First up, a query:
1. Ric Flair wrestled Jack Veneno in Puerto Rico during one of his reigns as NWA World Champion. The NWA booked Flair to win, but a decision was made "on the fly" without their approval to have Veneno win the title to avoid a riot from the crowd. The NWA doesn't recognize this title change, and business went on with Flair defending as champion despite that result.
Lucha Underground is interested in bringing in both the former Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio. I think both would be big gets for the company. Hopefully Mysterio will be free from his WWE deal shortly (or at least when the one-year extension expires in Q2 2015).
A number of TNA talents worked a joint show with Wrestle-1 recently. The Great Sanada won a three-way match involving Matt Hardy and Tajiri (pinning Tajiri), while all three members of The Bro-Mans lost a six-man tag to three W1 talents. I'm glad those talents are finding work under the TNA banner.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
The offer of a free month of the WWE Network only applies to the over-the-top version. Canadians getting it through Rogers Cable don't get that option. Rogers got a pretty sweet deal from WWE. I'm not so sure Canadian fans as a whole feel it's benefited them.
Update: Somewhat surprisingly, even people who previously subscribed to the Network and didn't renew can access the free month. WWE really wants to get them back, as well as any new viewers they can.
Jim Ross looked at the state of the WWE Network and more. WWE already has a LOT of content out there every week. It's hard to get people to want more. I do think cycling in fresh, engaging characters and repurposing or dropping older acts is a big key to improving business.
Finn Balor, the former Prince Devitt, will appear on this week's NXT to join Hideo Itami's fight against The Ascension. I can't wait!
Ken Shamrock talked about his WWE career and more. I definitely think there's a place for him in the WWE Hall of Fame. As far as WWE not listening to the fans, they do to some degree. They ultimately listen to the fans who pay money or will pay money to support the company and its competitors. They're a business, and if they can make more money from a Scooby Doo crossover and reality shows than from technical wrestling classics, that's what they're going to do. Having more people backstage to go to in order to talk out issues would be great. The life of a WWE superstar is very stressful.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I'm sure people will try it. Some people will do anything to get out of paying for something.
2. There was a rumor going around about Bound For Glory being Samoa Joe's last date on his current TNA deal, but as far as I know that isn't the case. It's possible there aren't any new TNA dates until January, and the roster could look different by then as they figure out what their next direction is.
Nothing to add to 3. I'm really not sure.
4. Maddox worked a few live events, but hasn't been seen since. I'd like for him to take over as the GM or whatever after the angle with The Authority ends. I really hope they have an endgame for that. I don't think there's much more they can do with it.
5. Sadly anyone these days can take stories broken elsewhere and either take credit for them or great distort them. I view my blog more as a compilation of news and commentary on it. I'm not trying to break news, just put it in context and give opinions on it. It is "ramblings" about wrestling, not "latest scoops source" of wrestling.
6. I think it's safe to say they're digging in deep to try to turn their fortunes around on the Network. I think in a lot of ways WWE brass lives in kind of a reality distortion bubble and expects everything to go in a much different direction than how it actually goes (see: Batista's return, the latest TV contracts, etc.)
More wrestling tomorrow.
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