TPWW's Official Dirty Sheets News Thread

[slik]

WrestlingNews.Co reporting an exclusive that what caused Big Cass's release was manhandling Carmella backstage & The Uso's and Erick Rowan stepped in to remove him. It was 'the final straw' for Vince.


http://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/exc...leased-by-wwe/

[Mr. Nerfect]

That doesn't surprise me given that he wasn't wished well in his future endeavors.

[slik]

WWE has filed copyright for "British Strong Style"

https://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=118378

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Bayley's fists hugging Sasha's face:

Last night's Raw ratings had both good and bad news. The bad news is the final number, of 2.67 million viewers, which would be the lowest the show has done in the modern era except against the NFL or NBA playoffs. It was an eight percent drop from last week's show which was boosted by coming the day after the Money in the Bank PPV ... Ironically, the last time the third hour was the highest rated of the show was 52 weeks ago, on June 26, 2017. Before that, you'd have to go back to March 14, 2016. There is no television explanation for this. There was nothing that did big numbers on the networks -- and cable numbers weren't strong either. Raw was fifth on cable, trailing only news shows. The explanation is the show itself. What this means is there was lower than usual level of interest in the show, however, the show itself was good, in fact by current standards when it comes to keeping the audience, it was the best in a year. This caused the usual viewership tune-out not to happen. The lesson of the show was that, at least for this week, the idea of a nearly 30-minute main event was a huge ratings success. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.60 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.68 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.71 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer Just a few hours before it was supposed to happen, WWE announced that the Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura United States Championship match that was scheduled to headline tonight's SmackDown has been pulled from the show. While offering few other details, WWE put out a video this afternoon noting that Nakamura suffered an injury last night and won't be able to compete today. Nakamura didn't work SmackDown's Monday night house show in Bakersfield, California, and Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Nakamura was bit in the leg by a police dog at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield yesterday. Whether or not Nakamura will be able to wrestle at WWE's house shows in Japan this weekend is uncertain at this point.

Originally Posted by PWI According to what we were told, a law enforcement dog was being brought around the building as part of a pre-show security check. The dog was brought past Nakamura. We are told the dog sniffed Nakamura and then, without provocation, proceeded to bite him on the leg. As a medical precaution, WWE pulled Nakamura from last night's live event, where he was slated to work a main event Fatal Four Way bout. The Bakersfield live event was headlined by Jeff Hardy defeating Samoa Joe, Rusev and Shelton Benjamin instead. WWE has not yet cleared Nakamura for action. We are told Nakamura is backstage at tonight's Smackdown Live taping in Ontario, CA but his leg is still very sore from the incident.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE officially announced what had been widely reported on for the last month: SmackDown will be moving to Fox in October of 2019, while Raw will remain on the USA Network. The company put out a press release today officially announcing the five-year agreement. SmackDown will air on Fridays starting on October 4, 2019 on the FOX network. It will remain a two-hour broadcast ... Meanwhile, WWE concurrently announced that Monday Night Raw will continue on the USA Network in what is also a five-year deal with NBC Universal. It will start in October 2019 ... These agreements increase the average annual value (AAV) of WWE’s U.S. distribution to 3.6 times that of the prior deal with NBCU.

Link: https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/w...ackdown-260476

Originally Posted by PWI The official announcements of WWE's new television deals for Raw and Smackdown Live led to a big rise in the company's stock and it's still rising. After closing at $66.62, the stock continues to rise in after-hours trading and is currently trading at $77, which would be an all time record for the stock, the highest since WWE went public in 1999.

Originally Posted by Observer/PWI Indies Roundup: Kevin Harvey noted that Rise [Wrestling] was in trouble. He said the 6/29 show in South Gate, CA will go on as will the 7/7 and 7/8 shows. He said he doesn't want to cancel 10/19 in Berwyn, IL but ticket sales have been pulled. He said those who have tickets will be refunded if the show is canceled. Harvey said it's a real possibility that the 7/8 tapings in Naperville, IL could be their last show. New Japan has put up the legendary Stan Hansen vs. Big Van Vader match from the Tokyo Dome for free on New Japan World in honor of Vader. The 7/12 House of Hardcore show in Adelaide, Australia has been canceled. The rest of the tour is still happening. Bully Ray & Craven & ? vs. Spirit Squad was announced for a tables match on their show on 7/11 in Perth. The 7/19 Major League Wrestling BattleRiot event in New York City will air on BeIN Sports as a two hour special, MLW announced today. We are told the negotiations for the special closed earlier today just before the announcement was made. There had been an offer on the table to make the show a taped PPV event, but MLW owner Court Bauer felt that making the show a special on broadcast TV would be a stronger play towards getting attention for the brand and getting the product in front of fans. The special will air on 7/27. Here’s the updated lineup for the Battle Riot match: John Hennigan (Morrison), Pentagon Jr., ACH, Kevin Sullivan, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Teddy Hart, Rich Swann, Barrington Hughes, Jake Hager (Jack Swagger), Jimmy Yuta, Pierre Carl Ouellet, Lance Anoa’i, Swoggle (Hornswoggle), Konnan, Sami Callihan, Joey Ryan, Jason Cade, and Tom Lawlor. Anthem issued a press release today announcing the hire of Peter Einstein as the new Chief Operating Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, which includes Impact Wrestling. We are told that the hiring does not mean any changes to the Impact management team, headed by Ed Nordholm, Don Callis and Scott D'Amore. Nick Gage vs. Meng is the second match to be revealed for Joey Janela’s Lost in New York in Queens on August 17, joining Matt Riddle vs. Pierre Carl Ouellet on the card.

NJPW: http://njpwworld.com/p/o_original_0075_61 , MLW: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-27th.html?p=1 , Anthem: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...nment.html?p=1 , Janela: https://twitter.com/JANELABABY/statu...12155781050368

Originally Posted by PWI MLW announced the following: JOHN HENNIGAN VS. LOW KI SIGNED FOR MLW’s JULY 19TH NYC CARD; “FILTHY” TOM LAWLOR ENTERS BATTLE RIOT NEW YORK – Major League Wrestling’s biggest show ever is coming to New York City this summer and the card just got bigger. On July 19th in New York City Low Ki vs. John Hennigan (formally John Morrison) has been signed.

Originally Posted by PWI The Big Van Vader autobiography is still scheduled to be released later this year. It was originally slated to be released around Wrestlemania time, but Vader kept going back to add additional material to the book, which kept pushing it back. It will still be released with Jesse White’s involvement, but there is no timeline for its release as with Vader’s passing, the book is being updated once again.

More details: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-card.html?p=1

Based on their appearances at the end of the WWE UK Championship Tournament Finale broadcast, it would appear the following talents will be part of the NXT UK roster going forward: Mark Andrews Travis Banks Tyler Bate Joe Coffey Mark Coffey Joseph Conners Noam Dar Eddie Dennis Jordan Devlin Pete Dunne Jack Gallagher Sam Gradwell Saxon Huxley Amir Jordan El Ligero Dave Mastiff Trent Seven Ashton Smith Tyson T-Bone Flash Morgan Webster Wild Boar Kenny Williams Wolfgang Isla Dawn Jinny Killer Kelly Charlie Morgan Nina Samuels Toni Storm

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Eric Arndt (formerly Enzo Amore and now going by ‘Real1’) was a guest on the Steve Austin podcast on Tuesday and went in-depth over his firing by World Wrestling Entertainment in January following allegations of sexual assault ... The firing occurred the day after the Raw 25th-anniversary episode in January. Enzo said he became aware of the allegations on that day when the accuser publicly tweeted about it. In the interview with Austin, Arndt did clarify that a friend of his contacted him in December and the friend’s girlfriend did receive an email from someone stating they were an investigator (but not identifying themselves as a police officer) and a woman had made a claim against a wrestler (not stating Arndt’s name). Arndt was made aware, contacted his lawyer, who in turn reached out the Phoenix Police Department and asked if Arndt was being charged and was told no charges had been laid. Arndt went about his business until the day of Raw 25 in Brooklyn and once the tweets came out, he immediately contacted his lawyer and then went to Mark Carrano, a WWE lawyer, and WWE official Adam Hopkins before meeting with Vince McMahon. Enzo was scheduled for several segments throughout the episode of Raw. He was supposed to be part of the APA poker game and a series of backstage segments were to be shot with Enzo losing his Cruiserweight title in the game to Ted DiBiase, leading to Nia Jax winning the title back herself and handing it back to Enzo. Enzo was also scheduled for a match with Goldust on the show that would culminate with The Dudley Boyz appearing and putting Enzo through a table. After meeting with Vince McMahon, Enzo was sent home with McMahon noting the timing of these allegations when they are promoting the women’s Royal Rumble match that weekend and the “Me Too” movement. As soon as Enzo left the meeting with McMahon, he was informed by Adam Hopkins that he had been suspended a statement had just been released by the company with Enzo responding, “I won’t forget about this” and was furious that the company didn’t have his back. Enzo proceeded to drive from Brooklyn to his sister’s house in Delaware while recording himself for the entire drive and is holding onto that audio until he thinks of what to do with it ... The way his storyline with Nia Jax was scheduled to go, was that Enzo would be caught with Alexa Bliss and revealed that he was using Jax as his “heater” to keep the Cruiserweight title while hooking up with Bliss. He confirmed in the interview that he was dressing by himself backstage and came off as having a dismissive attitude toward the culture of the wrestling locker room, with certain outdated traditions such as Wrestler’s Court not appealing to him and refusing to participate in them. Regarding a return to the WWE, he stated he can’t wrestle due to sciatica right now, adding that he broke his back for a company that didn’t have his back in the end. He has also blocked out all the numbers with a “203” area code in his phone, which is the Connecticut area code.

Link: https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Real1-fka-Enzo-Amore

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Due to an injury in the middle of the match, the WWE had to edit around Monday’s multi-person women’s match on the UK Championship Tournament show. It was originally a fatal four-way match with Toni Storm, Killer Kelly, Isla Dawn, and Jinny. During the match, Jinny is believed to have suffered a concussion and they removed her from the match and redid it as a three-way, which is what you saw on Monday’s broadcast. The lone slip up was that the announcer introduced the match at the beginning as a “fatal four-way match”, which was a minor issue but one that I figured someone would have caught in post-production. Jinny has since come out stating she wasn’t seriously hurt and thanked those that checked in on her.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The WWE is running local ads in the New York market to promote their July 7th house show at Madison Square Garden that state, “Ronda may be banned from Raw, but she is not banned from Madison Square Garden.”

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Rey Mysterio has not signed a new WWE deal as of Monday, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. It's believed that a deal will be finalized soon but Rey's involvement in the WWE 2K19 video game as the first pre-order bonus Superstar led to some speculation on his contract status. It was recently reported that the two sides were negotiating a three-year deal.

Originally Posted by Fightful WWE's Raw this week featured a main event that set the arena off, and Fightful.com was able to learn who produced all of the matches from the show. It should come as no surprise at this point that the main event of Monday's show was produced by Tyson Kidd, real name TJ Wilson. The match was an Intercontinental Championship rematch that saw Seth Rollins looking to regain his title against new champion Dolph Ziggler. The match received high marks by our own ratings system, as is often the case with Seth Rollins matches in general, but certainly seem to be the trend when Kidd is assigned to them. Tag team great Michael "PS" Hayes helped put together the opening match of the evening, which saw the Revival take down the "superteam" of Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns. The barely existing match between Matt Hardy and Curtis Axel was assigned to D-Von Dudley, and Scott Armstrong was given producer duties for the Authors Of Pain's match. WCW veteran Fit Finlay and Sarah Stock split the women's matches, with Finlay getting Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss, and Stock taking care of the six-woman tag match. While there wasn't actually a Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose match, Dean Malenko was listed as the producer for the segment. To round things out, Jamie Noble was given the Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens vs. Constable Corbin and Finn Balor match.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc WWE has a new poll asking which is worse for Kevin Owens - 55% voted, "Being Braun Strowman's enemy because he threw Owens off a ladder." The rest went with, "Being Braun Strowman's friend because he flipped over Owens' car."

Originally Posted by WrestleInc As noted, Wednesday's "Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard" podcast on the WWE Network will feature a discussion on The Undertaker's "American Badass" and "Big Evil" days. Below is a preview for the show with Prichard and co-host Conrad Thompson. "In Taker's mind it was, if we make this change we can never go back," Prichard said of The Dead Man switching gimmicks.

Link: https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1011437393470111745

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Becky Lynch was a part of a Q&A session at the Ace Comic Con, facilitated by Lillian Garcia. Among a series of questions, Lynch was asked what is the first thing she would do if she became the CEO of WWE. After jokingly stating that she would "fire James Ellsworth," she stated that she would book a match against Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura. She then stated that she would have a women's tag team championship division. Lynch was asked a follow-up question on whether she would have just one set of Women's Tag Team Champions, or if she would have them for both Raw and SmackDown Live. "So right now, numbers-wise, I don't think we have enough women to have one on each brand," said Lynch. "So, what I think would be pretty cool, is if they were traveling, and not just between Raw and SmackDown, but NXT too. And then you'd have a huge, huge range of women that you'd go against and so many possibilities. And I think that would get people excited to watch any of the brands, because you wouldn't know when people would be showing up [on] either Raw or SmackDown because it'd all be traveling." Garcia asked Becky if she pitched this idea to WWE already. "Yep. Been pitching it for a year," said Lynch. "Maybe two." Lynch stated that she knew that WWE had a women's tag team division before, but she would bring it back.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45lgJCakgSM


Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, yesterday was the 42nd anniversary of the famous Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki match in Tokyo, Japan that went to a 15 Round draw.
• Developer Spike Chunsoft revealed the PS4 cover of Fire Pro Wrestling World features Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/sta...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Various: Hideo Itami Returning to NOAH, All PWG BOLA Participants
• WWE’s Twitter Follows a Young Buck
• Eli Drake Re-Signs With Impact Wrestling
• ESPN Releases Charlotte Flair “Body Issue” Photos
• Oney Lorcan Injured, Will Require Surgery

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by British Flavored Artistic Combat:

Originally Posted by Observer Coming off a night where Raw had an unusual ratings pattern and did the lowest number of modern times that wasn't against major sports competition, SmackDown followed suit with its lowest number of 2018, averaging just 2.135 million viewers. And, aside from Halloween night in 2017, it was SmackDown's lowest total in over a year. The number was down eight percent from last week and down a whopping 18 percent year-over-year, which is the largest year-over-year drop the show has done since the brand split. SmackDown finished seventh for the night on cable in terms of total viewers but did once again top the 18-49 demo with a 0.64 rating.

