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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Cena update, more on Tamina's surgery, WWE Network plug,TNA live event note, Destination X update, new international TV deal for TNA, Slammiversary notes, WWE-Sting update, WWE Network-Xbox update, NXT lineup, Rose update, more Pro Wrestling 101, WWE press, WWE visitors, Smackdown audience, Flair update and Questions on Bryan taking the easy way out, indy stars in NXT, Ziggler, airing finishes on the App and the next WWE Champion

John Cena was originally set to face Bray Wyatt at a live event the night after he sustained a swollen eye. The match was turned into a six-man tag, with Cena and The Usos beating the whole Wyatt Family. WWE's not going to luck out with Cena's health forever. They need to be prepared for a time when he can't go.

Tamina's surgery was to repair her ACL and meniscus. She could miss several months of ring time. I could see her coming back as a face to combat AJ. It felt like WWE was going that route leading into WM30.

As noted on Raw, Entertainment Weekly plugged the WWE Network app in their latest issue. Thankfully it wasn't because of "Total Divas".

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
TNA's live events this past weekend were said to have really bombed, with maybe 100-200 fans in  attendance. The shows notably didn't feature Eric Young, MVP, Kurt Angle, Willow, Bully Ray or Abyss. Angle and MVP make sense with the injuries, but where was the World Champion? It feels like fans and some inside the company have more or less given up on TNA. There are still some really talented people there, but the company's basically in a state of decline.

A number of former X-Division Champions have been contacted to work TNA's Destination X special. There could be a lot of fun cameos then. Destination X was a high point in viewership last year during the Aces and Eights angle. TNA can occasionally get people to watch special episodes, but the jump in ratings never lasts.

TNA will now start airing in Trinidad. It will be interesting to see what TNA's business looks like overseas if it remains unimpressive here.

TNA is pushing the return of Rebel to the Dallas, Texas area for Slammiversary. She'll be in a match with.. oh, wait. Despite the TV time invested in The Menagerie, they're not booked for the PPV yet. Unless they're facing the Von Erichs? I don't see that one happening.

TNA's French announce team will be working Slammiversary. I'd love to hear Tenay and Taz call things in French.

Gail Kim was interviewed before TNA's NYC tapings. I think she'll make a great trainer.

Set for this Thursday's Impact:
- Brooke Tessmacher returns (before going on The Amazing Race and missing a lot of TV time)
- Gail Kim vs. Brittany vs. Madison Rayne to become #1 Contender to the Knockouts' Championship
- Robbie E vs. Knux
- Eric Young vs. Kenny King
- Eric Young vs. Bobby Lashley
- Eric Young vs. MVP

I like the idea of putting all the odds against EY ahead of his title match. He's been booked pretty strongly since becoming champion. He just doesn't feel like the top babyface in the company.

WWE is seeking cast members for a production involving Sting in promotion for an upcoming video game, presumably meaning he'll be a big part of WWE 2K15. This would mark his first time in a WWE game. It's really amazing to see this after so many years where Sting wasn't in the WWE sphere.

The WWE Network is now available for Xbox users without an Xbox Live account. Awesome!

Set for this week's NXT:
- Paige, Emma and Bayley vs. Charlotte, Summer Rae and Sasha Banks
- Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester LeFort
- Sami Zayn vs. "Mr. NXT" (?)
- Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd (with Natalya)

I'm already more interested in that than Impact. On a related note, I really miss Enzo Amore being with Big Cass.

Adam Rose needed five stitches after being busted open this weekend, but isn't expected to miss any ring time. Or party time for that matter.

Justin Credible talked about ring psychology. It sounds obvious, but it's lost on far too many. His lessons should be required of anyone trying to make money as a wrestler.

Natalya and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart will be hosting a movie block on The Hub this weekend for Father's Day. That's pretty cool.

The family of Ultimate Warrior visited at a recent live event and Blackjack Lanza was backstage at Raw. That's great! I hope Dana and her children are doing well.

Smackdown's audience on Friday was 2.78 million, a notable boost from the previous week and a high mark for more than two months. That's good news for the followup to Rollins' heel turn and Wyatt's promo.

Ric Flair has passed all necessary medical tests and has been cleared to return to the road for WWE. I hope he's used well.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It's amazing to me how much people criticize WWE for bad booking, then come up with even more terrible scenarios. That's an awful idea. Bryan's a fighting champion, so him getting a cheap win like that is lame. That's almost a heel move as far as taking the easy way out of retaining. Not to mention how strongly Kane has been built. KOing him with a wrench in under a minute would make him look pretty weak.

2. Why is there minor league baseball when people already have experience in college? Because it's a whole different level of competition with different coaches and styles. WWE wants performers to work a certain way and maybe fit in a different role from what they did on the indies or wherever. There could still be things for them to work on.

3. Ziggler's definitely incredibly talented and I think he could be a top guy if WWE got behind him. I don't see that happening any time soon, though. Financially, he's almost certainly better off staying in WWE than trying his hand elsewhere. WWE owns the name Dolph Ziggler, too, so he couldn't take it to TNA or wherever.

4. That's clever to promote the App, but so far there are a lot more people watching on TV. WWE needs to keep viewership high on TV. That's a really big revenue stream for them.

5. How is Kane unbelievable!? He's been portrayed as pretty close to unstoppable and has done a LOT of damage as a force of destruction. Go back and watch his booking at Extreme Rules. That answer really made my brain hurt. Kane would definitely be my choice, though Orton's not a bad idea, either.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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