Wrestling News & Rumors

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets (Observer Newsletter Edition):

Due to a number of reasons, the key one being TNT picking up the NHL, WarnerMedia will be moving AEW Dynamite and Rampage to TBS starting in January ... The main show, Dynamite, will continue to run 8-10 p.m. on Wednesdays, but be moved from TNT to TBS. AEW received an eight figure fee increase to move the show since the prior contract called for it being on TNT through the end of 2023. It is believed the new deal for the complete package was not extended from the original deal. Rampage, the second show, will debut on Friday nights from 10-11 p.m. on TNT on 8/13, and also be moved to TBS in January. Rampage will generally be taped on Wednesday nights but there will be special Friday night live tapings on PPV weeks. It appears they will run in the city they are doing the PPV in. For example, on 11/5, it was already announced for a taping at the Chaifetz Center in St. Louis, and Full Gear will be in the same building on 11/6. Right now the plan is a mix of all tapings for Dynamite, Rampage, Dark Elevation and Dark some weeks being on Wednesdays, and some weeks splitting up tapings on Wednesdays and Fridays. In addition, AEW will remain on TNT for four special events per year, said to be formatted similar to WCW’s old Clash of the Champions or Saturday Night’s Main Events when it was a big deal in the 80s. Since WWE owns the Clash of the Champions name, the live specials will give the company four new destination dates per year, will have another name. As far as what this all means, the combination of the new show, and the quarterly specials will increase the company’s television rights fees significantly, which is the key revenue driver of the company. The move from TNT to TBS is largely on paper a lateral move. Both channels have similar ratings. TNT is considered a higher prestige station due to the NBA and movies, but if you factor out the NBA, TBS actually draws higher numbers for regular programming both overall and in 18-49. TBS is in slightly more homes but that difference is negligible. As a general rule, AEW will be getting better lead-ins on TBS. TNT as a general rule gets higher ad rates because of the prestige of the NBA, and another significant revenue source of AEW is that it gets a split of ad revenue, unlike WWE, from its original deal, although the new deal would be far more lucrative overall to compensate if that ad revenue drops slightly ... The other positive is with the new deal there will be significantly less preemptions for both shows, which were going to happen with the NBA and NHL on TNT, particularly during the playoffs. AEW, starting next week, will be bouncing around until TNT’s schedule with NBA playoffs are over. The belief is that there will be way fewer if any preemptions on TBS ... It also increases weekly content, which has become a big factor, and also makes the company more valuable because of the number of hours of content it will be producing, when its deals come due. The negative, since AEW is not WWE as considered the name brand in the industry, is that while WWE can survive big ratings drops, AEW would not survive that level of drop as well. By adding more programming, you are likely to have some drops. The Friday night at 10 p.m. show based on its time slot and it being the B show, is not going to do close to Wednesday ratings. Khan said that quality wise it won’t be a B show and that it would be the same quality as Dynamite. But ratings wise, it will be very tough because the AEW audience is so heavily male 35-49 in particular, and 18-49 overall, and Friday night at 10 p.m. is a brutal time slot for a show with an audience so heavily concentrated in a demo that such a high percentage go out on Fridays ... The big specials on TNT, right now the date and times are not confirmed, nor is a first date confirmed past they will be quarterly in 2022. According to those close to the situation, the sides are still working on a first date

New Japan on 5/20 announced that Will Ospreay had vacated the IWGP world heavyweight championship due to a neck injury suffered in his 5/4 match with Shingo Takagi and that he’s gone home to recuperate. Ospreay’s only comment was that he would be fine and just needs time. There is also a lot going on behind-the-scenes with New Japan since the COVID outbreak and unhappiness regarding going through quarantine, particularly among the foreign contingent. From multiple sources these issues that have been talked about for the last week are part of the story. It’s something to watch out for. The only public mention of this was by Fit Finlay when he noted that his son was thinking about his future. There were wrestlers who talked about not returning to New Japan until quarantine is lifted and others considering other options ... Ospreay was originally to defend the title against Kazuchika Okada on 5/29 at the Tokyo Dome, but that show was postponed. At press time the company had not decided how it would handle the title situation, although most likely it would be decided in some form in a match on the 6/6 Dominion show at Osaka Jo Hall. The COVID outbreak in New Japan noted last week included at least two more wrestlers, Jay White and David Finlay. White, Finlay and Juice Robinson were scheduled to fly home and were tested at the airport prior to being able to get on the plane and White and Finlay tested positive so had to go into quarantine in Japan. Robinson, like Ospreay and Kevin Kelly and perhaps others, returned home when the announcement was made of the shows being postponed, including 5/15 at Yokohoma Baseball Stadium and 5/29 at the Tokyo Dome. The story I heard is that usually there is a quarantine hotel they send you to for 14 days, but New Japan was providing a place in the dojo for those who had tested positive. There is a lot of unrest among some of the foreign talent because of the situation there, the dates canceled and the feeling they’ve been kept in the dark ... The list of those on the Fukuoka shows, but not here, which in at least 11 cases would be test positives, or those held out for being in close contact with test positives, are Gabriel Kidd, Yuya Uemura, Evil, Dick Togo, Tiger Mask, Toru Yano, Okada, Sho, Yoh, Minoru Suzuki, Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, White and Jado. Sho, Yoh, Okada, Suzuki, Desperado and Kanemaru were all pulled from the 5/4 show over COVID protocol based on a wrestler with a fever from the group and others were in close proximity. The reality is that those if someone tested positive on 5/4 or so, after two weeks, they’d be able to wrestle on this week’s shows. Robinson & Finlay’s situation must have been frustrating as they weren’t even on the Fukuoka show, but were in Japan getting ready for the major shows in May and June when the May shows were canceled.