Originally Posted by Observer Bakersfield police have commented on the dog attack that has put Shinsuke Nakamura on the shelf. They have issued the following statement: “On Monday, June 25, 2018, officers of the Bakersfield Police Department Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Team were conducting a protective sweep of the Rabobank Arena in preparation for the WWE Live Summerslam Heatwave Tour" the statement says. “During the sweep, the EOD Team, which consisted of an explosive detection trained canine team and bomb technicians entered an area of the arena where an employee of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was present. The canine entered the room to sweep for the presence of any explosive material. As the sweep took place the WWE employee was accidentally bit by the canine. The employee sustained an injury to his lower left leg. Medical aid was immediately summoned to the scene and the employee was transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment.” It was reported yesterday afternoon that Nakamura was bitten by a police dog, rendering him unable to compete in a planned match against Jeff Hardy for the United States championship on SmackDown. His status for this weekend’s shows in Japan is also currently up in the air. There is no current timetable for a return.

Originally Posted by Observer Though Will Ospreay set up a match with Jimmy Havoc for PROGRESS Wrestling’s show at Wembley Arena on September 30, he won’t be able to work the event. PROGRESS put out an interview with Ospreay today where he said NJPW has booked a show in Los Angeles on or around that date that he’ll be wrestling on. NJPW hasn’t officially announced the show. NJPW is releasing an English version of their mobile game on iOS and Android this summer. MLW added Kotto Brazil to the lineup for their 40-man Battle Riot match that will take place in Queens next month.

PROGRESS: https://youtu.be/zHU-Xr54z-Y , NJPW: https://www.njpw1972.com/30764 , MLW: https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1012042269929680896

Originally Posted by PWI Finn Balor showed off the following bruise suffered on Monday Night Raw: Thanks Constable Corbin.... But even when I bruise I’m Bálor Club pic.twitter.com/tsjiR4NNMX — Finn Bálor forEVERYone (@FinnBalor) June 27, 2018

Link: https://twitter.com/FinnBalor/status...95466102444032

Originally Posted by PWI The Rock took to Twitter to respond to Shane Helms about the night The Rock put Hurricane over on Raw: Dude always a pleasure working with you. Never an ego and always down to do whatever it took to entertain the fans. And to be honest, I only did “the job and put you over” because you paid me in hamburgers. https://t.co/8wsHGmYlxI — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 27, 2018

Link: https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/1011953548970614784

Originally Posted by PWI WWE is going patriotic with this week's "Hidden Gem": WWF All-Star Wrestling- February 4, 1981 American Pride Two of WWE’s most patriotic Superstars collide when the militant Sgt. Slaughter faces off against Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Note: WWE Network News reports that the footage is actually WWF Championship Wrestling with means it's probably from January 31, 1981 Cobra Clutch Challenge.

Link: http://wwenetworknews.com/2018/06/27...rk-hidden-gem/

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling It is a big test for both the WWE and Fox as SmackDown moves to a weekly network prime time slot. Unlike in 1999, when SmackDown became a shining light on the fledgling UPN, in 2018 they are going onto a major network that is paying a reported $205 million per year so the standards are significantly higher than in 1999 in terms of what is deemed a success. In 2018, SmackDown Live is averaging 2,515,000 viewers on the USA Network, which is a very respectable viewership average on cable but falls below the network average for Fox. From October 2017 – February 2018, Fox averaged 5,892,000 viewers for their prime-time programming and were trailing NBC, CBS, and ABC. Unlike Raw, SmackDown will find itself in a position where they will need to grow their audience to maintain the status of a prime-time network show on Fox. It is also a new type of product that Fox is going to have to go out and sell to make back their big investment. We saw the lengths that NBC Universal has gone to since the last contract negotiation in 2014 to sell the product, by integrating the WWE with examples like John Cena regularly appearing on the ‘Today Show’, various campaigns they have run and what has led to the WWE having a higher status among advertisers and programmers. The upside of the Fox deal far outweighs any concerns, as this will provide the WWE with their largest platform they have ever had for a weekly program. The ability to cross promote on Fox Sports programming and receive the promotional muscle that Fox wields could prove extremely effective in creating further awareness of their content and serve as a star-making vehicle ... The structure of SmackDown won’t likely be addressed until much closer to the start date on Fox, which will air its first episode on October 4th, 2019. I cannot imagine SmackDown in its current form is the product you see in 16 months. Whether these deals signal the end of the brand split, it makes no sense to have major stars like Ronda Rousey exclusive to one show and the company needs to go all out for their debut on Fox. The move to Fox also coincides with the 20th anniversary of SmackDown (premiering in August 1999) and could easily build to a Raw 25 type of show for the Fox launch.

Post Wrestling's John Pollock on the expectations and struggles FOX will have with Smackdown. Same article also compared the differences FOX had when they carried UFC and why NBC is going to have a much easier time with RAW. Pollock also thinks the brand split era likely is going to end by the time the new contracts take effect. https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/0...o-fox-in-2019/

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling During the conference call, they confirmed that the digital rights to Raw and SmackDown Live were included in these deals so there will not be separate digital rights deal for those two programs. The episodes will continue to be added to the WWE Network 30-days after they air on USA and Fox. They did cite the potential for other digital distribution deals with the Mixed Match Challenge brought up by one investor as a possibility.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Website Wrestling DVD Network recently revealed the entire content listing for WWE's upcoming Shawn Michaels DVD set. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...s-dvd.html?p=1
• Youtube channel So Catch by Hal had a recent interview with Adam Cole talking about evolving as a wrestler and his thoughts on the Young Bucks winning the IWGP Tag titles at NJPW Dominion. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...mself-and-the/
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 19th anniversary of Billy Gunn's King of the Ring 1999 victory. WWE's attempt to use the victory as a springboard for bigger stardom for Gunn ended up failing miserably after a few months.
• In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 7th anniversary of CM Punk's pipebomb promo on RAW.
• NJPW held a recent media call with Cody as the guest talking about issues with WWE's Creative process, differences between WWE's and NJPW's locker rooms, thoughts on New Day vs Elite Street Fighter V match at E3, and more. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...new-day-at-e3/
• For those interested, PWInsider has highlights of the investors conference WWE held today in regards to their TV deals. https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...-call.html?p=1

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Rumor: Possibility of NXT on Fox Sports 1 Being Discussed
• Various: Eli Drake Update, Owens at Shania Twain Concert, Goldberg
• WWE Confirms New Five Year Deals With FOX and USA Network

[slik]

From the Observer this week:

[Sepholio]

Repeating this for accuracy: Reigns wins title at SS, Braun cashes in and murders him. WWE sends everyone home super psyched.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That makes sense given the current landscape. I get the impression from what I've heard recently that they're trying to make it sound like Brock is leaving with the belt? This is an attempt to heel him and get Reigns cheered (which is ridiculous at this point). They can go with Reigns winning the belt at SummerSlam, which will get booed, and then they can call the audible and have Braun cash in when it doesn't work and make it look like a master-plan.

This also explains why they tried to push Brock so hard as a heel that was leaving heading into Mania and pulled the plug on Reigns winning -- they didn't have the MITB fail-safe this time.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It would make sense to go all-out with SmackDown on FOX. But thinking about things more clearly, FOX probably knows exactly what they bought. Their statement seems to be expectant of the SmackDown audience and not anything significantly larger. Meltzer said that Ronda Rousey was important in negotiating these deals, but it wouldn't surprise me if the deal is just on the WWE general product.

Honestly, I don't think much will have to change. Which pisses me off to no end, don't get me wrong -- but the goal for Vince is probably to get as much money for as little effort as he needs to put in. I imagine that there will be a big main event, lots of stars and maybe a new look when they debut, but I don't think they are going to put in any appreciable effort into changing the product or that they have to.

[slik]

It won't work, re: Roman "the hero"...it will probably just piss people off and the live crowd will shit all over it (again).

Braun cashing in would get a massive pop but I feel like they'll tease Braun cashing in for a while.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Maybe. I don't see why they just don't do what they want to do. This whole arrangement is very weird. Logically, you'd think they'd have cut bait on Reigns as champion, otherwise he'd had won the belt at either Mania or in Saudi. But I guess it doesn't really matter, and maybe surpassing Punk was something they wanted to do?

[slik]

I think they are advertising Roman vs KO for HIAC in San Antonio a few weeks after SummerSlam so I don't think Roman will lose the belt right away...but I could be wrong and plans change

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Mankind-Taker Hell ina Cell Anniversary:

Originally Posted by Observer The WWE released information that the total worldwide value of its television deals, which were $215 million last year (this includes both U.S. and the rest of the world), increases to $235 million this year. In 2019, with the big deals kicking in for the last three months, it would be up to $314 million. The combination of the FOX and USA Network deals would be $435 million in 2020, $462 million in 2021, and escalate past $470 million in 2022. Right now the company is estimating $79 million for television rights outside the U.S. in 2020 and $80 million in 2021, but those numbers because of the various deals that haven’t come due, can change, meaning a projection of $542 million in 2021. The company should shoot past the $1 billion revenue mark by 2020.

Originally Posted by Observer Really, this is the make-or-break week for Lesnar and UFC. If he doesn’t enter the USADA testing pool by 6/29, he won’t be able to fight the winner of the 7/7 Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier heavyweight title match on 12/29, or fight Jon Jones if somehow they can figure out a way to retain a smidgen of credibility for their drug testing program and somehow give Jones less than two years on a positive steroid test ... If Lesnar doesn’t enter the testing pool, as he needs six months of clean testing before he can fight in UFC, it would indicate the whole leaving for UFC is a leverage negotiating play. Cormier, who is on friendly terms with Lesnar, said in an interview this past week with Ariel Helwani that his plan is to beat Miocic, defend against Lesnar and then end his career with another match with Jones.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding AAA and Madison Square Garden, it is notable that WWE did not attempt to block their date. AAA still has a hold on 9/16, but it’s not going to happen as Konnan said that they won’t be ready. They were looking for a TV deal and a sponsorship deal where the chances of success would be better. If they ran with no television and no sponsorship, it would not be successful so there would be no point. But they are hoping to run MSG in 2019. It’s pretty clear WWE isn’t against anyone else running MSG as much as blocking people who they feel would be successful running MSG.

Originally Posted by Observer The 7/7 Cow Palace show is listed for four-and-a-half hours live on AXS after the eight hour Bullet Club marathon that starts at Noon Eastern time with wrap-arounds by the Young Bucks & Cody ... Cow Palace ticket sales are a little over 5,000 at ths point. However, almost all the tickets sold are the most expensive, so it is likely already the largest gate in the history of the building. One reader who regularly goes to Japan town in San Francisco said they’ve seen no advertising or publicity anywhere except for one poster at a super market, which lists no matches and only four names, Okada, Omega, Tanahashi and Naito. I’ve seen nothing anywhere and there’s no local awareness of the event from anyone outside the hardcore wrestling fan base. Most area fans have no clue there is a show.

Most recent check had ticket sales at slightly over 7400.

Originally Posted by Observer Vice TV will be doing a series of weekly pro wrestling documentaries starting on 10/19. There will be ten of them in total on subjects that include Gino Hernandez, Dino Bravo, The Von Erichs and Bruiser Brody. From what I understand, the Hernandez one will have a ton of stuff that has never been reported. Hernandez is a subject that most modern fans aren’t familiar with since he died more than 30 years ago and was only 28 at the time of his death from a cocaine overdose. When he was around, there were guys like Ric Flair and Roddy Piper who had similar roles of being the good looking arrogant top heel and were better at it. But by today’s standards, with no Ric Flair’s or Roddy Piper’s in the business today, Hernandez’s out of the ring stuff, his promos, and his arrogance and presence comes off even more impressive because there is no heel remotely like him. I’ve seen the Brody trailer, which focuses on Tony Atlas, and it’s riveting. There are some really interesting things that will come up in all of them, but the Hernandez story is one that will be amazing with the many different paths it takes because unlike most of the stories that they are doing, which have been done in detail multiple times, the Hernandez death was one that happened, a million rumors came after, but nobody really did any investigation on it past the cocaine overdose aspect of the death. Kevin Von Erich said that he never opened up as much as he did as the crew came and spent several days with him and his family on Maui, where the entire family lives in a group of homes all together and raises fruit.

Originally Posted by Observer Just to clarify, the ROH contracts with the Young Bucks & Cody all expire at the end of this year. This is going to be one of the biggest stories to the year to follow because of the timing of all three, as well as Kenny Omega being due. All have indicated in different interviews that they are not looking at going to WWE, with Cody adamant about not wanting to go somewhere where he can’t write his own music. New Japan made a big move with the Bucks and Omega at Dominion and they are keys to their international expansion. But WWE can afford to put on paper terms that nobody else in wrestling can meet. These guys are the exceptions in the sense they can all make big money in wrestling away from WWE, and work their own programs, as has been shown in both ROH and New Japan, as well as have far more control of their matches and their schedules. They all work far less dates than WWE talent. They are also a lock to be in top positions outside of WWE, while there is no guarantee how WWE would use them ... They will also likely be at the peak of bargaining power after All In, because don’t think for a second that WWE wants any doors opened to the idea that somebody else is significant in promoting wrestling in this country like happened when Hot Topic, a major chain, picked up the New Japan/Bullet Club merchandise and then it greatly outsold WWE merchandise, and all in was in many ways probably the third hottest pro wrestling ticket of the year behind WrestleMania and Royal Rumble and probably the second hottest traveling ticket. It’s early to speculate on how this goes down, as there are three different key acts involved, and there are a lot of landscape changes going on. New Japan’s expansion makes New Japan top talent that much more important for WWE to take. The MSG situation is likely to put WWE and Sinclair into a battle and these are Sinclair’s prime wrestling talents. There also could be someone on the periphery starting up, or joining in.

