Superstars Reax - 7/31/15, Cena update, NXT preview, Hogan update, Bryan's book selling well, Interviews with Henry/Ole/RVD, Angelina Love update, Rollins back on the Daily Show, law student looks at WWE contracts, ROH name has surgery, new ROH action figure set, Storm finishes up with TNA, Smackdown audience, third-gen wrestler receives tryout, and Questions on Taker returning, Bryan's status, Malenko in the HoF, Vince using the N-word, and Serena in TNA

Superstars:
- Truth vs. Dallas:
Bo's more fun in the ring than a lot of flippy wrestlers because he has personality that shines through. His gimmick is perfect for him.

That was a fine little match. Good to see some fun undercard stuff.

- Barrett vs. Swagger:
I think they're doing a pretty good job so far. Both men have potential to be titleholders, but I don't see Swagger getting that kind of momentum in his corner.

I like the straight-up action here. They don't need to hit 100 highspots to tell a story.

Nice ending sequence.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break. The unfortunate passing of Roddy Piper will be covered in a separate post.

John Cena has been pulled from next weekend's Australian tour, which is another big blow for it following the removal of Hulk Hogan as GM. Hopefully it's still a big success. WWE will really be in trouble if Cena can't work Summerslam.


Set for Wednesday's NXT:
- Samoa Joe vs. Rhyno
- Charlotte vs. Bayley
- Interviews with Kevin Owens and Finn Balor
- Tyler Breeze in action
- Baron Corbin in action

The build to Brooklyn continues. I hope they've got some people waiting in the wings to replace Owens and Charlotte after Takeover. Those are big shoes to fill.

Hulk Hogan said his career is over after the recent scandals. It will definitely be some time before he's back in the spotlight. Exactly how long (if ever) depends on how he reforms himself from here.

Daniel Bryan's book has officially become a bestseller. That's great news for him and for WWE.

Update: WWE put out a press release praising him.

Chris Jericho interviewed Mark Henry on his latest podcast. Pretty good stuff from someone who's been in the locker room for quite some time. I expect he'll hang up the boots (at least as a regular member of the roster) before WM33. That's some real longevity.

Angelina Love is expecting her first child, so I suspect we won't be seeing her in the ring anytime soon. She was recently married to fellow TNA performer Davey Richards.

Seth Rollins came back to the Daily Show to trade barbs with John Stewart. I think Stewart in many ways saved Rollins' push after the leaked photo scandal.

Ole Anderson talked at the ongoing Mid-Atlantic Legends Fanfest.

- Ole has a reputation as a stubborn old goat, and I can see why.

- The Flair stories were pretty funny.

- Ole's training methods would never fly today, but that's how the business was then. I do think we need more tough guys and less flippy acrobats in the business, though.

RVD also talked at the fanfest:

- He doesn't fit with the Mid-Atlantic theme, but whatever.

- Damn. Way to bury Paige and AJ, Rob.

- Van Dam's kind of a prick. He's definitely full of himself.

- I can't say I think we "need" to see RVD back in the ring again. Maybe in NXT. I feel like we've seen all he's got.

- Van Dam was never really a great promo, even without the excuse of "WWE's writing my character wrong."

A law school student researched WWE and concluded its performers should be classified as employees instead of independent contractors. I'd like to see this lead to some real reforms in the wrestling world, but I have my doubts on whether that will occur.

BJ Whitmer recently had surgery for a torn ACL, which he had been working through for a number of months. The hope is for him to be back by the end of the year. He's easily one of the best parts of ROH. I hope he's still part of the show while he's hurt.

Michael Elgin will also get an ROH action figure. That could hurt his chances of one day going to WWE, but it might be worth it if the figure sells well.

While James Storm continued working for TNA at the latest series of Impact Wrestling taping, his time with the company has now officially come to an end. I wish he was working BFG at least given the TV that was taped leads to that event, but I'm under the impression he's written off on an episode of TV to air before then. Storm leaves behind a really great legacy with TNA, and it's a shame to see another top-level guy leave. I hope we haven't seen the last of him on national TV. GFW and NXT should both be scouting him.

Update: Here's a photo from Storm's last appearance. I hope we got EC3 vs. Storm on one of those episodes. That would have really been something.

Smackdown's audience Thursday was 2.44 million. That's not bad, I guess? I feel like ratings aren't very newsworthy by themselves and out of context. If it's a big upswing or downturn, it's worth noting. Otherwise, there's not much to say.

Mika Rotunda, the sister of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, tried out for WWE this past week. She'd be a no-brainer to be revealed as Sister Abigail, but that gimmick might not work for her. I wish her success either way.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Nothing to really add here, other than Taker was said to be feeling really good after his return at WM31. Taker probably doesn't have many big matches left, so it's smart to have a big one while he can still go.

2. Given WWE's spell of people being on the bench lately (now including Cena), it might be time to check where Bryan is in that regard. The Australia tour might be a good place to see if he can work off some ring rust. I don't know if WWE's willing to take that risk, though.

3. Probably! I think a lot of the names people ask about will end up in the Hall eventually. It's just a matter of when their number's called.

4. What they said, plus there's a difference between the character of an old out-of-touch white guy using it as a term of endearment, while Hogan used it in real life as a slur.

5. TNA is still airing shows taped before Slammiversary, which should give you an indication of how tight things are there.

More wrestling tomorrow.