There were no title changes, nor really any major storyline progression, but aside from a match that could win he worst of the year award, WrestleMania Backlash was one of the strongest in-ring PPVs the company has done in recent memory ... In a surprise of sorts, PPV numbers for television, which are not a major thing these days but are still a way to determine interest level, based on preliminary estimates looks to be at 5,500, which would be the third biggest of the year behind Royal Rumble (6,400) and WrestleMania (6,000). The other two shows this year were Fastlane at 3,800 and Elimination Chamber at 2,600. It was suggested the higher than usual numbers were for the name, as the WrestleMania brand name is the biggest. It appeared this was the first time a WWE PPV show didn’t trend on Google, but in actuality that wasn’t the case. The show did 200,000 searches, good for sixth place on the night, which is normal “B” show level (Fastlane did about 140,000 which would be the low point except for Saudi or Australia PPV shows). However, the searches were listed under the term Dave Bautista ... The match order was changed around the day of the show. The original idea was for the three-way for the Raw title to be the main event. The three-way Raw women’s title match wasn’t scheduled to open either. There was a push on the day of the show with the idea that Reigns is the only franchise player on the roster, and as such, he should either go first or last. There was also the idea that since he and Cesaro were going to do a long match that it might leave the audience flat for the three-way to have to follow. It seemed to work out for the best with the late change.

NXT made nine cuts on 5/19 and 5/20. Most if not all were brought in the morning of 5/19 and told they were being released due to budget cuts. Obviously there are no financial issues whatsoever. But it was more a decision in most cases that they had nothing to do for any of them for whatever reason, whether they had given up on their ability to progress to a level that would help the company, or there were perceived discipline/attitude issues. The two that were the most talked about were Velveteen Dream (Patrick Clark, 25) and referee Drake Wuertz, 36, who did a lot of office work as well and was probably the best known referee in NXT. Clark looked to be a future superstar with all his charisma in the character, largely built after Prince. But allegations regarding inappropriate sexual conduct with minors put him on “the list.” In his case, there was more apparent evidence than any others with messages, both text and voice that looked bad. At another point, a person accusing disappeared. WWE, who fired many and didn’t fire others, based on what they said were results of investigations, stood behind him. Paul Levesque said that they had investigated and found that he did nothing wrong. Clark had not been used of late and had disappeared until he was brought to the 5/10 Raw tapings and was at the Performance Center training this past week ... At one point the belief was he would be a major player on the main roster with his charisma. There were questions on his technical ability, but his character work and charisma led to such loud crowd reactions that it was often hidden. Over the last year, even before the allegations, it was becoming more noticeable. In April 2020, screenshots were posted that indicated the sending of indecent photos to underage boys on Instagram, but he denied it and WWE defended him, although giving no details as far as what they investigated and what wasn’t what it seemed from the screenshots that were public. In June, there was an allegation of him sending an inappropriate photo to a underage girl and also of inappropriate comments with underage boys. WWE claimed they investigated and found nothing wrong. He said the comments were just trying to motivate the kids to succeed in life. Wuertz booked extras for NXT television as well. He’s a former death match star wrestler who used the name Drake Younger. He was a world champion in places like CZW and IWA Mid South before being signed to referee here. Wuertz has been in the news a lot for his stances on COVID, masks, religion, social issues and many other things including speaking before school boards and city councils on those subjects. There were issues as some talent didn’t want to get in the ring with him as referee because he refused to get vaccinated. He was in the news when they were putting together new rings and he and others didn’t wear masks and there was a COVID outbreak a few days later in NXT that impacted a lot of segments on TV the next two weeks. There was a story that he walked out of a meeting with HHH. What we were told is that after a show HHH had a meeting with the crew and many people were wearing “Black Lives Matters” T-shirts and Wuertz said how everyone on the roster came from different backgrounds, had different religious beliefs, should respect each other but also said that all lives matter, which is not a term you’re supposed to say because of all the heat it gets when there are BLM shirts around. Those close to him confirmed the meeting but others have denied the story, or at least a different version of the story that was reported this past week.

