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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Impact Wrestling preview, Questions on the GMs feuding, Punk's father, a more edgy WWE, Vince's worth, and Brandon Jacobs, TNA loses national DVD distribution, Cena in car accident, Maria Kanellis and Nash interviews, Lockdown in theaters, WWE assists Seacrest in charity endeavor, YouShoot with Shane Douglas trailer, Smackdown rating, Ryder rally, formatting change for Raw, WWE-OK update, Shane Douglas attempts to crash Raw, identity of Lord Tensai, and some pre-Mania publicity appearances

Two title matches have been made for Impact:
Austin Aries vs. Kid Kash vs. Zema Ion vs. Anthony Nese
Eric Young and ODB vs. Rosita and Sarita.

The first one should be good. The second one, I'm not as confident about. Looks like Sarita and Rosita are back as a team, though. Where are Hernandez and Anarquia?

As for my take on the PWInsider.com questions from 3/19:
1. For once, an answer other than something like "That's creative for you!!". I'm guessing the reason they're feuding has more to do with them wanting a reason to put 12 people on the Mania card in a match that actually has something on the line. I also think it won't be too awful long before we end up back with two GMs. I also have the speculative theory (i.e. I haven't seen anything to support it) that with Laurinaitis' backstage responsibilities, they need to write him off of TV so he can focus on that and that's why they're feuding.

2. I certainly see why they threw it in. Of course he's not going to have a return as big as the guy who's been gone for a lot longer (and doesn't wrestle most weeks). They can still use that to set up a rematch for Extreme Rules. It's in Chicago, so that could factor in.

After the break, I go into everything else from Monday, starting with a question on WWE going less PG.
3. I think a part of it could also be that they trust the talents involved to go into that territory. Or those talents have the pull to do so. Part of me wishes WWE would change things to be more like that year-round, but they're reluctant because of all the kids and families they market to.

4. I knew he wasn't a billionaire, but that's kind of a disappointing number compared to that total (that they pushed at WM23). Obviously he's still very rich, though!

5. Speculation time! He did show that he "gets it" with his TNA appearances, so maybe that would work out. That said, how many celebrity appearances have turned into full-time things?

TNA's DVD partner is getting out of the distribution business. They're in the process of getting a new partner. In the meantime, titles will be available at their website. That's definitely a blow to them for the time being. The sooner that gets resolved, the better.

John Cena was involved in a car accident ahead of a media appearance in Philadelphia ahead of Raw. Thankfully, there weren't any injuries (though the effects of whiplash can take days to be visible). Apparently the injury got a good amount of mainstream attention.

Update: Here's TMZ's gallery of the accident.

Update: WWE interviewed Cena after the crash. Rock's GOT to mention this in a promo. I hope this doesn't have long-term health effects for Cena, since he'll definitely work through it.

Ex-WWE Diva Maria talked about a number of topics, including her current run in ROH. Good read. I agree about the Divas.

Kevin Nash talked about what he wanted in WWE, whether he'd go back to TNA, Taker, HHH, and more. Nash is pretty tight with HHH and Vince, so I find it hard to believe he didn't get as much leeway as Punk. I'm not saying it's impossible, but that would be kind of surprising. I'm not looking forward to him returning on-screen in any capacity, and I don't think it'd be a particularly big boon for business for him to go that route.

TNA Lockdown will be available in some cinemas. I hope that makes them some coin.

WWE partnered with Ryan Seacrest for a charity endeavor.

Here's the trailer for the latest edition of YouShoot, with Shane Douglas. Should be fun and educational. The Batista line is a running gag with the series.

Smackdown got a 1.95 rating on 3/16. March Madness took its toll, which is a shame because the shows have been really good lately.

Zack Ryder had a WWE-filmed rally ahead of Raw, looking for a spot on WrestleMania.

Raw was (unsurprisingly) still being formatted only an hour or two before the show. WAY too many cooks in the kitchen there.

WWE's issues with the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission have been resolved. The October TV tapings will go ahead as planned. Glad they got things worked out.

Former ECW Champion Shane Douglas pulled a publicity stunt during Raw. He had been wearing a mask and outer shirt, which he took off during the Kane vs. Big Show match and began attempting to get fans nearby to chant "ECW". Douglas was then escorted out of the building. There's another ECW reunion in Philly coming up that he was promoting.

Update: Here's footage of the incident. That's actually rather unimpressive. I wonder how many people had no idea who he was, given how many years it's been since he last appeared in WWE (or TNA for that matter).

Lord Tensai, who got a video package during Raw, is the former Albert/A-Train. Props to him for muddying the waters on his signing. I wonder how he holds up all these years since his last run.

Finally, David Otunga has (had?) appearances on BET and the Wendy Williams Show to promote WrestleMania. That's a good sign that management likes him.

That's all for Monday's news. More to come in the morning. Thanks for reading and I apologize for being so late!

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