Originally Posted by Observer In something that may have significance down the line, Lightning One Productions, which is the company owned by William “Billy” Corgan as well as the parent company of the NWA, is producing “All Us,” which will be a series of videos promoting the “All In” show on 9/1 in Chicago. At minimum, the NWA is working with the show given the probable Nick Aldis vs. Cody NWA title match (as the storyline goes, Cody first has to win the ROH title, he’s getting a shot in a three-way with Marty Scurll and champ Dalton Castle on the 6/29 PPV show in Baltimore), that is pretty much the only match that’s been talked about publicly for the show.

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding Rey Mysterio Jr., the announcement of his return in the video game has led to expectations of a return. But this is like all the video game announcements of talent which are separate negotiations from WWE, but the historical track record with Sting, Bill Goldberg and Ultimate Warrior is that it ends up opening the doors and the deal is made. In this case, those doors were already opened a long time ago. Mysterio has met with Paul Levesque. At this point no deal has been agreed to but I expect to happen, maybe even going so far as to say I strongly expect it to happen in relatively short order. Really, it’s been pretty much more of a when than if since the reaction at the Royal Rumble and how well he was moving opened up strong interest from WWE. It’s a matter of working out the money and dates but my impression is they are close on both. This is one of those situations where WWE will likely announce it as soon as the deal is done because they very much want to break the announcement themselves. As far as what that means with All In, that I don’t know.

Originally Posted by Observer Cass has a 90-day non-compete in his contract ... Still, a ton of promoters, particularly overseas, would likely pay well for Enzo & Cass as a team. And the issue is the two of them hate each other right now. Enzo has clearly not gone headfirst into the indie scene and is looking at making it as a rapper. Before he was fired, he had openly talked of potentially leaving and trying to do other entertainment work, but his merchandise money was so big that he probably never would have made that break. Him saying basically that on a phone call that other wrestlers heard was essentially the reason he was kicked off the bus on that European tour.

Originally Posted by Observer Ric Flair will be undergoing surgery on 7/9. This is the last operation he’s scheduled for related to his bad health problems last year.

Almost all signs are that this upcoming version of the XFL will be every different from the first one. Oliver Luck, who was hired by Vince McMahon to be both CEO and commissioner of the new league, said he got assurances the league would be completely different from the original. Vince is also very willing to spend money because the Sports Business Journal reported that Luck’s multi-year contract guarantees him $20 million and it could grow to more than $30 million if the league is successful. Luck was considered the heir apparent to the position held by Mike Emmett as President of NCAA Football so it took that kind of an offer to take him out of that future ... This is a league that will either succeed or fail based on one metric, which is media rights fees. The idea is Vince will pump money into it for years until it gets a foundation and then it can get those rights fees. Luck said that they have a long-term goal including spending big money to hire name coaches. The other difference is that Vince himself is in so much better financial state. He has readily said he expects to lose more than $100 million getting it started. The other difference is the competition, because as noted, there are a number of leagues planning to start, with Charlie Ebersol’s AAF being the most serious of them since it already has a deal with CBS and CBS Sports Network. The AAF also has announced Birmingham, San Diego, Atlanta, Orlando, Memphis, Salt Lake City and Phoenix as cities for its teams, which would make those markets very difficult for the XFL.

Originally Posted by Observer If Vince McMahon had known this was coming he’d have surely waited to sell so much stock. In December, he sold 3,340,000 shares at $28.68 per share to raise $95,791,200 for the XFL start-up. If he sold those shares today at market value (and if he did sell, it would actually be at slightly below market value) he’d have raised $236,672,400 so had he just sat right for six months he could have retained far more stock while raising far more money, and funded a ton of XFL early losses. But either way, he’s at the stage where he can afford however large the losses will be at first. It’s just a decision of giving up or not giving up on the belief it’ll make it long-term. It’s long past the point that money will ever be an issue with him or the XFL.

Originally Posted by Observer MLW will be crowning a Middleweight Champion at their Battle Riot show in Queens, New York next month. The promotion announced today that Joey Ryan will face Maxwell J. Friedman (MJF) at the Melrose Ballroom on July 19 to decide the inaugural champion. This will be MLW's third active title, joining their World Heavyweight and Tag Team Championships. Those are currently held by Shane Strickland and Pentagon Jr. & Fenix, respectively.

More details: https://www.f4wonline.com/indies/mlw...ot-show-260586

Originally Posted by Observer Indies Roundup: Besides the ROH show tomorrow night, there is the Kenny Omega promoted New Japan show in Daytona Beach on Twitch and Bellator on Paramount Network. PCW Ultra on 7/27 in Wilmington, CA on FITE TV has Penta 0M & Warbeast vs. OVE & Sami Callhan, Shane Strickland vs. Flip Gordon for the light heavyweight title, Tessa Blanchard vs. Britt Baker for the women's title, Matt Riddle vs. Brody King, Rich Swann vs. Matt Cross vs. Jake Atlas, Dragon Lee vs. ACH and Hammerstone vs. Timothy Thatcher. Jake Roberts will also be a special guest. MCW's annual Shane Shamrock Cup is 7/13 and 7/14 in Joppa,MD. 2 Cold Scorpio will be on the show. Mark Henry, Danielle Moinet (Summer Rae), Milena Roucka (Rosa Mendes) will be making appearances on the 7/13 show. Beyond Wrestling Americanrana on 7/29 in Worcester, MA at the White Eagle has PCO vs. Brian Cage, Brody King vs. Josh Briggs, Matt Riddle & Tom Lawlor vs Nick Gage & Matt Tremont, Tracy Williams vs. Wheeler Yuta, Jonathan Gresham vs MJF and more.

Originally Posted by PWI How come guys from Impact are allowed to work companies with nationally broadcasted TV shows? You see Aries working ROH & MLW; along with Callihan & Konnan? Impact allows that because they simply can’t afford to pay the talents a full-time salary that keeps them exclusive to Impact and Impact alone. So, the talents work wherever they want, making sure Impact has the priority for TV taping dates. Until Impact Wrestling is in a different financial position, that’s how its going to be.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles on why Impact allows their stars to be on rival TV shows.

Originally Posted by PWI Variety reported that Dwayne Johnson's sequel to last year's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" now has a release date of December 13, 2019. That is an extremely interesting date as it sets the film, the sequel to the biggest movie in Sony history, on a direct path with Disney's Star Wars Episode IX, which will be released the following weekend. While Star Wars has traditionally been a juggernaut, the divisive reaction to the franchise's Episode VIII and the lackluster success of the most recent film Solo: A Star Wars Story puts the Jumanji sequel in a position to, for the first time, be a film that can undercut the success of a Star Wars movie, something that would be unthinkable even a few years ago.

Ignoring debates on the quality of the films and diversity/SJW complaints online, Disney seriously damaged the box office power of the Star Wars series by making it an annual thing. Was a big shock last year Jumanji managed to be a big box office hit but if Rock does it again next year against Star Wars, would just cement his status as a big box office drawing machine for Hollywood.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Jax vs. Rousey Raw Women's Championship match was discussed to be the main event of the evening, with the major emphasis being Bliss cashing in the briefcase and winning the title heading into Raw to next evening ... The WON noted that media was told Money in the Bank was going to end at 10:30 p.m. EST, with enough cushion for an overrun to end before 11:00 p.m., as the goal is for only the "big four" pay-per-views – Rumble Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series – to potentially run over 11:00 p.m. Early in the show, producers realized that the 10:30 p.m. finish was not going to happen, and the show ended at about 11:20 p.m. EST. While the feeling was that it would have been a risk main-eventing Rousey in just her first singles match and second match overall, Rousey's performances has caused WWE to be much more comfortable with headlining her in the final match of the card on future events.

Some other sheet news includes:

• According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, an official announcement regarding NXT's future is expected to be made very soon. Current rumors are the show going to Fox Sports 1 as part of WWE's new TV deals. https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status...42234472370177
• According to the Observer, WWE is currently considering suing the Bakerfield PD due to Monday's incident involving Shinsuke Nakamura. Main reason is due to Nakamua's return status is currently unclear and it affecting their plans for this weekend's tour of Japan.
• Also according to the Observer, AXS TV currently has plans for their Women of Wrestling show to start next year.
• In a "WWE Did You Know' type fact, today is the 20th anniversary of the famous Mankind-Taker Hell in a Cell match. Not only did the match end up as one of the most famous and influential matches in WWE history, it also cemented the legacy of the Cell and Foley's stardom status in the WWE. Post Wrestling recently released a retrospective of the famous bout. https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/0...-a-cell-match/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE: Jeff Hardy Wrestling w/ Leg Injury, Charlotte Flair Story in ESPN
• Why the Cruiserweights Haven’t Been on Raw Recently
• Laurel Van Ness and Robbie E Trying Out for WWE
• WWE Says that Lars Sullivan Has a Broken Jaw

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WWE UK Rasslin gif:

Originally Posted by Observer Matt Cappotelli has passed away after his second battle with brain cancer. Cappotelli's wife, Lindsay, wrote on Facebook: "Hey Team Capp...I’ve been struggling with what to say and how to say this, and I’ll probably end up rambling, but here goes. Today my love-my strong, sweet, beautiful love-took his last breath at 3:30 a.m. and went Home to be with Jesus...exactly one year after his brain surgery. You think you can be prepared for this when you know it’s coming, but you just can’t. The only person who’s comfort I want right now is the one who can’t give it to me. I miss him so much. I know where he is now is so much better, but it doesn’t change how much I miss him." Cappotelli was 38 years old. Last June, Cappotelli underwent surgery after being diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma brain tumor. Ninety percent of the tumor was able to be removed, but the remaining portion was too close to his brain stem. Lindsay wrote last month that they met with Cappotelli's neuro-oncologist and it was decided that he was at the point where they should discontinue treatments. Cappotelli, who appeared to be universally well-liked by those who knew him, was one of the winners of season three of WWE Tough Enough. He was an up-and-coming star in OVW until his first brain cancer diagnosis in 2005 led to the end of his in-ring career. John Hennigan (John Morrison), the other winner of Tough Enough season three, posted about Cappotelli's passing: "My first best friend in the wrestling business and to this day one of the best people I’ve ever known Matt Cappotelli has passed on. I’m gutted about this news. Matt inspired everyone around him especially me early in my career. He is loved and will be missed."

Links: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4327...1676064297690/ , https://twitter.com/TheRealMorrison/...32662006816768

Originally Posted by Observer A number of college athletes and independent wrestlers were a part of the latest WWE tryouts held at the WWE Performance Center this past week ... Here is a list of the more notable names that were a part of this tryout camp: Jake Kasper, a two time All-American from Duke University. The article noted that Gerald Brisco compared him to a young John Cena. Chelsea Green, formerly of Impact Wrestling as Laurel Van Ness who also competed in the Tough Enough 2015 reboot. Terrell and Terrence Hughes, twin sons of D-Von Dudley who made a few appearances in Impact Wrestling earlier this decade. Rob Strauss, also known as Robbie E. Former Impact wrestling star and also a competitor on the reality show Amazing Race. Rory Gulak, brother of Drew Gulak. He has an amateur wrestling background and has competed in places like CZW and CHIKARA.

Link with more details: https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/w...tryouts-260671

Originally Posted by PWI The current plan for Ronda Rousey's official return from her "WWE suspension" is for it to happen on the Raw in Buffalo, NY the day after the Extreme Rules PPV. Rousey will be working all of her currently advertised live event appearances including a 7/7 bout against Nia Jax at Madison Square Garden and a 7/8 Bridgeport, CT tag team bout teaming with Jax against Alexa Bliss and Mickie James.

Originally Posted by PWI In some interesting news, The Wales Comic Con announced that WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels would not be able to attend their December 2018 event, but that WWE would be sending Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and Sheamus to appear instead. What is interesting about this is that Ziggler's current WWE deal was expected to expire this summer, so the booking could be a sign that they have come to terms on a new deal or that both sides are working under the agreement that a new deal is expected to be signed.

Originally Posted by PWI ESPN is reporting that Vince McMahon has told people close to him that he expects to spend in the area of $500 million when he relaunches the XFL in 2020. Initially, the number being reported that he would spend would be around $100 million. Of course, since that announcement WWE's stock has more than doubled and they announced TV deals where they will be making 3.6 times more in programming fees in the US alone starting next October. Suffice it to say, he has more money to spend now than he did when the deal was announced. With a half billion being committed to the projected, the chances of attracting name players has gone up. And players are what will draw eyes to the product, in my humble opinion.

Link: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...00-million-xfl

Originally Posted by PWI/Post Wrestling/Oobserver Indies Roundup: Major League Wrestling today announced 5 additional participants known as the “fearless 5” for the first-ever Battle Riot match on July 19th in New York City. Jimmy Havoc, Brody King, Low Ki, Head Shrinker: Samu and ½ of the World Tag Team Champions Rey Fenix will all vie for a world title shot as they compete in the 40 wrestler Battle Riot at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY. Impact Wrestling has announced a four-way match for Slammiversary with Johnny Impact vs. Rich Swann vs. Rey Fenix vs. Taiji Ishimori, as well as confirming the Hair vs. Mask match between Pentagon Jr. and Sami Callihan for the show on July 22nd in Toronto. Wednesday’s episode of Lucha Underground averaged 99,000 viewers on the El Rey Network that featured the three-way Grave Consequences Match. Their number was up by a small margin from 96,000 the week prior. WWN announced that all events will be put up for VOD on their subscription streaming service within 72 hours instead of the prior two weeks, and noted last weekend's shows were up within 24 hours. David Arquette, who was at the Bar Wrestling show last night, will face RJ City on 7/15 at the Oceanview Pavilion in California.

Originally Posted by PWI The 6/28 edition of Impact did 254,000 overnight viewers, down from last week's 262,000,overnight viewers.

