Wrestling News & Rumors

[ClockShot]

That's huge if Japan is gonna let the international crowd back in who got a place there.

Beef up the roster and shuffle things up a bit for NJPW.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer The second Raw in the ThunderDome, going against strong sports competition, averaged 1.90 million viewers and a 0.58 rating in 18-49. Those numbers were down seven percent in viewers and 13 percent in 18-49 from last week's strong Raw debut in the new arena and day after SummerSlam episode. But the numbers were still far above what the show did during most of the pandemic. They are still well below pre-pandemic numbers as the last full month average before the pandemic was 2.29 million viewers, 0.74 in 18-49, and 0.53 in 18-34 ... Raw was 23rd overall last night, and fifth if you factor out news coverage. In 18-49, Raw was fifth behind the two NBA games, 90 Day Fiance, and Below Deck Mediterranean ... The big story was a 19 percent first-to-third hour drop. It seems to indicate more interest than usual coming off Payback, but more audience loss than has been the case in recent weeks. That indicates people were not as interested in the three-way to determine the title contender at Clash of Champions as compared to other recent main events ... Raw was down 24 percent in viewers, 30 percent in 18-49, and 40 percent in 18-34 as compared to the same week last year. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.10 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.88 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.70 million viewers

Originally Posted by PWI Variety is reporting more members of the voice cast for Paramount Animation and WWE Studios "Rumble" will include basketball legend Charles Barkley, comedienne Bridgette Everett , former boxing champion Chris Eubank. They join Will Arnett, Terry Crews, Michael Buffer, Stephen A. Smith, Ben Schwartz, Tony Danza, Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch and others in the animated movie about a monster wrestling universe. The film has a current release date of January 29, 2021.

Originally Posted by PWI For those who asked about whether WWE is adding other additional PPVs after Payback returned, here is how their calendar currently shapes up: There is no main roster PPV scheduled for October currently. There will be a NXT Takeover on 10/4. WWE Hell in A Cell is set for 11/1 with Survivor Series slated for 11/22 WWE TLC is set for 12/20. So, while Payback was an additionally added PPV, there are currently no plans to add others to the 2020 PPV calendar.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Nikkan Sports conducted an interview with RAW Women’s Champion Asuka. Asuka talked about some of her goals that she set for herself upon arriving in WWE and one of her main goals was to strengthen the company’s women’s division. “When I came in, the word ‘Diva’ wasn’t used anymore, and female athletes were also known as ‘superstars.’ I’m going to strengthen the women’s division from now on. I thought this was my mission. When I was just coming to WWE, I played the main role at the NXT competition several times. It was rarely said that it’s really amazing! ‘Congratulations to the main!’ It was rare for a female player to appear in the main at WWE, but now I am left to the main of PPV and TV broadcasting. Isn’t it one of the first motivations to start closing the gender gap in WWE?” Asuka also compared wrestling in America to wrestling in Japan. She stated that while in Japan, there were not many women that came to see her wrestle so that was a positive change for her to see when she arrived in NXT. “Well, I think it’s unique. When I was in Japan, there weren’t many women coming to see me, so it was really nice to be a fan. At that time, I was conscious of trying to increase the number of fans who are watching male professional wrestling. The world of female professional wrestling is like a small village. I was thinking of getting the fans to be fans, and I thought that if they didn’t become happy players, they wouldn’t reach the level that would be accepted in the world.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Ringsiders Wrestling chatted with Aaron Solow recently. During their conversation, Aaron revealed that he and Ricky Starks were a part of Rusev’s WrestleMania 31 entrance as they played the role of the soldiers holding the Russian flag. “Ricky and I were actually in Rusev’s entrance for Mania 31. You can never tell. Unless there’s some technology that can really zoom in, you’ll never be able to tell. But we’re the soldiers for Rusev when he comes out and we’re holding the Russian flag.” Prior to going out in front the crowd, the extras were met with handshakes from Linda McMahon who thought that they were actual soldiers. “And then another funny story about that is because we were dressed in the soldier uniforms the whole time and we’re kind of just all in line waiting. Ricky, myself, the other extras and I think it was Linda McMahon. Linda McMahon comes walking up to us and she starts shaking all of our hands and I’m wondering why is she doing this and then by the time she gets to me and Ricky she’s like, ‘Thank you for your service.’ I don’t know what’s going on. I just nodded my head and when she walked off I was like, ‘Oh God, she thinks we’re real soldiers.’”

Originally Posted by Fightful Triple H has given the WWE Universe a look into what to expect when NXT UK re-launches. On Twitter, Triple H showed a video of the set for the NXT UK re-launch, taking place at the BT Sport Studios in London. During NXT TakeOver XXX, it was announced that NXT UK will return later this month. NXT UK has not run new episodes in months and has instead been airing best-of compilations and matches that were never before seen featuring names such as Adam Cole, Matt Riddle, and others. BT Sport has also lent its studio to British boxing promotional company Queensberry Promotions, with a number of shows featuring British stars Carl Frampton, Daniel Dubois and Michael Conlan airing on ESPN+ in the United States. The BT Sport Studio will also be the site of a world championship fight between unified junior welterweight titlist Josh Taylor and Apinun Khongsong on September 26.

Link: https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/1300894888058384384

Originally Posted by Fightful Jim Cornette has lost a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against G-Raver. Cornette filed a lawsuit in December 2019 over a t-shirt with his likeness being stabbed that said "Fuck Jim Cornette." G-Raver's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was denied. In the preliminary injunction (via Alexandra J. Roberts), the court ruled t-shirts sold by G-Raver aren't commerce but speech, "G-Raver sold the shirts...to critique Cornette’s views on deathmatch wrestling through parody; 1a protects this expression...because parodies are a valuable means of expression to weaken the ideas the celebrity espouses. On top of that, the shirts don't create a likelihood of confusion and Cornette's name may possess the distinctiveness that would make it a trademark. It's certainly not a famous one capable of dilution. Even if it were a mark, defendants' uses aren't similar." Cornette's right of publicity claim also failed with the ruling saying, "even when the use is facially for a commercial or advertising purpose; the relevant exception here is...the shirts are expressive works & the use is through a communications medium." The court holds the shirts to be works "invented by G-Raver's imagination" and thus they are transformative.

Originally Posted by Fightful Know your role and shut your mouth, jabroni. Now, when you use the term 'jabroni,' no one can tell you that you're using a slang term as the word has officially been added to the dictionary. The official definition reads: Slang. a stupid, foolish, or contemptible person; loser: She always has a comeback to own the trolls and jabronis on Twitter. Shut your mouth, you dumb jabroni! Also called en·hance·ment tal·ent [en-hans-muhnt tal-uhnt], job·ber [job-er] .Professional Wrestling. a wrestler whose purpose is to lose matches against headlining wrestlers in order to build up the status and fame of the headliners: The man is a legend in the ring—he eats jabronis for breakfast. The Rock made the term famous during the late 90s, calling his opponents 'jabronis' during his electric promos. The term has stuck around for wrestling fans and is still used to this day.

Originally Posted by Fightful The group known as Retribution will only be causing chaos on Monday nights. According to John Pollock of POST Wrestling, Retribution will be exclusive to WWE Raw moving forward. Fans may have noticed that Retribution didn't cause any chaos on the most recent episode of SmackDown and were absent from SummerSlam and Payback as well. The announcers continued to focus on the group, even airing video packages highlighting their antics, but the masked men and women were absent from those shows.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc There is expected to be major ratings in TV ratings moving forward, especially involving sports, as Nielsen begins counting out-of-home viewership. Viewers will now be counted from places such as bars, restaurants, and airports. Viewers will also be counted if they take their mobile devices from the home and use those to watch. This latest Nielsen tool is supposed to make a huge change in sports ratings moving forward, particularly major sporting events, and generally for the NFL, according to F4Wonline.com. WWE and AEW will also be affected, but likely on a much smaller scale. OutKick's Ryan Glasspiegel noted that Nielsen counting out-of-home viewership is a game-changer, and a huge deal that can't be overstated. OutKick reports that the out-of-home viewership will be incorporated into the numbers that Nielsen currently releases the day after events. While household rating numbers will remain constant, viewership is going to be an inexact comparison to previous year's numbers. Nielsen will reportedly measure out-of-home viewership via a beeper-like device carried by people who are in Nielsen's measurement sample. The device will capture and recognize the audio of what people are watching away from their homes. OutKick noted that this will go for everywhere from a friend's home, to a hotel, bar, gym, restaurant, and so on - hundreds of places. It was noted that an interesting aspect will be if people remember to carry the device, when they're already leaving the house with things like wallets, keys, and phones. Nielsen household samples have to opt in to the company's in-home measurement tools, but this new way of counting views involves an extra step in carrying the device with you. It was noted that there will also be interesting scenarios at bars and restaurants that air sports programming, but also play music during commercial breaks. One Nielsen source speculated to OutKick that in this scenario, if there's a 200-minute game and the sound of the game is on for 160 minutes, then the viewer would be counted for 160 minutes in the average minute audience, but not the other 40 minutes. It was also said that any time a viewer watches something with headphones while out of the house, such as the gym, the data won't be counted as streaming numbers are measured separately from TV viewership ... It was also noted by F4Wonline.com that the sports world has been waiting for a change like this as ratings decline each year, and now there's an idea that they will have a comeback year, or at least a year where the declines are not as bad. Previous tests have found that this method increases the number of younger viewers, which means the key younger demographics that have been hurt in recent years may see a comeback. Previous tests also found that this method skews more heavily towards female viewers. There's an idea, based on previous experiments, that out-of-home viewing will skew closer to a 50/50 split on male and female viewers.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc As noted on Monday, it was reported, via Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, that WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon told Randy Orton to make Keith Lee a star in their match at WWE Payback on Sunday, which Lee won clean in under 7 minutes. You can click here for that report, which noted that McMahon wants to push Lee "to the moon" on the RAW brand. In an update, it was noted by Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda that Lee is said to be "very well-liked" backstage, by WWE higher-ups and other Superstars. Regarding Lee's planned push, word is that he is in line for a "big, but steady push" to the top of the red brand. WWE recently changed Lee's theme song and look, after negative feedback to what he came to the main roster with after SummerSlam, and word now is that his appearance may be "tweaked" more as they move forward.

Originally Posted by Observer TV Guide in their new listings has AEW Dynamite No. 57 in a list of the 100 best television shows in the U.S. I can't recall a pro wrestling show ever making the list other than GLOW. No. 1 was Better Call Saul.

Originally Posted by Observer MJF"s lawyer, who faces Jon Moxley on Wednesday's show, Smart Mark Sterling, is an independent wrestler as well as the producer and co-host of Matt Cardona & Brian Myers' podcast. He trained with MJF at Myers' school in New York, which is also where Kris Statlander was trained.

Originally Posted by PWI Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling, which is run by former WWF and WCW star Paul Roma and longtime WWF enhancement talent Mario Mancini, received a cease and desist letter, dated 8/28, ordering them to shut down as their wrestling school as been deemed as being in violation with a local zoning law that lists "wrestling studios" under adult entertainment aka pornography. The letter states the town was made aware that wrestling events were being held in the space on 8/27 and such events violate the city's rules on "adult oriented businesses and entertainment establishments." The school has been ordered to halt all wrestling activity immediately under threat of fines and potential criminal charges if they resume training or presenting events. The school has 30 days to appeal the decision and if they choose not to do so, that will be considered an admission that they are liable for violating the zoning law and could be subject to "an assessment or judgment" by East Haven. The letter does not state who brought the complaint against PAPW. The irony here is that Parade Alley Pro Wrestling, as a promotion, bills itself as family friendly and has promoted a number of events over the last five years in the Nutmeg State to raise money for different charities.

Originally Posted by 411Mania Heel by Nature reports that WWE is having some trouble trademarking EVOLVE after buying the company earlier this summer on July 2. The trademark was filed by former owner Salem Hamaoui back in November, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office initially refused the application due to an issue with the documentation. The USPTO said at the time: “Registration is refused because the specimen does not show the applied-for mark in use in commerce in connection with any of the goods and/or services specified in the application.” Hamaoui never responded so the trademark was subject to being abandoned. On August 4, WWE lawyer Lauren A. Dienes-Middlen filed a notice to revive the application and change ownership to WWE. The USPTO stated on August 25 that the application can’t move forward because of confusion with a trademark for “EF EVOLVED FIGHTS MIXED WRESTLING”. WWE has six months to respond.

Originally Posted by 411Mania As previously reported, WWE confirmed a mutual parting of ways with NXT announcer Mauro Ranallo yesterday (Aug. 31) ... Dave Meltzer offered more commentary on Ranallo’s exit on today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. As noted in yesterday’s report, Ranallo had recently missed some NXT shows because he’s in British Columbia, where his mother is currently hospitalized. According to Meltzer, while in British Columbia, Mauro Ranallo came to the realization that he would not be returning to WWE. Currently, Ranallo plans to continue doing his broadcast work with Bellator MMA and Showtime Boxing. Meltzer added, “It was told me to me that he’s 50 years old, and it kind of brought into perspective that he’s here to be a mental health advocate, and doing wrestling every single week under that pressure is not what he’s here for.” Meltzer continued that while Ranallo’s WWE exit “wasn’t a big blowup,” Ranallo felt that it was time to go while his mother is currently hospitalized.

Originally Posted by PWI Add former CZW Champion Joe Gacy to the list of former EVOLVE stars who have signed a NXT/developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment. Gacy, 33, was a member of The Unwanted in EVOLVE, holding the EVOLVE Tag Team Championship. Gacy debuted in 2006 and has worked all over the Northeastern independent scene as well as Germany's WXW promotion. PWInsider.com is told Gacy is the final talent from EVOLVE expected to be signed at this time, following Josh Briggs, Anthony Greene, Brandi Lauren, Leon Ruff, Curt Stallion and referee Jake Clemons.

TPWW Frontpage:

• AEW: New TV Series to Debut Late 2020, All Out Preview Show, Excalibur Update, Thunder Rosa
• Various: MLW Resuming TV Tapings This Fall, ROH Pure Title Tournament, NJPW Jr. Tag Tournament
• Rey Mysterio Suffers Torn Triceps (Updated)
• Mauro Ranallo Leaving WWE
• Wade Barrett Negotiating New Full-Time WWE Announcer Contract
• Brock Lesnar’s WWE Contract Expires, Currently a Free Agent

[screech]

That's interesting re: the wrestling school being shut down for being "adult entertainment."

I wonder if other states/counties/whatever have similar ordinances in place.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Airing to an unfamiliar night -- but unopposed by AEW Dynamite for the third straight week -- NXT on USA Network was up three percent in overall viewership from last Wednesday's show, averaging 849,000 viewers. It was the second highest audience for NXT this year, just trailing the episode two weeks ago that averaged 853,000 viewers ... Perhaps more importantly, NXT did a 0.26 rating in the 18-49 demo and finished 10th overall on cable in that category, the highest the show has finished since the first couple of weeks on USA. That rating was up 8.3 percent from last week and is the highest for NXT since December 18 of last year. In the individual demo categories, the ratings -- as compared to last week,were: women 18-49 -- 0.19 (up 11.8 percent), men 18-49 -- 0.33 (up 10 percent), people 18-34 -- 0.14 (even); females 12-34 -- 0.11 (up 120 percent); males 12-34 -- 0.18 (down 10 percent); people 25-54 -- 0.30 (up 7.1 percent), and people over 50 -- 0.40 (down 2.4 percent) ... AEW Dynamite will air in its regular time slot tonight with NXT airing a repeat broadcast of last night's show on SyFy. NXT will again air on Tuesday next week due to the NHL playoffs.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The experiment of placing NXT on a Tuesday night provided the show with its second-best viewership figure of 2020 and the highest rating in the 18-40 demographic since December ... It’s NXT second-highest figure thus year trailing the August 19th show, which ran unopposed in its normal Wednesday night timeslot on the USA Network. This would be NXT’s fourth-highest viewership average since October 2nd, 2019. After three weeks of running without AEW competition, NXT has averaged 842,000 viewers and a 0.25 demo rating. That compares to 696,000 viewers and a 0.18 rating for the three previous episodes that went head-to-head with AEW, so they have experienced a 21 percent increase in viewership and 38.8 percent jump in the demo rating. The results would give one enough evidence to argue strongly that NXT is best served to air on a different night if the intention is to grow this product and put the show in the best position possible when their contract with the USA Network comes due. In that sense, this week’s number could be looked back on as a pivotal one if that decision is made.

Originally Posted by Observer Ring of Honor announced Wednesday they have launched a 24/7 digital linear network called ROH Best On The Planet. The service is currently available on STIRR's channel 357, a free live streaming service owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group who also owns ROH. In the press release, ROH noted that additional distribution partners will be announced and are working with sports network Stadium to help make that happen. The channel features non-stop ROH action including new and past episodes of ROH TV, archived pay-per-views and On Tour shows. STIRR is available on Roku TV, Fire TV, Apple TV and both iOS and Android devices.

Originally Posted by Observer After WWE purchased the company he co-founded, longtime wrestling promoter and booker Gabe Sapolsky released a statement Wednesday where he said he is retired from promoting and booking indie wrestling. In July, Sapolsky and co-founder Sal Hamaoui sold the rights to EVOLVE and the content library for both that company, Full Impact Pro and Dragon Gate USA to WWE for an undisclosed sum after several months of discussions. Hamaoui is continuing with streaming service WWN which was not part of the deal. Sapolsky has been a consultant for NXT since 2018 and is expected to remain in that position.

Originally Posted by Observer In her first appearance since her departure from WWE, the former Renee Young discussed her first week out of the company, her experience having COVID-19 this summer, and how the company's reaction to her announcing the news didn't go over well internally or with her personally. Now going by Renee Paquette, she was a guest on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and was asked by host Jimmy Traina about the rumors WWE weren't happy with her decision to go public. She said she likes to be transparent about things and there's no shame in having the virus, but wanted to be responsible and ensure those who were around here were aware. "But yeah, it was not well received," she said. She said that after her tweet announcing the news at night, she awoke the next day to several texts: "They weren't even even like 'You shouldn't have posted it.' But it was like, 'We really wish you gave us a heads up that you were going to post it.' It was bad for PR and whatnot. But again, I wouldn't have even thought to be like, "Hey guys, I'm gonna tweet that I have COVID, ha, ha. Like, that was just not what I was thinking about when I posted about it." Asked if WWE should have shut down early on in the pandemic, Paquette said she felt less concerned at SummerSlam given the testing they are doing now and that proper testing and protocols should have been implemented from the beginning. She also admitted she felt "a little slighted" as she "didn't really feel like anyone was all that concerned that I got sick. That bothered me for sure." Paquette said she knew fairly quickly that she had the virus despite an initial negative test, feeling a gradual increase in symptoms and that her husband (Jon Moxley) didn't think she had it. To this day, she still feels some aftereffects from time to time despite being COVID free. She said there wasn't a definitive moment when she decided to leave WWE but that when Backstage got canceled and she got her virus diagnosis on the same day, it forced her to take stock of her career and that she realized there wasn't a lot for her to do in WWE that represented career progress. She added she will still be working for Fox in relation to WWE but that they are currently trying to figure that situation out. When it was time to announce her decision, she talked to Michael Cole as both her boss and friend. No one tried to talk her out of her decision once they knew her mind was made up and that doing a show like Talking Smack again or random backstage interviews felt like taking steps back at this point in her career. She said she has not spoken to AEW about working there since leaving and joked about the assumption that everyone that leaves WWE is going there. Her goal is to be "Lady Rogan" and be in more control of her content. She said she has a non-compete for "quite a while" and intimated it's much longer than 90 days. She said she would open to talking and that it was tough in having to pretend that Moxley didn't exist as she wasn't allowed to tweet about him.

Originally Posted by PWI Colt Cabana is reviving his Art of Wrestling podcast.

Originally Posted by PWI The Rock responded to Jabroni being added as a word to Dictionary.com: Wow - very cool! Honored have a word actually make the dictionary. Making my all my teachers very proud ???????? For the record, I may have made the word “Jabroni” (a noun, btw famous and part of ???? culture, BUT the Iron Sheik made it famous in our wild wrestling locker rooms!???? https://t.co/ivsCkeVMJA — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) September 1, 2020

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Network announced the following list of content coming to the streaming service this month: Coming this month to WWE Network... ???? ?? pic.twitter.com/hKIpCg8psw — WWE Network (@WWENetwork) September 1, 2020 They also reveal that September will see a new addition never before added to the classic content library in Velocity, which ran from 2002 to 2004 featuring Smackdown talents before migrating with Raw's secondary show at the time, Heat over to WWE's website as a webcast before being retired in 2006.

Link: https://twitter.com/WWENetwork/statu...95859244920832

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Brandon Thurston at Wrestlenomics looked at data over the past five years regarding the viewership bump Raw would receive following a pay-per-view. His research shows that over that period it’s the episodes of Raw following WrestleMania (+16 percent), Royal Rumble (+12 percent), Money in the Bank (+10 percent), and SummerSlam (+9 percent) that saw the largest increases from the prior four episodes. In 2020, the overall pay-per-view bump on Raw has been 4 percent but when factoring out the four big shows listed above, it’s only an increase of 0.3 percent.

Link: https://twitter.com/BrandonThurston/...235457/photo/1

Originally Posted by Fightful ICW No Holds Barred announced that Joe Gacy's last match before heading to WWE will be against Tony Deppen at No Holds Barred Vol. 6 on September 11. Gacy is one of several wrestlers reportedly signed by WWE recently.

Originally Posted by Fightful Eric Young is atop the IMPACT Wrestling mountain yet again, after four years away from the World Title. "I’m doing well. What’s the old saying? 'It’s good to be king,'" Young told Fightful in an exclusive interview just after winning the championship. Wrestling Television Viewership Numbers: WWE Raw, SmackDown, NXT, AEW Related Article Wrestling Television Viewership Numbers: WWE Raw, SmackDown, NXT, AEW Eric Young went from not being used on WWE TV, to being released, to being a free agent during a pandemic, to returning to the IMPACT brand in one of the hottest stories the company has seen in recent years. That's not lost on him ... We've heard of new champions, namely Deonna Purrazzo, who not only don't have contracts, but haven't had full-time offers. That isn't the case for Young. He's with IMPACT, and doing some side gigs as well. "Yeah, I’m committed there. I signed a two year exclusive deal. So, exclusively wrestling with them. It will be all IMPACT! all the time for me. I mean, I have tons of other interests like TV, outside of that I’m crazy into fantasy sports. Just actually this morning signed a deal with SportsGrid, I’ll be doing a Sunday morning fantasy prep show for them that airs digitally online and all over the world. Like I said, I’m a very experiential person. I want to do everything. I’m running out of time in the day. One guy can only do so much. For me, IMPACT! is my home. It was my home away from home when I was gone. Now, I’m back. It’s just a very cool place to work, a very cool place to be involved. I said, for me, I just wanted to be involved. I just wanted to be doing something. The fact that I’m the World Champion, I’m the flag bearer, I’m the flagship of the show, it is a huge honor for me. Something I feel that I’ve earned and I deserve, but I will not rest on it, you know what I mean? I’ve never been a person that’s rested on it. I want to improve myself. I want to improve IMPACT! and in turn improving my life. Everything is circular that way. The task at hand is huge. We’ve got a long ways to go, but the opportunity is there. It’s limitless potential in this locker room and I can’t wait to get going and do some other amazing things."

Originally Posted by WrestleTalk All Elite Wrestling an the NWA will be holding a big interpromotional match at All Out this Saturday. NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa will be challenging Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women’s Championship. It is not every day that promotions work together like this and now we have more details about how the relationship came to be. Fightful Select (subscription required) is reporting that the entire deal to bring Thunder Rosa in was constructed between Billy Corgan and AEW. Rosa was said to have wanted to be respectful towards NWA but doesn’t think anything is surprising in how the deal was made. Rosa first appeared on the August 22 episode of Dynamite, challenging Shida for her title. Their match was quickly signed for All Out for September 5. Rosa will be making her in-ring debut tonight on AEW Dynamite.

Originally Posted by Fightful Tenille Dashwood has made her return to the IMPACT Zone. Dashwood crashed Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo’s Black Tie Event on IMPACT, making her first appearance for the company in nearly six months. Her last appearance was on the April 14 episode of IMPACT, which was taped in March, when she defeated Taya Valkyrie.

Originally Posted by Fightful MJF's personality isn't for everyone and he's pissed off his fair share of fans throughout the years. It's better to piss off fans than be pissed on by fans. Speaking to the New York Post, the number one contender for AEW World Title, recalled a couple of fan horror stories he's experienced during his time in wrestling. “At AEW, a fan tried to dress up I believe like a pilot and was trying to convince our security that they were supposed to fly me out on a private jet after the show,” MJF said. “I can assure you that that guy was most certainly not my pilot, so there was once a fan who literally tried to kidnap me. I’ve seen it all. When I was in Mexico, people threw a car battery at me and urine at me. That’s because I don’t tiptoe around. I don’t hide how I feel.” MJF isn't afraid to insult anyone and everyone Arn Anderson, who has been around wrestling for nearly four decades, has seen it all and has his own fan horror stories. Even he is surprised fans don't kill MJF on the spot. “I just happened to be walking by a monitor when he started [a stage show at a Starrcast fanfest] and my God, I couldn’t believe the kid was getting away with the stuff that he was saying, that a herd of people didn’t bum rush the podium and cuff him and take him to jail,” Anderson said. “It was unbelievable how he was toeing the line.” Taz went on to call MJF "a pain in the ass, but [AEW's] pain in the ass."

TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE Considering Idea of Moving NXT to a Different Weekly Night
• WWE: Renee Young on Her Departure, More on NXT Title Iron Man Match, EVOLVE Trademark Issues
• Tonight’s AEW Dynamite Card + AEW Rankings
• Eric Young Wins Impact World Championship

[Volare]

MJF = $$$$$

[fundiddle]

Originally Posted by screech That's interesting re: the wrestling school being shut down for being "adult entertainment." I wonder if other states/counties/whatever have similar ordinances in place.

if anyone ever caught wind of them filming those creepy fetish videos like what tyler black/seth rollins was in, i would

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets sponsored by Swaggie Time, now in Orange flavor:

Originally Posted by Observer With Wednesday all to itself in terms of live wrestling, last night's All Out go-home episode of AEW Dynamite averaged 928,000 viewers on TNT, matching February 5 for the show's fourth highest total of 2020. That was up 14.1 percent from last week when the show aired on Thursday night. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite averaged a 0.36 rating, up 24.1 percent from last week and matching the highest number in that category since January 15. The show was eighth for the night on cable in the demo ... A replay of Tuesday's NXT aired on SyFy and finished 125th in the 18-49 demo with a 0.04 rating. It averaged 183,000 total viewers, so it likely had little impact on the AEW number. The total combined audience for NXT and AEW this week was 1.777 million viewers. That's the highest since November of last year and the third highest ever, but it's also with the show airing on two separate nights as compared to head-to-head like they usually do. In the individual demos, as compared to last Thursday, Dynamite did: women 18-49 -- 0.21 (up 10.5 percent), men 18-49 -- 0.51 (up 30.8 percent and fourth overall on cable), people 18-34 -- 0.23 (up 21.1 percent), females 12-34 -- 0.10 (down 28.6 percent), males 12-34 -- 0.28 (up 12 percent), people 25-54 -- 0.43 (up 30.3 percent), and people over 50 -- 0.35 (up 16.7 percent). Next Wednesday, AEW gets the night to itself again for the post-All Out edition of Dynamite. NXT will air on Tuesday again next week due to the NHL playoffs.

Originally Posted by Observer During a stream on his Twitch channel Wednesday night, AJ Styles revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year. “I also tested positive a couple of weeks ago, probably almost a month. I think, ago," Styles said when asked about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announcing that he and his family battled COVID-19. "I feel for people who have to deal with this, but I gotta say, I didn’t have many problems with it. So, hopefully The Rock and his family, hopefully everybody is safe and everybody is taken care of and nobody has too bad of symptoms and stuff like that. It sucks, it’s not good for anybody.” Styles said he was one of the lucky ones and didn't have severe symptoms. He had a headache and "maybe a couple boogers" but never had a fever.

Originally Posted by Observer AEW president and booker Tony Khan did a one-hour long media call Thursday afternoon, hitting on a variety of topics from this Saturday's All Out to Brock Lesnar to booking philosophies and more. Here's some of the highlights: He was asked about free agent Brock Lesnar and said he couldn't comment while putting over how he's a great fighter and wrestler and that he doesn't get enough credit ... He said the FTW Title will be defended and that he's working on a "pilot" on how to make it different than the World or TNT titles. He said the reason Big Swole vs. Britt Baker is on the Buy In pre-show is that his philosophy is to put big names and stars in front of more viewers to help drive PPV buys. He confirmed the match will be cinematic in nature due to Baker still recovering from her injuries. He talked about his relationship with NWA president Billy Corgan and how the connection between the two was initially helped by Chris Nowinski. At this point, no other NWA talents are scheduled to be part of AEW, but he thought having Thunder Rosa involved made sense for both sides. He said the Rosa-Serena Deeb match from Wednesday was a home run and talked about Deeb came into the picture. He discussed how they keep surprises just that, saying a very small circle helps control things getting out there, adding "There's a lot more surprises ahead for you in the upcoming weeks." Khan said he held back on the go-home show, focusing on more wrestling in the first half and more storyline in the second half ... He said the Dynamite after All Out is going to be "really, really good" with some surprises. Saturday's Matt Hardy-Sammy Guevara Broken Rules match is a last man standing-style affair with a loser leaves town stipulation for Hardy.

Originally Posted by PWI The cease and desist order filed against Paul Roma and Mario Manicini's Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling school in East Haven, CT on 8/28 has been officially rescinded with the school being given permission to resume training and events, PWInsider.com has confirmed. PWInsider.com is told that Joseph Maturo Jr., the Mayor of East Haven stepped in upon learning of the situation and helped settle the issue. The belief is that the original cease and desist may have come from, believe it or not, someone miunderstanding what professional wrestling was and we are told that the ordinance used to back the cease and desist will be adjusted so such a thing could not happen in the future. The school had been informed that they were in violation with a local zoning law that lists "wrestling studios" under adult entertainment aka pornography. The verbiage of the local zoning law was designed to prohibit massage parlors that could double as places of prostitution or "studios" that could potentially house the filming of pornography in some form, which again, would not be what professional wrestling is, but the terminology "wrestling studios" was utilized in the ordinance as it was written and used to enact the cease and desist, despite PAPW having operated out of the same facility for years.

at the whole issue revolving around someone thinking wrestling was some sort of porn instead.

Originally Posted by PWI As PWInsider.com has previously reported, the next WWE NXT Takeover will be on Sunday 10/4. Currently, there is no planned Takeover for the night before Survivor Series in November. However, WWE has added another Takeover on Sunday 12/6.

Originally Posted by PWI The United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live PPV series, the first undertaking for a weekly pro wrestling series on PPV since the early days of NWA: TNA, debuts 9/15 on In Demand and FITE.TV. The series will be available for $7.00 per episode or a bundle of $23.99 for the month on FITE. The series will be priced $11.99 weekly on InDemand.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling An NXT show at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia that was originally set for April has been moved to Thursday, December 17th. Tickets for the event at Center Stage are currently on-sale. POST Wrestling reached out to Center Stage for a comment about tickets being on-sale for the show.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Richard Deitsch welcomed Renee Paquette, also known as Renee Young onto his Sports Media podcast. Renee talked about contemplating leaving WWE several years before her recent departure and how the company would not grant her release because she was under a talent contract. “When I had actually thought about leaving WWE several years ago and I was not granted my release at the time because I was under a talent contract but they wouldn’t let me out of that contract, and it turned out to be a good thing. I got to do a ton of stuff beyond that-that I wouldn’t have the career that I have today had I not been there for the past three years. But as I sort of accepted that I’m like, ‘Okay, I am gonna be here for longer. What are these other opportunities and these other things that I’m gonna get to do here?’ I’ve also accumulated this knowledge of wrestling that I’m not gonna be able to use anywhere else so, to just throw that away seems like a waste of the past almost decade, you know?”

Originally Posted by PWI There is a hearing scheduled on 11/12 in The Hilsborough County Court in Tampa, Florida in the case of Phillip A. Thomas, the man arrested inside WWE star Sonya Deville's home last month. The hearing is related to the temporary injunction filed against Thomas in order to prevent him from approaching or contacting Deville or her family. Thomas remains incarcerated without bail in Tampa as Judge Catherine Caitlin ruled on 8/20 that he was a threat to the safety of the community after Deville testified about Thomas invading her home and the hundreds of threatening messages she discovered sent to her social media accounts after authorities provided her with Thomas' name post-arrest. As previously reported, Thomas has been charged with Aggravated Stalking, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling, Attempted Armed Kidnapping, and Criminal Mischief. Thomas is being represented by a public defender and has involved his fifth amendment right to remain silent. The Tampa Bay Tribune is reporting that Thomas' attorney argued that bail should be set at $2 million and that he could be electronically monitored but the court shot that down given the nature of the situation.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling 9/3 would’ve been the 23rd birthday of Hana Kimura.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling MJF chatted with Inside The Ropes to promote his AEW World Title match at All Out. MJF discussed some of the comparisons that he’s been a part of throughout his career and how the goal post is constantly moved for him regarding those comparisons. “You know, it’s funny the comparisons were changing every week. When I first debuted, the comparisons were, ‘He’s another EC3’ and then I surpassed those comparisons so they kept moving the goal post. ‘Oh he’s just another Miz,’ they moved the goal post. ‘Ah, he’s great but he’s no Randy Orton.’ Uh, screw me man. That’s somebody I grew up watching and idolizing. ‘He’s great but he’s no Chris Jericho’ then I got in the ring with Chris Jericho and people went, ‘Oh man, oh snap. He’s not just holding his own here, he’s kinda taking the ball, running and scoring a touchdown’ and that’s what I love about pro wrestling is the fans constantly feel the need that they need to be satiated and they need to be proven right, but no one’s been proven right about me yet. The dialogue about me when I first came in was I was a guy that was just good at promos. Then, I got to have the Jungle Boy match and I got to kind of shove it down everybody’s throat that not only am I good at wrestling, I’m great at wrestling, but I’m a special attraction. I’m not gonna come on Dynamite and wrestle every single week. That’s not my job. Roddy Piper didn’t wrestle every single week. Roddy Piper, he grabbed you by the balls and when it was time for him to wrestle, it was either a pay-per-view or it was a big money match on TV. That’s what MJF is all about. So for me, that was one of the rare instances I got to go out there and show the world how great I am as a pro wrestler. So, the comparisons to Chris Jericho, do I like them? Yeah, I love every comparison I get because they’re comparing me to great talents, but I do find it interesting that the goal post keeps getting moved more and more. I won’t be shocked by the time it goes, ‘MJF is great but he’s not as good as God’ and when that happens, we’ll have jumped the shark and we’re getting pretty close to those comparisons.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated spoke with NWA World Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. During their conversation, Rosa said she has seen the criticisms of AEW’s women’s division and in her match against Hikaru Shida at All Out, both of them are going to show what a championship match looks like. “I’m the NWA women’s champion, and I get to walk into an AEW pay-per-view for a match against Hikaru Shida—to me, that is an honor. I know people have been very hesitant about what they’ve seen in the last couple of weeks in the AEW women’s division. I’ve read the criticism, but we are going to show what a championship match should look like. I’ve been visualizing my entrance, my moves, my MMA technique, and I wish I was getting in the ring with her right now.”

Originally Posted by Fightful AJ Styles can be a professional next to Paul Heyman. It's no secret that there is some bad blood between Styles and Heyman following Heyman being accused of lying by Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson. According to the OC members, Heyman was the one who planted the idea in Vince McMahon's head to fire Gallows and Anderson in April after previously telling them they were safe. Styles admitted he wanted to be off Raw and away from Heyman following the incident. Styles got his wish as he was moved to SmackDown, but Heyman now joins him on the blue brand as the advocate for Roman Reigns. "It is what it is," said Styles on his Twitch stream when asked about Heyman coming to SmackDown. "I could care less. It's water under the bridge. Not saying that I have forgotten what he's done, but I'm not gonna be that guy who holds a grudge, I'm not like that. Okay dude, you know you pissed me off, you know how I feel, I may not ever trust you again, can I get along with him professionally? Absolutely. Doesn't mean I'm gonna be mean to him or say anything, it's over. My buddies are doing fine." Heyman was fired from his position as executive director of Raw shortly after Styles was moved to SmackDown. Both men are now on SmackDown, but Styles appears willing to work in a professional manner.

Originally Posted by Fightful Kevin Nash is another wrestler who tested positive for COVID. Following The Rock announcing he and his family tested positive for COVID, Nash took to social media to welcome Rock to the team, revealing he and his family had also tested positive for the virus. It is unknown exactly when Nash got the virus. Nash said he was tired due to the virus while his wife still hasn't regained her smell or taste. His son was asymptomatic.

Originally Posted by Observer Wade Barrett is officially set for his third straight week of NXT commentary. On Twitter today, Barrett confirmed that he'll again be part of the commentary team for next Tuesday's episode of NXT: "There’s no way I’m missing this one. This is fast becoming a habit.. see you next week for another #NXTSuperTuesday! #WWENXT" PWInsider reported earlier this week that Barrett was in negotiations with WWE to return to the promotion full-time as a commentator. He's called the past two NXT episodes with Vic Joseph and Beth Phoenix.

TPWW Frontpage:

• NXT UK Taping New Episodes Today, Nigel McGuinness Returning on Commentary
• The Rock Says He and His Family Had COVID-19
• MLW’s Resumption of Tapings & Events Update

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter edition)

The WWE's ability to license and merchandise Brock Lesnar ended this past week, which comes months after the end of the actual contract. Lesnar had been a free agent since WrestleMania but that news never broke and at the time considered largely a formality given it made no sense for WWE to use him during the pandemic and the belief was that he was out of everyone else's price range. The belief was that, at 43, he was not going to do UFC once he pulled himself again out of the USADA testing pool and that AEW would not be able to afford to make a comparable offer to what WWE could in his case, and he's purely a money guy ... For AEW it would be a statement move, but ultimately in this environment such a move, given the price tag we are talking about and the schedule he's looking at doing, it wouldn't appear to make any economic sense. Plus a key part of his WWE act, Paul Heyman, is still under contract to WWE ... The contract gives the WWE rights to continue to sell merchandise for a length of time, in this case around five months, after the deal expires. That period is what just expired this past week. One person in the company noted that it makes no sense to sign Lesnar to a new deal at the moment, as it would only be to keep him from AEW. The belief is Lesnar could, and probably would try to use AEW as leverage, but that at the end of the day, the belief is Lesnar's value to AEW would be nowhere near his price tag and a deal with Lesnar makes no sense for a company basically trying to just break even during the pandemic. It was said that for Lesnar, like for Tyson Fury (who issued a challenge to Drew McIntyre this past week for a match), that it's at this point Saudi Arabia and WrestleMania as the only shows that make sense right now and the belief right now is Saudi Arabia won't happen this year. Lesnar’s name had been talked about in WWE in reference to a Drew McIntyre rematch for this coming WrestleMania, but that was if McIntyre was to retain the title, which has also been considered to go to Randy Orton, who in theory would be earmarked for Edge and not Lesnar. But nothing in that direction is close to being decided. Lesnar and WWE was described as the exact same thing that UFC is doing with Conor McGregor, in the sense that his pay is so high for a show that it doesn't make sense to use him until you have a big money event. His contract expiring isn't a new thing but in the past he's always signed a new deal before the time frame where the WWE's ability to merchandise him ends. When that time frame ended, they had to remove all merchandise from the web site. Mike Johnson at PW Insider reported that there were talks for a new deal, which would have allowed them to continue selling his merchandise, that had an impasse. Lesnar usually has his deal expire by design, and teases going to UFC, which would give him a big offer. It is believed Lesnar received $8 million for his UFC 200 fight with Mark Hunt and would have been able to get a similar if not larger deal for a fight with Daniel Cormier, which he shot an angle for before UFC had the deal in place. This gave him a ton of leverage in his last set of negotiations. Lesnar also always tries to sign short-term contracts, which has worked in his favor, but would work against him if Vince McMahon decides they’ve gotten what they need out of him, such as the quick loss to McIntyre to try and establish a new top guy, and that his huge paycheck and working few dates no longer made sense. It is always possible AEW could make him an offer, which no doubt would be what he would be counting on. Lesnar now is actually more valuable to one party than for anyone else, including WWE, which is ESPN ... The reality is that if Lesnar had any interest in UFC, and he knows he can make more money for one fight there than he can earn in a year or perhaps multiple years in WWE, and at his age, the idea that he’s never even talked to White, if true because White is often not honest, would seem to indicate zero interest in fighting. Another key is that Lesnar is not a big spender and doesn’t need money. He likely has enough to not just live the rest of his life, but also to insure a great life for his children after he’s gone.

Roman Reigns turned heel and joined up with Paul Heyman, and then won the Universal title in the main event of the 8/30 Payback PPV ... It’s not known whether it was Reigns or McMahon who made the call to put Heyman with Reigns, but Reigns did ask to be turned heel on his return after being out of action since March due to concerns over COVID-19. Reigns probably should have been turned years ago but the company was adamant that he was the only person who could follow John Cena as the top full-time face of the company. The feeling is that you need a guy who has great looks, a muscular body, be at least 6-feet tall, preferably an inch or two taller, and has charisma. A lot of WWE fans rejected that, and really, as shown with New Japan and Tetsuya Naito, had they turned him heel, the fans on their own would have eventually turned him babyface, and he’d be stronger because of that and no longer face the adversarial relationship since the fans believed they had chosen him as opposed to him being forced on them. Essentially this is the same thing, only years later, and Reigns is now 35 instead of 30. As far as Heyman, he has a top tier contract and without Brock Lesnar, they could either pay him a high figure to be a booking consultant after removing him from the guy working under Vince McMahon in charge of Raw, or try and make use of him as talent, so it fell together ... Reigns will next defend the title likely on the 9/27 Clash of the Champions show against the winner of a four-way on the 9/4 Smackdown show with Big E, Matt Riddle, Sheamus and King Corbin. The idea seems to be to save Fiend, his WrestleMania opponent in the original planning that Vince changed, to a later PPV. Sheamus being in is kind of weird since he’s lost to Big E and Jeff Hardy, who isn’t in, but in WWE the secondary title holders almost never challenge for the main title, which really makes no sense. Corbin also lost on the PPV. The PPV main event looks to be Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title. Orton also lost on this show to Keith Lee, clean, fast and deceive, to a spirit bomb. Orton had been talked about to face Edge at WrestleMania for the title, so if Orton wins, Lee is set up perfectly as a challenger, although Lee taking the RKO in the three-way where Orton beat Lee and Seth Rollins to get the shot should have never happened if the plan is for a big Orton vs. Lee program.

The Cartoon Network Latin America announced an animated cartoon series called Rey Mysterio. The character of Mysterio will be in a cartoon where a fan of Mysterio has found out secret information where the forces of evil are threatening the world, he calls on Mysterio and the two of them work together to save the world. The release never mentions WWE so this may be an outside project that he was able to work on his own. We’ll have more details on this next week

Levesque talked about the relaunch of NXT U.K., which starts back 9/17 with new shows on the WWE Network. They taped last week at the BT Studios and Levesque said that would be the permanent site. I guess the decision is that taping at arenas with larger crowds isn't cost-effective. "That is the intent and the hope. BT has been, I can't say it enough, an amazing partner," Levesque said in an interview with Metro U.K. "When you look at that studio, it's perfect for what we do, but they are perfect for what we do. They have been a leader in changing the game in sport across all of Europe and, really, globally. They have once of the most technologically advanced studios in the world. It's an amazing facility. The intent is for us to be able to in there long term to be able to create this content, and I think if later down the line, we get to a place where fans can come in, obviously we'd be thrilled and excited." Levesque was also asked out the allegations of sexual misconduct in U.K. pro wrestling. "Part of this is why we started (the company) in the first place, to professionalize and put that system into place where everyone can feel safe and protected, and have a working environment that is inclusive of everyone and the opportunity to do what we do. We take every allegation very seriously, and you can refer back to our policy. It's zero tolerance for things of this manner. We look into everything. We look into it, we go from there to see what is legitimate, what is not, what is real, what isn't, and deal with it accordingly. While a lot of these things happened years ago, we take them very seriously. We also have an open policy with everybody. No one should ever feel like, `I didn't wanna say anything.' That's the exact opposite of what we want. We're trying to make this the safe, inclusive environment for everybody that it should be." A real question coming out of this regards talent that several of the major local promotions have stopped using based on allegations that WWE still has under contract, Jordan Devlin being the biggest name that comes to mind. If the allegations are true and serious, than he should be gone, but if WWE has truly investigated and found the claims to not be valid, then shouldn't the other companies use him? I don't know the answer of what is and isn't true in his case, just that he was working for companies as a top guy what are affiliated with WWE and this is a major contradiction. If nothing else, WWE should share what they've investigated if they have, and the other companies should share with WWE why they won't use him. There are two basic issues here. Either there is something to why other companies dropped using him but WWE feels they are untouchable and he's a good worker and all that, or he was unfairly accused and the other companies are afraid to use someone not guilty for fear of a public backlash. There's in the middle as well but if WWE investigated in situations like this the public and certainly other companies they work with have the right to know. Some people won't believe anything WWE says but that doesn't mean they shouldn't say it. And if what WWE says doesn't actually hold up, and that happens as well, WWE should want to know that if they really do care about the various situations. It's a really ugly, sometimes confusing and often contradictory situation

Ric Flair on WrestlingInc.com said that his daughter may be out of action for a year. She had issues with her implants and needed to get them taken care of. She had worse issues a few years back, and got it taken care of to a degree but with a procedure that allowed her to return relatively quickly.

When Tetsuya Naito was growing up, his favorite baseball team was the Yakult Swallows, and during the season he would go to about one home game a week at their home Meiji Jingu Stadium. When he was 17, he was sitting in the left field bleachers when New Japan booked a show at the stadium headlined by the Great Muta vs. the Great Nita (Atsushi Onita). 21 years later he was on the field as the main star of the show as he became the 11th person to win the IWGP championship at least three times with a win over Evil in the main event of Summer Struggle in Jingu Stadium on 8/29. Naito joins Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Keiji Muto, Shinya Hashimoto, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kensuke Sasaki, Kazuyuki Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura, Riki Choshu and Hiroyoshi Tenzan ... Naito also regained the IC title, his record setting sixth reign (he and Nakamura previously were tied with five) of a belt that dates back to 2011 and that he first won on September 25, 2016, in Kobe, from Michael Elgin.

G-1 kicks off on 9/19 and they have not announced participants at this point. For foreigners to be able to be brought in, they'd have to arrive by 9/5 and quarantine in a hotel room for two weeks. With the exception of the 9/3 show in Saitama and 9/8 in Mito, all the rest of the shows will air live on New Japan World. The jr. tag title tour will have only Japanese commentary live. It's not clear what will be done regarding English commentary for G-1, but the belief is that the bigger shows will have live English commentary like the stadium show did.

Tony Khan said that while he and Billy Corgan negotiated the deal and he approved it, the idea of bringing in Thunder Rosa to face Hikaru Shida came from Kenny Omega He also said that the second AEW show on TNT would debut over the next year. It was delayed by COVID. We had heard as of a few weeks ago that while there was no date, it was targeted for before the end of 2020 but in TV things can change ... He also noted in regard to this past week’s show that his philosophy on PPV go-home shows is different from a regular show, and laid it out with the idea of good matches early and lots of promos late, which is not the usual way he puts shows together

Tony Khan invited a number of guests to attend the 9/2 tapings who were fans who had been laid off in the Orlando/DeLand area as well as those who had been affected by the recent tornado. When he found out about a group of Orlando area NXT fans helping the clean up efforts from the tornado and a family that were fans who had been affected by the tornado, he invited them all to come to the show this week

Regarding Matt & Jeff Hardy and them splitting up, they likely would have stayed together in the same company, or at least there was a good chance of it, but the contract situation played a part. Both signed on the same day, but Jeff had shoulder and knee surgery and other issues and WWE decreed that he owed them 20 more months and tacked that on. So he couldn't leave. If Matt didn't leave when he did, he likely would have been asked to sign for five years and while he did entertain the thought of staying, he opted for more creative control. Matt did an interview with Chris Van Vliet where he felt the Broken character would have gotten over better with live crowds. I believe that's the case as well, because fans would have done the big chants and stuff for him and that would make it appear to be a hot character, and with no fans, you are missing that. He sensed that and toned that down, but gave the impression when fans are back that he'd give the broken character another strong shot. The fact he's doing a broken match on the PPV and doing multiple characters on TV makes it clear the character isn't being dropped

Pentagon Jr. is now Penta Cero M. That's the name he owns merchandising rights to. AEW was allowed to call him Pentagon Jr. because they work with AAA, which owns the Pentagon Jr. name. It was AEW that pushed for it because for a variety of potential projects AEW wanted to push them with a name they could market them as, and Rey Fenix owns that name but not just Fenix, which AAA owns, but he's been Rey Fenix in AEW from the start. Basically once they started merchandising them they didn't want to use an AAA-owned name and at some point they were going to switch it to a name he owns and it was just a question of when. It also coincides with the Masked Republic deal getting Penta Cero Miedo merchandise into Hot Topic

Melissa Cervantes (Thunder Rosa) noted that she was invited to a WWE tryout last September, but she was training for her Combate Americas MMA debut and passed on it. The key is that they were not interested in her as a wrestler, but told her they were interested in her as a referee

The most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the past week were: 1. Payback; 2. Day of SummerSlam 2015; 3. Payback kickoff show; 4. SummerSlam; 5. Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions: Undertaker; 6. WWE Timeline: Rock & Nation of Domination; 7. WWE Chronicle: Braun Strowman; 8. Raw Talk for 8/31; 9. Broken Skull Sessions with Goldberg; 10. The Bump for 8/30. NXT was 18th for the week. Of all the indie stuff that was introduced last week, only an ICW show at No. 23 remained in the top 25

The indies stuff charting poorly is a bit surprising considering that originally was meant to be the basis for a new expensive Network sub tier. WWE probably would be looking at some abysmal new sub numbers for that new tier had they gone through with their plans.