All Elite Wrestling put tickets on sale this past week for six events, the first real test of where the company stands when it comes to tickets, and aside from WrestleMania, where U.S. pro wrestling stands. The big event is the 5/30 Double or Nothing III event at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, which is part of a three-event weekend. The company had announced being open to full capacity, and pre-COVID, the idea of a show that size in a 5,100-seat venue would have sold out in 30 minutes. However, the world is different and Jacksonville is the most oversaturated city for pro wrestling in North America. At press time, the show has sold just over 3,800 tickets and they are still expecting a sellout come show time. But it wasn’t the instant sellout many expected. The PPV will culminate a three-event weekend in Jacksonville. They will be doing a 5/28 television taping for the live Dynamite, which takes place on Friday from 10 p.m. to midnight. The plan is for a four-hour show starting at 8 p.m., with tapings for Dark and Elevation in the first two hours and the go-home Dynamite going live. At press time that show had sold more than 1,000 tickets. The fan fest on 5/29 is a sellout with more than 1,000 tickets sold ... As far as the ticket sales for the Dynamite shows when they go back on the road, the early notes indicate that not touring hasn’t increased the demand in new markets, but that things aren’t bad either. Actually the sales have been almost exactly what they would have been for the second time in the different markets. The 7/7 show in Miami at the Knight Center at this point is set up for 1,200 people and it almost sold out instantly, as it should have with such a small capacity. The building was set up like that due to local restrictions, as even though Florida and Texas and other states are now open to full capacity, the city of Miami does have restrictions. They are hopeful between now and show time that the restrictions will change and they will be able to open up to more people. The 7/14 show in Cedar Park, TX (outside of Austin) has sold more than 3,100 tickets. The first show in the market sold out the same building last year with 4,200, and the general rule is the second time in doesn’t do as well as the first. But with two more months, they’ll probably end up close to full. The 7/21 show in Garland, TX (suburban Dallas) has sold about 3,000 tickets. The first time in that building drew 4,700 and they can max the building at 5,000 as they were just short of a sellout last time. So the advance would be what would be expected for the second time in that market if there wasn’t a pandemic, but no more.. WWE hasn’t started running markets yet. But it continues that pro wrestling is softer, particularly for traveling shows, while for whatever reason, UFC is on fire running shows with fans. But pro wrestling, aside from the Jacksonville shows which is natural given how much the market has been run in the last year, looks to be for AEW, neither super hot, nor much different than it was when the pandemic hit.

The Kenny Omega vs. Andrade el Idolo match for the AAA Mega heavyweight championship was officially announced for TripleMania on 8/14 at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City ... The show will have fans, but there is no way of knowing at this stage how many, or even if they would be able to have fans because things in Mexico could get worse. The ticket prices are the highest in TripleMania history, ranging from 251 pesos ($12.65) to 7,298 pesos ($367.80). The promotion said they have no idea how many tickets they would be able to sell for the show as restrictions can change in either direction between now and August. At the 5/18 press conference, they announced two other matches, Psycho Clown vs. Rey Escorpion in a mask vs. hair match and Faby Apache vs. Deonna Purrazzo with both the Impact Knockouts championship and the AAA Reina de Reinas titles at stake. Dorian Roldan said that most years TripleMania has six or seven matches and that he expects that to be the same this year. He said the show would start at 8 p.m. (this would be Central time) and they don’t want the show ending after midnight local time, and to give the matches proper time he doesn’t want to go past seven matches. The belief is that there will be a marvel themed match plus a Rumble style match with multiple participants for the Copa TripleMania. It was clarified that the women’s title match would be however are the champions on that date, and if Purrazzo or Apache lost their titles before August, the respective champions on that date will be the ones in the match ... There is no word how the show will air, but last year’s TripleMania aired like on television in Mexico and this year’s show was announced for Cineapolis Theaters in Mexico. It’s difficult to broadcast into the U.S. because of the lawsuit over U.S. rights, so most likely the only way is if it’s on television in Mexico that there would be a way to stream the signal from the television station outside Mexico.

AAA: Drago may be leaving since he’s removed all AAA references from social media and changed his name to Dios Drago. . Announcer Arturo Rivera underwent foot surgery on 5/12.

Dr. Wagner Jr., has said he’s in the second week of battling COVID. His condition was said to be improving but he’s missed a number of dates. The story reported is that Wagner came to the U.S. to get a first Pfizer shot on 4/26. He ended up catching COVID a week later. .. L.A. Park, 55, missed his matches over the weekend due to pneumonia. He was at home, not hospitalized, although that didn’t stop some media outlets from saying he was in grave condition

MLW: The first surprise newcomer from the draft episode was Davey Richards, who will be in as a regular. Richards signed a contract in April but it was kept quiet until this week. There are others who have signed that will be revealed each week through late June. They also announced King Muertes, which is Mil Muertes under a new name since Lucha Underground owns the Mil Muertes name. They haven’t gotten any legal letters from Lucha Underground but didn’t want to invite any either. They are saying they expect to sellout Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on 7/10 and break the attendance record in the building. They also expect to sellout 9/11 with the Von Erichs in Dallas. They hope to use more Dragon Gate and NOAH wrestlers. There are also talks about getting talent from RevPro in the U.K. They are also planning on filming non-wrestling vignettes with the Azteca Underground crew in two weeks in Los Angeles.

