sounds great, those in the industry viewed it as disappointing since they had added 11 million subscribers in quarter four 2020 with no major rollouts. The success of WrestleMania on Peacock will be addressed after the second quarter

As far as [WWE] returning to the road, there were hints this week inside the company of June. Talent was told August, or perhaps late July. However it was noted that if AEW was to start in July, they will move that up because they will do everything they can to make sure AEW doesn’t do it first. They want to be cautious and not misstep on this one and didn’t want to rush it. They could be booking arenas in Florida and Texas tomorrow indoors with full houses if they wanted to, and have chosen not to rush. There’s also the issue of how many wrestling fans would attend. With WrestleMania they were okay because they got nearly 20,000 and could claim more than 25,000 and it’s not looked upon badly and they knew with the Mania name they’d be able to sell tickets, granted less than hoped for but the number was going to be okay. But if they go back in a 15,000 seat arena and do 3,000, and the same goes for AEW, it would not look like a good return

We’ll see if this goes somewhere, but WWE doesn’t like the rep that it doesn’t work with anyone in the modern wrestling world. They are in talks with MLW and it’s along the lines of the old Evolve deal or to a degree the 90s ECW deal. The idea is to get some of the developmental guys who aren’t working on NXT television some work. There is also the idea of creating their own Evolve-like group as a weekly streaming show, but this would allow the guys to work on actual television and get more exposure than on Peacock and also seem like they are changing and modernizing. The idea is also to alleviate the frustration of so many guys on the roster who sign and then basically are never used, especially now with no NXT house shows (although that will likely be changing soon). The idea is people see AEW having partnerships with New Japan, Impact and AAA and they want to make it look like WWE is not set in its old ways and uncooperative in he real world. Whether this comes to fruition is a different story but the mentality right now is there to work with other people. Then again, that was also the mentality in the U.K. and Germany and that didn’t turn out well. But this is a totally new WWE under Nick Khan

This can all change and will, but we were told the plan is for NXT to go back to running live shows late third quarter of 2021

Regarding reports that Drake Wuertz was suspended going around, he was working the day this went to press. The story was from some time back. At the time of the last NXT outbreak, he was one of the people working on the new rings without wearing a mask. Because there was an outbreak, he, along with many others, were sent home because of being in contact with people who tested positive. But he isn’t believed to have tested positive himself and it was because of contact. He wasn’t suspended and was paid for the two weeks or so he was off as is everyone told to quarantine due to contract tracing

Ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw finished third last week behind two news shows covering the Derek Chauvin verdict coming in for the week on cable. With a big week for both news and the NBA, AEW was No. 22 for the week on cable. We’ve also gotten certain actual figures regarding viewers and streaming from a major service that represents roughly 3.6 percent of U.S. homes that get cable television. For last week, which would be the 4/19 Raw, 4/20 NXT and 4/21 AEW, AEW viewing was 64 percent live as compared to 75 percent for NXT and Raw. Keep in mind this is different from same-day ratings which include the DVR viewing until 3 a.m. Eastern time that night and then the rest is day plus seven which comes out later. But based on these numbers, total seven day viewing between live, VOD and DVR viewing AEW would have been 1,698,000, Raw would be 2,542,000 and NXT would be 1,119,000. Nielsen would have different numbers (and significantly lower) based on estimates but this is a much larger sample size than Nielsen. AEW is 29% DVR and 7% VOD while Raw and NXT both were 20% DVR and 5% VOD. Another interesting note is that the average live viewer of Raw on 4/19 watched 60.2 percent of the show, meaning roughly 3,168,000 people watched parts of the three hour show. Because it’s three hours, people wandering in and out will be much larger than the other shows, but the 60.2 percent figure is the comparison point. For NXT, the average viewer watched 50.7 percent of the show meaning 1,659,000 watched some of the show. For AEW, the average viewer watched 61.3 percent of the show, meaning 1,801,000 viewers total, so a big difference between AEW and NXT is not total people tuning in but more that the people tuning in watch longer. For Impact, the average viewer on 4/22 watched 48.9 percent of the show, meaning 297,000 viewers watched in total. For Raw on 4/26, the average live viewer fell to 56.3 percent of the show so it was about 3,151,000 total viewers. So a key is basically the same number of people watched Raw, but the rating number dropped because they didn’t watch as long. NXT was about 1,617,000, again, almost the same as the week before but the lower rating was because the average viewer watched less time.

