The original Patriot talked about the person using the gimmick now. That's really crazy. Someone should absolutely look into that legally. Wilkes could be entitled to a lot of royalties.
Hulk Hogan continued retweeting supportive messages Monday, including some that drew him some heat. Hogan needs to disappear from the public eye for a while, and come back with a new sense of things. You've got to sell the ass-kicking for a while before you can Hulk back up, brother. Right now he needs to be the guy taking the Camel Clutch and being asked if he wants to quit, not the guy going for the big right hands before the boot and leg drop.
The Terminator has been announced as a playable pre-order bonus for WWE 2K16. That's hype as hell.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
More racist statements from Hulk Hogan have come to light. At this point I have a lower opinion of the people invading his private life than of his statements. Both are pretty low, though.
Ring of Honor's COO will do an AMA on Reddit. I can only imagine the kinds of questions he'll get from that rabid group. That's the fanbase ROH goes for, though.
ROH's All Star Extravaganza in September will be on traditional PPV. That's good for them.
ROH being dropped from the 8 p.m. slot on Destination America could just be a temporary measure. DA is testing out different shows in that time to see how they do. I wouldn't assume it means GFW or another wrestling show will be replacing ROH at that timeslot, although that's presumably a possibility. Where DA stands with wrestling beyond 2015 will be interesting to see. They could very well drop both promotions by the end of the year.
Summerslam has officially been expanded to four hours. I assume that's a move to get more people watching it, especially on the Network. I think with their main TV deals safe, the Network is the biggest priority in the company.
Daniel Bryan gave another update on his condition:
- They definitely don't want to rush him back into things given how brief his last return was. I definitely look forward to him coming back, which sounds like a better possibility than it was seen previously.
- Just imagine Paul Heyman and Daniel Bryan coming to TNA in 2010, balancing out Hogan and Bischoff.
- Cutting a promo on a table sounds like a pretty good exercise, especially if it's kind of on the fly.
Ex-subscribers of the WWE Network were asked via survey if they'd buy WWE PPVs via the Network at $4.99 each, rather than subscribing for the whole month at $9.99. That's HUGE. WWE would probably lose a lot of money if people took them up on that, but it's all about moving people away from traditional means of buying PPVs. Obviously over-the-top distribution is the future and all, but it's a big endeavor to try to cut out the middlemen.
Hulk Hogan signs were confiscated at the Raw taping.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Honestly, as much as I like Bo (and I've enjoyed him since his NXT Title reign), he's more on the Heath Slater end than the Kevin Owens end. He's a valuable lower-level comedy act, but he's still pretty young and coming along as a wrestler. I think that idea would have sucked compared to what we got. There was no reason to pair them other than them being brothers in real life. He's much better suited for the role we saw him debut in than trying to glom off what Bray's doing. I think it would have brought the Wyatts down to incorporate Bo's goofy character. MAYBE one day after Bo's gotten a better footing under him as a worker, they can acknowledge their relationship and make an angle from it. But for now, Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas should stay separate. I mean, #*$&, you might as well bring in I.R.S. as their dad at that point.
Hopefully I didn't just give someone a "genius" idea of the Wyatts being
audited and Erick Rowan holding DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship.
2. Hogan's not even at the bottom of the hole he's dug himself into. It's going to be a while before it's even an option for him to come back. I do think our perpetually morally outraged society will find something else to latch onto at some point and he'll have the opportunity to earn his way back into their hearts. First, though, he's got to take what's coming to him.
3. I would watch the hell out of that if he went full-on Cranky Vince. "GODDAMN MILLENIALS!!! I MISSED SMACKDOWN FOR THIS CRAP!?" I suspect he'll stay behind the scenes, though.
4. Viewing habits definitely influence things, hence them doing more live stuff on the Network (Elimination Chamber, Beast in the East, King of the Ring). It's also why they put certain older content up before the old school rasslin' some purists want - the audience just isn't big enough for it to be a higher priority.
5. Undertaker working one of his final matches against the guy who ended his Streak in his first Summerslam since 2008 has the potential to draw in casual fans. That's what's important. If Ambrose merchandise started flying off the shelves and NXT got the viewership even Smackdown does, maybe WWE would change things on a marco-level. If only 20% (if that) of the WWE Universe is incredibly excited about the new generation, while 60% are spending money on Cena and Reigns, WWE's going to focus on the bigger segment. A vocal minority is still a minority. Of course WWE wants a future and we'll see more new faces in the main event picture (like we have in 2015 with Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns in WWE Title matches). Only so many people can be at the top of the card. If there are eight matches, at least six of them aren't going to feature the people in "main events."
More wrestling tomorrow.
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