New WWE Legends deals, Amell-WWE update, GFW announces its championships, first GFW taping matches, Battleground lineup, Alberto update, Ziggler not at TVs, Raw guest, more from Piper, new WWE investor, ROH plans for WM32 weekend, backstage Raw notes, Kane update, and Questions on Prime Time Wrestling, "smark" delusions about Cena booking, John Morrison, how to call NXT talents up, and Bundy in the HoF

Tatsumi Fujinami has signed a WWE Legends deal, and JJ Dillion is expected to do so as well. That's pretty cool for both of them.

"Arrow" star Stephen Amell said at the recent San Diego Comic-Con he hopes to do more with WWE, but is unsure if that will lead to him getting in the ring. There's got to be something that can be done to have him have his "Ronda Rousey" moment at Summerslam.

Update: Amell has been going back-and-forth with Miz on Twitter, so it's possible those two face off next month instead. How about Miz and Stardust vs. Amell and Ryback, who could cover for Amell not being a wrestler?

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

GFW announced what its four championships will be. I think four titles is a lot for a show that's just an hour a week. Plus, they've got the King of the Mountain Championship involved. And I'm not crazy about the name "Nex*Gen Championship" at all, but I appreciate the idea.

Here's what GFW will tape at their first date in The Orleans on the 24th. I think Eric Young could be Roode's opponent. That'd be a big first main event for GFW.


Officially set for Sunday's Battleground PPV:
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Ryback vs. The Miz vs. Big Show
- WWE United States Championship: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
- Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
- Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
- WWE Tag Team Championship: Prime Time Players vs. New Day
- Kickoff Match of KotR crown: King Barrett vs. R-Truth.

Honestly, I think that's a pretty good card. Throw in a Divas' match or angle or some sort and it's well worth the $9.99.

Former WWE Champion Alberto El Patron did not appear as scheduled at an independent wrestling event, and the promoters lost contact with his camp. I'd like to think such a well-known, high-rolling performer wouldn't intentionally "no-show," but there hasn't been any indication of why he missed the event.

Update: El Patron has been confirmed to have been spotted at his home, so at least he's not completely missing. Still no word on what caused him to miss the event. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here, but we'll see how things unfold.

Dolph Ziggler is expected to miss the next few weeks of TV following the Rusev injury angle. That's probably for the best. He's a hard worker, but creatively he was running up against a wall. I wouldn't mind if he missed several months, so he'd feel fresh when he came back.

Michael Cudlitz from The Walking Dead was visiting at Raw. The show was filming in Georgia.

Update: Cudlitz is friends with Sheamus. Also backstage where Lana, Ric Flair, The Godfather, Jake Roberts, and Chili from TLC. You know there's someone out there who wanted the Divas angle to end with everyone ending up on the Ho Train.

Roddy Piper once more addressed the issue with Stone Cold and PodcastOne, which Austin notably disputed recently. Carlito needs to get his own podcast so they can all recreate WM21.

A Dutch media tycoon purchased enough stock to now own 6% of WWE. That's not enough to make a dent as far as what the McMahons and their allies do, but it's worth noting. I suddenly want to see a power angle between him and The Authority play out on Main Event and Superstars (since that's about all the power he has).

ROH will have a show on WM32 weekend at the site of Wrestlecon. I can hear the "this is awesome" chants already.

WWE Management was said to have been thrilled with the Divas segment from Raw, which is hopefully for reasons other than it gave Stephanie and the Bellas more screen time. The hype for Lynch, Charlotte, and Banks is real. They've all got potential to make lasting impacts on the industry.

The story going forward will be that Kane has a broken ankle. Rollins has no one to protect him against Lesnar. I think the story of Lesnar destroying all of Seth's support has been great, even if it was contrived for them to end up back together after MITB.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. wwe shud bring back tha prime time era thums up if u agree. The series is a good reminder that WWE didn't become what it is now overnight, and it's ridiculous to expect any other promotion to rocket up as a challenger without going through something of an experimental, lower-budget phase like that. That's part of what makes following ROH so frustrating after being used to WWE's way of doing things.

2. If Vince needed any proof that the vision of "the IWC" is far out of line with the mainstream fan, this question and answer should sadly be sufficient. They're like the Tea Party or Occupy movement compared to what most fans are willing to compromise on. Vince doesn't cater to them for a reason.

Anyway, to address the incredibly invalid criticisms:
- Cena hasn't been in a WWE Title match in six months. He hasn't been WWE Champion in almost a year.
- Rollins, Ambrose, Bryan, and Reigns have all gotten to headline PPVs since then. Three of those four men were in multiple WWE Title matches in that time. That's what a "push" is. You're "pushed" to the top of the card while other performers are booked in lesser matches. Cena hasn't headlined a PPV since the Rumble.
- If being in the best wrestling matches outside the main event with up-and-coming acts people want to see get more ring time is being the star of the show, wouldn't that mean C.M. Punk was "pushed" as the top guy when he was champion? Some nights Cena doesn't even get promos, while Rollins gets them pretty regularly. As do Reigns and Ambrose.
- If Cena giving more ring time and a really big stage for a virtual who's who of the people who "smarks" want to see get more ring time and a bigger stage is terrible booking, what qualifies as good booking!? If WWE wants to elevate guys like Zayn, Owens, Cesaro, Neville, etc., there's little more they can do in the way of investing than having them go the distance with the top star of the past ten years.

Being an anti-Cena mark is worse than being the 7-year-old who gets every shirt the guy has, because theoretically the "smart" marks would actually be "smart" and think this through critically. Bitching when Cena does have good matches after so many years of "you can't wrestle" and when he's a midcarder after so many years of main eventing is just contrarianism and fashionable nonconformity.

3. I can also see the criticism he didn't have the talking ability of a top guy. He was SSSSOOOOO close to getting that push when Miz was in his MITB/WWE Title reign. It's a shame it didn't happen.

4. I don't like it for the reason they laid out. And honestly, it's a crutch for them not having a more specific reason to bring someone up. As a one-time thing when it makes sense (maybe around Survivor Series with Finn Balor given that option), it's worth considering. As a yearly thing, no. Calling someone up should have more thought to it than "it's Summerslam season." They already have the night after WM for big callups.

5. Maybe he can get Sunny's spot if she keeps giving WWE bad publicity? They can do something like WM17's battle royal with that on the line.

More wrestling tomorrow.