WWE, NXT, & AEW ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw on 9/1, for the second Thunderdome show, averaged 1,896,000 viewers and 0.58 in 18-49, on a night with very serious sports competition. It did come the day after the Payback show and had an usually strong first hour, but faded with a 19.1 percent first-to-third hour drop, which is among the larger numbers of all-time. It’s not exactly fair to judge the ratings drop yet if the key was the Performance Center location or the booking, although it obviously is a combination of both. The question is how much. If we go with the pre-pandemic average and the last show before moving into Thunderdome, it looks like of the 28 percent drop in viewers, about 17 percent is related to the product itself and 11 percent to the location. But that’s just based on second week numbers that are both hurt by strong competition and helped by the PPV the night before. Next week would be a much better gauge. Similarly, the 18-49 drop of 35.1 percent during the pandemic looks to be in that age group, 22 percent product and 13 percent location. As compared to week one in Thunderdome, which was also the day after SummerSlam, the show was down 6.5 percent in viewers, 13.4 percent in 18-49 but in good news, it stayed even in 18-34, so the drops were largely in the 35-49 age group, the same age group that was up huge last week ... As compared to the same week last year, the show was down 24.4 percent in viewers, 30.1 percent in 18-49 and 40.0 percent in 18-34. The big third hour drop says that whatever it was in hour three being pushed the hardest, whether it was the three-way match after already seeing all three wrestling earlier, or the Raw Underground, it didn’t resonate at usual levels. The drops were 17.8 percent with women 18-49, 14.6 percent with men 18-49, a 21.8 percent increase with teenage girls and a 27.2 percent decrease with teenage boys and a 20.2 percent drop over 50. The first hour did 2,104,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,882,000 viewers. The third hour did 1,703,000 viewers.

Smackdown on 8/28 did a 1.34 rating, 2,144,000 viewers and 0.57 (738,000 viewers) in 18-49, not only winning the night in the key demo but actually beating three other shows overall instead of what has been its usual last place among big four network shows ... The number was expected to be good largely as the return of Roman Reigns with a show long angle before you saw him. It was down 2.9 percent in households, 2.5 percent in viewers and 2.0 percent in 18-49 from last week. But last week was the first Thunderdome show and far higher than the show has done in months, so staying even is a good sign. Smackdown was down 25.0 percent in 18-34 but still beat everything on television in that demo, 18-34, 25-54, tied with many shows for first in women 18-49 and won male 18-49 by a significant margin. In the segments, the first half hour did 2.24 million viewers with Vince McMahon & Adam Pearce, Jeff Hardy & A.J. Styles and Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the IC title. The second half hour did 2.09 million viewers for The Firefly Fun House, Matt Riddle vs. Shorty G and more stuff with King Corbin. The third half hour did 2.16 million viewers with Bayley & Sasha Banks, Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, Braun Strowman vs. Drew Gulak and Kalisto vs. Cesaro. The final quarter did 2.06 million viewers for Big E & Heavy Machinery vs. Miz & Morrison & Sheamus, all the promo around it, and the attempting to sign Roman Reigns segments. FOX last year on the same Friday only did half of the audience with rerun programming, doing 1,043,000 viewers and 0.3 in 18-49, up 105.6 percent in viewers and 100.0 percent in 18-49.

NXT on 8/26 unopposed did 305,000 viewers in 18-49, down 1.6 percent from the prior week. It broke down as 63,000 in men 18-34 (up 67.8 percent from the prior week), 22,000 in women 18-34 (same as the prior week), 130,000 in men 35-49 (down 22.6 percent) and 90,000 in women 35-49 (up 9.8 percent). So that week, unlike the first week, with no NBA competition, the male 18-34 audience of NBA and AEW did watch NXT in larger numbers, unlike the prior week with no AEW but NBA ... For NXT on 8/26, in 18-49, the high point was the William Regal interview and beginning of Santos Escobar vs. Isaiah Scott. The low point was the second half of Breezango vs. Imperium. In 18-34, the high point was Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jake Atlas and low point was Io Shirai & Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai. It opened at 866,000 viewers and 311,000 in 18-49 for Karrion Kross' speech vacating the title and the beginning of Breezango vs. Imperium. The rest of the tag title match fell to 779,000 viewers and 287,000 in 18-49. Ciampa vs. Atlas grew to 819,000 viewers and 299,000 in 18-49, which also included the post-match and a Candice LeRae interview. The fourth quarter with Bronson Reed and Austin Theory, plus Mia Yim vs. Shotzi Blackheart did 820,000 viewers and 302,000 in 18-49 The fifth quarter, with the Regal interview and the beginning of Escobar vs. Scott grew to 853,000 viewers and 323,000 in 18-49. The rest of Escobar vs Scott and a Johnny Gargano interview fell to 804,000 viewers and 301,000 in 18-49. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Drake Maverick and a post-match plus interviews with Rhea Ripley and Adam Cole did 823,000 viewers and 308,000 in 18-49. And the Shirai & Ripley vs. Gonzalez & Kai main event did 832,000 viewers and 311,000 in 18-49.

NXT on 9/2, featuring the four-way Iron Man match with Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole, did 849,000 viewers and 0.26 in 18-49 (336,000 viewers). It was the second highest viewership of the year (the highest numbers, shockingly, have all come in unopposed weeks) and the highest 18-49 number of the year. Because of the number, it has led to a lot of talk about NXT perhaps going unopposed by moving from Wednesday to either Tuesday or Thursday, more likely the former. There was an internal discussion a few months ago weighing the pros and cons of asking USA to move. WWE at the time realized the NXT audience would be larger and there wouldn’t be the perception that they were losing to AEW if they weren’t head-to-head. Vince McMahon decided against it at the time because he didn’t want to give the impressions that they had backed down in the fight publicly, and privately, there was the issue of whether AEW going unopposed would do numbers in certain younger demos that would come close to Raw & Smackdown. The discussion was before the period AEW started winning a few weeks in women 18-34 and the week AEW won 18-34 overall even with opposition. The numbers were in line with what the show did unopposed the past two Wednesdays, but the 18-49 number was higher. The key is the main event, as the show was the biggest the brand had since the Cole vs. Keith Lee show, but unlike that show, this was unopposed. In the different demos, it did 48,000 in males 18-34 (down 23.8 percent from last week), 48,000 in women 18-34 (up 118.2 percent from last week), 166,000 in males 35-49 (up 27.7 percent) and 74,000 in women 35-49 (down 17.8 percent). In the quarters, NXT opened at 831,000 viewers and 334,000 in 18-49 for the Legado del Fantasma vs. Tyler Breeze & Fandango & Isaiah Scott street fight. The second quarter did 836,000 viewers and 331,000 in 18-49 for the end of the street fight and Candice LeRae vs. Kacy Catanzaro. The third quarter did 855,000 viewers and 343,000 in 18-49 for Bronson Reed vs. Timothy Thatcher. The fourth quarter was the ring intros for Finn Balor, Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, which did 804,000 viewers and 313,000 in 18-49. The first 15:00 of the Iron Man match did 869,000 viewers and 344,000 in 18-49. The next 15:00 did 864,000 and 347,000 in 18-49. The 30-45 minute mark did 839,000 and 332,000 in 18-49. And the final 15 minutes did 895,000 and 349,000 in 18-49. Interestingly in 35-49, the show peaked with 251,000 viewers for the final 15 minutes of the Iron man and 98,000 in 18-34. The 18-34 peak of 103,000 was minutes 30-45. NXT was No. 10 for the night in 18-49 on cable, trailing only an NBA playoff game, two NHL playoff games, five news shows and Teen Mom II on MTV. The show was No. 7 in Males 18-49, behind only the NHL, NBA and three news shows on Fox News, No. 11 in 18-34 (a demo the show usually doesn’t do well in so that’s the main event) and No. 7 in Males 12-34, again a demo the show usually doesn’t place highly with ... It was up 3.0 percent overall and 8.3 percent in 18-49, and would have been even higher if it was unopposed on the normal day.

AEW on 8/27 airing on Thursday unopposed but going against the Republican convention that did its biggest numbers of the week, did 813,000 viewers and a 0.29 (376,000 viewers) in 18-49 ... As compared to Saturday, where the show was out of prime time, not against the convention, but against the NBA but also had the benefit of a stronger than usual lead-in, it was up 7.7 percent in viewers and down 7.6 percent in 18-49 ... Really because of the variables, the comparisons don't mean a lot. However, the show did 77,000 in male 18-34 (down 19.8 percent which is the lack of NBA lead-in), 58,000 in women 18-34 (up 5.5 percent), 172,000 in male 35-49 (down 7.5 percent, probably due to lack of NBA lead-in) and 69,000 in women 35-49 (down 1.4 percent). While they were on different days, NXT did beat AEW in women 35-49 by 90,000 to 69,000 but Wednesday is the familiar day. AEW greatly more than doubled even on an off night in both men and women 18-34 and outdid NXT 172,000 to 130,000 in men 35-49. It opened at 759,000 viewers and 332,000 in 18-49 for Young Bucks vs. Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall and the beginning of Young Bucks vs. Best Friends. It grew huge, to 853,000 viewers and 373,000 in 18-49 for the bulk of Young Bucks vs. Best Friends and Best Friends vs. FTR. Viewers fell to 806,000 and 18-49 grew to 385,000 for a Darby Allin skit, Lance Archer vs. Sean Maluta and the beginning of an Archer & Jake Roberts promo. Next was big growth to 869,000 viewers and 410,000 in 18-49, both show peaks for the Archer, Roberts, Taz, Brian Cage and Ricky Starks confrontation and most of the MJF/Jon Moxley contract signing. The end of the Moxley/MJF contract signing, a Santana & Ortiz interview and beginning of Pentagon & Rey Fenix & Butcher & Blade vs. Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr. & Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss match did 841,000 viewers and 404,000 in 18-49. Most of the eight-man tag and beginning of the Dark Order segment fell to 781,000 viewers and 375,000 in 18-49. The end of the Dark Order segment plus Big Swole vs. Rebel & Penelope Ford did 796,000 viewers and 370,000 in 18-49. Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara in a tables match did 796,000 viewers and 361,000 in 18-49. In 18-34, the peak was the Moxley/MJF contract signing and the low point was Hardy vs. Guevara. AEW did a 0.20 in 12-17 (up 17.6 percent and its best mark in months), 0.19 in 18-34 (down 10.6 percent), 0.39 in 35-49 (down 5.9 percent) and 0.30 in 50+ (up 20.0 percent). The audience was 67.2 percent male in 18-49 and 61.0 percent male in 12-17.

While the number itself, by going largely unopposed, doesn’t really say a lot due to a number of variables, there are different things to learn from the AEW show on 9/3, which did 928,000 viewers and 0.36 in 18-49 (469,000 viewers). On the surface, the number would indicate an unopposed show doing 1 million or more viewers a week and probably in the 0.4 range in 18-49. This week’s show was coming back to the time slot after two weeks off, and while men did well, women, which had been AEW’s most impressive audience before being bounced around, did not. That audience also didn’t move with AEW as much to the new nights. The show did have NXT competition, although minimal, as the replay of the show the night before did 183,000 viewers and 0.04 in 18-49. But the key factors which likely kept it well under 1 million and 0.4 were a less than marquee show with no big matches announced and really one of the weaker shows of the year, bigger NBA ratings than have gone against wrestling so far, and the two weeks off hurting the women’s audience ... Based on everything, on a non-NBA night for a regular marquee show IF women come back and if the show is regularly in its time slot as opposed to being bounced around, AEW looks to be able to do a steady 0.41 in 18-49 if we go with the idea it would do an 0.30 regularly with competition (a little lower than it’s been averaging on Wednesday in recent weeks) and if we go with a normal 750,000 on a Wednesday opposed, and women come back at their 8/12 levels, we’re looking at a 1,095,000 range in total viewers most weeks and 1,214,000 and 0.48 for a blow away night (a show that would have done 900,000 and 0.36 under the current competitive umbrella). So regarding a decision by USA/WWE to move NXT, those are the key numbers on the other side to consider. In 18-49, which is the only figure that really matters, AEW unopposed will not beat Raw or Smackdown right now ... As far a the future goes, that’s the key. That’s harder to predict. WWE has a multi-hear history of major declines in the key demo. If we say Raw and Smackdown are at 0.55 right now (Raw did 0.58, Smackdown did 0.57 this past week but it’s still early in the Thunderdome phase) and WWE declines over the course of the next year by 25.5 percent and AEW stays steady, they would be in a flat-footed tie with Raw and Smackdown next year at this time. That doesn’t mean WWE can’t reverse the trend, as they can. That doesn’t mean AEW can stay even, since TV in general is falling. WWE’s y-o-y decline in 18-49 has been closer to 40 percent most weeks of late, this past week was a good week and was still at 30 percent. Some (but the minority, not the majority) is the pandemic and running the PC as we’ve seen. If NXT stays in that spot, WWE has to decline about 43.6 percent y-o-y and AEW stays even to catch up, and that is very unlikely to happen in one year. So that’s the key factor here. Overall, AEW was No.8 for the night in 18-49, trailing three NBA related telecasts on ESPN, three FOX News shows and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It tied AEW’s best 18-49 number of 2020 ... In the different demos, AEW did 122,000 in males 18-34 (up 58.4 percent from last week), 41,000 in women 18-34 (down 29.3 percent), 208,000 in males 35-49 (up 15.1 percent) and 98,000 in women 35-49 (up 42.0 percent). The show opened with 883,000 viewers and 445,000 in 18-49 for Santana & Ortiz vs. Best Friends. The second quarter did 832,000 viewers and 430,000 in 18-49 for the beginning of Young Bucks & Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy vs. Private Party & Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian. The third quarter, with the finish of that match and Kenny Omega interview did 860,000 viewers and 434,000 in 18-49. The fourth quarter, with the Omega interview plus FTR, Tully Blanchard and Adam Page, Chris Jericho interview and Jericho vs. Joey Janela did 899,000 viewers and 445,000 in 18-49. The Jericho-Janela post-match angle with Jake Hager and Orange Cassidy and Sonny Kiss, a video piece of Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara and the verbal stuff with Taz, Jake Roberts and Eddie Kingston did 1,008,000 viewers and 508,000 in 18-49. The brawl with half the world in the ring, Brodie Lee and Dustin Rhodes interview and most of Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa did 972,000 viewers and 482,000 in 18-49. The ending of Deeb vs. Rosa Jon Moxley promo and the Big Swole, Reba and Britt Baker angle did 974,000 viewers and 501,000 in 18-49. And Jon Moxley vs. Mark Sterling and the post-match with MJF and Wardlow did 999,000 viewers and 505,000 in 18-49. In 18-34, the peak was the Deeb vs. Rosa, Moxley promo and Baker angle at 190,000 viewers. In 35-49, the peak was the Jericho-Cassidy angle, Hardy & Guevara video and Taz & Jake & Kingston promo at 343,000. As compared to last week when it was unopposed by another wrestling show completely but on a Thursday and with a better show and lower rated sports competition, AEW did a 0.15 in 12-17 (down 25.0 percent due to the female drop), 0.23 in 18-34 (up 20.7 percent), 0.49 in 35-49 (up 27.0 percent) and 0.35 in 50+ (up 16.7 percent).

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets sponsored by that one time in wrestling history when a ladder won a championship belt:

Originally Posted by PWI Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole to crown a new WWE NXT Champion will kick off tonight's edition of WWE NXT on the USA Network. WWE taped tonight's NXT earlier today and is also taping next week's episode today as well. NXT returns to its regular Wednesday night timeslot next week.

Originally Posted by Observer As it turns out, based on schedule changes, there is no NHL game on USA this Wednesday. Like last week, NXT will still be airing on Tuesday and there will be a replay on Wednesday. Right now the replay is scheduled by SYFY and not USA.

Originally Posted by PWI Former WWF Intercontinental Champion Marty Jannetty is now claiming that his confession a few weeks back that he allegedly murdered someone when he was 13 years old, hitting them with a brick as they attempted to sexually assault him, was part of a "wrestling storyline", according to TMZ.com. Jannetty claimed that the plan was to build to a match with a "former corrections officer" with the idea that should Jannetty lose, he would be arrested. Jannetty, 60, has not wrestled since 2018. He did not name who the "officer" would be or what promotion this had been allegedly planned for. Back in August, Jannetty appeared on Boston Wrestling's YouTube channel to discuss his apparent murder confession. You can find the complete show at this link. During that 20 minute discussion, Jannetty stated that when he was 13, a front desk clerk at Victory Lanes, a bowling alley in Columbus, Georgia attempted to rape him. Jannetty, who was working at the bowling alley at the time, stated that he knew the person was known for selling weed (which is why Jannetty went to see him) but didn't know the same person "lured" children ... If Jannett's claim of the incident happening when he was 13 was indeed true, the alleged murder would have taken place in 1973. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations' website does not currently list any unsolved murders prior to 1980. Jannety claimed that once he was red-flagged getting on a flight and the police got involved, investigating, he knew he had to drop the storyline. The Columbus Police Department are still investigating Jannetty's claims.

Originally Posted by Observer Tessa Blanchard will make her first appearance in the independent scene since being released by Impact Wrestling. She will headline the first Warrior Wrestling Stadium Series event on September 12. She will defend the Warrior Wrestling Women’s championship against current Impact star Kylie Rae.

Originally Posted by PWI Undertaker - The Last Ride will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 12/15. The 2020 Survivor Series will be released on DVD on 12/29.

Originally Posted by PWI Yen Press issued the following: Yen Press Acquires the Manga New Japan Academy for Digital Release NEW YORK, NY (9/8/20) – Yen Press, LLC announced the acquisition of the manga series New Japan Academy, an action-packed and comedic manga series featuring stars from New Japan Pro-Wrestling by artist HIROKU. and consultation by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It’s the stars of New Japan Pro-Wrestling as you’ve never seen them before! Teenager Tetsuya Naito is aiming for the top of New Japan Academy, but in order to be the champion, he’ll have to face formidable students like “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada and the “Once-in-a-Century Talent” Hiroshi Tanahashi. Luckily for Naito, he has his boys in Los Ingobernables de Japon on his side! No matter the odds, Naito’s motto remains the same: tranquilo. With the rise in worldwide popularity of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the manga New Japan Academy is a highly-anticipated release by the many passionate fans of the pro-wrestling promotion and the stars within it. A story told from the point of view of Tetsuya Naito, one of the most popular pro-wrestlers in the world due to his tenure at both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), New Japan Academy shows fan-favorite wrestlers like they’ve never been seen before! New Japan Academy, Vol. 1 is scheduled for an October 2020 release exclusively on digital platforms.

Originally Posted by PWI Big Japan Wrestling, seeking to garner more of an audience beyond Japan, has officially launched an English language Twitter account.

Link: https://twitter.com/BjwEnglish/statu...12276584824832

Originally Posted by Fightful Fightful has learned some of the current planned lineup for IMPACT Wrestling's biggest show of 2020. Every year since 2005, IMPACT Wrestling has spent the entire year building towards the Bound for Glory event in October. Over the years, the event has been headlined by such names as Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Drew McIntyre. As first revealed on Fightful Select, the current plans for the 2020 event are already being worked out Fightful has learned several of the plans ahead of IMPACT Bound For Glory this October. As of now, Ken Shamrock is pegged for a high level match with Eddie Edwards. Shamrock has been feuding and teaming with Sami Callihan in recent months. After returning at Slammiversary, Rich Swann and IMPACT World Champion Eric Young's heated feud is expected to continue at IMPACT Bound For Glory. There is a four-way IMPACT Tag Team Championship match in the cards with Motorcity Machine Guns, The North, The Good Brothers and Ace Austin & Madman Fulton. An IMPACT Knockouts Championship match between Deonna Purrazzo and Kylie Rae is also tentatively scheduled for the show. In addition to these matches, we're told a 6-way IMPACT X Division Title match, as well as a Call Your Shot Rumble are planned.

Originally Posted by 411Mania WWE has made a couple of edits to a wXW show that has been released on the WWE Network that look to be due to allegations made during the #SpeakingOut movement. The WON reports that wXw’s 2019 Toronto show, which was added to the Network in its independents section, does not have a Julian Pace vs. Daniel Makabe vs. Cima vs. Brent Banks match as well as an angle between David Starr and WALTER. Allegations against Starr were the catalyst for the #SpeakingOut movement, when he was accused of sexual abuse and rape. Pace and Jay Skillet were released by wXw after the company investigated claims against the two made by students from the wXw Academy against him.

Originally Posted by Fightful You might have seen Thunder Rosa in WWE if they had their way, but not as a wrestler. The ambitious Rosa has appeared on American television for five different companies, basically everyone but IMPACT and WWE. In 2019, Rosa actually had a tryout scheduled with WWE, but didn't end up going. "I was supposed to go, last September, for a referee try out," Rosa told Fightful. "That was like a week before I signed my contract for MMA. That was in WWE. Dorian, the hurricane, happened and my things kept getting canceled, getting canceled and then I was getting too close for me to sign my contract for my fight and I was already training. I had like three months training. I was like, “I can’t wait.” One week’s too long for me not to train. I just sent them an e-mail saying, “Thanks for the opportunity, hopefully we can work something out in the future,” and I left it as that. That happened my career skyrocketed ‘cause we made it happen. But, yeah, man. It’s insane. But, other than that, I never got any e-mails or interest or nothing," Rosa stated.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling NWA World Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa joined the ‘This Is The NWA Podcast’ one day after her AEW Women’s World Title match against Hikaru Shida at All Out. Thunder Rosa was defeated by Shida in the match but feels that she gained more than she lost. Rosa feels that from the moment she showed up in AEW to promote the match with Shida, she showed that AEW does not have a woman like her on their roster. “It’s been a team effort and I just came there and just represented and yesterday [All Out] was really good because [Hikaru] Shida was — she was willing to do something different. She’s worked with us, I mean of course the people that she works with in AEW, but I don’t think they have a woman like me on the roster and I showed it from the moment I showed up there. That first week, I went there and I went to training and I showed the girls how you should look when you train, and how you should look when you get in the ring. You should be the same way and you should train as hard because it’s national TV and it’s prime time, you know?” Rosa said the powers that be were pleased with the match. She shared the advice that Kenny Omega gave to her and Shida before their match and that was to show everyone what a “real women’s wrestling match should look like.” “The thing is the pressure was [a lot]. Everybody was like, ‘You guys have to knock it out of the park,’ Wednesday too and… another thing, they gave us time which they never do on Dynamite, ever, on women’s wrestling and then I come and I’m the NWA Champion who’s not even signed and it’s just like… we’re in the back, there was supposed to be some stuff and then [Kenny] Omega came then he looked at us and said, ‘Show them what a real women’s wrestling match should look like.’”

Originally Posted by PWI Championship Wrestling from Hollywood returned to TV with new, original in-ring content this past weekend, airing nationally on YouToo America (YTA) as well as the Z Channel and other markets via local syndication. The episodes were taped in an empty arena format and were the first episodes under new booker Aron Stevens aka the former Damian Sandow in WWE. The episode was more of a traditional, episodic style format with storyline vignettes and outside of the ring interviews conducted by Jon Roberts helping to move storylines forward. Previously, CWH had been a series of bouts and some interviews leading to those matches but episodically, there wasn't as much of a strong narrative from week to week and this reboot of sorts appeared to change that old formula up somewhat

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling TV Insider chatted with IMPACT Wrestling talent Heath Slater. Heath shared that there are a few talents in WWE who he has been in contact with that have expressed that they would like to experience what’s transpiring in wrestling outside of WWE but they have a significant amount of time left on their respective contracts. “They know when they are locked down under contract, they can’t get out. That’s the bottom line. You may have well signed yourself up for the military. But guys that did get released and guys from other companies have been texting and calling and asking about Impact. The WWE crew, some of them have been like, ‘Man, that would be awesome to do this, But I still got a year-and-a-half or another year.’ I’m like, ‘Remember what you’re saying because years go by pretty fast. So if you really want to, I might know a guy.’ The interest is there for sure" ... After being released, Heath made an appearance on RAW and had a promo segment and a quick match with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Initially, Heath turned it down but stated that McIntyre pleaded with him to do the segment as it got approved. “That’s exactly what that was. McIntyre called me a month or so in advance. I told him I wasn’t going back, and I didn’t want it. Then literally two weeks before Slammiversary he pleaded with me to let him pitch working together. He was sure they would go for it. Then when he called me back and said they went for it I was like, what?! It was one of those things where Drew is one of my best friends inside and outside the ring. We just clicked 12 years ago when we met. I’m in the ring with him and Dolph [Ziggler], who is a friend too. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to hit a home run and speak from the heart and let you know how I feel.’ Thankfully, it was one take and came off great. I wanted to prove to them that I could have been doing this the whole damn time if you gave me the opportunity. Now you give me the opportunity to come back one day to show what I can do, I’m going to spread my wings and fly to other companies and give them my talent.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling WhatCulture spoke with IMPACT World Tag Team Champion Chris Sabin ... When it comes to how Sabin has seen tag team wrestling change over the past decade, he feels that a good portion of that credit should go to Matt and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks. Sabin feels that a handful of tag teams have patterned their style after The Bucks. “Honestly, I think as far as tag team wrestling goes, The Young Bucks had a huge influence on today’s tag team style of wrestling. Not everyone does it of course, but a lot of teams on independent shows try to replicate The Young Bucks’ style of matches. I think that’s the biggest difference I see from back then is the difference those guys have had on tag team wrestling. They really changed the business, that’s for sure.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Nick Aldis revealed that the National Wrestling Alliance had plans in place to tour the U.K. before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Comicbook.com spoke with Adam Cole. Cole responded to the mixed reactions that spawned from the finish of the NXT Championship Fatal 4-Way Iron Man match from last week. Cole admitted that he’s one who views things in a positive light and saw the finish as a cliffhanger. He also understands why some viewers were not happy with the result. “However, I do understand that some people were upset. I understand that some people want to see a definitive end to a match like that, and it makes total sense. But that’s actually kind of, as weird as it sounds, that’s what I love so much about pro wrestling, is you’ll have one match that will happen with a certain result, and like you said, half the people will go, ‘That was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. They couldn’t have ended that any better. This was perfect’, and then you’ve got another group of people who were so upset and so angry, and think it’s the dumbest thing in the world. The beautiful thing is that both people aren’t wrong, and both people are right, and you can think whatever you want to think.”

Originally Posted by Fightful Stardom's canceled shows from August have now been rescheduled. The Japanese promotion announced that the canceled August 22 and 23 shows, which were called off due to precautions stemming from positive COVID-19 tests. The two shows will now be combined into one event on October 3 at Yokohama Budokan.

Originally Posted by Fightful Former WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres reveals her own family's battle with COVID-19. The novel coronavirus pandemic has owned the majority of 2020 regardless of your walk of life. Recently, WWE legends such as The Rock and Kevin Nash have revealed their own stories battling COVID-19 and even current WWE Superstar AJ Styles admitted to testing positive recently. Eve Torres revealed in an Instagram post that she and her husband, Rener Gracie, have tested positive for the virus, and even her young child, Renson, has a fever and is assumed to be positive.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CE2u7n-MCGb/


TPWW Frontpage:

• Various: Matt Hardy Injury Update, Full Bracket Revealed for ROH Pure Title Tournament, Indies
• WWE: Paul Heyman Involved in Reigns’ Booking, AOP Release Update, Big E on Singles Run
• Dominik Dijakovic, Mojo Rawley and Mia Yim Were Part of RETRIBUTION on Raw
• WWE Announces “Uncool with Alexa Bliss” Podcast
• Ivar Suffers “Cervical Injury” on Raw, Expected to Be OK
• Ralphus Died Last Year, Chris Jericho Says

[Bad News Gertner]

Slater seems like the kind of guy the WWE would bring back as a trainer down the line once things somewhat return to normal.

[ClockShot]

A NJPW anime would be cool as hell. But hey, they got the ball rolling with a manga.

[#1-norm-fan]

Welp. Marty Jannetty is a better booker than anyone working in wrestling today. This is where we’ve come.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw on Labor Day did 1.73 million viewers and a 0.48 rating in 18-49, by far the lowest for a show since the beginning of the ThunderDome. Raw was hurt by sports competition with the NBA playoff game going against the first 72 minutes doing 2.71 million viewers and a 1.06 rating in 18-49, and the game against the last 108 minutes doing 3.45 million viewers and a 1.21 rating in 18-49. College football on ESPN did 1.15 million viewers and 0.35 and the NHL playoffs on NBC Sports did 958,000 viewers and 0.28. As compared to last week, Raw was down nine percent overall, 17 percent in 18-49, and 30 percent in 18-34 ... In 18-49, Raw was fifth behind two NBA playoff games, Inside the NBA, and Below Deck Mediterranean. The first-to-third hour drop was eight percent, actually low, but that was because the first hour started low due to Labor Day. Labor Day traditionally has people starting the show later than usual, peaking in hour two, and then falling. Usually the third hour drop isn't as bad because so many tuned in after 9 p.m. as compared to a usual week. In women 18-49, Raw was 12 percent higher in hour three than hour one due to tuning in late, although males 18-49 were 14 percent down, teenage girls were 12 percent down, teenage boys were 10 percent down, and over 50 was eight percent down. As compared to the same week last year, it should be noted that this week last year was the season debut of Monday Night Football which did 13.04 million viewers against Raw and led to a huge decline from what Raw had been doing. But even though this was not against the NFL, the show was down 19 percent overall, 30 percent in 18-49, and 52 percent in 18-34. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 1.76 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.80 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.61 million viewers

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling For the first time in the “Thunderdome Era” of Raw, none of the hours topped two million viewers. The first hour averaged 1,762,000 viewers compared to the last two weeks that saw 2.1 million viewers open the show ... It was Raw’s lowest-performing show since the August 17th go-home episode for SummerSlam, which was the last Raw to take place at the WWE Performance Center. The final four episodes of Raw at the Performance Center averaged 1,674,000 and a 0.485 demo rating. So, this week’s number is still ahead of the viewers and right at the same demo rating ... This week’s show didn’t advertise anything in advance until the day of the show when they revealed three matches late in the afternoon with Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy (that was announced as a Street Fight during Raw), Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee, and a Raw Underground fight between Aleister Black and Kevin Owens.

WWE's inability to announce near full cards well before the day of the show has been hurting them for a long in terms of show interest. Its also been a reason for NXT's struggles against AEW since AEW does a much better job advertising their next week's show by giving a near full card way earlier than WWE and NXT do.

Originally Posted by Observer AEW's Countdown to All Out special averaged 357,000 viewers on TNT on Saturday afternoon. The viewership number is up 3.8 percent from the Countdown special that aired prior to this May's Double or Nothing pay-per-view. That Countdown show aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time on the night before the PPV. Countdown to All Out aired at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday leading into the event. In the important 18-49 demo, the improvement was more significant. Countdown to Double or Nothing averaged a 0.10 rating and finished 51st for the night n the cable ratings. Saturday's All Out preview special was up 40 percent in the demo, averaging a 0.14 rating and finishing 23rd on cable in that category. There was competition in the form of the opening day of college football as well as coverage of the Kentucky Derby, which aired directly opposite the Countdown show and averaged nearly 5.5 million viewers on NBC.

Originally Posted by Observer The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed an appeal by former wrestlers suing WWE for claiming the company didn't protect them from repeated head injuries and concussions that could have resulted in CTE and other physical and mental health ailments. In doing so, they affirmed the ruling by a Connecticut district court two years ago that the claims were either frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired and that WWE couldn't have known concussions or head injuries caused CTE. Several cases that began popping up in 2014 and 2015 around the country were eventually consolidated in Connecticut and involved well-known wrestlers both dead and alive including Billy Jack Haynes, Jimmy Snuka, Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Mr. Fuji, Viscera, and more. An issue raised is that the wrestlers in question worked around the world for different organizations and not just WWE so identifying what organization brain injuries might have occurred in would prove difficult. The Second Circuit also dismissed additional related lawsuits against WWE because they were filed too late as well as dismissed lawyer Konstantine Kyros' appeal of sanctions imposed by U.S. District judge Vanessa Bryant. In 2018, she ruled Kyros must pay WWE's legal fees for the case and said he repeatedly failed to comply with court rules and orders.

Originally Posted by PWI The United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live PPV series, the first undertaking for a weekly pro wrestling series on PPV since the early days of NWA: TNA, debuts Tuesday 9/15 on In Demand and FITE.TV. The series will be available for $7.00 per episode or a bundle of $23.99 for the month on FITE. The series will be priced $11.99 weekly on InDemand. The broadcast team for the Primetime Live series will feature long-time UWN commentator and former Impact Wrestling commentator Todd Keneley handling the play by play for the series. He'll be joined by recent NXT on-air talent Alyssa Marino, who makes her return to the United Wrestling Network, where she had appeared prior to her WWE tenure. The NWA's lead announcer Joe Galli will be on the broadcasts as well from his home in San Antonio and will be appearing to deliver breaking news, interviews and special reports. UWN President Dave Marquez and Mayra Dias Gomes will handle interviews. UWN and NJPW Ring Announcer Adnan Kureishy will be appearing in that role as well.

Originally Posted by PWI The Wrap is reporting that longtime WWE-NBCUniversal ally Bonnie Hammer has been moved to NBCUniversal Vice-Chair, a corporate advisor to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. Bonnie Hammer is moving away from the chair of NBCUniversal Content Studios, having been in the NBCU corporate hierarchy since 1989

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling AJ Styles spoke on his Twitch stream regarding the recent restrictions WWE has outlined for some third party outlets. Styles confirmed that Twitch and YouTube don’t appear to be affected and said the company wants its talent to stream and interact with its audience: Let’s talk about the stream. Is it going to continue? And from the contacts that I’ve had, the information I got is WWE does want us to interact with our fans, and that means streaming. They want this to happen, they want you to have a YouTube channel, there are things they want you to do and be able to do and what we knew was a little vague at first. We did different things and it was borderline whether we knew we could do it or not and so, those will be answered but streaming I don’t think will be one of those that are taken away, um, YouTube is not one of those that will be taken away. There will be changes in other areas I’m sure of it and I don’t know exactly where that is. But let me say this again, they, the WWE want us to be able to stream and interact with our fans and that’s exactly what we’re doing, that’s exactly what I’m doing. From Adam Cole to Breeze and Xavier Woods, Baron Corbin it’s what we do, it’s fun. Styles also clarified several things about his news last week that he had previously had COVID-19 and how he quarantined for ten days: Another thing I need to clarify is with the COVID. I had that like a month-and-a-half ago, whenever it was to the point where the CDC says you have to be quarantined for ten days. I got tested, I went home for ten days, stayed in the basement, was able to go to work because of the scheduling when they had it (TV tapings) next, it was ten days I was able to go back to work. The reason I let you guys know is that I wanted to let you guys know that for some of us it’s not that bad, for some of them it is. I just wanted you guys to know that I had it and that I’m okay – and had I not been tested I never would have never known I had it and I could have spread it, I guess. So, that’s good on WWE’s part for testing everyone, that’s a good thing.

Originally Posted by PWI Vince McMahon was one of 25 billionaires mentioned in a Forbes articles listing all the billionaires that dropped off this years Forbes 400 list from last year. His net worth of $1.8b (as of July 24 2020) fell short of the $2.1b required to make the list. The COVID-19 pandemic was blamed for him being cut this year. Meanwhile, Shahid Khan, father of AEW's Tony Khan, with a net worth of $7.8b was #66 on the list.

Originally Posted by PWI UpUpDownDown announced they have been nominated for an ESports Awards: Support @XavierWoodsPhD by voting for him in the link below!https://t.co/fEISrahYfh#esportsawards pic.twitter.com/ugUY1LGZB6 — UpUpDownDown (@UpUpDwnDwn) September 9, 2020

Link: https://twitter.com/UpUpDwnDwn/statu...94652973907969

Originally Posted by PWI According to WWE Network News, the following independent shows will be added to WWE Network this weekend: ICW Fight Club 95. EVOLVE 126. wXw Shortcut To The Top 2020. PROGRESS Chapter 94.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Gary Cassidy at Sportskeeda reports that WWE’s European tour that was initially postponed from this past spring to the fall has now been moved to the spring of 2021. The new tour lists six shows beginning April 28th in Cardiff at the Motorpoint Arena, April 29th in Sheffield, April 30th in Newcastle, May 1st in Glasgow at the SSE Hyrdo, May 2nd in Birmingham, and ending with an episode of Raw on Monday, May 3rd in London at the O2 Arena.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling After NXT, they shot an angle where Robert Stone announced that Mercedes Martinez is out of the Robert Stone Brand. They filed a restraining order against Martinez.

Rumor going around is that Martinez is one of the official members of Retribution which would explain why NXT randomly abrupted Ripley's feud with Dakota and Rachel since they needed Ripley's feud with Martinez to be finished quickly. Also would explain the rushed cage match announcement despite their feud not being worth that feud ending stip yet.

Originally Posted by Fightful Matt Cardona wrestled his first match outside of the WWE umbrella in 14 years, and he said doing it in All Elite Wrestling was an easy decision. After Cody implied that All Elite Wrestling wouldn't be bringing in his friend Cardona, the opposite happened. Cardona opened up to Fightful how and why all of that went down, even after an EVP indicated it wouldn't. "I mean, it was one of those things that Cody is one of my good friends, if not one of my best friends, so it was kind of a no-brainer. On our podcast, our producer would always joke, “AEW confirmed” in that nerdy internet troll voice. I was like, “Listen, nothing is confirmed yet, we’re talking.” Of course, I wanted to be and still want to be in AEW because it’s the best. For how many years did we hear, “The next fed’s comin’. The next league’s comin’,” and it never did, right? AEW it comes, it arrives and it exceeds all expectations in my opinion. They’re mainstream, pay-per-views, live on TNT, action figures. This is the real deal. So, who wouldn’t want to be involved in this?," Cardona said. It was quickly reported that Cardona's deal with All Elite Wrestling was a short term one, but it became clear that Cardona wanted to be with the company on a more permanent basis. The former Zack Ryder tells us some more broad plans and goals for his tenure. "Listen, I didn’t come to AEW to just get a t-shirt on AEWShop.com. It’s a very nice shirt, but that’s not why I came to AEW. I came to AEW to win Championships, to have great matches, to have fun, right? So, I would love to wrestle Cody for that TNT title or go for the AEW title. Maybe team with Cody for the Tag Team titles. But, just being in the ring for the first time in five months on Dynamite, it was just so much fun. I was very nervous before. I watched it once, I’ll never watch it again. That’s it. But, I loved it. I loved the whole experience. That’s what wrestling should be, I think. I can’t wait to do it again," said Cardona. Even if All Elite Wrestling doesn't end up happening full time for Cardona, there's plenty of other places he could land. Right now, options are limited, but he's looking forward to navigating uncharted waters, as he has many times before. "I love to the hustle. Whether it would be on that old YouTube show or the Major Wrestling Figure podcast, I love being creative and hustling and seeing the results to my hard work and now, being free, there’s nobody that’s going to stop me. If I fail I fail. But, I want to at least try. That’s why I was so excited being free. It’s weird right now, there are no independents. There’s a couple going on here and there. But, I want to wait until everything’s safe. I don’t want to take any independent bookings and then have to cancel them. So, that is a weird predicament, not being able to wrestle on these independents. But, hopefully soon we’ll be able to," Cardona said.

Originally Posted by Fightful On Monday's WWE Raw, Ivar of the Viking Raiders suffered an injury performing a suicide dive to the outside. Ivar immediately knew something was wrong, throwing up the "X" sign for himself as the camera cut away. An audible was called for the finish and the camera did show medical staff attending to Ivar after the eight-man tag. Following Raw, WWE informed fans Ivar was transported to the hospital and suffered a cervical injury, noting that he is expected to make a full recovery. On Tuesday, Ivar posted the following update on his condition: It is unknown how long Ivar will be out of action for.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to every single friend, family and fan who has reached out to me. My heart is truly touched from all the love and support. Still figuring it all out but I am working hard to recover and be better than ever! Love you all 💕🤘🍗 pic.twitter.com/pAgw1eqjRm

— Ivar (@Ivar_WWE) September 8, 2020

TPWW Frontpage:

• AEW Signs Tay Conti
• NJPW Announces Participants for G1 Climax 2020 Tournament
• Tonight’s AEW Dynamite Card (Updated) + AEW Rankings

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets sponsored by AEW's return to the Million Dollar Man Viewers Club:

Originally Posted by Observer Coming off the heels of Saturday's All Out pay-per-view, AEW Dynamite last night averaged 1.016 million viewers on TNT, up 9.5 percent from last week. It was the highest viewership for Dynamite since the show's second-ever episode. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite finished seventh on cable with a 0.37 rating, up 2.8 percent in that category. It was the highest 18-49 number for the show since January 15. Comparing the individual demo ratings to last week, when the show charted at eighth in the 18-49 rankings with a 0.36, the numbers were as follows: women 18-49 -- 0.24 (up 14.3 percent). men 18-49 -- 0.51 (even), people 18-34 -- 0.22 (down 4.3 percent), females 12-34 -- 0.15 (up 50 percent), males 12-34 -- 0.24 (down 14.3 percent), people 25-54 -- 0.43 (even), and people over 50 -- 0.40 (up 14.3 percent) The 18-49 number with men is particularly impressive as it was fourth overall on cable behind two NBA games and the SportsCenter broadcast that immediately followed one of those games. In the people 12-34 category, AEW finished just shy of Raw this week, which did a 0.23 rating. With NXT airing on Tuesday this week, Dynamite was again unopposed by wrestling competition. The overall combined viewership for AEW and NXT was 1.854 million viewers, up 4.3 percent from last week. It was the highest combined total since October 2, which was the night of Dynamite's premiere episode.

Originally Posted by Observer This week's Super Tuesday II edition of NXT, which featured Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole for the vacant NXT Championship and a steel cage main event between Rhea Ripley and Mercedes Martinez, averaged 838,000 viewers, down 1.3 percent from last week. The show ranked 15th on cable in the 18-49 demo with a 0.22 rating, down 15.4 percent from last Tuesday. Despite no AEW competition, there were NBA playoff games on TNT. The late game went against the second half of NXT and averaged 4.65 million viewers. Though it was down from last week, the viewership was NXT's third highest of 2020. Here's a look at the other demo categories and how they compared to last week's NXT, which also aired on Tuesday: Women 18-49 -- 0.15 (down 21.1 percent), men 18-49 -- 0.29 (down 12.1 percent), people 18-34 -- 0.09 (down 35.7 percent), females 12-34 -- 0.06 (down 45.5 percent), males 12-34 -- 0.14 (down 22.2 percent), people 25-54 -- 0.28 (down 6.7 percent), and people over 50 -- 0.43 (up 7.5 percent). Ratings for the cable news channels, which do really well in NXT's strongest demo, were way down this Tuesday. That explains the viewership for the show remaining steady despite ratings dropping in every demo except people over 50. NXT returns to Wednesday night next week.

Originally Posted by Observer Update -- WWE has announced that "following the tournament, the NXT UK Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules." ********** An eight-man tournament with British Rounds rules will soon kick off on NXT UK. WWE announced today that the Heritage Cup tournament is coming to NXT UK. Seven of the eight participants for the tournament have been revealed. They are: Flash Morgan Webster, Noam Dar, Alexander Wolfe, A-Kid, Dave Mastiff, Joseph Conners, and Trent Seven. Here are the rules for Heritage Cup matches: There will be six rounds for tournament matches. Each round will be three minutes. There will be 20-second breaks between each round. All matches are two-out-of-three falls. Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout. Once a fall occurs, the round ends. Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament. If there's a disqualification or knockout, the match ends. If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins. More details for the tournament will be announced on NXT UK next Thursday (September 17). The episode will feature NXT UK's return to new in-ring action for the first time since events were paused in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tapings for NXT UK's return are being done at BT Sport studios in London, England with no fans in attendance.

Originally Posted by Observer NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray is set to make her first title defense since January. KLR will defend her NXT UK Women's Championship against Piper Niven on the Thursday, September 24 episode of NXT UK. The announcement of the match was made on today's NXT UK episode that previewed the brand's return to in-ring action.

Originally Posted by Observer On the Wednesday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer clarified the status of AEW Dynamite for next week and specifically the one-hour show that is scheduled to air after the NBA playoffs Wednesday night. As announced by AEW on Dynamite, if the Los Angeles Lakers/Houston Rockets NBA playoff series ends in six games, Dynamite will air on Wednesday in its usual time slot. However, if the series goes to seven games, Dynamite will air at 8 PM Eastern on Thursday. Game six is scheduled for Monday night. However, AEW had planned to air a one hour Dynamite following the playoff game and the post show that Meltzer said is scheduled to be taped today. If Dynamite can air on Wednesday as planned, that one hour show would air on Tuesday, September 22nd instead. The time slot wasn't given, but Meltzer said that none of the announced matches would be on that one hour show. Other notes: Bryan Alvarez said Thunder Rosa has a per-date deal with AEW and next week's Dynamite match with Ivelisse will be for her NWA Women's World title. Promos and appearances by AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Lance Archer and Jake Roberts will be part of next week's two-hour Dynamite.

Originally Posted by Observer John Cena will be one of the hosts of a revival of the obstacle course competition series Wipeout on TBS. It was announced today that Cena and Nicole Byer will host TBS' revival of Wipeout. Camille Kostek will be the host in the field for the series and will cover the contestants’ progress throughout each round ... Cena will also be an executive producer for the series ... Wipeout originally debuted on ABC in 2008 and aired until 2014. When TBS' revival of the show will be premiering hasn't been revealed.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Producer Sarah Stock was officially released today as part of the WWE cutbacks, PWInsider.com has confirmed. She had initially been placed on furlough back in April. Stock, 41, had been working as a producer on the main roster. She initially signed to become a WWE Performance Center Guest Coach in 2015, occasionally making cameos on NXT broadcasts as well, before being shifted to a main roster Producer role. Prior to her time in WWE, Stock had a tremendous international in-ring career, performing as Dark Angel in CMLL and AAA. In the United States, she is best known for her time as Sarita for Impact Wrestling, where she teamed with current WWE star Zelina Vega, then known as Rosita.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Producer Mike Rotunda, 62, was among those who were officially released by WWE as part of today's cutbacks, PWInsider.com has confirmed. Rotunda, the father of WWE stars Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, had been with WWE in a Producer/Agent role since 2006. Rotunda retired from in-ring performances in 2004. He is perhaps best known as former WWF Tag Team Champion Irwin R. Shyster (IRS) and had a long career in the WWF, WCW, Jim Crockett Promotions, the AWA and Championship Wrestling from Florida ... PWInsider.com is told that Rotunda had been furloughed back in April. At that time, he opened an official Pro Wrestling Tees store.

Originally Posted by PWI Impact Wrestling announced that Barry Scott, the voiceover artist who added a great dimension to TNA and Impact video packages: We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Barry Scott. For years Barry was the iconic voice of TNA Wrestling, lending us gravitas and credibility. He will be dearly missed. pic.twitter.com/rPxGsK8gqk — IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) September 10, 2020

Link: https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/...56050518609926

Originally Posted by PWI Q - What happens when AEW goes to Picture in Picture outside of the United States? A - I am told the announcers keep calling the action.

