[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Dana Does Something gif:

Originally Posted by Observer The Raw go-home show for Fastlane dropped four percent last night from the week before, averaging 3.08 million viewers. The number would be the second lowest for a non-holiday episode of the show that didn't go against major sports competition dating back to 1997, barely beating the record of 3.07 million set two weeks earlier ... The third hour was built around the Braun Strowman-Roman Reigns contract signing as the main pushed item and lost ten percent of viewership from hour two, including a drop of 11 percent in the 18-49 demo. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 3.13 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.23 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.92 million viewers

Originally Posted by PWI Similar to Drew Galloway's situation, we are told that the Hardys did not physically receive new contracts until just a few weeks before their current deals were set to expire. One TNA source acknowledged that the contracts were late in arriving, explaining that they were behind due to the changeover involved in shifting TNA from its former parent company to the new infrastructure under Anthem Media. We are told that the Hardys were not happy with the last minute rushed nature of having to sign and some of the language in the contract, leaving all sides at an impasse ... Another factor we have heard that Matt Hardy had extreme creative control over his character and the "Broken Universe" and under the new regime, that likely would not have continued. So, signing would have meant not just signing a new deal, but signing off on how much he could control his direction and characters. The irony there is that at one point last year, there had been talk about Matt Hardy coming on board creative himself, with the idea of putting his wrestling mindset towards helping other storylines and talents in the company while continuing to develop and perform the Broken Hardys act. Instead, Anthem brought back Jeff Jarrett as the new Chief Creative Officer and Jarrett began installing his own booking team, including Dutch Mantel and Scott D'Amore. We are also told that new contracts being offered by TNA management include a clause that would require talents to have their outside appearances approved by the company and would require the talent to pay TNA 10% of those earnings. Multiple TNA sources declined to comment on whether new contracts indeed featured that clause. So, from the perspective of the Hardys, they were looking at signing deals that would curtail their creative control (and leave them open to being broken up as an act, as Jeff Jarrett has been said to be keen on pushing Jeff Hardy as a top singles talent) and require the Hardys to pay a percentage of outside earnings to TNA after not receiving their deals until pretty much the last minute ... The TNA management side appears to be that the company is looking at rebuilding the entire company and from their perspective, no one is irreplaceable if they don't want to be on board with the regime. The mindset appears to be that since the company viewership has been so low in comparison to the Spike days, that they are left in a rebuilding phase and that rebuild will not be changed if any of the current talents exit. One TNA source stated the company made what was described to PWInsider as a "big money offer" that would have seen the Hardys be one of the top paid, if not the top paid act, in the company, and if the Hardys didn't want to come to terms, then it was time to move on. If the Hardys indeed depart, we are told it will free up a lot of money for other potential signings under a regime that is very much about the bottom line financially, as opposed to spending money frivolously.

Some reasons for why the Hardys ended up leaving TNA.

Originally Posted by Observer Reby Hardy spoke to SiriusXM's Busted Open radio show about The Hardys' situation with TNA. She confirmed that they're leaving the company and said that Matt Hardy won't be giving up his Broken character any time soon. Jeff Jarrett posted on Twitter about The Hardys and Drew Galloway leaving TNA (formatting has been added for readability): "For the record, it's @IMPACTWRESTLING 's corporate policy not to make any comments on talent contractual matters. I personally wish nothing but continued success for @JEFFHARDYBRAND @MATTHARDYBRAND @GallowaySpeaks. All three of them are fantastic talent and wherever they land they will obviously do very well. Wrestling business can be tough at times, but one thing is for sure the business is ALWAYS changing! Ready for @UniversalORL and can't wait for Thursday! #MIGA" Matt Hardy tweeted about departing TNA: "My stint with @IMPACTWRESTLING was DELIGHTFUL. EXCEPTIONAL talent & locker room. A great, respectful team that worked hard in tough times. I wish @IMPACTWRESTLING all the best going forward, especially the INDUSTRIOUS talent. I hope they're all treated with respect & fairness."

If Broken Matt wants to continue using that name after leaving Impact Wrestling, he may have a fight on his hands — because right now there’s confusion over who owns the gimmick. Sources close to Matt tell us his current deal gives Impact the ability to profit off of anything already filmed having to do with ANY gimmick he used throughout the course of his contract … but, once that’s over, he retains ownership of his name and characters. However, our Impact Wrestling sources tell us that’s not the case at all. They claim the current deal specifically states that their company owns all IP creations. As we previously reported, Matt and Jeff do not plan to re-sign with the company because they felt dissed during contract negotiations. As for a possible non-compete clause, we’re told The Hardy Boyz don’t have one. Which means they could potentially show up in another company as soon as next week.

Originally Posted by Observer The prolonged contract situation with three of TNA's biggest names is coming to a head this week. Drew Galloway announced on Twitter Sunday that he was not signing a new contract and was done with the promotion. TNA had only contacted him about a new deal in the last week or so, and he said that while TNA did try hard to make a deal in the last week and make things right, he had already made up his mind not to sign. They did go back-and-forth with talks until yesterday. Galloway is expected to continue working with groups like WhatCulture, ICW, and EVOLVE, as well as other promotions in the U.K and around the world. He noted he made up his mind about not staying when it came close to his deal expiring and he hadn't been contacted, and thus had made decisions about his future that didn't include TNA.