Originally Posted by PWI How is the All In event being distributed? Is it gonna be on IPPV? Will they have a distribution deal? Nothing has been made official yet, but the show will air. I have heard AXS TV has made overtures about carrying the show, but we haven’t heard there is a deal in place.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles on current status of ALL In's broadcast plans.

Originally Posted by SEScoops.net Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that there have been discussions of putting NXT on FS1. Satin says the announcement is “imminent” Brad Shepard of Bodyslam.net confirmed the news as well, claiming that the deal was done last week, and the announcement should be made no later than next week This is huge news for NXT, which will now be available to a much larger audience should the news prove to be true. It should be interesting to see what kind of success the program has on FS1. It should also be noted that Shepard teased the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event to Saturdays on FOX.

Link: https://www.sescoops.com/huge-nxt-ne...y-coming-soon/

Originally Posted by Observer The National Labor Relations Board region has ruled that the claims by Leslie Smith have merit and will be filing a claim against UFC that the fighters are not independent contractors, but are employees. Obviously if the complaint goes through, this strongly relates to WWE in particular. This would also lead to a claim that UFC was discriminated against for being released for her out of the ring unionizing activities. Lucas Middlebrook, the attorney for Smith, told MMA Fighting that the complaint would be filed in one month. It would eventually end up with a hearing before an administrative law judge in Philadelphia. A very good story on this is here. In the big picture, this is a massive story.

Going to lead to some massive fallout on the WWE if Smith manages to win.

Originally Posted by Observer I'm not sure if this is the case for Brooklyn, it likely is, but it is definitely the case for November in Los Angeles, that NXT Takeover shows are permanently being moved up one hour to 7 p.m. starts on Saturday night. The NXT Takeover live events will start closer to 6 p.m. I was told the idea isn't longer shows, but that's probably what will wind up happening. Right now the directive is that the shows will be less than three hours in length, when before they were just over two hours, and then lengthened to close to two hours and 30 minutes.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Steve Austin recently appeared on Talk Is Jericho where he discussed how his adrenaline-pumping anthem was created thanks to the incredible talents of Jim Johnston. Austin said he was previously coming out to a much slower song from his Ringmaster gimmick and he needed a change. This is when The Rattlesnake went to Johnston with a CD and an idea of how they could make his music fit the new and edgier Stone Cold gimmick. "I went down to the studio and back in the day you know Chris I was pretty hands-on you gotta be," Steve Austin said to Chris Jericho. "So I walked in there and I had a CD and I hand it to Jim Johnston and go, 'it's called Bulls On Parade by Rage Against The Machine' and I played it. "He got it," Austin continued, "and so I don't think my entrance music sounds anything like it but it was inspired by that and man I tell ya what the way he came up with that glass breaking I don't know how he came up with that idea when he looped in that siren, I don't know how or why he put that in a stroke of genius or luck or whatever it was that happened, magic?

Link: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...n-for-his-wwe/


Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Current Impact Slammiversary 2018 Card – Five Matches
• Shinsuke Nakamura Appears on Crutches at WWE House Show in Japan

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jake Kasper is such a name for a two-time All-American. He actually does look like John Cena.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Rey Mysterio's alter ego ... Rey Mysterio:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw last night drew an almost identical number to the week before, up one percent to 2.70 million viewers. The ratings pattern was interesting, while not like last week where the third hour was the highest, this week the first hour was low, the second hour had a strong gain, and the third hour was down, but not badly. The third hour was actually higher than the first hour, which has been a rare occurrence in recent years ... This week was down five percent from the same week last year. The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.64 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.82 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.66 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer/PWI Indies Roundup: Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix defend the MLW tag titles on the 7/19 show in Long Island City, NY against Aerostar & Drago. MVP on Instagram noted that he was released by MLW saying it's for reasons he said he doesn't completely understand. He was wrestling and agenting for the group. Court Bauer just said that he wishes him the best, that he is fully released to appear anywhere immediately and that this quietly took place a few weeks ago. He said his final appearance with MLW, a Boiler Room Brawl with Sami Callihan which was the blow-off of their angle, will air on television Friday night. Matt Riddle vs. Shane Strickland for the Evolve title has been announced as the main event for a show on 8/4 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. There will also be a show on 8/5 in Melrose, MA with Riddle vs. Austin Theory with stips to be announced and Tracy Williams & Josh Briggs vs. Catch Point. They also announced an 8/11 show in Chicago and 8/12 show in Livonia, MI. WALTER vs. Tomohiro Ishii is set for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Summer Sizzler show at York Hall in London on August 17. WALTER booted Ishii after Ishii’s match with Minoru Suzuki on Sunday, then had a staredown with Suzuki. In episode two of “All Us,” Cody Rhodes said they’ll probably start rolling out matches week by week for All In any day now. He mentioned that he doesn’t think they’ll ever reveal a full card prior to the show. MLW World Champion Shane Strickland will defend his title against Sami Callihan at MLW’s July 19 Battle Riot event in Queens, New York. Ring of Honor posted the following : One of the most sadistic and masochistic wrestlers in the world makes his Ring of Honor debut in Edinburgh as part of Ring of Honor’s Inaugural International Cup! Jimmy Havoc has held championships from all around the globe, including the Progress Championship and CZW Tournament of Death 2016, and is the first competitor announced for the inaugural ROH International Cup!

RevPro: https://twitter.com/RevProUK/status/1013884515536826368 , Cody: https://youtu.be/LbUlPXZTZWI , MLW: https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1014142652231667712

Originally Posted by Observer The book "Eggshells: Pro Wrestling in the Tokyo Dome" by Chris Charlton will be released on 7/17. We'll have more on that as the date comes closer.

Originally Posted by Observer Shinsuke Nakamura will be out for a couple of more weeks. In an interview with Nikkan Sports, Nakamura said that it would possibly be two more weeks before he could return to the ring. He will continue to be evaluated over the next few weeks until a timetable for a return is more clear. He was injured last Monday after a police dog, who was doing a sweep before a SmackDown house show in Bakersfield, California for explosives, bit Nakamura during the inspection. His originally scheduled match against Jeff Hardy for the United States title was canceled the following day and he hasn’t been able to wrestle since. Nakamura did not wrestle on this weekend’s house show events in Asia, but did appear in front of crowds on crutches explaining that he couldn’t wrestle. Two times, Samoa Joe came out and the two got into it before AJ Styles made the save.

Link: https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/...300000337.html

Originally Posted by Observer Jinder Mahal appeared on last night’s Main Event tapings and defeated Zack Ryder. The Ascension also defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno.

Apparently that was The Ascension's first tag win since February 2016. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...s_been_broken/

Originally Posted by PWI ROH tweeted the following: #SeaOfHonor Tournament match on the @jericho_cruise!@theAdamPage vs @FrankieKazarian Book your cabin NOW, maaan!https://t.co/weIdUJuRJS #JerichoCruise pic.twitter.com/Og6oVBYCIK — ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 3, 2018

Link: https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/stat...65602388697088

Originally Posted by PWI TMZ.com reported this evening that former NFL star D'Angelo Williams, who had an incredible performance at last year's Slammiversary PPV, will be returning to the company next week. Williams will be getting involved in the Moose vs. Austin Aries storyline leading into their main event match at the 7/22 Slammiversary PPV in Toronto. Williams will appear on the 7/12 episode of Impact Wrestling, helping Moose with his training for the PPV bout. Williams had an excellent first-time showing last year, teaming with Moose in a victory over Eli Drake and Chris Adonis, but announced afterwards that he intended his excursion into pro wrestling to be a one-time visit. Obviously, that has changed, although there's no official word whether he'll be stepping back inside the ring. Impact is pushing the Williams return early, potentially as a way to reverse the recent dip in their weekly Impact Wrestling audience.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Daniel Bryan was interviewed on The Gorilla Position podcast during the recent European tour in May. Bryan said it’s been tougher than he imagined being on the road and away from his daughter, mentioning that he missed her first birthday and Mother’s Day that month as well. With the WWE’s event in Saudi Arabia at the end of April and the European tour in May, Bryan stated that he was only home three days in the stretch of one month. He would prefer a schedule in the ballpark of 50-100 dates per year with the initial plan prior to his clearance being “a revised concussion protocol for a limited schedule”, and instead of a limited schedule, he is booked on everything currently.

Link with some quotes and video: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...-do-you-trust/

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Chris Jericho has announced he will be recording a special Eddie Guerrero tribute podcast with Konnan and Rey Mysterio on his Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager Cruise that takes place from October 27th – 31st and sails from Miami to the Bahamas.

Originally Posted by Observer There is a ton of news in this new Being the Elite including the tease of Chris Jericho & The Young Bucks teaming up, as well as the mock Joey Ryan funeral and all kinds of tongue-in-cheek strorylines, and the legit announcement of a Young Bucks children's book.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2iNXTXWoVU


Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Sunday was the 27th anniversary of Ric Flair's firing from WCW. Flair was fired due to a contract dispute and even though he was stripped of the WCW World title, he later appeared on WWF television wearing the Big Gold belt due to the on-going dispute.
• According to the Observer, Lesnar is currently rumored to be staying in the WWE due to not entering USADA's drug testing pool prior to the July 1st deadline. Won't be able to fight in UFC's final event of the year and still has a 6 month suspension to serve if he does resume his MMA career.
• According to PWI, WWE is considering the idea of inducting Matt Cappotelli as the Warrior Award recipient for next year's Hall of Fame class. http://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/ear...-hall-of-fame/
• Recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast show had Jericho talk about Eric Bischoff being nicknamed "ATM Eric", his proposed WCW feud with Brad Armstrong, and being "drained" while working in WCW. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ng-drained-in/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Deonna Purrazzo Unable to Compete in “All In” Due to Signing With WWE
• Ruby Riott Injury Update
• WWE: Brief Bray Wyatt Update, Main Event Results, Owens After Raw
• Various: Ricky Steamboat Surgery, Bret Hart’s Birthday

[Mr. Nerfect]

Come on Brock and Danielson to NJPW...

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Swaggie Soaring Eagle Appreciation Day:

Originally Posted by Observer Today is the 25th anniversary of Lex Luger slamming Yokozuna in the WWF’s body slam challenge on the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York. Their match at SummerSlam 1993 ended with Luger winning by countout, with him never becoming WWF World Champion.

Link: https://www.wwe.com/videos/lex-luger...na-july-4-1993

Originally Posted by Observer WWE set up a future Samoa Joe vs. Tye Dillinger match in a post-SmackDown video. It wasn’t specifically announced whether the match will be on next week’s episode or not. Joe wasn’t on last night’s SmackDown and hasn’t been on the show since the Jun 19 number one contender’s gauntlet match. Andrade “Cien” Almas, who hasn’t wrestled on SmackDown since May 22, defeated Sin Cara in a dark match prior to last night’s show but didn’t appear on television. SAnitY vs. The New Day was the post-205 Live dark match, with New Day standing tall after a DQ.

WWE legit needs to do a much better job handling SmackDown's roster. Its one thing to not use every notable star each week, its another when your making notable stars become cold due to lack of use.

Originally Posted by Observer CM Punk’s career from 2006-2008 will be the subject of next week’s season finale of Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson on the WWE Network.

Link: http://www.wwenetworknews.com/2018/0...-wwe-champion/

Originally Posted by Observer The first trailer has been released for “Miz & Mrs,” The Miz and Maryse’s reality show that will premiere on the USA Network on July 24. Miz described the show in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel, we just want to make a shiny new wheel that people can look at and go, ‘Wow, this is something special, this is something nice,. What we set out to do was make this show [so that] when you watch it you don’t literally look at it and go, ‘Oh that was fake’ or ‘That was real.’ You watch it like you watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, like you watch The Office, like you watch Modern Family. You watch it, you get enthralled by the characters, you follow the stories, and you just enjoy the show. … We made a 30-minute comedy and it’s things that people can relate to and I think that’s what’s gonna set us apart from everybody else.”

Links: http://ew.com/tv/2018/07/03/wwe-the-...first-trailer/ , http://ew.com/tv/2018/07/03/wwe-the-...-first-trailer

Originally Posted by Observer Indies Roundup: ROH announced that Jody Fleisch & Jonny Storm will be wrestling as a tag team on their Honor Re-United UK tour shows in Doncaster on August 18 and London on August 19. They won’t be appearing on the August 16 show in Edinburgh. Impact will begin airing weekly on 52MX in Mexico starting on July 7. Its time slot is on Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. CDT.

ROH: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/jo...roh-returns-uk , Impact: http://impactwrestling.com/impact-wr...exico-on-52mx/

Originally Posted by PWI On 6/29, WWE applied to register 'Dr. Shelby':

Originally Posted by PWI ROH is running a HUGE flash sale today 7/4 only with 75% off DVDs (and if you are a ROH Honorclub subscriber, you receive an additional 15% off your order). Complete details below: TODAY ONLY! Use checkout code "ROHUSA" for 75% of ALL #ROH DVDs at https://t.co/VgqPj8BfXC!#HonorClub always receives an additional 15% off!!https://t.co/vS7fcMBTTh pic.twitter.com/9IA8MpIhWo — ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 4, 2018

Link: https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/stat...58273141694464

Originally Posted by PWI We have had a number of readers ask about future WWE plans to add additional vintage content to the WWE Network's Vault section. In speaking to several different sources, we are told that the plans for the next several months are to continue to add additional content to sections that have already been established, not debut any new sections, so if you were looking for Wrestling Challenge or other older WWE series, they will not debut in 2018. The tentative plans for updates going forward include adding the remainder of Mid-South Wrestling episodes, more WWWF All-Star Wrestling, more WCW Saturday Night episodes and adding up to 75 hours of additional WWF Coliseum Home Videos from the 1980s and 1990s, specificially old VHS titles based around personalities. We are told that the initial plan for this month was to add 75 more hours of WCW Saturday Night, but with the decision to finally upload Heat after legalities involving the now-dismissed Buff Bagwell and Raven lawsuit were resolved, Heat being added changed the originally planned schedule for classic additions to the Vault. Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, which was to be uploaded in May was pushed back to this month

Originally Posted by WrestleInc Taeler Hendrix worked for ROH in 2011 and once again from 2015-2017. Hendrix announced her ROH departure on April 4, 2017, and the 29-year-old has been working elsewhere since. Hendrix made claims today that she wasn't pushed in ROH or featured on television after turning down a sexual request from now-ROH Champion Jay Lethal. At this time there is no official word on the situation, but Hendrix wrote on Instagram that her attorneys are in an on-going investigation.

