[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Triple H channeling his inner Drifter:

SPOILER: show

Originally Posted by Observer At this point it appears nothing at the top has changed for WrestleMania. As of right now the plan is for The Miz to defend the IC title against Braun Strowman, which is why Miz’s win was as clean as it was, since the IC title will be one of the biggest matches at Mania. But a lot can change. There are people who believe Strowman should win the three-way at the Rumble and it’s the time to make him champion, but at least after Raw that was not the way McMahon was thinking. The allegations last week against Reigns were described to us as a non-issue as far as potential cold feet on pulling the trigger on Reigns at this year’s Mania after a couple of pullbacks of plans to do the same dating back three years.

Originally Posted by Observer Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane for the Universal title is the non-Rumble main event. The winner of this match would either face the winner of the Rumble, or more likely, the winner of the upcoming Elimination Chamber match if someone from Smackdown wins the Rumble. As noted, the Lesnar vs. Reigns destination dating back nearly one year still hasn’t been changed as of this past week.

Originally Posted by Observer The name Daniel Bryan has been listed as among the betting favorites. What we can confirm is that Bryan has not been cleared to wrestle as of earlier in the week and that is not expected to change this week. An idea that somehow he could be involved but not take a bump has been speculated on and somehow winning that way. I can’t say it’s impossible but it’s not like they are going to do a Styles vs. Bryan match, so it somewhat defeats the long-term usual Royal Rumble winner purpose. But it’s wrestling and you can change things and rules at any time. If we go with the idea Reigns wins the Chamber match, that would leave someone from Smackdown. Reigns could win the Rumble, although the reaction in Philadelphia would almost surely be very negative if he does ... The other thing is that the Bryan stuff has gotten enough play in the last two weeks, even mainstream coverage in the U.K. with the idea he’s winning, that there are likely fans attending who believe it’s the secret storyline. They’d better have a heel at No. 30, because if it’s a face and anyone other than Undertaker or a surprise of that level (I’m not sure Ethan Carter III or even Bobby Lashley would fit), the reaction to that face at No. 30 may not be pretty.

Originally Posted by Observer On the women’s side ... There is no confirmation of Rousey being in the match and obviously her role in WWE is being kept a closely guarded secret. Asuka and Jax are being presented as the favorites.

Spoiler tags used since its related to possible Rumble and Mania plans.

Originally Posted by Observer All charges against Rich Swann stemming from his December arrest were dismissed today. Court records cite insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction as the reason why the case isn't moving forward. Swann was arrested in Gainesville, Florida on December 10th and charged with false imprisonment/kidnapping, which is a third degree felony, and misdemeanor domestic battery (touching or striking). The arrest report from the incident stated that Swann had gotten into an argument with his wife Vanarrah Riggs, who wrestles as Su Yung, after she performed at an indie show. The report alleged that Riggs got out of their vehicle due to fearing that the argument was going to escalate, and Swann grabbed her by the arm and around her neck, dragged her back to the car, and pushed her in as she screamed for help. Swann denied physically touching Riggs. In mid-December, Riggs posted a positive message about Swann on Facebook: "I can not wait to see my husband tomorrow. After such an awesome weekend of wrestling debuting in two different promotions across America, nothing would be better than to see his face." Swann was indefinitely suspended by WWE after the arrest, which is what the company's zero-tolerance domestic violence policy called for. WWE has yet to comment on Swann's status following the charges being dismissed.

Originally Posted by Observer Nobody asked what type of salaries they are going to pay and how that compares to the CFL, as they will be competing for the same type of player. As far as public interest, I don't see this being any different from last time or any of the attempts at second pro football leagues. But the environment is completely different today than in 2001. Whether that allows them to make it is a different story, but it's all about broadcast rights and if you can get a deal that allows you to make money, it doesn't matter about merch sales or ticket sales. And if it's just merch sales and ticket sales, but no significant money from broadcast rights, this doesn't have a chance. There are a lot more outlets, but television and OTT, looking for fringe product and you don't need that many viewers to stay on the air. But you need for someone to pay you a lot to be on the air, so this depends far more on the television/OTT market than the football market.

Meltzer on XFL's chances of success from a players and television viewpoint.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE stock wasn't hurt by the XFL announcement as it was up 64 cents per share to $34.13, the highest the stock has been since 1999.

Originally Posted by PWI Vince was asked how this will affect his day to day control with WWE. He said that there will be no change.to his role as Chairman of the Board and COO of WWE.

Part of the Q&A section from today's XFL revival press conference.

Originally Posted by PWI The updated main events for the 3/16 WWE return to Madison Square Garden: *WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar vs. Kane vs. Braun Strowman. *John Cena vs. Elias. *WWE Intercontinental champion The Miz vs. Roman Reigns.