Except for Canada which I think doesn't do split screen for commercial breaks on TSN.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Several days ago, former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang took to social media and shared his thoughts about the new edict that’s being established in WWE, which was first reported by Wrestling Inc. that talent will have to stop using third parties (Twitch, Cameo etc.) within 30 days or face the potential of fines, suspensions or even termination. Yang sat down with Chris Van Vliet for an exclusive interview to further discuss the topic at hand. Yang feels that it’s shameful and plain greedy that the WWE is worth billions of dollars and mistreats workers. He added that the affordability argument does not apply to the sports-entertainment company because of their investment and recent losses by way of the XFL. “Well this story is dead real and I will say though that there are a lot of effective storylines that kind of melded reality with fiction, so to the extent that this ends up being part of a narrative, I’d be open to it because I think the fans know. The fans are smart. The fans understand what’s going on. It’s one reason why a lot of people support AEW is that they get this negative vibe from the WWE about the way the talent’s being treated and you can tell that… you can tell that has nothing to do with the bottom line anymore because the McMahons have made so much money. They have enough money where they’re investing in these football leagues and whatnot and then the XFL failed again. If you’re a wrestler, breaking your back and then the WWE is like, ‘Oh we can’t afford you, you’re fired.’ It’s like, ‘Well, you probably could have afforded me if you could afford to lose tens of millions on that debacle,’ and so the affordability argument does not apply to WWE in a way that it applies to every other firm. If you look at AEW, I have a feeling their economics are real. But the WWE does not have those constraints anymore because it’s a public company, the McMahons are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, they spend it on all sorts of stuff. And the company worth’s 3.3 billion and so if your company’s worth 3.3 billion and you’re mistreating workers, I mean that’s just shameful. Really it’s shameful. There was a point in the distant past where you could’ve made a legitimate argument based upon cost but now you can’t. Now it’s just plain f*cking greed… so we can all see it, fans know. So it’s one reason why a lot of people want there to be fair treatment of wrestlers and genuine competition in the market.” Yang touched on WWE talents being classified as “independent contractors”. He rebutted against the argument that talents are the ones who signed the contract so they should be aware of what they signed off on. Yang feels that-that’s a reason why so many back All Elite Wrestling is so that they can create a competitive market so wrestlers don’t get exploited. “Well one, I heard from a former who’s not happy about this particular clarification or this particular rule but the truth of it is that there’s a vastly uneven bargaining table at work where if you’re a performer and WWE says, ‘Hey, here’s this contract and we’re going to stick a bunch of things in it that you think are unfair, ridiculous and exploitative,’ at the end of the day you feel like you have no choice but to sign that deal because WWE holds the keys to the kingdom. They are the largest company, they’re the surest means to elevate your career and there hasn’t been a genuinely competitive market for years. It’s one reason why I, like many other fans naturally root for AEW to succeed and create a genuine competitive market so that wrestlers don’t get exploited. But the reality is that WWE is a quasi-monopoly and imagining that, ‘These wrestlers, oh, they know what they got into,’ it’s like, well, they really didn’t have a genuine chance to negotiate a bargain.” At the beginning of the interview, Andrew Yang shared how he was first informed of WWE’s new edict. Yang mentioned that he has been on the side of MMA fighters who are involved in similar situations with Dana White and UFC. Yang reiterated that if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are elected to office this year, then he could be in position to change how WWE goes about treating their wrestlers in a contractual sense. “I actually got a message from someone who’s a part of WWE, pointing out the story to me about how WWE was saying, ‘Hey, don’t go on Cameo or Twitch’ and it infuriated me because I know that the WWE has been trying to play it both ways for years where they’re saying, ‘Can’t do anything without our say-so. We own you, but you’re an independent contractor and we have nothing to do with your health, retirement, any of the benefits you get that would accrue to an employee.’ So to me, you have to make a choice at some point. If you’re gonna control all the aspects of a wrestler, performers waking life then you should take some responsibility too for that person. A bigger picture, maybe they have a kid, maybe they get maternity, paternity leave, maybe they get an off-season, maybe they get recovery time and I say this as someone who’s been a long time fan of the sport. I know you [Chris Van Vliet] know a lot of the performers well yourself. They’re putting their life on the line, their health on the line, their family life on the line all the time. They made Vince a billionaire and then the fact that he’s still being so heavy-handed about their ability to make a simple buck on Cameo just struck me as so absurd and ridiculous and wrong and I’ve been on the side of MMA fighters who are in this similar boat frankly, with UFC and Dana White and because I got this note from this performer I said, you know it’s past time someone calls Vince out for this. Particularly if Joe [Biden] and Kamala [Harris] win, I may be in position to do something about it.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Aleister Black’s eye was driven into the steel steps on the 7/27 edition of Monday Night RAW by Murphy. Black was off TV for several weeks and returned just a few weeks after the segment and is now involved in a feud with Kevin Owens. After RAW went off the air on 9/7, Aleister Black and Zelina Vega went live on their Twitch channel. Aleister visibly has a black rim around the iris of his eye and he spoke about that during the stream. While he did not want to get too much into how that coloration formed around his eye, he said it obviously was related to the steel steps spot but there were issues coming out of that and more to it than what people know. “Yeah, it’s been a sh*t day guys. But I’m not gonna bore you with that… Alright, let’s address the elephant in the room, this thing [his eye]. It was a lot more that happened to the eye than a lot of people know, that’s why I was wearing the glasses. Half of it was obviously what happened but it was a little bit of an issue here and there. That’s all I’m gonna say about it. That’s why it looks like that. That’s it. I don’t wanna talk about it, I don’t wanna get into it. You’re gonna have to deal with me for a while, if it clears up with this nice little rim in my iris so…” A user in the chat mentioned how they did not see the black rim around Aleister’s eye while he was on RAW Underground. Aleister said it was there, but the camera did not zoom in on him when he took his bandage off. “Oh it was there, it was there. They didn’t zoom in on me. You could see it really small at one point in the beginning when I took my bandana off.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Gail Kim joined Lisa Marie Varon, Mickie James and SoCal Val on GAW TV. Gail revealed that both she and Robert Irvine tested positive for COVID-19 but they are both feeling better now. “A lot of people don’t know this but I’m gonna say it out loud. We got COVID, so we did get COVID. Yeah, actually I’m glad we got through it quickly. Two weeks for both [of] us and [we] feel like we have antibodies which is great but of course still being careful. But it was more annoying than anything so, I’m just thankful we didn’t go through — I hear horror stories of people [and] what they’ve experienced. So yeah, I feel like he [Robert Irvine] got it and then I caught it from him.” On the topic of IMPACT Wrestling, while Gail is still agenting matches, she has been promoted to a member of the Talent Relations team with D’Lo Brown. Gail praised D’Lo for helping her adjust to the position. “So now, it’s kind of changed a little bit. I still agent some of the girls’ matches but now Madison [Rayne] has started agenting a little bit. They’re trying to get her in there doing a little bit more and they bumped me up. I’m now co-Talent Relations with D’Lo [Brown]. I love D’Lo. When I got promoted last month, I got a couple people just joking around saying, ‘Congratulations… I think’ because Talent Relations was always seen as that asshole position I guess. But you gotta remember, there’s never been a woman in that position and I think women handle things a little bit differently. Like we can be a little bit more empathetic at times I think and so far I’ve had such great feedback and I think as a woman, being in this position, I think it’s a positive that people feel… they feel like I’m more approachable to talk to maybe. I’m not sure. I’m only a month in but everything’s been going really great and D’Lo, I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. From day one, he’s like, ‘I want everyone to see you as my equal’ because he’s the Head of Talent Relations and we just take turns with everything, everything’s very 50/50. He’s just an amazing guy.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling AEW’s Jack Evans noted on Twitter that he’s currently out of action with a hairline fracture in his cheekbone. Jack appeared on the 9/9 Dynamite to back Angelico in his match against Orange Cassidy.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling NXT announcer Vic Joseph was the latest guest on WWE’s After The Bell podcast. Joseph told the story of a car accident he was involved in where the result of it was the first responders putting a white sheet over him because they did not think he was alive. “I got into a car accident, which I never talked about this publicly either, and I went from the backseat through the front seat and had to go to speech therapy, relearn how to talk. There’s a scar on my face that no one ever sees. I don’t know if they can zoom in right now, if you [Corey Graves] ever noticed it. My knee from top to bottom, my knee was completely out. I was on the side of the road, white sheet over me. That’s how bad it was. I’m not joking either, I’m being dead serious and I moved and I remember them screaming, ‘Oh, he’s alive’ and they ran and got me, put me on the gurney, cut my shirt off and I made a joke. Like an off-handed Ohio State/Michigan joke because they were wearing a Michigan shirt… I woke up, neck brace on, they’re pulling glass. There’s a scar on my face. There’s still a piece of glass in there. So anyways, I had to go to speech therapy to relearn how to talk.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Ring of Honor C.O.O. Joe Koff joined the Outside Interference podcast with Kenny Herzog that’s on the MLW Radio Network. Koff shared his thoughts about Ring of Honor’s resumption of television tapings and how they could’ve ran in the state of Florida but mentioned that there appears to be “no rules” when it comes to wrestling during the pandemic in that state. “I think this whole COVID pandemic is really about controlling what you can control. And there were so many different ways we could have wrestled. We could have wrestled in Florida where the other two major promotions wrestle, where there seems to be no real rules. The governor says, you know, just be careful.” Ring of Honor’s Flip Gordon has voiced his opinion about the Coronavirus pandemic and how he’s skeptical about it. Koff said that regardless of what Flip says on Twitter, Flip knows what he had to do to be able to wrestle at the ROH tapings. “That’s one person tweeting whatever he’s tweeting. Flip understood what he needed to do to be part of the taping or not to be part of the taping, and that will continue. I’m not going to be influenced by the Twitter world or what people say or don’t say. We’ll do the right thing based on [proper protocols and governance and common sense.]”

Originally Posted by WrestlingNews.co Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported today that Miro is signed with AEW as talks have been ongoing for quite a while. Per the report, the deal was “long term pending an option on the deal.” The deal will allow him to work for NJPW in addition to some dates on the independent wrestling scene. It should be noted that while he can work for NJPW, he can only do so in Japan. Thus, when the COVID-19 pandemic slows down and NJPW starts to run shows again in the United States, he can’t work events in America.

Originally Posted by Fightful Nia Jax isn't too happy with WWE using a picture of her after being Facetuned. Jax took part in a photo shoot holding the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship and a photo that was put up by WWE was modified. In an Instagram post that can be seen below, Jax voiced her displeasure over her picture being Facetuned. Jax has stated that she asked WWE to replace the modified picture with the untouched one.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CE4MEVshWdl

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Forbes chatted with Heath Slater. When asked would he have considered running for President of the United States with his current campaign gimmick that he’s been doing on IMPACT, Heath said that he’d 100 percent attempt to run for office.

Originally Posted by Fightful Fightful is sad to report that Stevie Lee, who performed in TNA as Puppet 'The Psycho Dwarf' has passed away. He also performed on “Half Pint Brawlers," which was a short-lived reality show on Spike TV. Lee was most famous for pulling a gun on Jeff Jarrett and masturbating in a trash can on television. A GoFundMe has been set up in his honor.

TPWW Frontpage:

• Ivar Injury Update: Could Need Surgery
• Gerald Brisco Cut by Vince McMahon, More Office Cuts by WWE Today
• MLW Moving to Wednesday Nights

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter edition):

The WWE sent out a vague letter to talent on 9/3 regarding third party bookings that led to a ton of questions among wrestlers, some complaints, and even drew a strong reaction from a former candidate for President in 2020. A week later, it is somewhat more clear what this means. Exactly what it was supposed to mean, or if it changed due to the reaction and tweets by Andrew Yang, is uncertain. Talent who got details at the 9/7 Raw in a little more detail thought the policy had been eased up on, but still weren’t sure of everything. By the next day, the explanation of the policy was that the communication to talent was not about issuing new rules, but simply a reminder of contractual agreements. The company told talent that they were encouraged to be active across all social media platforms. But that talent it not allowed to independently monetize WWE-owned or controlled intellectual property. Basically, talent was not allowed to use their WWE characters in social media to make money without WWE being involved in the deal. At first the belief was that talent would not be allowed to be involved with Cameo or Twitch. There was concern about YouTube as well, although the belief is that the company wanted talent on YouTube and Twitter promoting the company and themselves. One talent said that at the 9/7 Raw they were told that they would have to switch to using their real names as opposed to their WWE names for YouTube and Twitch, but would have to let the company know. A few days earlier, talent had been told by Mark Carrano that WWE owns the real names and that you couldn’t get around the policy by using your real name. Regarding if talent was to get an endorsement deal or have a way to earn money on platforms like Cameo or Only Fans, are they allowed to do it using their real name, the reaction was that there are a variety of factors in play including agreements in place and how activations are branded and/or promoted on multiple platforms. The matter will be determined through the specifics and communication. In other words, it seems like things are on a case-by-case basis. Another person noted that the vagueness was due to the fact that nothing is etched in stone and it constantly changes. It was said that Vince McMahon had talked about this as a problem dating back months. At first he wanted to put a stop to everything, but before doing so, COVID hit. He had talked a few times about it and never pulled the trigger. A key is that there were talents that were using their WWE names in sponsorship deals which the company wasn’t happy with ... Some believed this was in specific related to Cameo, with the idea WWE wanted either a corporate relationship with that company, work with another similar company or start something similar, and thus didn’t want its own talent making individual deals that would hurt the company’s overall bargaining power ... Some, if not most talent, were privately upset, noting that with the pandemic, those without large guarantees and on prior lower guaranteed deals are earning a lot less due to no house show pay and lower merchandise pay. Now the company, while still claiming talent as independent contractors, is taking away an outside way to make income that does not affect their WWE performances or work with other promoters. The independent contractor classification has been weird because WWE controls all bookings, interviews, when people work, their work schedule and even how they work and what they say. The argument was that because they now have far more time off with the cutback in arena events and travel, that they can use that time to both make money and also market themselves in other platforms as stars which also helps the company with stars being seen in different platforms. Another person noted that Nick Khan, the new company President, made a killing in Hollywood by procuring third party deals for his clients, but now has to take Vince McMahon’s side on a policy that wouldn’t allow that. Another argument is that Bruce Prichard is an executive and also allowed to make money doing a podcast, but also backed up McMahon’s decision.

The different concussion related lawsuits backed by attorney Konstantine Kyros against Vince McMahon and the WWE, that were thrown out in 2018 by Connecticut Circuit Court Judge Vanessa Bryant saw her decision upheld on 9/9 in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. The various suits claimed that McMahon and the WWE knew of the dangers of head injuries and never warned the wrestlers. Bryant threw the case out citing both the statute of limitations having expired in most of the cases and also no evidence presented that showed WWE knew that concussions or head trauma caused CTE, as most of the cases in question were prior to 2008, when the term CTE first broke into the sports world ... In the case of about 50 wrestlers headed by former Road Warrior Animal Joe Laurinaitis, ironically the older brother of longtime WWE executive John Laurinaitis, there was an attempt to not only overturn the decision throwing out the concussion case but also get a ruling that WWE had misclassified its wrestlers as independent contractors and not employees, as well as claims that the talent deserved to be paid royalties for when they appeared on the WWE Network. In addition, Kyros was attempting to get sanctions against him levied by Bryant overturned. The appeals court refused to rule on the sanctions. Kyros will be able to appeal the sanctions until after the trial court sets the amount he would have to pay to WWE ... There were a number of arguments that made this case a tough one. For one, simply put, the original lawsuit had far too many flaws and in certain cases was full of shit, including trying to argue that Frazier’s heart attack death was somehow caused by CTE, of which he was never documented as having since his brain was never examined. The lawsuit in the case of many of the wrestlers would list every date the lawyers could find of matches that they worked and claimed brain damage in each match. There were also issues where almost all the defendants had worked all over the country for different promoters, and only a small percentage of their careers were even spent in WWE in many cases. Angelo Mosca, who most definitely suffers from severe memory issues, as an example, played college football, then many years of Canadian football, as well as wrestled all over the world in a career that went from 1960 to 1986, and full-time from 1969 on. During that period, the only time working for the McMahon family was for most of 1981 with a main event heel run working with the likes of Bob Backlund and Pat Patterson, and a three-month run in late 1984. So while it is very possible his WWF stint had a percentage to do with his current situation, it is likely only a small percentage. In addition, Connecticut law only provides a three year window to file a claim based on an injury from the time of the injury, and not the time the person discovers the injury. It was noted in the appeal that even if WWE concealed the risk that blows to the head could cause permanent degenerative neurological damage (keep in mind there was no evidence WWE did so) that it was time barred because none of these cases were filed within three years of the original injury. In this case, that law is badly flawed because concussion issues that lead to dementia or Alzheimer’s are usually not going to show up in athletes of this type until decades after they retire. So the morality of the situations in the case of a modern wrestler who may have spent the bulk of their career in WWF/E and decades later had problems with memory and other issues from head trauma would be very different from the legal definition.

Gerald Brisco received a phone call from Vince McMahon on 9/9 letting him know that he would not be brought back to the company after a storied 36 years. Brisco, who turns 74 on 9/19, had been furloughed in April and was one of as many as 70 people let go this past week in decisions made largely regarding not bringing back those furloughed at the time. Categories hit the hardest were live event producers, production managers, and those who worked in other aspects of live events, merchandise and travel. A number of producers were furloughed and then let go. Lance Storm had already been officially let go after being furloughed due to issues in being able to get into the U.S. and back regularly. Mike Rotunda and Sarah Stock were also let go. I would that others furloughed were also let go but none were official. As a general rule, the company seems to have kept the younger producers and let the older ones go ... There was a lot of bitterness from those feeling strung along. It was noted to us that people were told they would be brought back, but then the date of being brought back kept moving another month. In time the recognition with the record profits in quarter two, and the big contract hire of new President Nick Khan, led to bitterness because they were told the furloughs were the last thing the company wanted and were forced out of economic necessity. With the continued delays, many had started looking elsewhere, no longer being convinced they were being brought back, but it’s a tough economic market right now. Some of those let go have been brought back in recent weeks. Others were told this past week they officially were not being brought back. WWE officials said that there would be no new talent releases at this time ... Brisco privately felt that he knew the day was coming over the past few years given his age. But from the outside, his name was perhaps the most shocking of those furloughed.

The Hell in a Cell PPV that was scheduled for 11/11 has been moved up a week to 10/25, meaning the day after both Impact Bound for Glory and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje in UFC. This may be because their deal with the Amway Arena ends on 10/30 and it would be much simpler to do it with the current set up than to set up and go somewhere else a week later

The 9/7 Raw saw nothing advertised until about 90 minutes before the show. The reason is that Vince didn’t sign off on everything until late in the day. From what we were told and this was also the word going around backstage, Vince didn’t get the show and read it until late, when he got on the jet to Orlando. It was a risk regarding putting Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy as the main event regarding keeping viewers for hour three. The one thing is with Labor Day, it’s often a late arriving audience and because of that, usually from an historical basis holds the hour three rating better than usual. But it’s still a risk since the prior week the third hour drop was substantial

Lawler, in an interview with Austin on the WWE Network, brought up the change in how the company uses their announcers. He said that the company felt that he and Jim Ross were becoming too big of stars and were outshining the talent. That’s why they changed their approach with announcers. Lawler said in his mind if people think the announcers are stars, then they have the ability to help get talent over as stars. He also mentioned that he was taking over the narration of WWE Story Time from Gene Okerlund and actually plugged his 9/26 50th anniversary show in Jackson, TN, which is unusual for a WWE show to plug an independent show.

AEW’s All Out show on 9/5 at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, was a show that ended up with a lot of attention, which largely overshadowed the quality of the matches. While the response was more positive than negative, it was still by far the most negatively received major AEW show to date, even with the key matches all delivering at a good-to-great standard. The biggest item concerned Matt Hardy, a few weeks shy of 46 and with wear and tear of about three decades inside a pro wrestling ring. Hardy was having a Broken match with Sammy Guevara, basically a Last Man Standing match, with his career on the line if he lost ... After a spot where Hardy gave Guevara a DDT on the top of his head on one of the picnic tables in the area that connects the stadium and Daily’s Place, they both brawled on a scissors lift. They were about seven feet above the ground and fighting back and forth for a few seconds. Guevara was to tackle Hardy and both would fly off the platform and go through two tables set up on the floor. It wasn’t even the climax of the match, but simply the first of probably a few big spots they were planning as they were only 1:44 into the match when it happened. Guevara tackled Hardy and when they came flying off, it looked bad because Hardy was flying too far. It was a split second, both men’s bodies crashed through the table the farthest from the platform, missing the closest table for the most part. The table did somewhat break the fall but the shoulders and back of Hardy’s head hit the concrete hard. He was clearly rocked badly, and couldn’t get up for 44 seconds. Guevara stalled ref Aubrey Edwards for a few seconds and then she slowly administered a ten count which would end the match, with the risk that at that point if Hardy couldn’t get up, in theory he would have to retire. While they would have worked a storyline around it, AEW very clearly doesn’t want to be the wrestling company who does stipulations and then ignores them, as noted by Cody still claiming he will never challenge for the AEW title in a stipulation that everyone figured would be forgotten about. Hardy did get up before the ten count, but fell back down. Guevara tried to work with him but he was clearly out of it and unsteady. He got up and threw some punches but stumbled and fell again, and Edwards signaled for an “X” signifying there was a real injury. Dr. Michael Sampson came out and a few seconds later the bell was called for, by owner Tony Khan. What happened next was the controversy. Hardy was up and walking with Sampson after it was called off. The two were talking. Hardy, talking in his broken character was screaming for Sammy and he was talking. He wasn’t stumbling around or anything at this point. Then they cut to the announcers who explained why the match had to be stopped. The time the announcers were talking and they showed the announcers and a crowd shot was 64 seconds. At that point they showed Matt walking and he was walking fine. The bell rang and they restarted the match. They did a little bit of brawling but went right to the planned finish. They climbed the lighting grid. Matt seemed unsteady climbing. At one point Guevara seemed to grab him to steady him. But Matt climbed and knocked Guevara off the grid into a crash pad. Guevara sold it like his left shoulder was separated or dislocated and he didn’t get up at the ten count to end the match as planned ... That overshadowed other issues, and was probably a major part of the reason this show got mixed reviews. Hopefully, just because of fan reaction from an entertainment standpoint and this being so publicized, it will lead to the ability for companies to mentally accept just stopping matches if there is a significant fear of a concussion. Hopefully it also leads to a lessening of stunt bumps. Wrestling is dangerous enough as it is ... There are positives and negatives of Daily’s Place. One of the negatives is with so few people in a large outdoor place, sound doesn’t travel well, and so much of wrestling is based on sound. This show is the perfect example. The key matches on this show, as far as wrestling went, were great–in particular FTR vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Page. With a live crowd, given the creativity, execution and storytelling, this could have been a classic and it did get the most votes for best match on a show where that was a very competitive category. But it was a mixed bag. Some didn’t like it because it didn’t have the great crowd reactions, which had to do with bad micing, and inherent issues of a long show in brutal heat with fans all wearing masks zapping the crowd’s energy. Plus, the crowd was so far away that only the loudest chants really came across, and the crowd at the ring, the wrestlers, were either not as loud as the WWE talent was (let alone the fake noise piped in at WWE shows now) or the outdoor nature made that appear to be the case. The show was almost five hours from the start to the finish. That’s been the length of most AEW PPV shows, even the Double or Nothing PPV during the pandemic was close to four-and-a-half hours. For those live it was too long because of the heat and humidity. That, combined with what those in the stands said was bad micing, it made the show seem like it wasn’t over with the live crowd. These matches in an indoor setting, and possibly on a cooler night outdoors, the length may not have been bad. But when the crowd is quiet, as has been the case in the COVID era, shorter shows seem to be the best ... The heat and humidity also leads to worse footing on the ropes, most notable for the debut of Matt Sydal. Sydal was the surprise last entrant in the Casino Battle Royale and the first thing he was going to do was a shooting star press. He went up to the top for a move he’s done perfectly forever, slipped, and actually looked like he hurt himself but he ended up fine and didn’t have any troubles for the rest of the match. Wiping down the ropes between matches would help on a night that hot, not to say that would alleviate it in long matches ... Jim Ross was also under controversy, to the point that both The New York Daily News and The Sun (U.K.) covered it. When Anna Jay was out during the eight-man tag with Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall & Scorpio Sky & Matt Cardona vs. Brodie Lee & Colt Cabana & Stu Grayson & Evil Uno, Ross said, “Did Anna Jay have a wardrobe malfunction, or is that wishful thinking in my book?” Ross did apologize after, writing, “Didn’t mean to offend anyone on the wardrobe malfunction line. Weak attempt at humor. Sorry. Now lighten up.” He later deleted the tweet ... The comment shouldn’t have been made. It is a product of changing times given that 20 years ago the same comment would have been viewed by that wrestling audience very differently. Jerry Lawler is remembered by some more for his ogling comments at the women on Raw in that generation than for his wrestling. But times have changed. People are also looking to blow things up and that makes things worse if you are in AEW or WWE, or are someone with enemies. At the same time, the apology should have been enough as opposed to making it worse, and I guess that’s why it was deleted.

The early estimates for the show based on streaming orders through B/R Live and FITE TV, which the company gets right away, look like the show will do numbers at the level of the February 29, 2020 Revolution, or 100,000 to 110,000 buys. So it looks to be the third or fourth largest of the company’s six PPV shows to date. It’s down probably 10 to 15 percent from the 2020 Double or Nothing company record (the largest for a non-WWE pro wrestling PPV show in 21 years), so it was back at normal levels for an AEW show. But one would think the number of people getting together to watch together is down as compared to prior shows, so that’s a negative, but on the flip side, I think most expected a number a little under average based on the lineup and the build.

New Japan officially announced what looks to be on paper one of the more loaded G-1 Climax lineups in history during the 9/9 show at the Sun Plaza Hall in Sendai. The key is that foreigners Will Ospreay, Jay White, Jeff Cobb, KENTA and Juice Robinson were announced for the tournament. This means all arrived in Japan by 9/5 to do two weeks of quarantine. Jon Moxley, who was one of the top stars in the tournament, wouldn’t be available this year under any circumstances because it would be four weeks away from AEW even under non-COVID circumstances. Until quarantine restrictions are over, requiring foreigners to be in the country for two weeks before they can leave quarantine after arrival, it’s pretty much impossible for Moxley or anyone under AEW contract to work in Japan for any promotion, as Kenny Omega was scheduled to work a number of big shows with DDT this year ... For safety during COVID times, the two blocks will be kept separate in the sense that the wrestlers in the tournament will only do their singles matches on their block night. They will have the night off during the other blocks’ show rather than work tag team matches that would build up their next singles match.

PRO WRESTLING NOAH: There is at least talk of a Nick Aldis vs. Great Muta NWA title match that would air in some form in the U.S. that would take place on 10/6. This could and at this point there are serious talks of this airing on regular television with Rob Hochman and Sonny Onoo as the announcers.

One Florida fan who attends both NXT & AEW noted that the reason NXT was able to sell out 400 seats every other week was because tickets were $10 to $20 while the AEW tapings in Jacksonville are $40 to $60 and the last two tapings on 9/2 and 9/9 didn’t sell out even with 500-750 tickets being put on sale. The latter would be normal price range for shows and really cheaper than road shows for either group, but the difference is AEW ran three times (and the PPV was priced even higher) over an eight day period at those prices in the same building. We’re also told that as far as the live crowd for the first AEW TV taping and the PPV, a high percentage were NXT regulars

The top ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network for this past week were: 1. Broken Skull Sessions with Jerry Lawler; 2. Payback; 3. Raw Talk for 9/7; 4. R-Truth Game Show; 5. WWE Timeline: Flair vs. Savage WWE feud; 6. Talking Smack on 9/5; 7. Smackdown from 8/7; 8. Survivor Series; 9. WWE Break it Down: Sasha Banks; 10. NXT from 9/1 which was higher than usual with the four-way Iron man title match. Three independent shows cracked the top 25, while 205 Live and the U.K. show both didn’t. No. 16 was the March 16, 2019 Evolve show. No. 19 was the December 3, 2018 ICW show. No. 22 was a We Love Wrestling feature from wXw

WWE, NXT, & AEW Ratings:

SPOILER: show

The Labor Day Raw on 9/7 was not a good sign at all leading to football season. The show averaged 1,725,000 viewers and 0.48 in 18-49, making it the seventh least watched Raw in history and tied for the fourth lowest in 18-49. As far as the Labor Day holiday excuse, goes, last year’s Labor Day show did 2,507,000 viewers, the 2018 show did 2,897,000 and the 2017 show did 3,069,000. It’s a bad sign since ratings had been way up since going into Thunderdome and Raw next week goes against the start of the NFL season, which historically means a sizable drop, plus a possible game six between the Lakers and Rockets in the NBA playoffs ... Raw was 17th overall, which is actually better than usual, due to much lower ratings for news shows on Labor Day as compared to a usual Monday, and fifth in 18-49 ... It was down 9.0 percent overall and 17.2 percent in 18-49. It had the Labor Day pattern where people arrived late, so the second hour was the highest rated. Usually that leads to less of a third hour drop ... The first hour did 1,782,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,800,000 viewers. The third hour did 1,613,000 viewers. As compared to the same week last year, we really need to look at two. Labor Day week was earlier last year so the real Labor Day vs. Labor Day comparisons are a drop of 31.2 percent in total audience, 42.2 percent in 18-49 and 58.2 percent in 18-34. As compared with the second September of last year, which is misleading because this would go against the first week of Monday night football, the declines are 19.0 percent in viewers, 30.4 percent in 18-49 and 52.1 percent in 18-34. With viewers coming in later due to Labor Day, they don’t get tired as quickly so the third hour drop wouldn’t be as bad. In first-to-third hour drops, women 18-49 were up 12.1 percent in hour three. Men 18-49 were down 14.3 percent, teenage girls were down 12.0 percent, teenage boys were down 10.2 percent and over 50 declined 8.1 percent. * The show did a 0.27 in 12-17 (same as last week), 0.23 in 18-34 (down 30.3 percent), 0.73 in 35-49 (down 12.0 percent) and 0.84 in 50+ (down 4.5 percent).

Smackdown on 9/4 did a 1.27 rating, 2,129,000 viewers, an 0.61 in 18-49 (793,000 viewers) and a strong 0.4 in 18-34. It did its best viewers per home number in a long time at 1.39. This was the show where Roman Reigns gave his explanation for the heel turn and had a big spike for the Bayley/Sasha Banks tag title match and post-match angle, and overall did a good number. We’re also far enough to where this is probably a little above what will be the norm for the Thunderdome shows meaning it is making a substantial difference. Smackdown was first among the networks in 18-34 and 18-49 among network programming, still pretty much all reruns, by a large margin, as no other shows beat 0.4 and 0.2 respectively ... The rating was down 5.2 percent from last week, the audience was down 0.7 percent from last week, while 18-49 was up 7.5 percent and 18-34 jumped from 0.3 to 0.4. In the segments, the first half hour did 2.02 million viewers for the Roman Reigns & Paul Heyman interview and Heavy Machinery vs. John Morrison & The Miz. The second quarter jumped to 2.14 million and that quarter usually declines, built around the Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler title defense with Sasha Banks & Bayley. It jumped to 2.32 million, which is huge for the show, for the end of the tag title match and the breakup angle with Banks & Bayley, plus the segment with Jeff Hardy, A.J. Styles and Sami Zayn. The final quarter did 2.04 million with the Jey Uso win over Matt Riddle, King Corbin and Sheamus. While that was a huge drop for the main event, it’s still ahead of what the final 30 has been doing. It’s way up from what FOX had last year, averaging on the same Friday for rerun programming 961,000 viewers, 0.3 in 18-49 and 0.2 in 18-34.

NXT on 9/8, built around the Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor match for the vacant title and Mercedes Martinez vs. Rhea Ripley in a cage match, fell slightly, as expected with the tougher competition and less unique main event. The unopposed show did 838,000 viewers and 0.22 in 18-49 (286,000 viewers), down 1.3 percent in viewers. It was also down 14.9 percent in 18-49, and finishing No. 15 for the night ... It was sixth in its time slot on cable ... Younger viewers were down which coincides with two NBA games instead of one, and both games being deeper into the playoffs and more attractive than the single game last week. Plus last week almost the entire show was the title match, and this week was the rematch, and it wasn’t going to do quite as well coming one week later. The show did 39,000 in men 18-34 (down 18.8 percent from last week), 27,000 in women 18-34 (down 43.8 percent), 146,000 in men 35-49 (down 12.0 percent) and 74,000 in women 35-49 (same as last week). The high point of the show for overall viewers was the Ripley vs. Martinez cage match. The high point for 18-49 was the second half of Cole vs. Balor. The high point of 18-34 was Cole vs. Balor. The high point of 35-49 was Ripley vs. Martinez. The show opened at 812,000 viewers and 292,000 in 18-49 with the first half of Cole vs. Balor. The second quarter did 869,000 viewers and 310,000in 18-49 for the second half of Cole vs. Balor. The third quarter was 807,000 viewers and 284,000 in 18-49 for Cole and Balor backstage, and the Robert Stone, Shotzi Blackheart, Aliyah and Io Shirai segment. The fourth quarter did 804,000 viewers and 279,000 in 18-49 for a Timothy Thatcher interview, Velveteen Dream vs. Ashante Adonis and some Tyler Breeze & Fandango and Imperium promotion for next week. The fifth quarter did 844,000 viewers and 279,000 in18-49 for Bronson Reed vs. Austin Theory. The sixth quarter did 830,000 viewers and 272,000 in18-49 Roderick Strong vs. Killian Dain. The seventh quarter did 820,000 viewers and 262,000 in 18-49 for the post-match angle with Dain & Drake Maverick vs. Strong & Bobby Fish and the climax of the Candice LeRae and Tegan Nox angle. The eighth quarter was 918,000 viewers and 307,000 in 18-49 for Ripley vs. Martinez in a cage. The show did a 0.11 in 12-17 (down 26.7 percent), 0.09 in 18-34 (down 31.3 percent), 0.35 in 35-49 (down 8.0 percent) and 0.43 in 50+ (up 7.0 percent). The audience was 64.7 percent male in 18-49 and 75.3 percent male in 12-17, so in particular there was a big drop with teenage girls from last week of 51.9 percent.

The AEW show on 9/9 did 1,016,000 viewers and an 0.37 (481,000 viewers) in 18-49. Although there is some psychological success in topping 1 million viewers, and the show went against NBA & NHL playoffs, being unopposed by NXT, that is about what should have been expected. It was the most viewers the show has done since the second episode of the show on 10/9 and in 18-34, it was the highest since 1/15. It was helped by coming off the PPV show, but didn’t have anything marquee advertised with Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes as the headliner. Of the company’s biggest stars (Chris Jericho, Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Adam Page,. Orange Cassidy and MJF), Jericho and Cassidy were the only one who wrestled on the show and both were in non-marquee matches. AEW nearly beat Raw in 18-34, with having 164,000 viewers to AEW’s 155,000. AEW won, barely in women 18-34, by a 64,000 to 63,000 mark, so they did start getting the women’s audience back. Still, both were hurt significantly in that demo by both the NBA and NHL ... AEW was No 7 in 18-49 ... The show did 91,000 in male 18-34 (down 25.4 percent from last week), 64,000 in women 18-34 (up 56.1 percent), 236,000 in males 35-49 (up 13.5 percent) and 90,000 in women 35-49 (down 8.2 percent). They also had a huge pickup in teenage girls, increasing 121.7 percent from last week. AEW’s viewer high point was Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes. The high point in 18-34 (173,000) was the Adam Page interview and Chris Jericho & Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss. The high point in 35-49 (358,000) and 18-49 was the ending of Jericho & Hager vs. Janela & Kiss, the Jericho interview, the MJF/Wardlow segment and Jon Moxley interview. The show opened with 989,000 viewers and 498,000 in 18-49 for Penta & Fenix vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus and Eddie Kingston post-match. The second segment did 1,004,000 viewers and 496,000 in 18-49 for a Lance Archer & Jake Roberts promo, Matt Hardy interview and the beginning of Cassidy vs. Angelico. The third segment did 1,026,000 viewers and 487,000 in 18-49 for the ending of Cassidy vs. Angelico, the post-match with Best Friends and Santana & Ortiz brawling, and Sabian & Miro segment. The fourth segment did 1,017,000 viewers and 486,000 in 18-49 for the Page interview and most of Jericho & Hager vs. Janela & Kiss. The fifth segment did 1,026,000 viewers and 523,000 in 18-49 for te ending of Jericho & Hager vs. Janela & Kiss, Jericho’s interview, MJF & Wardlow and Moxley’s interview. The sixth segment did 989,000 and 469,000 in 18-49 for the FTR tag team celebration, Ricky Starks interview and the beginning of Nyla Rose vs. Tay Conti. The seventh segment did 973,000 viewers and 427,000 in 18-49 for the ending of Rose vs. Conti, the post-match with Hikaru Shida and Rose, and Kenny Omega interview. The final segment did 1,066,000 viewers and 458,000 in 18-49 for Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes and the post-match. The show did a 0.17 in 12-17 (up 13.3 percent), 0.22 in 18-34 (down 4.9 percent), 0.52 in 35-49 (up 6.5 percent) and 0.43in 50+ (up 18.6 percent). AEW tied NXT in 50+, which is rare, but AEW was on its traditional day, but NXT was actually unopposed while AEW did have competition from the NXT replay.

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Originally Posted by Observer Loading up Raw and giving it the In Your Face theme worked for at least the first two hours as while the total audience for last night's show was down, the key demos were up against the NFL, which was way down in its opening Monday night. Raw averaged 1.69 million viewers and 0.50 in 18-49, down two percent from last week in viewers and up four percent in 18-49. With anything less that a strong lineup with a Women's title bout, a champions vs. champions match, a cage match, and a Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee match, the show would have been expected to do near record lows. There was a 16 percent first-to-third hour drop, a larger drop than has been usual ... Conversely, Raw was down 26 percent in viewers, 31 percent in 18-49, and 34 percent in 18-34 from the same week last year. Raw was fourth in 18-49 behind both NFL games and the SportsCenter show that aired at 1:31 a.m. after the second game ... As far as the audience leaving from hour one to hour three, the drop was nine percent with women 18-49, 16 percent with men 18-49, a four percent increase in teenage girls, 14 percent decrease in teenage boys, and a 16 percent decrease in people over 50. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 1.81 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.73 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.53 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer The trailer for the second season of The Mandalorian dropped today and featured a familiar face to wrestling fans: Sasha Banks. Banks (Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado) will play an unspecified part, but there is speculation that her character will be a Jedi. A Disney Plus property, The Mandalorian is set in the Star Wars universe. Banks tweeted the trailer today, confirming her role. The Mat Men podcast first reported Banks's involvement in the series back in February.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_oqFtOULjs

Originally Posted by Observer On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of June but just got his results back: “About an hour ago from the CDC, and the CDC told me that, yes, I have tested positive for the coronavirus -- back at the end of June... I never got my result back, but they called me, rest assured, today to tell me that back at the end of June when I got tested, I tested positive. And I’ve had three tests since then, and they all came back negative. But it just goes to show how backed up we really are with this system that we’re working with as far as people finding out if they got this, or if they don’t got -- I’m living proof. I’m living proof. Thank God I’m still here, and I got a healthy immune system. And God spared me on this one, but I could have been one of the nearly 200,000 that didn’t know I had this and I was gone on my way to the next life. But man, it’s bigger than that. I know what I went through for, you know, it wasn’t a long time - a couple of weeks that I went through it. I had the headaches, I had the night sweats, I lost my taste and smell for two weeks. And I thank God I was smart enough to quarantine from the family. I stayed away from everyone. I put myself off in the west wing [laughs], you know what I’m saying? And I stayed there for a couple of weeks until I started feeling better, until everything started subsiding, even my taste, I waited until that started to come back a little bit before I started meeting up with the family and what not. Thank God I did, because I could be like The Rock as far as the whole family coming down with this. Like I said, I got my mother-in-law here with us. It’s something that’s so serious. I just want y’all to be so careful with this.”

Originally Posted by Observer In an interview with the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Mike Rotunda discussed his release from WWE: “Well, I got furloughed in the middle of April along with a number of other people so, it’s been quite some time and didn’t look like it was gonna open back up. I kind of prepared myself for it, but I wasn’t exactly sure what was gonna happen, which I’m fine with it. Like you said, I had a long run there, I’m 62-years old and to be honest with you, it was harder and harder to do all the traveling and keep that pace. It definitely helps being a little younger when you’re trying to keep the pace that you’d have to working for WWE. Especially, my whole time there, we did live shows. Like depending on which show you were on, we did both television shows and I did a ton of live events which were like Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then TVs were Monday, Tuesday until they switched to the Friday Night SmackDown. So I definitely put a lot of time in on the road and it’s kinda nice being home. My wife and I have been married, it’ll be 36 years in October and all but three years of that, I’ve been on the road so I mean, that’s a long time and I’m actually enjoying to be home more and be around my wife and see my grandkids some more and get a chance to go fishing more so, which I like to do living here in Florida. That’s my go-to, my relaxation so it’s given me an opportunity to do more, to me something that’s important to do and it’s fun for me.”

Originally Posted by Observer Chris Dickinson and Calvin Tankman have been added to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, joining Deonna Purrazzo, Homicide, and Josh Alexander as wrestlers announced for the show. It’s taking place on October 11 as part of Game Changer Wrestling’s The Collective.

Originally Posted by Observer Edward “Teddy Hart” Annis, 40, was sentenced to ten days’ imprisonment in Richmond County Jail on 9/10 following a court hearing before the Richmond City Circuit Court, Criminal Division in Virgnia, but was arrested again after being incarcerated. As PWInsider.com has covered, Annis was arrested after being pulled over by authorities in Richmond on 2/12. Annis had been charged with possession of a schedule III narcotic and possession with intent to sell or distribute. During the court hearing on 9/10, it was ruled that there was probable cause in regard to the charges of possession of a schedule III narcotic and possession with intent to sell or distribute. Those charges will move on to a grand jury and should they decide to bring official charges against Annis after evaluating the evidence against him, Hart would stand trial for those charges ... During the 9/10 hearing, Annis was found guilty of being in possession of a schedule III narcotic. He was also fined $21 in fines and court costs for not carrying or exhibiting his driver’s license or registration. He was also fined $61 for failure to use lights with wipers. Charges of being in possession of marijuana and for improperly mounted license plates were dropped as it was determined there was not sufficient evidence to pursue those charges. However, court records indicate that Annis’ ten day jail sentence stemmed from a March 4th arrest, where he was taken into custody for violating his house arrest in Virginia. Annis had been staying at an apartment with Virginia-area wrestler Pork Chop Johnson. Johnson stated on social media that he removed Hart for his behavior in the apartment. Hart was also fined $232 in relation to that charge. Court records also indicate that Hart had been declared a fugitive from justice on 5/4. Record list him as arrested on that charge on 9/11, one day after he had been processed into Richmond City Jail. Hart is scheduled for another hearing on 10/13, facing charges of a felony arrest without a warrant.

Originally Posted by PWI The WWE concussion lawsuit court case was officially closed today by the Appeals Court in New York. The only remaining aspect of the case, which would fall under Connecticut Court, is the sanctions against the attorneys who represented the former WWF/WWE talents and how much the financial damages will be.

Originally Posted by PWI As viewers of Monday Night Raw may have easily realized, the finish of Mickie James vs. Asuka did not go as planned last night. The planned finish was for James to tap out to the Asuka Lock but the bell was rung prematurely while James and Asuka were grappling with James selling Asuka trying to lock her in a submission hold. PWInsider.com has been told by numerous sources that the decision was made to ring the bell out of concern that James might actually have been out on her feet due to the way she was selling the move. We are told James was actually fine and just did such an excellent job of selling that she was out of it that she fooled those overseeing the match, including the referee. We have heard different versions of who called for the finish, but the decison was made that the match be stopped out of concern for James, who was actually fine.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Mickie James chatted with Comicbook.com ahead of the 9/14 episode of RAW. Mickie stated that she would like to see a women’s only show be added to the WWE Network. Mickie explained that the fan base is there for it and it could be something similar to a one-hour format like 205 Live. “I feel that’s a very, it’s a big dream. It’s a big reach because it’s so much that’s involved when you’re creating something like that. I feel like where we are now, we have so much. First, we have the Network, which has so many outlets and so much stuff that we can do and different types of products that we can put out there. We have the largest female roster that we’ve ever had combined between RAW, SmackDown, NXT and NXT UK, and there’s a vast amount of female talent, more female talent than there’s ever been. It could be an opportunity within our shows. Sometimes there’s really only time for a female championship match or whatever. A whole show, even if it was just an hour, like a 205 Live or something like that, that is cultivated just for the women, is something I think would satisfy a market that really just loves women’s wrestling. It’s a chance for a lot of females that perhaps don’t get a chance to shine as much on TV to shine there, and then Evolution could be our big pay-per-view of the year.”

Considering WWE has over 40 women wrestlers just on RAW, SD, and NXT, a weekly 1 hour women's only brand could work out very well. 205 Live's biggest problems were Vince/WWE's historically poor handling of Cruiser/Lucha style wrestling and the roster kept shrinking due to the Draft and Shakeups and wasn't being replenished until way too late.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed IMPACT Wrestling’s Acey Romero about his journey to get healthier and drop down to the 200 pound range. While discussing his goals, Acey shared that he has two years left on his IMPACT contract. “I was pleasantly surprised with my results, but there is still a long way to go. Wrestling is a big part of it, but this goes much deeper than wrestling. Success doesn’t mean anything if I don’t have my health. I know people won’t believe what I want to do, but they won’t be able to believe the way I look, either. I have two more years on my contract, and my goal is to be Impact world champion. That’s my goal before the end of my contract. I’ll have to work my ass off to get there, but I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.” Romero opened up about how some in the wrestling business were not supportive of his weight loss venture. He said that some told him he was “killing his gimmick” and while he somewhat agreed, he said he was also killing his health. “A lot of people reached out and said I’m killing my gimmick, that I should stay big. Maybe they’re right, maybe I am killing my gimmick, but I was also in the process of killing myself. I understand that now, so I’m doing this for me. If I kept going the way I was going, I don’t know if I’d make it to 40. I don’t want to be that guy.”

Whoever gave him that shit advice about him "killing his gimmick" due to him wanting to be healthy can go eff themselves and good for him on not listening to those dumbasses.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Dave Marquez joined the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to promote the Prime Time Live PPV special on 9/15. Marquez revealed that he had a health scare at an NWA Powerrr taping and had to go to the backstage area to be checked on by the doctor in attendance. He said that could’ve been a reason why Sean Mooney was brought onto the program ... COVID precautions are in place for the Prime Time Live special. Marquez said that one of their announcers tested positive and he was around said individual so he went to get tested and had a series of tests set up in the days leading up to the 15th. Temperatures are being checked and if the staff does not trust the situation, a physician will be on-hand to conduct the COVID-19 test. “You can’t necessarily trust the public getting tested and yeah, you could take their temperature and all that kind of stuff… we’re taking it pretty serious in our operation. I know that there’s others that don’t take it serious. Like today, I found out one of our announcers tested positive and I was with them four days ago so I went and got a test this morning. I’ll have another test next week and I’ll have another test on the 14th before the 15th to make sure everything is cool, and people are flying from across the country into this and so I have to take their word for it that they’re negative. Hopefully they have proof that they’re negative. We’ll take their temperatures and there is a COVID procedure at the stage if we really question it. There’s a physician or two to administer a test if we need it done. But, for the most part, we’re gonna be very cautious.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Sugar Dunkteron, formerly known as “Pineapple Pete” was a part of the RAW Underground crowd on 9/15.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling revealed the bracket for the Lion’s Break Crown tournament. Logal Riegel is taking on The DKC. Clark Connors is facing off against Jordan Clearwater. Danny Limelight vs. Barrett Brown is set for the tournament as is Adrian Quest vs. Blake Christian.

Originally Posted by PWI Q - I know I don't pay attention to RAW and SmackDown 100% of the time like I used to but wasn't Nia Jax suspended indefinitely. Did they ever mention how she returned and won the Women's tag titles? A - The Smackdown hacker brought her back. Seriously, WWE is really good at not following up or explaining storylines

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles on WWE's way too often inability to follow through with their storylines.

Originally Posted by Observer The AEW one hour show that was originally set for Wednesday night will now air on both TNT and TSN on 9/22 after NBA coverage.

Originally Posted by Observer Hulu has purchased 100 hours of Vice TV programming including every episode of Dark Side of the Ring.

Originally Posted by PWI While Major League Wrestling has announced deals with Fubo TV and DAZN, we are told that the promotion is not done seeking out new potential TV or streaming deals. The promotion is currently being represented by their agency, ICM Partners, for additional media deas, for multiple series ideas beyond MLW Fusion. The promotion will still be seen on BeIN Sport on Saturdays.

TPWW Frontpage:

• More Gameplay Details and DLC Plans for WWE 2K Battlegrounds
• WWE: Bobby Lashley on Hurt Business, Mickie James on Career Goal, Updated SD Ratings
• The Identities of RETRIBUTION on Tonight’s Raw
• Jeff Hardy Signs New Contract With WWE
• Ivar Undergoing Surgery for Neck Injury
• The Mystery Woman on SmackDown Is Probably Carmella
• AEW Selling Season Pass Tickets for Dynamite

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer WWE is hyping that a pair of "major announcements" will be made on tonight's episode of NXT. In a tweet this afternoon, WWE revealed that NXT general manager William Regal will appear on tonight's show to make the announcements: "BREAKING NEWS: @RealKingRegal will have two MAJOR announcements tonight on #WWENXT" Regal also tweeted: "A new episode, a new champion, and an upcoming #NXTTakeOver. I cannot overstate how grateful I am to work alongside the men and women of #WWENXT and tonight is about new opportunities."

Originally Posted by Observer While the buys for the first Talk'N ShopAMania pay-per-view aren't public, it apparently did well enough that Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Rocky Romero are going to run it back this fall. On the 700th edition of Chris Jericho's podcast Thursday, the trio announced that the sequel will air on Friday, November 13th, and will feature a "Ball for a Ball" match between Chad 2 Badd (Anderson) and Sex Ferguson (Gallows) as the main event. Their initial attempt at a comedic wrestling show debuted on Saturday, August 1st and featured a main event of Badd vs. Ferguson in a Boneryard match. The show was filled with gimmick matches and cameos from Enzo, the Young Bucks, Heath Miller, Rocky Romero, Chavo Guerrero, Mike and Maria Bennett, D-Lo Brown, the Rock'n'Roll Express, Swoggle, Teddy Long, The Flock, and others. In a past interview with WrestleZone, Gallows said they intentionally left several people off the first ShopAMania in case they did a sequel. The first one was filmed in Gallows' backyard over several long filming days in early-July and it's assumed the sequel will also be pre-taped.

Originally Posted by PWI As had been expected, Wade Barrett has officially signed with WWE and will be a full-time part of the NXT announcing team going forward. Barrett announced the signing this afternoon during an interview with Justin Barrasso from Sports Illustrated. Barrett stated that he signed a one-year deal with the company with the option there to extend going forward.

Originally Posted by PWI All Elite Wrestling filed a trademark on 9/10 for "All Elite Wrestling - Elite General Manager." The trademark filing is for good and services, "Downloadable game software; Downloadable computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones; Downloadable electronic game software for use on handheld computers and mobile gaming devices; Downloadable video game programs; Recorded video game software."

Originally Posted by PWI Last night's United Wrestling Network PPV debut was marred by streaming issues for the FITE version, which seemed to get better as the show went on. We are told by readers who ordered the show on InDemand and other PPV providers that the PPV version did not have similar issues. UWN President Dave Marquez addressed the issued on Twitter: Thanks to everyone who joined us tonight for #PrimeTimeLive! I do apologize for the technical issues on @FiteTV, those happened on their end. We’ll be replacing the show with a master file. See ya next week! pic.twitter.com/07IaoCSytm — David Marquez (@CWFHMarquez) September 16, 2020 The show also ran into timing issues as several of the earlier matches ran long, leading to the Tribe vs. Wolf Zaddies and the UWN TV title bout between Dan Joseph and Levi Shapiro being extremely cut down. It seemed the tag match competitors had zero idea they were going to a time limit draw when the bell rang. The NWA Championship match between Nick Aldis and challenger Mike Bennett was obviously on hyperspeed as well as they rushed to make sure they could get through what was planned in the 8-9 minutes they had. Aldis' main events usually go in the 20-25 minute range, so they were working around what time they were left with ... Dave Marquez directed the PPV. Although he was mentioned on the air, NWA President Billy Corgan was not at the PPV. Joe Galli, Todd Kenley and Alyssa Marino were absolutely excellent on commentary last night. There were zero injuries coming out of the show. The backstage interviews were all pre-tapes from earlier in the afternoon. Several hours before the PPV, there was a power outage in Long Beach, CA, where Thunder Studios is located, which obviously would have been a disaster had that happened when the show was on the air, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Chris McCumber, who served as the President of the USA Network and Syfy will be leaving NBCUniversal after 19 years. McCumber was considered the point person in the relationship between the network and WWE. McCumber had been with the USA Network since 2001 and was named its president in 2011. Deadline noted in its story that he spearheaded the negotiations with WWE with their latest deal for Raw believed to be worth $265 million annually for the five-year pact that went into effect last October.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Daniel Cormier spoke with Justin Barrasso of SI.com regarding a potential future with WWE and gave the indication the two sides are talking and threw out his own ideas: "We’ve been talking. We’ve spoken to some of the people over there in very, very early conversations. WWE is a company I’ve watched and loved my entire life. Put me at the commentary table. Let me call the matches for six months and tell you how great these wrestlers are in the ring. I would love that, and I wouldn’t be faking it. WWE is something I’ve loved my entire life. Then, after those six months, what if I’m sitting next to Michael Cole, and Roman comes over and smacks the microphone out of my hand? But I’m an announcer. Will I hit him back? Then you’re asking if this will happen or not. That’s what I want, that slow build, the type of story you want to see, and your heart feels like it’s going to explode while you’re waiting for it. Give me the slow build, let it simmer."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling David Bixenspan has an extensive rundown of the latest involving the case between Matt Riddle and Candy Cartwright (real name Samantha Tavel). Bixenspan has obtained documents that outline Riddle and his lawyer Daniel J. Rose had filed a complaint against Tavel making numerous claims including committed stalking, threatening Riddle and his family, and destroying personal property. Last week, just three days before a hearing was scheduled, Riddle and his lawyer filed a notice for a voluntary dismissal to close the case. Bixenspan analyzed the allegations in the complaint and whether they hold up based on the public evidence that is out there. One allegation was that Tavel posted Lisa Riddle’s (Matt’s wife) phone number and their home address, which public tweets show had the phone number covered in a screenshot post with no evidence that Tavel herself posted the Riddle’s home address. In the documents, it states the affair began between Riddle and Tavel in November 2017 and didn’t end until July 2019. There was a claim by Riddle that Tavel showed up at Full Sail University this past February and was escorted out, although Full Sail University has not issued a response regarding the incident when asked by Bixenspan.

