Wrestling News & Rumors

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer In a surprising turn of events, the Royal Rumble did not cause any kind of significant bump to Raw ratings, as last night's show did 2.40 million viewers, even with it being built around Drew McIntyre and Charlotte Flair making their choices of WrestleMania opponents and the return interview of Edge. It was down 12 percent from last year's post-Rumble show that did 2.71 million viewers. To show the ratings decline, for the episode after the Royal Rumble, Raw did 4.10 million viewers in 2016, 3.62 million in 2017, and 3.40 million in 2018 ... The Raw after the Rumble is usually one of the higher rated episodes of the show during the year, but last night's episode was actually lower than the December 30 show (Lana/Bobby Lashley wedding) and the September 30 show (Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan appearing). It was also lower than the show was routinely doing last summer prior to football season starting. It was only up 0.9 percent, as compared with a 10 percent jump last year and in 2017. In 2018, the show followed the Raw 25th anniversary episode which was the highest rated Raw in years ... The three hours were: 8 p.m. 2.54 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.44 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.22 million viewers

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Network will soon debut a new series titled "Ruthless Aggression" focusing on that era of WWE history.

Originally Posted by Fightful Brock Lesnar tied the record for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match with 13 eliminations tonight. Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler now share the record for the most eliminations inside of the women's Royal Rumble. During the 2020 30-women spectacular, both members of the NXT roster got eight eliminations apiece, but they did so from drastically different positions in the match.

Originally Posted by Observer There is a full page color ad for AEW in the official program for next week's Super Bowl. It is right next to the table of contents so it's very prominent

Originally Posted by PWI There were attempts to bring in Melina and Victoria for last night's Rumble at one point. No word why it didn't happen. Melina worked the NWA TV tapings in Atlanta over the weekend.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Mark Hildreth, who wrestled as ‘Van Hammer’ in WCW was arrested following an incident Sunday. The Palm Beach Post reported that Hildreth struck a 5-year old boy on his bicycle with his car and proceeded to leave the scene. Hildreth is facing charges of leaving the scene of an injury crash and a DUI. The unnamed victim was taken to hospital and is in stable condition with possible internal injuries. Hildreth was in court on Monday morning with bail set at $125,000 and includes an option to be placed under house arrest. In the story, it also states he was believed to be going 58 mph where the limit was 35. As Van Hammer, he debuted for WCW in 1991 and was placed on a two-month winning streak out of the gate. The company would go hot and cold with him and he ended up staying with WCW throughout the decade. He was a member of Raven’s Flock and then given another push in 1999 around the time Kevin Nash was booking the show. His last run in WCW saw him as a member of the Misfits in Action as ‘Major Stash’ until leaving the company in mid-2000.

Originally Posted by Observer Tokyo Sports reported that Pro Wrestling NOAH has become a subsidiary of CyberAgent, which is also the parent company of DDT.

Originally Posted by PWI This past week's episode of MLW FUSION, headlined by the no ropes barbed wire match between Jimmy Havoc and Mance Werner was the highest rated episode of MLW on BeIN Sport to date. MLW sources have claimed they are in discussions with four potential outlets for TV and streaming rights and they are positive on future media rights revenue. There has been some discussion of adding a Trios (Six Man Tag Team) Championship to the promotion. MLW will return to Philadelphia, PA this Saturday 2/1 for Fightland The event has a great advance for the promotion, which sold it its last show at the 2300 Arena last year, to the point that additional seats have been added and released for sale at www.MLW2300.com ... The women's division is on hold as Zeda Zhang, who it was to be built around, is out with an injury. Priscilla Kelly's final contracted date with the promotion is 2/1.

Originally Posted by PWI In regard to stories that Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle had a run-in at the Royal Rumble backstage, where Lesnar made it clear to Riddle (who constantly talks about retiring Lesnar on social media) that he will never work with Riddle, so he should knock it off, there's absolutely truth to the story, to the point that earlier today, during a media class at the WWE Performance Center, there was a specific mention of not tweeting and calling out talents from Raw and Smackdown without their knowledge, which got a big laugh from the NXT talents in attendance.

Originally Posted by PWI Carlos Rocha has passed away at age 93. “The Portuguese Champion” wrestled all over the world including for the International Wrestling Association and the WWWF. He won the International Title from Abdullah the Butcher in December 1971 and lost it to The Sheik in the May 1972. Both matches took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where IWA was based. His matches with The Sheik drew attendance records at the time. Rocha appeared for the WWWF in the later 1970s when he was in his early 50s. He was the first pro wrestler from Portugal to work for the company. He lost a 2 out of 3 falls match to WWF Champion “Superstar” Billy Graham in 1977 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Originally Posted by PWI Taya Valkyrie took to Twitter noting that she was in attendance at the Royal Rumble, was there to see her husband John Morrison in a WWE ring for the first-time ever and that fans shouldn't look any deeper into her being there: Hey guys last night I went and supported my husband John. It was the first time I’ve ever seen him in a WWE ring live. So stop reading into it or making assumptions. Love, Kira — Wera Loca (@TheTayaValkyrie) January 27, 2020 Valkyrie's Impact deal was automatically renewed in December for another year, so she is locked in until December 2020.

Originally Posted by PWI As you saw last night on Monday Night Raw, Byron Saxton joined Tom Phillips and Jerry Lawler as a member of the Raw broadcast team. PWInsider.com has confirmed that Saxton is back on the Raw broadcast team full-time going forward with the company going back to a three-man format.

Originally Posted by Fightful Killer Kross is a free agent and, at the moment, he's uncertain about his future. Kross was released from his IMPACT contract in December, putting him on the market. He is set to compete at MLW Fightland on Feb. 1, but his future following Fightland is up in the air. It was reported on Jan. 17 by the Wrestling Observer that Kross was set to or had already met with NXT Founder and WWE Executive Triple H. Fightful Select reported on Jan. 26 that as of last week, Triple H and Kross had not had a face-to-face meeting. In an interview with Two Man Powertrip, Kross himself denied ever meeting Triple H. "I have to address this. You had mentioned Hunter or Triple H. I've never met him. I don't know where the story came up exactly first in the dirt sheets and I don't really pay that much attention to them, but I've never met him. I think it's cool and kind of flattering that those stories circulate but I'd like to meet him. If someone could make that happen that would be great. I know it's not meant to be malicious or whatnot and it's fun to fantasize about that stuff but unfortunately that hasn't happened yet," he said. In addition to the report that Triple H and Kross had not met face-to-face, Fightful Select reported to not expect Killer Kross to be available for bookings during WrestleMania week. Kross is free to sign with any promotion, though he says he isn't sure what is next for him.

Considering what happened the last couple times someone denied any involvement with WWE, safe to say the odds of him meeting Triple H and going to WWE are high. Plus his girlfriend, Scarlett Brodeaux, is already in the company.


TPWW Frontpage:

• More Details on Matt Riddle’s Backstage Altercation With Brock Lesnar
• Charlotte Flair’s WrestleMania Opponent Reportedly Will Be Rhea Ripley
• Samoa Joe Injured During Raw (Update)
• Who Will Becky Lynch Face at WrestleMania?
• Andrade Suspended for WWE Wellness Policy Violation (Update)
• Former WWF Announcer Sean Mooney Joins the NWA