Main Event Reax - 2/19/14, Interviews with Edge/Stone Cold/Ion/Blanchard, Dish drops WWE PPVs, #YesMovement looked at, more on WWE TV/PPVs situation, Shieky gives advice, new match for NXT event, Raw audience, WWE looks at Sting, Young to make appearance, Maria wants to bury hatchet and Questions on setting up Punk vs. Bryan, airing Raw live on both coasts, giving away PPV-level matches on free TV, Cena's interview with Austin, covering indies, the WWE Network and Michael Tarver.

Main Event:
Very good opening contest! I wasn't expecting it to go that long. Everyone did really well there and I can't wait for The Shield vs. the Wyatts.

Aksana vs. Cameron was fine enough. Aksana did some nice heel mannerisms and they played off her injury to Naomi well.

That Barrett segment was better than what I've seen from him recently. It could have just been the material, though.

I enjoyed the HHH segment recap. He's a guilty pleasure of mine (like Dixie Carter).

Kofi vs. Axel went well enough. The interplay with Henry and Ryback was a nice addition.

Fine post-match. I just wish this whole segment did something to set up Ryback and Axel vs. The Brotherhood.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Here are highlights from a WrestleMania-themed interview with Edge. I still think the match with Del Rio would have been a perfect time to pass the torch. They could have gotten a lot of heat on Del Rio for retiring Edge AND taking the title from him. That said, we still got that awesome segment with Ricardo in the wheelchair. As for MITB, I definitely sympathize. There's always the danger of being stuck as "that ladder match wrestler" or what have you.

Dish Network has dropped WWE PPVs starting with Elimination Chamber. I definitely see that making the choice to jump to the Network easier for some people. Hopefully it doesn't also mean some people stop watching PPVs entirely instead of getting something that's Network-compatible. If I'm WWE, I'm seeing what I can do to make that show available on Day 1 for Dish subscribers.

Update: WWE and Dish issued statements on the matter. Dish would rather make no money from the PPV and deny it from their customers? More incentive to get the Network instead. Sounds like Dish is cutting its nose to spite its face.

USA Today looked at Daniel Bryan's Yes! movement, with comments from Bryan and Stephanie McMahon. I don't have anything against Batista returning, but it's pretty clear who fans have gotten behind to be the top guy in WWE.

Update: Vince McMahon tweeted in support of Bryan. I wonder how true-to-life his sentiments are.

Paige vs. Emma has been set for NXT's big event on the WWE Network. That'll be worth checking out.

DJ Zema Ion talked ahead of a TNA live event in his home state. The Bro-Mans are another guilty pleasure of mine, especially Robbie E.

The New York Post looked at the WWE-NBCU situation. I agree about 2014 being a very big year for wrestling.

JR's first podcast was with none other than STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! Austin noted his decision not to announce his retirement at WMXIX because he didn't want to affect WWE and its stock. WWE was still in that awkward transition coming out of the war with WCW.

The Iron Sheik started an advice column on Maxim. This is the greatest thing I've ever read.

Tully Blanchard of Horsemen fame gave an interview. I mostly feel like the best characters come from the minds of the people playing them, but there are definitely exceptions. The Horsemen were a wild bunch for sure.

Raw's audience on Monday was up to 4.36 million. Not a bad number, but they've hit higher marks in 2014.

WWE has a piece looking at some Sting guy from WCW. Maybe you've heard of him? Really cool to see photos of pre-Crow Sting. Sting seems like a genuinely nice guy. That tease at the end was something. Could we really see him in a WWE ring!?

Darren Young will be part of a gay video gaming convention. That's fantastic!

WWE released details about what will be seen on their Network. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have cooked up for the NXT event.

Maria Kanellis apologized for her past remarks about the Bella Twins. That's very mature of her and a great example to send to anyone following the situation.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Why would Punk turn on Bryan in favor of Orton or Batista given his own issues with the Authority. This idea is bad and you should feel bad.

2. It's always about how many viewers they can get. Airing it on a tape delay could be worth more than airing it live. Not everyone stays glued to "dirtsheets" reading spoilers.

3. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20. Always. Since WWE won the war and in some ways controls the story of the battle with WCW through DVD releases and such, people will overlook their missteps more.

Not much to add to 4. Cena's definitely expected to toe the company line. His willingness to be a WWE mouthpiece has helped him stay in Vince's good graces. There's a reason he's in a lot more interviews than someone more outspoken like Ziggler.

Nothing to add to 5.

For my take on the uhhh... other set of PWInsider.com questions from yesterday:
Not really anything to add to 1, other than I don't know how feasible it would be for me to cover indies given my other school and work commitments! I think I'd get really burned out watching/covering that much wrestling even if I didn't have other things on my plate. I really like wrestling, but not to the fanatic degree necessary to follow non-mainstream promotions. I really try to have other interests and other things going on.

Nothing to add to 2.

3. I don't see them cutting "softcore" segments like that, but I also don't see them going out of their way to promote that kind of thing. Nudity will be a very different issue, however!

4. I'm thinking maybe NXT's show. I don't plan on watching a LOT of Network content, but definitely PPVs and NXT. When I have more free time, I might check out some more "outside the box" things and things I haven't seen a lot of.

5. He notably made some remarks about John Cena and FCW on Twitter after being cut, but other than that I haven't seen his name pop up a lot. I was always curious to see what role they could find for him with the whole "texting backstage" thing.

More wrestling tomorrow.