MLW Fusion Preview 4/26/19

This week on Fusion, The Dynasty and Hart Foundation will go to war in a 3-on-3 tables match. After the Hart Foundation went joyriding in MJF’s car rental, the Dynasty are focused on extracting revenge… but are the affluent and arrogant trio ready to take on the sport’s most dominant team? Find out as carnage is unleashed in the main event!

19 year old Jordan Oliver makes his singles debut as he takes on Kotto Brazil in middleweight action. Can the Newburgh, NY native take Kotto’s ranking and move up in one of MLW’s most competitive divisions? Not if the “Haititan Sensation” has something to say about it.

Just one week away from making history as the first-ever Latina to Executive Produce pro wrestling on television, Promociones Dorado empresaria Salina de la Renta prepares to run MLW’s flagship. Meanwhile, Low Ki focusses on a showdown with a bitter nemesis.

Also signed for middleweight action: Tijuana thriller Rey Horus wages sky combat against Atlantic City’s Ace Austin.

What became of MJF’s rental car? Find out this week!

A new top ranked wrestler steps up to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship. Who? Tune in to find out!

Speaking of the title, the reigning World Heavyweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor checks in from his fight camp in Las Vegas… and he has some tough talk for CONTRA Unit.

Join Jim Cornette and Rich Bocchini from New York City for a night of top ranked wrestler!

WWE SmackDown Live Moving To Three Hours Appears To Be Likely

There may be more changes to WWE programming this fall once SmackDown moves to Friday nights on FOX starting October 4th.

During WWE’s earnings call, WWE Co-President George Barrios was asked about the direction that they would be going with SmackDown. Barrios stated that the company has been used to monetizing six hours of content for a long time, however now the sixth hour is being used on the Network (presumably referring to 205 Live). He said that they will decide in the next several months how to use the sixth hour, which could mean a third hour of SmackDown.

“We’ve been monetizing some way, shape or form six hours of content for a long time,” Barrios said. “Today, that sixth hour is primarily being used on the network and we’ll figure out here over the next several months, what we think the best use of, nothing to update now.”

There have been rumors of SmackDown moving to three hours when it moves to FOX, with the first two hours on the FOX network and the third on FS1. The show would not be able to be three hours on FOX alone due to scheduling conflicts with local news.

Earlier this week, JPMorgan analyst David Karnovsky raised his target price on WWE stock from $95 to $105. Karnovsky estimated that in addition to WWE’s current deal with FOX and USA Network, they will generate an additional $25 million per year in 2020 from a third hour of SmackDown on FS1. WWE currently will pull in an estimated $205 million per year with the FOX deal ($102.5 million per hour of SmackDown), as well as $265 million per year with their new deal for RAW with NBC Universal (about $88.3 million per hour of RAW).

RAW and SmackDown domestic ratings declined 14% and 13%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2019 from the prior year quarter while the ratings for the top 25 cable networks were only down 5% during that same period. Vince McMahon blamed talent absences due to injury and illness for the drop and said that all of their talent is back now.  Wrestling Inc. noted on Twitter, ratings are down even more since the talent have returned. While RAW was down 14% in the first quarter, the audience is down 28% so far this month from the same period in 2018. Regardless, McMahon feels that the company will have “a whole new beginning” this fall.

“In coming latter part of September, we’re going to have, it’s almost like, it’s not quite a metamorphosis, but we’re going to have a whole new beginning,” McMahon said. “The promotional value alone notwithstanding rights fees and what have you, promotional value alone in terms of Fox, in terms of commitments from NBCU is something we’ve never seen before, not even close, it’s extraordinary. It’s going to kick us into again an element we’ve never seen before in terms of promotion with everything, WWE talent, story lines, you name it! So it’s a rising tide situation that we’re really looking forward to and having that carry on throughout the year.”