Originally Posted by PWI Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett have departed TNA, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources. Their respective contracts expired in late 2016 and they had been working on per appearance deals over the last set of TNA TV tapings. TNA management had attempted to sign the pair to new contracts and according to one source, had agreed to terms with the company only to later inform TNA they would not be signing. So, the pair are already done and will not be working this week's TV tapings. The pair just appeared in the extremely entertaining Allie-Braxton Sutter wedding segment.

Originally Posted by Observer One of WrestleMania 33's planned matches seems to be in serious doubt. While responding to rumors surrounding his scheduled WrestleMania match against Big Show, Shaquille O'Neal said on his podcast this week that the bout "probably" won't be happening. "It's not going to happen?" Shaq asked. "That's probably right. It's not my fault, that's all you need to know. It ain't my fault. Oh, it ain't my fault." Shaq went on to say that the plans likely falling through have nothing to do with him or his management. He said that it isn't definitive that the match is off yet, though things aren't looking good. He claimed that he's still training like it's going to take place and challenged Big Show to meet him wherever he wants to meet, leaving the door open for this to be part of a storyline if the match does occur.

Originally Posted by Observer New Japan Pro Wrestling revealed the brackets for the promotion's upcoming New Japan Cup tournament on Monday night. The tournament will take place later this March. The opening rounds are scheduled for March 11th and 12th and will air live on New Japan World. The first round matchups are as follows: The left side of the bracket (March 11th) -- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL Tomoaki Honma vs. Tanga Roa Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga The right side of the bracket (March 12th) -- Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega YOSHI-HASHI vs. SANADA The winners of these matches will advance to quarterfinal bouts, which will be held on March 13th-17th. Semifinal matches will be held on March 19th, with the final match taking place on the 20th. The last two dates will air live on NJPW World.

Originally Posted by Observer As WWE gets closer to WrestleMania with each passing week, the company revealed another member of this year's Hall of Fame class on Monday afternoon. USA Today was chosen to break the news that Beth Phoenix will be inducted into the 2017 Hall of Fame class. She joins Kurt Angle, The Rock 'n' Roll Express, Teddy Long, and Diamond Dallas Page as the already announced members of the lineup. “To hear they find my career was worthy enough and that I did well enough in the ring to be honored among the greatest of all time was incredible and the biggest compliment I could ever ask for,” Phoenix told USA Today. “It’s still sinking in and is very surreal.” With Phoenix's husband Adam "Edge" Copeland having previously been inducted in 2012, the couple are now the only spouses currently in the Hall of Fame.

Originally Posted by Observer Casey Michael of Squared Circle Sirens reported that Canadian weightlifter Isabel Lahela has signed with WWE and will be starting at the Performance Center in April.

Originally Posted by Observer Goldberg tweeted a congratulations to Asuka on having 149 wins in a row.

Link to the tweet: https://twitter.com/Goldberg/status/835535722593452032

Originally Posted by PWI There is also a LOT of talk that the company has a strategy to discontinue the TNA name officially. A few readers have asked if there's a possibility that the GFW name will replace the TNA initials. I haven't heard that officially, but it certainly would make a lot of sense.

Also making a big push towards signing younger stars and potential stars as a way to rebuild the brand.

There are expected to changes to talent contracts as the company goes further. Previously, talents were paid by the episode they appeared in on TV, so if, for example, Robbie E. worked four different episodes in the span of one taping day, he was paid per episode appearance. We are hearing that the company is shifting to a pay scale that would be per date, so if E now worked those four different episodes, it would count as one payday because he worked the one date. In some cases, talent will only be able to work approved independent dates and will be required to pay the company 10% of their wrestling earnings outside of TNA. There's been a lot of talk among talents we've heard from about royalty payments changing as well. TNA sources we reached out to declined to comment on contractual changes.

Pretty much is going to lead to even more wrestlers leaving once their contracts are up.

Originally Posted by Pro Wrestling Sheet The Wyatt Family has been splintered on the road to WrestleMania 33 … and now, to add further intrigue, Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned Erick Rowan‘s been cleared to return. As we previously reported, Rowan went under the knife to repair a torn rotator cuff back in October and it was expected that he’d be out of action until March. Looks like that timeline was right on target, because we’re told he’s been given the green light. Erick’s medical news couldn’t come at a better time. Bray Wyatt just recently won the WWE Championship and is currently feuding with Rowan’s former tag partner Luke Harper. The wrestler tweeted this creepy video today as well. pic.twitter.com/lkioNiFVuF — Erick Rowan (@ERICKROWAN) February 28, 2017

Some other sheet news includes:

• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Cena and a big highlight involving Cena stating his biggest regret in wrestling was trashing Rock's Hollywood career now that he realized why Rock did it and how it can expand his own image outside of wrestling. http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017...-rock-nintendo
• According to the Observer, Finn Balor recently got medically cleared to return to the ring and expected to be back for RAW any day now. https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/s...96507092893696
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, yesterday was Ric Flair's 68th birthday.
• In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Goldberg has the chance to break a WWE record if he wins the Universal title this Sunday. Would break Kane's record of longest time in between main championship reigns. Also has the chance of becoming the 2nd oldest World/WWE/Universal champ in WWE history (Vince is #1). https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...d_this_sunday/
• Asuka was revealed to be joining the Smackdown brand at least for upcoming house show events although won't be getting called up any time soon.
• Besides several wrestlers leaving TNA, management also had a big shake up recently with several TNA Creative members also departing as part of on-going changes by TNA's new owners.