Link: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...taged-for-not/


Some other sheet news includes:

• Ratings and viewership numbers for this week's Smackdown are delayed due to today being the 4th of July.
• Update to recent Shinsuke Nakamura injury news as WWE currently expects Nakamura to return by Extreme Rules on July 15th.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• More on Bray Wyatt Car Crash: Cited for “Careless Driving”
• Updated + Rumored WWE Extreme Rules Card After SmackDown
• WWE 205 Live Results – July 3, 2018 – Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy

[slik]

Notes from the Observer:










]


Meltzer also noted ROH's 'Best In The World' show drew 2,500 fans to Baltimore -- which is the largest crowd for a show w/ homegrown talent (not including Cody) in ROH's history.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd be down with Styles and Joe having a feud. The two best in WWE going at it.

David Arquette is actually credible by today's standards.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by NOTHING:

Originally Posted by Observer For the third time in five weeks, SmackDown posted its lowest viewership total of the year, as this week's July 3 episode averaged 2.013 million viewers. That's actually the second-lowest number since the brand split, trailing only a November 2016 edition of the show that went up against coverage of the United States Presidential election ... Year-to-year, the show was down 14 percent from last year's July 4 edition of SmackDown (which featured a heavily-promoted return of John Cena), the third straight week the show has been down double digits. It also retained just 74 percent of the Raw audience from the night before, which was actually up from the previous week.

Originally Posted by Oserver If you are still feel patriotic following the 4th of July, this week’s Hidden Gem on the WWE Network has your back. This week’s upload pretty much has everything regarding Lex Luger’s big push in the summer of 1993: the “I’ll Be Your Hero” music video, footage of Luger touring the United States on the Lex Express bus, b-roll footage of Luger’s babyface turn on the USS Intrepid on July 4, 1993 where slammed Yokozuna and the WWE title match at that year's SummerSlam. The footage runs slightly over the three hour mark. The patriotic push came after Luger had an initial middling run as a heel, the Narcissist. The original plan was for him to defeat Yokozuna for the WWE title at SummerSlam 1993, but the win was pushed to WrestleMania X. By the time that show rolled around, plans changed again and ultimately Luger never got over in the way WWE was hoping for. Luger jumped to WCW in 1995 and won the WCW title once before the company folded in 2001.

Link: https://twitter.com/WWENetworkChron/...52348420739073

Originally Posted by Observer WWE will be announcing its second quarter business results on 7/26. Among the key items will be the value of the WWE Saudi Arabian deal, and how well network subscriptions held up after WrestleMania.

Originally Posted by Observer/PWI Indies Roundup: The two New Japan shows from the U.K. from the weekend are now up on both the Revolution Pro and New Japan World streaming sites. River City Wrestling tomorrow night in San Antonio at the Turner Club with Nick Aldis vs. Lance Hoyt for the NWA world title and Abyss vs. Joey Spector in Monster's Ball match for the River City title, and Rebel Tanea Brooks vs. Paige Turner. AAW on 7/21 in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has ACH & Davey Vega & Mat Fichett vs. David Starr & Eddie Kingston & Trevor Lee, Kimber Lee vs. Su Yung, Dave & Jake Crist vs. Brody King & Jimmy Jacobs, MJF vs. Ace Romero in a street fight and Rey Fenix vs. Dezmond Xavier. Deonna Purrazzo faces Kylie Rae at the Rise TV tapings on Sunday in Naperville, IL. Stardom announced there will be a Stardom & Rise tournament on 7/14 in Tokyo at Shinkiba First Ring. Two matches announced are Tam Nakano vs. Kikyo and Nasuko Tora vs. Britt Baker. The Bakersfield Dome, which has housed pro wrestling for decades, is being demolished and replaced with an immigration detention center. The ITV World of Sport wrestling show looks to be debuting on 7/21 in the 5 p.m. Saturday time slot. Due to a carriage charge dispute, El Rey at press time is off Sling TV.

The latest announced Impact special set for the company's Twitch.TV channel is Sunday 7/29 at 3 PM as North Carolina's AML will host an event featuring their regulars vs. Impact stars at the Triad in Greensboro, NC. Set for the event: *Moose vs. Jaxon Stone. *Eddie Edwards vs. Chris Payne. *AML Tag Team Champions The Extreme Horsemen vs. The Heavenly Bodies. *Matt Sydal vs. Caleb Konley. *Fallah Bahh vs. Zane Dawson with George South. *Suicide vs. Brandon Scott vs. Devin Driscoll vs. Sean Denny vs. Gifted One Yanya: Fan's Choice. *Eli Drake vs. Axton Ray. *Allie vs. Kristen Stadtlander.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Lavie Margolin, who is the author of “Trumpmania: Vince McMahon, WWE and the making of America’s 45th President”, has compiled data to assess Ring of Honor’s business at the mid-way point of 2018. The statistics were compiled through the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wrestling Data, and the Internet Wrestling Database. It compares the numbers in each category to the first six months of each year of Ring of Honor’s existence dating back to 2002. ROH’s average attendance for the first six months of 2018 is a record high 1,412 per show, greatly assisted by Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania weekend that drew ROH’s highest attendance in their history with approximately 6,000 people (Margolin has a figure of 5,879 for the show). The average is up 27.7% from the same period in 2017 and up 52% from 2016. In looking at the chart, one notable drop came in 2012. When the Sinclair purchase of the company went down in May 2011, they averaged 823 for the first six months of 2011 and one year later dropped to 671 per show. Total attendance for the first six months of 2018 is listed at 32,484 (it is listed as total attendance for the six months and not a breakdown of paid and free), which is a giant leap of 42% from the same period in 2017. Again, Supercard of Honor is a big factor for the jump as they drew 6,000 for their biggest card of all-time, which was a net gain of 2,500 from the Supercard of Honor event in 2017 in Orlando. That said, even if Supercard of Honor drew the identical number as 2017, you would still have a record attendance number this year by a substantial margin from the previous high of 24,307 in 2017.

Link: https://twitter.com/Laviemarg/status...81550016679937

Originally Posted by Observer The awareness locally isn’t there. Really, none of my friends who might be interested in the Cow Palace show had any awareness of such a show. There was a Japan Day festival in San Francisco on 7/1 and there was no presence of anything publicizing the show and that would have hit a huge audience. One of our readers went through Japan Town while there and said aside from postcards in a display rack off a side alley in one mall, a poster on bulletin wall outside a market and a full page ad on Japan weekly, there was no publicity for the show in San Francisco, and we’ve heard or seen nothing in San Jose. One of the Japanese video store owners who is a pro wrestling fan had no idea there was a show at the Cow Palace, and he knew about the Long Beach shows

Originally Posted by Observer Michael Elgin, who has done limited indie dates in months, was back doing a few dates in the U.S. this past weekend. Because of social media reaction to him, he has done very little U.S. wrestling this year. New Japan didn’t even book him on their U.S. shows with the idea of a fear of a social media backlash. Even a number of promoters who wanted him on shows, including one national office, saw the reaction and tried to steer clear of it. He had worked a few U.S. shows and several Canadian shows without any incident or crowd issues but they fell under the radar and weren’t shows pushed hard through regular social media channels

Originally Posted by Observer Regarding rumors of WWE buying Evolve and putting it on the network, there have been talks of that from the start of the relationship between the two brands. It could happen soon or it could never happen. WWE allowing them usage of Adam Cole, but not on the WWN streaming service, isn’t a signal of anything because they’ve done that before. Whether it’s ICW, Progress or Evolve, WWE will put some or all on the network as soon as Vince McMahon makes that call. He’s gone back-and-forth on it for close to two years, including many times where he said yes and then changed his mind. If you understand the mindset, what would have spurred it on is if Flo Slam was a success, because it was ITV talking about doing wrestling in the U.K. that spurred the deals there, and FloSlam when it kicked off may have sped things up, but ITV then cooled down after the first taping and seemingly disappeared, and Flo Slam didn’t get off to a big start and is no longer around

Originally Posted by Observer Rollins was interviewed by the Asbury Park Press for an upcoming show. He noted that the attempts for the full-fledged Shield reunion tour kept falling apart, first when Reigns got the mumps, injuries that changed around shows and most notably due to the Ambrose surgery for a torn triceps. “It started off great I thought. The reconciliation over the summer, myself and Ambrose winning the tag team titles, and then bringing Roman into the fold was really well done and a lot of fun and exciting. And then, the mumps happened, and there’s nothing you can really do about that, so that threw a real wrench into the plans. And Ambrose got hurt, so what can you do? That’s part of the business. That’s part of the game. One thing that’s exciting about it is I think it leaves us a lot of room for future Shield reunions, so that’s cool to see. If we get an opportunity to do that at some point down the road, that would be great. You know, we haven’t done it, and thrown it away and wasted it. It just stuff happens, you can’t predict those variables of people getting sick or injured.” He said he hoped that Ambrose would be back by the end of the year. He had surgery in December so one would think he should be back a lot sooner than that, as originally they estimated September and later I’d heard they were hoping for August

Originally Posted by Observer The top ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the past week were: 1. Ride Along with Rusev, English and Lana; 2. 2018 Money in the Bank; 3. NXT on 6/27; 4. UK from London second show; 5. UK from London first show; 6. Something Else to Wrestle with from 6/27 on Big Evil Undertaker; 7. The Hardys: Woken; 8. NXT Takeover Chicago; 9. 205 Live from 6/26; 10. WrestleMania 2018. I’m not sure why, if there was a podcast about it or a story, but the 1998 King of the Ring PPV cracked the top 20 and it’s rare for something in that era ever to do that

Some other stuff includes:

• Website DigitalSpy.com had a recent interview with Goldberg talking about his last run in the WWE. http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/wwe/int...-brock-lesnar/
• Rumor going around the net hints that Rey Mysterio has recently signed a 3-year deal with the WWE. Source of the rumor is a bit sketchy in terms of reliability.
• Also rumors of an official announcement regarding NXT going to FS1 were recently debunked by the Observer. According to Meltzer, the talks between FOX and WWE were only for Smackdown based on his sources close to the situation. He did hint it is possible future talks could result in a separate tv deal for NXT.
• According to the Observer, Toni Storm's WWE contract is only a WWE UK one and not also a NXT one due to her recently revealing her schedule for the rest of the year includes a lot of events in Germany.
• Recent episode of In This Corner podcast show had Bret Hart as the guest talking about CM Punk's recent defamation lawsuit and the time he punched Vince after the Montreal Screwjob incident occurred. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...vince-mcmahon/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Okada vs. Scurll and Three New Names Added to All In
• How Much Is WWE Paying Its NXT UK Wrestlers?
• Injury Updates: Nakamura, Wyatt, Riott, Lorcan, Sullivan
• Kenny Omega Says It’d Be “Missed Opportunity” if He Didn’t Wrestle in WWE

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random Braun gif:

Originally Posted by Observer New Japan will be back in the Los Angeles area this fall with a number of events. NJPW President Harold Meij announced today at a press conference in San Francisco that the promotion will be returning to Long Beach this fall with Fighting Spirit Unleashed. It will be held on September 30 and will once again be at the Walter Pyramid. In addition, two shows featuring only Young Lion talent will take place in Anaheim on November 10 and November 11. These shows will be called The Lion’s Break, possibly similar to smaller scale young lion events held in Japan called Lion’s Gate Project. This would be the third time New Japan has ran a big show in California this year. Along with Strong Style Evolved back in March, they will be running one of their most ambitious international events yet tomorrow with the G1 Special in San Francisco event at the Cow Palace.

Originally Posted by Observer On Wednesday, former Ring of Honor wrestler Taeler Hendrix (Taeler Conrad-Mellen) said on Twitter that she was taken off TV in 2017 due to her refusing to have sex with Jay Lethal (Jamar Shipman). On Friday, ROH COO Joe Koff released a statement to F4WOnline.com via their PR company: "We were troubled to hear the allegations that surfaced last night on Twitter. We take these matters very seriously and will be investigating this situation thoroughly, reviewing all evidence related to the matter. Ring of Honor strives to provide an environment and workplace where male and female wrestlers are free from any misconduct or abuse. We will take appropriate action upon the conclusion of our findings." The statement was also provided to PWTorch who ran a story about the situation on Thursday. When asked if the company would also release a statement from Shipman or provide a timeline in which their investigation would take place, their PR firm said the statement was all they had. At this point, Shipman hasn't made any public statement.

Link: https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2018/07...nt-to-pwtorch/

Originally Posted by PWI Indies Roundup: The National Wrestling Alliance released the latest edition of their YouTube series Ten Pounds of Gold, focusing on the build to the 9/1 "All In" event where Champion Nick Aldis will defend against Cody Rhodes in Chicago MLW issued the following: BAD BOY JOEY JANELA VS. MJF FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE BOUT SIGNED FOR MLW’S JULY 12 ORLANDO FUSION TV TAPING The company announced Scorpio Sky will challenge Punishment Martinez for the ROH Television Title at the July 20 "Honor for All" event in Nashville. Also announced, Karen Q will have a Proving Ground match against Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai. AXS' Mark Cuban spoke to Sports Illustrated ahead of Saturday’s show at the Cow Palace, which will air live on the channel. He hyped up NJPW as the “best pro wrestling in the world” and the “best in the business at long-term storytelling that has a payoff.” He also said AXS is excited about new NJPW president Harold Meij and his goal of increasing English-language content. On the subject of live shows on AXS, Cuban said: “They are a great way to reward viewers of the weekly show and to increase the fanbase in the United States. The viewership and social engagement for live specials in the U.S. explodes as it expands the audience outside of those who will stay up all night for events from Japan.” Cody Rhodes appeared with his hair dyed black at a press conference today prior to challenging for Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the Cow Palace tomorrow. Brandi Rhodes said that Cody dyed his hair for a role on a television show.