Raw on 4/26 was a show that seemed to have something that kept men watching until the end, and something that got women to tune away. From the first-to-third hour, women fell 22.5 percent while men grew 10.3 percent, both unusual numbers in each direction. The increase in men watching and small decrease in the largest group, the over 50s, led to a first-to-third hour drop of 3.2 percent, the smallest since March 9, 2020. Raw’s total numbers were down from recent weeks, but it could have been far worse since the show held up better as the show went on than any show in more than 13 months, The first hour was the lowest first hour for a show that wasn’t against the NFL or NCAA Basketball playoffs of the Thunderdome era, and what makes that crazy is that the prime WWE demo, over 50, was the best hour one since legends night. That tells you how badly the show started for those under 50. There’s no obvious reason why, as the lower sports competition should have led to a better than usual first hour. In over 50 it was also the best hour three since June. But in males 12-34, it was the lowest hour one in the history of the show and the lowest hour one in males 18-49 since NFL season. The show did 1,774,000 viewers and a 0.49 (630,000 viewers) in 18-49. The numbers were down 7.0 percent in viewers, down 20.5 percent in 18-49 and down 37.0 percent in 18-34 from the prior week. Raw was still first by a wide margin for the night in 18-49, second in women 18-49, first in men 18-49, tied for first in 18-34, fourth in women 12-34 and first in males 12-34. Raw placed ninth in total viewers behind eight news shows. The first hour did 1,775,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,830,000 viewers. The third hour did 1,718,000 viewers. As compared to the same week last year from the Performance Center, the show was down 2.4 percent in viewers, 3.9 percent in 18-49 and 8,0 percent in 18-34. The show did 79,000 in men 18-34 (down 47.0 percent), 81,000 in women 18-34 (down 22.9 percent), 315,000 in men 35-49 (down 9.7 percent) and 155,000 in women 35-49 (down 18.0 percent) The show did a 0.22 in 12-17 (down 12.0 percent), 0.23 in 18-34 (down 37.0 percent), 0.75 in 35-49 (down 12.6 percent) and 0.91 in 50+ (same as last week.

Smackdown on 4/23 did a 1.28 rating and 2,121,000 viewers (1.37 viewers per home). The show also did a 0.54 (702,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.32 in 18-34. The show was down 3.0 percent in homes watching, up 0.1 percent in viewers (literally up 2,000 total viewers from last week), down 2.4 percent in 18-49 and up 10.3 percent in 18-34. Smackdown was second to Shark Tank (0.62) in 18-49 and was first in 18-34. Of the eight network shows, it was fifth in women 18-49, first in men 18-49 and last in over 50. It was also last in total viewers. Two NBA games on ESPN beat Smackdown in 18-34, and three cable shows would have beaten it in 18-49 if you calculate the difference between network and cable. As compared to last year’s show at the Performance Center, Smackdown was up 3.2 percent in homes, 5.8 percent in viewers, 6.2 percent in 18-49 and 6.3 percent in 18-34. The show did 130,000 in men 18-34 (down 4.4 percent from last week), 92,000 in women 18-34 (up 37.3 percent), 290,000 in men 35-49 (down 11.0 percent) and 190,000 in women 35-49 (down 2.1 percent).

NXT on 4/27 finished in the No. 11 spot with 744,000 viewers and 0.22 (283,000 viewers) in 18-49, and 0.11 in 18-34. It was seventh in males 18-49, 11th in 18-34 and fifth in men 12-34. The show was down 11.5 percent in viewers, but only 3.4 percent down in 18-49 and 11.9 percent up in 18-34. As compared to last year, the show was up 16.8 percent in viewers and 37.5 percent up in 18-49. The show did 44,000 viewers in men 18-34 (up 7.3 percent from last week), 31,000 in women 18-34 (up 19.2 percent), 116,000 in men 35-49 (down 11.5 percent) and 90,000 in women 35-49 (down 5.3 percent). The first quarter did 752,000 viewers and 267,000 in 18-49 with Dakota Kai vs. Mercedes Martinez. The second quarter did 682,000 viewers and 256,000 in 18-49 for the Raquel Gonzalez beatdown of Martinez, Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart and Frankie Monet, Cameron Grimes and the Grizzled Young Veterans with Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher. The third quarter did 704,000 viewers and 276,000 in 18-49 with an Isaiah Scott interview, Toni Storm vs. Zayda Ramir and a Santos Escobar interview. The fourth quarter did 728,000 viewers and 275,000 in 18-49 for an LA Knight promo and Austin Theory vs. Bronson Reed. The fifth quarter did 787,000 viewers and 298,000 in 18-49 for the Theory vs. Reed post-match, MSK & Kushida interview, The Way Interview and the beginning of Imperium vs. Killian Dain & Drake Maverick. This was the 18-34 peak. The sixth quarter did 770,000 viewers and 292,000 in 18-49 for Imperium vs. Dain & Maverick, a Pete Dunne interview and Cameron Grimes and Ted DiBiase. The seventh quarter did 764,000 viewers and 300,000 in 18-49 for Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell beating down Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart with flowers and food and the Arash Markazi interview with Adam Cole. The eighth quarter did 761,000 viewers and 303,000 in 18-49 for Kushida & MSK vs. Escobar & Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde. This was the 18-49 and 35-49 peak of the show. The show did a 0.11 in 12-17 (down 21.4 percent from last week), 0.11 in 18-34 (up 11.9 percent), 0.33 in 35-49 (down 8.8 percent) and 0.36 in 50+ (down 12.2 percent.

