Ric Flair and Santino Marella were originally set to appear on Raw. I don't think the show really needed them unless they wanted Santino to be part of MizTV. I'm guessing they didn't want him taking a bump from Show's KO punch when he's not cleared to get back in the ring. That was such a downer ending.
GFW will run shows in the Northeast in January, including a combined show with Pro Wrestling Syndicate. The Jarretts, Sonjay Dutt, Colt Cabana, Bobby Roode, and Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) are all set for the show. So, GFW's still a thing. I really think TNA should make use of some of their roster in 2016 as they rebound from so many departures.
John Cena is in the January cover of Muscle and Fitness, and is interviewed inside. He's made a lot of headway into the mainstream lately.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
NXT has announced another show for Chicago on Jan. 16, turning the date into a double-header. That's insane! The brand is catching on to a really amazing degree. I hope they keep it up.
Lio Rush has been announced for ROH's Top Prospect Tournament. He worked a dark match for the company at the last TV tapings, so they have an idea of what they've got in him.
The Rock has been confirmed for WrestleMania 32. It's currently unknown
if he'll wrestle, as he'll be filming "Baywatch" in that same time
period. Either way, this is a big "get" for WWE. I'm interested to see what he does that night.
Next week on Raw, Roman Reigns will defend the WWE Championship against Sheamus with Vince McMahon as the special referee. Well, fans did say they wanted the Attitude Era back. Roman 3:16 says you can BELIEVE THAT OOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH.
Sin Cara dislocated his shoulder during his match with Big E. No word on if he'll miss time. The Lucha "Booties" have been great lately.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Here's how they should book Bayley:
a. Wait until Nikki's fully recovered.
b. Have one of the Bellas win the title and hold it for a long time, beating all the other non-Bella Divas. Obviously pushing "Total Divas" is the priority this whole time.
c. The Bellas talk about how there's no competition anymore.
d. Cue Stephanie McMahon's music. She comes out and takes the spotlight from the active competitors, implying none of them are all that good since they can't beat the Bellas. The Bellas thank Stephanie for putting them over.
e. Stephanie slaps both Bellas to put them in their place, and introduces Bayley, Nia Jax, Dana Brooke, and Asuka in the span of three minutes.
f. All the Divas are then assigned into cliques. Nia and Asuka are put with Tamina because they're all foreign. Dana Brooke is put with Charlotte and Natalya because they're all blonde. You get the idea. The Divas all play along with this and each group instantly bonds as BFFs. Because they're Divas, each group gets a clique name and matching gear.
g. Bayley's paired with Sasha and Naomi since Tamina's in the other group and they're not desperate enough to use Cameron even though she's the only other black Diva. Sasha and Naomi are babyfaces at this point and all of them wear bright outfits (Naomi's old fluorescent gear, what Bayley already wears, and Sasha drops her current shades for something more summer-y.)
h. This clique warfare leads to Bayley winning the title. The next night, Naomi turns heel out of nowhere and feuds with Bayley for the title. Naomi gets cheap heat by insulting Bayley's #1 fan and Bayley's family and anything else they can exploit.
i. Bayley then turns heel herself and feuds with an incredibly naive Sasha Banks, who's crushed her bff won't pinky swear with her anymore, goes and writes in her Lisa Frank diary. Sasha gets something spilled on her or something and it ruins her cute outfit.
j. Jerry Lawler pervs on the whole division on commentary this whole time. Also, there are forced hashtags.
You might as well go ahead and start printing the money now, because that's how the audience wants to see women presented in 2016.
Seriously, though, they should stick with what brought Bayley to the dance. Don't do teams of Divas feuding for hardly any reason beyond "Stephanie said so," don't lump her in with other Divas if you can help it, etc.. I agree about her not needing to be eye candy or the next star of "Total Divas." Don't change much, if anything, about who she is. Definitely don't have her chasing after guys or having jealous catfights or something else stereotypical for women to do. As for not bringing her up yet, she'd be lost in the shuffle and NXT still needs to "restock" after losing three of its top female talents. They shouldn't rush her up; she's more valuable down there for now as the veteran champion.
2. I can see some comparisons. I really hope they "catch on" at a higher level and become bigger stars down the line. WWE could use some young, diverse faces at the top of the card.
3. Sweet, sweet smark cash. I imagine they're doing well for the scale they run. They smartly book the right size of arena and target a certain niche market. Hopefully those rabid superfans are sucked in enough to spend their parents' money on ROH tickets. Living with your parents on a steady diet of ramen does leave one with disposable income.
4. Heel Charlotte vs. Face Sasha at WM32, because no one wants to boo Sasha. I hope that's the plan anyway.
5. Nia's my pick given her relation to Roman, but Tamina would work for the same reason. I don't see Kharma happening, sadly. I hope it's not a part-timer or non-wrestler. That doesn't really help anyone. I'd probably pop for Linda making a surprise return, but I might be the only one in that category.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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