NWA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx5V3lpcErY , AXS TV: https://www.si.com/wrestling/2018/07...att-cappotelli , Cody: https://twitter.com/JustinBarrasso/s...35185036951553

Originally Posted by PWI When Cena and Batista both went over the top rope in the 2005 Royal Rumble, was that a legit botch? What was supposed to be the finish of that match? I thought the refs did a great job improvising on the fly. It was 100% a botch. Batista was supposed to throw Cena over the top and win but the momentum sent them both over the top to the floor, which led to Vince McMahon coming out (getting injured entering the ring) and restarting the bout. It was one of those moments where reality crept into wrestling and they had to figure out a way to get back to the planned finish.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles involving the finish of 2005's Royal Rumble match.

Originally Posted by PWI Joe DeFalco, owner and operator of Las Vegas-based Future Stars of Wrestling posted the following on his Facebook: It's time to let the cat out of the bag. The deal is finalized to bring Impact Wrestling to Las Vegas. Clear your calendars for 3 days in November. More details regarding pricing, VIP's, Meet n Greets, Seminars and More coming soon.

Originally Posted by Observer After announcing in May that they found insufficient evidence to press charges, Phoenix Police released their report on the rape allegation that was made against Enzo Amore. It noted that Amore wasn’t contacted prior to his accuser making the claim public, which is what Amore had said himself and through his lawyers. During an appearance on the Steve Austin Show, Amore noted that a friend’s girlfriend was emailed by someone who said they were an investigator and said someone had made a claim against a wrestler. He said his lawyer looked into that in December and couldn’t find anything that was going on. Amore was released from WWE on January 23, the day after the allegation was made public.

According to a report from Fightful, the victim going public about this alleged incident actually ended making things a lot harder for her case and the police's investigation. Links: http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/enz.../#.W0AGA9hKgW8 , https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/e...er-went-public

Originally Posted by Observer A new episode of Table for Three with Alexa Bliss, Lita, and Trish Stratus will premiere on the WWE Network after Monday’s Raw.

Originally Posted by Observer Impact Wrestling was back over 300,000 viewers this week, with Thursday night’s episode averaging 304,000 on Pop TV. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.07. Last week’s 254,000 viewers was the lowest total of the year.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The New Japan Pro Wrestling card takes place Saturday from the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California and will air on AXS TV in the U.S. and New Japan World outside the country. Below is the lineup for Saturday’s show: *Kenny Omega vs. Cody for the IWGP heavyweight title *Jay White vs. Juice Robinson for the United States title *Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee for the IWGP junior heavyweight title *Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi *The Young Bucks vs. EVIL & Sanada for the IWGP tag titles *Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title *Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. Hangman Page & Marty Scurll *Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano *Roppongi 3K, Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero vs. Guerrillas of Destiny, Yujiro & Haku

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Lucha Underground had their lowest viewership of the current season with 88,000 viewers for Wednesday’s episode on the El Rey Network. After an average of 143,000 viewers for the season premiere, the three episodes following have been unable to crack 100,000 viewers. After four episodes, the current season is averaging 106,500 viewers per episode.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• WWE: Miz in MLB Celebrity Softball Game, Goldberg Title Wins, Strowman
• Kane Criticized By His Opponent for Still Wrestling While Running for Mayor

[Sepholio]

I am thinking of actually moving to the Knoxville area, and if Kane wins the mayoral race, I'll be even more likely to just so that I can raise some issue with him at a council meeting, get overly belligerent and get choke slammed to HAYELL for my disrespect.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Rusev Appreciation Day:

Originally Posted by Observer Raw last night did the all-time record modern low audience with 2.46 million viewers ... The least-watched modern era episode was on September 26, 2016, which also did 2.46 million viewers against both the first Trump-Clinton Presidential debate and the NFL. Last year on the same week Raw did 3.01 million viewers, so this is an 18 percent annual drop. The show started out weak and fell throughout, meaning whatever they were hyping did not keep the audience ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.58 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.51 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.32 million viewers

Originally Posted by Observer The Sports Business Journal's John Ourand provided inside details on the recently completed WWE and UFC TV deals that saw the companies lock in more than $4 billion in rights fees over the next five years. Here's some of the key details from the article (subscription needed): - Due to what they believed could be a $400 million/year investment, Fox executives had resigned themselves to three options with the UFC: $200 million for less content, a split package with another network, or a complete exit. - The reason Ari Emanuel of Endeavor was removed from the WWE TV rights negotations, despite being asked by Vince McMahon to head them up, was due to Fox Sports' Eric Shanks telling McMahon it was a conflict of interest to have Emanuel negotiate both deals. CAA, a rival firm, was hired instead, which irked Emanuel. - WWE leadership met with ESPN four times from December 2017 through the spring of 2018, but giving 52 weeks to a product wasn't viable, nor was putting WWE content on ESPN+ due to the WWE Network. - CAA presented NBCUniversal with a $265 million/year offer for Raw and $200 million/year for SmackDown. After the exclusive negotiation window passed and NBCU chose to retain Raw but let SmackDown go, Fox and WWE had essentially negotiated the SmackDown deal the next day. - Turner Sports showed interest in both WWE and UFC, but due to their ongoing litigation with the Department of Justice over their prospective $84 billion merger with AT&T, they weren't a real player in either.

The irony of WWE going on a Turner channel would have been something special had the deal been made. Link with more details: https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/d...ogether-261306

Originally Posted by Observer As noted from the story earlier today, the Jim Ross/Josh Barnett stuff with Jay White and Juice Robinson was not a work. Ross suffered a rib injury. Barnett just reacted to what was happening. Ross was upset, besides being injured, because the night before he had spoken to officials about fighting outside the ring and near the announcers desk.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc We previously reported Jim Ross was suffering from a possible broken rib after taking an unplanned bump at NJPW's G1 Special In San Francisco. Jay White heaved Juice Robinson through the guardrail outside the ring during their IWGP United States Championship match. The barricade was not properly latched together causing a chain reaction and Ross ended up being knocked from his chair. F4WOnline reports Ross has been diagnosed with issues involving his ribs and lungs after the unscheduled spot. Ross must now cancel three commitments this week due to this injury. The WWE Hall Of Famer is not happy about this spot and he assured fans this is not a work of any kind. Due to problems with his ribs and lungs, JR has also been advised by his doctors to be cautious of contracting phenomena. Ross reportedly spoke to NJPW officials before the show to make sure nobody did any spots around the announce table because he knew how much action could take place outside the ring.

Originally Posted by Observer Ronda Rousey on Instagram said she cried happy tears like a baby at the end of the show in her debut in Madison Square Garden: "There are no words.... thank you New York and MSG for a night I’ll never forget. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry like a baby at the end of last night... happy tears, but what a whirlwind past few days have been.... I’m humbled, grateful, and far from finished"

Originally Posted by Observer Indies Roundup: Cody & Brandi Rhodes were announced for the World Series Wrestling Elite tour of Australia in November. ROH will be returning to the UMBC Center in Baltimore for a show on 10/13. That was the site of last week's PPV show, which did one of the largest crowds in company history. Defy Wrestling on Friday night at Washington Hall in Seattle has John Morrison vs. Randy Myers, Shane Strickland & Artemis Spencer & Billy Suede vs. MJF & The Amerikan Gunz, plus Colt Cabana vs. Carl Randers, Taya Valkyrie vs. Nicole Matthews and the debut of Ricky Starks and Luchasaurus. You must be 21 or older to attend. Progress announced Jimmy Havoc vs. TK Cooper for 8/12 in Livonia, MI. The ITV World of Sport wresting show will debut on 7/28 at 5 p.m., or one week later than had it originally been talked about. Viper (Piper Niven in WWE’s first Mae Young Classic) will make her Women of Honor debut at ROH’s Honor Re-United show in Edinburgh on August 16. She’ll be wrestling in her home country of Scotland. NJPW’s G1 Special at the Cow Palace, a bit of fallout from the show, and Chris Jericho putting Marty Scurll on his List are featured on this week’s episode of Being the Elite.

Viper/Pipen: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/vi...ited-edinburgh , Elite: https://youtu.be/TZ2bxuTtkHw

Originally Posted by Observer The storyline of Flip Gordon trying to get booked for All In will continue at Ring of Honor's show in Nashville, Tennessee later this month. At the end of a video that was uploaded by the NWA today, it was revealed that NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis' next title defense will be against Gordon at "Honor for All" on July 20. The show is taking place at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville and will air live on HonorClub. The storyline is that Cody Rhodes won't book Gordon for All In, and Gordon has fallen short in every opportunity he's been given to be added to the show. But whoever is NWA Champion on September 1 will defend the title against Cody at All in.

Link: https://youtu.be/0KrfgsCBP_M

Originally Posted by Observer While not confirming the exact injury that he suffered, New Japan Pro Wrestling provided a few additional details on Hiromu Takahashi's condition in an update overnight. NJPW officially announced that Takahashi has been hospitalized after suffering a neck injury during his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship defense against Dragon Lee at the Cow Palace on Saturday night. They noted that Takahashi is currently undergoing a thorough evaluation but is conscious and is able to sit and talk. Dave Meltzer reported yesterday that the original belief was that Takahashi had broken his neck on the Phoenix Plex spot that went wrong when he landed on his head/neck after being given the move by Lee. The match continued for a couple of minutes after that, with Takahashi retaining with the Time Bomb.

Link: https://www.njpw1972.com/31162

Originally Posted by Observer Fans were heckling Taelor Hendrix on her Friday night booking in San Antonio chanting "Jay Lethal," "ROH" and things a lot worse at her. She lashed back at them. Hendrix claimed she stopped being booked on ROH TV in 2017 when she refused to sleep with Jay Lethal. ROH, as noted yesterday, said it was Hendrix who quit the promotion and was still being booked when she quit. Lethal also responded saying there was nothing to the story and then asked not to use his words to attack himself or his accuser. "There is already too much hate going around in this world, so let's not add to it." He said he was confident the accusations will be proven to be completely unfounded and noted ROH is doing an investigation. Here's the deal, whatever you want to believe, please don't heckle either person involved regarding this situation. It's just hurts it for the fans who want to be entertained.

Originally Posted by Observer Tessa Blanchard has officially signed with Impact Wrestling. Impact announced the news via Twitter this afternoon: "BREAKING: @Tess_Blanchard will continue to prove she's undeniable in the Knockouts Division as she has signed a long-term contract with IMPACT Wrestling." Aside from it being a "long-term" deal, the exact length of the contract wasn't disclosed. Blanchard debuted for Impact at their Redemption pay-per-view this past April and has been feuding with Madison Rayne since. On the most recent episode of Impact, she tried to interfere during Rayne & Allie vs. Knockouts Champion Su Yung & Yung's Undead Maid of Honor but was fought off by Allie.

Link: https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/...43868044279809

Originally Posted by PWI WWE filed a copyright on the term "Top Rope" for goods and services, specifically "Clothing, namely, tops, shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, hoodies; outerwear, namely, coats; bottoms, pants, shorts, underwear, dresses, pajamas, lingerie, clothing ties, scarves, gloves, swimwear; Halloween and masquerade costumes; footwear, namely, shoes, sneakers, slippers, flip flops, boots; headwear, namely, hats, caps; wrist bands; bandanas."

Originally Posted by PWI WWE and 2K each filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit brought against them by tattoo artist Catherine Alexander in the United States District Court of Southern District of Illinois yesterday. Anderson sued each party back in April, alleging that they are infringing on her copyright for tattoo designs that she has imprinted on Randy Orton, having been his tattoo artist since 2003. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 2K Games, Inc., 2K Sports, Inc., Visual Concepts Entertainment, Yuke’s Co., Ltd. and Yuke’s LA Inc. have also been named defendants in Alexander's lawsuit ... In the response filed on 7/9, they 2K argued the lawsuit should be dismissed for several reasons, including that Alexander has not obtained copyright registrations on any of the designs that she has claimed to own. 2K noted that "Statutory damages and attorney’s fees are only available where the works were registered before the infringement occurred or within three months of their publication. Accordingly, statutory damages and attorney’s fees are unavailable to Plaintiff as a matter of law," basically stating that since Alexander had not filed copyrights on the designs within the allowed timeframe, she cannot retroactively claim damages. Since Alexander states in her lawsuit that she does not own those copyrights, the lawsuit must be dismissed for not meeting the standard of the law ... Meanwhile, WWE's filing yesterday claimed that the lawsuit against them should be dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, providing a 22-page memorandum to the court that claimed Alexander has failed to prove that the court in Illinois has any jurisdiction over WWE, given they are incorporated in Delaware and are headquartered in Connecticut. WWE also argued that Alexander would have to demonstrate "specific activities that WWE has supposedly undertaken in Illinois with respect to the claims at issue" to the court in order for WWE to fall under Illinois jurisdiction and has not done that. WWE stated while they have purchased "limited quantities" of the WWE 2K videogames to sell on their website, that "cannot establish specific jurisdiction over WWE."

Link with more details: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...issed.html?p=1

Originally Posted by PWI Vernice Gabriel, a female star in the Phillipines, has been booked for the Mae Young Classic, PWInsider.com has confirmed. The second annual women's tournament will be taped on 8/9 and 8/10 at Full Sail University in Florida.

Originally Posted by PWI Major League Wrestling's Court Bauer announced that Major League Wrestling will bring Wargames, the two ring steel cage match, to their 9/6 return to Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Changed my mind. Fury Road isn’t coming to Fort Lauderdale September 6th. Instead, @MLW will be doing #WARGAMES. Tickets on sale July 23rd 10am at https://t.co/Keo5it98oQ & https://t.co/AFJrIR1xX0 See you in September… — Court Bauer (@courtbauer) July 10, 2018 The show will presumably take place at the War Memorial Auditorium. MLW had an excellent event featuring a Wargames match there back in September 2003 in Fort Lauderdale, featuring The Funkin' Army (Terry Funk, Sabu, Steve Williams, Terry Funk, The Sandman & Bill Alfonso) defeating The Extreme Horsemen (Steve Corino, Barry Windham, CW Anderson, Justin Credible & Simon Diamond.)

