Helms at WWE HQ, NXT preview, Interview with Bearer's son, what's set for TNA No Surrender?, Team 3D-TNA update, Y2J update, why Flair missed NXT date, WWE.com acknowledges Punk leaving, BNB update, more WWE-Full Sail scholarships, TNA pulls talent from iPPV, new WWE signing, Smackdown audience, Y2J hurt, and Questions on wrestling tropes, TNA names in WWE, tryouts, Vince's booking, and cashing in MITB

The former Hurricane/Gregory/Shane Helms was at WWE HQ filming material for the WWE Network. I was a huge Hurricane mark back in the day. I wish they would have done more with the character, because it was REALLY over.

Set for this week's NXT:
- Charlotte vs. Emma
- Hideo Itami vs. Justin Gabriel
- Baron Corbin vs. CJ Parker
- Titus O'Neil and Tyson Kidd vs. Adrian Neville and  Sami Zayn

You'd think it'd make more sense for Tyson to team with Gabriel again, but Itami vs. Titus almost definitely wouldn't be as good of a match. It will be interesting to see how Titus works with the high-flyers.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

DJ Pringle, son to Paul Bearer, was interviewed. Fascinating look at a lot of topics.

Set for Wednesday's "No Surrender" edition of Impact Wrestling (taped before Richards' injury and Bully Ray's departure):
- TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Lashley vs. Bobby Roode
- Ladder match in the series for the TNA Tag Team Championship: The Wolves vs. Team 3D vs. The Hardys. If The Hardys or Team 3D win, they become tag team champions. If the Wolves win, a final match will determine it all.
- TNA X-Division Championship: Samoa Joe vs. Homicide
- Battle Royal to determine the #1 Contendership for the TNA Knockouts Championship
- Chris Melendez vs. Kenny King

Honestly, that's not a bad card at all. TNA still has quite a few talented wrestlers. It's just obvious they're not the TNA of some time back.

TNA and Bully Ray are currently in negotiations for Bully to finish the tag team title series at this week's TV tapings, as well as go into the Hall of Fame at Bound For Glory. Currently, those are the only dates the two sides are discussing having him work. I think that'd be a fine end for the Bully-TNA relationship, and hopefully it would elevate The Wolves in the process.

Update: Currently, Devon's final contracted date for TNA is the Bound For Glory PPV. So, it's entirely possible both members of Team 3D will finish up then (if Bully isn't done already). Devon was originally just supposed to work a short-term deal anyway, so he likely would have finished up at BFG regardless of the Bully situation. If there were TV tapings the week after BFG, it's possible he would have been booked for those, but ultimately he was only booked in conjunction with the Hall of Fame induction.

Chris Jericho is currently scheduled to finish up this WWE run at Night of Champions. He will then go promote his third autobiography and tour with Fozzy. It's been great having him work with Wyatt. He's definitely still got it and I'm glad he still comes to WWE when his schedule allows.

Ric Flair missed the NXT special due to being hospitalized for a minor medical concern leading to a number of surgeries. He was hospitalized, but his issues aren't believed to be life-threatening. Flair was booked for the 9/16 Smackdown taping and Night of Champions, but isn't believed to be able to make those dates. I hope he recovers well.

Update: WWE.com confirmed Flair as being pulled from Smackdown. He was never advertised for Night of Champions to my knowledge. It would have been good to have him on the pre-show to discuss Cena chasing that 16th World Title, but Flair's health is important.

WWE.com referenced C.M. Punk's departure in an article about John Cena's greatest rivalries. I can't say I'm too surprised, but that was probably on the writer of the article rather than a mandate from higher up to talk about Punk. I don't expect a lot of flattering references to Punk in official press releases and the like.

Bad News Barrett is in India on a WWE promotional tour. I'd much rather him be in the ring, but injuries are injuries.

WWE gave more scholarships to Full Sail students. It's an investment in their future to support those doing production work on NXT. I hope they get some really bright minds to work on the main TV shows for years to come.

TNA pulled new signee Havok from a WSU iPPV after the promoters of the iPPV had already paid for a flight to bring her in. TNA didn't furnish a substitute. TNA generally doesn't let its talents appear on other PPVs, DVDs, etc., so I'm not really surprised. It just sucks a flight was already paid for.

Lucha Underground is also pulling talents from previously-booked shows, which is understandably rubbing some people the wrong way. Talents really took a risk in signing those exclusivity agreements.

WWE has signed Luke Hawx student Bu Ku Dao. He will be reporting to NXT shortly. That's a pretty chantable name, but I don't think WWE will let him keep it.

Smackdown hit 2.82 million viewers Friday night, up from the previous week. I was curious to see how they'd do on Thursdays, but they're staying put.

Chris Jericho needed five stitches after his match with Kane on Raw. Fozzy is probably easier on his body than WWE...

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Realistically, there are only so many different kinds of character out there, and only so many different kinds of stories to be told. Also, there's a large part of the audience who didn't see the previous iteration of the gimmick or story. It's like Batman movies or James Bond movies: they're updated for each generation because the previous generation grew out of it and a new generation wants to see the same story played out for them. This is hardly just a wrestling thing or a Vince thing.

2. The Young Bucks actually did get at least one WWE promo, but they rubbed Booker T. (and I'm thinking Goldust) the wrong way, so that didn't bode well for them. RVD has said negative things about them as well. As for Bully Ray, they might be waiting for Devon to also be available. Ultimately those two are in their 40s, and Bully/Bubba had heat with Orton and Batista years back. I wouldn't be surprised if he still has heat with some WWE names. It's not always as straightforward as "this person's talented and WWE should sign them".

3. Of note, WWE can only have so many people under contract at a time. They're not going to hire every worker they think can be successful.

4. I think that was a troll question. It felt like one, anyway. There probably is an audience that wants to see Hogan vs. Lesnar and that kind of thing, but there are also fans who are harder to please, sometimes impossibly so. WWE needs to try to get some of those fans on-board while accepting that some fans will be out of reach no matter what.

5. I think that's part of the "suspension of disbelief" thing and really dramatizing what's going on so everyone in the arena can tell it's a MITB cash-in. And maybe the wrestlers are a lot more athletic and eager than the referees!

More wrestling tomorrow.