[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the original mayors of Suplex City:

Originally Posted by Observer When it was announced earlier this week that Impact Wrestling's parent company had officially acquired Global Force Wrestling, it wasn't entirely clear if that would result in any noticeable change in operations. Now, it appears that Impact Wrestling is rebranding as Global Force Wrestling. A report from The Tennessean noted that today, with it saying that the move is to distance the company from the financial trouble and legal drama that had surrounded it under previous ownership. The report said that the company's weekly TV show will still be called Impact and their offices will remain in Nashville.

Originally Posted by Observer The list of names confirmed for this summer's Mae Young Classic continues to grow. WWE's New Zealand Twitter account announced today that Evie (who is from New Zealand) would be taking part in the tournament. She has also been given a new in-ring name, with her now being known as Dakota Kai in WWE. She changed her name to that on Twitter after the announcement.

Originally Posted by Observer The Mae Young Classic has added its most noteworthy name yet. Kairi Hojo, who is one of the best women's wrestlers in the world and one of the best pro wrestlers in general, was announced for the tournament this morning. The announcement was made during a video at WWE's house show at Sumo Hall in Japan. She will be using the name Kairi Sane in WWE.

Originally Posted by WWE.com Hailing from Ayrshire, Scotland, Piper Niven is an experienced powerhouse who has competed across numerous promotions, including Shine, SHIMMER and Glasgow-based Insane Championship Wrestling. Drawn to sports-entertainment at an early age thanks to the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Chyna, Niven played contact sports in her youth, setting the foundation for her eventual in-ring debut in 2008. She is revered for her high-impact offense, which includes senton splashes, powerslams and a signature Michinoku Driver. Bianca Belair, of Knoxville, Tenn., qualified for the Mae Young Classic with a recent victory over NXT Superstar Aliyah. Calling herself the “EST of NXT,” Belair claims to be the strongest, fastest and toughest woman on the Performance Center roster. Before joining WWE in 2016, she competed in track and field at University of South Carolina, Texas A&M and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and she is a regional CrossFit competitor who has been featured in RX Magazine. Prior to making her NXT debut, she shined in last year’s inaugural Performance Center Combine, putting up amazing numbers such as a 400-pound trap-bar deadlift and a 2.07-second 10-yard sprint.

Two more names and bios officially confirmed for the Mae Young Classic Tournament.

Originally Posted by Observer The list of official entrants for the 32-competitor tournament is now up to 14 names. Those are: Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith, Taynara Conti, Kavita Devi, Jazzy Gabert, Bianca BelAir, Vanessa Borne, Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane, and Piper Niven.

Originally Posted by Observer Before the live show in Long Beach, AXS TV is doing a New Japan marathon tomorrow starting at 8 a.m. Eastern and 5 a.m. Pacific to showcase many of the best matches of the year so far. If your cable company doesn't have AXS, Sling TV is doing a free week. For the top matches, all times Eastern: Omega vs. Okada from the Tokyo Dome will air at 8 p.m. Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki will air at 10 a.m. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee will air at 11 a.m. Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin will air at Noon Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata will air at 3 p.m. Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii will air at 5 p.m. Omega vs. Okada II will air at about 6:40 p.m.

Originally Posted by Observer Tomorrow night's Long Beach show will be blocked on New Japan World live, and only air on AXS in the U.S. It will air on The Fight Network in Canada, which also has a free week this week, and will also be replaying the show multiple times during the week. The show will air later on New Japan World. In the U.K., you can watch it on New Japan World. The Sunday show will air live on New Japan World and air on television first next Friday with a four-hour window from 8 p.m. to midnight. The live show is slotted tomorrow night from 8 p.m. to midnight, but it can go until as late as 1 a.m. if needed.

Originally Posted by PWI Impact/GFW/whatever the official name is at this moment announced this afternoon that NASCAR personalities Hermie Sadler and Austin Dillon will be appearing at Sunday's Slammiversary PPV. Sadler has a long running relationship with Jeff Jarrett and at one point, he had a segment titled "Hermie's Hotseat" on Impact TV and he and his brother Elliot Sadler co-promoted live events with TNA under the UWF banner.

Originally Posted by PWI The 6/29 edition of Impact on Pop from India, week four, did 268,000 overnight viewers, a big drop from last week's 342,000 overnight viewers. That is their lowest number in almost two months and not great momentum heading into Slammiversary.

Originally Posted by PWI In regard to rumors Epico and Primo Colon are looking to leave WWE, PWInsider.com has confirmed they are booked for this weekend's live events on the Smackdown brand and are still, as of this moment, listed on the planned lineups for those shows. In searching around, PWInsider.com has found no evidence that there is any truth to the departure rumor at this time.

Rumor started after people noticed Epico recently opened a merch shop at ProWrestlingTees which is usually something that never happens to those under WWE contracts.


Some other sheet news includes:

• Eric Young revealed his mother recently passed away from cancer. Also in somber wrestling news, the Observer's Dave Meltzer revealed his father recently entered hospice due to suffering from cancer and rapid kidney failure.
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Terry Funk (73) , Scot Dawson (33), Alicia Fox (31), and Cody Rhodes (32) all celebrated their birthdays today.
• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Jeff Jarrett talking about recent changes to Impact's roster, legal issues with the Hardys, and the 5 year plan he has for Impact/GFW. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...th-the-hardys/
• The Young Bucks recently sent out an invitation to CM Punk for a possible appearance and/or membership in the Bullet Club in the future. https://twitter.com/NickJacksonYB/st...86275879845889
• WrestleInc had a recent interview with Tony Schiavone talking about his favorite announcing partner, brief WWE career, and regretting leaving WWE for WCW. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...e-of-his-life/
• Recent episode of WrestleInc's podcast show had Shawn Daivari talking about the origins of the Punjabi Prison match and how Pat Paterson played a big role in its creation. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...t-wwe-punjabi/