Link: https://twitter.com/courtbauer/statu...96414120177664

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura returned to the ring on Monday’s house show in Augusta, Maine following the dog bite he sustained last month. Nakamura worked against AJ Styles in the main event of the show with Styles retaining the WWE title. Nikki Cross also worked the house show Monday as she teamed with Becky Lynch and defeated Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.

Originally Posted by WrestleInc AJ Styles spent a majority of his career traveling the world and raising the value of his name before coming to WWE. His surprise appearance in the 2016 Royal Rumble as the #3 entry was met with plenty of fan excitement. Styles picked up the WWE United States Title twice since his debut and held the WWE Championship on two occasions which he still has to this day. Styles is currently sitting at 385 combined days as WWE Champion. Shawn Michaels held the title for 396 days. Therefore, if Styles can defeat Rusev at Extreme Rules, he will soon pass HBK's position of 13th longest-combined reign as WWE Champion. If AJ Styles is able to top HBK's record of combined reigns, his next target would be CM Punk who is in the #12 entry with 463 days. Styles still has a long way to go before he is close to touching Bruno Sammartino's top record of 4,040 days though with Hulk Hogan coming in second with 2,185.

Some other sheet news includes:

• Impact Wrestling's partnership with RISE Wrestling seems to be taking a hiatus soon due to RISE dealing with serious money issues at the moment. Current plans are for RISE to resume running events this October.
• According to reports, Goldust recently underwent knee surgery to fix some lingering pain and injuries he has been dealing with for a while.
• Recent episode of WWE Network's Table For 3 series featured Trish Stratus, Lita, and Alexa Bliss as the guests.
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Kevin Nash celebrated his 59th birthday yesterday.

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Brock Lesnar Re-Enters USADA Testing Pool, Eligible to Fight in January
• Ronda Rousey Will Be a Pre-Order Bonus Wrestler in WWE 2K19
• WWE: Alicia Fox Returns, No WWE2K on Nintendo, Kurt Angle Documentary
• Lesnar Challenges Cormier at UFC 226 (Video) + When They May Fight

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I watched the JR getting hurt clip. Barnett looked like he was gonna murder Juice.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by WWF Ice Cream Bars:

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live averaged 2,183,000 viewers on the USA Network.. It was up 8.4% from last week’s average, although last week was SmackDown number was the second lowest viewership average since the brand split in July 2016.

Originally Posted by Pro Wrestling Sheet Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned WWE officials are internally discussing the idea of presenting an all women’s event for main roster talent in the fall. As you may recall, women were not allowed to participate in WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event earlier this year in Saudi Arabia. Sources tell us the company might make up for the controversial decision, however, as the idea of an all women’s show taking place in late September or October is seriously being kicked around by higher-ups. It’s unclear if the event would additionally feature some of the women on the NXT roster, outside talent or former stars … because the show hasn’t been set in stone just yet.

Link: http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/wwe.../#.W0aMDdhKjVA

Originally Posted by Observer Today is TJ Wilson’s (Tyson Kidd) 38th birthday. Natalya wished him a happy birthday on Twitter: “Happy birthday @TJWilson! You’re such an inspiration to so many people. The best is seeing you happy and proving that we can succeed at anything we put our minds to. We all love you!”

Link: https://twitter.com/NatbyNature/stat...65996119674881

Originally Posted by Observer Indies Roundup: Kay Lee Ray will make her Women of Honor debut in her home country of Scotland as ROH comes to Edinburgh on August 16. Viper has also been announced for the show, which is part of ROH’s Honor Re-United tour. The Young Bucks & Marty Scurll vs. The Briscoes & Punishment Martinez is also set for ROH’s show in Edinburgh. Chuck Taylor will face Bully Ray at ROH’s Honor for All show in Nashville on July 20. Dragon Lee said that Hiromu Takahashi is in his prayers, that he hopes Takahashi returns, and that he feels bad about what happened in their match. He said he loves wrestling against Takahashi and that their matches are the best and most beautiful he’s had in his career. MLW has added Barrington Hughes vs. Leon Scott and a Simon Gotch Prize Fight Challenge to their TV tapings in Orlando tomorrow.

ROH: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ka...untry-scotland , https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ep...gned-edinburgh , & https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ch...-ray-nashville , Lee: http://www.luchaworld.com/?p=84656 , MLW: https://mlw.com/2018/07/11/barringto...tt-in-orlando/

Originally Posted by Observer The infamous “Black Saturday” episode of World Championship Wrestling will be this week’s Hidden Gem upload on the WWE Network, according to a report. WWE Network News, who has broken similar stories in the past, first reported the news. While episodes of World Championship Wrestling have already been uploaded to the WWE Network, nothing has been uploaded before November 1985. Viewers were in for a shock on July 14, 1984 when their usual World Championship Wrestling action was completely overhauled. Instead of Gordon Solie and wrestling stars from Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon and the superstars of the World Wrestling Federation filled the hour time slot instead. While the Georgia show usually featured hot in-ring action and interviews, McMahon used the Saturday time slot mainly as a recap show that only featured the occasional in studio squash match. Declining ratings due to viewership outrage over the drastic overhaul eventually led McMahon to sell the time slot to Jim Crockett Promotions, who took over in March 1985.

Link: http://www.wwenetworknews.com/2018/0...sode-featured/

Originally Posted by Observer New Japan Pro Wrestling has posted another update on Hiromu Takahashi's condition following the neck injury that he suffered at this past Saturday's G1 Special. NJPW noted that Takahashi was able to travel back to Japan today, where he will proceed with treatment. He had been hospitalized in San Francisco after Saturday's match against Dragon Lee at the Cow Palace. Takahashi injured his neck towards the end of the match when a Phoenix Plex spot went wrong and he landed on his head/neck as he was given the move. The match continued for a couple of minutes after that, ending when Takahashi hit the Time Bomb to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. NJPW has yet to officially confirm Takahashi's exact injury, but Dave Meltzer reported that the original belief was that Takahashi suffered a broken neck. NJPW wrote on Monday morning that Takahashi was undergoing a thorough evaluation but was conscious and able to sit and talk.

Link: https://www.njpw1972.com/31187

Originally Posted by PWI With Daniel Bryan having made public during interviews discussing his medical clearance and return to the ring that his current WWE deal was due to expire on 9/1, there has been a lot of speculation about his future and whether Bryan might leave WWE to pursue wrestling outside of their auspices. Earlier today, WWE issued an announcement to fans in the Detroit area about the Tuesday 9/4 Smackdown Live taping at the Little Caesars Arena with Bryan announced for the taping, including a dark match main event teaming with AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy against Samoa Joe, The Miz and Shinsuke Nakamura. Over the weekend, WWE also announced that Bryan would make his first appearance in Madison Square Garden in three years at the 12/26 return to the legendary venue in NYC. So, while card is subject to change, these are the first potential indications that Bryan has signed (or is expected by WWE to sign) a new deal. Stay tuned.

Originally Posted by PWI Here are the plots for the first several episodes of WWE reality series Miz & Mrs, which will debut on Tuesday 7/24: Episode One, airing 7/24: "A Simple Mizunderstanding" - Mike debates going full-frontal at Maryse's nude pregnancy photoshoot. Episode Two, airing 7/31: "Miz Takes The Cake" - Maryse plans a spectacular and expensive baby shower the couple will never forget; Mike tries to save a few bucks on an extravagant cake but ends up paying the price when his scheme fails.

Originally Posted by PWI Here is an updated schedule of WWE DVD releases: RELEASED on 7/10- The Shield - Justice For All 7/24 - WWE Money in the Bank 2018 8/14 - WWE Extreme Rules 2018. 8/28 - 30 Years of Summerslam 9/28 - WWE Summerslam 2018. 10/2 - The Showstopper Unreleased: Shawn Michaels 10/16 - WWE Hell in A Cell Tentative 2019 Plans, based on surveys released to WWE Fans: It’s a New Day, Yes It Is! The Best of Roman Reigns The Best of Andre the Giant Sgt. Slaughter The Miz: A-List Superstar John Cena: The Face that Runs the Place The Best of Alexa Bliss Million Dollar Man The Very Best of Braun Strowman The Best of NXT 2018 The Best of Pay-Per-Views 2018 The Best of Raw & SmackDown 2018 The Best of WWE Superstars Asuka: Empress of Tomorrow The History of the ECW Championship SmackDown 20th Anniversary The Greatest Matches & Moments of Goldust The Best of NXT Takeover Shinsuke Nakamura Finn Bálor I Am Phenomenal: The AJ Styles Story Four Horsewomen ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper Unreleased The Best of Ravishing Rick Rude The Best of Charlotte Flair John Cena Match Comp The Best of Trish Stratus The Best of Dean Ambrose

More details: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...eases.html?p=1

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Legendary Japanese wrestler Shinya Hashimoto passed away on this date in 2005 at the age of 40. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Muto, the three were dubbed “The Three Musketeers” of New Japan as the pillars to lead the company into and through the 90s. The first G1 Climax featured the three booked prominently, including Hashimoto scoring victories over Riki Choshu and Bam Bam Bigelow in the round robin portion and Chono winning his first of five G1s. Hashimoto won his first IWGP heavyweight title in September 1993 from Muto, who had held the title for over a year. He won it twice more in his career, including a 489-day title reign from April 1996 until dropping it to Kensuke Sasaki in August 1997. Hashimoto’s record length as champion stood until Kazuchika Okada surpassed the mark with his most recent title reign.

Originally Posted by Fightful.com Fightful.com was able to obtain some information included in this week's WWE Raw and Smackdown production scripts. The conga line was instructed to be dancing as the show came back on the air for the Rawley/Jose match. WWE telegraphed the James Ellsworth shark cage stipulation in the script, as well as the fact that Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles would be turned into a tag team match that also featured Jeff Hardy and Rusev. The James Ellsworth entrance was instructed to have him "smiling ear to ear and happy loving life." Sanity's team name is always styled as "SAnitY," even when all other team names are in caps on the run sheet. The Smackdown Live entrances were all listed as "quick" entrances, with the exception of The New Day's. The title for tonight's Smackdown Live was "It's Gonna Be Miz," which makes a whole lot more sense now than it did before the show. Raw's title was "get out of my way." Tyson Kidd produced Rollins/McIntyre, Fit Finlay the women's tag match, Finlay and Scott Armstrong for Ember Moon/Liv Morgan, Jamie Noble for Balor & Roode/Corbin & Elias, Arn Anderson for Jose/Rawley, and D-Von Dudley for Bo Dallas/Matt Hardy When twitter graphics are shown, they include the actual URL of the tweet to appear on-screen.

Some other sheet news includes:

• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 5th anniversary of WWE's opening of their Performance Center.
• ESPN had a recent interview with Rusev talking about his upcoming WWE Championship match against AJ Styles at Extreme Rules. http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/2...-extreme-rules
• During a recent episode of the Busted Open Radio podcast show with Jonathan Coachman as the guest, Coachman claimed a big reason why WWE was able to land a major deal with FOX was due to the hard work he did in ESPN to help improve WWE's image with sports fans. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...e-work-he-did/
• Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Tama Tonga talking about his attack on the Elite at the G1 Special, his new goal for Bullet Club, and more. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...n-bullet-club/

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• Fandango and Goldust Undergo Surgeries, Post Pic With Each Other
• Former Divas Champ Kaitlyn Returning to WWE for Mae Young Classic
• Samoa Joe Attacks Tye Dillinger Before SmackDown + Dark Match Results

[Jordan]

LOL Coach.

[BigCrippyZ]

Coach is such a mark for himself.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Holy fucking shit at Coach. The guy sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth. I can't imagine him rubbing people in the business the right way. It honestly wouldn't surprise me to see him and WWE part ways sometime in the near future.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Whenever I see a WWE match I like, chances are Tyson Kidd or Arn Anderson are the agent for it.

[slik]

Same.

[slik]

From this week's Observer

* UFC's declining buyrates and losing Ronda/Conor led to FOX lowballing UFC and being more interested in WWE * The Bayley/Sasha storyline is going to continue through "at least" August. Vince thought about having them wrestle at Extreme Rules but changed his mind. * Vince directed there would be zero mentions of Lesnar on RAW, because he wants to sell the idea Brock Lesnar has walked out on WWE, as he believes it will lead to Roman getting cheered when he faces Lesnar in the future, since Roman is on TV every week. * Vince isn't sure if he wants Brock/Roman at SummerSlam or not, but Brock's contract is believed to end in August. Meltz speculates Roman/Lashley could continue at SummerSlam if Vince decides against a Brock match. * FOX is in 20 million more homes than the USA Network and SDLive is expected to draw 3 -- 3 1/2 million viewers each Friday night. WWE anticipates SD being the most watched show, more so than RAW, and will be treating it accordingly once the show moves. * FOX will air commercials for Smackdown Live during every NFL broadcast. There is early discussion about having top stars, like Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss, appear at NFL Games and cut promos when interviewed. * Current WWE viewing demos are about 65% male each week for viewers 18-49 and 50% male for viewers 12-17. Typical breakdown of viewers in ratings is: 0.4 - ages 12-17 0.5 - ages 18-34 0.8 - ages 35-49 0.9 - ages 50 and up Currently this means 2/3 of WWE's viewers are ages 35 and up. WWE expects the move of SDLive to FOX to attract younger and newer viewers, which will allow them to cater less to older fans. Vince expects newer fans to have less baggage on certain superstars, such as Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley, and that the move to FOX will help some top stars get better reactions as a result. * 40% of NJPW's ratings on AXS TV are from DVR, which indicates fans want to watch, even if they aren't home on Friday nights. Mark Cuban might want the show in a different timeslot in October 2019, as it would go head to head with the first hour of SmackDown Live. * Jonathan Coachman's joke about "Broken Ribs Going Around" after JR broke his ribs during the NJPW event at the Cow Palace, was believed to have been "A Vince McMahon joke" rather than a Jonathan Coachman original pun. * Jim Ross specifically asked that wrestlers stay away from the commentators the day before the show and, understandably so, is very upset about what transpired.