IMPACT: Don Callis was removed as an executive on the web site. Lots of people in the company had been predicting for some time that Callis would wind up under contract to AEW as Kenny Omega’s manager since he’s on every show and clearly the doing the Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan thing is something he’s very good at and clearly enjoys and Omega is under contract to AEW. On the 5/13 TV show, before they removed him, there was a vignette where Scott D’Amore talked about how Callis has to choose between being an executive for Impact and being Omega’s manager and it came across like the beginning of a storyline. What we were told is that they were doing a story to mirror real life and the impression was that it would end in TV storyline with Callis being part of AEW, and that at that point Callis would be no longer an executive on camera in Impact, but somebody changed the web site long before the story played out. Callis is said to have not been a key person in creative of late as the key writers are Jimmy Jacobs, RD Evans, and Tommy Dreamer and D’Amore is the guy in charge. The basic gist appears to be his not being an executive is legit, that the removal on the web site may have been the left hand not knowing what the right hand had planned, and that they weren’t talking about it because there is a storyline they are working between now and the July Slammiverary PPV show that would end up with that end result that they didn’t want out. However after all that, they’ve pretty much acknowledged it. Callis was at the recent tapings with Omega, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson

It came off at Under Siege that Edwards would get the shot after Moose. Right now it looks like Moose is either close to agreeing to sign a new deal or has done so, and that changes the dynamic of Omega vs. Moose from when it would be Moose’s last big match in the company. So Omega vs. Moose could be at Slammiversary

They [Impact] were in contract talks with Chelsea Green this past week but as best we know no deal was closed at press time

AEW: Tony Khan signed a deal to get the version of “Wild Thing” from the movie “Major League” for Jon Moxley, which debuted on the 5/19 show. The original 1966 version by The Troggs only for the Yuji Nagata match, with the idea of making that a special one-time thing. The version they will be using going forward was from the punk band X from 1989 Rey Fenix is off the PPV due to injuries. We don’t have details past that the injuries were believed to have been from a recent match in Mexico. No word on how long he’ll be out “Mox,” the autobiography of Jon Moxley, is scheduled for an 11/2 release. It’s listed at 272 pages and right now it is the No. 1 best seller in the wrestling category on Amazon and No. 542 overall. The book is very different from any wrestling biography that I’ve seen. It’s very honest in a deeper depth way than most and he did write it himself as opposed to the vast majority of wrestling bios written by a ghostwriter Fozzy, Jericho’s rock band, will be touring 9/2 to 10/9 around the U.S. The tour has every Wednesday night off and the PPV dates off so it won’t impact his wrestling schedule Yuji Nagata said he enjoyed his time in AEW and would like to return. He said Tony Khan told him that anytime he wants to come back he’s welcome

WWE: The company has shut down its Talent Management Group, which was to make third party deals for the company whether they be sponsorship or social media. This division was launched in November after telling all talent they needed to drop all their party affiliations. Some who were in the division publicly noted being laid off with the division being shut down. WWE hasn’t made any comment about the decision and talent hasn’t been told anything about whether or not they would be able to do third party deals again. One current star who noted not knowing what this meant said how the Talent Management Group was supposed to help the talent get outside deals and revenue “since we aren’t allowed to post about anything (product wise) we like.

The company [WWE] is working on signing and getting visa issues taken care of for a deal with Speedball Mike Bailey

Ratings:

SPOILER: show

Raw on 5/17 did 1,823,000 viewers and 0.48 (622,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.19 in 18-34. The 0.48 was Raw’s lowest 18-49 number since football season ended. And unlike the other three shows, you don’t have the sports competition. Of the 1,823,000 viewer average for the show, it was 1,668,000 watching live and 155,000 watching via DVR as of 3 a.m. The average viewer watched 53.2 percent of the show. Total actual viewers watching a portion of the show that night were 3,427,000. Average viewers were up 0.3 percent from last week, but 18-49 was down 9.7 percent and 18-34 was down 37.7 percent. The ratings pattern was unique as the first hour did 1,790,000 viewers. The second hour increased big to 1,932,000. The third hour fell to 1,748,000. Usually when you have a show the day after a PPV, it’s the first hour that’s the biggest out of curiosity and then it drops throughout the show. Clearly the PPV did not leave people curious about what happened. The show did 80,000 in males 18-34 (down 42.0 percent from last week), 52,000 in women 18-34 (down 29.7 percent), 307,000 in men 35-49 (down 2.2 percent) and 183,000 in women 35-49 (up 12.3 percent). The audience was 62.2 percent male in 18-49. As compared to the same week last year, the total viewers were up 3.8 percent, but 18-49 was down 5.9 percent and 18-34 was down 34.5 percent.

