- WWE Divas' Championship: Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
- Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks vs. Naomi and Tamina.
I really hope that sets up Charlotte vs. Becky vs. Sasha for WM32. That'd be a perfect climax to the Divas' Revolution angle. On that note, I wonder how far off we are from another new Diva from NXT, and which Diva it will be. Bayley's the obvious choice, but they might have an idea for someone like Nia Jax or Dana Brooke that leads to them being called up before she is.
Add C.M. Punk and Samoa Joe to those reflecting on the end of Daniel Bryan's career. Those three really changed wrestling following their ROH tenures.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
JR looked at WWE putting Bryan's health first. Far too many talents left it all in the ring, only to suffer a loss of quality of life lingering for years after they were done taking bumps. It's really unfortunate, and I'm glad they didn't risk that for Bryan. As valuable as he was to the company, he's also a human being with limits.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
JR looked at WWE putting Bryan's health first. Far too many talents left it all in the ring, only to suffer a loss of quality of life lingering for years after they were done taking bumps. It's really unfortunate, and I'm glad they didn't risk that for Bryan. As valuable as he was to the company, he's also a human being with limits.
EVOLVE head Gabe Sapolsky wrote a letter to Daniel Bryan, thanking him for the years of work they had together.
WWE has posted quite a few videos of fellow performers discussing Bryan's retirement, and an emotional interview with Bryan and Brie after the show.
WWE will return to New Zealand for the first time in five years this summer as part of their tour of Australia. You better believe Emma will be on that loop. I wouldn't be surprised to see NXT's Blake, Murphy, Peyton Royce, and Billie Kay, used as well given their connections to Australia.
The former Bull Dempsey is working on the indie scene as Bull James, combining his NXT name and his previous indie name.
Smackdown had a light roster, as a lot of WWE names headed to Germany before the taping. We'll see how that plays out on the show.
Stone Cold's podcast returns next week after Raw with Big Show as his guest. Show debuted in WWE during a Stone Cold match.
Brock Lesnar was originally set for this week's Smackdown, but has been moved to next week's show instead. This could be a pretty bare-bones edition of the show.
Raw's audience Monday was 3.73 million for Daniel Bryan's last show. It was an emotional night.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They still air their shows as PPVs on some carriers, so there might still be a contract issue. Either way, those shows pull in a lot of money for WWE. I don't think they'd be able to make up that much lost revenue if they cut the number of shows in half.
2. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him in the ring with Roman in some form before WM32. This is Vince McMahon we're talking about.
3. Right now, I think he needs to just be Brock's manager so he isn't watered down. Nia would be a good choice if they do put him with a female talent. It'd be tricky, but I think they could make that work if they had to.
4. Dave should know better than to indulge this kind of thinking. It's a real shame he panders to the hypercritical, borderline conspiracy theories that ignore key facts. How does someone with so much inside knowledge not "get" what they're doing with AJ (unless he's intentionally ignoring it to get over with the segment of the audience likely to follow dirtsheets)?
Let's recap:
- They debuted AJ (with his pre-WWE name and moveset, skipping NXT) in one of the biggest matches of the year, a WWE Title match where the winner goes to the main event of Wrestlemania. He has a good showing for someone in his first night in WWE, and is put over by the announcers. The Royal Rumble is known for its surprises, and they don't get much bigger than a former multiple-time World Champion.
- AJ beats Chris Jericho (former Wrestlemania headliner and one of the most accomplished champions in WWE history) clean on Raw in his first singles match.
- After The Miz, a heel, tries to throw his legacy under a bus, AJ makes him tap out clean. This match shows off what AJ can do in the ring for the large part of the WWE audience who had never seen him before the Rumble. A heel taking someone lightly only to get shown up is one of the oldest stories in wrestling, and in storytelling period.
I see AJ ending up about where guys like Ambrose and Rollins are: a pretty good space on the card, but probably not the focal point of the company. And I see delusional people complaining about it no matter what they do with him, like Punk, Bryan, and Rollins before him.
5. I definitely don't see Vince giving up control of WWE to someone else! I really doubt WWE is sold anytime in the near future unless someone just has an amazing offer Vince can't turn down. WWE has been in his family for generations; he won't give that up easily.
More wrestling tomorrow.
WWE will return to New Zealand for the first time in five years this summer as part of their tour of Australia. You better believe Emma will be on that loop. I wouldn't be surprised to see NXT's Blake, Murphy, Peyton Royce, and Billie Kay, used as well given their connections to Australia.
The former Bull Dempsey is working on the indie scene as Bull James, combining his NXT name and his previous indie name.
Smackdown had a light roster, as a lot of WWE names headed to Germany before the taping. We'll see how that plays out on the show.
Stone Cold's podcast returns next week after Raw with Big Show as his guest. Show debuted in WWE during a Stone Cold match.
Brock Lesnar was originally set for this week's Smackdown, but has been moved to next week's show instead. This could be a pretty bare-bones edition of the show.
Raw's audience Monday was 3.73 million for Daniel Bryan's last show. It was an emotional night.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They still air their shows as PPVs on some carriers, so there might still be a contract issue. Either way, those shows pull in a lot of money for WWE. I don't think they'd be able to make up that much lost revenue if they cut the number of shows in half.
2. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him in the ring with Roman in some form before WM32. This is Vince McMahon we're talking about.
3. Right now, I think he needs to just be Brock's manager so he isn't watered down. Nia would be a good choice if they do put him with a female talent. It'd be tricky, but I think they could make that work if they had to.
4. Dave should know better than to indulge this kind of thinking. It's a real shame he panders to the hypercritical, borderline conspiracy theories that ignore key facts. How does someone with so much inside knowledge not "get" what they're doing with AJ (unless he's intentionally ignoring it to get over with the segment of the audience likely to follow dirtsheets)?
Let's recap:
- They debuted AJ (with his pre-WWE name and moveset, skipping NXT) in one of the biggest matches of the year, a WWE Title match where the winner goes to the main event of Wrestlemania. He has a good showing for someone in his first night in WWE, and is put over by the announcers. The Royal Rumble is known for its surprises, and they don't get much bigger than a former multiple-time World Champion.
- AJ beats Chris Jericho (former Wrestlemania headliner and one of the most accomplished champions in WWE history) clean on Raw in his first singles match.
- After The Miz, a heel, tries to throw his legacy under a bus, AJ makes him tap out clean. This match shows off what AJ can do in the ring for the large part of the WWE audience who had never seen him before the Rumble. A heel taking someone lightly only to get shown up is one of the oldest stories in wrestling, and in storytelling period.
I see AJ ending up about where guys like Ambrose and Rollins are: a pretty good space on the card, but probably not the focal point of the company. And I see delusional people complaining about it no matter what they do with him, like Punk, Bryan, and Rollins before him.
5. I definitely don't see Vince giving up control of WWE to someone else! I really doubt WWE is sold anytime in the near future unless someone just has an amazing offer Vince can't turn down. WWE has been in his family for generations; he won't give that up easily.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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