[slik]

Barn Burner Exclusive: #WWE Considering WCW Pay-Per-View Names. https://t.co/H6rPc3GQpf @TheBarnBurns

— �������� �������������� (@TheBradShepard) July 12, 2018

My next #WWE exclusive, which I’ll break next week, will be the granddaddy of them all...or something like that. �� #StayTuned @TheBarnBurns https://t.co/BILVTyL9JE

— �������� �������������� (@TheBradShepard) July 12, 2018

[KIRA]

* Vince directed there would be zero mentions of Lesnar on RAW, because he wants to sell the idea Brock Lesnar has walked out on WWE, as he believes it will lead to Roman getting cheered when he faces Lesnar in the future, since Roman is on TV every week.]

Lol wow. The disconnect between Vince McMahon and his audience is unreal

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lol Roman being on tv every week is what's leading to him getting booed.

[slik]

THE BIG DOG

[BigCrippyZ]

Originally Posted by KIRA Lol wow. The disconnect between Vince McMahon and his audience is unreal

Vince is either stubborn, an idiot, or both, and I don't tend to think of him as an idiot.

If you treat your consumers as if they're stupid, by giving them a product that they'd essentially have to be stupid to enjoy, like the current WWE writing, etc., then the consumer's that have more options and exposure to other products, which "younger" people typically have more of, are going to eventually move on to a different product.

[#1-norm-fan]

Breaking news: WWE nominated for 0 Emmy's.

Time for Kevin Dunn to upgrade the free video editing software he has on his laptop and shake the camera more.

[BigCrippyZ]

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Nothing:

Originally Posted by Observer Martha Hart has responded to Bret Hart’s allegations that she is erasing the memory of her late husband. The press release stems from a recent Bret Hart interview on CBS Sports' In This Corner podcast where he said that he felt Martha had done more to erase Owen Hart's memory than to preserve it. “I think Martha, Owens’s widow, she is a very obtuse, square-headed person,” he said on the podcast. “I think she’s done more to erase my brother Owen’s memory than she ever did to remember him. I think it really bothers me that the fans that loved Owen so much don’t get a chance to remember him.” Martha issued a press release yesterday defending her decisions, saying that she does not want WWE profiting off of Owen, as she blames the company for his death. “Bret’s comments are rooted in the fact that I have steadfastly refused to work with the WWE to exploit Owen’s image for commercial gain,” she says in the release. “Owen was an incredible entertainer and I know that his many fans around the world enjoyed his wrestling career immensely. I encourage them to continue to do so. But I am firm in my belief that the WWE was responsible for Owen’s death. As a result, I cannot and will not support any efforts by the WWE to profit from Owen’s memory.” “Bret Hart's comments are disrespectful and cruel,” she continued. “It is disappointing that so many in the media have chosen to report them without seeking my perspective.”

Link: https://www.f4wonline.com/other-wres...ism-her-261541

Originally Posted by Observer Brock Lesnar’s next WWE match is set for next month’s SummerSlam event. Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Lesnar will be back in the ring for WWE’s premiere summer show. It isn’t known who he will face. A five way elimination bout was originally set for Extreme Rules that would have determined the next contender for the Universal title, but that was cancelled. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley, who were the first two announced for the bout, will instead battle in a singles match.

Originally Posted by PWI Indies Roundup: Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) have officially announced the return of international wrestling, TV and pantomime star Grado on night 2 of their annual Shug’s Hoose Party weekend event on 28-29 July 2018. The event will now take place at the legendary O2 Academy in Glasgow after a fire caused the closure of the city’s O2 ABC, the original venue for the event. The ROH Dojo is proud to announce its affiliation with four of the top, internationally-recognized wrestling schools in the world. The World Famous Monster Factory, Team 3D Academy, Maryland Championship Wrestling, and the Power Factory will provide a pipeline of talent and well over 150 years combined in professional wrestling among their trainers and lineages. While Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito were listed, it was somewhat notable that the other member of NJPW’s big four, Kenny Omega, wasn’t advertised along with them when ROH and NJPW announced their April 6, 2019 G1 Supercard for Madison Square Garden. It seems obvious that Omega will be added if he re-signs with NJPW. Hangman Page is the seventh announced entrant for ROH’s International Cup tournament, joining Jimmy Havoc, Joe Hendry, Mark Haskins, Kip Sabian, Jonathan Gresham, and Christopher Daniels. There’s only one name left to be announced. The tournament has a United Kingdom vs. United States theme and will take place on next month’s Honor Re-United tour shows in Edinburgh and Doncaster, with the winner challenging for the ROH World Championship in London on August 19. Santino Marella tweeted that his daughter is training to be a pro wrestler: “Today was day one of me overseeing my daughters training personally and acting as her head coach, @WWEPerformCtr is our goal for 2019”

ROH: https://www.pwinsider.com/article/11...emies.html?p=1 , ROH Cup: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/ca...world-champion , Santino: https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/sta...59193903079424

Originally Posted by Observer With the high ticket prices, this weekend's NJPW show was almost surely the largest or second largest gate ever at the Cow Palace, as the old record gate was set with 9,000 paid and 11,000 total but lower ticket prices for the 2004 No Way Out PPV where Eddy Guerrero beat Brock Lesnar to win the WWE title. WWE continued to run the Cow Palace as a regular rotation arena through 2012, and only hit 7,000 fans, roughly the same as this show, once since then.

Originally Posted by Observer According to the story, the feeling from the FOX side is the signing of Smackdown guarantees them good Friday night ratings for five years. We’ve spoken to some in television who question that, citing the numbers have fallen this year and Tuesday is a much better night to draw. They will do significantly better than they do now, simply because the move from cable to network makes the show available in 20 million more homes and it’s on a station with a much larger base audience. That should more than offset the losses of moving to Friday. The hope is solid 3 million to 3.5 million viewers. Whether that’s doable at first is a question, and at that point the key is whether, if numbers across the board continue to fall, if Smackdown falls at a slower or a larger rate than television at large. The belief is that with it being live, the drops over the five years will be smaller, and thus from a competition standpoint, it becomes more valuable.

Some more details regarding FOX & Smackdown that Slik posted earlier.

Originally Posted by Observer GLOW season two on Netflix has been a huge success. On the first three days the show was put up (6/29 to 7/1), the season averaged 700,000 viewers in the U.S. per episode, and 86 percent were between 18 and 49, the highest concentration of 18-49 viewers of any original streaming content on Netflix that Nielsen has analyzed. It also had viewership where the mean (meaning half above and half below) family income was $80,200 per year, the third highest of any Netflix series behind only “The Crown” and “House of Cards.” This is the opposite of the actual pro wrestling audience, although GLOW is not a pro wrestling but is considered by many one of the best television/streaming shows there is with the backdrop of the characters being woman wrestlers. Season two is said to be similar to season one, which several publications called one of the best television shows of 2017. Kia Stevens (Awesome Kong in TNA), a regular cast member, got great reviews for her work this season.

Originally Posted by Observer When talking about buildings that ROH or nobody but WWE can get, it appears the Staples Center in Los Angeles is another one. Cody noted this past week that he had tried to talk with them about hosting All In and was pretty much told that they weren’t interested in any wrestling that wasn’t WWE.

Originally Posted by Observer While Rey Mysterio has not signed with WWE, the discussions are close enough that they’ve talked about what commitments he has and doesn’t have left. All In is obviously a key thing. For obvious reasons, because of the nature of the show, he wants to do it and for the same obvious reasons, they would rather he doesn’t do it. He also wants to drop his Crash heavyweight title, which right now is most likely to be to Bestia 666, since that’s the direction it looks like it’s going, if he signs.

Originally Posted by Observer Jim Ross & Paul O’Brien are working on a second biography, the sequel to his “Slobberknocker” book, which would cover 1999 to the present, which includes a ton of things including his being phased out of full-time announcing, his working for WWE and New Japan at the same time, and of course, the death of his wife. Speaking of Ross, the fact he wasn’t placed as an announcer for the Mae Young Classic (which he did last year) or the U.K. show (which he did the first time) seems to indicate he’s probably not going to be doing lead announcing much if any going forward for WWE.

Originally Posted by Observer Garza Jr. and Ultimo Ninja were both supposed to have started here already at the same time as Keith Lee and Io Shirai, but actually haven’t because visa issues have to be taken care of. But they should be starting soon We heard there was interest in Lacey Lane but not sure if it’s just as someone for the Mae Young Classic or for a developmental deal, but her name was being talked about

Originally Posted by Observer Goldberg did an interview and said that nobody has contacted him about doing anything since his match with Lesnar. He said he was never asked about doing WrestleMania this year. He said he talked to Vince about the Hall of Fame, since he went on last and the place emptied out. He said it was a disservice to the people being inducted and it was a disservice to the fans at home. He said before fans wanted to be entertained at wrestling but now they want to dictate what happens. He said some fans are poison to the rest of the fans and said it’s not fair to the guys who bust their ass and are on the road away from their families trying to entertain the fans. He said he’s be interested to come back to face either Reigns or Undertaker, but that’s not up to him.

Originally Posted by Fightful.com Paul Heyman could be back working with WWE in a backstage capacity, if their own internal documents are to be believed. Heyman is currently serving as the "advocate" for WWE Universal Champion, but that hasn't exactly kept him on television much these days. Lesnar instead has focused on his quest for another UFC Championship, appearing at UFC 226. It doesn't appear that this has prevented Paul Heyman from dipping his toes back in the WWE waters. Fightful.com was informed on Monday afternoon that the former ECW owner and Smackdown Live head writer Heyman was backstage at WWE's show in Boston. WWE had Paul Heyman listed on their production script as contributing to multiple segments on the show. He was listed alongside several writers, including Ryan Ward in putting together the opening live show of WWE Monday Night Raw that featured Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns' face-to-face backstage. In addition, Heyman was also listed for Bobby Lashley's "live shot" during segment 8, which aired after the Bo Dallas vs. Matt Hardy match. Heyman was listed under "Road" which is a road writer, along with several others. There was also a name under "home." When asked for clarity about this term from a person familiar with it, they said "writers at home will be sent assignments to write scripts for an interview or backstage altercation and then fire it back to their point person in the trenches." Fightful.com reached out to both WWE and Paul Heyman for comment or confirmation on the matter, but were told that Heyman would rather not comment, and WWE opted to instead ask me about the document as opposed to addressing the question, with one source telling me it could have been an error.

Link: https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/e...nes-raw-monday

Originally Posted by WrestleInc On the latest episode of the Pancakes and Powerslams Show, I had the pleasure to speak with Associate Producer of the new documentary, "350 Days", Evan Ginzburg. Among many other films, Ginzburg was also the Associate Producer of "The Wrestler", which was instrumental to him landing his role for 350 Days. Ginzburg was in charge of bringing in the 38 wrestlers who were a part of the documentary, which featured Bret Hart, "Superstar" Billy Graham, Lanny Poffo, Greg Valentine, Paul Orndorff, and others, with many conducting their last interviews before passing away ... Among various topics, Ginzburg discussed the origin of the Hulk Hogan character. While many are aware that Hogan and others admit that their character was inspired from Billy Graham, Ginzburg explained that it goes even further back than that. "[Hogan] had unbelievable charisma," said Ginzburg. "I mean, you'll never mistake Hulk Hogan for Lou Thesz or Billy Robinson, but the charisma was off the charts. Much of what Hogan took was from Billy Graham, who's one of the stars of the movie. Billy Graham.. I'll tell you the lineage; people are not really aware. Muhammed Ali went to a radio station. By sheer coincidence, he was on the same station as Gorgeous George. Muhammed Ali was very quiet, he was Cassius Clay at the time. Very quiet and soft spoken. "And Gorgeous George was like, 'kid, you gotta hype it up. I'll show you how to move tickets.' And Muhammed Ali was like transfixed by the charisma that Gorgeous George had. So then you had guys like Billy Graham who patented themselves after Muhammed Ali! Okay? And then Hogan and [Jesse] Ventura stole half of Billy Graham's act, okay? So, there is a lineage there, and it's an interesting lineage that people aren't really aware of."

Link: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...he-characters/

Originally Posted by Observer Jeff Hardy spoke to the Canton Repository about toning it down on house shows and doing the swanton bomb less because his lower back has been hurting him: “Lately, my lower back has really been bothering me to the point where I haven’t been doing the swanton as much in the live events just to protect it. I think looking forward I’m gonna have to be more like that, because nothing lasts forever. I’ve been real lucky, and naturally on TV I always want to go all out, but in the live events, I might have to hold back a little. I’m glad my face paint has come back. That’s always fun for people to see, because it’s original and unique each and every night, and I love doing that. Growing up I was a huge fan of Ultimate Warrior and Sting, and I wanted to be a little bit of both of them.” Hardy has been using a Twist of Fate that ends like a stunner as a finisher lately.

Link: http://www.cantonrep.com/entertainme...rify-audiences


Some other sheet news includes:

• Maria Kanellis recently revealed on Instagram that she is heading to WWE's PC next month to get back into shape for an in-ring return within the near future. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlEiM1OhtIv/
• According to the Observer, Tessa Blanchard's deal with Impact Wrestling was reported to be 2 years in length.
• According to rumors going around the net, another indie wrestler is currently dealing with sexual harassment allegations this time involving leaking nude photos of female co-workers. The wrestler involved is named Joey Axl and already has been kicked out of two previously booked events as part of the fallout so far. Will Ospreay recently started a online campaign to get the wrestler kicked out of the industry. https://twitter.com/WillOspreay/stat...05889025667073
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Brock Lesnar (41), Sami Zayn (34) and Shane Helms (44) all celebrated their birthdays today.
• Recent episode of the Ross Report podcast show had Josh Barnett as the guest talking about NJPW's G1 Special in San Fran and Ross' recent rib injury. https://omny.fm/shows/the-ross-repor...-of-br#sharing

Some stuff from TPWW Frontpage:

• ROH & NJPW Will Have a Show at MSG After All, on WrestleMania Weekend
• Injury/Return Updates: Charlotte Flair, Jason Jordan, Dean Ambrose
• WWE Gets Zero Emmy Nominations, GLOW Gets Nine
• Rhea Ripley Announced as Second Name for Mae Young Classic