TNA contract updates, result of X-Division Title match in Japan, ROH note, WWE-Saudi press, Interviews with Cesaro/Piper/Kliq, WWE Legend appearance, ex-TNA star talks money problems, Joe update, new TNA tapings, Russo's TNA status and Questions on Benoit as WCW Champ, the WWE Network, video libraries and other promotions running Mania towns

Bad Influence (and Curry Man) are now taking bookings outside of TNA. Their contracts are believed to be expiring shortly, so this could be a sign of them leaving the company. They're a solid part of TNA's foundation and generally do pretty good work, so their loss will definitely be felt if this is really the end.

Update: Daniels' TNA contract expires at the end of April and Kazarian's expires in May. Chris Sabin's also officially expires in the next few weeks. All three are expected to be done. That' a shame given how long each of them have been there and how much they each still had to give. I wouldn't count on any of them going to WWE, but you never know.

TNA has signed Rockstar Spud to a new long-term deal. I enjoy his work, so I'm glad he's been re-signed.

Sanada retained the TNA X-Division Championship after defeating Daniels in Japan. I haven't heard how long Sanada's stay in TNA is expected to be, but they definitely plan to use him for the foreseeable future.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

Ring Of Honor will have PPVs available on cable and satellite providers beginning this June. I still don't think they're quite a "major national promotion" like WWE or TNA, but it looks like they could be on their way if this venture goes well.

The AP covered WWE going to Saudi Arabia, as did a Saudi publication. This isn't a political blog, so I won't go into my thoughts and feelings on the matches just being for males.

Cesaro talked about his big win at Mania, training and more. He's dead on about lifting weights. Hopefully Darren Young doesn't get something like that yodeling gimmick when he comes back. Sheesh. And RVD vs. Cesaro should really be something.

Roddy Piper talked about Warrior's passing. That was really out there stuff.

The Kliq talked about the infamous MSG curtain call. Honestly, I can see the complaints of it exposing the business. There's a world of difference from the world of 1996 and that of today. The Kliq was definitely not held in high regard in the WWE locker room in their heyday. Ahhh, another WCW burial. Classic. I would have liked HHH's comments, but obviously he was rather busy that day.

Bruno Sammartino will join John Cena, Batista and The Bella Twins at Wizard World Philadelphia. That's pretty cool.

Former TNA wrestler Jesse Neal talked about the criticism of him working at Walmart now, and took one hell of a shot at TNA. I think it's great he's got a paying job to provide for his family. That's something a lot of people can't say. It definitely doesn't speak too well of how TNA was run at that time. I hope things have improved, though I wonder given all the roster cuts of the past year (with more coming).

Samoa Joe is expected to be back in the ring for TNA at this weekend's live events. I don't know if we're set for him facing MVP at Sacrifice or not. I definitely think we're in for that match eventually, though.

TNA has added Impact Wrestling tapings for 6/19 and 6/20 in Pennsylvania. Those will be the post-Slammiversary shows. It'll be very interesting to see what TNA looks like after that event.

It's been confirmed Vince Russo is officially a "creative consultant" for TNA. John Gaburick is still the head of the team and has final say, but Vinny Ru is one of the people putting forth ideas for him to use or not use. The booking in TNA has definitely been less-than-stellar lately after some promising results earlier in the year, and some of Russo's signatures are pretty clearly there. I think there's a correlation there.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm not familiar enough with this particular situation to really comment here, but there are certainly some pertinent questions and comments here to discuss.

2. Wrestling's pretty complicated, no? I can only imagine the backstage atmosphere with those players involved.

3. Yeah, the WWE Network is still in its infancy and is nowhere close to being a failure. WrestleMania XXX was really buzzworthy and using it to push the Network's smart. Hopefully those who do take WWE up on the trial will become regular subscribers.

4. While WWE has been more friendly to ROH in recent years, the two companies are still separate entities and WWE's not buying them or anything. WWE just wanted to use that footage for the Bryan documentary.

Nothing to add to 5.

6. As was said, given how many wrestling fans are in the area (some who are only in the U.S. specifically for WrestleMania), it's smart to get your name out there and try to draw people in. There's a reason people were upset at TNA not running the area.

More wrestling tomorrow (hopefully).