Smackdown on 5/14 did 1,917,000 viewers and an 0.44 (576,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.24 in 18-34. It was the lowest demo number for Smackdown since 7/8 and the lowest total viewership since 8/5, meaning lowest of the Thunderdome era. It shows last week’s big number was a complete nostalgia rating as WWE nostalgia shows always do well. For those watching by 3 a.m,., 1,610,000 watched live and 307,000 watched via DVR. The average viewer watched 51.0 percent of the show and total viewers watching a portion of the show by 3 a.m. were 3,759,000. The show was down 16.0 percent in viewers, 31.0 percent in 18-49 and 44.7 percent in 18-34. The nostalgia is always stronger with younger viewers event though thinking about it would lead you to believe otherwise, but that’s always the case. The show did 94,000 viewers in men 18-34 (down 49.5 percent from last week), 73,000 in women 18-34 (down 37.1 percent), 236,000 in men 35-49 (down 11.3 percent) and 173,000 in women 35-49 (down 35.2 percent). The audience was 57.6 percent male in 18-49. As compared with the same week last year, which was a show from the Performance Center, they were still down 6.1 percent in viewers, 12.0 percent in 18-49 and 40.0 percent in 18-34.

NXT on 5/18 did 700,000 viewers and 0.15 (199,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.07 in 18-34. This was the lowest demo number the show going unopposed. Viewers were up 0.4 percent from last week, but 18-49 was down 7.0 percent and 18-34 was down 6.1 percent. Of the 700,000 average viewers, it was 623,000 live and 77,000 via DVR. Average viewing time was 53.0 percent of the show and total individual viewer were 1,321,000. The show did 19,000 in men 18-34 (down 36.7 percent from last week), 27,000 in women 18-34 (up 42.1 percent), 101,000 in men 35-49 (down 8.2 percent) and 52,000 in women 35-49 (down 5.5 percent). The audience was 60.3 percent male in 18-49. As compared to the same week last year, against an opposed show, it was up 18.2 percent in viewers, 15.7 percent in 18-49 and 2.2 percent in 18-34. The first quarter with Zoey Stark vs. Toni Storm did 652,000 viewers and 184,000 in 18-49. The second quarter with Cameron Grimes arriving, Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell at the spa part one and a Finn Balor-Karrion Kross promo package did 674,000 viewers and 186,000 in 18-49. The third quarter with Cameron Grimes vs. Jake Atlas did 728,000 viewers and 212,000 in 18-49. This was the high point for women 18-49. The fourth quarter, with Arash Markazi interviewing Pete Dunne, Killian Dain vs. Alexander Wolfe, the Imperium beatdown on Wolfe and a Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai promo did 725,000 viewers and 222,000 in 18-49. The fifth quarter with Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza vs. Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa did 751,000 viewers and 222,000 in 18-49. This was the high point of the show, and tied for the high point in 18-49 a well as the high point in men 18-49. The sixth quarter with a Bobby Fish promo, the second part of LeRae & Hartwell at the spa, Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory interview, Aliyah vs. Sarray and a Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon promo did 722,000 viewers and 207,000 in 18-49 The seventh quarter with Top Dolla & Ashante the Adonis vs. Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese, the Hit Row promo and a William Regal promo did 649,000 viewers and 176,000 in 18-49. The first part of the Gargano vs. Bronson Reed cage match for the North America title did 683,000 viewers and 183,000 in 18-49. The end of the cage match in the overrun did 720,000 viewers and 191,000 in 18-49.

