Update on TNA partnerships, TNA program done?, Show update, WWE press, Interviews with Owens/Rock/Booker/Young Bucks, HHH conference call, Hall note, TNA Creative note, Jeff Hardy update, more TNA live events?, another NXT coach?, more Network content, Raw audience, new NXT signing, and Questions on Cena vs. Neville, the Wyatts, HHH-Mayweather, a darker Stardust, and Cena vs. Rhyno

There's speculation of TNA working with IGF after Simon Inoki visited at the most recent Impact Wrestling tapings. Hopefully TNA would be able to gain from such a relationship.

TNA's Greatest Matches series on Destination America appears to be done. Remember when TNA first came to the channel and it was all over the place? Now it's just Impact Wrestling and its immediate replay.

Big Show is advertised for next week's Raw. It makes sense for him to do something at Elimination Chamber. I've enjoyed the time away from him. I wish it had been longer!

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.


Kevin Owens talked after his big appearance on Raw. He's been really impressive so far in WWE. That shouldn't surprise anyone who's followed his career.

- Being able to "tone down" some things from his indie days like language has been very helpful. He's got to play the WWE game now, but he can still mostly be the guy who was tearing it up on the indie scene.

- I'm glad he's getting advice from the right people. There's this stereotype of indie stars who don't want to listen to the veterans. I'm glad he's not like that.

- The other Owens vs. Zayn match was something. I think this one will be, too, if Zayn's shoulder holds up.

- I liked Owens doing chinlocks to heel the fans who were there just to see awesome wrestling. It's good to know smart fans can still be worked.

Here's coverage of Triple H's conference call to promote the latest Takeover special:
- If fans want WWE to be more like NXT, they need to be as vocal in supporting NXT as they are in criticizing WWE. Or maybe as vocal as the fans who support Cena, Orton, Reigns, etc..

- NXT as a full-fledged brand like Raw or Smackdown would be huge. I just hope it doesn't become such a big deal they want to keep talents there when they should be brought up to the "big time." But what if NXT becomes kind of the big time itself? Hmmmm.

- That's really awesome for the former Sara Del Rey. She's done great stuff.

- As much as I love what NXT is now, I was under the impression it's supposed to be the place to make people ready for the main roster. So that needs to be the end goal. Having people get a lot of work touring for NXT so they're ready for the main roster is great, though.

- The idea of having a tour for the upper names and one for the new initiates in Florida is an interesting one. Would they need more signings to make that work? They're definitely signing a lot of names as it is.

- Will we get to a day when WrestleMania is like that? There are generally legends and celebrities competing. It's a pretty optimistic goal.

- There are definitely some names who should be on the main roster soon. Cut back on some of the names we already see a lot of, and there's probably room for them.

- Part of me really wants to see the likes of AJ Styles, Kazarian, Daniels, and Samoa Joe work in NXT and WWE, but I don't know if that's realistic.

- I hope NXT does help wrestling as a whole, even the indie companies. If Evolve or ROH are seen as away to get into NXT, it should help them.

- I'd love to see Samoa Joe mix it up with Cesaro, Bryan, Rollins, etc.. Even if they can just use him a few years, I think he could fit in well. I mean, how many years did they get out of the Tensai character? They went with it anyway because they thought he brought something to the table.

- Hahaha we're a long way from the end of John Cena. I do think we might be finally entering the stage where he's not the go-to main eventer, though.

- I think it might be too early for an all-female Takeover. I love the NXT Divas, but I don't think we're to the point where they can fill two hours by themselves better than a show involving the likes of Owens, Balor, and Breeze. They can definitely do great things, just maybe they shouldn't be the whole show yet.

Update: Here's the official press release for NXT's coach promotions. I hope they both do well.

Update: Some are pointing out Samoa Joe could come work NXT in the same way Rhyno is, without signing a big WWE deal. That would be pretty cool, although I think I'd like to see him get a shot at the main roster at some point. We'll see. 

Scott Hall has been pulled from GFW events after an incident this weekend saw him removed from a show. Sobriety is an ongoing project, and DDP's working with him again. I really hope he can stay out of trouble going forward.

Representatives for Destination America met with TNA Creative recently, presumably to ask how many castmembers from other DA shows can wrestle at Slammiversary. Also on the agenda was whether Impact Wrestling's name can be changed to An Amish Haunted Barbecue With Bigfoot. Seriously, though, there's no word on what was discussed yet.

TNA hopes Jeff Hardy is back by August. I mean, they'd love him back sooner, but August is a more realistic expectation.