Link: https://babyfacevheel.substack.com/p...ed-restraining

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling ESPN spoke with Chad Johnson, who is the SVP of sales and development for the Jacksonville Jaguars about TIAA Bank Field being open to 25 percent capacity this past weekend for their opener. In researching a safe protocol, Johnson said they leaned on AEW’s presentation of shows next door at Daily’s Place to observe how fans acted and responded to the measures. Johnson said: "We’ll have at least 10 dry runs of watching fan behavior, compliance, how they congregate, how they move. AEW, I sat there and filmed and watched how everybody moved. How long they took from the time they entered to the time they got to their seat. Where did they go? Where did they not go? We were studying that all along so we could adapt to their behavior. When they were lining up and queueing, even when they were past where we had signage, people were following the 6-foot rule. It was perfect. They were so respectful of the process. I was really pleased. I was really pleased with how they kept their masks on. I was really pleased that they spent most of their time in their seats. They didn’t just go get a beer and hang out in open spaces. They really were respectful."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestlling [GCW Joey Janela's]Spring Break 4 has released four-match announcements for the card on Saturday, October 10th: *Matt Tremont vs. Alex Colon – billed as Tremont’s final GCW match *Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty *Alex Shelley vs. Tony Deppen *Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Ironbeast

Originally Posted by WrestleTalk WreslteTalk’s Louis Dangoor can exclusively reveal after speaking with WWE sources and Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp that the backstage atmosphere at Raw and SmackDown shows has been much better over the last month or so. Sources within the company have attributed the more positive atmosphere to the move to the Amway Center, with many feeling a lot happier and more positive following the move out of the Performance Center, which was to be expected. The move to the Amway Center, which took place last month, is said to have given people backstage a lot more space backstage compared to the Performance Center, and that is said to have helped morale considerably. Some members of the SmackDown roster have also attributed the positive atmosphere to the return of Roman Reigns, with the Universal Champion being seen as a clear lockerroom leader amongst his peers and higher-ups. The shorter taping days will also have helped with the moral. WWE has gone from taping two weeks of SmackDown in one day to running weekly live shows.

Originally Posted by Fightful Sonya Deville's stalker Phillip Thomas II has pled not guilty to all charges. Thomas II was charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary of a dwelling, attempted armed kidnapping, and criminal mischief. Armed burglary of a dwelling is a felony punishable by life in prison. The other counts, attempted armed kidnapping and aggravated stalking with a weapon, are second-degree felonies with a maximum of 15 years each. Criminal mischief is a second-degree misdemeanor with a fine of $200 or less. Thomas remains incarcerated as his bail of $2 million was denied after the judge deemed him a threat to the community. The Hillsborough County Court ruled on August 24 they would not release any evidence to the public before the hearing in regards to Sonya Deville's case against her stalker Phillip Thomas. A hearing is scheduled for November 12 relating to the temporary injunction filed against Thomas in order to prevent him from approaching or contacting Deville or her family.

Originally Posted by WrestleTalk It was reported recently that NXT call-ups had not been given new contracts. Such had usually been the case when stars debuted on the main roster, but perhaps due to the pandemic and additional cost-cutting measures, new contracts were not given. Now, we have an update. Fightful Select is currently reported that new deals have still not been offered. Additionally, the report states that WWE’s reasoning behind this has been that the talent’s travel and schedule have been reduced already so a new deal is not necessary. The report also says the money associated with these contracts is significantly below what talent were being offered last year. Among the most recent NXT call ups have been Keith Lee and the members of Retribution. While not officially called up, the group is reportedly made up of Dominik Dijakovic, Mia Yim, Mercedes Martinez, Shane Thorne, and Dio Maddin. It remains to be seen when WWE will consider offering new contracts to the recent call-ups. If they are waiting for touring to begin again, it may be quite a while as this pandemic has no end in sight.

TPWW Frontpage:

• AEW Signs Will Hobbs
• AEW Dynamite & NXT Cards for Tonight + AEW Rankings
• NXT Announces Next TakeOver in October

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets sponsored by the Return of the Wednesday Night War:

Originally Posted by Observer Last night's AEW Dynamite on TNT averaged 886,000 viewers, down 12.8 percent from last week but up almost 10 percent from the last time the show aired head-to-head with NXT. NXT was also up from the previous head-to-head battle, averaging 689,000 viewers. That's down 17.8 percent from running unopposed last Tuesday night but up 11 percent from the last head-to-head week on August 12. With no NBA or NHL competition and news shows with a normal level of audience, Dynamite finished third on cable in the 18-49 demo on the night with a 0.34 rating. That's down 8.1 percent from last week but up six percent from August 12. NXT managed a 0.18 rating in the demo, finishing 31st on cable. It was down 15 percent from last week but up 12.5 percent from August 12 In the other demo categories, it was the usual with AEW winning everything except people over 50, where NXT had a 0.36 to 0.32 advantage. in women 18-49, AEW had a 0.23 rating to NXT's 0.13. In men 18-49, AEW doubled NXT with a 0.46 rating to NXT's 0.23. AEW was number one on cable in that demo. In people 18-34, AEW had a huge advantage with a 0.24 rating to NXT's 0.10. AEW topped all of cable in that demo as well. In females 12-34, AEW had an advantage of 0.15 to 0.06. In males of the same age group, AEW drew a 0.26 rating and NXT drew a 0.14. AEW also topped cable in that category. In people 25-54, AEW had a 0.38 rating to NXT's 0.22. The combined audience of 1.575 million viewers was down 15.2 percent from last week when both shows aired on different nights but up 11.6 percent from the last time both aired on Wednesday.

Originally Posted by PWTorch While AEW Dynamite and NXT on USA go head-to-head again this week, last week was the fourth week in a row the shows didn’t battle head-to-head with their first-run programs. Last week NXT was moved to Tuesday night for the second straight week, bumped from the usual timeslot due to NHL playoffs on USA Network. It drew 838,000 live and same-night-delayed viewers last week (9/8), down from the prior week’s (9/1) viewership of 849,000. The following are the viewership numbers for NXT the last four weeks without Dynamite as competition. 9/8: 838,000 9/1 849,000 8/26: 824,000 8/19: 853,000 AVERAGE: 841,000 The prior four weeks averaged 684,000 viewers. So NXT, without AEW as competition, despite airing on a different night the last two weeks, gained 157,000 viewers on average each week. Meanwhile, AEW was unopposed in its usual Wednesday night timeslot the last two weeks, drawing 1,016,000 live and same-night-delayed viewers last week (9/9), an improvement on the 928,000 the prior wee (9/2). The preview two weeks NXT aired on Thursday and Saturday instead, bumped from its usual Wednesday night timeslot due to scheduled NBA playoff games. The last two weeks averaged 972,000 viewers. The prior two weeks moved from its usual timeslot but airing unopposed averaged 784,000. The previous four weeks averaged 831,000. So the last two Wednesdays, unopposed by NXT, AEW drew on average 161,000 more viewers than it averaged during the prior four week “normal” period when up against NXT. So bottom line, it appears that each show gained right around 160,000 viewers who typically would have watched the other show instead live or on a same-night-delay. This week, the shows get back to normal and it’s possible that one of the shows will end up retaining some new viewers if some of those 160,000 who sampled the other show end up sticking with that show instead.

Originally Posted by PWI On the latest edition of Wrestling with History on VOC Nation, Ken Resnick talked about the period in 1983 prior to the WWF recruiting Hulk Hogan and going national. Resnick discussed business mistakes made by Verne Gagne, Hogan giving Gagne an opportunity to match the WWF’s offer, the territory system, and much more. Here are some highlights: On Verne Gagne’s reaction to McMahon’s push to go national: “I remember being in some of the discussions where Vince was kind of going through the country like a blitzkrieg…if you’re facing in business what was essentially a hostile takeover attempt by Vince McMahon or the WWF, the first thing you are taught in any business school is you circle your wagons (and) protect your own business. Being old school and so angered by what Vince was beginning to successfully do, Vern focused in trying to get into Vince’s backyard and let markets like Chicago and Milwaukee be basically second in thought and ripe for takeover.” On business mistakes Gagne made that ultimately killed the promotion: “Vern sold the Winnipeg market and Winnipeg television to Wally Karbo, Jack Lanza, and Nick Bockwinkel. For a number of reasons, they ended up taking that television and giving that market to Vince. The late Dennis Hilgart, the promoter in Milwaukee, again a lot of it was financial, but he left Vern and he had the contacts and the agreements in Milwaukee and he went with Vince. It was a lot because Vern didn’t quite understand the corporate premise when you’re facing a hostile takeover that you circle the wagons. Vern left a lot of flanks exposed.” On whether Hulk Hogan considered staying with the AWA: “Hulk did give Vern an opportunity. He was thinking about staying. One of the big things that Vince was able to offer was a high percentage of the secondary marketing – the tee shirts and hats and everything else – and Vern didn’t want to do that. He said ‘without me, you wouldn’t be able to sell anything; I’m not giving you that.’ I remember talking with Hulk and finally I said what’s stopping you? You’ve got 2 choices: You’ve got A, or you’ve got B which is 25x what A is.”

Originally Posted by PWI Daniel Rose, the attorney for WWE Smackdown star Matt Riddle announced today that Riddle has filed a civil lawsuit against independent wrestler Samantha "Candy Cartwright" Tavel. PWInsider.com has not yet been able to acquire the lawsuit. As previously reported, Tavel alleges that in May 2018 when both were working for EVOLVE, Riddle allegedly attempted to force her to sleep with him, leading to her performing oral sex instead out of fear after he allegedly grabbed her by the throat. She alleges this took place in a van with several others sleeping in the van at the time ... In court documents for the now-dropped restraining order (also filed in July), Riddle stated he was in a relationship with Tavel outside of his marriage and that after he broke it off, Tavel has since targeted and harrased him. He also alleged she timed her accusations for the date of his "WWE" debut (on Smackdown) and alleged that Tavel was removed from a WWE taping at Full Sail University. Tavel denied the removal in the court documents, stating that she was not at the venue on the night in question. Tavel continued to post proof of her relationship with Riddle on her social media since her initial allegation.

Originally Posted by PWI Major League Wrestling ("MLW") today welcomed its newest member to the roster with LA Park Jr. officially joining the league. The youngest son of the legendary LA Park, LA Park Jr. is the latest of several roster acquisitions that will be revealed in conjunction with MLW's highly anticipated restart this fall.

Originally Posted by PWI PWInsider.com has confirmed Ivar of the Viking Raiders underwent neck surgery earlier this week in Birmingham, Alabama. We are told there is currently no timetable for his return but it is not expected to be a short recovery. WWE NXT developmental talent Simone Johnson had knee surgery at the start of the week in Birmingham as well.

Originally Posted by PWI For those of you who ordered the FITE.TV version of the United Wrestling Network Primetime Live PPV series, the replay version features a corrected broadcast. We are told that FITE was able to isolate what the issue was with the stream on Tuesday night and believes the issues have been resolved. As we reported, several hours before the premiere, there was a power outage in Long Beach, CA that wiped out all the power at Thunder Studios. As they were going on the air live, UWN learned that the power outage completely wiped out all of their presets for graphics, lighting and audio, so just as viewers were watching for the first time, the production truck was feverishly trying to get everything that had worked for two days to have prepared back up and running. Rocky Romero and several other New Japan Pro Wrestling reps were at the taping Tuesday.

Originally Posted by PWI Q - Is it true Robert Englund was supposed to host Raw at some point? A - Yes, Englund, immortalized by his turn as Freddy Krueger in The A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, was scheduled to guest host to promote his autobiography "Hollywood Monster" in 2013 but scheduling conflicts caused him to pull out. He was never officially announced by WWE.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Rob Van Dam did an interview with WrestleZone’s Bill Pritchard. When asked about his contract status with IMPACT Wrestling, RVD said that he’s on a per-taping agreement with the company and elaborated on why he has chosen to not let his emotions get wrapped up in pro wrestling. “We kind of are like by a handful of shows, you know? So Scott [D’Amore] said, ‘Hey…’ I gotta figure what month it is but, ‘Hey, we got these tapings coming up in August, can you make it? What about these dates?’ So it’s still like that so we [do it], might be two shows ahead and then at the end you might say, ‘Hey, what about the next ones?’ So right now I’m sort of taking it one step at a time and even though I’m having fun and stuff, I would never allow myself to invest feelings into it to a point where I could hurt emotionally or mentally. You really got to learn to not give a — can I swear on here? You have to learn what to give a f*ck about in life. In this business, there’s plenty of heartbreaks, there’s plenty of promises that are made that are gonna not come through and that’s just part of it. How you adjust to that depends on who you are, what your values are and those are all factors on where you get. For me, I’ve always been up front and saying I adjusted by not giving a f*ck after a while. So when someone says something’s gonna happen, I believe it when it does happen and so, I’m stoked that IMPACT thinks that I’m a worthy investment. Some people ask, ‘Dude you’re not even on the opening of the show. How could they have the biggest star there and not even have you –’ I don’t know but you know what? I don’t give a f*ck, they’re paying me, so I’m doing my part and I hope to see them go and I know they are gonna go places but how they do it, regardless of [if] it’s different than how I would do it or not, that’s part of my adjustment to make it work.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Doc Gallows, Rocky Romero and Karl Anderson joined Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast. Gallows revealed that while he was under contract to WWE, he was running independent shows based out of Georgia and when WWE found out about it, they wanted him to stop but Gallows quietly continued running shows. Karl Anderson: “He was running shows about halfway through this little four year run in the fed and well, they shut him down halfway through because he wasn’t allowed to anymore.” Doc Gallows: “So like any good brother would do, I just sold the promotion and then changed the name and just started silently running more.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling John Morrison sat down with Chris Van Vliet for an exclusive interview. Morrison talked about his return to WWE and choosing them over All Elite Wrestling: “So when season four of Lucha [Underground] ended, they have some stuff on their contracts where there’s a tail and the tail doesn’t stop until the episodes stop airing, and so I had signed with IMPACT and when everything was free and clear, I decided — I’m a free agent again, completely free, no ties anywhere. I’m going to figure out where I want to go. So I talked to WWE and I talked to AEW and I had a really good conversation with Vince [McMahon], and they made me a really nice offer and I ended up taking it.”

If the choice was about money, then he made a great decision being in WWE but if the choice was about anything else, then he made a bad decision since his current run has been a big waste compared to what he was doing on the indies.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Shane McMahon joined Corey Graves on WWE’s After The Bell podcast ... On the topic of RAW Underground, Shane McMahon talked about the inspiration behind the project and how some of his life experiences and interests led to the formation of RAW Underground. “Quite a bit, quite a bit. I mean this goes way back. This is an original concept. This is more even going back to roman gladiator times when they used to have short matches to determine who was gonna be [the successor]. So the iterations, there’s been lots of stuff or similar things I should say — got ‘em in Japan for quite some time and I’ve been traveling to Japan since the late 80s, so when I was a teenager and I saw some of this so, it always resonated with me and again, you mentioned MMA and a lot of my friends do that sport. I also practice multiple forms of it and I really enjoy it so, if you can blend that with WWE entertainment and what we can compact together and again, it’s a work in progress. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Originally Posted by Fightful WWE 2K Battlegrounds is set to release on Friday, September 18, but reviewers were able to get an early copy of the game. Twitch streamers newLEGACYinc played a handful of games this week and discovered an image that has a striking resemblance to former IMPACT Champion Tessa Blanchard. Blanchard is currently a free agent after she departed from IMPACT Wrestling in June. It is unknown where she will end up next or if she has an offer from any company. She has remained at home during the pandemic era, choosing not to wrestling for IMPACT as they held empty arena shows heading into Slammiversary.

Link: https://twitter.com/TigerDriver9X/st...36974896812032

Originally Posted by Fightful Trent's Mom Sue is a jack of all trades. We previously learned that Sue brought the crew at AEW Dynamite a batch of homemade cookies. MJF called the cookies "meh" while Eddie Kingston cut a promo on one cookie before burying it in his mouth. Now, thanks to Bryce Remsburg, we also know that Sue brought brownies to AEW as well and even gave out some parenting advice. Sue made another appearance on Wednesday's Dynamite, picking up her son Trent and his best friends Chuckie T and Orange Cassidy from their parking lot brawl against Proud-N-Powerful (Santana & Ortiz). Sue even let them in her vehicle even though they were a bloody mess. She also left Santana & Ortiz with a parting gift.

Link to the gift: https://twitter.com/tde_gif/status/1306413109859491846

Originally Posted by HeelByNature.com During this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, a match between NWA Women’s Champion and Ivelisse broke down, with real life strikes exchanged between both competitors. According to Fightful Select (subscription required), Thunder Rosa took exception to Ivelisse no-selling, which caused both wrestlers to go at each other physically. Following the match, other wrestlers in AEW stated “they didn’t seem to be getting along prior.” Those in attendance believed the match would have to be edited, but it’s unknown if certain spots were removed from the broadcast. While many felt uncomfortable during the match, there has been support for Thunder Rosa backstage in the locker room.

TPWW Frontpage:

• More on Parking Lot Fight Match at This Week’s AEW Dynamite Show
• Two Episodes of Dynamite Next Week, Six Matches Announced
• Battle Royal, Gauntlet Match & More Announced for Future NXT Episodes

[slik]

PWInsider reporting that Melina has signed a contract to return to WWE.

[drave]

Her splits are not PG

[slik]

maybe she is the leader of RETRIBUTION

[drave]

That'd be a fucking let down, moreso than the group already is.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter Edition):

New Japan officially announced its G-1 lineups which will likely contain many if not most of the best matches of 2020. What’s notable is that every show, except for the finals, will consist of six singles matches, which would be five tournament matches from one of th two blocks, and a singles opener involving a match up with Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji and Gabriel Kidd. There will be no tag matches to build up the next card. The key is the shows will be shorter, but with the idea of not cutting back on match time in the tournament. All arenas will be sold to half capacity, so it is almost a lock that every show will sell out ... All shows will air live in Japanese on New Japan World. The belief is that at least some of the shows will also air live in English. Right now it is not clear what shows with air live in English past the final three shows likely will . In the B block anyone who beats Naito is likely to get an IWGP or IC title match in the fall. In the A block, people beating Takagi will likely be the ones challenging for the Never title between now and the end of the year. Those who beat Ospreay may challenge for the British title but that’s up in the air because of travel ... Another note is that this will be a different Ospreay than before as he’s gained 15 pounds during the pandemic. By only wrestling twice five months, when he wasn’t battling depression issues he was on a bodybuilding regime and now has one of the best physiques in the company if not the business. With guys known for flying, like Rey Mysterio, gaining a lot of weight, even when it’s muscle, does affect the flying. I’ve only seen one match of this with the new weight and it was a tag match and he was working a different style with less acrobatics and more wrestling. And that may end up a positive because he’s not a heavyweight rather than a junior heavyweight and the added weight can strengthen weak spots as far as bumping, but can also put more stress on knees and back. If you look back historically at people like Davey Boy Smith, Mysterio, Dynamite Kid and others, they did have their best matches when they were lighter. But with others, like Kenny Omega, they had better matches bigger so each case is different, but stylistically it’ll likely be a different Ospreay. While the lack of cheering crowds will hurt, from a health standpoint, the more days off and no tag matches between singles matches looks to be a positive as far as match quality and injury recuperation goes.

Matt Riddle dropped a petition on 9/7 in Orange County to get a restraining order against Samantha Tavel (Candy Cartwright), who had accused him of sexual assault on Twitter and in an article in Newsweek, and is now expected to file a slander/libel lawsuit against Tavel on 9/22 for alleging he sexually assaulted her. The first filing was simply to get a restraining order to keep her from the Performance Center, where she allegedly came and caused a scene on December 19, 2019. Tavel and her lawyers were given five-day notice of plans to file a suit by Riddle against her in Marion Country in Florida on or after 9/22 based on giving five day notice based on comments that came out after the petition was dropped, claiming Tavel made up the claim and was attempting to ruin his career after he broke up with her. Riddle and Tavel had a relationship for several years on-and-off and after it was broken off by Riddle a second time, Tavel accused Riddle of sexual assault from a few years earlier, said to be in a van that the two along with others from Evolve were traveling together to shows in. Her claim is that nobody else in the van was aware of it because they were sleeping. WWE was aware of the issues between the two for more than one year and had looked into the case at the time and it had not affected Riddle’s standing with the company. Riddle had contemplated filing for a restraining order against her last year but it was said that he decided against doing so after he talked with WWE about the situation. The two had a relationship at the time of the alleged sexual assault and continued the relationship after that time period. According to an article by David Bixenspan on the Babyface vs. Heel web site, Riddle alleged by checking a category when filing for the original restraining order that Tavel had committed stalking, previously threatened, harassed, stalked, cyberstalked or physically abused Riddle, threatened to harm Riddle or family member or individuals close to him, used or threatened to use weapons against him such as guns of knives, destroyed personal property, including but not limited to telephones and other communication equipment, clothing or other items belonging to Riddle ... Daniel Rose, the attorney for Riddle, alleged that there had been no public statements by Tavel in several months and they believed there would not be when they pulled the attempt to get the order three days prior. The article indicated they pulled it based on a filing from Tavel’s attorney trying to deny the order and to get it thrown out to where Riddle’s side would have to pay Tavel’s court costs. In Riddle’s original petition he was attempting to keep Tavel from coming to the Performance Center. Riddle’s statement was that he met Tavel in 2016, and they started having an affair on November 6, 2017. He said he tried to break up with her in June 2018, but they ended up still seeing each other under he broke up with her again in July 2019. He said Tavel systematically stalked, cyberstalked and harassed himself and hi wife since July 9, 2019. He said he blocked her on social media and changed his phone number, only for her to text him from a burner phone saying that if he didn’t leave his wife for her that he would be sorry and she would ruin his career. Days later he and attorney Daniel J. Rose talked about filing a restraining order, but didn’t do it, but did contact WWE about the situation. The petition also lists that this past February (it was actually believed to be December 19, 2019) that Tavel came from New York to Full Sail University where he was working and she created a scene and had to be escorted out of the building. On 6/19, Tavel accused Riddle of sexual assault during the Speaking Out movement back when both were working for Evolve. She said this took place in May 2018, alleging he forced her to perform oral sex on him out of fear when he grabbed her by the throat in a van when the two and three others were traveling together to shows. The reason she said there were no witnesses to this because everyone else in the van was sleeping. Riddle denied the charge and then filed for the restraining order this past July after she first made the claim. He admitted the two had a relationship and that after he broke it up she began harassing him. Riddle said these claims caused himself and his family “substantial emotional distress.” Rose claimed Tavel posted Riddle’s home address and wife’s number on Twitter causing her to receive numerous crank calls and death threats which he said were recorded and could be brought to trial. It should be noted that there was a Tweet that showed a people finder web site but it was not from Tavel but from a fan who was part of the conversation, listing Riddle’s last two addresses from a people finder web site. In a text Tavel released, Lisa Riddle’s phone number was blocked. Tavel’s attorney, Allison Lovelady, pointed to that and noted Tavel never released either their address nor Lisa Riddle’s phone number. However, there are people who have found evidence of people talking about Tavel’s texts that did have the phone number and noted it being deleted with a later text that hid the phone number. Riddle’s attorney claimed Tavel posted Lisa Riddle’s phone number on Twitter from a burner phone and then hours later deleted it and reposted it with the phone number covered up. The claim was this phone number, later deleted, still resulted in Lisa Riddle’s wife getting death threats and hate messages. There were also claims that Tavel left phone messages to Lisa Riddle during this period threatening her ... A release claiming victory after Rose and Riddle withdrew the injunction was sent out. The release claimed a false allegation that Tavel traveled to Orlando and caused a scene in February, which was listed in the petition, when she claimed she was never in Florida in February. The claim is that is now that the scene did happen in front of people on December 19, 2019 at Full Sail University. The release tweeted by Tavel claimed that after Rose sent out a release over the summer first saying that they were going to attempt to get an injunction that Tavel suffered online harassment and retaliation against her, as well as cost her an opportunity to work with WWE and made it difficult for her to find work. Rose claimed that the WWE has made clear they were never interested in Tavel and this did not cost her a job with the company ... Technically the claims were not dismissed, but withdrawn, and if anything the situation got more heated after the release with the claim by Rose that they were filing suit against her this coming week. Still, WWE teasing this as part of a storyline on Smackdown last week is mystifying at best, insane at worst given the touchy nature of the subject. Lovelady attempted to get the injunction dismissed saying there was no support for any claims of threats, destruction of property and/or use of weapons and text messages Riddle supplied showed no evidence of threats to ruin his career if he didn’t leave his wife. She claimed the petition should be dismissed with Riddle having to pay Tavel’s legal fees and claimed Riddle’s attempt to keep her from attending events at the Performance Center but not from his home or any other location says this is an attempt to harm, harass and silence her and not to protect him.

AAA: Konnan, on his podcast, said that they were hoping to be back running shows in October. He said it was not official and if there is an increase in the COVID-19 cases in Mexico it would be delayed

NEW JAPAN: While it’s not announced that Jeff Cobb has signed here, it’s pretty much a sure thing. Cobb has said that he’s signed with a promotion but would wait for them to announce it. It’s known that he turned down AEW and ROH. This is the only place he’s been working since the pandemic started and pretty much everyone New Japan ism using right now is under contract because there are limited spots with running shorter shows with fewer matches

Regarding Mexicans who can work in the U.S, besides Penta and Fenix, would be Laredo Kid, Black Taurus and Psycho Clown who all have visas. El Hijo del Vikingo doesn’t have a visa

AEW: The ending of the Chris Jericho & Jake Hager vs. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela match on the 9/9 show did more than 580,000 18-49 viewers and almost 1.2 million total viewers The plan is to stay at Daily’s Place at least through November (and likely longer) and they’ve offered a plan for $175 for tickets for the next seven tapings which works out to $25 per show. As noted last week, they were going to have a lot of trouble running so frequently in the same location. WWE couldn’t even make this work in a population as large as New York and they only made it work in Orlando by having 400 seats and keeping ticket price low The one hour show that was originally going to air on 9/16 before it turned out there was no NBA game that night, will air after the NBA on 9/22 on both TNT and TSN in Canada. The show has Matt Sydal vs. Shawn Spears, Anna Jay vs. Brandi Rhodes and Scorpio Sky vs. Benjamin Carter. The latter match, if it’s given time, should be tremendous. Still, it feels like this is a throw away show because it’s on late at night and none of the major stars are on it. I’d like this, coming right after NBA coverage, to be a chance to make new stars for the product and have a more marquee show, although Sky vs. Carter could wow people but there’s still no established major star power past Chris Jericho announcing

Jericho on his Saturday night YouTube show said that he was the one who came up with Miro’s line that was anti-WWE. He told Miro the line and Miro couldn’t believe he’d be allowed to say that on television and Jericho told him here you can say what you want. "I've always been a fan of his. He's another guy, who, for whatever reason, fell through the cracks there and they are going to regret letting him go.” Jericho’s line was about “10 years under the same house, under the same glass ceiling" and chasing an imaginary brass ring. Well, you can take that brass ring and shove it up your ass," "I'm glad Miro came in and gave his mission statement," Jericho stated. "That said, we'll just leave it there now. This is not a place that wants to constantly bash another place. Obviously, when you come from another company, you have to acknowledge the fact that you came from there, because there's a history. But then you move on." Miro said he will not be talking about WWE going forward, although apparently he was not happy at all with Lana’s portrayal on the 9/14 Raw show since a lot of people were asking questions right after that angle aired whether that was done as a reprisal to his AEW interview Jericho also said that him debuting as Sabian’s best man is actually part of a long thought out storyline in the sense Miro will be “The Best Man” as his nickname, as a takeoff on Curt Hennig as Mr. Perfect. "The Best Man thing is not a one-time deal," Jericho said. “It is going to be his new gimmick. He's the Best Man at everything, similar to Mr. Perfect. You know, Miro has always been a great guy, very funny guy, which a lot of people don't know. It's very cool to have him with us.

I had figured the reason the [AEW] one year TNT anniversary show was 10/14 headlined by the Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer title match, and not 10/7 (the actual first show aired October 2, 2019) was because the Vice Presidential debate is scheduled for 10/7. But actually the reason is they’ve got other ideas for 10/7 which will have a different theme

The signing of Will Hobbs and subsequent push starting with the Casino Battle Royale was because Khan was impressed with him when he saw him when he was brought in to job on Dark. He booked him on Dynamite against Darby Allin and was hands on in helping put together that match with the idea to show that Allin could beat a physically impressive guy and thought Hobbs performed great in the role

Chris McCumber, who was the President of NBCU’s entertainment cable networks, USA and SYFY, has left the company after 19 years. This comes after Mark Lazarus, Chairman of NBCU television and streaming changed priorities and put Lifestyle Networks president Frances Berwick in charge of the new Entertainment and Business television division. NBCU reportedly did try to find a new role for McCumber, but he felt it was time to leave. It’s about prioritizing streaming and also cutting back on scripted programming on USA and SYFY and the idea of relying more on reality shows and live sports. McCumber has headed USA since 2011 and headed USA and SYFY since 2016. He was the point person in USA’s relationship with WWE. What this means is too early to know. McCumber was known to be a Paul Heyman supporter and wasn’t happy when he was taken off his role with Raw. He had been sold on the idea of a time frame of declining ratings in order to rebuild and create a generation of new stars, and was less happy when the emphasis was put on older stars. Whether he still felt that way a ratings somewhat stabilized is unclear

The plans are to make the Reigns/Heyman dynamic as different as possible from Lesnar/Heyman. The idea is that everyone knew that while Lesnar was a mercenary, he was also friends with Heyman. He smiled at his promos, laughed at his jokes, and long-time fans knew the relationship dated back to Lesnar’s start on the main roster in 2002. With Reigns it is the opposite. There is no friendship. The idea is that with Reigns, he is completely in charge oft he relationship and that, at least in idea, Heyman was done in wrestling with Lesnar gone and had nothing left. Reigns made the call to bring him back so he’s indebted to Reigns for saving his career. There will be catch phrases such as “Reignsing, defending, undisputed champion” and there will be a designation of him as the Special Counsel and Reigns will be the Tribal Chief, as a takeoff on Peter Maivia’s role in Samoan culture in the 70s

There has been talk on both sides of the aisle in the Florida legislature to introduce a bill that stems from the Daria Berenato/Sonya Deville case. It hasn’t been worded that I know of, but the idea of the bill would be to allow celebrities who have purchased homes confidentiality to where, for their own protection from crazed stalkers, it would be more difficult to get their home addresses. It’s been conceded that with Berenato, the guy was so intent that the guy may have been able to get it anyway but the case showed it was far too easy. The idea is that major sport pro athletes, wrestlers who appear on television and actors and actresses from SAG cards would be able to get their home addresses made confidential within the state

Right now they are looking for ideas for television after the contract in Orlando expires at the end of October. They don’t want to go back to the Performance Center and they do want to do shows with paying crowds. The idea is to try and run outdoors where it is safer and continue to run live

Right now the plan for Retribution, is that the main five characters will be Dominik Dijakovic, Shane Thorne, former Raw announcer Dio Maddin, Mercedes Martinez and Mia Yim. On Raw they cut a promo where they made it clear they were disgruntled talent who had been at the Performance Center who felt they hadn’t been given a fair chance. As noted last week, the decision has been made to only do this angle on Raw

Jaxson Ryker, who not only disappeared from TV, but ended up taking his partners Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler down the tubes with him when the team was set to do a program with The New Day by his pro-Trump tweets in early June which went over great in the dressing room (including both partners publicly trying to separate themselves from him to no avail) was back on 9/15 with a Tweet saying, “Lay down your freedom brother. Raise those masks that do not (sic) good.” In fairness, even if he didn’t make those tweets, there were those in the company who felt The Forgotten Sons gimmick was probably not the right thing to put on television at the time. And yes, we do know that people were furious at Ryker while having to keep their mouths shut about Linda McMahon heading a Super Pac for Trump’s re-election fund raising

The current market value of the company is $3.836 billion. Loop Capital, which had recommended selling until the stock hit $38 per share, is now listing as a hold and a $42 per share number saying that the decline in recent months now has the company about where it should be as far as value. In the projections of Alan Gould, he expects numbers to be lower than projections for the remainder of this year but increases in 2021 and 2022. Basically WWE hoped to get a boost from laying off 60 to 70 employees last week but that didn’t happen. But with the layoffs and cost cutting, the feeling is next year when things get back to normal with live events, plus cutting out a lot of the events that were money losers with a cutting back of shows, then profits will be higher than originally anticipated. Gould also felt a strong positive with the addition of Nick Khan. WWE really right now is a domestic and somewhat international based television rights fees business predominately, as is AEW. The feeling is Khan gives them a great person to handle negotiations. The decline in ratings is concerning but Gould believes right now that the next negotiations will lead to an increase in domestic rights from the current $470 million per year to about $658 million starting in October 2024

Regarding the most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the past week: 1. WWE Day of SummerSlam 2020; 2. Clash of Champions 2019; 3. Talking Smack; 4. Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions with Jerry Lawler; 5. Raw Talk; 6. Payback 2020; 7. Smackdown form 8/7; 8. Clash of champions 2018; 9. NXT from 9/8 (Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor show) 10. SummerSlam 2020. The only independent show in the top 25 was the wXw Shotgun to the Top show at No. 19

WWE Ratings, AEW vs NXT Ratings:

SPOILER: show

All things considered, the 9/14 Raw number has to be looked at as if it could have been worse. The show averaged 1,689,000 viewers and 0.50 in 18-49 against the season opening Monday Night Football doubleheader. While it was the sixth lowest audience in the history of the show, given the competition, had the lineup not been strong it could have easily been a lot lower. It was down only 2.1 percent in viewers, when it often can drop 10 percent or more, and was actually up with younger viewers, 4.2 percent in 18-49 and 26.1 percent in 18-34 from the prior week. It was the first time since 2012 that Raw went up in 18-49 the first week of the NFL season, but they did really load up the show ... For a comparison Raw was down 25.7 percent in total viewers from the same week last year, 30.6 percent in 18-49 and 34.1 percent in 18-34. Raw was fourth for the night in 18-49, trailing only the two NFL games and the SportsCenter show at 1:31 a.m. after the second game ... The first hour did 1,812,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,734,000 viewers. The third hour fell to 1,521,000 viewers. Hour three was the fourth lowest hour in the history of the show, which featured the ending and post-match of Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins in a cage, Raw Underground, Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black, Lana & Natalya vs. The Riott Squad and Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee ... Regarding the first-to-third hour drop of 16.1 percent, above the recent norm, the drop was 8.8 percent with women 18-49, 15.7 percent with men 18-49, 3.8 percent with teenage girls, 13.7 percent with teenage boys and 15.7 percent over 50. The show did an 0.25 in 12-17 (down 7.4 percent from last week), 0.29 in 18-34 (up 26.1 percent), 0.71 in 35-49 (down 2.7 percent) and 0.82 in 40+ (down 2.4 percent)

Even with strong sports competition, Smackdown on 9/11 did a huge increase of 9.4 percent in viewers for its best numbers since the week after WrestleMania with a 1.43 rating, 2,329,000 viewers and 0.6 (824,000 viewers) in 18-49. The show had 1.35 viewers per home. The rating was up 12.6 percent from last week while 18-49 numbers were up 3.9 percent. The rating continues to be fueled by the return of Roman Reigns as a heel and the Bayley turn on Sasha Banks. The show also remained even with an 0.4 in 18-34. Smackdown tied with a first-run episode of 20/20 for first in 18-49 and won among network programming in 18-34 and men 18-49. Each network had first run programming and reruns combined. Smackdown beat two first run shows, Love Island on CBS (1,805,000 viewers) and Dateline on NBC (2,180,000) in total viewers and beat an America’s Got Talent rerun, placing in total viewers out of eight shows when it usually finishes last, although a number of cable shows like the NBA and Fox News also beat them. The early NBA game head-to-head on TNT did 2,563,000 and 0.95 in 18-49 and the late game did 4,691,000 and 1.87 in 18-49. The NHL on USA did 986,000 and 0.29. Last year on the same week FOX had rerun shows in the time slot and averaged 934,000 viewers and 0.3 in the demo, so they were up 149.4 percent in viewers and 100 percent in 18-49. In the segments, the first half four with the Roman Reigns & Paul Heyman interview and most of the Jeff Hardy vs. A.J. Styles IC title match did 2.35 million viewers. The second half hour with the end of Hardy vs. Styles and the Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro vs. Lucha House Party and interplay with the Street Profits fell to 2.26 million viewers. The big segment once again was the Bayley promo and footage of her turning on Sasha Banks, and the Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Cross match for the title shot at 2.39 million viewers. The Otis vs. John Morrison, Firefly Fun House and Reigns & Jey Uso vs. King Corbin & Sheamus match did 2.32 million viewers.

AEW had a strong showing on 9/16 considering it wasn’t really a marquee show on paper, even if the end result was one of the best two hours shows the company has put on. The key is that AEW showed where they are on a night without major sports competition, since neither the NBA nor NHL had games, but they were head-to-head with NXT. AEW did 886,000 viewers and 0.34 (445,000 viewers) in 18-49, placing third on the night in the key demo in the first head-to-head battle with NXT since 8/12 ... NXT did 689,000 viewers and 0.18, (229,000 viewers, or barely half), good for the No. 31 spot of the night ... The last time the two shows went head to head, AEW did 792,000 viewers and 417,000 in 18-49, while NXT did 619,000 viewers and 206,000 in 18-49, but that was also against NBA and NHL competition ... We don’t have breakdowns for Raw and Smackdown, but in 18-34, AEW did fewer viewers than both and we don’t have the women 18-34 numbers broken down at press time for the other two shows. AEW doubled NXT in both men and women 18-34 and handily won in both groups 35-49. AEW won every demo by a sizeable margin except 50+ won 0.36 to 0.32. AEW did 107,000 viewers in male 18-34, up 17.6 percent from last week’s unopposed show and up 64.6 percent from the last time they went head-to-head. AEW did 62,000 in women 18-34, down 3.1 percent from last week, but up 3.3 percent from the last head-to-head night. AEW did 186,000 in males 35-49, down 21.2 percent from last week but up 2.2 percent from the last head-to-head night. And AEW did 90,000 women 18-49, the same number as last week but down 18.2 percent from the last head-to-head night. NXT did 41,000 viewers in male 18-34, up 5.1 percent from last week and 5.1 percent from the last head-to-head night. NXT did 26,000 in women 18-34, down 3.7 percent from last week but up 23.8 percent from the last head-to-head night. NXT did 106,000 in men 35-49, down 27.4 percent from last week but up 8.2 percent from the last head-to-head night. NXT did 56,000 in women 35-49, down 24.3 percent from last week but up 16.7 percent from the last head-to-head week. AEW won every quarter and of course 18-49 big. The only quarter AEW didn’t win 18-49 by at least 200,000 viewers was quarter No. 7. AEW doubled NXT in quarters No. 4 and No. 8 and nearly in No. 1. In the main event battle, AEW with the Best Friends vs. Santana & Ortiz street fight, an incredible visual, did 871,000 viewers and 420,000 in 18-49 while NXT with Damien Priest vs. Timothy Thatcher for the North American title did 599,000 viewers and 186,000 in 18-49. AEW opened with 960,000 viewers and 504,000 in 18-49 for the Young Bucks angle and FTR vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus. This was one of the best opposed quarters for AEW all year and was its high point with both men and women 18-49. NXT opened with 803,000 viewers and 253,000 in 18-49 for Io Shirai vs. Shotzi Blackheart. In quarter two, AEW had 857,000 viewers and 451,000 in 18-49 for The attack on Matt Hardy and beginning of Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Page, which was a loss of 103,000 viewers and 47,000 in 18-49. NXT did 801,000 viewers and 267,000 in 18-49 for the finish of Shirai vs. Blackheart, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Desmond Troy and a Jake Atlas interview. This was also NXT’s high point in both male and female 18-49. In the third quarter, AEW had 935,000 viewers and 477,000 in18-49 for the end of Page vs. Kazarian and MJF vs. Shawn Dean. NXT did 747,000 viewers and 248,000 in 18-49 for Austin Theory vs. Kushida. In the fourth quarter, AEW had 891,000 viewers and 438,000 in18-49 for an MJF promo, Taz technique, Eddie Kingston with Penta El Cero M, Rey Fenix, Butcher & Blade, and the beginning of Chris Jericho & Jake Hager vs. Private Party. NXT did 613,000 viewers and 202,000 in 18-49 for a Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae interview and most of the Tyler Breeze & Fandango vs. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel tag match, which lost 134,000 viewers and 46,000 in the key demo. In the fifth quarter, AEW had 904,000 viewers and 451,000 in 18-49 for most of Jericho & Hager vs. Private Party. NXT did 679,000 viewers and 232,000 in 18-49 for the end of the tag title match Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs. Xia Li & Jessi Kamea. In the sixth quarter, AEW had 869,000 viewers and 425,000 in 18-49 for Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse for the NWA title and Jake Roberts & Lance Archer & Taz in the ring for a promo. NXT did 631,000 viewers and 230,000 in 18-49 for a Tegan Nox promo and the beginning of Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong vs. Drake Maverick. In the seventh quarter, AEW had 796,000 viewers and 390,000 in 18-49 for the Jon Moxley attack by Brian Cage & Ricky Starks and Will Hobbs save. NXT did 638,000 viewers and 211,000 in 18-49 for the ending of Fish & Strong vs. Maverick with Killian Dain coming out, Maverick & Dain and a William Regal announcement. Best Friends vs. Ortiz & Santana gained 75,000 viewers and 30,000 in 18-49. The Priest vs. Thatcher main event lost 39,000 viewers and 25,000 in18-49.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Last night's Raw, even with a poor show, held pretty much steady from last week, doing 1.67 million viewers on average for the three hours and 0.50 in 18-49. The total audience was down one percent and 18-49 stayed even, as did 18-34. Raw was fifth on the cable charts in 18-49, behind Monday Night Football, the Monday Night Football kickoff show, and SportsCenter after the game, as well as Below Deck Mediterranean on Bravo ... Last night's NFL game with the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Raiders aired live on both ABC and ESPN, giving it the weird combination of being the most watched and strongest demo television show on both network and cable at the same time. Between the two venues the game did 15.44 million viewers and a 4.7 in 18-49, beating Raw by more than 9-to-1 in both total viewers and the key demo, which is likely something that has never come even close to happening at that level in history. As far as first-to-third hour drops, women 18-49 dropped 12 percent, men 18-49 dropped three percent which is much lower than usual, teenage girls dropped 19 percent, teenage boys increased six percent, and over 50 dropped 13 percent. Raw was down 25 percent in viewers, 30 percent in 18-49, and 41 percent in 18-34 as compared to the same week last year ... The three hours of Raw were: 8 p.m. 1.75 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.69 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.57 million viewers

The NFL stat over RAW is an eye opener and RAW likely will suffer even more next since they would be going against a very mouth watering Chiefs vs. Ravens game.

Originally Posted by Observer Joey Janela will face off with one half of The Rock 'n' Roll Express at Joey Janela's Spring Break 4. Janela released a video on Monday night announcing that Janela vs. Ricky Morton will take place at Spring Break 4. The show is being held at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday, October 10. It will be available to watch live via Fite TV. Morton made his Spring Break debut when The Rock 'n' Roll Express lost to Santana & Ortiz at Joey Janela's Spring Break 3, part 2 in April 2019

Link: https://twitter.com/JANELABABY/statu...38560244502528

Originally Posted by PWI The latest iteration of the "Best Of WWE" video series is now on the WWE Network. The Best of Clash of Champions is narrated by Matt Camp and runs over four hours, featuring the following: -Ric Flair versus Ricky Steamboat for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (Two out of Three Falls), Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin Cajun -Cactus Jack versus Ron Simmons for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Clash of the Champions XX: 20th Anniversary -Ric Flair versus Sting (Unification of the WCW World and International Heavyweight Championships), Clash of the Champions XXVI -Ricky Steamboat versus "Stunning" Steve Austin for the WCW United States Championship, Clash of the Champions XXVIII -Bull Nakano versus Madusa, Clash of the Champions XXXIII -"Diamond" Dallas Page and Lex Luger versus Scott Hall and "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Clash of the Champions XXXV -Sheamus versus Cesaro (Match Seven In Best-Of-Seven), Clash of Champions 2016 -Natalya versus Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship (Lumberjack Match), Clash of Champions 2017 -Randy Orton versus Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, Clash of Champions 2019 -Sasha Banks versus Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship, Clash of Champions 2019

Originally Posted by PWI WWE issued the following: New WWE® Collection of Wines Set to Launch New York, NY – September 22, 2020 - Wines That Rock, the entertainment and lifestyle wine company, today announced the first two releases in its new WWE Wines collection featuring WWE Legend The Undertaker® and WWE Hall of Famer The Ultimate Warrior®. They will be available for pre-sale beginning today via wwewines.com with a shipping date of Thursday, October 22 in time for the holiday season. Both unique offerings make up a collection of individually numbered, special vintages of limited-edition wines developed in collaboration with WWE. The wines were specifically chosen to represent each Superstar’s unique personality and will feature individually numbered labels, unique glass, dynamic artwork, and the winemaking talents of 2020 Wine Enthusiast’s ‘40 Under 40 Tastemaker’ Andrew Nelson.

The on-going AEW vs. WWE feud somehow managed to spill over into the wine industry now.

Originally Posted by PWI Gerald Brisco tweeted the following, teasing that he may be AEW bound: Oh gosh! We had some technical difficulties! I truly Khan't wait to tell you my big news! Stay tuned WEDNESDAY NIGHT for my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! What do you think it's gonna be? ????????█??#BriscosBigAnnouncement https://t.co/UZcmJeG5Wu — Gerald BRISCO ????█?? (@Fgbrisco) September 22, 2020

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Dark Order member Evil Uno chatted with David Penzer on his ‘Sitting Ringside’ podcast to discuss the formation of Dark Order, joining All Elite Wrestling and his journey to AEW. Towards the end of the conversation, Uno expressed his desire to re-sign with AEW and how he would like to coach and/or have an office job there as well ... Back in March, after months of hype surrounding the reveal of The Exalted One, said character was revealed to be the now-TNT Champion Brodie Lee. There was not a concrete plan regarding who was going to be The Exalted One until a month before the reveal but Evil Uno shared that Matt Hardy and Luther were both considered. "We initially never knew who The Exalted One was gonna be. There was some talks of who potentially could be The Exalted One, but there was nothing on paper. All we knew was that we were gonna drag this out until we had an eventual reveal. Before the reveal, I think it was a month beforehand, if not a little earlier, we had inklings it was gonna be Brodie Lee and honestly we were very happy about it because I’ve known Brodie for over 15 years now. We’ve been good friends and I knew if he came in, he would take care of us and it would work because he’s a man of enormous stature, he’s a man that’s heavily respected and never really got his moments to shine, you know? And so I thought that was really good, but there definitely was some other names that were thrown in the hat as potential ones. I think most of them have kind of come out online but, Matt Hardy was an implied one that at one point was a maybe for about two days and then we decided it wasn’t but we kind of used the mystery and the fact that his contract was expiring and trying to — I was trying to entice people to think that it was him because he seemed like the most obvious subject and so, there was that. I heard Marty Scurll was also a potential but no one had ever discussed it with us. Dr. Luther I know did some interviews and some promos as a potential leader as well when it was just in the infancy and that moved on to be someone else but Brodie Lee was pretty much a concrete choice for the last month before the reveal happened in March." The Dark Order debuted at Double Or Nothing in 2019 to a flat reaction from fans in attendance. Uno addressed that during the podcast and stated that it had to do with him and Stu Grayson not wrestling consistently in North America for close to six years, but the plan for the group was always to be a cult-like group with a build to their being a higher power revealed. "When I had signed with AEW, we told them about this idea and the idea was that I would essentially have a ton of minions and we would recruit people to join in and they would essentially view me as a higher person so they would elevate us, and so when we started, The Young Bucks are very familiar with our work and they were very excited for us so they gave us a big reveal but we also knew that at the time, we hadn’t been in America in five years. We had changed our characters. It was kinda gonna come out to a whimper, but we were gonna slowly build it up and that’s what happened. When we were shown off in May of 2019 at Double Or Nothing, people weren’t very excited. People just didn’t know who we were because we hadn’t been wrestling in America in over six, seven years at the time, and so, that kind of grew with some discussions with them and we started turning it more into a cult. Trying to explain where do these minions come from, how do these people join our group, why do they join the group and so, it morphed over time and with TV, when you have TV every week, you have so much more opportunities to tell people who your characters are and so over the weeks it became clear that this was a scientology-like cult and eventually, the higher figure was not me. It was someone even above me and we were all doing his bidding and that’s kinda what has led to what we are today."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling TV Insider conducted an interview with Zelina Vega and one of the questions asked of Vega had to do with her thoughts on WWE’s shifted views on third-party outlets such as Twitch and Cameo. Here’s what Zelina had to say: "WWE has always been respectful and encouraging with stuff like that for me. I remember even when I did my cosplay for the Royal Rumble. They thought it was really cool and different. Then Street Fighter tweeted about it. We love working on things like that. We have UpUpDownDown, doing things with Mortal Kombat. They have always been very supportive in that way. I love that I get a chance to do what I do and live my dream, but also I get to live out other dreams like working with Tekken and stuff like that. Never did I think playing Mortal Kombat as a kid that I would be at the Mortal Kombat reveal. It’s definitely a blessing. As much as I’m a fan of them, they’re fans of wrestling and mine. It’s mind-blowing." Following up on that, Vega was asked how does she stay ring-ready when she has been a manager for the greater portion of her WWE run. Vega says she always tries to stay ready by training at the Performance Center or working with colleagues and while giving that answer, revealed that Amazing Red is her cousin. "To switch my mindset, I knew eventually [wrestling more] was going to come. I always try to stay ready. Whether it was training at the Performance Center or training with co-workers behind the scenes if there is a ring. It’s fine-tuning what I knew already. Amazing Red is my cousin, so he kind of started this whole thing with me back when I was 18 years old. Working with that and what I learned from Andrade and now learning from Aleister, it’s a cool combination of all those things. It’s something I think the universe is ready for. Seeing a whole different side of me."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling WARHORSE joined Scrump and Dave Stenken on the PWTCast. The IWTV Champion reflected on his TNT Title match against Cody on AEW Dynamite and discussed some of the criticisms of the match that according to him, did not become too much until Jim Cornette and listeners of Cornette chimed in. "Because they [the fans] would’ve been like, ‘Who the hell is this?’ It’s like, how do you have a debut match on TV at all if that’s the case, if no matter what, the question is who the hell is this? And I didn’t wanna go have a crazy, crazy match with Cody because what if I do f*ck up? And like either f*ck myself up, f*ck him up or just something looks dumb. Maybe I played it too safe or something? I don’t know. I had a lot of ideas and he had ideas too and we melded together and I thought we had a great match. But, as far as what other people saw, there was a lot of people that really liked it and there was some that didn’t but not as many people said they didn’t like it until the match happened Wednesday, Thursday was fine. Friday around mid-afternoon whenever [Jim] Cornette’s podcast came out and I don’t even have a problem with his podcast. Whatever, he can do whatever he wants. It’s his fans that didn’t have an opinion until he said he said his opinion and then all of a sudden they had an issue with the match that I had and they had been silent the entire time and then like, he didn’t say anything that I didn’t know he was gonna say. I know I’m not that tall, I know that people on f*cking Twitter have no idea what the deal is, why am I on TV, you know what I mean? I know that and he called me Whorehouse in the thing and I’ve been called that before. It’s not even creative. The best thing I took away from that is he liked my elbow drop. But, other than all that sh*t, it’s just weird how nobody was opinionated on it until he gave his opinion on it and then everybody was opinionated."