Originally Posted by PWI It was announced today that the Philadelphia intersection of Broad Street and Pattison Way, which is right outside of the Wells Fargo Arena, the host venue of the 2018 Royal Rumble, has been renamed this weekend as Royal Way and Rumble Road.

Image of the road sign: https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...eb&oe=5ADB9024

Originally Posted by PWI WWE posted the following: Congratulations are in order for Chad Gable: WWE.com has learned the former SmackDown Tag Team Champion and his wife have welcomed their second daughter into the world. Meadow Ann arrived on Jan. 24 at 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Join us in celebrating this exciting new addition to Gable’s family!

Originally Posted by PWI Alexa Bliss spoke with Sky Sports promoting Sunday's Royal Rumble. The Raw Women's Champion was asked about the first ever Women's Royal Rumble Match and whether this means if the Women's Evolution in WWE is complete. She responded with, "You're never done. The WWE has been at the forefront of promoting women in sports entertainment and athletics. But it would be awesome if one day we main event WrestleMania. That would be amazing. At the moment, the fact that we're making history is very exciting. I'm very excited by this Royal Rumble match because the revolution didn't start with just one or two women. So the fact you have every woman included is awesome." Bliss is thankful for past generations blazing the trail that led them to this historic moment. "I don't think it really started with our generation," she said. "It started with the previous women, the divas. If they hadn't have had the types of matches they had then and been given the types of opportunities they had then, we wouldn't have what we have now. So I think it's great to see how we're perceived now and everything but it started before us. The fact that the fact notices that change is amazing and it's leading to us main eventing and having historic matches and it's been an amazing thing for women."

Link to the interview: http://www.skysports.com/wwe/news/14...urney-not-over

Originally Posted by PWI William Regal noted that he just hit 25 years since he first came to the United States: Two days ago marks 25 years since I arrived in the https://t.co/xCySkE82tb is the 25 anniversary of my debut in WCW.A “WCW Saturday Night” taping at Center Stage,Atlanta.Thank you to all that helped and watched for allowing me to entertain you. — William Regal (@RealKingRegal) January 25, 2018

Originally Posted by PWI On last night's episode of Total Divas, it was revealed that the due date for Miz and Maryse's first daughter is 4/6, which is just a few days before Wrestlemania 34.

Originally Posted by Observer One person close to the situation said that when WWE announced the suspension, they had already decided to let him go. The key reason was that in a meeting with him when the news broke, he admitted being aware of the Phoenix police investigation and had never told the company, which is something they strongly frown on. The belief internally is that they never would have featured him so prominently, kept the cruiserweight title on him, and continued to build 205 Live around him if they had known he was the subject of an ongoing police investigation.

Some details regarding how furious WWE was over finding out about Enzo's legal problems.

Originally Posted by Observer The biggest question involved the return of The Undertaker. Undertaker came out at the Manhattan Center and did an interview that left most people confused. He talked about how Stone Cold, Mick Foley and even his own flesh-and-blood (Kane) had all answered to the reaper, how they all tried and they all failed. But then teased the idea that he was retired as opposed to shooting an angle with John Cena. Instead, Cena was in Brooklyn and an angle to put over Elias, designed to build the Royal Rumble, although that was never actually said on the broadcast as Rumble hype was minimal at best, with none of the top stars bringing up the Rumble match and the only Rumble-related promos, one by A.J. Styles and the other by Paul Heyman, were about the two major championship matches. Elias was put in the Samoa Joe position as someone designed to work a key spot in the Rumble with Cena as well as perhaps do house shows with him. The house shows were to be Roman Reigns vs. Cena vs. Joe for the IC title, but with Joe injured and Miz winning the title, everything is likely to change.

Originally Posted by Observer It is still not clear what will happen with Lesnar, whose contract expires after Mania, although there are aspects of the contract that tie him up through August. Prior to August, Lesnar would need Vince McMahon’s approval to do UFC. Dana White this week indicated that he believed Lesnar would fight in UFC in 2018. McMahon did give his approval for the Mark Hunt fight in 2016. Lesnar vs. Jon Jones was in the cards for 2018, but it fell apart when Jones was suspended. But White also said that he expected Jones to fight in 2018, meaning he expected some extenuating circumstances would keep Jones from being suspended as long as first feared. Still, just as the last time his contract was due, it’s hard to believe at 41, which Lesnar turns this summer, that Lesnar would do UFC past one giant payday that a Jones fight would bring, and that whether that would be part of his new deal, or he’d take a few months off and then return, that Lesnar wouldn’t end up long-term back in WWE for the next several years.

Originally Posted by Observer For years, WWE has claimed, and in many places, the claim has gone unchecked, as being the longest running episodic weekly show in the history of television. Of course, that claim is false. Episodic meant to remove sports shows, which have gone on since the beginning of time, and weekly news shows, like Meet the Press. Weekly was meant to exclude soap operas, which are episodic and daily. Raw has produced more episodes, as has Smackdown, of any weekly network prime time show.

