Daniel Bryan has been pulled from this weekend's live events due to his father passing away. He's scheduled to be back on Raw, but that's not 100% set in stone. I can only imagine what he's going through right now. He definitely has my regards and hopefully he can pull through this tough period of his life.
On the next episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon will apologize to Daniel Bryan for Kane's actions on Monday. I think it's pretty obvious how that will go, but it could still be a good segment. Bryan vs. Kane could really be something if both men are on their "A" game that night.
Also set for Raw is Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam to determine who faces Big E at Extreme Rules for the Intercontinental Championship.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Bo Dallas defeated Mike Mondo, a.k.a. Mikey from the Spirit Squad in the dark match before Smackdown this week. I don't see this as any kind of tryout for Mondo to return as much as a way to further prepare Bo for the main roster. I look forward to seeing what WWE can pull off with him. He's been pretty entertaining with his current gimmick in NXT.
Christopher Daniels has announced himself as a free agent, signalling the end of his run with TNA. This was an expected move for some time. The door is said to be open for him to return down the line. Chris Sabin and Kazarian are also expected to be leaving soon, with Sabin already set for a number of indy dates and Kazarian taking bookings along with Daniels. I hope TNA can replace these veterans, as the roster pool's getting thinner as far as established names goes.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'd much rather them make the U.S. Title important enough for it to be a viable championship to feud over than for them to throw it away entirely. They do have a pretty big roster and I think they can sustain two mid-level titles. They just need to give it some effort. Unless they're going to have The Shield feud over it in the near future, I think they should just strip Ambrose of it and do something to make a new champion. They could give a heel the rub by having him be the "chosen one" of The Authority to be the new U.S. Champion. There could easily be flashbacks to Bischoff handing HHH the World Title way back when.
2. I definitely see that criticism. We're so far removed from the brand extension now that things have kind of become one meshed identity where anyone can wrestle anywhere. I would like there to be different feels to Raw and Smackdown once the TV situation gets figured out, but I don't know how realistic of an expectation that is.
3. Yeah, Axel's definitely a good wrestler from a technical sense, but he's missing something to take him past midcard level. WWE definitely had other priorities when he was being pushed (Punk's feud with Heyman) and that overshadowed what could have been a big push for Axel. I think he can still move up the ranks in time. He's just missing that "it" factor it takes to make it to the top in WWE.
4. I can see why WWE would want a genuine reaction from him and their philosophy seems to be working. It does seem like they'd want the refs to know the finish to a match, but maybe they know better than we do.
5. Obviously that DVD was a classic Russo swerve. Yeah, he's back contributing ideas to TNA but isn't the head of the creative team. His ideas can be shot down or repurposed if Gaburick wishes. A lot of shows lately have definitely felt like Russo shows for what that's worth.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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