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc The developments in the Retribution storyline from last night's WWE RAW are receiving a lot of mixed feedback on social media, and now word is that the presentation of the group was a hot topic of discussion backstage at the Amway Center last night. It was reported today by @Wrestlevotes that the presentation of Retribution was a major topic of discussion last night, and was met with laughter at times backstage. "The masks & names are already making the road for these guys impossible to climb," noted the source.

Originally Posted by PWI The word making the rounds over the weekend was that Retribution vs. a WWE team was being targeted as the main event of Survivor Series.

Can probably scratch those plans off based on last night's episode of RAW and the negative reception Retribution has been getting.

Originally Posted by Fightful Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shares his thoughts on a potential WrestleMania match against Roman Reigns. In a video that was posted on The Rock's channel, the former WWE Champion spoke on who would be his WrestleMania opponent if he were to return to the company. Rock simply stated that it would make sense if it were up against Reigns given their family history and the potentially huge box office draw that match would produce. "You know, you and I have talked about this and it's so funny how a lot of people always say, 'Well if you were to go back to WrestleMania, who would be the opponent that you would face?' It feels like the one that would make sense, right, would be Roman. In terms of box office draw [it would be huge]," Rock said. This would be Rock's first match since WrestleMania 32 when he quickly defeated Erick Rowan in a matter of seconds. When it came to who would win that match, Rock didn't exactly give out an answer, but talked about how the booking meeting would go. The Rock joked that WWE would tell him that Reigns would beat Rock and then Rock gets his win back at another WrestleMania, which is what happened when Rock and John Cena did for WrestleMania 28 and 29. In that series, Rock won the match at WrestleMania 28 and Cena won the rematch the following year. "Well, I tell you this right now. I know how that works. I'm not going down that road because I know how that conversation goes. 'Listen, here's what we're thinking. Roman beats you now at this WrestleMania, but listen. Before you guys say anything, then on the next one, that's when...' But you what, I would be honored to not only share the ring with Roman and to go back to the WWE, but of course I would be honored to have him raise his hand on that one," Rock said.

Originally Posted by PWI As noted last week on PWInsider.com, WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy acknowledged that he signed a new contract with WWE during an interview with BT Sports in Europe. PWInsider.com is told that while there have been rumblings that Hardy signed a five year deal making the rounds, that is actually incorrect. We have been told by multiple sources that the new contract, including that was added to Hardy's previous contract due to injury-related inactivity, is closer to 2-3 years total in length.

TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE Suffered Another COVID-19 Outbreak at Performance Center
• Various: Cody’s “American Dream” Trademark Update, Miro on UpUpDownDown Status, Indies
• Three Title Matches Added to WWE Clash of Champions
• RETRIBUTION Members Unmask & Get New Names
• AEW Signs Serena Deeb

[rez]

So Steph sold off almost 50% of her WWE stock. eek....

[rez]

and the stock is low...haven't read any of Smeat's posts above this.. crazy

[xrodmuc316]

Originally Posted by rez So Steph sold off almost 50% of her WWE stock. eek....

That doesn't mean a whole lot. Board members exercise options all the time.

It is also important to note she only sold Class A stock. Class B stock is the WWE's class that has all the voting power.

I almost wonder if they have to sell the stock off at certain points, because otherwise you would have to think they would wait until the stock is higher.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer AEW's one-hour Late Night Dynamite special, which aired on TNT following game three of the NBA Western Conference Finals last night, averaged 585,000 viewers. The special began at 12:38 a.m. on the East Coast. It finished ninth overall in the 18-49 demo with a 0.26 rating. That matches the rating NXT did on Sept 1 when it aired unopposed on a Tuesday night in prime time and beat the 0.22 rating that NXT did the following Tuesday, but those NXT shows obviously didn't have the benefit of an NBA lead-in. Last night's Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets NBA playoff game averaged 4.828 million viewers, topping all of cable and finishing third overall on television for the night. The post-game show that immediately followed the game averaged 1.743 million viewers on TNT, with Dynamite starting about 55 minutes after the game ended. The strongest demo for AEW was men 18-49, where Late Night Dynamite did a 0.35 rating and was tied for seventh overall on cable.

Originally Posted by Observer The no. 1 contender to the AEW World Title will be off TV for two weeks due to a self-admitted positive COVID-19 test. On Wednesday, Lance Archer took to Twitter to reveal his positive diagnosis and how it came to be: "When I returned from our last show, a family member was ill when I got home. I found out later a friend who had taken my family member to the Vet for our Dachshund was COVID positive. While at home, now I’ve also gotten sick tested positive. I feel ok, expect to see me in 2 wk" Archer was scheduled to be in a six-man tag on tonight's AEW Dynamite, teaming with Ricky Starks and Brian Cage against AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Will Hobbs, and Darby Allin. Moxley tweeted that he will now defend the title on Dynamite instead but didn't reveal the opponent. For now, Archer is scheduled to face Moxley for the title at the company's anniversary edition of Dynamite on Wednesday, October 14th.

Originally Posted by PWI On 9/21, WWE filed their opposition to Cody attempting to trademark 'Slamboree' and 'Match Beyond'. WWE stated that they purchased the rights to those concepts when they acquired World Chamionship Wrestling in March 2001 and are utilizing them on the WWE Network and the WWE website. WWE added because of the long standing use of the terms by WCW and WWE, they have become "indelibly linked" in the public's mind to be exclusively associated with WWE. They also alleged that Cody filed for those trademarks in an "attempt to unfairly trade on the long-standing use and recognition" of their use with WWE.

at WWE claiming a "long standing use" of those trademarks. Same company that didn't give a crap about WarGames until a few years ago and had to pay off MLW to get the trademark for it back because they let it and almost every other WCW trademark lapse bsck in the day.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling CMLL’s 87th Anniversary Show is taking place on September 25th in Mexico City, Mexico and the company made the announcement that the World Trios Championship match will no longer take place on the show as Ultimo Guerrero has tested positive for COVID-19. Guerrero, along with Euforia and Gran Guerrero were going to be defending the titles against Hechicero, El Terrible and Templario in a six-man two-out-of-three falls match. In place of that the bout, Titan is going to be defending the CMLL World Welterweight Championship against Soberano Jr. The company revealed that Bandido has also tested positive for COVID-19 and will be off the 87th Anniversary Show. Last week, CMLL revealed that Princess Sugehit tested positive for COVID-19. As of this writing, Ultimo Guerrero is the third wrestler in CMLL to test positive in the span of eight days.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Roman Reigns was a guest on The Bloodline with LLS podcast to discuss his Leukemia diagnosis. Roman discussed what he felt like leading up to discovering that his cancer was in remission and being grateful that the talents he worked with took care of him before he was able to find out about the remission. “But my spleen had enlarged and I think that was something that kind of [is] one of the more short-term serious side effects that I had to deal with, just involving the physicality of being in the ring and God, I’m so lucky that fortunately nothing happened. Thank God that I worked with some really, really talented performers and some great professionals and guys who [are] as violent and as physical as our job can be, they’re very good at what they do and then no one hit me in the wrong place and caused a rupture or anything like that because as I’m sure you know, being out of town, in an arena, on the road away from your family, something like that happens and you get rushed to the emergency room, go into surgery, it just can, along with how serious it is it can just cause an emotional rollercoaster for everybody so, that was something that we really had to take into account and get me out of the ring and that’s why it all just started to happen so abruptly. But I think the main thing I was feeling was the fatigue. Always feeling tired. Not quite sure why, even if I were able to get good nights of rest. Even had a couple of days of recovery being off the road, it just never felt like it got off of me. It was just that monkey on my back at all times but along with that, I always thought it was that when you’re working hard and chasing your dreams and you’re busting your tail every single week trying to get the job done, especially when you’re performing at an elite level, at the very top of the biggest company in the world, as far as sports-entertainment, these are just the riggers that come with the schedule of the lifestyle so, I tried to as we say in the wrestling business, I tried not to sell it but thank God we’re taken care of, between the company and my doctors, my Oncologist doing our blood tests and our CVCs and keeping track of that stuff. I was able to see my white blood cells getting out of whack again.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The ‘Sports Guys Talking Wrestling’ podcast welcomed Jay Lethal onto the show to chat about the ROH Pure Title tournament. Lethal detailed some of the COVID precautions that were in place as ROH filmed the Pure Title tournament. “I’ll tell you this too, there were a lot of hoops to jump through with the commission. You gotta have your mask on right after you come back from the locker room so you’re tired but you still gotta put your mask on. There’s a room just for you and your opponent and then when you leave there, that room has to be cleaned and my match had to be at eight in the morning and then once your match is done, they have to clean the arena, clean the ring, change the canvas. It was a nightmare for the crew I’m sure. They were there from like 7 AM to like 11 PM and they get 20, 25 minutes after each match to disinfect everything. We had so many canvases because they changed them after everything but it was such a long day but everyone did it with a smile on their face because we were all just so happy to be back at work.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Sports Illustrated caught up with Miro (Rusev) for their ‘This Week in Wrestling’ column. Miro feels that he’s the best “all-around player” in professional wrestling and hinted that he’s going to top his WrestleMania 31 entrance while in AEW. “It’s not a gimmick. I am the best. I am the best all-around player in professional wrestling. And people remember WrestleMania 31, the greatest entrance of any entrance, until you see how I top that in AEW.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling TSN has a lengthy feature up about AEW broadcast team member Tony Schiavone which includes quotes from Schiavone. The longtime announcer discussed some of the talents on the AEW roster and who he’s been impressed with. Schiavone talked about MJF and the current AEW World Champion Jon Moxley who Schiavone feels is AEW’s Stone Cold Steve Austin. “Obviously, MJF has because he is a throwback to the old heels. Jon Moxley – I didn’t see much of [his WWE character] Dean Ambrose, but only the Dean Ambrose from 2017 forward. I immediately said, ‘Man, Jon Moxley is kind of like our ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.’ And I like Jon Moxley better than Dean Ambrose. Again, I didn’t see the Dean Ambrose before 2017 and I heard that he was pretty rough and rugged, but I just love what Moxley does. I love the Young Bucks and not only because I respect them for being on the independents and the money they made and the following they got, but also just because they’re cool guys. They’re great guys to work with.” Schiavone shared some of his thoughts from when he first found out he was going to be calling the action of AEW alongside Excalibur and Jim Ross. Schiavone was curious about what Excalibur had to offer based on his background. “I like to think – well, I know I am – I’m easy to work with. I didn’t know Excalibur at all, and when I was told that you’re going to be working with a masked guy who used to run a promotion and used to be a wrestler, I’m thinking ‘Oh, boy. What do we got here?’ But he’s a very intelligent guy and he knows his stuff and he’s a good kid. He’s hardworking and he and I have struck it off. JR and I have known each other for ages, so I think one of the things that makes our chemistry good – if you, in fact, think it is that way and people think it is that way– is that I do know my role and I don’t try to force the issue.” In terms of how he likes to call a show, Schiavone stated that he cannot watch the competition. He feels that if that becomes a habit, he may pick up certain things or incorporate a style into his announcing and wants to avoid that potentially happening. “It’s hard for me to sit here and compare what we do to what the WWE does because here’s what I do – the exact same thing that I did when I did Nitro back in the day – I do not watch the competitor. If something is going on with the competitor, I’ll read about it or I’ll hear about it from somebody backstage, but I don’t watch it. The reason I don’t is an old thing Vin Scully used to say and, of course, I was a big baseball guy. Vin Scully said years ago that he never listens to any other announcer because he doesn’t want to get caught in the trap of trying to imitate what they say or how they call a game. And I don’t want to do that. I guess I can watch it with the sound down, but I can find out the information another way. So I can’t sit here and say, ‘Hey, watch AEW because we are X-different than WWE’ because I don’t know what they’re doing. I just know that we have exciting wrestling, we have great storylines and I think it may be, from what I understand, a little bit more of what the fans really want in a wrestling program than what the WWE is providing.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp has an extensive interview with Matt Rehwoldt, the former Aiden English. One of the topics covered during the interview had to do getting access to Vince McMahon and Rehwoldt admitted that trying harder to reach Vince is something he could’ve done better ... On the topic of television ratings, Rehwoldt feels that the era of ratings will be done away with over the next decade and he thinks advertising and all things related will be dumped into trending hashtags and SEO-related content. “My thing is I’m pretty convinced and this is kind of a dive off but, I’ve always been convinced — if it doesn’t happen in the next ten years, I will be shocked. But I think television ratings are gonna go away. I think Nielsen is maybe gonna be around or something. I think advertising dollars are gonna be spent on trending hashtags and things like SEO and stuff like that. TV ratings I think are gonna get less and less important, so everyone talking about, ‘Oh, RAW’s lowest numbers ever.’ It’s like, yeah, maybe, but it’s like eight billion things to watch right now so, but people are still talking about X, Y, Z a ton on the internet and eyeballs are there. So that’s [where] I think advertising and media is going.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Pro Wrestling Sheet conducted an interview with Shotzi Blackheart ahead of NXT. Blackheart was asked if she thought that her being in the crowd at the Performance Center diminished her character a bit and she is not of that mindset in the slightest. “It makes such a difference having us there. So I was really hyped for it. I don’t know if you’ve seen the dancing GIFs that come up for me doing audience work, but I loved it. I loved supporting my coworkers, so I was all for it and I took advantage of it. And I had a good time during everyone’s entrances. Some people kind of view it as we’re looked at as fans and not wrestlers when we do this, but I’m like, ‘Uh uh. I’m having the time of my life.’ And I’m supporting my coworkers. I know how I feel at NXT TV when I see the people that I train with out in the crowd giving me that energy. It just helps so much. So I can’t complain. They do it for me. I don’t mind giving back.”

Completely different stance than Tommasso Ciampa in a different interview who was against the idea of having regular NXT stars in the crowd since it was beneath their star status.

Originally Posted by Fightful IMPACT Wrestling is finally trying to lock down their Knockout's Champion. Still technically a free agent, Fightful learned that recently IMPACT Wrestling made a long-term contract offer to Deonna Purrazzo. The following was reported on Fightful Select: After months of no contract offer, Fightful can confirm that IMPACT Wrestling has offered their Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo a full-time contract with the company. There's no word on whether or not pen has been put to paper, but we're told it's at minimum a two-year deal with financial increases as the contract goes on. There were rumors backstage that Purrazzo was going to leave the company in October, which led to an offer finally being made. Alex Shelley is also working without a contract as tag team champion, and EC3 says he does not have a contract at this time. Purrazzo has already competed in several high profile match, including a show-stealing title win on Slammiversary, and a main event Iron Man Knockouts Title match on IMPACT. She sits at 5-0 in singles action on IMPACT programming since her return.

Originally Posted by Fightful For years fans believed The Undertaker would enter the arena on his motorcycle once again. The American Badass Undertaker was buried in 2003, bringing back the Deadman in 2004. It wasn't until WrestleMania 36 that The Undertaker returned on his motorcycle. According to Undertaker, there were never plans for the American Badass to return after he was buried in 2003. "Once I left American Badass, everyone was content with the hybrid version of the Undertaker. My style had changed. I kept a lot of elements of my in-ring work, geared towards the American Badass character. It didn't come up until this year. It dawned on me with the type of promos AJ was cutting, there was really no way I could bring the original Undertaker to (the match). It had become too personal and crossed too many lines. You're gonna have to get American Badass all grown up and he still has that evil side to him but a much more person approach. That's how we ended up with American Badass 2.0. Regardless of what I do on camera moving forward, that's the persona (I'll use)," said Undertaker on My Mom's Basement podcast.

Originally Posted by 411Mania Last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite featured a parking lot brawl between Best Friends and Santana & Ortiz that got a lot of praise from wrestling personalities and fans. According to Fightful, the wrestlers backstage in AEW also were big fans of it. Several wrestlers reportedly went out of their way to see the match in person, even though they weren’t on camera. Certain wrestlers and personalities appeared as the audience for the match, but others came out to watch from a distance even though they weren’t asked to be there.

Originally Posted by 411Mania During today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the current status of NXT Superstar Chelsea Green and if she will be making it to the main WWE roster. According to Meltzer, Green is not part of the current Retribution stable on Raw, which has seen NXT Superstars Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez join the group. Meltzer added that Green was taken off of NXT TV right when it appeared she was about to get a push after she broke away from manager Robert Stone. When the angle was done, it was executed with the intent of brining Chelsea Green to the main WWE roster. Meltzer stated, “At the time, the idea was to bring her to the main roster, but they’ve made changes since then. So, who the hell knows what’s going on?” Green is currently still listed as part of the NXT roster for WWE.

TPWW Frontpage:

• AEW Dynamite & NXT Cards for Tonight + AEW Rankings
• John Cena to Star in Upcoming HBO Max Series, Peacemaker
• Road Warrior Animal Passes Away at Age 60

[xrodmuc316]

Chelsea Green was going to debut on Smackdown, and they would call her Chelsea whatever color she was wearing that night, so it would change weekly.

After a few weeks she was going to win the Smackdown Women's Championship under the name Chelsea Tyedye, although plans changed.

That will be $11.99

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer After a week with no competition from the NBA or NHL playoffs, both sports were back last night and seemed to affect AEW Dynamite more than WWE NXT. This week's Dynamite averaged 835,000 viewers on TNT, down 5.8 percent from last week. NXT was up one percent from last week, averaging 696,000 viewers on the USA Network. The total combined audience of 1.531 million viewers was only down three percent from last week despite the NBA doing an audience of nearly 4.5 million viewers. News programming was also up from normal levels with Fox News averaging five million viewers in the two hours opposite Dynamite and NXT. Dynamite averaged a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 5.9 percent from last week. It's the lowest number the show has done since August 27, when Dynamite aired on Thursday. It matched the lowest the show has done on a Wednesday since July 29. Dynamite ranked ninth overall on cable in the demo. NXT finished 38th in the 18-49 demo, averaging the same 0.18 rating it did last week. As usual, AEW won every demo except people over 50, where NXT had an advantage of 0.37 to 0.32.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The major difference this week was the NBA playoffs, which had an off night last week. The game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat topped the cable charts with 4,484,000 viewers and a 1.76 demo figure. The NHL game between Tampa Bay and Dallas was eighth for the night with 1,145,000 with AEW tying them in the demo rating. The NXT audience was largely unaffected by the NBA while AEW was hurt among its young male audience and with its 18-34 audience with declines in those categories. For Dynamite, males 12-34 fell 31 percent this week with adults 18-34 dropped by 17 percent. Interestingly, NXT stayed even in both demos from last week. Both sides were hurt with males 18-49 as AEW was down 13 percent and NXT down 8.5. Female viewership on both sides remained steady as did its older audiences in 25-54 and 50+. Among females 12-34, AEW increased by 7 percent and NXT saw a jump of 33 percent ... If the Denver Nuggets vs. L.A. Laker series goes to a seventh game, it will be played next Wednesday.

Originally Posted by Observer Rumors of a recent COVID-19 outbreak among NXT talents at the WWE Performance Center became real Thursday night as WWE released a statement somewhat acknowledging some positive tests. “As part of ongoing testing protocols, WWE completed its second round of weekly COVID-19 testing on Tuesday. Individuals that tested positive will quarantine for 14 days, receive medical care, and then will only be cleared when they are symptom-free and test negative. Additionally, extensive contact tracing has taken place and other individuals have been placed in 14-day quarantine, and will then only be cleared after they test negative.” As expected, WWE didn't release any information on the amount of talents that tested positive and cannot release names due to HIPAA laws. PW Insider reported that training has been paused at the Performance Center as of Thursday. NXT is covered for tapings until TakeOver on October 4th, giving time for recovery for those infected. It's unknown if this recent outbreak has affected main roster members, or even AEW talents, who might have come into contact with those infected. Both Fightful and Spectrum Sports 360's Jon Alba first reported that during the week of September 9th, several positive tests resulted in some changes to their TV plans and that mask wearing has gotten a bit lax at the PC.

Originally Posted by Observer NXT UK's Heritage Cup tournament is set to begin next week. The Heritage Cup tournament will kick off with a first round match between Alexander Wolfe and Noam Dar airing on next Thursday's episode of NXT UK. Pete Dunne will be the special guest referee for the match. Next week's NXT UK episode will also feature a triple threat match to determine the wildcard entrant for the Heritage Cup tournament. The participants for the triple threat match haven't been revealed. The wildcard entrant will round out the lineup for the eight-man tournament. The drawing for the Heritage Cup took place on this week's NXT UK. The first round matches for the tournament are: Joseph Conners vs. Dave Mastiff Wildcard entrant vs. Trent Seven Flash Morgan Webster vs. A-Kid Alexander Wolfe vs. Noam Dar

Originally Posted by PWI The updated lineup for this Tuesday's edition of United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live PPV episode 3 features: *NWA National Champion Aron Stevens vs. Trevor Murdoch. *Allysin Kay vs. Serena Deeb *CWH Heritage Champion Ray Rosas vs. Papo Esco. *Remy Marcel vs. Papadon. *Ruby Raze vs. Cece Chanel *Chris Dickinson returns.

Originally Posted by PWI All Japan has also announced it will hold a memorial ceremony for Road Warrior Animal at its Korakuen Hall show on October 5.

Originally Posted by PWI One of the reasons WWE issued an edict for talents to end their third-party relationships with platforms like Cameo may have been revealed as the company announced their own virtual meet and greets. The official announcement reads: WWE Virtual Meet & Greets are your chance to chat one-on-one with your favorite WWE Superstars! This brand-new fan event gives you the opportunity to have an experience with a WWE Superstar like never before from the comfort of your own home. All Virtual Meet & Greets are recorded so you will be able to keep the memory forever! The next round of WWE Virtual Meet & Greets will take place this Friday, Sept. 25-Monday, Sept. 28. Tickets will be available tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET here! Ticket includes: 2-minute private one-on-one video with selected WWE Superstar Downloadable video of your meet & greets available within 48 hours of the event Purchase exclusive personalized autographed items Schedule Friday, Sept. 25 Alexa Bliss: 1 p.m. ET Finn Balor: 5 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 27 Big E: 10 a.m. ET Bray Wyatt: 1 p.m. ET Monday, Sept. 28 Asuka: 12 p.m. ET Aleister Black: 2:30 p.m. ET

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling WWE Hall Of Famer Edge underwent surgery for torn triceps following his match against Randy Orton at Backlash. It has been three months since the surgery and during Edge’s appearance on the ‘Squared Circle Pit’ podcast, he provided an update on how he’s doing. “Recuperation is going good… today is two months and the first two months, there’s not a lot to do. You really just have to let it heal and let the surgery take and I think from this point going forward now, I’m gonna get the clearance to start going after it and pushing it and that’s what I do best honestly, in terms of injuries. That’s always what I’ve kinda done best and for whatever reasons, my mindset, I don’t get depressed. I just look at it as a challenge and when you look at it as a challenge, it’s just one more thing to try and conquer and come back from and that to me is really strangely exciting. To go, ‘Ok, this is another one, I got it. No problem.’ Once I can really put the nose to the grindstone, go after this thing, in a weird way it’s almost fun.” Edge talked about wanting to help improve the overall WWE product with his input. As far as him directly being a part of that creative process, he stated that-that is not exactly the case but he just floated it out there that if a talent needs help, they can get in contact with him at any time. “No, I’m watching basically to see who I could possibly help, whether that’s in terms of promos, whether that’s in terms of fleshing out character and I do see a lot of guys and girls that, ‘Oh okay, there’s something here. I don’t know if they’ve just fully figured out what it is yet’ and maybe I could help them figure that out. Maybe I could help them with their promos and help them figure out exactly what they’re trying to bring to the table in terms of their character and that to me is where I feel like I can help the most, while I’m out and having had 20 years of experience in this thing that is wrestling, right? So, I floated that out there as, ‘If anybody wants to take me up on this, I’m here to try and help do that’ and that to me is really exciting because I didn’t just come back to collect a paycheck. I really do wanna come back and try and help further the product and help talent that I feel, whether it’s underutilized or whether it’s just on the cusp of something but trying to figure it out and I might see something go, ‘Ooo, ok, right. That right there. If we can take that, magnify that, focus on that’ and that’s where I feel I can be really helpful.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Former NWA World Tag Team Champion Royce Isaacs confirmed that he has been granted his release from the National Wrestling Alliance. He wrote the following on Twitter: “Now that its public; After a little over a year with the NWA I asked for and was granted my release. I’m excited for my next adventure and what the future holds, but I’m leaving with a lot of memories and friends and I will miss the awesome fans at GPB Studios. Stay tuned.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Alex Zayne shared on Twitter that he’s had to cancel the next two weeks of his bookings to self-quarantine because he was exposed to someone who has COVID-19. Zayne had dates lined up with Warrior Wrestling, Black Label Pro and Violence x Suffering.

Zayne also works for GCW and NJPW's weekly US show although in NJPW's case, they shouldn't be affected since they taped their current batch of episodes earlier in the month.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture chatted with The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson). Gallows and Anderson revealed that they’ll have their own special on AXS TV in the future. Doc Gallows: “I am letting the cat out of the bag right here right now, I can’t say anything about titles or anything like that, but you’re gonna see us with our own special on AXS TV, that’s putting credit/belief into a ‘tag team’ or brand to come together, two guys that can entertain inside the ring and outside the ring. And I think that’s a big hats off to IMPACT Wrestling for realizing that yes, the single stars historically have been a draw in a New York state of fashion but that’s not always the case in modern day wrestling… {in regards to the series on AXS} I would say, think drunken late night talk show sprinkled in with IMPACT Wrestling stars of our choice and a little Talk ‘N Shop A Mania running wild brother…” Karl Anderson: “A Good Brother Variety Show, that’s the way to put it. Everything that you could expect from us to just be stupid and fun and sitting down and drinking and talking. {laughs}”

Originally Posted by Fightful Serena Deeb is now under self-quarantine after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Deeb announced that she will be in quarantine for 10 days as a precaution, but did not say whether or not she tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, Deeb will not wrestle on the September 29 United Wrestling Network Primetime Live show. In its place, Allysin Kay will face Nicole Savoy on September 29.

Originally Posted by Fightful Potentially bad news for Tegan Nox. According to the latest NXT injury report, Nox is scheduled to undergo an MRI to assess the damage to her injured knee. Nox was seen laid out backstage by Candice LeRae prior to the number one contender battle royal for the NXT Women's Championship. LeRae took out Nox with a pipe and an equipment crate. The report speculates that Nox suffered a torn ACL.

Current rumor going around the net is that Tegan Nox's injury is legit and not some WWE made up injury that gets changed later because WWE goofed up by making it too severe to bring someone back quickly.

Originally Posted by Fightful A shake-up behind the scenes in NXT UK. According to Inside The Ropes Wrestling, Glen Joseph (the former co-owner of PROGRESS) has left his role as one of the show’s producers due to “personal reasons." Jim Smallman (another PROGRESS founder) has been promoted to the brand’s head writer. NXT UK talent was told of this news during a Zoom call on Thursday. Joseph previously stepped down from his role in PROGRESS over allegations during the Speaking Out movement. Despite being the head writer, Smallman still answers to Matt Bloom and Shawn Michaels, who are running the show remotely from the United States. NXT UK held an extra-long training session at the UK Performance Center to knock off the rust for the next set of television tapings. According to the report, a number of matches required a re-shoot during the first set of tapings. The report also states that more talent are set to debut in NXT UK shortly and talent was told to cease selling their own merchandise or using their names on third-party platforms, a similar edict WWE superstars have to follow.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc AEW changed their COVID testing protocols at Wednesday's tapings, Wrestling Inc. can exclusively report. Wrestling Inc. has learned that AEW had talents get tested from their home in addition to getting test on-site at Wednesday's taping. Lance Archer apparently tested positive during that second round of testing. Also, the AEW medical staff consulted with the NFL COVID response team to come up with updates to their COVID testing process. This apparently comes after several positive COVID-19 tests in the company. Jon Alba and Fightful.com reported that multiple AEW wrestlers who were at the September 9th tapings tested positive for COVID-19 in the two weeks since. The report noted that some of the talent that had tested positive had been brought in for the last set of AEW Dark tapings and are not under contract ... We exclusively reported earlier this month about the COVID testing procedures implemented by WWE and AEW. AEW talent go to an off-site facility the morning of tapings to have a blood prick test taken. The test allows a talent to know within ten minutes whether they are positive or not. If the talent passes the test, they are given a wrist band and taken to Daily's Place. Talent cannot enter Daily's Place without the wrist band.

TPWW Frontpage:

• More on WWE’s Latest COVID-19 Outbreak at Performance Center
• Various: More on AEW Parking Lot Match, New Trademark, Cody Trademarks Update, Indies
• Naomi Undergoes Surgery
• Multiple AEW Wrestlers Reportedly Test Positive for COVID-19, Ben Carter Reveals Positive Test

[Fignuts]

That's the third time for Tegan Nox. She might be done.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter Edition):

COVID has now spread into a number of promotions this past week with a major outbreak in WWE, some in AEW and four of the biggest stars, if not more, in CMLL. All three promotions had to change aspects of their television shows this week. AEW’s television main event was changed. NXT had changes as well as noted by those in the company but were not specific as to what the changes were past there was a significant outbreak. The outbreak was said to affect plans for the Raw brand for 9/28, but there has been no indication it affects the scheduled matches on the 9/27 Clash of Champions a far as participants in the bouts themselves. However, those who have been training at the Performance Center of late have been taken off Raw or Smackdown tapings until further notice. There is also fear that the large number of Performance Center athletes who were under masks at Retribution may lead to issues due to interacting with the Raw roster on the 9/21 show ... Most of the positives in AEW and NXT were related to talent that is in Orlando (not necessarily all, as there is thought some is also related to independent wrestling as some AEW talent and extras have worked some indie dates of late, Ben Carter being the name that has come out although he is not AEW contracted talent) ... With the Orlando area being a hotbed as far as wrestlers go, talent from WWE and AEW socialize, go to the gym together, and some are even in relationships together, as well as socialize with some of the same fans and insiders. One person very familiar with the testing results and spread said that was the key reason why it happened at the same time with both companies. There is also the issue with independent promotions opening up, some with fans in attendance. While some are testing, not all are doing so. WWE talent never works independent shows but the non-contracted AEW talent work as many indies as they can, and some AEW contracted talent still works indies as well ... AEW has gone a step farther of late in its testing. They are now requiring people to test before coming to Jacksonville and then they get tested a second time on arrival and are not allowed in until the results of the second test come in. With Tony Khan’s NFL connections, he is working with the NFL Covid response team for stricter protocol ... In addition, Chelsea Green, who had not been on television in some time, said that she had COVID-19 but is now clear of it. Green is the girlfriend of AEW’s Matt Cardona ... With WWE, and more specifically NXT, there were a number of stories going around based on people not there that should have been, and with no explanation, notably Bobby Fish (who suffered what we were told was a minor knee injury training kickboxing and BJJ which is why he wasn’t on TV and not COVID), Tyler Breeze as well as announcers Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett. The announcing team was instead Tom Phillips and Beth Phoenix (who does the shows from home in Asheville, NC and has no contact with anyone in Orlando) ... The story going around is that one of the NXT coaches had it without having symptoms. He later tested positive, as did many others and it spread. It was also noted that the usage of masks when they reopened training at the Performance Center a few weeks ago had gotten lax. For the 9/23 show, they darkened outside the ring and while there were some people there, the number of contracted talent acting as fans at Full Sail sounded like a tiny number. The crowd reaction was way down and unlike in the past, the crowd wasn’t shown. So many people who train at the Performance Center were quarantined due to having contact with people who have tested positive that they weren’t able to have many in the crowd. The WWE has not publicly said this, but the word around is that classes at the Performance Center have been canceled. The reason given was they are shutting the gym down for Takeover prep ... This has also ked to a number of changes in the longest-lasting traditional event in pro wrestling, the CMLL Anniversary show, traditionally the company’s biggest show of the year. The 87th anniversary show scheduled for 9/25 at this point has officially lost Bandido, Ultimo Guerrero, Lluvia and Princesa Sugehit, all of which tested positive. There is talk of others, and we do know that Templario, who is currently scheduled to replace Bandido and face Volador Jr. for the NWA welterweight title, was sick midweek but had not tested positive.

For NXT Takeover on 10/4, two title matches were determined on the 9/23 television show. There is also supposed to be a reveal of a former NXT champion returning. Most figure this to be Bo Dallas, since he’s not doing anything and is still under contract. Robert Roode also fits into that category. The others on the roster are Sami Zayn, Andrade, Aleister Black, Seth Rollins, Big E, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura who are less likely.

NEW JAPAN: The Super J Cast has reported that the October/November tour will be a combination of both the World Tag League tournament (usually November and December) and Best of Super Juniors tournament (usually May and June)

AEW: The current schedule is that the 9/30 show is being taped on 9/25. Normally it would be taped 9/24, but the Jacksonville Jaguars were facing the Miami Dolphins at the stadium and that would require Tony Khan to be in two places at the same time, plus I don’t think it would be easy to run an event at Daily’s Place when there is a football game at the adjacent stadium. The 10/7 show, which will be the 30th anniversary of Chris Jericho’s debut special. Jericho’s first match was with Lance Storm on October 2, 1990 in Ponoka, Alberta. The anniversary show would be expected to be taped on 10/8 and air on 10/14 At the 9/24 Jaguars vs. Dolphins game, the fans at the game for the halftime entertainment had the Stadium Stampede match airing. It was edited down since halftime isn’t long enough to air the entire match. There were about 17,000 fans as they were playing to 25 percent capacity. At the end of halftime, the Jaguars mascot pushed Sammy Guevara into the pool A ton of AEW talent were at the game together since they were in Jacksonville for the tapings.

In the outright silly department, Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss were planning on announcing that their new tag team name was The New New Midnight Express. Jim Cornette, Dennis Condrey, Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton tried to trademark that name back in August. Cornette’s lawyer, Steven P. New, who advertises on his podcasts, sent a cease and desist to Megha Pareekh, the head of legal for AEW, to stop the team from using that name. Janela has since claimed it was all a rib to get Cornette mad. Cornette and Janela have real issues with each other

Shanna (Alexandra Barrulas) said that she would be coming to the U.S from Europe. She said she first has to go and spend14 days in a neutral country that isn’t banned from travel to the U.S. as a quarantine and then can come in and is doing so. No word on if or when Pac, Cima, T-Hawk, Riho, Emi Sakura, Shoko Nakajima and others can return but basically the inability to travel back-and-forth is why they aren’t being used. In a lot of cases, such as the Japanese, the problem is foreigners can’t get back to Japan without a 14-day quarantine. Pac is a similar situation in that he could theoretically get in since they’ve made exceptions for athletes from other countries so baseball and NBA players could play, but he’d have to quarantine for 14 days returning home so it doesn’t work out. Bea Priestley is another. She’s no longer under contract but they’ve talked about being interested in using her again when she’s able to come to the U.S. Priestley lives in Japan now after getting out of the U.K. a few weeks ago and is starting back with Stardom

For those who think the WWE will take a hit in its next television deal due to declining ratings, and there are so many variables about what the world, media and WWE ratings will be like in 2023 when the real negotiations will take place (current deals end at the end of September 2024), Turner Broadcasting has just given baseball a 65 percent increase to $535 million (Turner is just one of many baseball television partners) per year, up from $325 million, for a deal that would start with the 2022 season and end with the 2028 season. This is for a sport that skews older and also has declining ratings. Now, baseball provides tons of programming and no matter what, NFL, NBA and MLB are always going to be considered high priority top three sports in the U.S. so even with declining ratings they have a measure of prestige that wrestling doesn’t have. But still, the latest deal showed a big increase. Turner will get a lot more games and the Sunday afternoon game will be moved to prime time Tuesday nights. . An even bigger story as it relates to WWE is that NBCUniversal is said to be overhauling its entertainment division and putting less emphasis on cable and more on streaming. The Wall Street Journal noted that NBCU Chief Executive Jeff Shell is rethinking the inner workings of the company. It was noted the recent pushing out of Chris McCumber, who headed USA and Syfy, with no replacement is part of that. McCumber was a supporter and proponent of Raw. The article said that Syfy, E! (which airs Total Bellas) and Oxygen don’t have a long-term future. Still, cable generated $11.5 billion for NBCU last year out of $34 billion in company revenue

Stephanie Levesque, which is the name she uses in these matters, sold 57,573 shares of WWE stock on 9/21 at $39.18 per share. This is a very interesting divestiture. She sold 43 percent of her Class A stock at a time when the price was at its lowest. She still remains with a large number (1,977,382 shares worth $78,274,587 based on that days’ price) of Class B stock that only is owned by members of the McMahon family (Vince, Linda and her, Shane had sold all of his WWE stock some time back, Linda still has some, Vince has a ton although he’s also sold a ton in recent years including $300 million worth for the XFL). Unless they are needing cash to build something or invest elsewhere, that’s a lot of stock to sell, and it’s not the selling itself, but the selling at such a low price that is notable. It’s at the lowest price the stock has been in a long time, and in theory way lower than it should be from the outside because for market value this should be much higher priced based on profit margins expected for the future. The hiring of Nick Khan was supposed to be a positive step for the stock because the market wanted a hire to replace Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, whose firings with no explanation really was what led to the stock’s big decline. But now there is concern about the negotiations for TV that ends in late 2024, and nobody really knows what the state of cable television and streaming is, as well as a ton of other factors. One would think people on the inside would want to acquire now if they are confident about the future and the price being lower than it’s value, so that’s really the question. Before when she sold tons of her stock it was to buy an expensive home and their sales in recent years had been at high prices. This sale got her $2,255,710. She has 76,324 remaining Class A shares worth $2,990,374.

At a zoom meeting on 9/24, the talent was told Glen Joseph, the former co-owner of Progress and head writer of NXT U.K., has left the promotion due to personal reasons and that Jim Smallman, another former co-owner of Progress is now head writer for the brand. Joseph was with Progress through June, when he left his post over allegations by women against him. Smallman left Progress at the end of this past year to work full-time for WWE. NXT U.K., headed by Paul Levesque, is actually run by Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom, but Smallman will be head writer and in charge of tapings since Levesque, Bloom and Michaels can’t travel to the U.K. and back right now ... It’s also reported that WWE has made signed more European talent which will start debuting on upcoming tapings. U.K. talent was also told that they could no longer sell their merchandise, which had been allowed as a way to make money since the U.K. contracts are for a low amount. They also have to follow the WWE main roster restrictions of not working with any third party companies, which were also previously allowed. People aren’t happy because most U.K. contracts range from $24,000 to $36,000 per year, although the top guy (Walter and maybe a couple of others) are believed to be well over triple the higher end because they had to make him an offer of real money to get him. Walter was in the range of most of the high-end NXT guys in the U.S. besides somebody like Balor who gets main roster money but was moved to NXT for the ratings war. Originally this was presented as that the talent would make most of their old money plus they’d get their WWE money and most were barely scraping by on wrestling just working indies, so even that $20,000 boost (which was what the original contracts were for) made a big difference for most

Mike Johnson reported that Melina Perez, 41, would be returning. People in the company who should know did not know this, but since Johnson reported it the odds are that it’s true and do know of people who don’t know it but figured it was true. Perez denied it, but her denial seemed to indicate something was up, as she was mad at why someone would spoil a secret. She said she was not signed but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. She basically said that if she does sign that the story was still a lie and that she doesn’t know what her future is but then wrote “going back home to the WWE would feel like everything I’ve gone through was for this very moment, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.” It could also mean an idea was pitched for her but the deal isn’t made. And unfortunately, in far too many cases in recent years, talent has outright lied when reports of them returning comes out, only to claim later that they did because they didn’t want people to know.

So anyway, here is the explanation of the finish of the Lashley & Alexander & Benjamin vs. T-Bar & Mace & Slapjack match. Lashley had the full nelson on Slapjack and T-Bar hit Lashley to break it up and they called for a DQ. It’s bad enough that we had just had two outside interference DQs already on the show. But there is a secret rule and it was explained to us by someone who worked within the secret rules department. Vince when laying out matches is very adamant that in a tag team match, the illegal man can’t hit a legal man or it is an automatic DQ unless it is done behind the referees back. There can be double-teams off tags for five seconds because that’s an old rule. You are also allowed to make saves, so that is not a DQ. Which is where it gets funny. Producers and wrestlers have to be very careful with brawling dives and four-ways in tag matches because an illegal man is never allowed to touch a legal man or the referees, who are told to call it as shoot, are supposed to do a DQ. And the poor referees, because if it’s a nothing match, sure you can call it as a shoot, but what if it’s an important match such as determining title contenders and they screw up. So the point is, the wrestlers and producers have to be ridiculously careful on this. It’s at the point that an illegal guy is not even allowed to dive on a pile unless he lands on another illegal guy. If it’s a legal guy, it’s a DQ. Of course if you’ve been paying attention at this point, you realize that in fact T-Bar hit Slapjack and was making a save when Lashley had him in his finisher and by the rules, this is actually not a DQ. But it happened anyway because it slipped through the cracks because everyone in thinking save thinks near fall break-up, which is okay, but thinks hitting the legal guy isn’t so it was a way out. So even under the dumb secret rule, they violated their own rule because they didn’t think Lashley’s finish at that moment was a finish, it was just a full nelson and not a pin. Another person explained that referees are told that any eye pokes or low blows are supposed to be called as DQ’s which is why they always do the distraction for them. Apparently the finish was supposed to have been an eye poke and not a save, so that’s the reason for the DQ

There is apparently a reason Reigns dropped weight before his return. He did an interview where he said that he would be getting new ring attire where you would see his upper body and also that he will be getting new music to coincide with his more strongly evolving into his new character. During a meet and greet with the Mania Club, he said, “The gear, let me address that; get over it. I'm not going to run out there in trunks. I've been wearing a SWAT outfit my entire career, so I'm going to stick with those pants. If you watch on Sunday, you'll probably see me with my shirt off. That will be the change. That's going to be the only difference. I never wanted the outfit to be the costume for me. I don't want my outfit to be the superstar." He also talked dropping The Shield music. “The music, that's a little more than me creating my own music. We have to go through the channels with that one. It's not like I came out and am an ultra bad guy. You've seen it in little steps and little layers. I want all the nuances to add up. Because I am a full-time performer, you have to keep things fresh, so I decided to save the new music. Hopefully, down the line, once more drastic things happen and the story unfolds.

Glenn Jacobs (Kane) is under fire for a video he released which showed the preamble of the Declaration of Independence and said “Today his foundation is under attack. Not from some enemy abroad, but from sinister forces within.” It then showed the faces of the Knox County Board of Health who have tried to institute a mask policy in the country, which Jacobs has been fighting county doctors on. The video goes on to say, “Unelected bureaucrats who cast down edicts which carry the force of law with no accountability and no recourse.” Dr. Maria Hunt of the County Board called out Jacobs for posting such a video. Jacobs took down the video and said he was sorry board members were threatened and claimed the video was not meant to be public. How do you spend time to produce a video that is so clearly trying to incite the residents to be mad at the Board of Health and then claim it was not meant to be public? Dr. Martha Buchanan said public health officials trying to contain COVID have seen an increase in social media threats since the video was posted. Dr. Patrick O’Brien said, “This division has got to stop. We’re in this together. Well do what we can based on science...if others want to g some other way or want to do it shooting from the hip, so be it.. You will reap what you sow.

The Matt Riddle lawsuit against Samantha Tavel talked about last week was not filed this week, although it is said to be in the process of being filed. The incident that was first reported on December 19, 2019, at Full Sail where there was an alleged disturbance is now said to have been on October 2, 2019, said to be the day of the Riddle vs. Adam Cole NXT title match on the first live show on USA

The top ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network over the past week: 1. WWE Untold: John Cena vs. Edge feud; 2. Velocity September 25, 2002; 3. Clash of Champions 2019; 4. Talking Smack; 5. Uncool (new Alexa Bliss podcast) with The Miz; 6. Smackdown from 8/21; 7. Superstars’ First World title win; 8. Best of Clash of Champions; 9. Payback 2020; 10. Velocity May 1, 2004. The new Velocity shows were just uploaded this week, but when a C show from another era is beating modern first-run shows, you have to ask yourself a lot of questions. NXT was 11th this week and granted, it’s on TV in the U.S., and U.K. (And edited to an hour in Canada but airs ont he network first); but you still have the rest of the world. Raw Talk was only 12th. The first new U.K. show in months was only 14th. 205 Live didn’t make the top 25. That show is just dead and I don’t even know why they bother. They really should just be producing a 10-11 p.m. show for FS 1. The only indie show in the top 25 was Shotgun from wXw at No. 25. And even that beat 205 Live

WWE Ratings, AEW vs. NXT Ratings, AEW Dynamite Special Ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw on 9/21 essentially stayed flat with last week, averaging 1,668,000 viewers and 0.50 in 18-49 (643,000). It was the sixth lowest number of viewers in the history of the show, but it was only down 1.2 percent in viewers and did the same number as last week in both 18-49 and 18-34 (0.29). The show went against the Las Vegas Raiders vs. New Orleans Saints which simulcast on both ABC and ESPN. It did 7,984,000 viewers on ABC and 7,451,000 viewers on ESPN. Between the two networks it did 15,435,000 viewers and a 4.70 in 18-49. It was the extremely rare situation where the same show was No. 1 in viewers and in 18-49 on both network and cable at the same time. It also should be noted that football beat Raw by more than a 9-to-1 margin, a number that is unprecedented historically. Raw was No. 5 in 18-49 on cable behind the NFL game, the kickoff show before the game, the SportsCenter after the game and Below Deck Mediterranean ... Raw did 112,000 viewers in males 18-34 (down 10 percent from last week), 103,000 in women 18-34 (up 10 percent), 276,000 in men 35-49 (down eight percent) and 152,000 (up 16.9 percent). It also went against an NHL playoff game that did 1,137,000 viewers and 0.33 in 18-49. The show was largely built around Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre, with stipulations that changed multiple times, and the first meeting of Dabba-Kato vs. Braun Strowman, pushed harder than any prior Raw Underground match. The latter was pushed for the week. On TV, they also pushed Retribution’s first match against The Hurt Business as the main event. Given the Retribution push, their first match should have held the audience better although the drop in hour three was less than last week. The first hour did 1,746,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,692,000 viewers. The third hour did 1,565,000 viewers. The third hour was up from last week but still among the least watched hours of WWE programming in history. As compared to the same Monday last year, the show was down 24.5 percent in total viewers, 29.6 percent in 18-49 and 40.8 percent in 18-34 ... The first-to-third hour drop was 10.4 percent, which is normal levels. As far as the drops during the show, women 18-49 dropped 11.9 percent, men 18-49 dropped 3.3 percent, teenage girls dropped 20.8 percent, teenage boys increased 6.7 percent and over 50 dropped 12.6 percent.

Smackdown on 9/18 did a 1.27 rating and 2,037,000 viewers (1.33 viewers per home). The show did a 0.54 (704,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.3 in 18-34. It was down 11.2 percent in ratings, 12.5 percent in viewers, 14.6 percent in 18-49 and 25.0 percent in 18-34 from the unusually high number of the previous week. The 18-49 number was still better than the show did during almost all of the pandemic. It was a drop from the last several weeks and it’s because the audience was lower than usual at the start. The culprit looks to be the NBA playoffs which did 4,921,000 viewers and a 1.98 in 18-49, about four times what Smackdown did in the key demo. Smackdown tied for first among network shows in 18-49 with two shows on ABC ... The big drop wasn’t a good sign, but I’d wait a week before worrying about it since the show has done well most weeks of late and this could just be a fluke. It started out lower than usual and grew throughout hour one, but fell slightly at the end. The show did 111,000 viewers in Males 18-34 (down 36 percent), 104,000 in Women 18-34 (up 1.0 percent), 311,000 viewers in Males 35-49 (down 9.9 percent) and 178,000 in Women 35-49 (down 20.0 percent) ... The first half hour drew 1.96 million viewers with The Dirt Sheet with Miz & Morrison, Otis running in and Cesaro vs. Gran Metalik. The second half hour did 2.01 million viewers with A Moment of Bliss with Nikki Cross, Cross vs. Lacey Evans and a Roman Reigns video. The third half hour did 2.07 million viewers with the Sasha Banks interview and Bayley attack plus A.J. Styles vs. Sami Zayn. The final half hour did 2.07 million viewers for Big E’s attack on Sheamus and Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Sheamus & King Corbin. Last year on the same weekend FOX programmed reruns that did 1,505,000 viewers and 0.4 in 18-49, so it was up 35.3 percent in viewers and 25.0 percent in 18-49.