Due to Showbuzz Daily, the main source for the charts, being down this past week, while we have ratings info and demos, we don’t have charts. So much of analysis of television is not the number, but the ranking and the competition. All pro wrestling was down this week, particularly in 18-34. With the exception of Raw, which was a surprise doing one of its lower numbers in 18-49 coming off a PPV, everyone else has a very valid excuse with the NBA and NHL in the playoffs with multiple national and local games. This happens almost every year. The reality is wrestling numbers will be down through the playoffs and AEW will take a bigger hit being bounced around out of its time slot for several weeks. The numbers should be back to whatever normal is after the playoffs, and take a hit again during the Olympics. In addition, we only have info on the big four shows of the week. AEW on 5/19 did 821,000 viewers and 0.28 (362,000 viewers) in 18-49 and 0.15 in 18-34. Like every show but Raw, the NBA did a number on the ratings, particularly the younger age groups. But AEW had it the toughest by far. The head-to-head NBA game in most of the country, the San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzles did 2,293,000 viewers. On the West Coast, it was Warriors vs. Lakers which did 5,618,000 viewers, the most watched NBA game on ESPN since 2019, and that game was doing well over six million viewers when the AEW main event was airing on the West Coast. In addition, there were four NHL playoff games that night, although the largest did 730,000. In an interesting comparison, AEW did 81 percent of same day viewers live and 19 percent via DVR. Both NBA games were 99 percent live. The total individual viewers for Grizzles vs. Spurs was 5,211,000 and Warriors vs. Lakers was 8,778,000. It was the lowest numbers unopposed, but that was a given considering the competition. Plus, the main event was Young Bucks vs. Varsity Blonds so this was a weak show from a marquee match standpoint. The show was down 12.3 percent in viewers from last week, 9.0 percent in 18-49 and 21.6 percent in 18-34 (where the NBA is going to hurt the most). The show did 665,000 viewers on average live and 156,000 via DVR. The average viewer watched 57.8 percent of the show and total individual viewers as of 3 a.m. were 1,420,000. The show did 59,000 in men 18-34 (down 33.7 percent from last week), 46,000 in women 18-34 (up 2.2 percent), 177,000 in men 35-49 (down 8.3 percent) and 70,000 in women 35-49 (down 1.4 percent). The audience was 65.2 percent male in 18-49. As compared to the same week last year, AEW was up 17.1 percent in viewers, 7.4 percent in 18-49 and 22.1 percent in 18-34. In the quarters, it opened with Christian Cage vs. Matt Sydal and the post-match beatdown doing 839,000 viewers and 390,000 in 18-49. It was also the show peak among women 18-49 and overall 18-49. The second quarter was The Varsity Blonds interview, Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley interview, and the beginning of Moxley & Kingston vs. The Acclaimed did 811,000 viewers and 367,000 in 18-49. The third quarter with the second half of Moxley & Kingston vs. The Acclaimed, a Chris Jericho & Dean Malenko promo, Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page promo plus Sting & Darby Allin attacking them did 806,000 viewers and 367,000 in 18-49. The fourth quarter with The Pinnacle at the fancy restaurant, Hikaru Shida vs. Rebel and Kenny Omega & Don Callis with Orange Cassidy did 836,000 viewers and 367,000 in 18-49. It was the high point of the show in 18-49 men. The fifth quarter with The Inner Circle in-ring promo, Jade Cargill promo and beginning of Serena Deeb vs. Red Velvet for the NWA women’s title did 855,000 viewers and 361,000 in 18-49 which was the most viewers for any quarter. The sixth quarter with the ending of Deeb vs. Velvet, a Pac promo. Anthony Agogo vs Austin Gun and a Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels promo did 818,000 viewers and 349,000 in 18-49. The seventh quarter with the Miro angle with Lance Archer and Jake Roberts plus promo pieces did 758,000 viewers 337,000 in 18-49. The eighth quarter with Young Bucks vs. Varsity Blonds for the tag titles did 848,000 viewers and 362,000 in 18-49.

We’ve got some notes first for the television shows from last week. The 5/10 Raw show ended up with 73 percent watching live, 23 percent via DVR and four percent via VOD. Using what ended up as DVR+8 numbers (since all the numbers we have are through 5/18), with DVR and VOD, the full week total was 2,215,000 viewers. The total number of people who tuned in for at least some point of the show was 3,590,000. The average viewer watched 61.7 percent of the show. The 5/11 NXT show did 72 percent live, 23 percent DVR and five percent DVD. The +7 number would have been 849,000 viewers and the average viewer watched 56.2 percent of the show. The total viewers who watched part of the show was 1,511,000. Those numbers were 944,000 and 1,701,000 the prior week. AEW on 5/12 did 60 percent live, 33 percent via DVR and nine percent via VOD. The average viewer watched 66.8 percent of the show. That would mean 1,263,000 viewers +6 and 1,891,000 total viewers of at least some part of the show +6. ROH weekend show on 5/15 did 88 percent live, 11 percent via DVR and one percent via DVR +3. The average viewer watched 56.8 percent of the show. Impact on 5/13 as a +5 did 75 percent live, 21 percent DVR and four percent VOD. The average viewer watched 48.3 percent of the show.

Meltzer's Match Star Ratings:

