The opening six-man was pretty good. That combination of people works together really well: there are some fast-paced performers mixed with some rough-housers and big "power" guys.
That was great for getting The Shield over. And they say that WWE can't/doesn't push new stars. They kind of threw Henry and the Usos under a bus, though. I guess we're supposed to see their claims as ridiculous, though, since Henry and the Usos put up a good fight and have had The Shield on the run in the past.
Natalya vs. Aksana was fine enough. Aksana definitely looks like a different performer from when we first saw her - she's still not one of the top acts of the division, but she's certainly more competent in the ring than she was on NXT Season 3.
Axel vs. Sin Cara was really good. Cara has improved drastically from his WWE debut, and both men really looked motivated to make an impact. Good work.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Magnus and Mickie James will be doing a Meet and Greet on 8/14 at Direct Auto Insurance in Norfolk, VA. I wonder if either of them will end up in a Direct Auto commercial like Matt Morgan...
The Associated Press visited the WWE Performance Center. Xavier Woods needs to see Punk's video about the use of the word "literally". If something's literally unreal, you can't experience it in reality. At any rate, that's some pretty cool stuff. I like that it's also for people on the main roster to train. I can't put over the venture enough. It's no XFL or WWE Films for sure (though to be fair, WWE Films is doing better recently).
TNA put out a press release ahead of Impact taping in Little Rock, AR. Who did they showcase from the roster? Non-wrestler Hulk Hogan, part-time wrestler Sting (who could be retiring from wrestling soon), part-time wrestler Rampage Jackson, and former WWE stars Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy, and Mickie James. No Austin Aries, no AJ Styles... you get the idea. TNA Originals be like:
Sheamus suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder at MITB. He continued to work and aggravated the injury. He will undergo surgery and is expected to be out 4-6 months. Yeah, it's REALLY time to tone down the crazy gimmick matches and amount of matches top stars have to work. It's really taking its toll on people.
Daniel Bryan talked to SkySports. I like that he put over Cena's abilities. I get this feeling that 10 years from now, people will be saying something like "You know, people didn't used to think John Cena was a good wrestler. I know! Crazy, right?". But yeah, Bryan's awesome (and so is his beard!).
Here's a trailer for the
Maria talked about her life pre-WWE. More evidence of reality shows basically being BS. But, yeah, I have symp(ath)y for her backstory. She has the heart of a lion to make it through that.
THE HULKSTER'S GOT A MOVIE COMING OUT, JACK. At least according to him. Yeah, you could say that steroids were a big deal in wrestling in Hogan's day. In fact, Hogan did himself way back in '94.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Kane's the man. I hope he sticks around a while longer. He gets around pretty well for 46 and I don't see him hanging it up any time soon. Fortunately for him he doesn't have to take a ton of big bumps. That definitely helps him out.
2. Yeah, you don't have to be a former wrestler to be an executive in a wrestling company. In some ways, it's probably good to have some "non-wrestling" people to look at things from another perspective.
3. Because then I'd have to watch it. Da dum tsssh. I DEFINITELY prefer them having matches and the Funkadactyls/Bellas doing reality stuff. That's not a knock on the Total Divas cast (I think Natalya's very underutilized), but AJ and Kaitlyn are doing some really great stuff.
4. To, uh, enhance their answer: Sting has said in multiple interviews over the years that he's been open to going to WWE. As for Bobby Roode, unless he's referring to something else, the whole "deal coming up" thing is something of a misconception: according to Roode, he signed a 3-year deal with the option of a 4th year and 5th year under the same terms. He reached the end of year 4, and there was some kind of issue with the technicalities of the contract kicking in for year 5. Both sides were committed to him sticking around. But, yeah, keeping things "as is" is almost always the "safe"/easy option.
5. I also have no idea. Maybe they just wanted to do something different?
More wrestling tomorrow.
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