The 9/23 AEW vs. NXT head-to-head was largely the same as the week before. The only difference is AEW was hurt in Males under 35 by the NBA playoffs. The game was huge with men in those same groups, and also went against the game three of the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning ... One would think AEW was helped by a rare TV AEW title match with Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston or may have gone lower, as well as the debut of Miro. The return of Cody wasn’t advertised so that wouldn’t have helped. NXT had two matches, a Battle Royal and Gauntlet eliminator, to set up title contenders in the top two matches at Takeover. NXT was essentially the same as last week in almost every demo so the NBA didn’t hurt them as much. But they were back for a second straight week in their regular slot. AEW did 835,000 viewers and 0.32 in 18-49, good for ninth place on the chart. NXT did 696,000 viewers and 0.18 in 18-49, for No. 38 on the chart. The NBA finals on ESPN did 4,484,000 viewers and 1.76 in 18-49, while the NHL game on NBC Sports Network did 1,145,000 viewers and 0.32 AEW finished behind four NBA related shows all night on ESPN, the Stanley Cup game and Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson on FOX News. The news numbers were also way up from a usual Wednesday due to the Breonna Taylor non-indictments of two of the three officers story ... Across the board, AEW & NXT were up with women this week and down with men, and the NBA did 72.5 percent male viewers in 18-49 and the NHL did 73.7 percent male viewers in 18-49, so that explains it. AEW was down 5.8 percent in viewers and 5.9 percent in 18-49 as compared to last week with no NBA. NXT was up 1.0 percent in viewers and stayed even in 18-49. Raw & Smackdown this week beat AEW in every demo including Women 18-34, where AEW had been winning. AEW won handily in every key demo, doubling in Women 18-34 and nearly doubling in Men 18-34. AEW did 76,000 viewers in Males 18-34 (down 29.0 percent from last week) to 39,000 for NXT (down 4.9 percent). AEW did 64,000 viewers in Women 18-34 (up 3.2 percent) and NXT did 30,000 (up 15.4 percent). AEW did 184,000 viewers in Male 35-49 (down 1.1 percent) and NXT did 98,000 (down 7.5 percent). AEW did 86,000 viewers in women 35-49 (down 4.4 percent) and NXT did 63,000 (up 12.5 percent).

AEW Dynamite’s one hour special on 9/22 did 585,000 viewers and did a 0.26 in 18-49. The show aired from 12:38 a.m. to 1:37 a.m. It was easily No. 1 in its time slot and only one of three shows in that time slot to crack the top 150 for the night. It was No. 9 for the night, which sounds great for a show that late, but it had the benefit of a great lead-in. Because of the lead-in, it was going to be No. 1 in its time slot in 18-49. Inside the NBA that did 1,743,000 viewers and 0.79 in 18-49. The audience was likely AEW hardcores and some NBA fans seeing the product for the first time. They put on a great wrestling show as far as match quality, but not using any major stars. The show was No. 7 in 18-49 behind three NBA related telecasts and three Fox News shows in prime time. It was No. 8 in 18-34 and No. 6 in Males 12-34. The show did a 0.12 in 12-17, 0.19 in 18-34, 0.33 in 35-49 and 0.20 in 50+. The audience was 67.3 percent male in 18-49 and 61.7 percent male in 12-17.

Smeat's note - Taking a break next week from doing sheet reports except for Friday. To be honest, the break might last at least a month with just posting sheet reports on Fridays. After what happened personally earlier this week (check the 100k thread in Casual for more details), just been struggling to be motivated to do sheets reports or anything in general. If anyone else wants to take over doing sheets reports, be my guest.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter):

According to an article in Wrestling Inc. and since confirmed from others in the company, Vince McMahon sent an e-mail to talent that WWE would be taking control of all Twitch and Cameo accounts in four weeks. Talent was told that all accounts in those genres would be owned by the company but talent would earn a percentage of revenue from their accounts. What got people upset is that the revenue would count against their downside guarantees. With no house shows, essentially the old bookkeeping method of what talent that are under contract now earn in almost all cases except giant merchandise draws, would be less than the downside taking away the house show and such a large percentage of merchandise sales. Talent contacted at deadline has ranged from those saying they were aware of it and it is true, and others saying they received an e-mail regarding terminating all third party business relationships (which talent was warned to do several weeks ago) and being told this week that the hard deadline for this is 10/2. But some were not aware of any distinct change in the Twitch and Cameo policies, others have said they have heard it from other talent but did not hear it themselves and others have said they are aware of the one e-mail and not the other. At press time WWE had not clarified its position. As noted when the controversy started several weeks ago when WWE first banned talent from doing third-party deals with their WWE-owned names, the feeling was that talent under old contracts that weren’t with high downsides were taking a hit without house shows and lower merchandise numbers. But they have far more time off, so the Cameo accounts, Twitch accounts and other things of this nature would allow them to make money, and in the case in particular of some of the women, very significant money. But if that was to count against downsides, the fear is that in most cases, the percentage and the way the contract revenue is calculated is that talent is going to end up just getting their downside numbers ... The letter regarding Twitch and Cameo came as a surprise. WWE told us in the case of Twitch and YouTube, that talent was encouraged to use them, but that they could not make money off their WWE names through them since WWE owns those names. But talent thought what WWE had backed off a little after a number of Tweets by Andrew Yang. Yang noted that he has friends who are talent in WWE who were unhappy over the last turn of events several weeks ago. He said if the Democrats win the election, and he’s not Secretary of Labor, he will personally know the person who is and will call them about WWE talent being unfairly labeled independent contractors, with this being a key thing. A lot of talent believed that the company did not want to get into a battle of talent not being employees when they clearly are, and having the government look into it as possibly mislabeling it and penalties that could go with it. But the e-mail sent this week indicates another change ... One talent said, “This is amazing because it’s really going to open up the independent contractor issue. All these smart attorneys surrounding Vince and this is the battle he wants?” They also noted a lot of talent is livid, but as is usually the case in these situations, nobody would speak up about it.

The 9/27 Clash of Champions PPV was built around three matches, which all delivered at a high level ... But the show, and pro wrestling, were a backdrop to the bigger COVID story. Two scheduled matches were changed due to Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax and Nikki Cross being pulled from the show. In the case of Baszler and Jax, neither tested positive for COVID, but were in contact with somebody who had. With Cross, it has not been made clear which category she falls into ... The basic feeling at this point is that one of the coaches at the Performance Center had it unknowingly, and that’s what started it. It spread to more people at a party in the Orlando area that was attended by a number of people from both companies. There may have also been other spread, as there was at least one AEW person who got it who was definitely not at that party nor did they socialize with any of the WWE talent ... While no timetable is perfect, as a general rule these COVID related departures usually last two weeks, more if the case gets bad. So based on that, the NXT talent and announcers have a good shot at being back for the next nearly live show on 10/7, and most AEW talent should return for next week’s live show, while the Raw talent is likely for 10/12, but those are only estimates as nobody would have the actual answers. The one negative, and it’s a big one, is that WWE did know about the talent that wouldn’t be on Clash by at the latest, two days earlier. Cross not being on the show was being talked about in wrestling by 9/28, but WWE still advertised her match, even when she was pulled off Smackdown. Bayley even did a promo on 9/29 building up the match that everyone knew wasn’t taking place. Even CMLL, which hasn’t done a good job with this, has at least told people ahead of time when people were pulled from the show. WWE remains the only company to continue to advertise matches they know they aren’t going to have, and it’s been a policy dating back decades. I’ve had discussions over it and the excuses are preposterous, largely that “why should we be punished when we didn’t make the mistakes” and “we have them under contract so why can’t we advertise them.” With Jax and Baszler, there were people who knew a few days earlier but it didn’t get out to most until the day of the show. With the advent of social media, even some of the sleaziest companies have adopted the idea of telling people as soon as possible when something changes. Some companies may hold back for a day or two, or time their announcements for strategic reasons, but WWE is the only one that will continue to promote something they know isn’t happening.

The plan right now is to move NXT from Full Sail University to the Performance Center starting imminently, with Sunday’s Takeover. There had also been talk all week of moving Takeover to the Thunderdome but Wednesday came and went with no announcement and WWE at press time hadn’t answered any questions regarding the location of the Takeover show ... An interesting note is that 205 Live and NXT are going to be taped together as opposed to doing 205 Live on Friday’s each week live after Smackdown. We were told this was a precautionary measure related to COVID. The idea of taping Raw separate from Smackdown and separate from NXT was that if there was a COVID problem, it wouldn’t spread to different brands because they were kept apart. There was belief that some main roster spread came from the NXT talent that worked 205 Live, or at least the potential was there for such that needed to be shut down. Of course, what happened this past week with it spreading throughout WWE and AEW through socializing with so many people having friends in each company and a number of cross-company relationships that stuff can happen. But since main roster Smackdown talent no longer ever appear on 205 Live, but do appear on NXT, it was felt that it’s safer for all concerned doing it this way. There has also been talk of going back to live weekly shows from the Performance Center as opposed to Full Sail, every Wednesday as opposed to every other week. At press time there was discussion of that, but we were told it was not yet a done deal

Tegan Nox (Steffanie Newell, 25), underwent another knee operation this past week for a torn ACL. Generally you’re talking about around eight months or so out, give or take a couple of months in either direction. That’s why they did the angle on last week’s NXT show where Candice LeRae took out her knee. The injury in this case didn’t come from a match or even from training in the ring itself, and does have to do with prior knee problems. This would be her third ACL tear, two in one knee and one in the other

I'd be surprised if her in-ring career lasts that much longer in WWE. Supposedly Triple H has been wanting to make her the top women's star for his NXT brand ever since the last Mae Young Classic tournament but those plans kept getting derailed due to her knee issues.

Harold George Meij, the unlikely President and CEO of New Japan Pro Wrestling, who had gotten rave reports for his handling of the COVID-19 situation and headed a period of record revenues and profits, was replaced suddenly during the G-1 Climax tournament after a meeting on 9/29 by the Bushiroad Board of Directors. Technically, Meij will remain in his position until 10/23, when Takami Ohbari, who was the CEO of the New Japan of America division will take over the position ... There are a lot of people who have a lot of different things to say about Meij. His track record as far as the bottom line was very strong. His breaking with tradition and running two days at the Tokyo Dome this year generated so much revenue that New Japan was able to survive the pandemic far better than it could have otherwise. Unlike America companies who make their money from television, New Japan’s business was based on live ticket sales, huge merchandise business and its streaming service, which had great limitations as compared to U.S. services since Japanese don’t subscribe to streaming services in anywhere close to the level that Americans and Canadians do. But under him, international popularity had exploded, largely stemming from the Omega vs. Chris Jericho match on January 4, 2018, to where there were 8,000 tickets sold for both nights at the Tokyo Dome to non-Japanese nationals, with Australia and the U.K. being the strongest markets as well as the U.S. But it was also under his watch that they lost Omega, and he had made the call that due to Jericho’s high salary, which was worth it to the company and then some at first, that he wasn’t interested in using him after the January 5, 2019 show. In addition, he marketed very strongly to the women fan base. New Japan had been strong with women long before Meij came into power, with top stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Omega, Kota Ibushi and others. It was under his watch Ibushi signed a long-term deal and didn’t go to AEW. But he pushed the large percentage of women in their 20s who attended matches as a calling card, and even created women’s only sections at shows so women could feel comfortable going to shows if they weren’t interested in dealing with or being hit on by male fans. But he was very divisive. There was the feeling he didn’t know or fully understand pro wrestling ... Some wrestlers felt that he didn’t see wrestlers as individual talents even though he was a wrestling fan. But there were also economic issues. Without the big television money, even though wrestlers rave about aspects of Japanese wrestling and many love Japan, they could make more money in the U.S. market, particularly once AEW elevated the pay structure ... Still, his departure was not a surprise. It happening this week was a surprise, but insiders had expected it for some time, particularly when Ohbari and not Meij nor his assistant, Canadian native Michael Craven, were put in charge of the most important aspect of company growth, the North American expansion. When Meij came aboard, he promised that within three years he would get annual revenue to $100 million. That would not have been possible without strong overseas television deals, in particular in the U.S., as well as India (where New Japan does have a deal) and the U.K. (where it doesn’t). Even before the pandemic hit, that didn’t look promising, and the odds were greatly against it ... And Meij had a business mind regarding profit and losses, and many complained about New Japan being cheap, whether it be the nature of flights or other things. Meij himself also had a very high salary, earning more than everyone in the company with the possible exception of Okada. While in the U.S., the CEO’s may earn more than the star employees, and in WWE the Executive Vice Presidents with their stock options are as wealthy or wealthier than the top talent, in Japan it is not that way at all, and in wrestling the people who run the business end never made what the star wrestlers made. The timing could be that with the company not generating revenue anywhere near expectations, and with no certainty that they will get to the level they were any time soon, and office workers already taking major cuts, that Meij’s salary would be a big one to get off the books ... One person in the company noted this had been in the works for a while, that Meij was divisive and had a huge ego, and that almost everyone is glad he was gone. The claim was that Bushiroad owner Takaaki Kidani knew a year ago he had to make the change and likely held off until now to both save face and then didn’t want to make the change while the worst of the pandemic in Japan was going on. Meij was able to get New Japan great publicity on mainstream shows that portrayed the company very positively. But he was still the focal point and not the talent on many of those specials. That was very unusual for Japanese wrestling officials who are mostly anonymous figures who wouldn’t even be recognized in public by anyone but the most ardent of fan ... Because of his meeting with so many fans, a large number of the Japanese fan base was quite vocal about the decision and disappointed. The office itself was more mixed. He was also credited for both signing talent to longer-term contracts as opposed to the one-year deals that company was famous for, which allowed the top stars to be raided by American groups. Some talent who was never under contract were able to get longer-term deals and given stability. Meij also had his own fan club. And at live events, Meij would often be there as fans entered the building, shaking hands, saying hello, and even handing out items as people came through the door. This was completely different from past CEO’s of New Japan and all but a few executives at his level in pro wrestling history ... Yet another insider felt that while Meij was not liked by many Americans, and noted that he had made the call not to use Jericho going forward because of his high salary, that others may not hold the line when it comes to higher priced talent. One person said it is great because they believe Jericho and others will eventually be brought back when the world gets normal, but the bad is the company may overspend on foreign talent. It was noted Meij was big on not cutting anyone during the pandemic either on the roster or working in the office, although there were many who took pay cuts in the office. From the AEW side, for those who have wanted the business relationship, the feeling is that it’s good news, but they don’t know much about Ohbari. “No idea (regarding opening up the business relationship with Meij out),” said one of AEW’s top names. “We want to. But he (Meij) was an idiot when it came to understanding the business. Hopefully things will change now.”

The largest pro wrestling crowd in North America since the pandemic, roughly 1,500 fans, showed up for the 50th anniversary of Jerry Lawler’s Memphis wrestling debut show. The show took place outdoors at The Ballpark in Jackson, the home of the Jackson Generals minor league baseball team, in the city that was a regular stop for Nick Gulas & Roy Welch, and later Jarrett Promotions ... WWE had a crew shooting the show for an upcoming Lawler piece.

AAA: AAA made the official announcement of its Auto Lucha shows, which are drive-in wrestling shows. They take place at the Hermanos Rodriguez auto racing track in Mexico City. They’ve so far announced three shows a day on 10/3, 10/4, 10/10 and 10/11 ... All the shows will be taped. The 10/3 8 p.m. show will air live on AAA’s social media and the rest will be taped for the company’s various television stations. The lineups won’t be announced ahead of time most likely and the idea is just to present good entertaining matches without a lot of storylines. They may open up drive-in shows in other cities, like Monterrey, if this proves to be successful. Everyone involved with the show, from the producers to the 75 wrestlers on the current roster was to start COVID testing this week. ... El Hijo del Vikingo, who is perhaps the company’s best young wrestler and one of the best flyers in the world, will not be on the return shows or anything going forward. Those close to him have said he’s gone incommuicado. Those in AAA are saying that he is taking a year off wrestling because his wife asked him to be home with her and his new child. AAA noted that they are wishing him well and he is under contract through 2023.

Leland Race, who wrestled as the son of Harley Race, real name Homer Jones and wrestled for years on indies as Jason Jones before working with Race as his son in Race’s World League Wrestling group in 2013) attempted to get a street in Troy, MO named Harley Race Lane on 9/21. It would be the street where Race’s gym has been located for years. While speaking to the Board of Alderman in Troy, he talked like Race was his father, and a local newspaper story listed him as the son of Harley Race. The proposal looks like it won’t happen since three local business owners were vehemently opposed tot the change and Jones said that he would drop his request.

AEW: They are taping live on 10/7, 10/14 and 10/21 instead of every other week. 10/7 is supposed to be a big show with the Jericho 30th anniversary and 10/14 is the Anniversary show with Moxley vs. Lance Archer for the AEW title. 10/7 goes against the Vice Presidential debate, so that may be tough, as will 10/21 for sure and maybe 10/28 with the World Series, and the night before Thanksgiving as AEW did one of its worst numbers that night because of the age group it draws from, since the week before and after did well and the DVR numbers after that week for that show were huge. The basic story is Tony Khan wanted the Jericho and Anniversary show live, and with the PPV on 11/7, he was bringing all talent in for the nine days from 11/4 to 11/12 where they would do a live show, Dark, PPV, live show and Dark. The only taped shows until December will be 10/28 and 11/18

The top ten most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network were: 1. Clash of the Champions; 2. Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions with Kurt Angle; 3. Raw Talk on 9/28; 4. WWE Chronicle: Jey Uso; 5. Uncool with Alexa Bliss; 6.Clash of the Champions kickoff show; 7. Best of The Miz & John Morrison; 8. WWE Payback; 9. The Bump for 9/27; 10. Smackdown on 8/26. NXT was 13th. NXT U.K. was 20th. The only independent show in the top 25 was a May 11, 2009, Evolve show at No. 24. 205 Live didn’t crack the top 25

WWE Ratings, AEW vs NXT Ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw on 9/28 was expected by many going in to do its all-time record low, and instead, it was the opposite. Raw went against the biggest NFL game so far this season, game six of the NHL playoffs (which ended up being the decider), and a night where news coverage was well above average, to the point Raw only finished No. 28 overall on cable. However, the combination of the day-after-PPV bump and bringing back Ric Flair (who when used sparingly seems to always bring up ratings), Shawn Michaels, Christian and Big Show did 1,828,000 viewers and 0.55 in 18-49 (707,000 viewers). The increases from the prior week were 9.6 percent for overall viewers, 10.0 percent in 18-49 and 9.3 percent in 18-34 ... The main competition was the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens game which had 14,019,000 viewers, likely to be the biggest ESPN number of the season, as well as a 4.60 in 18-49 and 3.66 in 18-34. What turned out to be the deciding game of the Stanley Cup playoffs on NBC did 2,877,000 viewers and an 0.8 in 18-49 and 0.6 in 18-34. Raw was fourth overall in 18-49 on cable, and fifth in males 18-49 and males 12-34, trailing only ESPN-related football coverage. As compared to last year for the same week, viewers were down 29.1 percent, 18-49 was down 38.2 percent and 18-34 was down 44.3 percent ... As far as who kept interest through all three hours, women 18-49 dropped 14.9 percent, males 18-49 dropped 7.2 percent, teenage girls dropped 26.5 percent, and teenage boys gained 7.2 percent and over 50 lost 14.7 percent.

Smackdown on 9/25 did bounce back from the lower number the week before doing a 1.30 rating and 2,110,000 viewers (1.34 viewers per home) and 0.59 in 18-49 (766,000 viewers). It was up 2.4 percent in ratings, 3.6 percent in viewers and 8.8 percent in 18-49 from what was considered a low number the prior week. The key to the growth was women 18-49, which was up 19.5 percent from the prior week. Smackdown was second to the Tampa Bay-Dallas Stanley Cup playoff finals in 18-49 on network TV, but it was a close second at 789,000 to 766,000, or 0.61 to 0.59. ESPN beat all the networks with the NBA in 18-49 (2,233,000 in 18-49 head-to-head and that’s being in far less homes, and still nearly tripling it) and beat Smackdown 5-to-1 in 18-34 (1.50 to 0.30). Among network shows, Smackdown tied for second behind the NHL playoffs in 18-34, tied for first in 18-49 and were second to the NHL in men 18-49 and tied for third with women 18-49 of the four network shows ... The first half hour averaged 2.18 million viewers with the promo with A.J. Styles, Jeff Hardy and Sami Zayn and subsequent three-way match. The second half hour did 2.08 million viewers with the Otis & Tucker & Miz & John Morrison segment, Bayley interview, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Gran Metalik and Jey Uso/Roman Reigns video. The third half hour did 2.12 million viewers with the Jey Uso promo, Paul Heyman interview and Matt Riddle vs. King Corbin. The final half hour did 2.03 million viewers with Lacey Evans vs. Alexa Bliss and the Reigns/Uso promo and angle.

A few interesting notes regarding the 9/23 NXT vs. AEW battle. NXT had a great lead-in, as the show opened with 1,205,000 viewers, although by four minutes in it was down to 896,000, but still the first quarter with the women’s Battle Royal averaged 913,000 and even came somewhat close to AEW in 18-49s. But it wasn’t the Battle Royal, since the conclusion was at 754,000 for the quarter. AEW opened at 791,000. NXT won the first quarter and was within shooting distance over the next two quarters. But the race turned around in quarter four when Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy gained 106,000 viewers and Roderick Strong & Danny Burch vs. Fabian Aichner & Raul Mendoza lost 103,000 viewers, and in that quarter AEW nearly doubled NXT in 18-49. AEW doubled NXT in 18-49 in every subsequent quarter. The final quarter battle saw AEW with Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston do 873,000 viewers and 465,000 in 18-49, the latter being the peak number for the night, while NXT did 652,000 viewers and 204,000 in 18-49 for the five-way gauntlet eliminator with Kyle O’Reilly, Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Timothy Thatcher and Kushida ... In the first quarter, AEW did 762,000 viewers and 342,000 in 18-49 for Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss. NXT did 913,000 viewers and 294,000 in 18-49 for the women’s Battle Royal. In the second quarter, AEW did 789,000 viewers and 367,000 in 18-49 for a Kingston promo with Moxley coming out, plus the beginning of Adam Page vs. Evil Uno. NXT did 754,000 and 245,000 in 18-49 for the last few minutes of the Battle Royal, a Damien Priest promo and Fandango acting like Sherlock Holmes plus the beginning of Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jake Atlas. Quarter three saw AEW at 762,000 viewers and 361,000 in 18-49 for the ending of Page vs. Uno and the angle with Matt Jackson and Tony Schiavone. NXT did 711,000 viewers and 242,000 in 18-49 for the ending of Ciampa vs. Atlas, a Ridge Holland video, a video for the main event and the beginning of Strong & Burch vs. Mendoza & Aichner. Quarter four saw AEW do 868,000 viewers and 403,000 in 18-49 with Lee vs. Cassidy. NXT did 608,000 viewers and 202,000 in 18-49 for Strong & Burch vs. Mendoza & Aichner. Quarter five saw AEW do 893,000 viewers (its peak) and 445,000 in 18-49 for the Cody run-in on the Dark Order, Brodie Lee promo and the Matt Hardy & Private Party along with Jericho promo. NXT did 646,000 viewers and 220,000 in 18-49 for Damien Priest vs. Austin Theory. Quarter six saw AEW do 877,000 viewers and 449,000 in 18-49 for the Tully Blanchard & FTR promo with Best Friends coming out and the beginning of Hikaru Shida & Thunder Rosa vs. Diamante & Ivelisse. NXT did 616,000 viewers and 210,000 in 18-49 for an Isaiah Scott interview, the Ridge Holland squash and the Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano and Priest segment. Quarter seven saw AEW do 859,000 viewers and 449,000 in 18-49 with Shida & Rosa vs. Diamante & Ivelisse and the Chris Jericho promo with MJF. NXT did 663,000 viewers and 220,000 in 18-49 for the beginning of the Gauntlet eliminator match. In quarter eight’s Battle of main events, AEW gained 14,000 total viewers and 16,000 in 18-45, while NXT lost 11,000 viewers and 16,000 in 18-49.

Both AEW and NXT saw increases on 9/30, even with the NBA playoff finals, Major League baseball playoffs and a South Park spoof of COVID-19 that was expected to be, and was, a monster in the key demo. AEW did 866,000 viewers and an 0.33 in 18-49 (428,000 viewers), good for the 11th spot of the night on cable, behind five baseball related shows, South Park and four news shows ... AEW Dynamite was up 3.7 percent overall, 4.4 percent in 18-49 and down 0.7 percent in 18-34 ... NXT did 732,000 viewers and 0.19 (247,000 viewers) in 18-49, good for the No. 50 spot on cable. It was up 5.2 percent in viewers, 9.3 percent in 18-49 and 11.6 percent in 18-34. While on the surface you look at this and say the NBA game didn’t hurt at all, actually that wasn’t the case. AEW before the game started averaged 918,000 viewers an 457,000 in 18-49, even against baseball playoffs. But against the NBA, it fell to 811,000 and 401,000. NXT did 796,000 viewers and 254,000 in 18-49 against baseball but not basketball, while fell to 669,000 and 240,000 respectively against basketball. The Ricky Starks vs. Darby Allin match averaged 1,026,000 viewers, and that’s with no lead-in. The Cody/Brodie Lee brawl averaged 503,000 in 18-49. In the main event battle, AEW with Jon Moxley vs. The Butcher for the AEW title did 815,000 viewers and 390,000 in 18-49, actually the lowest in 18-49 of the show which was due to the NBA. NXT with Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae vs. Damien Priest & Io Shirai did 635,000 viewers and 242,000 in 18-49. The NBA finals game one did 7,410,000 viewers and 2.6 in 18-49, the lowest in at least 26 years. The drop was a giant sports story, as the first game in 2017 did 18.70 million viewers, 2018 did 17.35 million and 2019 did 13.51 million. It may be the wrong time of the year, or it could be the political divisiveness and a segment of the public being negative toward the players due to the climate we live in. This is more of a drop than even WWE has done over the same time period. The baseball game head-to-head with both shows did 2,535,000 viewers and 0.68 in 18-49 and 0.50 in 18-34. The South Park special did 2,272,000 viewers, 1.16 in 18-49 and 1.14 in 18-34, and 1.14 with teenage boys. These three shows just destroyed AEW’s teenage boy viewership. Teenage girls, however, were up 18.7 percent and as a total, girls were 87.4 percent higher than boys for AEW among teenagers which is unheard of. AEW won every key demo. AEW did 74,000 in male18-34 (down 2.6 percent from last week) to 42,000 for NXT (up 7.7 percent). AEW did 65,000 in women 18-34 (up 1.6 percent) to 35,000 for NXT (up 16.7 percent). AEW did 206,000 in men 35-49 (up 12.0 percent) to 102,000 for NXT (up 4.1 percent). AEW did 83,000 in women 35-49 (down 3.5 percent) to 68,000 for NXT (up 7.9 percent). AEW was hit really hard with teenage boys, which likely has to do with the NBA and baseball, with a 43.6 percent week-to-week drop. The male drop was so much that NXT beat AEW with teenagers which rarely happens and hasn’t in a long time. NXT won with over 50s by 0.37 to 0.34 ... AEW more than doubled NXT in the first 30 minutes in 18-49. However, in quarter three NXT, won in total viewers 835,000 to 824,000. There was a huge shift with AEW losing 162,000 viewers and 79,000 in 18-49, and at the same time NXT gained 78,000 viewers and 44,000 in 18-49. The NBA pregame show also started at the same time, so that indicates the AEW fan base is far more into the NBA than the NXT fan base, as while both were hurt by the game itself, AEW averaged 1,006,000 viewers before the pre game show started, 830,000 against the pregame show and 811,000 against the game. For NXT, those figures were 803,000 unopposed, 789,000 against the pregame show and 669,000 against the game. In the first quarter, AEW did 1,026,000 viewers and 469,000 in 18-49 for Starks vs. Allin. NXT did 848,000 viewers and 231,000 in 18-49 for Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai. In the second quarter, AEW did 986,000 viewers and 503,000 in 18-49 for the Cody and Brodie Lee brawl with Brandi and Anna Jay and all the other characters plus the FTR & Tully Blanchard promo. NXT did 757,000 viewers and 241,000 in 18-49 for the end of Blackheart vs. Kai, the Isaiah Scott/Santos Escobar promo segment and a Kyle O’Reilly video package. In quarter three, AEW fell badly with 824,000 viewers and 424,000 in 18-49 for the first part of FTR vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky for the tag titles. NXT did 835,000 viewers and 285,000 in 18-49 for a Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae promo, Cameron Grimes’ two matches including Ridge Holland and a Kushida video package. In quarter four, AEW did 836,000 viewers and 431,000 in 18-49 for the second half of FTR vs. Kazarian & Sky. NXT did 742,000 viewers and 257,000 in 18-49 for Kushida vs. Tony nese. In quarter five, AEW did 844,000 viewers and 417,000 in 18-49 for Chris Jericho vs. Isaiah Kassidy and the Miro & Kip Sabian segment. NXT did 741,000 viewers and 251,000 in 18-49 for Adam Cole vs. Austin Theory. In quarter six, AEW did 785,000 viewers and 396,000 in 18-49 for Orange Cassidy vs. 10 and MJF & Wardlow backstage with The Inner Circle. NXT did 687,000 viewers and 234,000 in 18-49 for Kayden Carter vs. Xia Li. In quarter seven, AEW did 806,000 viewers and 399,000 in 18-49 for Britt Baker vs. Red Velvet and an Eddie Kingston interview. NXT did 611,000 viewers and 231,000 in 18-49 for the Shawn Michaels, Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly segment. In quarter eight, AEW did 815,000 viewers and 390,000 in 18-49, so up 9,000 in viewers and down 9,000 in 18-49, for Moxley vs. Butcher. NXT did 635,000 viewers and 242,000 in 18-49, or up 24,000 in viewers and up 11,000 in 18-49, for Gargano & LeRae vs. Priest & Shirai.

Smeat's note: Baring any sudden changes, just going to take next week off as well except for Friday instead of the whole month as I had been seriously thinking of doing. Been recently feeling better mentally after last month's terrible ordeal of the passing of a family dog.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter Edition):

A reopening of Florida by Gov. Ron DeSantis will allow all sports to run events without governmental regulation, which was noted in the local news would mean full stadiums for NFL games ... While not announced officially, the plan is for WrestleMania to be on March 28, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and then go to Los Angeles in 2022. WWE always wanted 2022 in Los Angeles but the city wanted 2021. Given that California is going to be more cautious about events like this than Florida (a drunk driver racing at Daytona is probably more cautious than the Governor of Florida in reality), it really all makes sense. Plus Tampa does deserve it based on the work put in to house it last year. While the Miami Dolphins won’t be doing that due to the NFL’s restrictions at 25 percent max, such a ruling means WWE would be able to do whatever it wanted as far as capacity goes, as would AEW, anywhere within the state. This is likely to mean the return of arena tapings with crowds for WWE in November, when its lease with the Amway Center in Orlando expires. AEW at this point has been policing itself on capacity at Daily’s Place at 600 to 750 and any increase from that would be up to the company ... WWE has brought back fans for the 10/4 Takeover and 10/7 NXT tapings at the Performance Center, limited to about 100 people, with all fans tested for COVID the day before, but kept very close together in a small indoor facility. At this point, other companies such as ROH, Impact, New Japan and others have yet to announce anything regarding bringing back fans. There are independent shows outside Florida, most notably Warrior Wrestling and Game Changer Wrestling, that have had fans, but have run outdoors and kept the fans socially distant. Right now, AEW has no plans at this time to run anywhere but Daily’s Place, because of the nature of the venue allowing fans to be kept apart from each other and far apart from the ring and wrestling crew with the large empty section separating them ... Really the only thing that could hold back continuing to allow arenas and stadiums at full capacity would be an increase in cases in Florida, and it would have to be substantial because as we’ve seen, Governors who rush to open aren’t usually willing to make changes when cases increase after doing so. You’ll have little in the way of foreign travel due to the restrictions and having to quarantine for two weeks going back to many countries. Technically people in Florida are supposed to quarantine for two weeks when coming to the Northeast but we’ve seen that’s strictly something politicians say to get brownie points with constituents and nothing enforced in reality. They’ll certainly be able to get tens of thousands of fans. Sturgis told us that common sense doesn’t play a part in many people’s decision making when it comes to events. We are likely to now start a race to reopen arenas, and live crowds for pro wrestling and MMA indoor arena events in the U.S. MMA Junkie reported on 10/6 that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations is allowing promoters to hold events within the state at 50 percent capacity in arenas, with one promotion asking for and receiving a date for Halloween night in San Antonio. Once one state opens up, many others will follow, although some states will also be cautious ... There are eight events tentatively on the schedule in the state between now and the end of the year.

Samantha Tavel, who wrestles under the name Candy Cartwright, filed a more than $40 million lawsuit against Matt Riddle, World Wrestling Entertainment, Evolve Wrestling and Gabe Sapolsky on 10/8 in U.S. Circuit Court in Cook County, IL. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal actions that have gone back-and-forth between the two over allegations that Riddle sexually assaulted Tavel during an affair the two had which she claimed was during a time frame between 2017 and 2020. The lawsuit seeks more than $10 million each from Riddle, WWE, Evolve Wrestling (which has been sold to WWE) and Sapolsky, who was the booker and co-promoter for Evolve and now works for WWE as an NXT producer. The money figure claims to be based on actual damages, damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs. The suit, filed by John W. Chwarzynski Jr., of the Chicago law firm of Hale & Monico, claims Riddle first sexually assaulted Tavel in April 2017 after a wrestling show in Brooklyn promoted by Evolve. The suit claimed that Riddle bragged about raping Tavel to Sapolsky and other employees of Evolve ... The WWE tie-in with the suit is that in May 2018, it was claimed that after a show in Summit, IL, outside Chicago, that Evolve was an agent promotion of WWE, and that Riddle forced Tavel to perform oral sex on him in the same van with several others in the van while leaving the event and claimed he choked her until she consented. The story, which Riddle denied, is that there are no witnesses because the three others in the van were all asleep when this allegedly took place. WWE was also tied into the suit with claims that Travel had bookings with WWE and Evolve, but on January 31, 2020, when she refused to continue to perform sexual acts on Riddle, the suit claims, she had her bookings with both promotions terminated. However that is provably false as Tavel still worked for Evolve as late as March 1, 2020, or at least on that date posted footage from Evolve 146 with her working the company’s final event, held in Melrose, MA. That was Evolve’s last show before the pandemic hit which led to the promotion closing and selling its assets to WWE. A major key to the credibility of the suit would be if she had any WWE bookings after January 31, 2020, which were then canceled ... WWE and Riddle were not aware of the lawsuit until a few hours before a press conference was held in Chicago. The WWE claimed on 10/8 that they had not yet been served with the suit ... Riddle was scheduled for the 10/9 draft episode of Smackdown. If he remains on the show, it would indicate WWE standing behind him. If he is not on the show, it would indicate a late change in plans. From a strategic standpoint, the attempt to tie in WWE is because they have the deepest pockets. But others observing the case believe it may backfire because WWE, being defendants in the suit, are on the same side as Riddle as opposed to be onlookers. Riddle’s statement in his most recent petition was that he met Tavel in 2016, and they started having an affair on November 6, 2017. He said he tried to break up with her in June 2018, but they ended up still seeing each other under he broke up with her again in July 2019. Tavel gives different dates, claiming a start in April 2017 and a finish on January 31, 2020, and now claims continued sexual assaults on both those dates as well as in between. But that would indicate getting back together after he had first looked into filing for a protective order against her and after making WWE aware of the problem. The January 31, 2020, date is key to the suit, particularly with WWE. It would seem strange that Tavel would have had bookings with WWE that many months after they were aware of the issues with Riddle and Tavel. But Evolve had continued to use Tavel and was aware of the issues, but by that time Riddle was no longer working for Evolve. In fact, the credibility of both sides really comes down heavily on this claim. If she had bookings that were pulled that late, it would tie WWE in. If there is no proof of bookings after that time that were pulled, then her story falls apart as it pertains to WWE, and it would be a major credibility issue in what comes down to a he-said she-said. The lawsuit claims sexual assaults took place between 2017 and 2020, multiple times, as opposed to the one time in the van that was originally claimed, although the lawsuit does focus on a May 19, 2018, date. It tried to tie in WWE by saying they were actively involved in the conduct and business of Evolve at that point. Riddle signed with WWE about two months after this date ... The suit claimed WWE had control of the Evolve events and provided rules from the direction of WWE and Vince McMahon. The lawsuit claimed WWE had condoned sexual assault in the workplace for more than 30 years. She claimed she was told on January 31, 2020, that her future bookings with WWE and Evolve were terminated due to “issues with the talent” and claimed Riddle informed WWE and Evolve that he didn’t want her working with WWE due to Tavel no longer performing forced sexual acts on him ... The lawsuit listed an April 2017 date as the first sexual assault while in a vehicle in a parking lot after an Evolve show. It claimed he bragged about it to Sapolsky and other employees of Evolve that he did this without her consent, and was never disciplined over it by Evolve or WWE. Of course WWE wasn’t even in the picture at this point.

The WWE will be doing its draft on the 10/9 Smackdown show and the 10/12 Raw show. Generally speaking, the draft shows boost ratings significantly, although the gain has lessened in recent years ... The picks are usually kept a secret from everyone. Only the biggest stars in general get tipped off ahead of time, so talent is just like fans when it comes to draft days. Because Styles was mad about missing his son’s high school football games, which are mostly played on Friday, he could go to Raw. The fact he did a clean job for Jey Uso on Smackdown was another indication, but nothing is ever a sure thing ... Since WWE booking often operates like the old territorial system, with the idea of jobbing on your way out, the prime candidates for switching would be those who lost on television this week. On Smackdown, that would include Styles, quick squash losers like John Morrison and Shorty G, as well as Jeff Hardy, who lost to Sami Zayn cleaner than expected in a match that would have figured to have either a DQ finish or a less clean one. Those who fit into the category on Raw would be Lana, Humberto Carrillo and Apollo Crews. But Lana just started her pairing with Natalya, although unlike other tag teams, they are listed separately.

A series of things that have taken place over the past two weeks, from Harold Meij being out as the President and CEO of New Japan Pro Wrestling, to a number of mentions of New Japan personnel on the 10/7 Dynamite show, have led to a lot more speculation of what this all means. The relationship, or more accurately, lack of relationship between AEW and New Japan, the second and third largest pro wrestling companies it he world, has always been a subject of speculation ... At this point, the situation explained last week, that from an AEW side, Meij not being there is probably a positive for the potential of a deal, is still the situation. There are still people on both sides wanting a deal. And there are obviously reasons that get in the way of it. And with the pandemic, meaning it being difficult to impossible to have foreign talent come in (AEW has been unable to use its own contracted Japanese based talent like Riho, Yuka Sakazaki, Shoko Nakajima, Cima, T-Hawk and Lindaman), it’s not something that would need to be rushed through with any kind of a time element. Meij is still running New Japan for the next few weeks, largely involved with the COVID issue as well as plans for the hoped for Tokyo Dome show on 1/4. In a normal year, that show would be most important because it would spur on more of a rush when it comes to a deal as New Japan would be interested in AEW stars to make a Dome show more special. But the difficulty of bringing foreigners in at this point may make that a moot point this year. Speculation came from the 30th anniversary of Jericho Dynamite show where Tanahashi, with a New Japan Pro Wrestling logo in the background, appeared on the show and his name was referenced twice on commentary. In addition, in the promotion of the Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer AEW title match on 10/14, both men in their promos referenced their Texas death match on January 4, 2020 at the Tokyo Dome. There was also a mention of Gedo, in noting the last previous time Jericho had faced Dr. Luther, in a tag match where Gedo was Jericho’s partner, in 1996 in the FMW promotion. On the Fite TV version, there was also a mention of Antonio Inoki, but that is meaningless since Inoki is not with New Japan and largely a persona non grata in the company except he can’t be completely ignored because it would be ignoring company history to do so. Jericho had little in the way of limitations of who he could get on the show, although obviously WWE would never allow its talent on. It’s been noted in many places that wrestlers from all over the world congratulated Jericho on his 30 year anniversary this past week, but nobody from WWE as far as we can tell with the exception of A.J. Styles on his Twitch channel has said anything publicly, which tells you, no matter what is said publicly, how heated the rivalry between those sides still is, or is at least perceived to be by WWE talent regarding WWE management’s reaction. Particularly since the largest portion of Jericho’s career was in WWE ... The Tanahashi video had nothing to do with either AEW or New Japan past that neither side didn’t strike down the idea. The reality is that Tanahashi and Jericho have great respect for each other as pro wrestlers and similar philosophies to the business ... New Japan officials said that they have great respect for Jericho and would have never had an issue with anyone wanting to be part of the show. In fact, of all the people Jericho contacted, Tanahashi was the first one to do the video, just two hours after he was asked ... If there is a likely first sign of a relationship, it would be Moxley defending his New Japan U.S. title any time soon. New Japan even had KENTA cut a promo on Moxley, and his briefcase that he won to get a shot at the title was used as a prop during G-1, with the teases of Juice Robinson and Tanahashi (who beat KENTA in G-1) challenging for the briefcase and a shot at Moxley. Moxley is allowed to work New Japan on his own, but until the 14-day quarantine is lifted, he can’t feasibly go to Japan because of his AEW commitments. If a relationship is made, where Moxley fits in is he would be doing a title defense, likely with KENTA, at the New Japan Strong tapings in Port Hueneme, CA. But politically, Moxley is not going to be able to lose that title, unless they do a DQ finish (New Japan titles change hands via DQ) as long as he’s AEW champion. The one negative in the way is that New Japan does want to expand to the U.S., and that would put them in a sense in competition with AEW. Without that, it would be easier. Alliances between promotions have worked out favorably for both sides as far as helping produce bigger events historically, including the 90s New Japan/WCW relationship and New Japan/ROH and to a lesser degree the New Japan/TNA relationship, but in all cases, where it be two U.S. offices working together, aside from New Japan/ROH, it has been when neither was running live events in the same markets as the other.

NXT had another strong Takeover show on 10/4, as the first show since the brand has moved from Full Sail University to the Performance Center, renamed the Capitol Wrestling Center. The new setup includes a wall for virtual fans, a setup for 100 fans and a barricade that had both a metal fence over the regular barricade and the plexiglass. Fans were required to wear masks, although early on some of them started taking them off but seemed to be ordered to put them back on. All fans were tested for COVID a day ahead of time, which is better than temperature checks. But they were also clearly on top of each other in a small indoor building. The timing of doing this right after a breakout seems strange as one would think you’d want fewer people in the building and only those necessary. As people involved have brought up, people can get tested and then go out to bars that night since in Florida, everything is open. Capitol is an ode to Capitol Sports, which was the parent name of Vincent James McMahon’s WWWF promotion. On the NXT TV show they even showed clips of Buddy Rogers, Vincent James McMahon, Bruno Sammartino and showed old clips of announcer Ray Morgan at the start of the show. This came just weeks after WWE was talking about how important it was to get TV out of the PC because it was needed for training. Now they’ve changed it to bring in fans, friends and family, plus using virtual fans and piping in fake sound which ranges from enhancing some matches to being out of sync (it was much better for the NXT TV show than for Takeover). The move has to do with COVID and Full Sail. NXT will now be taped every Wednesday at the CWC with two hours of NXT and 45 minutes to an hour of 205 Live ... The returning champion ended up being Ember Moon. In a strange deal, just before Moon came back, to challenge Io Shirai after she had retained her title over Candice LeRae, they had played a video of Toni Storm, who is also returning to challenge for that title.

From the time Bushiroad purchased Stardom in late 2019, the company has been planning a major show. But COVID made these shows impossible until a show on 10/3, “Yokohama Cinderella,” which aired as a live television PPV show from the Yokohama Budokan (formerly the Bunka Gym which has been the city’s regular 4,500-seat arena for wrestling dating back decades). With social distancing, the show sold out but they only allowed 1,007 fans and featured five title matches and a losing group must disband match with Oedo Tai vs. The Tokyo Cyber Squad. Fans were really upset fearing that Tokyo Cyber Squad, which was the group Hana Kimura was the top star in, might disband. And that was the booking idea, and is what happened. The reality was the women in the group wanted out. They didn’t want the pressure of being in Kimura’s group, especially because after her death, Kimura has become this mythical figure to Japanese fans of women’s wrestling. Stardom also debuted two new wrestlers and a third is coming. Natsumi Maki and Mina Shirakawa debuted on the show from Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. Maki is now using the name Natsupoi. Both women’s contract expired at the end of September. A third woman will be debuting shortly after her contract expires. In these cases, none were raids by Stardom as much as the women letting their contracts expire to start with Stardom.

Stardom’s Jungle Kyona will be undergoing surgery on her left knee and her right shoulder and will be out for a long time. Her injury list includes a torn left ACL, a torn right LCL and a dislocated right shoulder

One New Japan insider noted to us that while Takami Ohbari was being groomed to be the next person in charge after Harold Meij leaves in a few weeks, inside the company they don’t know if that will really be the case past public positioning. While many in the company were happy Meij was leaving (we were told that fans generally weren’t happy because Meij was very good with the New Japan fans, the wrestlers were generally happy and the office was mixed but more on the happy side from those who were there pre-Meij), Ohbari is not welcomed as a new leader privately by many. Of late, New Japan Presidents and CEO’s have been newcomers to the wrestling business chosen by Bushiroad and almost always have a hard time getting trust and respect from the employees and the wrestlers. The wrestling people don’t want to be told what to do and what not to do by what they consider as “amateurs” when it comes to the wrestling industry. This has hurt morale to some extent since 2018 The foreign talent, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, Gabriel Kidd, Zack Sabre Jr., Juice Robinson, KENTA (who lives in Florida) and Jay White are in most cases staying until the Tokyo Dome show. Some will go home in December for a short period after Budokan, and then come back just before Christmas to quarantine if they are on the Dome show.

Kurt Angle did a podcast with PW Insider and said he had a tumor in his neck that he needed to get removed

Tracy Smothers, 58, who was one of the most underrated wrestlers of the mid-90s when he was top babyface in SMW and also a regular in Japan, before later going to WWF as Freddy Joe Floyd from Oklahoma (the name was a rib because Jack Brisco’s real name was Fred Joseph Brisco and Gerald Brisco’s real name is Floyd Gerald Brisco) and then to ECW as part of the Full Blooded Italians. Smothers, who has been battling cancer plus dealing with having two dozen concussions in his career for years, now has added heart problems to his issues

Mexican wrestler Tormento was diagnosed with COVID-19. It’s notable because he thought all the talk of the disease was exaggerated, and he did his doctor did as well. So his doctor thought he just had a cold when he came in coughing. A few days later, he lost his sense of taste and smell, got tested and tested positive. He said he’s also having occasional headaches

It will be interesting to see if this has any impact on AEW, but due to the pandemic, WarnerMedia is looking at cutting up to 20 percent of its costs. Time Warner was hit hard due to its movie businesses being hit hard including theaters they own being shut down, cable subscriptions down and a major decline in television advertising. Based on commercials throughout baseball this past week, it appears AEW is still in good standing. Their ratings held up far better than expected, and better than any wrestling show during the pandemic. But they are looking to do a complete business overhaul which would include TBS, TNT, HBO with thousands of layoffs expected coming on the heels of 500 layoffs in August. For TBS and TNT, the issue is that going forward, the costs of the NBA and MLB will go up, and if ads and viewership declines, the secondary programming would take a hit. AEW is very reliable right now but it will never be the priority over the NBA and MLB

The situation with WWE taking over Twitch accounts from talent and paying them a percentage, that is counted against their downside guarantee has led to several unhappy campers. One talent noted to us that everyone is mad, but time after time they get mad and they never stand up. In this situation, the women are losing out the most since a lot of them have been able to make a good deal of money from their fan bases through twitch and cameo. Paige actually tweeted, “Learned a lot about unions today,” which led to Zelina Vega writing “hmm.” It’s known that a few of the talents talk with Andrew Yang, and depending on how a lot of things play out, the Yang/WWE story in 2021 could prove to be very interesting

WWE was apparently looking at doing a U.K. PPV which would have been headlined by McIntyre vs. Tyson Fury, but they aren’t able to do it at this time. Both WWE and AEW were in a race for the first U.K. PPV in years as AEW had planned for something big this year as well. The idea of the match isn’t dead but they have to work based on Fury’s schedule

A&E is working with WWE for three television specials in 2021, one on Randy Savage, one on Roddy Piper and another regarding Paul Levesque & Stephanie McMahon

The top ten most-watched shows of the past week on WWE Network was: 1. NXT Takeover; 2. WWE 24: Drew McIntyre; 3. Clash of Champions 2020; 4. Steve Austin’s Stone Cold Sessions with Kurt Angle; 5. WWE Top 10: Slapping Family Members; 6. Takeover pre-show; 7. Raw Talk on 10/5; 8. Talking Smack on 10/3; 9. Smackdown on 9/4; 10. No Way Out 2004. NXT finished 13th for the week. No. 17 was the only independent show, a Best of NXT wrestlers from the Progress tape library. NXT U.K. was 19th. 205 Live did not crack the top 25

WWE Ratings, AEW vs. NXT Ratings, Wrestling vs. NBA Finals Ratings, Impact Ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw on 10/5 did its seventh lowest overall numbers in history, but to me, that’s a win considering the competition. Raw did 1,686,000 viewers and 0.52 in 18-49, with competition from the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots game on CBS (14,602,000 viewers, 4.0 in 18-49), the Atlanta Falcons vs. Green Bay Packers on ESPN (8,652,000 viewers, 2.92 in 18-49) and a major league baseball playoff game with the New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2,330,000 viewers, 0.60 in 18-49). The show was down 7.8 percent in viewers from last week, which was the combination of the post-PPV bump and the appearances of Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Christian and Big Show; down 5.5 percent in 18-49 and down 8.8 percent in 18-34 ... Raw was No. 6 in 18-49, No. 5 in males 18-49, No. 7 in women 18-49, No. 6 in 18-34 and No. 5 in males 12-34. As compared to the same period last year, Raw was down 27.8 percent in viewers, 30.7 percent in 18-49 and 42.6 percent in 18-34 ... The first hour did 1,791,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,666,000 viewers. The third hour did 1,601,000 viewers. The first-to-third hour drop of 10.6 percent is normal levels. By demo, women 18-49 were down 13.0 percent first-to-third hour, men 18-49 were down11.9 percent, teenage girls were down 25.4 percent, teenage boys were up 1.9 percent and over 50 was down 8.6 percent.

Smackdown on 10/2, even with competition from the NBA playoff finals and baseball playoffs, did very well, doing a 1.40 rating and 2,155,000 viewers (an unusually low 1.27 viewers per home) and another 0.59 in 18-49 (773,000 viewers). The rating was up 7.7 percent, viewers were up 2.1 percent and 18-49 was up 0.9 percent ... Smackdown tied with the NBA pre-game show was second behind the NBA on ABC for the top spot in 18-49 on cable, with the game doing 6,609,000 viewers and 2.41 in 18-49 (3,131,000 viewers) and 2.0 in 18-34 ... This is the first week-to-week comparison of Smackdown on FOX, but it’s totally misleading because you are comparing it to a show with all the hype advertising literally every star they could find (many of whom weren’t even on the show) and was built around Dwayne Johnson. Starting next week the comparisons will be more relevant. But it was down 39.7 percent in ratings, 44.6 percent in viewers and 56.7 percent in 18-49. The show opened huge with 2.32 million viewers for the Roman Reigns/Jey Uso/Paul Heyman segment and Uso vs. A.J. Styles. It fell to 2.12 million for the Sami Zayn interview, Otis vs. John Morrison and Sheamus vs. Shorty G. Usually the top of the hour gains, but it fell slightly to 2.09 million Kevin Owens with Alexa Bliss, and the Matt Riddle & Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado match against Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro & King Corbin. The final half hour with the Sasha Banks return interview and Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy for the IC title also did 2.09 million viewers.