SPOILER: show

WWE WRESTLEMANIA BACKLASH 1. Sheamus pinned Ricochet to retain the U.S. title in 7:11. Better than a usual pre-show match. Ricochet has been working in regular pants instead of traditional ring gear. This was hard hitting, but not as good as their Raw match the next night because they didn’t have time. Ricochet did a springboard clothesline, a running shooting star press, a standing moonsault and a quebrada. He also hit a springboard 450 for a near fall but Sheamus landed a knee for the pin. Ricochet stole Sheamus’ hat and jacket after the match. ***1/4 2. Rhea Ripley retained the Raw women’s title over Asuka and Charlotte Flair in 15:21. This was super. Everyone just clicked and it was Flair’s best performance in a long time and Asuka is one of the company’s best workers. Flair did a fallaway slam on Asuka on the floor. Flair used a backbreaker and slammed Ripley’s head into the turnbuckles. Ripley did a Northern Lights suplex on Flair but Asuka saved. Asuka did a German suplex on Flair. Flair did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor on both. Asuka & Ripley both superplexed Flair at the same time. Flair escaped a double superplex and got behind them and chop blocked bot at the same time, and then did a double natural selection for a near fall. Asuka did a spinning kick on Ripley, but Flair kicked Asuka in the face and Ripley hit the riptide on Asuka for the pin. ****1/4 3. Rey & Dominik Mysterio won the Smackdown tag titles over Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode in 16:58. The story here is that during the pre-show, Ziggler & Roode made fun of Dominik and threw him into lockers and a door, as well as threw a sofa on him. Dominik was taken to the doctors where he was told to sit it out. He insisted to his father that he could wrestle but his father told him to fight another day. Rey said he’d take are of things. So for 10:00 it was a handicap match, mostly with Rey selling. Really, as soon as you saw the angle, you pretty much knew what the match would be. All three are great pros so it was quite good, if not predictable,. Rey did open fast and did a slide on the mat into a splash on the floor on Roode. They worked on Rey’s left knee. They teased ref stoppage on Rey. There was a double-team famouser spot. Ziggler superkicked Rey and he slid out of the ring and barely beat the ten count to get back in. Rey made a comeback and threw Ziggler & Roode into the post. Dominik came out to ringside at 10:00. Rey sold for three more minutes until making the hot tag to Dominik. Dominik ran wild until Roode cut hi off with a spinebuster and they worked over Dominik. Dominik made a hot tag to Rey who did a 619. Rey used a sunset flip power bomb sending Ziggler into the barricade on the floor. Dominik then pinned Roode clean with a frog splash. They did a celebration to make the win feel significant and pushed them being the first father-and-son tag team champions in WWE history. ***½ ... 4. Damien Priest pinned The Miz in a lumberjack match in 6:54. So a bunch of guys dressed like zombies, doing zombie things, were the lumberjacks. The announcers saw this and ran for their lives. Priest did a spin kick off the top rope. That may have been the spot where he landed on Miz’s leg but at some point Miz got the knee injury. Miz did the figure four. At one point the Zombies pulled both out of the ring and both started punching the zombies. Morrison came back and flew onto three zombies. Two zombies attacked Morrison and Priest hit the lights for the pin. After the match, all the zombies covered Miz and apparently the idea was they ate him. -*** ... 5. Bianca Belair pinned Bayley in 16:04 to retain the Smackdown women’s title. Bayley was tremendous here as far as her work in carrying the long match. Bayley had the word “Bel Loser” shaved in her hair on the back of her head. Belair did a leapfrog spot on the floor and a lot of athletic stuff early. Bayley took over after using Belair’s earring to control her. She snapped Belair’s neck on the ropes and took over with a lot of throws including a suplex on the floor. They escalated the moves like Belair with a spinebuster and Bayley with a Randy Savage elbow. Bayley posted her, but missed a tope. Belair gave Bayley a full nelson slam on the apron. Bayley tried to get a pin using the ropes and was caught. When it came to the brawling back and forth, Belair looked weak. Bayley used an eye rake and Bayley-to-belly for a near fall. Belair ended up winning by using her hair to help tie Bayley up while doing an inside cradle. ***½ 6. Bobby Lashley retained the WWE title in a three-way over Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman in 14:16. Good match with a predictable finish, but also the right finish given the idea is to make McIntyre strong and keep the title on Lashley. Strowman came off the apron on both of them. There was a big brawl. Strowman used a choke slam on Lashley. Strowman tried the powerslam on Lashley, who escaped and went for the full nelson but McIntyre came off the top with a crossbody on both. Lashley used a spinebuster on Strowman, who was taking big bumps here. Strowman hit Lashley with the ring steps. Lashley suplexed Strowman. McIntyre slammed Lashley on the LED board and then threw him though the LED board and there were a bunch of explosions. Lashley was then gone for several minutes. Strowman ran over McIntyre. McIntyre came back with a Michinoku driver. McIntyre gave Strowman an overhead suplex on the floor and Strowman tucked at the last second or it could have been bad. He landed badly even with tucking. McIntyre went for the Claymore kick but Strowman escaped and power bombed McIntyre through a table. McIntyre came back and hit the Claymore kick on Strowman, but Lashley finally came back and speared Strowman and got the pin. ***3/4 7. Roman Reigns retained the Universal title over Cesaro in 27:31. Cesaro came out with cradles early. Reigns worked over the left arm. Reigns threw Cesaro’s shoulder into the post. Lots of long chinlocks. Reigns did a Samoan drop for a near fall. Cesaro did a pop up uppercut. Cesaro worked over Reigns’ left knee and used a sharpshooter. Cesaro did a tornillo over the ropes. Cesaro did a running bolo knocking Reigns into the barricade. Cesaro used a crossbody for a near fall. Reigns dropkicked Cesaro’s shoulder into the post. The left biceps area was all bruised up. Reigns was in control for a long time while Cesaro did a great sell job on his left arm. Cesaro came back with a power superplex. Cesaro tried the neutralizer but his arm gave out. Reigns worked on it with a Fujiwara armbar. Cesaro came off the middle ropes but was hit by a Superman punch for a near fall. Reigns then went for the spear and was hit with an uppercut, but Cesaro sold his arm and Reigns used a guillotine. Cesaro popped out and did a one-arm power bomb and wet for the sharpshooter. Cesaro was also throwing elbows but Reigns came back with ground-and-pound from the mount. Reigns used a power bomb for a near fall. He did more ground-and pound and went back to the guillotine. Cesaro popped out again, but the third time Reigns locked it in and the referee stopped the match. Jey Uso then came out and put a lei on Reigns. Jey super kicked Cesaro after the match. Seth Rollins then came out. He teased he was confronting Reigns about a title shot, but then smiled at him and went to attack the already beaten down Cesaro. Rollins did several chair shots to Cesaro including one to the shoulder. Rollins put a chair around the arm of Cesaro and slammed it into the post. Rollins left Cesaro laying with a curb stomp on the floor. ****1/4

