WWE officially announced Shinsuke Nakamura's signing during a press conference in Japan. He'll be headed to NXT. At this point, it's unknown whether he'll get a name change like Balor, Itami, and Asuka before him. Either way, it should be exciting to see what he does.
- WWE put out a press release on the signing. That should be an indication of how big of a signing this is. They don't do that for many stars. It's interesting to see he won't start actually training until late March. I know he's headed back to Japan before he starts with the company, but I didn't expect him to be gone that long.
John Cena is intensely rehabilitating his injury in an attempt to be cleared for Wrestlemania. I admire his tenacity, but I think the wise thing to do might be to keep Cena on the shelf for his own good. If the doctors say he can't be back until July, he's really pushing it to come back for a show at the beginning of April. He's playing a dangerous game here.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
Sunny's Hall of Fame ring will be featured on Pawn Stars this week. I wouldn't be shocked to hear that was a work of some sort. This is reality TV after all.
- Sunny is denying she'll be part of this week's episode, despite advertising and TV listings promoting her HoF ring being for sale. I'm willing to believe she's just trying to work people (or herself?) with false claims about the show. If she is featured on the episode, I hope her next claims are taken with some salt.
CBS Sports looked at Roman Reigns' journey from football to WWE. Mainstream news articles are part of why WWE gets behind Roman. They want him to be a big star outside the wrestling world.
NXT will run live events April 7-9 in North and South Carolina. I assume they'll tape TV earlier in the week following Takeover:Dallas, so that will be a busy week for the brand.
WWE has announced The Godfather as the next member of the 2016 Hall of Fame class. It's worth noting he had more of a career than that character. I'm glad he's going in.
- JBL and Ron Simmons will induct Godfather. I was hoping for Stevie Richards given the Right to Censor connection. I figured Val Venis wouldn't happen given his current occupation.
WWE's March 25 Madison Square Garden show will be Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night. Big Show vs. Bray Wyatt has been added to that card.
- Daniel Bryan will also be on their March 26 and 27 shows. I can see him making fairly regular live event appearances to boost shows.
Sheamus talked about wrestling Daniel Bryan and more:
- Sheamus and Bryan definitely had a lot of chemistry in the ring.
- Sheamus vs. Taker or Sheamus vs. Brock would be great.
John Cena was not backstage at Raw. Presumably he's still at home rehabilitating. I don't expect him to be backstage until he's close to returning.
Before Raw, WWE ran an angle on Facebook of Brock Lesnar attacking Dean Ambrose. That should be an amazing clash.
Announced for WM32:
- Triple H vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship
- No Holds Barred Street Fight: Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose
- Hell in a Cell: The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon. If Shane wins, he gets control of Raw.
- Charlotte defends the Divas Championship against either Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch
I expect Shane to get someone else in his place, and Charlotte will probably end up in a triple threat.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I think they see her as a "utility player" they can use in a lot of different roles, heel and face. Yes, I'm saying she's the Big Show or Kane of the division. I imagine some of it is related to Total Divas... somehow. It's worth noting Summer Rae was a wrestler before coming to the main roster, and wrestles once in a blue moon on live events and web-only shows.
1. I think they see her as a "utility player" they can use in a lot of different roles, heel and face. Yes, I'm saying she's the Big Show or Kane of the division. I imagine some of it is related to Total Divas... somehow. It's worth noting Summer Rae was a wrestler before coming to the main roster, and wrestles once in a blue moon on live events and web-only shows.
2. Thankfully none of this drivel was actually a question. It makes the site look bad when Dave encourages this illiterate, illogical kind of discourse. It's like writing a response to the scribbles on a bathroom stall.
For any intelligent people wanting a response:
- Other stories matter. Ask the Wyatts. Ask the people going for titles.
- Becky vs. Sasha is still about the contendership. They just took a little break to stomp Naomi and Tamina on the road to Charlotte at WM32.
- Charlotte taunted Brie. Sometimes a feud is about more than "earning a title match" in the sense of winning a contendership. Remember it's a TV show more than a sport like basketball or football.
3. He'll be kind of an ambassador. I think he'll do kind of what Edge and Christian do: show up here and there for a guest appearance, but probably not a full-time character.
4. He's one of the biggest stars in the company. He belongs at Wrestlemania if he can compete. Just because some people on the Internet get salty about him, the fact remains he's a big star and a big draw.
5. The punishment was out of proportion to what Titus did. He should be allowed to be back for Wrestlemania. It's not like he failed a drug test or anything.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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