Work for WWE Network, Interviews with Balor/Sonnen/Lawler, Itami update, Takeover visitors, possible TNA return, Takeover dark match, NXT cameos, big debut in NXT, what happened after Takeover, Takeover live report, and Questions on Chainsaw Charlie, HHH vs. Sting, the quality of TNA, TNA PPVs, and wrestlers dating wrestlers

WWE is seeking someone to help out with digitizing their video library. I wonder how much of it has been converted at this point. They have SO much footage from the days before the Internet.

Finn Balor talked to MTV in the UK: Part 1 Part 2

- I'm interested to see what we see from Balor when he does appear on the main roster. Him leading a stable like the "Balor Club" would be interesting. I don't necessarily think that's the best move, especially if it's just done to take shots at Bullet Club for infringing on WWE's trademark.

- I wonder if HHH and Vince were ribbing Balor knowing he was about to go the ring, in order to see how he'd react and if it would affect his performance. It wouldn't be out of character at all.

Chael Sonnen talked about joining GFW. I'm looking forward to seeing their show.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Hideo Itami will still be heading to Japan to promote WWE's tour there. That's good. He was a big deal there before WWE.

Jerry Lawler talked about WWE's new DVD on him. It's great they were able to do a lot of stuff about the Memphis days. It's an era that's somewhat forgotten in today's wrestling world.

Adrian Neville, Zack Ryder, Eva Marie, and Larry Zbyzskzo were all backstage at Takeover. I wouldn't mind seeing Ryder work NXT for a while. He's not doing much else.

Update: Mick Foley and SoCal Val were in the crowd. NXT is becoming a pretty big deal!

Grado is expected back on TNA TV soon. He's got a pretty good cult following in the UK, so TNA hopes that translates to here in the States.

Before Takeover came on the air, The Vaudevillains beat Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. I hope we see those two teams on TV soon, going for the titles.

Former TNA Knockout Sarita was part of Tyler Breeze's entrance at Takeover, along with three NXT trainees. Sarita has been helping out training in recent months. I'd love to see her work with a Sasha Banks or Charlotte on the NXT show to get them further ready for the main roster.

Samoa Joe debuted at the end of NXT Takeover. He's still taking independent dates, but is being booked under the name Samoa Joe in NXT. WWE is selling Samoa Joe merchandise, so he's worked something out on that end. Whether this means he's in "WWE developmental" and being set up to make it to the main roster remains to be seen. This is quite a big deal, and I'm really excited to see him. I hope we at least get some awesome matches in NXT if we don't see him make it to the big stage.

Update: TNA was reportedly worried about Joe debuting there. I would imagine some of the old fans who were TNA regulars in Orlando have migrated to NXT tapings, although tapings don't always overlap with TNA's.

Update: Samoa Joe cut a promo after the event. Who would have thought we'd ever see him in a WWE ring? Joe vs. Owens should be AMAZING.

Here's a live report from NXT Takeover. I do think it's possible to overstate the show's importance, considering it's still not in the same league as Raw or Smackdown. But DAMN, is it really cool to follow NXT's progress right now.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. WWE has a great prop team. The Attitude Era wasn't THAT insane, thank goodness.

2. Honestly, I think the interferences helped the match. HHH and Sting aren't the performers they used to be. The smoke and mirrors made things more interesting. It's also probably the only time we could have realistically gotten nWo vs. DX. As for why it ended how it did, I'm also thinking it was to potentially set up HHH vs. Rock at WM32. HHH "needs to look strong" and all that. HHH has to beat every big star, you know? Punk, Lesnar, Goldberg, RVD... I would have liked Sting to win to signal an end to The Authority (or at least a crack in their armor), but ultimately it is what HHH and Vince want and think is best for WWE that determines things.

3. I agree with their answer. All the buzz from the Spike years is gone as so many big names have left. They basically disappeared at the end of 2014 and reappeared on a smaller network in an awful timeslot. And of course so many fans have felt burned by past creative decisions and aren't going to give TNA another chance. Why get invested when it could all be erased by a new regime like we saw when Hogan and Bischoff came in? Or what if they're going to go out of business soon? I think TNA's got a real uphill battle no matter how good their product is, and a lot of it is out of their control.

4. As was said, they have contractual obligations to show those shows internationally. Otherwise, I think they'd only do two or three big PPVs or just move entirely to TV specials. It's going to require a Herculean effort to turn their business around. It's not impossible, but they're going to have to dig down deep.

5. The rules are different for the top guys. What a shock, right?

More wrestling tomorrow.