Going against the Vice Presidential debate, which drew 52,636,000 viewers and a 10.8 in 18-49, you can almost throw out comparison relevancy for AEW and NXT on 10/7. AEW did 753,000 viewers and a 0.31 in 18-49 (401,000 viewers), good for No. 19 for the night behind 15 news shows and three major league baseball playoff games. NXT did 639,000 viewers and 0.16 in 18-49 (212,000 viewers), good for the No. 56 spot for the day. No entertainment show on television aside from AEW in prime time other than The Masked Singer on FOX beat an 0.24 in 18-49. The two baseball games head-to-head saw the TBS game do 2,391,000 viewers and 0.65, and the FS 1 game did 1,635,000 viewers and 0.55. Really, the debate could have hurt AEW a lot worse if it didn’t have the publicity of the Chris Jericho 30th anniversary show. The show was down 13.0 percent in total viewers and 6.3 percent in 18-49 with the debate and playoff games on TBS and FS 1 head-to-head. With the same competition, NXT was down 12.7 percent in viewers and 14.2 percent in 18-49, so the competition looks to have hit both groups hard, but hit NXT, surprisingly, harder with the key demo, but most likely if it had not been a Jericho special show that TBS and TNT pushed hard during its baseball broadcasts, the damage would have been significantly greater. AEW more than doubled NXT in three of the four key demos. However in the fourth, women 35-49, AEW was barely ahead. Overall, the first and seventh quarter were close. In 18-49, AEW doubled NXT in the fifth and eighth quarter. Both shows took a hit late due to the debate, although AEW’s strong fifth quarter with the dog collar match staved off the decline that came after the match. The most notable thing is that in 18-34, AEW had more women viewers than men, which would be a first. It also had more girls than boys 12-17, which was also the case the prior week, but that was likely due to the big NBA numbers with teenage boys. In the main event battle, AEW did 696,000 viewers and 399,000 in 18-49 for Chris Jericho & Jake Hager vs. Luther & Serpentico. NXT did 613,000 viewers and 179,000 in 18-49 for Ember Moon & Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez. AEW did 61,000 viewers in men 18-34 (down 17.6 percent from last week) to 29,000 for NXT (down 31.0 percent from last week). AEW did 68,000 viewers in women 18-34 (up 4.6 percent) to 27,000 for NXT (down 22.9 percent). AEW did 204,000 viewers in males 35-49 (down 1.0 percent) to 92,000 for NXT (down 9.8 percent). AEW did 68,000 viewers in women 35-49 (down 18.1 percent) to 64,000 for NXT (down 5.9 percent). This is the first week one can make year-by-year comparisons, but between AEW’s huge debut number and the debate, like the Smackdown comparisons, it’s misleading. Really any valid comparisons would start in November. However, AEW was down 46.6 percent in viewers, 54.4 percent in 18-49 and NXT (which had its big debut two weeks earlier and had a more normalized number by this point) was down 28.8 percent in viewers and 50.0 percent in 18-49. For AEW, the peak in every key demo except Men 35-49 was the Cody vs. Brodie Lee chain match. In Men 35-49, it was the Brian Cage vs. Will Hobbs match. For NXT, the peak for men 18-34 and women 18-34 was the Ridge Holland vs Danny Burch/injury and Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae vignette,. The men and women 35-49, the peak was the end of Kushida vs. Tommaso Ciampa, the post-match and the Moon interview. The show opened with AEW doing 767,000 viewers and 414,000 in 18-49 for Cage vs. Hobbs. NXT with its big lead-in did 718,000 viewers and 216,000 in 18-49 for most of Kushida vs. Ciampa. In the second quarter, AEW did 760,000 viewers and 399,000 in 18-49 for the post-match of Cage vs. Hobbs with Taz, Ricky Starks and Darby Allin, a Lance Archer promo and the beginning of FTR vs. Jack Evans & Angelico. NXT did 687,000 viewers and 251,000 in 18-49 for the end of Kushida vs. Ciampa, the most-match, and Moon interview. It was the 18-49 peak for NXT. In the third quarter, AEW did 814,000 viewers and 396,000 in 18-49 for most of FTR vs. Evans & Angelico, Best Friends out and MJF promo. NXT did 654,000 viewers and 232,000 in 18-49 for an Io Shirai interview, Undisputed Era promo, Drake Maverick & Killian Dain vs. Chase Parker & Matt Martel and a Toni Storm video. In the fourth quarter, AEW did 777,000 viewers and 409,000 in 18-49 for the build up and ring intros of Lee vs. Cody. NXT did 663,000 viewers and 238,000 in 18-49 for a Gargano & LeRae vignette, Austin Theory vs. Leon Ruff and the beginning of Theory vs. Dexter Lumis. In the fifth quarter, AEW did 849,000 viewers and 436,000 in 18-49, both the peaks, for most of Lee vs. Cody. NXT fell to 573,000 viewers and 200,000 in 18-49 for most of Theory vs. Lumis, a Cameron Grimes and a Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly video package. In the sixth quarter, AEW did 723,000 viewers and 389,000 in 18-49 for the end of Cody vs. Lee, the post-match promo with Orange Cassidy, a Kenny Omega promo and the beginning of Big Swole vs. Serena Deeb. NXT did 612,000 viewers and 202,000 in 18-49 for Ridge Holland vs. Danny Burch and another Gargano & LeRae vignette. In the seventh quarter, AEW did 637,000 viewers and 364,000 in 18-49 for Swole vs. Deeb and a Jon Moxley promo. NXT did 590,000 viewers and 178,000 in 18-49 for a Timothy Thatcher video, Holland going out on a stretcher and Shotzi Blackheart vs. Xia Li. In the eighth quarter, AEW gained 59,000 viewers and 35,000 in 18-49 for Jericho & Hager vs. Serpentico & Luther. NXT gained 23,000 viewers and 1,000 in 18-49 for Ripley & Moon vs. Kai & Gonzalez. AEW did a 0.13 in 12-17 (up 8.3 percent from last week), 0.18 in 18-34 (down 7.2 percent), 0.44 in 35-49 (down 5.9 percent) and 0.26 in 50+ (down 23.5 percent). The show did 66.1 percent males in 18-49 and 49.5 percent males in 12-17. It shows that 12-34 males who watch AEW regularly were very likely to have watched either the debate or baseball; while teenage girls were not. Actually teenage girls were above usual levels. Because NXT didn’t crack the top 50, we don’t have full details on its numbers, other than it was down 27.3 percent in 18-34 and down 8.2 percent in 35-49. In 18-49, it was 57.1 percent males.

In the viewers per home stats for the week of 9/28 to 10/4, the 9/30 AEW show, going against the NBA finals and baseball playoffs, set its all-time record at 1.67, and also topped the sports category. This would be the first time a pro wrestling show has done peak attitude era (1.7) numbers. The situation with AEW is that in homes that are aware of the product, people watch together, and that is growing. But the recognition of the brand is still way down. NXT was actually viewed in more total homes but did 1.32 viewers per home, also well above its usual levels. Smackdown did 1.27 against NBA and baseball playoffs, it’s lowest in recent memory, but it had a big increase in total homes watching. On 9/28 against AEW & NXT, the NBA first game of the finals (the finals are so far down from last year that it’s become a giant sports story) did 1.51 while baseball had 1.38. The Friday night playoff game did 1.53 and the Sunday NBA playoff game did 1.56, the latter tying for second behind AEW for the week in sports. The baseball playoff game against Smackdown did 1.43. Fox’s Sunday football early afternoon games did 1.54. The CBS late afternoon games did 1.55 for third. The NBC Sunday prime time game did 1.49 and Monday night football did 1.42. Of the major college football games, the highest was 1.56 for the Auburn vs. Georgia game on ESPN on Saturday night, while the most-watched game, Texas A&M vs. Alabama, did 1.43. The last game of the Stanley Cup against Raw did 1.43 while the top NASCAR race of the weekend did 1.33. The Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana UFC Fight Night did 1.35.

IMPACT: We have an update on television ratings for the month of September from Wrestlenomics.com. The 9/1 show did 102,000 viewers and 31,000 (0.02) in 18-49. The 9/8 show did 78,000 viewers and 22,000 (0.02) in 18-49. The 9/15 show did 170,000 viewers and 43,000 (0.03) in 18-49. The 9/22 show did 200,000 viewers and 51,000 (0.04) in 18-49. The 9/29 show did 168,000 viewers and 52,000 (0.04) in 18-49. There are a few notes to these numbers. The first is that 9/1 and 9/8 went head-to-head with NXT on USA. So with head-to-head competition, they averaged 90,000 viewers and 26,500 in 18-4, and 29.4 percent of the viewers in the key demo. Without head-to-head competition they averaged 179,000 viewers and 48,700 in the key demo (27.7 percent). Keep in mind that you could have watched NXT and then watched Impact via DVR before midnight that night and counted. What it tells you is that of the regular Impact audience, half of the total viewers and 45.6 percent would skip AEW if NXT was on at the same time, so essentially they are more wrestling fans than Impact fans. You’ll notice that with AEW if we compare 9/9 (no NXT) with 9/16 (with NXT) they only dropped 12.8 percent in viewers and 7.5 percent in 18-49 which tells you that a large percentage of Impact viewers would choose to watch NXT on an unfamiliar night, whereas that is not the case with AEW viewers. The fans Impact gets back with no NXT skew older. For AEW, the percentage of viewers 18-49 with no NXT was 47.3 percent, and the next week with NXT was 50.2 percent, so similarly with no NXT, Impact gets new viewers, but those new viewers skew older. So in both cases, you take NXT away, and both shows get more viewers by percentage over the age of 50. Using last week’s numbers. Also, Impact is the oldest skewing pro wrestling TV show of those with significant national viewers, with a normalized 27.7 percent in the key demo as compared to 33.7 percent for NXT, 36.3 percent for Smackdown, 38.7 percent for Raw and 49.4 percent for AEW. Keep in mind with the competing sports, notably the NBA which is so strong with 12-34 males, that if these shows go against the NBA, and all but Raw did, they will skew older than usual

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The draft edition of RAW saw the show experience an increase in its viewership hitting its highest mark since August 31st while finishing fourth among cable programming. The show averaged 1,855,000 viewers on the USA Network and a 0.57 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Both numbers were the show’s best since the August 31st episode that followed the WWE Payback event and represented a weekly increase of 12 percent in viewership and 9.5 in the demo rating. RAW began with 2,006,000 viewers and a 0.60 demo figure, it dropped to 1,884,000 viewers (0.59) in the second hour and the third hour saw a larger drop with 1,676,000 viewers and a 0.52 demo number. The show fell 16.5 percent from the first to the third hour. RAW went against the Monday Night Football game between the Chargers and Saints that did 10,694,000 viewers while FOX aired the NLCS game between the Braves and Dodgers that did 3,207,000 on the overnight figures with the final number out on Wednesday. Across RAW’s key demographics, the only audience that was down this week was males 12-34 by 5 percent. The increase was led by adults over 50 that were up by 10 percent, while adults 18-49 and females 18-49 were each up by 9.5 percent. The 2019 edition of the draft on RAW averaged 2,279,000 and a 0.74 rating in the 18-49 demo. That show also faced a bigger NFL game that topped 13.3 million viewers and went against the Major League Baseball game. From last year, they fell 18.5 percent in viewers and 23 percent in the demo. The first to third-hour drop was most significant with women 12-34 which dropped 17 percent despite staying even overall from the prior week. Adults over 50 and women 18-49 dropped 16 percent in the third hour and adults 25-54 declined 15 percent in the third hour.

Originally Posted by Observer Joey Ryan's run of recent lawsuits has continued. PWInsider first reported Tuesday that Ryan (Joe Meehan) filed a $10 million lawsuit against Impact Wrestling's parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment in mid-September, alleging breach of contract for firing him due to allegations of both sexual abuse and assault. Anthem has until Saturday, October 24th to respond to the suit that was filed in Nashville, TN. We have reached out for comment to both Impact and Anthem but haven't not received a response. Ryan's contract ran through August 2021 and Impact released him on June 22nd. Based on language in the contract regarding warning and reprimands, he claims they needed to inform of him of any issue in writing along with a "5 day cure period" as it states in the contract. According to the contract language, if nothing could be worked out by the wrestler in five days, he and Impact would then have 30 days to resolve any issues. At that point, Impact could have terminated the deal another 30 days after that if there was still unresolvable issues. The $10 million sought is in addition to legal fees and other "relief" that a court may find in his favor. This comes after Ryan filed multi-million lawsuits against several accusers that emerged during the #SpeakingOut movement earlier this year. PWInsider noted he has filed six lawsuits.

Originally Posted by Observer While not officially announced by the company as of now, Ivelisse said during an interview Monday night that she has signed with AEW. She didn't give any details, but said she was overwhelmed to get the offer in the same week when she lost her home in a fire. She had tweeted about the fire in mid-September so if the timeline is accurate, she's been under contract for a month. Ivelisse made her AEW debut in mid-July in a loss to Diamante and then teamed with her in the first Women's Tag Team Cup. The duo won the tourney with a finals victory over Brandi Rhodes and Allie. Since then, she defeated KiLynn King and lost to NWA Women's Champion Thunder Rosa in a much-discussed match. She also teamed with Diamante twice, defeating Rache Chanel and Skyler Moore and losing to Rosa and AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida at the September 23rd Dynamite -- the last time she has been on AEW TV.

Originally Posted by PWI A trial date of Monday 1/25/21 has been set for the criminal trial for former WWE and Impact Wrestling Champion Jose Albero Rodriguez Chucuan aka Alberto Del Rio and Alberto el Patron following his indictment last week, Chucuan is facing one count of aggravated kidnapping and four counts of sexual assault and could be facing as much as life in prison. Chucuan, 43, was arrested on 5/9 after a victim went to San Antonio, Texas authorities, stating that on Sunday 5/3 at 10 PM, Chucuan allegedly became angry with her and physically assaulted her after accusing her of infidelity. When the victim would not admit to the infidelity, Chucuan allegedly slapped her "across the head" several times. The victim also alleged that Chucuan "forced her to wear a dress and dance for him" and that when she refused and he told her not to start crying because if she did, "he would take her son and drop him in the middle of the road somewhere." The arrest affidavit stated that the woman alleged Chucuan had sexually assaulted her and that she had her injuries documented via photographs.

Originally Posted by PWI As of last night, the plan is for the Andrade and Mickie James, the two talents left "Undrafted" following the 2020 Draft to land on the Monday Night Raw roster. Obviously, until it's officially announced, that's subject to change, but it was the plan as of yesterday.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE filed a number of new trademark applications on 10/8, including WWE Livewire, a series that existed in the late 1990s. This may be in advance of the company adding it to the WWE Network.

Originally Posted by PWI AdFreeShows.com, the subscription-based service behind Conrad Thompson's suite of podcasts, announced Monday that WWE Hall of Famer, Gerald Brisco, will be added to the lineup for a brand new series called "Monday Mailbag with Gerald Brisco." AdFreeShows.com members will have the opportunity to ask questions and delve into the mind of Brisco's, who has spent over 50 years in the wrestling business.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling MLW is preparing for their restart. The organization’s CEO Court Bauer tweeted out that a select number of fans will have the opportunity to attend the restart and more information on that is coming soon.

That leaves just ROH as the only notable US promotin running shows without fans around. Not counting NWA since they are running shows under the UWN banner and not on their own.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Asbury Park Press has a feature story up about All Elite Wrestling which includes a profile on Cody Rhodes ... While speaking about the first year of All Elite Wrestling, Cody feels that he “talked too much” in the sense that he strapped a label or confined the AEW product to something as it was still growing. “I wanted to really promote the brand, I wanted to pound the pavement, but in speaking I kind of confined our product, I tried to give an identity to a product (when the) identity is evolving, its identity is growing. AEW is going to have a different identity in year one than it has in year two, and we want that identity and that flavor profile to improve. But to say it’s one thing would be incorrect because wrestling is something that there’s no one specific way to do it right. There’s many different ways to do it right. So I spoke too much as an executive in my efforts to promote the brand and a lot of this kind of click-bait journalism (followed) in areas where what I said was taken out of context and might have rubbed people the wrong way or might have created more tension between an NXT fan and an AEW fan. A little less talk from me, a little more action, is one of my goals (going forward).”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling UPROXX conducted an extensive interview with AEW’s Britt Baker. Britt was asked about the criticisms of AEW’s women’s division along with the growth of the division. She feels that it’s something the company is working on and said she knows there are plans to grow the division. “Yeah, I definitely think it’s something the company is working on. You know, and we got hit hard—our women’s division, because of the COVID outbreak. Half our roster is international talent, so we immediately didn’t have access to any of those women. Then Kris Statlander got hurt, and I got hurt. And there’s only so much time on AEW Dynamite to start with. And I know there are plans to grow the women’s division, but at the same time we need help from the fans at home too! We can’t have the women’s segments being the lowest rated or the lowest views each week. Because at the end of the day it’s a business, and AEW needs ratings. It’s no secret we’re in a war every Wednesday night with NXT, so we need the ratings up. So for the fans that are so encouraging and saying, ‘We want more women, we want more women!’ That’s great, but please don’t turn the channel when the women are on TV then! We want everybody to be watching the segments and cheering us on from home.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson covered the 2005 WWE No Mercy pay-per-view for the latest installment of Something to Wrestle. During the Q&A portion of the show, Prichard stated that there were ideas tossed around about Shawn Michaels and Eddie Guerrero possibly wrestling one another at WrestleMania 22 in 2006. “It was kicked around as a possibility because they never worked together and that was, at least in my head, a dream match. That was one of those that I definitely would’ve loved to see.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Jim Ross and Conrad Thompson covered The Miz’s career in WWE for the latest installment of the Grilling JR podcast ... Jim Ross spoke highly of the late Matt Cappotelli as well. Ross said that Cappotelli reminded him of a young Brian Pillman and praised the former Tough Enough winner for his passion for wrestling. “Yeah, we thought Matt had great potential. What a sweetheart of a kid. Loved, loved, loved wrestling. Living his dream. God bless him, and he reminded me at times a little bit of a young Brian Pillman. Frame, pace, good looking kid and you couldn’t ask for a better person, teammate to be on your roster. Just a great kid, very athletic. He was never gonna be the biggest dog in the fight but he had that Ricky Morton ability, not that he was Ricky Morton, but he had that Ricky Morton ability and tendencies to sell, and smaller guys like that have to be baby faces especially, have to master the art of selling and all the different levels of selling. Selling is just not one word and it’s all the same. It’s a progression, registering, big sell, soft sell, whatever. But Matt was a good kid. We thought he had got past the hump. He was working in a gym I think in Louisville, but it was heartbreaking Conrad [Thompson]. If you knew this kid, you would love this kid and we all did.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Brandon Thurston at Wrestlenomics has an article attempting to get a better sense of the television rights fees that NXT is earning from the USA Network looking at a variety of sources and what has been reported. The NXT rights are reportedly up for renewal next year, which adds to the discussion of the strategy behind the show coming off the Tuesday experiment and the data we have to see what increase NXT could enjoy by moving off Wednesdays.

Link: https://wrestlenomics.com/2020/10/09...n-usa-network/

Originally Posted by PWI The 2300 Arena has seen a lot of violence, blood and guts over the last several decades, but the one thing the South Philadelphia pro wrestling staple couldn't take was a rally event for WWE Hall of Famer and United States President Donald Trump. The Arena was slated to host an "Italians for Trump" rally hosted by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani today, but the Arena's owners canceled the event upon learning the event was to support President Trump. The legendary pro wrestling venue had been originally told they were being booked for a rally for a "local politician", according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “There’s just a whole lot of things that come with a Trump rally,” Arena co-owner Christy Bottie said. “There’s no way we were going to take any risks on any level for a Trump rally.” Bottie was specifically concerned, according to the article about the venue not being able to handle the COVID-19 health concerns involving present with a larger gathering, although they had been told those attending would be wearing masks. There was also concern about the potential size of the gathering and protestors also coming to the building. The rally was moved to another location in Northeast Philadelphia, where Giulani blamed the change on the Mayor of Philadelphia contacting the venue, something Bottie denied happened. The Arena held a Republican National Committee event in 2016. The Arena itself has been shut down since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and is waiting for the chance to return to booking live events, including professional wrestling, MMA, concerts and boxing.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling IMPACT Plus was upgrading its platform and, in the process, deleted several subscriptions from the streaming service. Impact Wrestling has stated it will be reaching out to those that lost their accounts.

Originally Posted by Fightful AEW could be looking to add another name to its roster. According to Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net, AEW has an interest in signing MLW star Mance Warner. A source told Haynes, "AEW 100% has interest." Warner was backstage at AEW Revolution in Chicago in February and also backstage at an episode of Dynamite held in Ohio back in January. Warner is currently under contract with Major League Wrestling, though details of his contract are currently unknown. He is able to work Independent events and had a presence at GCW The Collective over the weekend, including an appearance in the Clusterfuck Battle Royal at Joey Janela's Spring Break 4.

TPWW Frontpage:

• Lars Sullivan Reportedly Lost More Support in WWE Following New Controversy
• WWE Announces More Draft Picks, Only Two Wrestlers Remain Unpicked
• Some Topics for Dark Side of the Ring Season 3 Revealed
• WWE Reportedly Extends ThunderDome Stay for at Least Another Month
• Eva Marie Reportedly Returning to WWE

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Eight wrestlers remain mathematically alive as NJPW's G1 Climax 30 enters its final stretch. Four competitors still have a shot in each block with one A Block show and one B Block show remaining before Sunday's final. In A Block, Jay White controls his own destiny. In B Block, it's EVIL who controls his own fate. After that, things get more cloudy. White, Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay still have a chance to win A Block ... In B Block, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, and Zack Sabre Jr. are still in the running ... Here are the updated standings and scenarios: G1 Climax 30 standings -- A Block Jay White -- 12 points (6-2) *wins the block with a win over Ishii* Kota Ibushi -- 12 points (6-2) *wins the block with a win over Taichi and a White loss/draw/no contest* Kazuchika Okada -- 12 points (6-2) *wins the block with a win over Ospreay, White and Ibushi losses/draws/no contests or a draw with Ospreay and Ibushi/White losses/no contests* Will Ospreay -- 10 points (5-3) *wins the block with a win over Okada, White and Ibushi losses/no contests* Taichi -- 8 points (4-4) *eliminated* Jeff Cobb -- 8 points (4-4) *eliminated* Tomohiro Ishii -- 6 points (3-4) *eliminated* Shingo Takagi -- 6 points (3-5) *eliminated* Minoru Suzuki -- 6 points (3-5) *eliminated* Yujiro Takahashi -- 0 points (0-8) *eliminated* B Block EVIL -- 12 points (6-2) *wins the block with a win over SANADA or a draw/no contest with SANADA, Naito loss and Sabre loss/draw* Tetsuya Naito -- 12 points (6-2) *wins the block with a win/draw over KENTA and an EVIL loss/no contest* SANADA -- 10 points (5-3) *wins the block with a win over EVIL and a Naito loss/no contest* Zack Sabre Jr. -- 10 points (5-3) *ties with Naito & EVIL for block win with a win over Tanahashi, a Naito loss, and a SANADA/EVIL no contest* Hirooki Goto -- 8 points (4-4) *eliminated* KENTA -- 8 points (4-4) *eliminated* Toru Yano -- 6 points (3-5) *eliminated* Hiroshi Tanahashi -- 6 points (3-5) *eliminated* Juice Robinson -- 6 points (3-5) *eliminated* YOSHI-HASHI -- 2 points (1-7) *eliminated*

Originally Posted by PWI Independent wrestler Dan the Dad, who competed over the weekend as part of The Collective weekend in Indianapolis, announced this afternoon that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and is advising others who were in attendance to make sure they get tested themselves: Dan the Dad's announcement via Twitter reads as follows: Please read. Please get tested whether you experience symptoms or not. Thank you pic.twitter.com/tL65MvDAy2 — Dan the Dad (@ThanksDanTheDad) October 14, 2020

Link: https://twitter.com/ThanksDanTheDad/...82499409784833

Originally Posted by PWI Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc., a globally integrated multi-platform media company, announced today a partnership between the Company’s popular sports network Game+ and the groundbreaking OVW Wrestling promotion—bringing two of its hour-long wrestling series, OVW Overdrive and OVW TV, to Game+’s Sunday lineup beginning October 18 at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT. Game+ is the exclusive national cable broadcaster of OVW TV, with new episodes airing every Sunday following their initial premieres on the OVW streaming platform and affiliated partners ... Game+’s newly acquired OVW content debuts this Sunday at 9 a.m. ET with OVW Overdrive, as hosts Bryan Kennison and Steven Johnson provide expert analysis and in-depth commentary. The one-of-a-kind series features unique matches and interviews with OVW’s brightest stars, as well as recaps of the week’s biggest stories and sketches that put the duo in a variety of entertaining situations. Then, stay tuned at 10 a.m. ET for the weekly wrestling program OVW TV, putting the spotlight on a roster of hungry young talent fighting to prove themselves in adrenaline-fueled pro wrestling action.

Originally Posted by PWI The Associated Press spoke with Cody about the one year anniversary of the debut of AEW Dynamite at this link. On the ratings and the WWE NXT competition, Cody commented, "When you hit that million mark, and even on the nights where the average might be in the eights or nines, there are segments that go over a million and it certainly begets the question: What would this be like unopposed?” Rhodes said. “But opposed, it’s doing just so damn fine. I think we have a good indicator. We’ve seen what it looks like. But competition is not something we’re shying away from by any means. Wednesday night is our home"

Originally Posted by PWI FOX News featured a piece on Jungle Boy and how his father, late actor Luke Perry pushed him to pursue his pro wrestling career at this link. “For me, that was cool to have someone to talk about it,” he explained. “In a lot of ways, I think acting and wrestling are different, but they’re similar at the same time. But I think they’re things that a lot of people theoretically want to do when they’re younger and then give up on it along the way. So it was cool to have someone to talk to who had followed through with their childhood dream [of being an actor] and made it happen. There were so many things [we shared] along the way, but it was cool to be able to talk to someone and bounce ideas off of someone who had taken their dream all the way and fulfilled it.”

Originally Posted by PWI Aleister Black was interviewed by Sports Illustrated prior to Monday's Raw talking about opportunity, why he hasn't translated well on the main roster, and more. On why he believes he hasn't clicked yet on the main roster (something that might change with his movement to Smackdown as part of the WWE Draft), Black said: "I think the reason for that is we moved so far away from what Aleister Black was in NXT that people started getting confused about what exactly Aleister Black was supposed to be. After a few conversations, I said, ‘I need a different direction.’ That led to the creation of this new Aleister Black, where he is a little more human and people can latch on to him quicker. Being human doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be a good guy. It also can mean that it is a villain, and you can better understand the motives of where the character comes from. You don’t have to agree with the motives to understand them, but the motive had got lost for Aleister Black on the main roster. The opportunities presented on Raw and SmackDown are this great chessboard. Aleister Black, he feels that he has never had the opportunity to do what he needs to do. If he doesn’t get those opportunities, he’s going to burn the whole chessboard. If that means he’s sent to purgatory, that’s fine, because he’s been in purgatory. If you want to take it one step further and send him to hell, that’s fine, too. He’s accustomed to hell, his whole childhood was spent there. If Aleister Black doesn’t get his opportunity, then no one does. That is a much more relatable antagonistic way of looking at things. Before, that motive wasn’t as clear. A few months ago, what did he stand for? He was fighting for himself, then he got entangled with Rey Mysterio, and that left himself open to vicious beatings each week. It seemed like he never learned from his mistakes, which is strange for Aleister, because he seems so calculated. That got shuffled away a little bit"

Originally Posted by PWI Sonya Deville posted for the first time publicly on her Instagram in some time, reuniting with Mandy Rose. "Nothin can stop us, we all the way up. And Mandy apologized so we good" There is a hearing in Deville's stalker case this week with another court date set for December.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGTPY_RH...mpaign=loading

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling PWTorch received an email of an RSVP invitation that was sent to NXTTicket customers following TakeOver 31. The last time this mailing list was used was in April to alert ticket holders of the cancellation of NXT Live at Full Sail on the 15th of that month. Here’s the email: Good Evening! Thank you for being a passionate member of the NXT Universe! We hope you enjoyed TakeOver 31! We have a special opportunity for you to be a part of this week’s NXT Broadcast on Wednesday October 7! This is an opportunity for a limited number of the NXT Universe to be LIVE & IN PERSON at the Capitol Wrestling Center as part the Live Event Audience. This invitation is good for a maximum of 6 people. Please reply to this email to confirm that you are able to attend NXT this Wednesday October 7 at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the campus of the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. If you are selected, you will receive further correspondence with instructions on how to attend, COVID-19 testing procedures and on-site screening procedures. Please note that you must be over the age of 16 unless accompanied by a guardian and must provide photo ID upon check in at the Capitol Wrestling Center. The event will be held at limited capacity with social distancing measures in place. Face coverings will be mandatory throughout the course of the event. If you are interested in attending please reply with the following information: Total number of tickets requested (maximum of 6) Name of each attendee: Email address for each attendee: Mobile phone number for each attendee: Thank you for your consideration and supporting NXT! We look forward to seeing you weekly! PWTorch got in contact with fans who were in attendance for NXT on October 7th. Said fans chose to remain anonymous but they shared that WWE’s COVID-19 testing procedures include nasal swab tests to the RSVPs accepted for pre-approval and the fans are responsible for their off-site testing appointment on the same day of the show to accommodate others in attendance. WWE then sends a final email either accepting or denying based on the results that they get.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Forbes has an extensive feature up about All Elite Wrestling that includes interviews with Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, Brandi Rhodes and Jungle Boy. Tony Khan spoke about the success of AEW and the growth of their business. He added that AEW is going to have different types of video games for different platforms as well. “From a merchandising standpoint, everybody joked that we were a t-shirt company when we first started. But now we’ve got a very successful TV show and we’ve done a lot of successful pay-per-views. We’ve launched our action figures. We’re going to have different types of video games for different platforms and different experiences. So there’s all kinds of new lines of business coming up for us. Sports entertainment, in a lot of ways, is a very applicable term. But I don’t like it being used as a substitute for wrestling. It is a form of sports entertainment, what we do. But I also think that there’s no substitute for the word wrestling. I think it’s a great word. It makes me feel great when I say it. It brings a smile to my face. I love wrestling. I always have.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Patches Chance of Daily DDT caught up with Eddie Kingston. Prior to signing with All Elite Wrestling, Eddie was planning to retire from the business ... Eddie further spoke about what it meant to him to receive an AEW contract. He shared that he shed a few tears while on vacation with his significant other because it hit him that so many people pushed for him to get signed. “That was very humbling and surprising. I didn’t think that many fans cared, to be honest. It blew me away. I said this in other interviews too. I’m getting hit up and they’re telling me, ‘Oh, you’re trending,’ and they think this is a joke, but I really didn’t know. I go, ‘Oh, so I’m trending, does that mean I get extra money? Do they send me a check? Does Twitter send me a check for trending?’ I don’t know. I don’t get that kind of stuff. You could call me a boomer, I guess. I don’t know even what that is, but to me I didn’t know.” God, was it humbling. To the point where, I think it was two weeks after everything and I finally officially signed, I was in Montana with my girlfriend taking a vacation and I just broke down crying. She was like, ‘Are you okay?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine, it just kinda hit me now that, okay, people do care, and now I have a contract.’ It just hit me that I’m on national television and I finally have a contract with a big company, and I just remember wiping the tears away and looking at her and just going, ‘I love you, but now the real work begins.’ And she’s a BJJ black belt, so she was just like, ‘Yep, let’s get to work.’ And I was just like, ‘Oh, I guess I do have to get to work.’ So that was it.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Ariane Andrew and Matt Dillon welcomed Natalya onto their ‘Sippin The Tea’ show on YouTube. Natalya expressed her desire to piece together a documentary about her father Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart’s life. Natalya said she has been approached about something along those lines as well. “And then also, something that I really wanna do is — and I’ve been approached about doing it. I wanna do a documentary on my dad and on my dad’s life, and because my dad wasn’t just a WWE superstar. My dad was in the NFL, he played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders. He was a world class Shot putter. When my dad was 18 years old, he was the second best Shot putter in the United States and he had a full scholarship to UCLA and then ended up, after his football career was over, he ended up coming to train with my grandfather and then he ended up getting hired by WWE and becoming a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion so he has this really cool life and towards the end of his life, my dad got Alzheimer’s and so I think, I really, really am excited about putting a documentary together about my dad and when I watched the Andre The Giant documentary on — I believe it was HBO. Either HBO or SHOWTIME, I can’t remember…. When I watched the Andre The Giant documentary on HBO, it was one of the best documentaries I’d ever seen and it just gave me such insight into Andre The Giant’s life and I said to my mom and sisters like, ‘I would love to be an executive producer on a documentary on my dad and telling his story and really touch on so many different things that we don’t always touch base on.’ When we’re telling stories about athletes, we don’t always talk about mental health, we don’t always talk about a darker side and things that people go through when their career as an athlete is over and how they transition and different things like that so, that is something I really want to do and I think it’d be such a great way to honor my dad but to also do something different.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The first episode of SmackDown on FOX from 2019 was the focus of the latest 83 Weeks podcast. Eric Bischoff recalled being backstage for the show and said that from his viewpoint, it did not seem like Vince McMahon was too keen on appearing in front of the crowd to open the show but it appeared that Stephanie McMahon wanted him to join her. “I’ll be honest with everyone here, I actually got tears in my eyes when I saw Vince and Stephanie go out. I was standing in the Gorilla and, I was under — I’m gonna be careful how I say these things so I can talk about this without getting into trouble, as best I can. It was my impression, it was my impression that Vince didn’t really wanna do it, and I can understand it. You know, there comes a point as you’re getting older and Vince is ten years older than me, that you realize, the strength, the credibility that you bring to television isn’t what it used to be. It is what it is. We all get older, and when you’ve spent your life on television, you’re kind of aware of how you look and how you can present yourself and all that and it was my impression that Vince didn’t really wanna do it. It was also my impression that Stephanie really did want him to do it. Guess who won? Yeah, and I saw it go down. I wasn’t standing within inches of them but I was a couple feet away and I saw the hesitation by Vince and I saw the pressure put on by Stephanie. First of all, it just made my heart full seeing that father-daughter relationship in that exchange and it was really important to Stephanie, and when they went out and did it, it was exciting as hell, it was the right thing to do and it did, it brought tears to my eyes.”

Originally Posted by Fightful Reported reason why Andrade was not drafted or signed on Monday. According to Raj Giri of Wrestling INC, Andrade is undergoing a minor elective procedure and is expected to be out of action for a month. Andrade and Mickie James were the only two names from the Friday and Monday draft pools who were not drafted by a brand following the conclusion of night two of the WWE Draft. Neither were signed to a brand via free agency either. James recently revealed that she is out of action with a broken nose and will not be wrestling for a couple of weeks. Andrade did appear on Monday's Raw, losing to Angel Garza in singles competition. Following the bout, he and Zelina Vega were attacked by 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss. On social media, Andrade caused a stir when he tweeted and deleted "thank you," with many speculating that he was leaving WWE. His girlfriend Charlotte Flair calmed the rumors by saying he was simply wishing Vega well as they go their respective ways. Andrade also posted a photo of him as NXT champion, leading some to believe he will return to NXT. As of now, WWE has not commented on Andrade's status and he remains without a brand.

Originally Posted by Fightful Victory Championship Wrestling will be leaving its hometown of Munford, Alabama. The new town council in Munford claims that they can charge new tenants a higher rent, which is why VCW is being forced out of their building. VCW has made much stronger claims, accusing the town of being racist and transphobic. VCW General Manager Johnny Slaughter gave the following statement to Chris Deez of Bodyslam.net: “Yeah it is kind of a disgraceful situation with the Town of Munford. We have been there for years, and even made thousands of dollars of repairs to one of the town owned buildings, so that we could use it for our academy. Well now they have a new town council and realized they can charge someone else more than we are paying now that the building is useable. One of the Town council members has been heard by both one of my talents and someone the council member works with stating that he was not too happy about us having a African American Heavyweight Champion or a transgender member on our team. The town swears they know nothing about the council members comments and just want out of the lease because they want out of it.” “We are currently in negotiations with the town’s lawyer about settling what they owe us, and when it is done we will out the council member to the media (all sources). The town once told me they did not want to be known for Professional wrestling, so instead they can be known for bigotry and racism.” Wrestler LaDarrius Young backed up that claim by saying, “So here is some back story. We are getting kicked out of Munford, AL and the 17th is our last show there. The reason why we are getting kicked out is the mayor of Munfodd, AL is racist and said he does not like the fact our Victory Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion is black and we have a transgender person working in the womens division” Munford has yet to issue a comment regarding these claims. Fightful will update this story if a statement is given by the town. VCW will hold its last show in Munford on October 17.

Originally Posted by WrestleTalk The biggest news coming out of last week’s NXT were very negative. Finn Balor confirmed his injury as a broken jaw which required surgery. Then, Ridge Holland suffered a horrifying injury as his legs gave out when he attempted to catch Oney Lorcan on a dive. While these were the biggest news stories, there were some positive moments as well. Fightful Select (subscription required) is currently reporting that a number of segments from last week’s show were heavily praised backstage. The report says the segments involving Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell in particular received praise. Additionally, the report states that they were told by one person that NXT made Hartwell on the show without having her name on screen. The NXT women’s division continues to get more and more stacked as of late. The returns of Ember Moon and Toni Storm have added them into the mix, elevating the division as a whole in the process. If Hartwell is able to capitalize on this praise, she could easily work her way into the mix of the top stars in the division.

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Originally Posted by Observer On the first Wednesday night in some time without NBA competition, AEW Dynamite was up 9.7 percent in total viewers, averaging 826,000 viewers on TNT for its anniversary show featuring all titles being defended. NXT was also up, by 1.9% from last week, averaging 651,000 viewers on the USA Network. The cable news programming on the night was up from usual levels due to coverage of the Supreme Court nominee hearings, which dominated the charts. As a result, Dynamite and NXT were down in the 18-49 rankings from usual -- but their actual numbers were close to normal levels. Dynamite charted at 15th on cable for the night with a 0.30 rating, down 3.2 percent from last week. NXT was up 6.3 percent, averaging a 0.17 rating, but only finished at 51st in the cable charts for that category. The total viewership of 1.477 million viewers was up 6.1 percent from last week, but it's still one of the lower numbers in the last few months. Detailed demo ratings for both shows are not available due to NXT finishing outside the top 50. AEW's strongest category was men 18-49, where Dynamite averaged a 0.41 rating, placing it in eighth place on cable and first among the non-news and non-sports programming.

Originally Posted by Observer ROH officials made a decision today that a number of talents brought in for the television tapings this week would not be used due to being in contact with people who tested positive for COVID-19 at The Collective series of wrestling events over the weekend in Indianapolis. Three wrestlers have publicly come forward from that weekend, AC Mack, Dan the Dad, and Cabana Man Dan, stating that they had tested positive from the series of events that included a lot of top non-WWE talent that included stars from AEW, ROH, and Impact Wrestling. We are told that the ROH tapings had to be rewritten due to a number of people being sent home after the company learned yesterday they were exposed to people who had tested positive due to the company's internal protocol being used in conjunction with working with the Maryland State Athletic Commission ... This was confirmed with multiple sources although officially Joe Koff would not comment on the specific matter.

Wouldn't be surprised if AEW, Impact, and ROH (and MLW once they resume) start putting their foot down on talent taking outside indie bookings since that's twice in recent weeks an outbreak has happened directly or indirectly with big indie shows.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling After the news of a positive COVID-19 test result from Dan the Dad following last weekend’s events at The Collective, many performers are getting tested. Effy has announced he tested negative but as a precaution is removing himself from a booking tonight in San Antonio, Texas. If there is a small silver lining, it’s that Dan the Dad only worked the Glory Pro show on Saturday, unlike others that worked multiple events. However, it’s unknown how many people he came in contact with between the performers and fans stationed at the Marion County Fairgrounds throughout the weekend in Indianapolis. Others that have reported they have tested negative are Lee Moriarty, Elayna Black, and AJ Gray.

Originally Posted by Observer For the first time since an allegation was made against him during the #SpeakingOut movement this June, Jordan Devlin returned to WWE television on NXT UK this week. Devlin appeared in a video that aired on Thursday's episode of NXT UK. Devlin called his NXT Cruiserweight Championship the one real version of the title and said Santos Escobar's NXT Cruiserweight Championship is just a replica that doesn't mean a thing ... Following the allegation that was made against Devlin during the #SpeakingOut movement, WWE issued a statement saying that they take any allegation of this nature very seriously and were looking into the matter. The allegation was made by a woman named Hannah who claimed that Devlin had physically abused her. She tweeted photos of bruises on her lower body and wrote: "This is scary. I'm really scared. Jordan Devlin did this to me. And this is just the physical damage. Not including my arse and back bruises....because I don't fancy posting that online." Devlin posted a statement on Twitter denying the allegation: "I didn't even want to address the hurtful allegation made against me, but for the sake of my followers and friends on this platform that may for whatever reason be unsure, I'm going to address this once. The recent allegation made against me is completely and utterly false and I deny it entirely. This is a case of a malicious personal agenda being executed against me on the back of a very brave telling of true experiences by other women. I completely denounce it. This is all I will say on the matter, and I am now working with a legal team to help decide how to proceed from here." Jack Gallagher, Travis Banks, Ligero, and referees Joel Allen and Chris Roberts were released by WWE following #SpeakingOut allegations that were made against them. Joe Coffey was also suspended by WWE. After being on hiatus since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NXT UK returned to airing new episodes last month.

Originally Posted by Observer A documentary on the intertwined career of the Undertaker and Kane will debut at the Austin (TX) Film Festival & Conference in October before debuting on WWE Network the following month. "Brothers of Destruction" will close out the week-long conference on the night of Thursday, October 29th while the Network debut is set for Sunday, November 15th, part of a month-long celebration of Undertaker's 30 years in pro wrestling ("30 Days of the Deadman"). The documentary description from WWE: "The film breaks new ground as cameras capture a candid discussion between The Undertaker and Kane about their storied careers for the first time. Intertwined since Kane was introduced as The Undertaker’s long-lost brother in 1997, The Big Red Machine and The Deadman have been both bitter enemies and fierce allies, but their relationship never failed to captivate the WWE Universe, resulting in one of sports-entertainment’s most incredible legacies."

Originally Posted by Observer Sam Roberts is getting his own weekly series on the WWE Network. Roberts announced today that "Notsam Wrestling" will premiere on the WWE Network at 10 a.m. Eastern time next Thursday (October 22). The show will air weekly on Thursdays and will be available on both the paid and free versions of the WWE Network. Roberts said he'll be producing and creating the series himself from his studio. Roberts said Notsam Wrestling on the WWE Network won't just be a video version of his wrestling podcast or any other content that's previously been available. He said it's a brand new show and his podcast and Patreon will remain the same ... Roberts, who co-hosts the Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show on SiriusXM, made his debut as a panelist on WWE's pre-show in 2016. Roberts has hosted his wrestling podcast since 2014.

Originally Posted by PWI Tetsuya Naito has teased he will select a challenger from outside of New Japan Pro Wrestling for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship if he wins the G1 Climax in an interview with Tokyo Sports. Naito pointed out Keiji Mutoh won the G1 Climax in 1995 while holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and faced Nobuhiro Takeda – from UWF International – on January 4, 1996. The same situation occurred when Kensuke Sasaki won the G1 Climax in 2000 with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and faced Toshiaki Kawada – from All Japan Pro Wrestling – on January 4, 2001. Naito also mentioned Hiromu Takahashi as a possible challenger.

Originally Posted by PWI As reported earlier, the WWE NXT Halloween Havoc broadcast on 10/28 will see the return of former WCW Havoc PPV concept Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal. On the video screen behind Shotzi Blackheart when she announced the concept would be returning on tonight's episode of NXT were the following match stipulations: -Biker's Chain Match -Blindfold Match -Boiler Room Brawl -Buried Alive Match -Casket Match -Chamber of Horrors Match -Coal Miner's Glove on a Pole Match. -Devil's Playground Match -Shotzi's Choice Match -TLS -Trick or Streetfight -Weapons Wild Match

Originally Posted by PWI Ireland's Over the Top Wrestling announced the passing of Ryan Smile: Our team is devastated to learn of the loss of Ryan Smile. His talent and contribution set the standard for what British/Irish wrestling was to become. A tragic loss RIP pic.twitter.com/QWrcmHEv1c — OTT WRESTLING (@OTT_wrestling) October 14, 2020 Smile, who has retired officially in 2018, had wrestled for 11-12 years in different corners of the European wrestling scene. He had held the OOT and the Revolution Pro Championships.

Originally Posted by Observer Former wXw champion Karsten Beck (Karsten Pitann) passed away on Thursday morning following a battle with brain cancer. "Karsten Pitann aka Karsten Beck has passed away this morning after battling brain cancer for years," wXw announced. "We say farewell to a Hall of Famer wrestler, a Unified World Wrestling champion, a World Triangle League winner, our director of sports, our colleague, our companion, our friend. We wish Karsten's family and Ruth, those who have walked along Karsten until the very end, all the strength in the world. We miss you, Karsten." Beck was 33 years old. Beck's in-ring career began in 2006 and he last wrestled prior to being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2016. Beck became an on-screen authority figure as wXw's director of sports after his diagnosis. In 2017, Beck announced that his plans to return to the ring had to be halted due to doctors finding during a routine checkup that his tumor was growing again.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling ESPN’s Ariel Helwani spoke with Paul Heyman on Wednesday to promote the season premiere of SmackDown and covered several subjects, among them: Heyman was asked about no longer serving as the Executive Director of RAW and said he was fine with the decision by Vince McMahon. He said he told McMahon when he took the job that he only wanted it for as long as McMahon woke up happy and excited that Heyman was running RAW, once that feeling eroded he didn’t want to be in a position where McMahon wasn’t happy with Heyman in the spot because he had been there in years past. Due to the platform he was on and Helwani co-hosting a show with the man, Heyman heavily pushed a potential match down the road with Daniel Cormier with either Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar. Heyman stated Lesnar wasn’t under contract to WWE and he’ll come back if he sees a challenge for himself and is incentivized to do so. He added that Lesnar is happy being a father and a farmer now. He doesn’t think Lesnar will do MMA again and thinks he scratched that itch at UFC 200 when he fought Mark Hunt. Although, UFC definitely thought they had a chance of putting the fight together between Cormier and Lesnar and allowed Lesnar to enter the Octagon after Cormier beat Stipe Miocic in July 2018.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer site got a further breakdown of the ratings from Friday Night SmackDown featuring the draft last week. While the overall viewership was only up slightly with 2,178,000 viewers, the 18-49 rating was a 0.65 that equals approximately 839,000 viewers and is a strong figure for SmackDown. It indicates that while the draft didn’t impact its entire audience, the demographic most valued did receive an increase due to it.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling IWTV has launched a very cool concept with The Masked Wrestler that premiered on Wednesday night. The eight-person tournament will take place over several weeks with all the participants competing under masks with their identities hidden. Once a person is eliminated, they will reveal themselves to the audience. The first episode is available for free

Link for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtZW07QyPto

Originally Posted by Cultaholic Since NXT TakeOver: 31, the black and gold brand has broadcast all programming from the Capitol Wrestling Center. Similar to the Amway Center, which hosts Raw and SmackDown, the ring is surrounded by LED screens filled with virtual fans. All the fans on the video wall during the broadcast seemingly aren't live, though. Wrestling fan Jessi Davin could be seen on the LED screens behind Fandango and Tyler Breeze on last night's NXT but she tweeted a video saying she was actually watching AEW: Dynamite. She wrote: "Why is WWE using stock footage of old Thunderdome participants in the Capitol Wrestling Center lololol I am NOT THERE I am watching #AEWDynamite. "Y'all I have zero problem with it. I'm actually flattered they thought my footage was good enough to use twice. I'm not outraged, either. When you agree to enter the Thunderdome you agree to the terms and conditions. I'm sure this was in there in the famed wall of text." Fightful Select later reported multiple readers have told them their image has appeared inside the Capitol Wrestling Center despite them not live streaming at the time.

Originally Posted by Fightful NJPW also announced that there will be live English commentary for the October 16, 17 and 18 shows which are the G1 Climax A Block Finals, B Block Finals and G1 Finals, respectively.

Originally Posted by HeelByNature.com During the summer, All Elite Wrestling dealt with a number of spoilers from taped shows leaking on Reddit. One of the major spoilers was Eric Bischoff working with the company, hosting a debate between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy during AEW Dynamite. Chris Jericho spoke on the situation during his Saturday Night Special live stream, claiming a ‘NXT reject’ was the person behind the leaks, but did not mention any names ... Following the leak of Eric Bischoff’s appearance, the Reddit user continued to post spoilers, up until 8/29, when AEW Dark taping results were leaked. These spoilers were revealed a week after Jericho called the leaker an “NXT reject”. Fightful Select (subscription required) has gained some insight on the situation, revealing former WWE NXT wrestler Tino Sabbatelli was blamed for leaking AEW spoilers. It’s not known if he was actually leaking information, but people backstage at AEW believe he is culprit. Sabbatelli was released from WWE as part of company wide cuts this past April, but has since returned. The report indicates he was listed internally as being part of the talent scheduled to be at the WWE Performance Center. It’s unknown if WWE has signed him to a new deal. Fightful was informed last week that Sabbattelli was listed internally as being scheduled to be at the venue, but that the sheet often has errors. However, Sabbatelli did end up showing up there. Sabbatelli worked one match for All Elite Wrestling in July under the name ‘Sabby’, teaming with Brady Pierce against Best Friends. It’s unknown how many tapings he present at.

Would explain why he only worked on one show despite AEW usually giving new people a few matches to help keep things fresh with their jobber pool and as tryout material.

Originally Posted by 411Mania According to a report by Fightful Select, sources within Ring of Honor (ROH) have stated that the company is planning a program revamp. This includes company officials informing new talent that the plan is to rejuvenate the brand and overhaul it “from top to bottom.” Per the report, ROH’s plan includes revamping the women’s division, which Jonathan Gresham previously took over at the start fo the year. Some of these plans were said to be in motion before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. As a result, they won’t start to take affect until closer to the end of 2020. Additionally, Delirious has reportedly been reaching out to wrestlers to speak with them about working in ROH. Also, company officials have taken heavy feedback from wrestlers over the course of the last year in order to implement upcoming changes to the show’s overall presentation and production. Some of those recommendations from wrestlers have already been implemented for the weekly ROH TV show for the Pure Championship Tournament.

