TNA lucha cup update, Y2J return official, long-time WWE employee done, Taz update, E:60 note, GFW news, Zayn update, more on E:60 doc, Corgan on TNA, names announced for GFW roster, a day in the life of Rollins, JTG update, more on Patterson, Joe vs. Punk again?, and Questions on Cena "burials", other "burials", Wyatt vs. Ryback, what if Hulkamania failed?, and changing TNA Creative

Mr. Anderson and Matt Hardy will join the former John Morrison on Team USA in AAA's lucha world cup, while Drew Galloway will be part of Team Rest of the World. There's been a good point made of AAA wanting some performers who don't fit the traditional lucha mold for some of the teams in order for there to be some contrast. That's actually pretty clever.

Chris Jericho has been booked for a number of live events this summer from June through August. There could be more added. He isn't expected to work TV tapings during that time, but that could change. Unless there's an awesome storyline to bring him back to TV (maybe facing Seth Rollins in the buildup to Brock getting his rematch at Summerslam?), he'll probably stay off-screen.

WWE seamstress Sandra Gray has retired after many years with the company. She had dialed back her amount of work in the company after a family illness. WWE ABSOLUTELY needs to give her the Warrior Award next year. Mark Yeaton needs to go in the HoF sometime, too.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.


There's talk of Taz working with WWE again. Maybe we see an edition of his podcast on the WWE Network? I don't know if he'd do commentary again, or if WWE would have him back in that role. I do want to hear "Welp... here comes the pain" again for a Brock entrance. That has to happen.

WWE didn't have any say on the editing of the E:60 documentary. That would be a serious ethical quandary for ESPN.

Former UFC star Chael Sonnen will be in an announcing position for GFW. That's an interesting surprise. He was apparently considered to announce the NJPW PPV before Matt Striker was chosen. I'm glad GFW picked someone outside the box. They need to do something to stand out from the other promotions out there.

Update: Here's a recap of GFW's press conference:
-  Sonnen being something of a color commentator is a pretty cool idea. It's worth trying out.

- I'm glad we'll be seeing DH Smith again. We barely saw what he could do in WWE.

- Justin Gabriel is also a good pickup. He's a solid hand who wasn't doing anything of note in WWE.

- Obviously the Bullet Club was going to be involved in some form.

- Chris Masters is another good pickup. A lot of people have been waiting to see him again.

- I wasn't a big fan of Lei'D Tapa. I'm willing to give her another chance, though.

- Rosita has a lot of potential and I hope she gets to show it in GFW.

Update: Seiya Sanada (formerly The Great Sanada in TNA) and Lance Hoyt/Vance Archer have joined the GFW roster. Shots fired to TNA. I really wonder if any other names will jump ship in the months to come. A lot of it can come down to which side offers more dates and money.

Sami Zayn suffered a rotator cuff injury before his match with John Cena. This follows the shoulder problems he was having in March and April. Talk about really unfortunate timing. I hope he's able to at least work the Takeover special. He's put in too much work to go down at a time like this.

NXT names commented on the recent E:60 special. It's been very well-received.

Update: the documentary got 708,000 viewers. So, yes, that's more than Impact Wrestling on Destination America.

A former titleholder will be the special referee for Kurt Angle vs. Eric Young in the TNA Championship match on tomorrow night's Impact Wrestling. There's no telling who that will be. TNA's been pretty loose with the label "former World Champion" in the past, including former tag team champions. It could be a world champion of chess for all we know.

Billy Corgan did a conference call on joining TNA:
- His experience touring will be really valuable for getting that end of the company up and running again.

- I'm also wondering where PPVs fit into things in the modern era. iPPVs will definitely be something to look at, but there's an audience that hasn't given up on cable/satellite.

- A TNA developmental system would be great. Is there the budget and resources for it, though? That might be something to hold off on for now. Honestly, using talents who are also working non-televised indies is pretty much a reality for TNA until they can get their talents regular dates again.

- I'm sure the internet is going to explode about his X-Division comments.

- I agree about needing different kinds of music for different talents.

- I don't see any reason to bring social issues to wrestling unless it adds to the wrestling product. I don't like unnecessary right-wing commentary of JBL or Matt Striker any more or less than unnecessary left-wing issues taking center stage. You don't see wrestling matches break out during Modern Family. I don't want to see Corgan's political beliefs take over the wrestling product.

- I'd be fine with Corgan as GM if he has a role like William Regal in NXT. The company does need to answer who is booking the matches and signing people's paychecks and all that.

- Interesting idea of trying to have an "NXT" for TNA. It'd be great if they can do it, although I don't think there's any competing with what WWE is doing right now in that area.

- I'm exciting about him bringing in some new talents. Hopefully they don't all clump together and they're given the platform to succeed.

Here's a photo gallery of a day in the life of Seth Rollins. They left out the part where Creative tells him the latest way they're killing his momentum.

Zack Ryder tweeted about reading JTG's new ebook. I can't wait to read Ryder's when he finally gets dropped. I'll read JTG's collection of stories this weekend.

A Montreal paper covered Pat Patterson Appreciation Night. Can they come up with an excuse to induct him in the HoF twice?

Samoa Joe said on JR's podcast C.M. Punk wants to have one last match with him. I don't see that happening if Joe signs with WWE, but right now he's still a free agent. Would UFC let Punk compete with him? If so, where would they do it?

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. You're definitely being too negative. I think a lot of performers have benefited from wrestling the top guy in the industry. Orton, Edge, Batista, Punk, and The Miz all come to mind. What WWE did with them afterward is more of the concern than Cena beating them. And, once more, burials are INTENTIONAL cases of the company throwing a performer under the bus to punish them or humiliate them. Rusev is having three high-profile PPV matches with one of the most decorated champions in wrestling history. How the hell is that a burial!? If Cena beat him convincingly at Mania, then he went to rapping with R-Truth because management was upset at him or really lost favor with him, that would be a burial. When you face Cena, there's pretty much nowhere to go but down. Rusev wasn't pinned for almost a full year. He only lost at Mania because of Lana. He wasn't pinned at Extreme Rules. Take off the anti-Cena goggles and look at how things are actually being booked.

2. I think it's rare WWE intentionally books a talent to purposefully hurt their momentum. Generally when they do, the talent has done something to rub someone the wrong way. I feel like anytime someone isn't booked really strongly, people assume there's some kind of conspiracy intentionally sabotaging them.

3. Wyatt needs to get his credibility back after losing to Taker. Beating someone lower on the card might do that.

4. I think AWA still would have been passed by as the business turned to things like cable. It's not like WWF failing would have automatically meant AWA would succeed.

5. Corgan just joined, so it's probably too soon to tell. We'll see if things change in the months to come.

More wrestling tomorrow.