AAA: One of the most incredible high flying matches took place on 5/3 in Puebla but aired over the weekend on AAA television, a multi-person match for the Perro Aguayo Jr. Cup, with Aramis, El Hijo del Vikingo, Abismo Negro Jr.,Villano III Jr., and Latigo. These can be the guys to revive the U.S. indie circuit. It was 12:07 of such amazing stuff that even it being Lucha Libre with no crowd I had it at ****3/4 and with a crowd it would be a match of the year candidate. Everyone was on their game. Some stuff was beyond description. Vikingo used a Will Ospreay style inverted 450 on Aramis for the pin

AEW DYNAMITE Young Bucks beat Pillman Jr. & Garrison in 11:33 of another **** match. This was totally different Young Bucks as it was basic old school heel tag team wrestling with the goal of making the prelim guys look like main eventer babyfaces. I don’t think Pillman & Garrison have ever looked nearly as good. They beat down Pillman and Garrison did a great hot tag, including a dive on both. Matt had the sharpshooter on Pillman and Brandon Cutler distracted the ref and Nick sprayed stuff in Pillman’s eyes but Garrison saved. Nick pretended t have a knee injury. Julia Hart showed ref Rick Knox the spray can and Cutler then threw another spray can in and they sprayed Hart in the face. Garrison got a great near fall but the Bucks won. Moxley & Kingston came out after the match. Kingston was biting Nick and Moxley put the choke on Matt. Kingston put the choke on Nick. They put both Bucks out and Kingston stole their expensive tennis shoes and socks.

WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN Rey Mysterio pinned Ziggler in 12:35. This was a very well worked match at the ***½ level. Ziggler dominated the match but won with a small package.

WWE RAW Sheamus pinned Ricochet in a non-title match in 13:28. I’d go ***3/4 for this. It was better than the night before. Lots of great stuff. Ricochet jumped from the mat into a Spanish fly off the top rope for a near fall. In doing so, Ricochet landed on Sheamus’ left knee. Sheamus was limping around. Ricochet got a lot of near falls. Ricochet came off the top rope to the floor with an elbow. Ricochet hit a springboard 450 for a near fall. He went for a springboard crossbody into a kick and the ref counted three even though Ricochet kicked out. That wasn’t supposed to be the finish and they kind of waited and the ref ordered the match to continue. Sheamus quickly hit the brogue kick for the pin. Sheamus got his hat and jacket back. Carrillo and Mansoor, who had the program with Sheamus, seemingly disappeared. Sheamus then teased that he’d answer Lashley’s challenge later. Asuka pinned Flair in 16:44 of another ***3/4 match. It wasn’t as great as the night before and there was one spot where Flair missed a Spanish fly off the top rope and just took the bump herself that looked so bad on television. It on TV looked like she went to the top rope and did a moonsault with nobody there. Tons of near falls and submissions. The finish saw Ripley, who was at ringside, call Flair a loser. Flair kicked Ripley off the apron, went for the figure four but Asuka pinned her with an inside cradle.

WWE NXT Mendoza & Wilde beat Thatcher & Ciampa in 15:38 of a ***3/4 match. Mendoza was bleeding form the nose. It looked like it could be broken. This was very hard hitting, and felt more like a style you’d see in Japan or even AEW with the mixed styles but jelling well. Mendoza took the standard run into the corner and fly into the post but way better than almost anyone does it. Thatcher made a hot tag with belly-to-bellies on both. Wilde did a flip dive on Thatcher but as he got in the ring, Ciampa gave him a draping DDT but Mendoza saved. Ciampa had his face dropped on the apron and they then used the double team running kick by Mendoza and Russian leg sweep by Wilde move and Mendoza pinned Ciampa.

Smeat's Note: Since AEW won't be airing Dynamite on Wednesday next week, might end up doing a sheets report for that day since I'll have more free time than usual.