Originally Posted by Fightful Phillip Thomas, the man charged with stalking Sonya Deville, had a virtual court hearing on Monday with new information coming to light. Raj Giri of Wrestling INC reports Thomas' mail has been going to Deville's home as that was the address he gave when he was booked. Hillsborough County Jail has corrected the information, but the courts have not. Thomas was arrested on August 17 after breaking into Deville's home and charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary of a dwelling, attempted armed kidnapping, and criminal mischief. He pled not guilty to all charges. Thomas remains incarcerated as his bail of $2 million was denied after the judge deemed him a threat to the community. The Hillsborough County Court ruled on August 24 they would not release any evidence to the public before the hearing in regards to the case. He has a court appearance on November 12 for the continuation of Deville's temporary protection injunction. After that, he is scheduled to return to court on December 15.

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The WWE draft, held on the 10/9 Smackdown and 10/12 Raw shows, with a few lower picks at other times, saw most of the talent stay with their brand, with a few switches ... Perhaps the most talked about aspect was the split up of The New Day, with Kingston & Woods moving to Raw as tag team champions and Big E staying a single. The idea is to get Big E away from the act and make him more serious for a singles push. Historically, WWE has broken up tag team acts in the draft before and while there are exceptions, most of the time they find out the combination of parts was more effective than the parts individually. One would suspect E getting a major singles push, which was talked about weeks ago and somewhat started. The idea is to get him out of the comedic mode. There is a logic to it even though, because the New Day has been established together for so many years and have been popular, there was going to be a negative reaction breaking them up without a storyline leading to it. Trying to use logic to explain the draft is a waste of time. Such as, if acts can be drafted together, why did Raw pick Woods & Kingston and not Big E when it was specifically stated acts will be drafted together and in the WWE’s own listings of who can be picked, The New Day was listed as all three together. But that wasn’t the only act broken up. Lucha House Party was a similar situation, with Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik moved to Raw while Kalisto stayed on Smackdown. So in this case, they had spent weeks building up the split and feud with Dorado and Kalisto with Metalik in the middle, and dropped it cold without so much as one match. Heavy Machinery was also broken up even though they were supposed to be grouped together. Tucker is a very good athlete and talented, but he’s going to have a very difficult time as a single. Plus, with his size, it looks silly to put him in a jobber role because he’ll make the heels look small. There was no reason to break them up, also because even if the idea is of Otis as a single, they actually had good believability as best friends, and Otis is far better playing off Tucker as the straight guy than on his own ... Of the switches, the biggest names were A.J. Styles, Braun Strowman, Wyatt & Bliss, Riddle and Hardy to Raw, and Rollins, Rey & Dominik Mysterio and Kevin Owens to Smackdown. Styles in particular was expected since he publicly complained about missing his son’s high school football games on Friday nights, just months after complaining about wanting to get off Raw because he blamed Heyman, who was in charge at the time, for Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows being fired. Rollins was his replacement and to keep his angle going, that meant the Mysterio family and Murphy had to go to Smackdown with him. It was noted to us by one key person in WWE that having the three big angles all on Smackdown was on purpose because Raw is a lock on USA no matter what because they need the show or USA Network collapses in the ratings. FOX doesn’t need Smackdown. FOX is heavily into sports and sports rights are escalating and the feeling is niche sports, and Smackdown on FOX could qualify as that, would be in trouble as far as being able to land a good deal. Smackdown will be fine with current numbers in two years, but if they drop 25 percent each year, that wouldn’t be good ... Andrade not being picked spoke volumes about where he stands after doing a quick job to Angel Garza after spending months breaking up the team, with the idea it was a blow-off to get out of it. His fiancé, Charlotte Flair, was a high pick for Raw even though she may not be back for a while. All indications are he stays on Raw. But we were told when Paul Heyman was replaced that the guys who would be hurt the most were Andrade and Aleister Black ... Retribution was kept as a group on Raw. For now they’ll likely face The Hurt Business since each side has four male members. For this week, Retribution is Mustafa Ali as the leader, T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic), Mace (Dio Maddin) and Slapjack (Shane Thorne). Mia Yim as Reckoning is still part of the group based on the graphics. Mercedes Martinez was pulled from the group and will be put back in NXT. Then again, there was a graphic WWE had on 10/13 that still had Martinez but didn’t have T-Bar, so this situation is fluid past Ali as the leader.

CMLL: All four wrestlers who were pulled from the Anniversary show for testing positive for COVID, Bandido, Princesa Sugehit and the couple of Ultimo Guerrero and Lluvia, were back in action after having tested negative. All but Guerrero wrestled on the 10/9 Arena Mexico show. Bandido returning set the stage for a Volador Jr. vs. Bandido NWA welterweight title that was scheduled for the anniversary show. They announced the match for the 10/16 show but Bandido on 10/13 told CMLL officials that he was having trouble breathing in his 10/9 match and asked for more time to get back into top shape ... The hope now is for the match to take place on 11/6 if/when Bandido makes a full recovery by that time. It was noted that even though CMLL knew about this on 10/13, and announced it on 10/15, that on 10/14 they were still pushing the match for Friday. It’s not as bad as some companies in a sense since they aren’t selling tickets and iPPV orders usually all come the last day, but that’s splitting hairs because knowingly promoting a main event you know isn’t happening is false advertising even if some companies believe they are above it and because the biggest company does it routinely to the degree that the fan base who doesn’t care about matches or personas anymore, it’s all about the brand, doesn’t really care about it. The belief is that if Volador vs. Bandido doesn’t happen on 11/6, it would have to be moved until December because of talk of doing the Universal title tournament (the annual Champion of Champions tournament) from 11/13 to 11/27

Konnan did an interview talking extensively about Lucha Underground on The Masks, Mats and Mayhem show. He noted that he originally believed he would be the head writer for the promotion since he was head booker for AAA and it was supposed to be in conjunction with AAA, he was told in a meeting that they were going with Chris DeJoseph since he had WWE writing experience. He was told he would be an agent. He did suggest ideas but ended up on the wrong side politically. Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Vampiro, the other agents, felt that they needed to be like WWE to appeal to the U.S. audience. Konnan wanted it to be like authentic Lucha Libre. He said his breaking point was when they did a Sexy Star vs. Super Fly man vs. woman mask vs. mask match with no build up. He felt it was disrespectful to do a mask match out of the blue with no angle and wasteful to waste a stipulation that usually draws money with no economic value since it wasn’t advertised in advance. He noted that DeJoseph was disappointed in the match because he thought Sexy Star was a great worker, which is funny because everyone who followed Lucha Libre at the time knew that wasn’t the case. Konnan complained to the owners. That ended up leading to him being killed off as a character, as in they killed him and then stopped using him. He said he was also frustrated it was treated as some form of an art project and not a wrestling promotion. He wanted to run house shows, do merchandise. He also said that AEW has talked about using Taurus (Cody loves Taurus), El Hijo del Vikingo (who others see as a star), and Laredo Kid. That’s true but unless things have changed, AEW hasn’t really been into bringing anyone new in from Mexico of late He felt Laredo Kid hurt himself by doing the reality show. He also said that Kenny Omega vs. Laredo Kid is the plan for the next AAA heavyweight title match. He also said AAA would be fine if Omega defends the title in AEW

Vice is working on a third season of Dark Side of the Ring after the second season set record viewership numbers for the station. Vice is also coming off this commissioning a first season of Dark Side of Football. The idea the station has is Dark Side of Wrestling worked because it was a deep dive on nostalgic subjects as opposed to the idea wrestling in the past wasn’t well covered mainstream so most viewers knew next to nothing behind-the-scenes on these subjects. But it was notable that those at Vice were not interested in a pro wrestling television series based on the ratings of Dark Side and instead chalk this up to interest in as many different Dark Side subjects as they can. We know they are working on shows on Brian Pillman (I’d say the key people to get would be Kim Wood, Mark Madden, Brian Jr., Melanie Pillman, Liam O’Rourke and myself but obviously I’m not going to be asked but without Wood or O’Rourke it’ll be filled with flaws because O’Rourke is the student of Pillman and Wood worked with him on all his ideas), Dynamite Kid (Bret Hart hasn’t been interested in their shows in the past because of how Montreal was covered and he would be by far the best person to talk with, with Ross Hart second so hopefully they’ll at least get Ross), Grizzly Smith (getting family members which will be one dark story) and going back to WCW talking about the two shows in North Korea in 1995, which really is a fascinating story. I don’t think they can get Ric Flair, who would be tremendous, because WWE doesn’t allow its talent to participate in that series, but Scott Norton is somebody they need to talk with on that one, as well as Eric Bischoff and some of the other guys like Too Cold Scorpio who were on the trip or Antonio Inoki, which at this stage would be very difficult

The cast of GLOW is trying to push for a movie as a way to give closure to the series which had a scripted ending for the season that was just canceled. They are trying to build up social media support. The fact the show was canceled by Netflix, one of the services that most saw as benefitting from the current pandemic situation, and one that was considered among the best television series’ around, shows just how bad the economy looks right now for scripted television shows even on streaming carriers. They key is not just that it was canceled but with the general acclaim the show got, that nobody else picked it up

All the talent was brought to Baltimore early in the week to quarantine for the second set of tapings that take place over the weekend ROH made a decision that a number of talents brought in for the television tapings this week would not be used due to being in contact with people who tested positive for COVID-19 at The Collective series of wrestling events over the weekend in Indianapolis. A number of wrestlers were sent home to quarantine and the TV tapings had to be rewritten due to those missing who were expected to perform. Danhausen at press time was the only person to publicly state he was being sent home for precautionary reasons. It should be noted that ROH was paying all the talent that was booked and sent home. ROH has had some of the strictest COVID protocols of any wrestling company in the world since the outbreak in March, including a long period of not running any events nor taping new television shows ... ROH has also not brought in any wrestlers from foreign countries, which includes Rush, who holds their heavyweight title and Dragon Lee, who holds the TV title. Lee’s contract apparently expires on 12/1

This may be a second season spoiler. When asked about year two of AEW in screencrush.com, Matt Jackson said, “I think year two is going to be all about Kenny Omega. He’s been very, what’s the word I’m looking for, I guess unselfish and he’s ready to explode. So I would keep my eye on him. Another one off the top of my head would be Darby Allin. He’s got so much potential to be such a massive star for AEW that we have to use him in the right way, and he’s definitely going to be a top player.” Nick brought up that Adam Page will be a future world champion, although everyone pretty much knows that’s a long-term plan. They also talked about the idea of a tag team match as the main event on a PPV. He said they proved for years pre-AEW that they could draw all over the world with tag team matches as the main event

The company did a ton of media this week regarding the anniversary show. Tony Khan to Bleacher Report talked about bringing in and pushing different new talent, notably Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, MJF, Britt Baker and John Silver. “I can talk all day about Orange Cassidy. There was stuff about his independent act that I hated and would never do on our show. Matt [Jackson] said this guy's really got something and he suggested putting him with Best Friends. I went to a PWG show and really got to know him and learn what makes him tick. I had no idea that Orange Cassidy was Fire Ant (for Chikara) until he told me that night and I was like, 'Oh my god, you're a great wrestler.' So I said what if we hold it all back and build it up little by little to make people want to see him wrestle. After seeing his work, Jericho wanted to work with him. Chris and I put together a lot of ideas, but Chris was so generous and did so much for him because he believes in him." “I can't name a person I have less in common with than Darby Allin, but I talk to him every single day, and he's a genius. He is a genius storyteller and a great filmmaker. Cody brought him to my attention, and now I work with him as closely as I work with anybody." “I was watching Being The Elite, and I went to John Silver and was ribbing him. He is one of the only people I rib. I called him into my office and said, 'I'm really upset with you. You've got this great personality and apparently, you choose to only show it in BTE. I want you to do that stuff on Dynamite.' So he is doing more stuff and developing his own personality, which is great. Another person who I am so proud of for the way they developed their character is Britt Baker. Her run as a heel has been outstanding, and she has gotten so much better as the year has gone on." “We bring in new people every month. We bring in people from the independent scene and a lot of times you will see those people on AEW Dark, too. Sometimes these are one-off things, but if somebody impresses us, we'll bring them back. Will Hobbs is a good example of somebody that I really took a liking to and is doing a really great job for us. We're always looking for different partnerships. We've had the AAA tag titles on the show. Kenny Omega is the AAA champion, and he's defended the title on Dynamite and Dark. Thunder Rosa defended the NWA women's title. We're always looking for ways to work with people, but I am also keeping my eye on the independent scene.

Since the start of 1999 and through the end of September, Linda McMahon has contributed $4,544,560 to Donald Trump’s campaign and at least another $1.5 million to other Republican candidates. America First Action, a SuperPac that McMahon is the chair of, has raised $82 million for the election campaign as of 8/31

Total Bellas will return on 11/12 in the Thursday at 9 p.m. time slot on E! So the idea is Total Bellas on E! and then Miz & Mrs. On USA right after with the idea that WWE fans, mostly younger women, of the reality show genre will spend Thursday switching channels. The last season, built around Nikki & Brie being pregnant at the same time was a big success, up from previous years at a time everything has been declining. The show also does great numbers via DVR, far more than any traditional pro wrestling show. If you include DVR viewers, the season finale did 1.3 million viewers and 764,000 in 18-49, which beats a lot of Raws & Smackdowns even throwing in DVR numbers, and kills every wrestling show with Woman 18-49 at 489,000 including DVR viewers. In live viewers, it would be behind all the shows except Miz & Mrs. and NXT

Raw Underground for right now is considered done. At first it was dropped because of the COVID breakout and fear the extras who are in the crowd may have been exposed so it was shut down for a few weeks. But almost everyone who was part of that breakup is now back. Then again most were back either this week or last and this week with the draft it wouldn’t have fit as easily. There was fear that bringing all those people, both the wrestlers and the people they used as the audience, to Raw tapings could start a spread to the Raw roster and the idea is to keep NXT talent away from Raw and Smackdown talent as much as possible

During Bloodsport, a WWE rep was filming the Davey Boy Smith Jr., match for a documentary that is being done on Davey Boy Smith, who they will be inducting into the Hall of Fame whenever they can do that ceremony, likely at this coming year’s WrestleMania. The WWE Network is also working on a story about Davey By Smith for next year. WWE was filming Smith Jr. all weekend from training at the gym to the show

The most-watched shows of the past week on WWE Network: 1. WWE Day of 2016 Draft; 2. Hell in a Cell 2019; 3. Talking Smack; 4. Raw Talk; 5. Uncool with Alexa Bliss with Bella Twins; 6. WWE Storytime season four episode one; 7. Best of Yokozuna; 8. Clash of Champions 2020; 9. Takeover 31; 10. Smackdown from 9/11. NXT was 13th. NXT U.K., 205 Live and none of the independent content cracked the top 25 this week

WWE Ratings, AEW vs. NXT Ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw on 10/12 averaged 1,854,000 viewers, so the draft clearly helped the show by about ten percent, and also did 0.57 in 18-49. It was the best numbers the show has done since 8/31, or since the beginning of football season. The big gains from last week were with the 35-49 age group, and far more with women than men, as the men’s gain was 3.8 percent but the women’s gain was 41.3 percent. Under 35 the numbers were pretty much the same as the prior week. The chief competition was the usual NFL game on ESPN with the Los Angeles Chargers vs. New Orleans Saints that did 10,694,000 viewers and 3.35 in 18-49 and the National League championship series game with the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves that did 4,202,000 viewers and 1.2 in 18-49 on NBC. Raw’s first hour topped two million viewers, but it’s 16.5 percent first-to-third hour drop was larger than it has been of late. It’s pretty clear people were interested in the top stars in the draft, and they went early. After that interest declined with the women’s Battle Royal as the main thing advertised besides the draft for hour three. Raw was 32nd on cable overall, trailing only NFL related programming and news programming. It was No. 5 in 18-49 on cable behind three NFL-related shows on ESPN and Home Deck Mediterranean (0.59). It was fourth in Males 18-49, seventh in 18-34 and fifth in Males 12-34. As compared to the draft show last year, the decline was the lowest for Raw year-to-year for a long time, with an 18.6 percent decline overall, 23.0 percent in 18-49 and 39.6 percent in 18-34. The first hour did 2,006,000 viewers. The second hour did 1,884,000 viewers. The third hour did 1,676,000 viewers. The first-to-third hour declines were 16.3 percent in women 18-49, 11.3 percent in men 18-49, 17.1 percent in teenage girls, 7.5 percent in teenage boy and 16.3 percent in over 50.

Smackdown on 10/9 did a 1.40 with 2,178,000 viewers (1.29 viewers per home) viewers and an 0.65 in 18-49 (839,000 viewers) and 0.4 in 18-34 for the draft show that also featured the first Bayley vs. Sasha Banks title match since their split. The show had real competition with both the final game of the NBA playoffs and a huge baseball game with the New York Yankees being ousted from the playoffs, but the draft still should have done considerably better on a show that also included Bayley vs. Banks. There was growth over last week but it was far less than should have been expected for such a show. The rating was equal to last week. Due to the increase in viewers per home, the audience was up 1.1 percent and the 18-49 audience was up 8.5 percent, which is a solid increase, and 18-34 was up 25.0 percent so the younger audience was still interested. As compared to the draft show last year, it was down 22.7 percent in households, down 24.3 percent in viewers and down and down 32.2 percent in 18-49 and down 42.9 percent in 18-34. The Lakers-Heat game on 10/2 on ABC did 6,609,000 viewers, 2.41 in 18-49 and 2.0 in 18-34 and baseball did 2,599,000 viewers with 0.59 in 18-49 and 0.50 in 18-34. This week the NBA finals did 8,890,000 viewers with a 3.20 in 18-49 and 2.7 in 18-34. The Yankees game did 3,723,000 viewers with a 0.89 in 18-49 and 0.70 in 18-34. As far as network programming went, Smackdown was tied for third in 18-49 behind the NBA pre-show and NBA game. I was also tied for third in 18-34. In total viewers, it was next to last place among network shows beating only a rerun of American Ninja Warrior. The first half hour had 2.29 million viewers for Big E vs. Sheamus falls count anywhere. The second half hour had 2.22 million viewers for the Roman Reigns/Jey Uso/Paul Heyman interview segment and Matt Riddle & Jeff Hardy vs. Miz & John Morrison. The third half hour did 2.19 million viewers for Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title, Kevin Owens show with Alexa Bliss and Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro losing the tag title to Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods. The final half hour did 2.02 million viewers for Kevin Owens vs. The Fiend.

AEW’s anniversary show with four title matches and a PPV lineup on 10/14 did 826,000 viewers and 0.30 (383,000 viewers) in 18-49 while NXT did 651,000 viewers and 0.17 (225,000 viewers) in 18-49. The AEW number has to be considered a big disappointment, particularly in 18-49. It had competition from both baseball championship series games which overlapped during the show, and the news channels did monster numbers. AEW was No. 15 in 18-49, behind the two games, 10 news shows all on FOX News and Real Housewives of Orange County (1,051,000 viewers and 0.34) and a Lifetime movie (1,191,000 viewers and 0.33), both shows heavily geared for women ... AEW took a big hit with women, being down 41 percent over the usual number in women 18-34, which had been a strong demo, and down 11 percent in women 35-49 over the usual level ... It’s interesting to look at the same chart last year. The competition is far stronger this year, in particular news channels. Head-to-head with AEW, Tucker Carlson was up 43.9 percent and Hannity was up 48.6 percent for the Supreme Court seat hearings. Last year AEW only lost to the NBA and three entertainment shows. This year they lost to two entertainment shows, baseball (there was none head-to-head last year) and the news shows (which they beat in 18-49 a year ago). As far as year-to-year drops, AEW was down 18.5 percent in viewers, 31.8 percent in 18-49 and 37.9 percent in 18-34. That’s overall less than WWE shows have been doing most weeks, but not appreciably less. NXT was down only 8.6 percent in viewers and 15.0 percent in 18-49. Compared to last week, when both shows were against the Vice Presidential debate and that was going to hurt a lot and this week was going to be up somewhat, AEW was up 9.7 percent overall but down 4.5 percent in 18-49. But most of the gains were over 50. NXT was up 1.9 percent from last week in viewers and up 6.1 percent in 18-49. AEW doubled NXT in men 18-34 and almost doubled in men 35-49. In the key demos, AEW did 80,000 men 18-34 (up 31.1 percent from last week) to 32,000 for NXT (up 10.3 percent). AEW did 46,000 in women 18-34 (down 32.4 percent from last week) to 35,000 for NXT (up 29.6 percent). AEW did 183,000 in men 35-49 (down 10.3 percent) to 94,000 for NXT (up 2.2 percent). AEW did 74,000 in women 35-49 (up 8.8 percent) to 64,000 for NXT (same as last week). Another key figure is that teenage girls for AEW dropped 47.0 percent from last week while teenage boys were up 1.3 percent from last week. In the main event battle, AEW with Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer for the AEW title did 825,000 viewers and 378,000 in 18-49 while NXT with Damien Priest vs. Dexter Lumis did 569,000 viewers and 187,000 in 18-49. AEW doubled NXT in two quarters in 18-49, the main event and also when AEW had Cody vs. Orange Cassidy, which was by far the biggest thing on either show, going against Candice LeRae vs. Shotzi Blackheart. In the first quarter, AEW did 880,000 viewers and 378,000 in 18-49 for FTR vs. Best Friends. NXT did 781,000 viewers and 239,000 in 18-49 for Undisputed Era out plus Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. As usual, NXT did well at first based on its huge lead-in. In the second quarter, AEW did 804,000 viewer and 367,000 in 18-49 for the end of FTR vs. Best Friends, the post-match angle with Miro & Kip Sabian, Miro & Sabian vs. Sean Maluta & Lee Johnson and a Moxley attack by Archer. NXT did 685,000 viewers and 225,000 in 18-49 for the end of Strong & Fish vs. Lorcan & Burch, an Ember Moon promo and Jake Atlas vs. Ashante Adonis. In the third quarter, AEW did 876,000 viewers and 400,000 in 18-49 for the MJF/Chris Jericho segment plus Tony Schiavone and Britt Baker at the spa. NXT did 669,000 viewers and 230,000 in 18-49 the Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae interview and Gargano vs. Austin Theory. In the fourth quarter, AEW did 765,000 viewers and 377,000 in 18-49 for the beginning of Cody vs. Orange Cassidy. NXT did 644,000 viewers and 229,000 in 18-49 for the end of Gargano vs. Theory and a Raquel Gonzalez/Rhea Ripley backstage brawl. In the fifth quarter, AEW did 920,000 viewers and 453,000 in 18-49 for Cody vs. Cassidy and the Matt Hardy interview. This was the high point of the night in just about every category. NXT did 658,000 viewers and 218,000 in 18-49 for LeRae vs. Blackheart for a title shot. In the sixth quarter, AEW did 761,000 viewers and 369,000 in 18-49 for the angle with all the tag teams setting up next week’s four-team match and the beginning of Hikaru Shida vs. Big Swole. NXT did 654,000 viewers and 216,000 in 18-49 for a vignette with Killian Dain & Drake Maverick, Toni Storm vs. Aliyah and William Regal with Xia Lee and Boa. In the seventh quarter, AEW did 781,000 viewers and 340,000 in 18-49 for the end of Shida vs. Swole. NXT did 560,00 viewers and 184,000 in 18-49 for Imperium vs. Maverick & Dain and the post-match attack by Ever Rise. In the main event quarter, Moxley vs. Archer gained 44,000 viewers and 38,000 in 18-49. Priest vs. Lumis gained 9,000 viewers and 3,000 in 18-49. NXT went back to an overrun but it only did 625,000 viewers and 200,000 in 18-49. My gut is that if AEW fans were aware of it, it would have picked up a lot, but since nobody knew going in, the growth was minimal. Because NXT didn’t crack the top 50, we don’t have complete charts. AEW did a 0.10 in 12-17 (down 23.1 percent), 0.18 in 18-34 (down 2.3 percent), 0.42 in 35-49 (down 5.5 percent) and 0.35 in 50+ (up 34.6 percent). The audience was 68.7 percent male in 18-49 and 65.2 percent male in 12-17, much higher male skews than usual by a wide margin in both categories.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer With opposition from a strong NFL number, Raw's season premiere did 1.78 million viewers and a 0.52 in 18-49, down four percent in viewers and nine percent in 18-49 from last week's draft show. The decline is probably less than would be expected, particularly since the Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals NFL game did 11.32 million viewers and 3.57 in 18-49 ... It was fourth in 18-49, beating everything but NFL related programming on cable. The first-to-third hour drop of six percent was much lower than usual, so the audience that tuned in stayed longer than usual,which is a good sign for how the audience saw the quality of the show. Another factor is that the second hour beat the first hour, meaning a lot of people tuned in late, perhaps due to the early football game on FOX that did 12.16 million viewers and a 3.5 in 18-49. That meant the length wouldn't affect them as much in hour three. As compared to the same week last year, the show was down 24 percent in viewers, 31 percent in 18-49, and 42 percent in 18-34. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 1.81 million viewers 9 p.m. 1.84 million viewers 10 p.m. 1.69 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer The Orange County Department of Health is investigating buildings WWE is running shows in as part of a wider investigation into COVID-19 hotspots in the county. WFTV9 is reporting that The Orange County Department of Health is asking their COVID-19 strike team to investigate 17 businesses where COVID-19 may be spreading. The WWE Performance Center, Full Sail University, and the Amway Arena, all places WWE are currently holding events, are on the list. WWE issued the following statement in response: WWE is not open to the public, but rather operating on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance. As part of on-going weekly testing protocols, Aventus Labs have administered more than 10,000 PCR tests to WWE performers, employees, production staff and crew resulting in only 1.5 percent positive cases as compared to the current national average of more than 5%. Additionally, extensive contact tracing takes place and impacted individuals are placed in 14-day quarantine and then only cleared after they test negative. There reportedly has been at least two COVID-19 outbreaks in WWE since moving all of their tapings to Florida, one in June and another in September.

Originally Posted by Observer With SmackDown airing on FS1 this week, WWE Backstage is returning for a special edition of the show. A one-hour episode of WWE Backstage will air on FS1 from the WWE ThunderDome after SmackDown this Friday night. A replay of this week's SmackDown will then air on FS1 after Backstage at 11 p.m. Eastern time. SmackDown is making a one-week-only move to FS1 this Friday due to game three of the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers being on Fox. FS1 suspended weekly production of WWE Backstage this June, though it was noted that the show could return with occasional episodes surrounding major events. WWE Backstage launched in November 2019 and was hosted by Renee Young and Booker T. It also featured a panel of contributors that included CM Punk making select appearances. The hosts/panel for this Friday's episode of Backstage haven't been announced.

Originally Posted by PWI As PWInsider.com covered earlier today, FS1 is resurrecting WWE Backstage this Friday after it airs Friday Night Smackdown. The decision to bring back WWE Backstage was a late decision as initially, the plan was to air a one-hour episode of "Talking Smack", which normally airs on Saturday morning on the WWE Network.

Originally Posted by PWI The closing of last night's Monday Night Raw, with Drew McIntyre closing the door on the Hell In A Cell went off the air as it was envisioned. We've had a few readers ask if perhaps the company was running late with the segment and ran out of time, but we have been told by multiple sources that the ending we saw was the ending Vince McMahon approved.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Konnan guest appeared on the ‘Masks, Mats and Mayhem’ show. Konnan dove into his time in Lucha Underground and recalled when the organization offered The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) $250 a piece to sign. “Here’s why Lucha Underground was — this is the type of sh*t that only Lucha Underground would do. They had some jackoff, yes you are a jackoff, called Tony Jensen. He was the lawyer of the f*cking company. So they had this guy who doesn’t know sh*t about wrestling, doesn’t know how to talk to wrestlers, you know? You gotta be able to talk their language, alright and he calls The Young Bucks and he offers them $250 each. So they basically told me to go f*ck myself and that yeah, they’d sign if they got $2,500 each, and I was like, ‘Bro, Dorian [Roldan], why don’t you let me talk to the wrestlers? I already have a connection, a relationship with a lot of them and I know how to back and forth’ but no, they kept him there.”

Young Bucks mentioned in past interviews that the pay rates for Lucha Underground were very low plus LU wanted ownership of their rights for several years and have top priority for bookings. Think it was something like around $400 for a full set of tapings instead of being paid per show.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling EC3 was the most recent guest on the ROHStrong podcast. Following his release from WWE in April, EC3 put out a shoot-fight-style video that was of similar likeness to what would eventually become RAW Underground. EC3 shared that he sent that same video to WWE not too long before his release from the company. He said he was expecting WWE to convert his idea into their own but not to the lengths that he feels they did. “I knew it was going to be stolen, so I was prepared for it. I didn’t know it’d go to that length, and I know mine played to a minor bubble of the professional wrestling audience while majority of it saw whatever the hell they put out there. The way I look at it is kind of like I was Wayne’s World. I was producing this show in Aurora, my basement with my buddy Garth. We’ll call him J.C. in this instance, and then Rob Lowe came in, bought us and when I saw Shane McMahon in the ring, not in a real underground, mine was a real underground. [This] manufactured, heartless, desolate studio, I’m looking at Shane and it felt like when Noah was rapping on Wayne’s World after they bought him out. It was just inauthentic and like I said, it had no heart. So I knew something would’ve been taken from it. I didn’t expect the whole aesthetic, and while it upset my friend, J.C. who I worked very hard on with it, at the same time, it’s just a challenge to do something different, better next time which I definitely plan on doing because again, control your narrative, again, Ring of Honor provides freedom. I’m not tied to doing just that. There’s things I want to do in the future and continue that narrative as sort of supplemental content to whatever other places I’m doing things in and I have bold, ambitious views for it. We’ll see if it works out, I think it will.”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling In June of 2020, Kris Statlander suffered a torn ACL while attempting a suicide dive on AEW Dynamite. Statlander had surgery shortly thereafter and she recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. and provided an update on how her recovery is coming along. “I’m doing pretty good. I think from what I’ve heard overall is that I might be a little bit ahead of others where I’m at right now, but I still have a real long way to go before I can re-debut basically and get back in the ring before I’m debuting again obviously, and I’m going to want to be training a little bit before. So I’ll be able to get in the ring before you’ll see me back on TV. It could be another eight months or so.” As far as the injury itself, Statlander is still puzzled on how it happened via a suicide dive to the outside. She said the recovery process has been more mentally exhausting than physically. “It’s been more mentally challenging than physically challenging at times because physically, I have the ability to keep pushing myself and to just keep doing everything I need to, and I’ll go harder than I probably should be to try and do my rehab and stuff like that, but mentally, you’re sitting at home all day and you’re alone all day because you can’t go out and go do anything. You can only work out for so long in a day when you’re injured and you just see all your friends, and everyone doing awesomely on TV and you’re just like, ‘Man, I just want to be a part of that so bad, and I just feel like I’m useless to this division.’ So there was a good two-three straight months where I cried every single night because I felt like I had just been failing everybody, and I don’t even know what happened when I got injured. I just did a suicide dive, and the way I landed, I guess, was not perfectly right. You can actually see the dive on TV when I heard it, but all you see is me quickly grab my leg when I go down, and then the camera’s off of me. But it doesn’t even look like I did anything super insane, or it doesn’t look very noticeable. ‘Oh, she messed up her leg there.’ You cannot tell at all. So I had no idea what happened. I just kind of felt a little ‘pfft’ in my leg. It didn’t even hurt that bad either. I was just like, ‘Oh boy.'”

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The Preston City Wrestling promotion based in England made the announcement via their official Facebook page that they are ceasing operations again. They had to cancel their October 24th event and it appeared that their October 23rd event was going to take place as scheduled until the city of Preston went into tier 3 lockdown because of COVID-19.

Likely going to see the same happen again with wrestling in the US soon due to the resurgence of the coronavirus and winter months being prime for its spread. US-based wrestling got very lucky the first time around since the pandemic's arrival and stranglehold happened much later in the past winter season.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling VaynerSports, which is owned by Gary Vaynerchuk and run by co-CEOs AJ Vaynerchuk and Greg Genske, has added its first WWE client to its roster. On Monday, it was announced that Charlotte Flair (Ashley Fliehr) had signed with the agency and joins a slew of MMA fighters, which is a space the agency has aggressively gone after. Over the summer, VaynerSports added a combat and action sports division with numerous MMA fighters coming on board including Stipe Miocic, Chris Weidman, Eddie Alvarez, Curtis Blaydes, Vitor Belfort, Anthony Smith, and Aljamain Sterling.

Originally Posted by Observer Saraya Bevis aka Paige announced today that today marks two years of sobriety. Great for her.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGiLmbXnMK4

Originally Posted by Eastern Lariat Podcast NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani has 2 goals for the 50th anniversary in 2022: Continue running the Toyko Dome 2 days in a row and return to terrestrial prime-time broadcasting. Kidani's idea: "We'll run shows on the 4th & 5th and start (airing) at 8:00 on the 7th (Friday)."

Link: https://twitter.com/EasternLariat/st...71736240377859

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The Mas Lucha outlet reports that the official medical report states that wrestler Principe Aereo (Luis Ángel Salazar) died from a ruptured middle cerebral artery. Salazar was competing on a MexaWrestling show in Mexico City on Saturday when he collapsed, and the match was stopped. Later, he was pronounced dead at the age of 23.

Originally Posted by Observer Thirteen years after taking part in a betting scandal, disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy is set to make his professional wrestling refereeing debut. It was announced via Sports Illustrated today that Donaghy has agreed to appear as a referee for MLW. Sports Illustrated wrote that Donaghy appearing for the promotion was the idea of MLW COO Jared St. Laurent and the plan is for Donaghy to be introduced "in a storyline that sees him serve as the personal referee for Richard Holliday’s upcoming slate of matches" ... Sports Illustrated noted that Donaghy's MLW appearance comes with the potential for more depending on the response ... In 2008, Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the NBA betting scandal. MLW has been on hiatus from live events since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter last week that the promotion was doing a secret empty arena taping in Central Florida from October 18 to October 20.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling A letter signed by multiple women from the cast of GLOW has been published citing concerns and problems with the show’s handling of roles and positions for people of color. The letter was posted to Instagram by Kia Stevens, who played the role of “Tamme”, who signed the letter along with Britney Young (“Carmen”), Sydelle Noel (“Cherry Bang”), Ellen Wong (“Jenny”), Sunita Mani (“Arthie”), and Shakira Barrera (“Yolanda”). In the letter, it refers to the hope for revisions in “the upcoming season”, indicating this was sent prior to the news that Netflix would not be bringing the series back for its fourth and final season due to the impact of the pandemic on their production, which halted filming earlier this year. A portion of the letter reads: We are writing to you today to share some feelings that have been suppressed in all of us for a long time. As the principal women of color on a show tackling racist and offensive stereotypes, we have felt disempowered throughout our time on GLOW. We’ve individually come to you to express our concerns over the course of 3 season – whether it be in our character meetings or during specific conflicts within our storyline – and our characters continually remain less fleshed out and less dimensional. It has been problematic to use our faces, oftentimes solely in the context of a racist storyline, and to be brief with our story development to serve the in-depth white storylines. GLOW has been marketed as a diverse ensemble, but for all of us diverse cast members, it has never lived up to those ideas. Since season 1, the show has planted racial stereotyping into our character’s existence, yet our storylines are relegated to the sidelines in dealing with this conflict or have left us feeling like checked-boxes on a list. Unfortunately, we feel that the promise of this show has not been fulfilled. There is incredible support, love and camaraderie amidst the GLOW cast, and it should go without saying that we are not here to take down our white castmates or our show, but to elevate us all in a deeper, more significant way. With zero persons of color in the writer’s room this season, it is a huge oversight to be writing our narratives without anyone else to represent us besides ourselves. There has been an emotional toll on us to take care of an enact our characters. The meta narrative of our show – actors dealing with the conflict of perpetuating stereotypes in order to have opportunity – is exactly what is happening in our real life. We feel both devalued in our skillset and only valued for the diversity that we bring. It is a cyclical, psychological pain to deal with one’s currency as an actor and a person of color based on a system that values whiteness. Even when our show seeks to comment on this standard, it perpetuates it. We can no longer be quiet about the pain this has caused us and the harm it has done in perpetuating the representation of people of color as sidekicks to elevate white leads. The letter (which can be read in full below) goes on to recommend that the series hire an Executive Producer or Consulting Producer of color, fully address how portraying stereotypical and racially offensive wrestling personas has impacted our character’s professional live and personal dignity, and “amplify our voices and our importance within the season narrative”.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGiD0sipqUy/

Originally Posted by Fightful Daga and IMPACT Wrestling have parted ways. According to Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc, IMPACT has granted the release request of Daga. Daga reportedly requested his release some time ago, but IMPACT did not grant the release at the time and attempted to get him to re-sign. Daga made his IMPACT debut in February 2019, teaming with LAX (Santana & Ortiz) against The Lucha Bros (Fenix & Pentagon Jr) and Rey Horus. His last match in IMPACT took place in April when he faced Chris Bey on television. He is the current husband to Tessa Blanchard, who was released from IMPACT in June. Neither Blanchard nor Daga competed for IMPACT during the pandemic as they were both in Mexico for a period during the pandemic. The two married over the summer. Daga has wrestled a couple of times during the pandemic, including at the Warrior Wrestling Stadium Series event in September.

Originally Posted by 411Mania Major League Wrestling is back to doing TV tapings for its return, with the company officially set to air new programming starting in November. And to this point, it seems MLW is handling its COVID-19 protocols in a proper manner. Fightful Select reports that feedback from wrestlers within the company has been positive when it comes to MLW taking the necessary protocols to ensure their safety, which included talents taking part in their matches or segments and then returning to their hotels. Fightful also notes that MLW brought in a CDC official to oversee the testing process for its talent. To add to that, the site reports that there were “surprising, bigger names” involved in the MLW tapings that fans wouldn’t expect, although they didn’t name who those stars were.

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• Backstage Reactions to Potential NJPW & AEW Partnership
• WWE: RAW Debuts New Theme Song, WWE Denied Several Trademarks, Updated SD Ratings
• Jake Hager Booked for MMA Fight Later This Month
• Hardy vs. Elias Added to Hell in a Cell – Updated Card
• Dark Side of the Ring Officially Renewed for 14 Episode Third Season

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets sponsored by Ricky Starks Appreciation Day:

Originally Posted by Observer Impact Wrestling has revealed when Ken Shamrock's Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be taking place. It was announced today that Shamrock will be inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame on Countdown to Glory this Saturday. Countdown to Glory is the pre-show for Impact's Bound for Glory pay-per-view. The pre-show will air live on AXS TV and Impact's digital channels at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with Bound for Glory then beginning on PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern. Shamrock being inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame over Bound for Glory weekend was first announced this March. Last month, Shamrock reached out to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on Twitter and asked him to film an introduction greeting for Shamrock's Hall of Fame ceremony. Johnson responded by congratulating Shamrock and agreeing to film the video. Shamrock won the NWA World Championship on the first-ever TNA show in 2002. He returned to Impact last year and will be facing Eddie Edwards at Bound for Glory this Saturday.

Originally Posted by Observer The United Wrestling Network has revealed the bracket for their tournament to crown a UWN World Champion. The openweight, multi-week tournament features eight participants. Here are the first round matches: Left side of the bracket -- Erick Redbeard (formerly known as Erick Rowan in WWE) vs. Watts Chris Dickinson vs. Peter Avalon Right side of the bracket -- Karl Fredericks vs. Fred Rosser (formerly known as Darren Young in WWE) Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Mike Bennett The tournament will kick off with Dickinson vs. Avalon taking place on next Tuesday's edition of UWN Primetime Live. The Primetime Live weekly pay-per-view series launched last month and is a partnership between the UWN, the NWA, and Thunder Studios. The UWN's David Marquez tweeted about the World title tournament: "#Primetimelive is truly the epicenter of pro wrestling. My thx to NWA AEW NJPW MLW for their cooperation! Join us next week for The Librarian Peter Avalon Vs @DirtyDickinson! BE THERE!"

Originally Posted by PWI Impact Wrestling has signed Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo to an official contract, it was announced today during a media event held this afternoon.

Originally Posted by PWI PWInsider.com is sad to pass on the news that Johnnny Meadows, who wrestled for WCW and Smoky Mountain Wrestling in enhancement talent roles as well as lots of different Southern independent wrestling promotions over the years, passed away earlier yesterdat after battling COVID-19 for the last two months. He was only 59 years old. A Tennessee native, Meadows, real name Johnny Condrone, broke into the business in Southeastern Championship Wrestling in the early 1970s after training with Rick Conners and had a journeyman's career, working undercard and enhancement matches for just about every promotion you could think of, including Mid-Atlantic, the WWF, Continental Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling, sometimes as Johnny Meadows and other times under an assortment of ring names or masked personas. He last wrestled in the mid-1990s.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The Baltimore Sun has a story on Ring of Honor’s most recent set of television tapings with a look at how extensive their protocols are. ROH has been at the forefront of promotions that have gone to great lengths during the pandemic regarding talent safety while also paying their performers during this entire year. In the article it noted: * One performer was sent home after testing positive for COVID-19, three others were sent home after working on events where someone tested positive (Danhausen revealed he was one of them last week after being on The Collective the previous weekend where several wrestlers announced positive tests after being part of the weekend’s events) * Joe Koff said that “it took months” to set up protocols with the Maryland State Athletic Commission * Those participating at the television tapings needed to take a COVID-19 test 14 before they went to Baltimore, took another test after they checked into the hotel and were isolated in their rooms until the results came in and could still only leave their rooms for a jog or short workout in a social-distanced gym * At the tapings, the ring mats were cleaned after each match and masks would only be removed for their matches * A final COVID-19 test was taken after the tapings for contact tracing purposes * There are tentative plans for another taping in December with Koff noting they are considering going to other states

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was on Talk is Jericho to Wednesday to share his thoughts on the process of running a campaign, the issues of automation jobs that are replacing ones, and his specific interest in professional wrestling and some of the changes he wants to see for the talent. "If we win, I’m going to be in a position where I can call up the Secretary of Labor or in this case, it’s the National Labor Relations Board and then, bring suit against WWE and say, “Hey, I think you’re misclassifying your employees here” (laughs) and the damages would be really significant. So, that is more or less the plan. We may need to have some brave performer or ex-performer come forward and say “Look, here are the practices”, and I have been contacted by folks who are like “Look, I believe in this and I’m at a point in my career where they can’t really do anything to me anyway, so let’s have at this” because customarily for a National Labor Relations Board action it typically has to be an employee that initiates, so that is one of the trickier elements of this, Chris. But I’m very confident we can get there because there are a lot of people that recognize this is wrong and it’s been going on for far too long." Chris Jericho brought up one major difference in AEW is that the talent doesn’t have to pay for their expenses on the road such as rental cars and hotels, which is not the case in WWE.

Originally Posted by Fightful Chris Jericho isn't seeing any money from the WWE Network. On the latest episode of his Talk Is Jericho podcast, Jericho was joined by former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang to discuss Yang's ongoing battle against WWE and how they treat talent. During the conversation, Yang once again brought up the Screen Actors Guild and how actors and actresses are treated as part of the group. This led to Jericho wondering why he's not seeing any money from WWE Network airing his old matches. "This has to change and it's no ill will towards WWE. The fact that they can show all of my matches on their Network that people pay for and I don't get a dime of royalty, it makes no sense. That's not how normal business, normal entertainment, and the normal world works," said Jericho. "I did 'MacGruber' ten years ago and was in it for two minutes. I still get residual checks. It's not a lot, $20, $15, $50, but I'm still getting residuals from being on that movie. Here I am with probably 100 matches on the Network and getting nothing. I don't see the fairness in that." Jericho said he and Yang would have to talk off-air about correcting something like that.

This was actually something CM Punk had a big issue with prior and after the launch of the WWE Network since WWE was being very stubborn and secretive on informing talent how it would affect their royalties checks. Helped play a role in his eventual departure from the company.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Scott Fishman at TV Insider wrote a piece on his experience attending last week’s AEW Dynamite taping at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Fishman arrived at the arena minutes before the show went on the air and went through two temperature checks and answered a digital questionnaire before going to his pod where he sat with his group. Fishman noted that the exit process could be handled better with a staggered exit rather than everyone leaving the arena at once. He also added the mask enforcement was very strong.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling A Go Fund Me campaign has been launched for Tracy Smothers, who was diagnosed with Stage III Lymphoma last year and was recently hospitalized due to the growth of a tumor on the left side of his stomach that has spread into his lungs. They are seeking $5,000 for medical assistance and will also be running two benefit shows for Smothers on Sunday, November 15th in Jeffersonville, Tennessee with all proceeds going to Smothers.

Link for those interested in donating: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tracy-smo...enefit-round-2

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Today marks the 48th anniversary of All Japan Pro Wrestling’s debut show on October 21, 1972, after Giant Baba left the JWA and launched the company months after Antonio Inoki started New Japan Pro Wrestling and would become the dominant two promotions in the country. The two sides worked together for one show in 1979 where the two leaders teamed together for a show that was hosted by Tokyo Sports. Aside from that show, they didn’t work together again until 1990 when New Japan was in a bind booking the Tokyo Dome and relations with WCW broke down and led to several inter-promotional matches between the two. Baba ran All Japan until his death in January 1999 at the age of 61.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling In the main event of the 10/20 episode of United Wrestling Network’s ‘Prime Time Live’, Da Pope defeated Zicky Dice to become the new NWA World Television Champion. Zicky Dice had been reigning as Television Champion since January when he won the title on the NWA Powerrr series. In regards to NWA Powerrr, NWA owner Billy Corgan and the organization’s world champion Nick Aldis have both clarified that the show is not done and they’re in discussions about bringing the show back.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Independent wrestler AJ Gray has revealed that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after several negative tests following The Collective shows. Gray added that following The Collective, he tested negative three times but the most recent test came back positive. Gray said he doesn’t believe he contracted the virus at The Collective, where he wrestled seven matches and said he can “pinpoint the exact person who passed it to me.” He also said he is not experiencing any symptoms. Gray also wrestled this past Saturday at GCW’s The Last Resort show in Silverado, California against Joey Janela.

Considering the outbreak from their recent Collective shows, GCW really shouldn't have held another event this soon regardless if it was far away or involving different groups of talent since they still opened themselves to more risk with the coronavirus.

Originally Posted by Fightful All is well in Eddie Kingston's family. Weeks after Kingston told The Blade to get his house in order, alluding to his real-life wife Allie (formerly The Bunny) joining up with QT Marshall and the Nightmare Family, The Bunny has come home. On AEW Dark, The Bunny joined Kingston, The Butcher & The Blade, and The Lucha Bros for a family reunion. No other explanation was given for Allie transforming back into The Bunny and re-joining The Blade.

Link: https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1318717615091650561

Originally Posted by Fightful Mance Warner is looking to get out of his MLW contract. Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net reports that Mance Warner asked for his release from MLW, but MLW denied his request. According to Haynes, Warner is still trying to get out of his MLW deal and lawyers are now involved. When asked by Haynes for a comment on the situation, MLW told him, "all we’re saying is he [Mance Warner] remains under a deal.” It is unknown when Warner's deal with MLW expires and the company did not comment when asked. MLW is preparing for its restart as they return to running events, though an official date for the restart has not been announced. It is unknown if Warner will be part of the tapings. It was previously reported that AEW had interest in Warner. Warner recently filed for trademarks on his in-ring name and 'Southern Stomper.'

Originally Posted by Fightful On the July 12, 2010 episode of WWE Raw, Randy Orton pulled off arguably his most RKO ever. Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne in WWE) went to the top rope, looking for his trademark shooting star press. Coming down from the move, Orton was able to catch Sydal in mid-air to deliver the RKO. Fans can watch the spot in the video above. Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Sydal detailed how the move came about. "The first time I saw it get nailed was [Matt Cross], him and B-Boy did it on an IWA Mid-South show I was on. I was talking to him about it and I told him, 'If I ever have a feud with Randy Orton, I want to do the shooting star into the cutter.' The next day, turns out me and Randy have a segment. I said, 'Anybody want to do the shooting star RKO?' There were some doubts from management that it was humanly possible, but it was this perfect merging of two guys' finishers. It's something we can do confidently. I jump, and there's no control, so I'm jumping and thinking that if he's there, I'm going to land on him. If he jumps up to give me the cutter, I'm taking it. I basically do the same leap and when I'm able to see the ground, it's just getting caught." When discussing how to and for the move, Sydal said the toughest landings are one he basically belly flops onto the ring, which is what he ended up doing on the RKO. "This one was the highest level of pain degree because I have the extra downward gravity of it. I landed the best way to land, which is just belly out and eating it. I basically just laid there after. Sometimes I have energy and I'm selling, on that one, I just ate it and there was no wind left in me," he said. Sydal praised Orton for his timing and athleticism on the move, noting that they didn't practice it beforehand. He also praised the camera work for zooming in on him on the top rope and not tipping the counter until it was happening.

Originally Posted by WrestlingNews.co On today’s Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez read the statement that was sent out by WWE in response to a report about local officials looking to investigate venues in the Orlando area that could be COVID-19 hotspots. The WWE Performance Center and the Amway Center (WWE ThunderDome) were among the places listed as potential hotspots. WWE’s statement: “WWE is not open to the public, but rather operating on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance. As part of on-going weekly testing protocols, Aventus Labs have administered more than 10,000 PCR tests to WWE performers, employees, production staff and crew resulting in only 1.5 percent positive cases as compared to the current national average of more than 5%. Additionally, extensive contact tracing takes place and impacted individuals are placed in 14-day quarantine and then only cleared after they test negative.” Alvarez said the following after reading WWE’s statement: “There are no official numbers because WWE never released official numbers but we’d heard around 38 for the big [outbreak] and then there was another [outbreak] and we didn’t hear any numbers for the other one but I heard double digits for that one and granted it was low double digits but that was the number that I heard. Then a lot of people disappeared and to be fair, some of the people that disappeared that was contract tracing disappearances. They actually didn’t have it but they had been around people who did have it. But the fact of the matter is WWE in their own statement is essentially saying 150 positive tests. That is insane and by the way, I know for sure that there have been individuals that tested positive and people that they lived with or their families, they ended up getting coronavirus and that would not even be counted in WWE’s testing. That is a crazy number of people that have contracted coronavirus directly as a result from WWE.” While some people in the company have gotten the message, the fact is that there are still people in WWE who are COVID deniers and are not treating the virus as seriously as others.

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