According to the Observer, the real record either belongs to Portland Wrestling (1953-91 with 2k shows) or Atlanta Wrestling (1972-2000 but can also be traced back to 1950) depending on the criteria used. Memphis Wrestling has 40+ years worth of weekly televised shows but doesn't count since it was 2 companies during its history.

Originally Posted by Observer Evolve announced its top matches for 2/17 in Queens, NY at LaBoom and 2/18 in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena. The first night will have Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Austin Theory for the Evolve title, Keith Lee vs. AR Fox for the WWN title plus Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. The End for the tag titles. The Joppa show is headlined by Matt Riddle vs. Austin Theory vs. Darby Allin vs. Jaka in an elimination match, Sabre Jr. vs. Dickinson in a non-title match and Lee vs. Tracy Williams in a non-title match.

Originally Posted by Observer The first [ROH] PPV of the year will be the 16th anniversary show on 3/9 from Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. At the TV tapings on 1/20 in Nashville two matches were set up that are official. They are Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal for the ROH title and Silas Young vs. Kenny King for the TV title. At TV, they also teased a tag title match with Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley either against Mark & Jay Briscoe or a three-way including Baretta & Chuckie T

Originally Posted by Observer The situation with Bobby Lashley is that he was actually under contract, for a good amount of money, through May, but since it was clear that he wasn’t staying past that point and he asked to be released early, they did so. The feeling would be he’s expecting a good deal elsewhere, whether that be WWE or New Japan, and was willing to forego the last three months of his contract With the exception of Chris Adonis, who just quit, all of the departures were expected. Adonis & Eli Drake were going to work a tag title program with LAX when he quit The company is looking at doing a deal where they focus on 6-8 top guys. Brian Cage is looking to be one of them as they are giving him a monster push. They toned him down as far as doing wild moves as at first they just want him destroying people like a Goldberg and then when he’s in bigger matches he’ll start to do more of the flying. Names we heard they were very happy with included Austin Aries, Matt Sydal, Su Yung and Sami Callihan. As for Eddie Edwards, it was really scary because there was fear when the injury first happened that he could lose his eye, but he was a real tough guy and came back all bruised up and still did run-ins at the next TVs. His deal is coming up and they are hopeful of keeping him

Originally Posted by Observer The WWE has made an offer to people who have canceled the WWE Network that they can come back for a three month subscription starting now, which takes them through WrestleMania, for just $1.99 total. Other former subscribers were sent mailers that offered the same three month period for free. The key to this is the day after WrestleMania, when WWE announces its subscriber numbers, the people who signed up at $1.99 for three months would be listed as paid subscribers, not free subscribers, thus it would artificially create a gain in the year-to-year numbers. This would make it look like strong growth, or at least some growth, and would help the stock price even though it’s a gimmick. If there was no growth from last year, WWE would be questioned about if the network has peaked. There would be questions since Netflix has just announced record growth making people expect that of other major streaming services right now. The web site also has pop up ad offering two free months, which would expire two weeks before Mania

There were negotiations a few months back for Hogan to be part of The Bullet Club, as legit they have said the only outside guys they’d want in would be C.M. Punk or Hogan. The feeling was that Hogan wanted too much money and he’d bail on them the minute Vince called, and the feeling was that he was negotiating in the first place to get Vince to bring him back.

Vince McMahon asks who wants to sit through a 3 - 3 1/2 hour and have games under that time frame - yes, who could imagine sitting down for three hours every week?

— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) January 25, 2018

Some other sheet news includes:

• After previously being redirected to WWE's official website and later a 404 Error page, XFL's official website relaunched earlier today. https://www.xfl.com/
• Radio show 107.7 The Bone with Baby Huey & Bimbo Jimbo had a recent interview with Natalya talking about RAW 25, talking with Trish Stratus backstage, Trish being an inspiration to her career, and the Women's Rumble. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...notes.html?p=1
• According to PWI, at least 5 indie companies recently sent Enzo Amore booking offers for their shows.
• According to reports, Jey Uso has been pulled off of Nickleodeon's Paradise Run show due to his recent DUI arrest. Rumor going around online hints at the Usos losing the Smackdown tag titles at the Rumble as part of Jey's punishment.
• According to the Observer, USA Network would actually make more ad revenue if they dropped WWE shows than keep them. They'd drop a lot in network rankings (#3 to #10) and have a smaller average audience for prime time shows but in return can get higher paying advertisers without the negative stigma of wrestling being around.
• Recent episode of the X-Pac12360 podcast show had X-Pac talk about his Mt Rushmore of Wrestling, the Enzo allegations, and WWE going to commercial during Scott Hall's entrance at RAW 25 show. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...e-allegations/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Vince McMahon Officially Announces the Return of the XFL in 2020 (Updated)
• Ronda Rousey Says She Won’t Be at the Royal Rumble
• Final NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia Card