TNA is looking to add more live event dates for late summer/early fall. Having more dates to work is a big concern for TNA talents right now, hence taking bookings outside of the company when Impact isn't taping.

Adam Pearce is said to have been signed as a coach for NXT on a full-time basis. I hope that's a beneficial signing for them. I'm guessing they liked what he did during his guest stints.

WWE has added more Raws from late 1996 and early 1997 to the Network. Technology marches onward.

The Rock talked about working with Stone Cold, fans booing Reigns, and more:
- I agree about Reigns needing to be less of the manufactured WWE product we've seen for a while. I think he's really improved since losing at WM31. In hindsight, it will probably be the best thing to have happened to him.

- I'm not shocked at all HHH wants another big match with Rock so he can get part of the credit for the gate at WM32. If we can't get Rock vs. Austin, that match works for me. I don't really want to see Rock face a heel Reigns, so that's probably what we'd end up with. But then who faces Lesnar?

Booker T. talked about future WWE stars and more. I kind of miss Booker as GM, but that could be because we've had The Authority and Kane do it so long.

Here's a piece on Monday's Raw. Who would have thought we'd have essentially a WWE PPV featuring Kevin Steen vs. John Cena in addition to Tyler Black vs. Jon Moxley for the WWE Championship? Yes, it's a "B" or "C-show" instead of Summerslam or Survivor Series, but it still counts for something.

The Young Bucks talked about Kevin Owens and more:
- I'd say they kind of had a cup of coffee in TNA. They lasted about 18 months.

- I doubt Vince knows or cares about the Bullet Club, unless it has to do with trademarking a hand gesture associated with an act he owns the rights to. The Balor Club shirt wasn't an actual WWE product.

- The Bucks strike me as really arrogant and full of themselves. Hopefully that's just part of their act.

- I will give the team a ton of credit for how successful they are outside of WWE. They have a connection with people a lot of other indie talents don't, as they talked about.

- The Bullet Club has really been very "viral" for lack of a better word. That shirt is everywhere for wrestling fans, which is very impressive for a team outside the WWE umbrella.

- Matt's comments about the WWE copyright are pretty ironic, considering the Bullet Club is making money off something they had no part of by using the Kliq hand symbol. Nash and Hall don't own the rights to it. It doesn't matter if they give permission for the Bucks to call themselves Diesel and Razor Ramon. It's not their call legally.

- Indie wrestling is definitely changing NXT more than the other way around. Drawing 1,000 fans is great on the indie level. That doesn't make it hotter than WWE by any stretch. Kevin Owens is going to be known a lot more than Kevin Steen was.

If that interview didn't mention WWE and Owens, I wouldn't have even bothered responding to it. The Young Bucks are who I think of when the old guard of wrestling talks about millenials.

WWE got just under four million viewers for Raw. That's pretty cool. I hope they get momentum in their favor.

WWE has signed Albanian MMA fighter Gzim Selmani to an NXT contract. He has appeared for Bellator before. I'm really interested to see how he'll adjust to wrestling.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. This one. Rusev had a match with Cena set for later that week. The run-in was designed to promote that. Him interfering before the match ended protected both men from taking a big loss. Neville got to kick out of an AA and hit his finisher. There's no way they were going to have him win the U.S. Title ahead of the PPV match. That was a better ending than him tapping out to the STF or some other show of Cena being superior to Neville. What if Cena kicked out of the Red Arrow? It'd be all "Neville was fed to Super-Cena. He never sells anything. GOTTA KEEP CENA STRONG." Smart fans are indeed their own worst enemy a lot of times.

2. Already? They've been split up a good seven or eight months now. It's obvious they went together better as a trio. That doesn't mean Creative doesn't have faith in them. If anything, it could mean they don't have faith in themselves to handle them effectively as singles stars. And I don't think they've been booked all that poorly. Not everyone can be dominant and win all the time. I have wanted to see more from Harper, but Wyatt was mostly protected going into the feud with Taker. Rowan's still coming along as a talent, so I'm not terribly upset there. Nonetheless, I do want to see them reunited if that means we see them utilized better.

3. I think Triple H knew what he was doing. He's a top executive for a company that does a LOT of social media. He congratulated his friend after winning a big fight. That doesn't mean he supports Mayweather outside of his boxing abilities. He was able to restrain himself from using it as fodder for a promo, so that's something.

4. I don't know if that'd even be something they'd consider. I don't know if they could really turn such a goofy character dark and serious anyway.

5. I'm all for it! It would be a nice throwback to Cena's other reign as U.S. Champion. Rhyno can still "go" well enough for it to be a good match, so it'd be a nice idea for a show in former ECW territory.

More wrestling tomorrow.