AEW fell greatly on 4/28 due to the Joe Biden presidential address. AEW did 889,000 viewers and an 0.33 (428,000 viewers) in 18-49, although it actually held up better than most entertainment shows. AEW was No. 10, but third among non-news shows behind Challenge on MTV (which dropped 39.7 percent to 0.35, with 611,000 viewers) and the NBA game that went head-to-head and did 920,000 viewers and 0.34. The late NBA game did 892,000 viewers and 0.33. The NHL game on NBC Sports Network did 316,000 viewers and 0.11, for No. 73 on the charts. Major League Baseball head-to-head did 386,000 viewers and 0.09. ONE MMA with Eddie Alvarez did 219,000 viewers and 0.07. Not including AEW, the top five regular Wednesday weekly entertainment shows as a composite fell 25.9 percent in 18-49. AEW fared better in holding its 18-49 than almost every show with a 10.8 percent drop, except Real Housewives of New Jersey which actually went up from .31 to .33. Among non-news shows, AEW was behind the two NBA games in males 18-49 but beat both with women 18-49, where it was tenth overall. It was fifth not including news in 18-34, fifth in women 12-34 and fourth in men 12-34. From last week, it was down 19.5 percent in viewers, 11.8 percent in 18-49 and 7.6 percent in 18-34. Compared to last year, it was up 28.3 percent in viewers, 22.2 percent in 18-49 and 13.3 percent in 18-34. AEW, which had a lead-in down 40 percent from usual, opened at 803,000 viewers and 403,000 in 18-49 with Team Taz attacking Adam Page, Brian Cage vs. Adam Page and The Elite in the limo. Quarter two rose to 874,000 viewers and 427,000 in 18-49 with the Young Bucks vs. Sydal Brothers and Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian coming out after. Quarter three did 898,000 viewers and 421,000 in 18-49 for a Jade Cargill promo piece and the beginning of Orange Cassidy vs. Penta. Quarter four did 982,000 viewers and 449,000 in 18-49 for the end of Cassidy vs. Penta, a Britt Baker interview and most of the Inner Circle/Pinnacle promo piece. This segment peaked in 35-49. Quarter five did 908,000 viewers and 421,000 in 18-49 for the end of the Jericho promo, the in-ring with Eddie Kingston and Michael Nakazawa that included Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley and Don Callis, plus Taz & Christian. Quarter six did 868,000 viewers and 404,000 in 18-49 for Kris Statlander vs. Penelope Ford and the beginning of Dustin Rhodes & Billy Gunn & Lee Johnson vs. QT Marshall & Aaron Solow & Nick Comoroto. Quarter seven did 867,000 viewers and 431,000 in 18-49 for the ending of the six-man tag, Cody Rhodes & Marshall brawling and Miro attacking Kip Sabian. The main event segment with Darby Allin vs. 10 for the TNT title plus post-match did 909,000 viewers and 470,000 in 18-49. The main event peaked 18-49 and 18-34. AEW did 58,000 viewers in men 18-34 (down 4.9 percent from last week), 51,000 in women 18-34 (down 10.5 percent), 218,000 in men 35-49 (down 16.5 percent) and 101,000 in women 35-49 (down 4.7 percent). The show did a 0.10 in 12-17 (down 16.7 percent from last week), 0.16 in 18-34 (down 7.6 percent), 0.50 in 35-49 (down 13.1 percent) and 0.37 in 50+ (down 22.9 percent).