Barrios added, “As Vince mentioned, we remain excited about the debut of SmackDown live on Fox on October 4. The debut will mark the first time WWE will be available live 52 weeks a year on a 120 million homes on a premier broadcast platform. Finally, as we said before, in addition to absolute performance, we believe relative performance is critically important as it illuminates the value of WWE within the PayTV ecosystem. In Q1, when excluding NASCAR’s premier event the Daytona 500, WWE delivered greater average viewership then any professional sports league, other than the NFL.”

While WWE stock hit $100 earlier this week, it dropped 13.35%  following the earnings call, closing at $85.38 per share.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Preview 4/26/19

Scheduled for tonight’s Impact airing on Pursuit, Twitch and FightNet.

* The Deaners debut

* Rich Swann goes to oVe Compound

* Killer Koss vs. Willie Mack

* Rosemary in action

* Ace Austin in action

* Brian Cage & LAX vs. Johnny Impact & Lucha Bros

Jeff Hardy Injury And WWE Status Notes

As noted, SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy reportedly suffered a leg injury at the April 20 WWE live event in Madison, Wisconsin as The Hardy Boys defeated The Usos. Hardy appeared the next night in Rochester, MN to be in Matt Hardy’s corner for his win over Jimmy Uso, but he did not get physical and was said to be limping pretty bad. Hardy did not appear the following night in Sioux City, as Matt teamed with R-Truth for a win over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and he was not backstage for SmackDown on Tuesday.

Hardy appears to be suffering from a right knee injury, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and the severity of the injury is still unknown. Hardy has had a bad right knee since his 2015 dirt bike accident, and has worked with a torn PCL for the past four years.

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that officials will have to make a decision on the titles this coming week as there are two versions going around from people close to the situation – one is that Hardy needs knee surgery and will have to do the title change, and the other is that he’s just banged up, but they’re not sure how bad.

It’s believed among the people in WWE who need to know Hardy’s status for storyline purposes that he is scheduled to undergo knee surgery this coming week after SmackDown. This could be why the injury is being kept a secret. People close to Hardy are saying he’s injured, but hopefully not too bad, and right now Jeff is just playing things safe, according to the Observer.

There’s on word yet on if The Hardy Boys will appear on Tuesday’s SmackDown in Columbus, OH, but they could end up doing a title change or an injury angle to write Jeff out.

WWE NXT Referee Breaks Leg During Live Event, Finishes Match (VIDEO)

NXT referee Tom Castor broke his leg during at a live event on Thursday, and still somehow managed to finish the match!

tom castor breaks leg nxt wwe live event referee video

The injury occurred during a match between Tyler Breeze and Velveteen Dream at a show in Omaha, which Castor somehow managed to count the pinfall on before receiving medical attention.

“Our [NXT WWE] Ref [Tom Castor] broke his leg last night, still counted 3 and then threw up the “X” for himself,” WWE producer Scott Armstrong wrote on Twitter. “Shout out to Tom for being a true Pro and keeping his focus!”

The final moments of the match can be seen in the video below.

https://twitter.com/briantheguppie/status/1121711985492676608

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE Creative Team Member Dave Schilling Has Departed From WWE

Another member of WWE creative has come and gone.

According to PWInsider, almost two months after being hired by WWE, Dave Schilling has left the company. Schilling has had pieces featured in Bleacher Report, The Guardian, VICE and Grantland before announcing his hire.

This comes after Dean Malenko left the company after 18 years. According to some reports, Malenko was reportedly let go.

WWE is going through a few changes behind the scenes. Shane Helms, Sonjay Dutt, Shawn Daivari, Abyss and Jeff Jarrett have been hired in recent months as producers.

It is unknown why Schilling left, although he has sent a number of tweets recently about not knowing what the term “wrestling” means.

https://twitter.com/dave_schilling/status/1121429748960260096

Dean Malenko Leaves WWE

Backstage agent and former wrestler Dean Malenko has quit WWE.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, Malenko recently quit after many years in the company as a backstage agent. The report from SI implies the former WWE and WCW star would be a good fit behind the scenes for upstart promotion All Elite Wrestling, though there’s no indication if that’s even an option.

Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed the report with sources, though additional details on the reason for his exit have not been made available at this time.

According to PWInsider, Malenko might have been let go. “Hurricane” Shane Helms, Sonjay Dutt, Shawn Daivari, “Abyss” Chris Parks and WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett have been hired in recent months as producers. PWInsider noted that with the newer hires, many of the older producers are being “cycled on and off the road.” There has reportedly been some concern that this is the start of some of the older producers being replaced

Malenko has already been announced for Starrcast II at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during Memorial Day weekend. Malenko will be appearing on Friday from 1-4 p.m.

The B-Team Officially Moved To SmackDown Live

Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel — aka The B-Team — are now part of the SmackDown Live roster.

The roster change was reflected yesterday afternoon on their WWE.com profiles following a report saying they had been quietly moved as part of the Superstar Shake-Up.

The duo formerly known as The Miztourage changed their name in 2018 after The Miz was drafted to SmackDown Live. B-Team eventually defeated Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy to capture the RAW Tag Team titles, but their reign only lasted 50 days. They’ve been used sparingly ever since.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

 

Rhea Ripley Releases Apology For Using Homophobic Slur On Twitch Stream

Former NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley is apologizing for using a homophobic slur while streaming on Twitch.

In the clip, seen at the bottom of this post, Ripley was tipped $15 by someone watching who wanted to be insulted in Australian slang. Rhea responded by calling the person a “stupid motherf*cking f*ggot.”

Shortly after, the 22-year-old wrestler released the following apology:

Demi Bennett speaking here: I know a lot of you are upset with me after tonight, but I just wanted to publically say that I am sorry. My brain to mouth filter came down for a second and I forgot that some words are a big no no to a lot of people. I am a firm believer that everyone should be treated equally, whether that be race or sexual orientation. With that said, I just wanted to say how dearly sorry I am to everyone that was offended by my choice of words tonight.

The stream was hosted by NXT Superstar Brennan Williams, but has since been removed. You can find his channel at this link.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Vince McMahon Says They Have A New Team To Fix WWE Live Event Business, A Look At The Decline

As we previously reported, WWE announced today that revenue for the first quarter of 2019 was $182.4 million, down from $187.7 million in the prior year quarter. WWE reported a net loss of $8.4 million, as compared to a profit of $14.8 million in the same quarter last year.

Live event revenues declined 15% in Q1 from the same period in 2015 to $26.2 million. It was noted that the decline was due to the company staging nine fewer events, as well as a drop in average attendance for events in North America. The average attendance for the live events for Q1 2019 was 4,800, an 11% drop from 5,400 in the prior year quarter. The average ticket price was $52.38, which was essentially unchanged from the same period last year. There were no live main roster events held outside of North America in the first quarter, nor were there during the same period last year.

Merchandise was also down 11% in Q1 2019. The revenue from merchandise sold at live events dropped 17% from $23.5 million to $20.8 million. Merchandise sales online saw an even bigger decline, as WWEShop.com revenue was down 21.4% from $8.4 million in the first quarter last year to $6.6 million this past quarter.

Vince McMahon first addressed WWE’s live event woes last October, saying that the company was aware of the issue and were planning on fixing it.

“Live events always has been a barometer as to how well we’re doing,” McMahon said, “Notwithstanding that, we throw around this word ‘re-imagine’ a lot. But we know what’s wrong with our live events, and it’s somewhat of a– I don’t necessarily want to call it [an] antiquated presentation but we know to fix things. If something’s wrong and you don’t know how to fix things, you’re in trouble. We know how to fix that, and we’ll be re-imagining those live events very, very shortly. We’ll see a pretty good turnaround I think in short order.”

McMahon stated on today’s earnings call that the company has a new team working on live events that will turn things around.

Source: Wrestling Inc.